It had been a long day for Celestia.

Stepping out onto her private balcony just off of her bedroom, she sighed heavily as she let her shoulders and wings droop. The nobles had been especially tiresome today. Even after over a millennium of ruling, there was no easy way to deal with it. She was fairly used to the vigorous toil that came with being a Princess, but sometimes certain days just let her feeling more exhausted than usual.

This was one such day.

It was about to get better though. Court was over, the nobles were gone, and she was now alone in her room. All alone. No plans, no obligations. Just peace and quiet and nothing.

Perfection.

When her assistant, Raven, asked her if she had any plans for the evening, she had given Celestia a sad look when informed that the Solar Princess had nothing planned save for being by herself. She had offered to stay with Celestia and chat, and even went as far as to invite Celestia over for dinner.

“Lily would be thrilled to see you,” Raven had said, mentioning her four-year-old filly.

Celestia had declined with a smile. When she said she had nothing planned, she didn’t mean that she had nothing planned; she meant that she planned to do nothing. Nothing but relax, let down her hair, and maybe roll about on the floor and scratch her back. No plans, what-so-ever. A nice change of pace, really.

But first, the sun needed to go down.

Standing in the middle of the balcony, Celestia turned her gaze upwards to the heavens. Her sun, now positioned near the horizon, was casting a fiery-orange light across the land, elongating shadows and causing clouds to take on the appearance of little embers in the sky. The sunset always excited Celestia. For the longest time it signalled the beginning of night, which meant that she could see Luna again, even if only a silhouette on the moon. But now, ever since her sister’s return, it signalled something else: the beginning of Night Court, which in turn signalled the Celestia didn’t have to deal with anything anymore until sunrise.

It was now all Luna’s problem.

Lighting up her horn, Celestia reached out and gently nudge the sun below the horizon. Faithfully, the orb sank, giving way to the darkness that was to be Luna’s canvas. Even as she retracted her magic, Celestia sensed her sister beginning her work from her own tower. Stars began to blink into existence against the purple-black backdrop, constellations forming even as she watched. It was breathtaking to watch, in Celestia’s opinion. Luna was always better at making the night sky; Celestia just didn’t have the artistic patience for such thing. She just slapped the stars up there and called it good. It was Luna who commanded the night, the stars dancing for her as she conducted them with precision and grace.

Celestia continued to watch the show before her, even giggling softly to herself as a few shooting stars streaked across the sky. Luna must be in a playful mood this evening.

After a few minutes, all the stars finally emerged and took their proper places. Now it was time for the prima donna to take the stage.

The moon was shy at first, slowly inching its way above the horizon as if hesitant to take its place. The sight brought a small smile to Celestia face. Luna only ever played around when she was putting on a show for someone. She did it for Cadance when they first met, and she did it for Twilight as a ‘thank-you’ for the wonderful night she had during her first Nightmare Night. Who are you trying to entertain tonight, Luna?

The moon continued to be reluctant to appear for a few more second before suddenly, and at great speed, zipping high into the sky. It came to a stop, and the smile instantly left Celestia’s face as she beheld what was on the face of the moon. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and even her hair lost its magical property in shock.

She stare up at the moon for several minutes, mouth opening and closing wordlessly until she finally found her voice.

“LUNA!”

The doors to Luna’s bedroom flew open and Celestia marched in. She was trying to keep her anger in check until she had the full story, but steam was still escaping from her nostrils with each snort-like breath. Glancing around, she spotted Luna standing on her balcony with her back to the room. Celestia’s eyes narrowed when she saw that Max and Spike were standing there as well, all three of the balcony’s occupants staring up at the newly-rising moon. None of them turned around when Celestia entered.

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Luna?”

“Hmmm, yes, dear sister?” Luna asked, turning her head slightly, although not enough for Celestia to see her face. “Can we help thee with something?”

“Luna,” Celestia began as she walked slowly towards the balcony, “I’ve had a long day, and I would like nothing more than to unwind a little and relax.”

