It was noon, and the sun was still nowhere to be seen in the sky. However, that did nothing to discourage the ponies of Canterlot, or other regions of Equestria for that matter, from reveling in the festivities, unconcerned about the uncharacteristic darkness. In place of the sun, street lamps and magelights, which had been provided by the large unicorn population of the Capital, lit up the night so that the ponies of the city could dance merrily in the darkened roads.

Why was the land shadowed? Well, because it was Luna’s Day, of course.

Queen Celestia looked down at the ponies enjoying their holiday and smiled softly. This was certainly one of her greatest ideas. It had struck her one night that one of the things that her sister had truly wanted was for her little ponies to be less fearful of the night. That was when the idea came to her.

Why not create a holiday specifically for her sister? That it was coincidentally on the same day every year as Luna had been banished and was destined to return was just a bonus. By utilizing her link to the sun, the alicorn had made it possible for the great magical ball of gasses to fill the sky, yet not touch Equestria with its light; all while still allowing it to shine down upon the rest of the world.

The eldest alicorn continued to watch the ponies dance and play in the darkness for a little while longer before she turned from the balcony, her heart simultaneously gladdened and aching with pain.

It had been... three hundred years now since Luna had been sent away, and Celestia’s mind had begun to finally heal from the great loss. She no longer woke up with tears in her eyes or a wetness on her pillow. For the most part.... she had put Luna to the back of her mind and gotten back to the duty of ruling the country.

Of course, today was one of the days that she allowed herself time off. If nothing else, the thought of doing something involved with governing on a day like today would dilute the point of celebrating her sister.

The mare continued down the hallway, her tail and mane flowing gently in the ethereal breeze that seemed ever-present around her, until she came to a setting that she was most familiar with. It was the castle gardens. She walked out among the greenery, her thoughts turning once more to her sister, and the steps she had taken to ensure that her return would be a joyful one.

Firstly, and Celestia had hated to do it, she had re-written the history books. Luna was not the leader of a hated rebellion. Instead, she had been the leader of an army of ponies who had set out to bring to justice all the wickedness that lay in the night and preyed on ponies. The mare let out a small sigh. Luna would have approved of that course. Celestia thought as much, at any rate.

As for the reason why Luna was absent... she had thrown herself through a portal to the land of the dark, in order to better combat those that lived within. She was, of course, prophesied to return one day, and it was because of that Luna’s Day had been created, as a celebration of her triumph and return.

It was... meant to be a clean slate for her sister, a chance to reinvent herself, when she did finally return. Celestia hoped that she would understand that, and not be too angry with her for diluting the truth. She didn’t think Luna would... but she had been wrong before, in matters such as that.

Hopefully, any ruffled feathers could be fixed simply by the existence of Luna’s Day, even Celestia had no holidays directly named after her. The mare let out a small dry chuckle at that. To be honest, after three hundred years of ruling Equestria by herself, she didn’t want a ‘holiday’ named after her. She didn’t deserve one. During her time on the throne, she’d failed her sister, killed hundreds, and been forced to put down not one, but two rebellions. It was hardly a good record. Not in the least deserving of a holiday.

She continued walking through the gardens. Taking time to admire the Lunar Lilies, a type of beautiful iridescent white flower which only bloomed once a year, and simply enjoying the night, as she walked beneath the stars.

It was... peaceful and quiet here. Peace.... that was something that Celestia adored. She’d been working towards it for the last hundred years. All the while, she had also been pushing social changes that she liked to think were progressive.

When the Xanthos Uprising had been put down, Celestia was surprised, though not entirely shocked, to find that several higher level nobles had been traitors. In Celestia’s mind, this was the final straw. All of her life, a noble of some kind or another had been a thorn in her side. She’d decided to put a stop to it. Permanently.

The Queen had gone about tearing down, and then re-building, the system upon which the noble houses functioned and existed in general. The biggest example of this rebuilding effort was the way in which nobles gained and kept power. Celestia had done away with the classical inheritance system, and replaced it with a meritocracy.

