Summer Sentinel

A thin smile graced her lips as she examined the coat of dust that had come to cover the plate from top to bottom. It was rude to the suit, of course, and rude to its creator, but she left it all the same. It was, to her, a sign of her success, of all the decades that her leadership had forestalled war and strife reaching Equestria. For as long as she could, Celestia would shine like the sun, and keep the lands and ponies she had worked so hard for safe.

~oOo~

So here we are again. Another half journey around the sun, our moody but unyielding anchor in the cosmos. This year, we had the opportunity to watch the reincarnation of Cosmos, which did a fantastic job of capturing the wonder not only of the scope and possibility of the known and unknown universe, but told our maturation to our current day as a tale of mighty accomplishment, with a still more glorious accomplishment to go. In the words of the show's original creator, I believe "it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

Why do I bring this up? Well for starters, I followed Summer Sun Celebration customs and stayed up until sunrise, so I'm working on about 4 hours of sleep. But more importantly, I believe we, as whatever group we might identify as, have come to some understanding that kindness, imagination, and wonder are not the misgivings of children, but the driving powers of our people. So today, on this longest of days, and hopefully all days, give someone a smile, or do something kind for another. And give our sun, the closest we have to a cosmic parent, a nod of thanks for carrying us through the cold and the dark.