“Certainly, sister,” Luna said with a nod. “We completely understand, and shall not bother you this evening.”

“I appreciate that Luna, I really do, but I have to ask you something first.”

“And what might that be, dear sister?”

Celestia couldn’t be sure, but Max was shaking slightly, almost like he was trying to hold in his laughter.

“Luna, have you seen the moon this evening?” she asked.

“Of course, sister. We raised it ourself not five minutes ago.”

“And did you happen to notice anything unusual about the moon?”

“We must say that we did not, Tia. To our eyes, the moon appears like it normally does each night.”

“I see…” Celestia said slowly before trailing off. She was now standing behind Luna on the balcony, and she had a clear view of the moon in the sky far above. “Then tell me, dear sister,” she continued, her voice calm yet icy. “Why, pray tell, does the moon have a mustache?”

And it was true, for there, upon the moon’s surface, was the silhouette of a very large—and very proper—mustache.

“Oh, does it?” Luna said cocking her head to the side. “Hmmm, so it does. Well, wouldst thou look at that!”

“Luna, why is there a mustache on the moon?” Celestia asked, rubbing her muzzle with a hoof.

“Because the beard didn’t work,” Luna answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Luna…” Celestia closed her eyes and groaned. She could feel a headache coming on.

“Yes?” Luna asked as she turned around.

Celestia opened her mouth to reprimand her sister, only to close it again with a click as she stared wide-eyed at her sister. Or more specifically, her sister’s face. There, on Luna’s upper lip, was an exact replica of the same mustache that adorned the moon’s surface, drawn in black marker.

“Luna… what’s with the mustache?” Celestia asked, feeling like a broken record player.

“It’s not a mustache, Tia,” Luna said with a large, shit-eating grin. “It’s a moonstache!”

Celestia felt her eye twitch.

“What… is with… the moonstache?” she asked through gritted teeth, practically spitting the last word out.

“We simply wish to match our friends, dear sister,” Luna said, motioning towards Max and Spike, who had turned around as well. Upon glancing at them, Celestia felt her blood pressure spike. Spike was bearing a large fake mustache, while Max had shaved most of his facial hair, leaving behind only the hair on his lip. All three mustachioed faces smiled innocently at her, all while the defiled moon still loomed over head.

Celestia felt her eye twitch again.

“Are you alright, sister?” Luna asked with faux concern.

“Oh yes, I’m perfectly fine, Luna,” she answered, her voice shrill.

“Oh good,” Luna said, nodding happily. “We were worried there for a second.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Celestia repeated. “The moon just has a giant mustache on it. It’s not a big deal; it’s not like I can already hear all the complaints and inquiries I’m going to get tomorrow about this, especially from the Astronomers Committee. Nope, nothing is wrong. Everything is peachy. In fact, why don’t we just add a monocle and call it good, huh? Huh?!” *twitch twitch twitch*

Luna gasped, her face lighting up. “Sister, that’s genius!” With an excited smile, she turned to Max who was already fishing something out of his pocket. That something turned out to be a black marker which he immediately uncapped. Leaning forward, he began to draw a monocle around Luna’s right eye. As he was doing so, a large monocle began to appear on the moon, almost as if a massive, invisible marker was drawing it there as well.

With his drawing complete, Max capped the marker again and leaned back to examine his work.

“There,” he said, holding back his laughter. “A monocle… no, wait. A moonocle!”

Amidst the laughter of all three mustached hoodlums, Celestia stood there, her eye twitching and the vein in her forehead throbbing. As Max began to draw a monocle first on Spike, and then on himself, she began to wonder how long Twilight would hate her if she just pushed the human off the balcony. Maybe if she gave him a grand funeral, a hero’s pyre, and made a large monument in his honor, Twilight might forgive her within a decade… maybe less. She could live with that—

She froze as Max suddenly reached over and quickly drew a mustache across Celestia’s upper lip and a monocle around her right eye. He even added an extra flair by scribbling a goatee on her chin before retreating. The trio’s laughter increased.

Scratch that previous thought.

They would never find his body.