Instead of simply inheriting their power and prestige when they came of age, young nobles had to earn it. Instead they were forced to either prove their selflessness and intelligence fighting on the borders of Equestria or through academic achievements and great acts of charity towards real causses. If they failed to do that by the time they were eighteen, then the wealth, power, and land of the House was stripped away and those undeserving were cast out to the streets. Of course, as a result, many of the older houses had collapsed within the span of five years, as their unsuccessful heirs failed.

In their place had risen a slew of ‘commoners’ who had proved time and again to be better, and in Celestia’s private opinion, smarter than the old aristocracy. That’s not to say of course that every noble house had been gutted. The Bluebloods, for example, had merged with Clover’s direct line, and remained highly influential. They had produced a large number of scholars, ambassadors, politicians and military officers, as well as the current Archmage.

Celestia smiled softly at the thought, she’d always known that old Blueblood was a good soldier and general, but when his family had merged with Clover’s, she’d recognized that they’d go far. It did her good to know that she hadn’t been a total failure in the long run. Her eyes glanced up towards the pregnant moon in the sky and she let out a long sigh. Why she did so didn’t need to be said.

She was just about done in the gardens, ready to return to her chambers to look over the latest legislation from the still relatively young Parliament, when she heard an odd sound. It was the sound of an immense weight landing nearby.

Oh no. What now? she thought to herself worriedly as she began to gallop in the direction of the sound, her armour and sword appearing on her as her horn lit up. This wouldn’t be the first time that a monster of some sort had decided that the ‘pretty house’ would make a fine place to live and she’d had to displace several. In retrospect... including a courtyard big enough for a large dragon to land in when the castle was built had been an awful idea.

Thankfully, it didn’t take her long to arrive at said courtyard and she was greeted by a surprisingly welcome sight. Sitting patiently, surrounded by several dozen armed guards who looked to be on the urge of panicking was a great purple scaled dragon.

He was taller than the castle itself at this point, dragons growing with every year they live, and his wings would have blotted out the sun if they’d been opened. His claws were now the size of pikes and his green eyes looked down at the assembled guards with what Celestia knew was amusement.

“Did you know that I once destroyed five of the most powerful unicorn mages of the time at once?” he asked the nearest guard conversationally, his voice calm and pleasant, “The blighters were trying to kidnap my dear adopted daughters, and you know I just couldn’t be having that. So, I broiled them alive.”

The guard’s face had paled and all he managed was a small nod and an ‘eep’ noise. That was when the dragon noticed Celestia who had already banished her armor and sword.

“Tia!” he said with a wide grin as he bent his frankly huge head down to gently nuzzle her.

The experience of being nuzzled by fully grown dragon is said to be like that of facing down a charging fire breathing rhino, which also happens to be part dragon. Celestia, of course, just nuzzled right back. The smooth scales of his jaw rubbed across her soft fur, and she smiled, as a hundred years of memories sprang back into the forefront her head.

“Father, it’s so good to see you,” Celestia replied once he’d pulled away. Then she turned to her guards who were staring slack jawed at her, “That will be all, everypony. Thank you for keeping my adopted father company.”

“Yo-your Majesty ar-are you sure?” one of the guards asked, obviously terrified at the prospect of staying any longer, but also equally loyal to his ruler. Celestia smiled gracefully at him.

“Yes, Sergeant Pepper, I’m very sure,” she replied with a nod, “I’ll call if I need anything.”

“A-aye Ma’am,” the stallion said before he backed away slowly followed by the other guards. It didn’t take them long to disperse, and soon, Celestia was alone with her favorite dragon.

“Well done, Tia. You’ve created a group of guards who will willingly face down a dragon for you,” Jonathan said with a smile, displaying his great sword-sized teeth, “I’m impressed.”

