‘Do you have the Elements ready?’ Celestia asked.

‘Yes, of course. Everything’s ready in case of emergency,’ Twilight replied.

They were standing in a large meadow set at the edge of the Everfree forest. All was quiet. The sky was blue. Birds sang. The sun blazed overhead. Twilight scanned the surroundings.

‘Are you sure about the place… and the time?’ she asked.

‘Absolutely. I have redone my calculations at least five times. She will materialise here in… Errr…’ She hesitated, looked up at the sun. ‘… well, any moment now,’ she concluded.

‘Okay,’ Twilight said.



The sun had cruised across the sky.

‘What did you say about your calculations?’ Twilight asked.

Celestia did not answer.

‘Why didn’t you let me— wait!’ Twilight suddenly exclaimed. ‘What’s that over there?’

She was pointing at a speck of light that had just appeared in the eastern sky.

‘That must be her,’ Celestia said. ‘Get ready!’

They both watched the speck grow as it closed in, grow, grow, until it was plain that this was not Nightmare Moon, but something much larger.

‘What in Equestria is this?’ Twilight asked. That's not a pony. That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Is that a vehicle of sorts?

Celestia was silent, her eyes locked on the approaching object.

Seconds later the mystery resolved into a large vessel, painted in blue, with crescent moons painted on its flanks. It sped down until it came hovering over the field, then moved downwards and landed. This close, it looked gigantic. A gangway swivelled out of the fuselage, unfolded and smashed into the ground. The hatch above it hinged open to a patch of darkness, from which Luna loomed out. She blinked several times, reached into a pouch and fished out sunglasses that she put on.

‘WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?’ Luna boomed from her lofty platform, swaying her head to and fro. ‘WHERE IS THE FANFARE? WHERE IS THE CROWD? WHERE IS THE PRESS? WHERE ARE THE SERVANTS?’

Celestia cocked her head towards Twilight. ‘Things have changed a little since her departure,’ she whispered. ‘She appears to be normal. Stand down. You can put the Elements away.’

Luna walked down the gangway to the ground.

‘Come on, sis,’ Luna said. ‘This welcome party is pathetic.’ She looked at Twilight. ‘A fallow field? One pony? Did everyone else die?’

She turned to Twilight: ‘And who are you, by the way? I don’t know you.’

Twilight was gaping at the spacecraft.

‘She’s Twilight Sparkle,’ Celestia answered before Twilight realised Luna had asked her something. ‘My new pupil.’

‘Aha!’ Luna said. ‘What happened to the previous one… Sun… Sun something? Sundial Gazer? Can’t remember. Did you eat her up, as you used to before I left?’ She giggled.

Celestia coughed into her hoof, studiously avoiding Twilight's suddenly horrified glare. ‘I… can we move on?’ she finally said.

Luna lifted her sunglasses, ogled at Twilight and walked round her. ‘You still have good taste,’ she said. She jabbed Twilight in the flank. ‘This one is a bit lanky, though. I prefer them more… plump?’ She bent over to Twilight’s ear. ‘Leave that goody-two-shoes of my sister,’ she whispered. ‘Come with me. I’ll teach you unbelievable magic and… much more!’

Twilight cast a desperate look at Celestia.

‘Heyyy!’ Celestia protested. ‘She was mine first.’

Luna huffed. ‘Always so possessive,’ she grumbled. ‘You’ve not changed in a millennium.’

Celestia harrumphed. ‘So! Tell me, how was your stay?’

‘Busy and refreshing,’ Luna replied.

‘How so?’ Celestia asked.

‘You didn’t expect me to sleep and sunbathe all this time, did you? I have built up a full-fledged seaside resort… Here!’ She fished out from her pouch two brochures, handed one to her sister and one to Twilight. ‘It’s only a draft, the final, full-colour version should be in print next week.’

Twilight and Celestia took their booklet. Their eyes widened.

‘Mare Tranquillitatis Lunar Resort?’

‘Absolutely,’ Luna said. ‘Sea of tranquility. Doesn’t it sound fabulous for a weekend far from Equestria’s hustle and bustle?’

‘How’s that going to work?’ Celestia asked.

‘Scheduled flights, of course!’ Luna said. ‘You’ll have to find a suitable plot to build an astroport near Canterlot, though. I can’t do all by myself, you must do your part, too. We share investment, we share benefits. Deal?’

‘A what!?’ Celestia exclaimed.

‘An astroport. You don’t expect me to land my ships in the back of the beyond like this place, I hope!’

