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Princess Celestia had first caught Twilight in the act when she’d seen her student using that old, magical book on some random Saturday, inspecting the castle. She’d glanced through the open door to find the young mare writing something into the journal, lying down faced away from the door. After a moment of observation, the book glowed a pink hue.
It was the same magical tome she’d used to keep in contact with Sunset Shimmer, all those years ago. Twilight was using it now. Considering the other of the two journals hadn’t been seen since, it was a safe bet that Sunset was still the one writing from the other side.
For a moment, she wanted to say something. Perhaps some words of wisdom and only minor teasing.
But instead, as the purple alicorn’s hooves kicked in the air, the quill magically writing a response, Celestia just chuckled to herself and silently closed the door. I suppose Twilight could do even what I could not.
Celestia had granted her permission to travel to Canterlot High School once again, admittedly more amused than concerned. After all, I have no doubts about Twilight’s ability to take care of the problem. At all. Alright, perhaps a few. When questioned, her student had just stammered something out about sirens. Though that wasn’t the whole truth; every night, as she walked past her faithful student’s room, she could hear the quill scratching against the book paper.
Every night. No breaks, no matter what Twilight had done that day, she was always writing to her favourite pen-pal. (Rather enthusiastically, too. She’d managed to hear it clearly through the closed door.) Perhaps she should’ve stopped the purple alicorn there; after all, long-distance relationships could really be a pain in the flank, and led to heartbreak more often than one would expect.
And yet, an undying sense of curiosity had instilled itself in her. She had her suspicions that Twilight’s overeagerness to share was rooted in more than just friendship. Quite frankly, Celestia thought that it was hilarious. I wonder what Cadance would think about this.
At one point, she’d managed to catch her student leaving a little message in the book after class was over. She walked over and asked innocently enough, “Hello, Twilight. What are you writing in there?”
“Oh! It’s... nothing too much. Just talking to a friend, hahaha...” The pages were snapped shut extremely quickly, though Celestia had already seen enough. ‘You know, I’m always right here if you want to talk.’ “Writing to a pen-pal! Yeah! That’s it!”
“Would I... happen to know this pen-pal?” Her act was being rather impressively upheld, if you asked her. Any weaker pony would be dissolving into laughter knowing what she knew. Maybe she wasn’t such a bad actor after all.
Twilight just froze at the question for a moment. “I- guess so. Why do you ask?”
“Just curious. I liked your presentation today, by the way. I’ll consider renovating the guard stations according to your suggestions.”
“Thank you, Princess.” As she bowed, her gaze flicked to the book momentarily. Well, that’s quite something. “I-I should get going now. Homework, and stuff...”
“Why would that be? I thought you were already caught up on everything.”
“It’s just- you can never be too prepared! Ahaha...”
She paused a bit curiously. “I suppose not. See you tomorrow, Princess Twilight.”
...
The unicorn approached.
In the massive hallway they looked at each other, nothing but gold-trimmed red rug and light filtered through stained-glass mirrors to separate them. Twilight looked panic-stricken, making a failed attempt at a composed smile, as she walked forward. Sunset Shimmer. Her former student.
Truthfully, she was being dramatic. Celestia was already aware that Sunset was likely reformed for the better, but a small part of her had wanted this to be a little something out of a movie. Or perhaps a TV special. And so she unfurled her wings imposingly, wings spread wide with tens of eyes on those wings staring down the orange unicorn cowering in fear
That was in the past. She returned her mind to the current predicament, withdrawing. “Sunset Shimmer.”
“Princess Celestia. I...” She shrank back with a fearful expression before collecting herself. A sigh followed. “I used to be a power-hungry, arrogant, and foolish filly interested in nothing but myself. And you had every right to banish me. But I learned... or, I suppose, Twilight showed me, that there’s more to life than just power. I come before you a reformed pony, and humbly ask your forgiveness.” Her words had come out all in a rush, and it was taking a moment for her to process them all.
For a moment, tense silence befell the three. Four, if one counted Luna watching from her throne. Sunset just withdrew. “Or I could... leave and never bother you again...”
She stared down at the unicorn. “I believe you, Sunset. I can tell you are one who truly wishes to change themselves for the better, and much different to the pony who once studied underneath me.”
Her posture sagged. “Thank you, Princess Celestia.” She exhaled, and she noticed Twilight’s nervous excitement. “I, uh, have a problem. And it’s about my friends in the human world...”
