[Courtship] Apparition x Celestia

Celestia had found one of her favorite places to spend the afternoon, a broad stretch of warm stone beside the water where the sun had heated the surface until it was almost impossible to resist. She had curled herself into a comfortable position, her long body stretched lazily across the rock while her dark wings rested loosely against her sides. Every so often one of her ears twitched at a distant sound, but otherwise she had little reason to move. The warmth was pleasant, the water nearby was calm, and there was nothing particularly urgent demanding her attention. For Celes, that was nearly perfect.

Apparition was somewhere nearby.

Celes had grown accustomed to the strange dragon's appearances and disappearances. Apparition rarely announced their presence, simply emerging from the water when they pleased before vanishing beneath the surface again. Their colossal form made them difficult to miss when they were around, but their movements through the water could still seem almost ghostlike. Celes occasionally watched them from her comfortable position, her eyes following the strange shape beneath the surface before drifting closed again. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Apparition, but she found their presence interesting enough to tolerate.

Then the water moved.

Celestia lifted her head slightly.

Apparition surfaced just beyond the edge of the stone, their enormous head rising from the water. They remained there for a moment, watching her with that same unreadable curiosity they seemed to carry everywhere. Celes blinked slowly at them, ears angled forward, before settling her chin back down.

Apparently, that wasn't quite enough.

The water around Apparition began to shimmer.

Celes lifted her head again.

A single point of light rose from the surface.

Then another.

Then dozens.

They climbed into the afternoon sky like glowing embers, each one trailing a brilliant streak behind it. Celes's ears perked immediately as the first lights reached their peak.

They exploded.

A tremendous burst of color filled the sky above the water, spreading outward in a vast flower of brilliant light. Celes's eyes widened as the display continued, another cluster of lights rising almost immediately afterward. This time they burst into enormous spirals, curling across the sky before dissolving into glittering fragments that drifted downward like stars.

Celes was fully awake now.

She rose onto her feet, her tail flicking with sudden interest as another barrage launched from the water. Apparition continued sending brilliant projectiles racing upward, each one exploding into its own spectacular display. Some erupted into enormous flowers, others became rings that expanded across the sky, while others scattered into hundreds of tiny points of light before fading away. Each explosion was different from the last, and the sheer number of them quickly filled the afternoon sky with color and fire.

It was more than fireworks.

It was a spectacle.

The afternoon sky had become a canvas of color and light, the explosions reflected across the surface of the water below. Brilliant trails twisted together before bursting apart, forming enormous shapes that lasted only seconds before dissolving into sparkling fragments. Apparition continued producing them with seemingly effortless precision, each display somehow more elaborate than the last.

Celes stared upward, utterly captivated.

Her feline instincts had taken over completely. Her eyes tracked every movement, following each streak of light as it climbed higher and higher. Her tail moved slowly behind her, the tip flicking whenever something particularly impressive exploded overhead. She had forgotten all about lounging.

Another enormous burst illuminated the entire area.

Celestia's head followed it instinctively, her eyes reflecting the brilliant colors as the display spread across the sky.

Apparition watched her reaction.

The next display was even larger.

Lights rose from the water in a wide formation, climbing together before exploding simultaneously. The resulting pattern spread across the entire sky, dozens upon dozens of shimmering trails weaving together into a breathtaking cascade. Smaller bursts followed beneath the main display, creating the illusion of colored stars falling from the heavens.

Celes remained completely still.

Not because she was unimpressed.

Quite the opposite.

She was so fascinated that she seemed to have forgotten she was supposed to move.

Eventually, the final lights faded, leaving only faint sparks drifting across the afternoon sky. The water settled once more, and Apparition remained partially submerged nearby.

Celes slowly lowered herself back onto the warm stone, though she kept her eyes on Apparition.

Her usual laziness had returned, but something had changed. She no longer regarded the colossal dragon's presence with quite the same indifference. The display had caught her attention in a way few things managed to, and the memory of all that brilliant color lingering above the water was clearly something she would be thinking about for a while.