‘Well…’ Celestia hesitated, but Twilight interrupted.

‘But,’ she said, ‘the seas on the moon are not real. That’s just names. There’s no water up there!’

‘Ooooh,’ Luna said. ‘This one seems to be smarter than your average pupil. Did you grow a fondness for brainiacs?’

She looked at Celestia, who smirked, ever-so-slightly.

‘Well, miss Smarty,’ Luna continued, ‘the truth is, ponies don’t care about water. They care about the beach. They want a beach, I’ll give them a beach! Bigger than any on Equestria.’

‘Nudist beach?’ Celestia let out, reading the brochure.

‘Yes,’ Luna said, turning to her. ‘It’s important to address the needs of every community, if we want to extract extra revenue.’

‘But,’ Twilight objected again. ‘There is no air on the moon. You have to wear suits to go outside. How can you advertise for a nudist beach under these conditions?’

‘My dear… Errr… Starlight Marble, is it?’ Luna replied. Twilight opened her mouth but Luna didn’t give her time to speak: ‘Yes, a nudist beach for ponies in suits. It’s all about redefining the experience of the nudist beach, leveraging the exoticism of the destination. Believe me, one or two advertorials in selected magazines, a few radio interviews and Bob’s your uncle! Everything can be sold with a proper advertising campaign.’

‘It’s “Twilight Sparkle”,’ Twilight said.

‘What?’ Luna exclaimed.

‘Never mind.’ Twilight rolled her eyes.

‘Besides,’ Luna carried on, ‘no air means no clouds. No clouds mean no blotted sun, thus no need to consult the weather forecast. 100% sunny, guaranteed by design.’

‘But,’ Twilight said again, ‘it will never work. Who wants to sunbathe in suits?’

Luna turned to Celestia. ‘You have a knack for picking up the fussiest,’ she said. Turning back to Twilight: ‘Except if you say to them that they won’t need sunscreen. You know what a pain sunscreen can be. Sticky, smelly, ruins your coat.’

Twilight sighed and returned to the reading of the brochure.

‘What’s a “casino”?’ Celestia asked.

‘A gambling facility,’ Luna replied.

‘But gambling is forbidden in Equestria!’ Celestia scowled at Luna.

‘This is extraterritorial,’ Luna said. ‘Outside your jurisdiction. Besides, it’s a huge means to make money!’

Celestia jerked her head up from the brochure and gazed at her sister. ‘How so?’

‘Haha,’ Luna said. ‘It seems I have struck a chord. Elementary. You take the money, give some back in prizes and keep the rest. The trick is to give back enough so that it seems enticing, while keeping enough for the scheme to be profitable. It could mean hundreds of thousands of bits each day right into the treasury safes!’

Celestia’s eyes widened. ‘What did you say?’

‘Wait, that’s not all!’ Luna carried on. ‘A few hours gambling, and those ponies will become parched. We need to slake their thirst. That’s where we play our second trump card: moonshine!’

‘Moonshine?’ Celestia repeated

‘Absolutely. But not the usual, shoddy booze. Finest quality, branded, certified local. Even the glass is made from locally sourced sand. What a souvenir to bring back from the stay! But the secret is this: 300% margin and over that 200% taxes. Imagine the daily revenue. Jackpot! With all that money, you’ll be able to renovate Canterlot castle from the ground up in no time! And the concept can be further developed!’

‘How so?’ Celestia asked.

‘Multi-sized packages, multi-tier labels, special boxes with extra goodies like a card signed by us both, flavoured specialities… Possibilities are endless, as long as money keeps flowing in,’ Luna answered.

‘Oooh,’ Twilight said, ‘and you can even visit the distillery?’

‘Of course. Guided visits through the large copper alembics, with full details about the fabrication from fermentation through distillation. It’s important to keep the customer engaged with the product. It creates a sense of appropriation. Later on, while drinking at home, they can always show off about their visit. That gives a gloss of cultural experience.’

‘But all this is not about culture,’ Twilight observed.

‘You’re wrong, my little cutie,’ Luna replied. ‘If you want to attract the high-end segment, you can’t simply leverage a gated-in part of the beach or luxury rooms. You have to provide added cultural payload, so that the aristocracy can flaunt their doing more than mere amusement. Don’t worry, I address this in two different manners, plus maybe a third one I’m currently assessing.’

‘Go ahead,’ Twilight said.