The two walked out of the Forbidden Library, which was rather overdramatically named if you asked her; it wasn’t very forbidden and out into the regular castle library, in one of the more out-of-sight areas. “Hey, uh, thanks, you two. I’ll tell you how it goes.” Sunset smiled a bit anxiously at Celestia looking down on her before turning away.
There were many things she could’ve said. But she decided to keep it simple. “Goodbye, Sunset. It was nice meeting you once more. Please know you are welcome in Canterlot Castle whenever you wish.” With that, the two ponies turned the corner and walked out of sight.
She turned back to her study to write a short letter.
...
“What did you need us for, sister?”
Celestia cleared her throat, looking around the meeting room. It was brightly lit by the sun’s light pouring inside, illuminating the four ponies gathered. “Erm- well, to put it bluntly, I have a few concerns regarding Twilight. And Cadance is much more informed on her... current predicament than I am.” Shining Armor’s face turned worried.
“Really?”
“Tia...”
She sighed. Might as well get to the point. “I do believe that Twilight has it bad for Sunset Shimmer.”
Shining armor gave her a confused look. “Wh- Who?”
Luna immediately started cackling with laughter. Cadance just had an extremely surprised expression. “You mean... the same Sunset Shimmer that stole her crown?” She thought about it for a moment. “I wasn’t expecting her of all ponies. In fact, I was quite certain... nevermind. Are you sure?” Celestia just nodded.
The pieces finally clicked into place. Shining stood up from the table abruptly. “My little sister is gay-? Stop giving me that look!” He stared crossly at Cadance, who had a small, teasing smile on her muzzle. “I just- I didn’t expect that!”
“This meeting is in large part because I am less... equipped to aid her in interdimensional romance than you are. And, admittedly, I found it perhaps just a little amusing and figured you three would want to know.” Shining Armor’s face was still one of utter shock. Luna was gasping for breath. “It has been too long since I have suffered a ‘schoolfilly crush’. Perhaps you know how to guide her better through these matters, Mi Amore Cadenza?”
Her eyes rolled in mock irritation, though she didn’t try to hide her smile. “I’m sure I said I preferred Cadance.”
Shining Armor had finally stopped staring at Celestia. “You think that- that this is funny?” Cadance stared at him with an amused ‘seriously?’ expression. He deflated, muttering, “Alright. I mean, I guess it... kind of is funny.”
The Princess of Night just flashed her sister a smug smile. “I didn’t think she would take after her teacher so thoroughly.” Celestia sighed internally. Luna never stopped giving her grief about that, even two thousand years later.
Cadance looked truly floored by this. “Princess Celestia is...?”
“You have not heard the half of it. One time, when we were fillies-“ Celestia magically shoved Luna out of the room and slammed the doors. Her voice filtered through the door. “Excuse me, sister.”
The Princess of Love and Shining Armor were both in similar levels of shock now, though it was brushed past. “Ahem. Embarrassing siblings aside, I wanted your opinion on the matter.” It took them both a moment to process her words fully.
“Yes, yes, the reason we were called here.” She thought about it for a moment. “I think the best option is to just... let it happen. They can figure it out on their own; Twilight isn’t incompetent at all!”
Shining looked towards the door and back. “About that story, though-“
Celestia smiled very pleasantly. “Very good, looks like that’s all well and done. I do hope I haven’t taken you too long from your duties.” She gestured outside to the waiting chariot. “Until next time!” The couple just glanced at each other with an odd look before being enthusiastically carted away to the Crystal Empire.
Luna finally managed to wrestle the doors open with her magic, still with a smug smile on her face. “Yes, yes, fuck you too, Tia,” she said with a wave of her hoof. The guards outside were startled at the profanity.
“Luna, you shouldn’t say that. Especially not near Twilight,” Celestia commented, though perhaps a bit offhandedly.
“Why not, sister? She’s a fully grown mare.”
Truthfully, she had let that slip her mind; she still thought of Twilight as a little filly, even if technically her student was fully grown now. How could she not, being hundreds of times older? “I’m worried you’ll be a bad influence on her. You’re already enough on your own.”
The pointed words got her a fake-insulted gasp. “Well, fine, be that way.” She pretended to storm off with a fit but dissolved into laughter a few steps out of the meeting room. Celestia had a good chuckle, too. “See you later, Tia.”