“Thank you father,” Celestia replied with a wide smile, “I do my best.”

“So I’ve heard,” the dragon said, patting the ground beside him softly and offering her a seat. Celestia walked over and sat down, leaning against his warm smooth scales, “Ah, Tia, it’s good to see you again,” Jonathan told her in an affectionate tone.

“And the same to you, father,” Celestia said, as she enjoyed the natural warmth of the dragon’s side, “How long has it been now?”

“Roughly three hundred years, if my reckoning is correct,” he replied, while glancing down at her with a small concerned look, “Since you expelled Luna.”

“Ah... right,” she said, looking down, “I came to you weeping, if I remember correctly.”

“Indeed. You drank all of my tea, too,” he added with a small nod, “Not that I blame you, of course my dear. Still, it was very impressive.”

Celestia chuckled softly.

“How much was it, again?” she asked him.

“Enough to drown a dragon, or twenty,” Jonathan answered with a chuckle of his own, “It took me years to restock.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Celestia replied.

“Think nothing of it,” he said dismissively, “I understand completely, never did blame you.”

“Thank you, father,” she said, letting out a small sigh, and leaning her head against his side.

“You’re very welcome,” he replied as he carefully brought a single claw down to gently stroke down her back, “Now, I heard some rumors lately about you putting down a rebellion of some sort?”

“That was a hundred years ago, father,” Celestia told him with a small sigh, “It was not exactly a ‘fun’ time.”

“Being a leader never is,” Jonathan stated, “Like I said long ago; if you ever grow tired of all these prattling fools, my cave is always open.”

Celestia smiled and gave his scales a soft kiss, “I know, father, and I thank you for that...” she trailed off and sighed, “But I cannot leave my little ponies to their own devices. What if Discord breaks free once again, and there is nopony around capable of fighting him?”

“I suppose that they’d all suffer horribly,” the dragon replied, shaking his great head, “And we couldn’t have that now could we?”

“No indeed,” the mare agreed, “So... as much as I’d like to think you came here simply to spend time with me, I can’t help but imagine that there’s a reason behind this visit?”

His eye ridges rose a bit in slight amusement.

“Can’t a dragon just take the time to spend with his only daughter still in Equestria?” he asked her.

“Of course he can,” she answered, “But we both know that getting here is hard for you and you wouldn’t have done it unless you were either very lonely or had something very important to tell me.”

Jonathan let out a small sigh and a plume of smoke washed over her, neither settling on her coat nor making her eyes water, before it was blown away by the night’s breeze. “I sometimes wish you weren’t quite so perceptive, Tia,” the old dragon said, “It makes it very difficult to surprise you.”

“Surprise me?” she asked with a frown, “With what?”

The dragon grinned at her as he reached up to his neck where a small bag had been fastened on a golden chain. With gentle claws he plucked it from around his scaly neck and brought it down to rest in front of Celestia. She frowned, the bag was made of black leather, a large emerald clasp keeping it shut.

“It is... something that I need you to safeguard for me,” Jonathan told her.

“What is it?” Celestia inquired with a small frown as she continued to eye the bag.

“Open it, and find out,” he replied. Celestia’s horn began to glow and her golden aura opened the emerald clasp and drew the bag into the air before turning it upside down. From within the bag, caught in her magic before it could hit the ground, was an object which caused Celestia to stare.

It was a large egg. It’s smooth surface was a light purple interspaced with the occasional darker purple spots. Warmth exuded from within it, even through her magic field, Celestia could sense the life within it. She stared at it for a moment before looking up at Jonathan with a wide grin on her face.

“Yours?” she asked.

“No, Tia. I stole it,” he snarked at her with a small grin, “Of course it’s mine. Barb finally managed it.”

“Well... give her my congratulations,” Celestia replied. Barb was her ‘foster mother’ of sorts.