‘The first asset is the Nightmare Moon museum, where—’

‘What?!’ Celestia blurted. ‘The Nightmare Moon museum?’

Luna shrugged. ‘Yes, what of it? You didn’t expect me to throw all the paraphernalia in the bin, did you? Each object has been thoroughly curated and properly showcased along an hour-long visit contextualising each item with proper historical background.’ She turned towards Celestia. ’I count on you to enrich the collection further, by the way, it would make it more attractive.’ She carried on: ‘It also features a collection of age-old photographs of the moon I took myself at my arrival, then at various stages of later development. Gripping testimony to my own creative genius, if you allow me.’

‘And,’ Twilight added, ‘I suppose there’s a shop at the end of visit.’

Luna smiled. ‘You’re quick on the uptake, aren’t you? I think you and I could really hit it off. Yes, of course, there is. Want to help me finalise that?’

Twilight squirmed uneasily.

‘Consider it,’ Luna said to Twilight. Then she went on. ‘That was asset number one. Asset number two is still work in progress. It’s a large dome, pressurised, featuring a reconstructed crater, but arranged as an ancient amphitheater. I’ve named it “The Crat’air”. Seriously, can you imagine ancient plays or operas in such a decor? The scenery? The perfect starry sky over the earthlit dome? It’s nothing short of grandiose. They’ll fight for tickets.’

‘And what’s asset number three?’ Celestia asked.

‘This one is only at project stage right now, but it has a rather curious story. Well, one month ago I was musing on my way when I tripped over something hard jutting off the ground. I turned around and was about to shoot it when I was somehow puzzled by its shape: a perfectly engineered, sharp shard of dark material, like the apex of a buried cube or something. I decided to dig the sand all around and here is what I found.’

She rummaged in her pouch, fished a photograph out that she handed to Celestia.

‘Ooooh,’ Celestia exclaimed.

‘Can I see it, can I see it?’ Twilight squealed.

The picture drifted from Celestia’s hooves to Twilight’s.

In the middle of a deep excavation plot, a black, spotless slab of unknown height was standing, bare under the sky. Its edges were smooth and glossy.

‘What’s this?’ Twilight wondered, speaking to herself. ‘It looks ancient, but it seems to be perfectly manufactured. It’s paleopony age, but not paleopony culture.’

‘Perplexing, isn’t it?’ Luna said. ‘It’s definitely not lunar rock. I have no memories of burying something that large in this area — or anywhere else for that matter. Nor would I have allowed anypony to discard their own trash in a moon landfill. Who placed it there and then buried it, and for what reason, I have no clue.’

‘Did you try and touch it?’ Twilight asked.

‘Well I was about to when something peculiar happened. The slab shouted out.’

‘What?’ Twilight blurted.

‘I mean, not shouted as with a voice of course. But something definitely reached out, and rather than hearing it, I sensed it with my horn, like a tickling feeling. Maybe that was waves of amusement, if that makes any sense?’

Twilight suddenly looked alarmed. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes, yes, but don’t worry. It was a one-off. Since then, it’s been completely inert. So I can’t use it as entertaining material. Rather, I think if we could move it out and set it in a pedestal in the middle of that landscape, it could be the pinnacle of a guided tour of the moon.’

‘Don’t move it!’ Twilight protested. ‘There might be a hidden mechanism inside.’

‘Ooooh,’ Luna said. ‘I didn’t think about that.’

‘If I could…’ Twilight said.

‘If you could what?’ Luna asked.

‘If I could, I would inquire myself,’ Twilight concluded.

‘Hmmm…’ Luna thought. ‘How about that: I need somepony to work on the website for the resort. Now you seem the kind of pony who’s a natural for the job. Come with me and code the website, and I’ll give you all the extra time you need to research the slab. Deal?’

‘Where do I sign?’ Twilight asked.

‘Get on, lass, we’re leaving then and there,’ Luna said.

Twilight leaped forward, climbed up the gangway and hopped inside the ship.

‘So long, sister!’ Luna said, following suit. ‘Business calls. I’ll tell you when we’re ready!’

Without even waiting for an answer, she spun and walked inside. The airlock door closed, the gangway retracted and the ship took off almost immediately.

Celestia watched it vanish in the distance, speechless and stumped.



Twilight was looking through the window at the receding earth.

‘Ooops…’ she suddenly exclaimed.

‘What is it?’ Luna asked. ‘Did you leave something behind?’

‘Mind you, I just realised I didn’t even say goodbye to her,’ she said, and turned back to her contemplation.