“Goodbye, Luna.”
...
Cadance had said to let the two mares figure things out on their own and eventually they would come around with each other. At least, that was the idea.
Princess Celestia had instead resolved to just watch it unfold with her sister. They had both agreed to order buttered popcorn; it was a rather excellent snack food, if she did say so herself.
She also figured that at some point, Twilight would ask her for advice some way or another. And likely attempt and miserably fail at being subtle and veiling her intentions. That was part of the fun, however.
For now, it was just a waiting game.
One day, Twilight had woken up a bit more... disheveled than usual. Dejected, perhaps. “Pardon my intrusion, but have you been sleeping well? You look a bit tired.”
“W-what? Oh, I just, uh, was up reading late last night.” She nodded as if to convince herself, levitating a cup to the coffee machine. Celestia glanced at it a bit curiously. A yelp from the purple princess startled the both of them as Twilight’s coffee spilled all over her hooves.
“Twilight, are you alright?”
She winced and rubbed at her legs. “Yeah, I’m fine. Definitely woke me up more than drinking it would have.” A worried smile touched Celestia’s muzzle, but she kept quiet.
A few royal servants gathered to clean up the mess as the lavender alicorn finished the last bit of coffee in the mug. “Princess Celestia?”
“Yes, Twilight?”
“What do you do if... if you feel like one of your friends don’t want to talk to you as much anymore?”
She contemplated the question for a little bit, thinking of an answer and a reason as to why her student would be asking such a question. “The easiest way is to ask them if there’s a problem, and then ask to deal with it. Usually pony-to-pony is better than over mail, too.” The few times she’d tried diplomacy over mail had failed horribly.
Twilight gave her a bit of a strange look, confusion mixed with anxiety before shaking the expression off. “Thank you, Princess.”
“It is no problem, my little pony.” Celestia smiled and started preparing her own breakfast.
...
A few days later, as she was trudging through the nightmare of tax reports, her and Luna both herd some kind of loud yell from a distance, breaking through the monotony. The two of them looked at each other, startled. “Luna, should we...?”
“Yes, most likely.”
They abandoned their desks and started galloping to the source of the noise. Celestia had an idea on what was happening; the sound was familiar enough where she had a rather good guess.
It only got louder as they approached Twilight’s room. The words were near-indecipherable, but it was very clearly an argument between Sunset and Twilight. Luna grimaced at her and gestured to knock on the door tentatively.
“Hello? Is everything alright in there? Twilight?” A few moments later, the door was thrust outwards as Sunset galloped out, angry tears in her eyes. “Sunset-?”
“I’M FINE!” she hollered, galloping towards the portal. Luna started after her before hesitating. Celestia turned her attention inside the room.
There was Twilight, hooves failing to wipe her face clean off tears. She sniffled a little pitifully. Celestia slowly walked inside. Luna hovered uncertainly near the door. “Twilight, are you okay?”
She slowly, tentatively walked over to her student’s side.
The only sound in the room was her occasional sob. They stood there for a while, teacher and student, until Twilight regained an inkling of composure. “Th-thank you, Princess Celestia.” Her voice sounds so troubled...
“Do you wish to talk about it?” She paused for a moment. “I will not force you, but letting out our feelings often helps.”
Her response was a mumble of “it was my fault”.
Celestia thought about that for a moment. Twilight had a bad habit of blaming herself whenever things went wrong, and she knew it was hard for her to break on her own. “Many times...” The larger mare sighed. “It is often rather difficult to shake a feeling of guilt when something goes wrong, but typically the conflict is borne more of circumstances than any one pony’s fault. Remember that nopony is flawless, in the end. Even I make mistakes, small and big.” She put on an encouraging smile and tamped down a mounting discomfort, thoughts straying back to her sister. “I would recommend you visit your friends later. For now, would you appreciate some time alone?”
Twilight nodded. Celestia folded her wings back to her sides, teleporting some baked snacks and coffee into the room. She closed the door quietly behind her.
“So... how is Twilight?” Luna asked, breaking the silence. Their desks faced towards each other. Usually they started up some small talk to make approving and rejecting requests go by faster, but she didn’t feel a particular need to do so after that ordeal. “I admit, seeing her in that state is... worrisome.”