They’d never particularly liked each other, mostly due to the fact that Barb had been apparently infertile, and felt like Jonathan was trying to force her into adopting ponies, in place of an actual hatchling. As for Celestia, she’d just never enjoyed the large green dragon’s company, she was seemingly always grouchy.

“I will,” Jonathan replied, smiling a bit. Celestia smiled back and then looked back at the egg.

“So... why did you bring this here to me?” she asked him, with a confused tone, “I thought Barb would have wanted to keep it very close to her.”

Jonathan sighed. “Unfortunately, the process of carrying and delivering has left her very tired. Enough to force her into hibernation...” he trailed off and shook his head, “You know how we dragons become, when we grow too old.”

“Ah,” Celestia replied, nodding.

The older a dragon was, the harder it was for them to retain the energy to do much strenuous activity without a constant supply of food. Even with that, if something hard on the body happened, they were almost guaranteed to fall into a deep sleep, known as hibernation. Sometimes, they only slept for days... and sometimes, for centuries.

“Exactly,” he told her, “And unfortunately, I am not far behind her. I have only enough energy in me to get home once more and then I’ll be out like a light for who knows how long.”

“So, you want me to look after your egg, and make sure that the hatchling is raised right?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Jonathan replied with a nod, “The normal term is around six to seven hundred years, without a proper female to watch it. Keep it warm, and pump as much magic into it as you can. When it hatches, the wyrmling will require a meal of ground diamonds and rubies, along with some form of meat, and about a gallon of blood. From that point on, it will require a steady diet of gems and meat until the age of ten, where it will switch to a purely gem based diet for the next hundred years, when it begins to hunger for flesh again.”

Celestia nodded, as she caused a pen and a piece of parchment to appeared before her, quickly writing it all down.

“Remember to give them a hoard of some kind, but not a very large one. No one wants to deal with a greedy prepubescent dragon,” Jonathan continued before frowning, “Oh right, and do remember to make sure that he or she is kept somewhere fireproof.”

“I think I can manage that,” Celestia said with a small chuckle, “I take it you’re expecting to be asleep for a great deal of this drake’s childhood?”

“Sadly, given my age I’m likely to be asleep for the next seven hundred and fifty years,” Jonathan agreed with a small nod, “Oh what I would not give to be young again.”

“You and me both,” Celestia replied, earning a rumbling chuckle from Jonathan.

“Tia, my dear... Compared to me, you are a filly,” the dragon told her before he bent down to nuzzle her again, “Of course, you’re my filly so I don’t particularly mind.”

The mare smiled at him and nuzzled back. They stayed like that for a long moment, his great purple head lightly touching against her own white one before he withdrew it. “Well, my dear, I must be off, I sense myself growing tire, and I do not want to plummet out of the sky. Your ponies would find it quite annoying to have someone as large as I sleeping in the middle of their fields.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, I can see how that would cause a great deal of issues, most of which would probably require my hoof to clear up,” she told him.

“And we would hate that,” he agreed before moving his muzzle slightly so that he could give her a final nuzzle. Celestia kissed his cheek and he smiled, “I will see you in several centuries Celestia; I look forward to seeing my dear Luna again.”

“I... Yes, father,” Celestia replied with a soft smile of her own, “Good night, and sweet dreams.”

“And the same to you,” the dragon replied lightly before he took a lumbering step back away from her and flapped his massive wings. Celestia was almost knocked over by the gust of wind that he kicked up, however she and the egg in her grasp remained grounded firmly. She watched as he rose up into the night sky and hovered there for a moment before, with a rapid flap of his wings, his purple bulk vanished.

Celestia stood there in the cool air for a moment or two, suddenly feeling very alone. Then her gaze drifted to the egg, and she smiled.

“Well, little one, why don’t we see if I can’t fix you up a nice place to stay hmm?” Celestia asked it in an almost cooing voice. The egg didn’t answer, but Celestia felt a small portion of warmth glow within it in her direction. She smiled and carried her precious cargo out of the night and into the castle.