ALERT! Non-canon chapter

“You know, when Max said that the humans wanted to give me a nickname, I didn’t think that it would be this,” Celestia said, staring up at the vandalized tower in front of her. The ivory tower was covered in those three words, repeated over and over again in differing sizes. Though painted in yellow, the graffiti was clearly visible as her setting sun cast a red hue over the tower.

Beside her, her sister shifted on her hooves, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

“Aw,” she cooed as she looked up at the tower. “They like you!”

“How did they even get up there?” Celestia muttered under her breath, eyeing some of the words that were hundreds of feet off the ground.

“Mayhaps their faith in the glorious ‘Sunbutt’ kept them aloft?” Luna snickered into her hoof.

“This is serious, Luna!” Celestia snorted, stomping her hoof in frustration. “The Griffon ambassador is coming tomorrow! I shudder to think what she will think when she sees this!”

“That she should join the Cult of Sunbutt?” Luna suggested, barely keeping her face straight as she spoke. Celestia just sighed, hanging her head in defeat.

“Oh, come now, Tia,” Luna said, patting her sister's back with a wing. “We’ll have the guards clean it up tomorrow morning before the ambassador arrives. A good rainstorm should be able to clear the paint right off. Is that satisfactory, sister mine?”

“I guess it’ll have to do,” Celestia groaned, lifting her head back up, eyeing the offending letters with a small pout.

“Excellent!” Luna chirped happily. “Now, my dear Sunbutt. Please remove your sun from the sky! It is time for our moon to rise!” With another sigh, Celestia raised her head. Closing her eyes, she pushed her magic down her horn, reaching towards her fiery orb in the sky. Embracing it, the Solar Princess gingerly lowered it down, beneath the horizon. Beside her, Luna did the same, only instead of lowering her moon, she raised it high into the sky.

Both of the sisters relaxed at the same time as they cut off the flow of magic from their horns.

“Go and get some rest, sister,” Luna began, opening her eyes as she addressed Celestia. “We shall…” The words died on her tongue, however, when she returned her attention to the tower. Her jaw dropped as her eyes widened in mute horror.

“Luna?” Celestia asked, giving her sister a concerned look. When Luna didn’t say anything, Celestia turned her head, following her gaze. The Solar Princess's jaw dropped as well, and they both stood there, mouths agape, as they stared up at the tower.

With the sun no longer illuminating the ivory structure, the yellow words painted there were almost invisible against the white background. That fact, however, was not what had left them speechless. With the sun no longer shining upon the tower, a new feature, previously hidden to them, was making itself known. Slowly, words painted with a green luminescent paint were beginning to shine in the moonlight. Having been charged by Celestia's sun, the glow-in-the-dark paint was now glowing in Luna’s night.

“No,” Luna whimpered, slowly shaking her head. “No, no, no, no. How could they do this to us?”

“Oh, now you’re upset,” Celestia grumbled, shooting Luna an annoyed sideways glance. “When it was just me, you were all for the humans.” She returned her gaze back to the ivory tower, which was now covered from base to spire in glowing pale green words, repeated over and over again.

Sitting on the roof on the far side of the courtyard, I looked out at Celestia and Luna eyeing the humans’ work. Sipping my drink through the straw, I watched as Celestia lowered her sun, and Luna lifted her moon. A grin crossed my face as they saw the special surprise the humans had left for the Princess of the Night.

Lowering the cup, I leaned towards my companion, not taking my eyes off of the horrified alicorns, “You think they were expecting that?”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning to look at me, her own straw stuck in her mouth. “The glow-in-the-dark paint?” I nodded my head, taking another sip through the straw. “Nah,” she smirked, leaning back and placing her hooves behind her head as she enjoyed her beverage. “They never saw it coming!”

As I watched the princesses for several more seconds, I chewed on the inside of my cheek before leaning towards Rainbow again, “How long do you think it’ll take before they realize the paint has a waterproof spell cast on it?”

“Any second now.” I gave Rainbow a confused look before turning back to the princesses, only to find Celestia’s horn lit up and a stream of water flowing from it to the tower. My smile grew as—in her desperation—more and more water gushed from Celestia’s horn.

“Dude, this is by far the best prank we have ever pulled,” Rainbow crooned. “I can’t believe you convinced them to do this!”

“I know, right? I’m just glad we opted for the extra glow-in-the-dark paint; we barely had enough of the yellow.” Below us, Celestia and Luna were trying to burn the paint off with magical fire. This, however, just caused the paint to glow brighter, and even spark a little, making the words look like they were actually neon signs.

“What did you do with all the extra paint?” Rainbow asked, taking her eyes off of the scene before us to look at me. I gave her a sideways smirk.

“Let’s just say I may have let slip where one Princess Twilight Sparkle lived in Ponyville,” I said, taking another sip of soda. “And the humans were more than happy to show ‘Sparklebutt’ their respect.”

“You didn’t,” Rainbow cooed, the glee clear on her face.

“Twilight should be getting back from Pinkie’s party right… about…”

“MAX!!!” A scream split the night air, echoing up from the small town of Ponyville below. The castle shook at the sheer force of the shout.

“...now,” I grinned, sitting back against the roof. Rainbow rolled around, laughing her flank off.

“Oh, this is too rich,” she choked, barely able to breathe due to laughing so hard. “I don’t know how we’re going to beat this!” I opened my mouth to respond, but froze when a shadow fell upon us as something large blocked out the light of the moon. Rainbow stopped laughing instantly; her eyes going wide as she stared up at something just over my shoulder. By the look of horror on her face, I knew it couldn’t be good. Swallowing nervously, I slowly turned my head around and glanced over my shoulder.

Celestia loomed above me, her wings spread wide as she hovered in the air. Her eyes glowed pure white as she glared down at me and Rainbow, her horn pulsing with golden energy. My blood ran cold as I stared up at the angry sun goddess.

“Here,” she growled, her voice causing the very air around us to thrum with power. “Allow the Glorious Sunbutt to help… enlighten you!”

“Aw… buck.”