“She did not tell me the specifics,” Celestia answered promptly. “But she blames herself for a dispute.”
Her sister just winced, looking away. “Ah.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the two of them, broken by the irritated scratching of Celestia’s quill. Some of the suggestions given were not even worth looking at given their ridiculousness. They really needed a secretary. “I understand you wish to help her, Luna. I do too. But we must let her grow unsupported, as well. She cannot rely on her mentors forever.” And besides, she probably wouldn’t appreciate us intruding into her personal life all that much.
They returned to signing and putting aside papers. “Well then, I shall trust your judgement.”
That only made her feel even worse inside.
...
Twilight had made herself breakfast by the time Celestia had raised the sun. Early riser, she commented to herself halfheartedly. The smaller mare was likely back in her room as she often was these days.
She prepared her own pancakes. Luna would probably be awake soon, and she wanted to perhaps prepare a little treat for her sister. Besides, it was the one food she’d learned to master on her own after years of making it again and again.
Her thoughts were getting derailed. She still had a day of smiling and trade negotiations and who knew what else to get through. A smile briefly passed over her muzzle as she remembered the first time Twilight had said ‘Celestia-knows-where’. Unfortunately, given the fact that it was already the most widely used expression in Equestria, that left her little else to work with.
I do hope Twilight is okay.
The mare hadn’t left her room for any reason other than food since the fight. It was sometimes just a thing Twilight did, she supposed – that filly had an awful habit of getting far too caught up in her studies, but she had been despondent in the last few days. She delighted in the taste of orange juice for a moment. Sometimes the best things in a ridiculously long life were the simple things.
And the pancakes. They were very good, at least in her opinion. Her opinion that was completely, irrefutably unbiased. Luna decided to walk in at that moment, magically picking up a pineapple and taking a massive bite out of it. That cannot be very good for her health. She was fretting over nothing, though. Alicorns were generally immune to minor issues such as vitamin deficiencies and health problems. Good thing too; her love for baked treats would have put her in an early grave otherwise.
Twilight walked in, looking... better than she had in days. Though it was somewhat of a low bar to clear. That seems to be... a good sign, at the very least. “Are you doing alright?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, just... thinking.” A tune came from her muzzle as she prepared herself cereal.
“You are welcome to the pancakes. There are a few on that plate by the stove.”
“Really? Oh, thank you, Princess.”
Celestia chuckled. “Well, I had some spares left over. How is your... ‘pen-pal’ doing?”
The mare stiffened, though applied syrup to pancake as if nothing was wrong. “She’s fine! They. They’re doing fine. Yeah, mhm.” Her pancakes were well and fully drenched in the sweet liquid. She unceremoniously took a massive bite out of the stack, moving the dripping, oozing confection onto the massive table halfway down from Celestia’s position at one of its ends.
“Well, if you say so. You’re in a better mood, at the very least.” Twilight nodded, taking another huge bite. Celestia wondered for a moment if adding table manners to the curriculum of magic school was a bad idea. “I would take it things went well?”
“They went...” She stopped chewing for a moment. “Better.”
“That’s good to hear. I will go now. You know where to find me if you want to bother me. Please do; denying plans for a state-sponsored monthly bouncy castle party in Ponyville is not how I wish to spend my whole day.” Celestia finished her pancakes and the plate was moved into the sink. “Goodbye, Twilight.”
...
“I do believe we have already rejected this request multiple times previously, have we not?” Luna grumbled, stamping a REJECTED onto a proposition for a bank somewhere in a far-flung village. “They already have one in the nearby city. A town of two hundred ponies does not need a bank to themselves, of all things.”
Ah, paperwork.
Celestia laughed a little. “We should keep a counter at this rate.” A quill and piece of parchment went up to the top left of an empty corkboard, set in place by several pins. “That would be... the fifth one, correct?” Five tally marks were added.
“That wall is not big enough, Tia.” Her sister’s voice was flat as she frowned at the page. “At this rate, we will have to build a new wing of the palace. The count is at eight right now.” She wrested control of the quill and efficiently scratched in three more marks.
Her attention focused on the stack. A petition for... something. She skimmed the pleading, making sure not to skip out on any of the points. Seems reasonable to me. That paper went in the considerably smaller APPROVED pile. The next meant another tally on the board; an olympic outdoor swimming pool. “Wow, Luna, you weren’t kidding.”
A hoofstomp snapped her out of her thoughts. A tenth angry scrawl was added to the wall and the page was swiftly deposited in the REJECTED pile. “Let us concentrate on more pleasant matters. How is Twilight Sparkle?”
“I think she talked it out a little.” Another rejected proposal added onto the pile. “A bit better than before.”
“That is good to h-“
The door slammed open. Twilight was nearly hyperventilating, pausing at the open door for a moment. “Sunsetandherfriendsincanterlothighneedmebecausetheresanewthreattheyhaven’tfacedbeforeand-“
“Twilight, slow down. You are free to travel to Canterlot High whenever you wish. If you think your friends in there need your help, then by all means, go and help them.”
The purple mare took a few gasping breaths, panting at the doorway, head pointed downwards. “S-sorry. I-I just don’t know what to do. Should I read about the problem? Sunset said it had something to do with the magic of the Elements being drained and that sounds really bad but the only magic I could think that could do that is Grogar’s Bell, which is safely stored in-“ She gasped. “Princess, did somepony-?”
Luna chuckled. “I assure you, Twilight, Grogar’s Bell is being held in an extremely secure box. I highly doubt that is the source of the disruption. However, time is often of the essence. I would have to recommend you focus on helping your friends first, and research later.”
“Right. Okay, um, thank you! I’ll be... right back! Soonish.” She waved her hoof and dashed out, towards the mirror. Celestia looked on in mild amusement.
“How much of that do you think is just to see Sunset Shimmer? I would say... sixty percent?”
“My dear, dear sister, you underestimate the power of hormonal love,” she said dryly. “I would go as far as to suggest upwards of ninety percent.”
Another mark went on the board. “Well, that’s a bit harsh, now isn’t it, Luna? Raging hormones are typically only eighty percent of the problem.” Her hoof waved a bit aimlessly as another proposition was rejected. “Though saving Canterlot High is quite a nifty bonus on top of that, I bet.”
“One would certainly hope so.” Stamp. They were starting to run out of red ink. “I do wonder how she is doing right now.”
“Me too, Luna. Me too.”
...
“-just, uh, really sorry about that.”
“Hey, no big deal. I... got a bit more fired up than I probably should’ve. Heh.”
“It’s okay! Friendship is all about forgiveness! I think.”
“Don’t you have a magical guide to that or something-? Oh, uh, hey, Princess...”
Sunset stopped herself from walking into Celestia’s quite absurdly long legs, smiling perhaps a little too wide for comfort. “Calm down, Sunset. I am not here to judge the quality of your smile.” She chuckled a little to herself. “What are you two up to at this hour?”
“Uh, well, we were just... going to, um...” Twilight shuffled on her hooves.
“Sleepover. At her place. Needed a bit of a break from the whole Canterlot High thing.” It wasn’t a convincing story, but a story was better than no story, she supposed. “Didn’t you want to tell me about books 31 through 35 of...”
The purple mare jumped to attention. “Oh! Right! It’s... right in my room!” She practically dragged her companion to her bedroom in her excitement. Well, looks like they’ve got themselves all sorted. It took a moment for her to remember that she’d been heading to her bedroom.
Apparently, sleep was a harder task than expected when two mares were making noises late into the night that made it hard to focus on the bedding below her. Not that she blamed them; she was sure Twilight was having an amazing first lay somewhere down the corridor and didn’t want to interrupt anything. That would also be awkward.
The unfortunate guards posted around the room were trying their hardest to pretend they didn’t hear anything behind them. Celestia found this highly amusing. Though Twilight needs to invest soundproofing of some kind for her room, if this is to become a regular occurrence. For the good of the whole castle.
...
“Did you sleep well last night?”
Twilight and Sunset entered the main dining room once again, both looking a little frazzled. Luna and her were already eating. “You know, Twilight, sleeping right after a workout is a good idea.”
The mare turned red in the face. Sunset exploded with laughter, trying and failing to catch herself. Celestia took a bite out of her waffle. “You made a good choice. Sunset made sure every soul could hear your voice from inside that room.”
“I-I think I need to go!” she yelped, dashing out of the room.
The Princesses continued eating their meal. "Cadance was actually right," she commented to herself a bit curiously, taking another bite. "Huh."
Luna leaned over into her ear. "Useless lesbians, hm?" She earned herself a swat on the muzzle.