The following morning, Twilight's friends; Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash decided to check up on their friend-who had told them she was planning on doing some research last night- and to confirm their plans for this afternoon.
When Spike told them that Twilight was actually still in bed, the couldn't believe their ears. It just was very unlike her to sleep in this late...
Meanwhile in Twilight's bedchambers, Luna and Twilight were still fast asleep; Twilight inside of Luna's warm and loving embrace.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door followed by a voice calling out:
"Twilight? Are ya in there?" It was Applejack's voice, though neither Twilight or Luna heard her.
The two mares awoke in a fright to the sound of the door almost flying off it's hinges.-Thank-you, Rainbow Dash- Luna, who was still holding Twilight, quickly released her secret lover from her grasp.
"Huh...what in the hay is going on in here?" Rainbow inquired awkwardly.
"Umm...well, I was reading a book written in old Equestrian, so I asked Princess Luna if she could translate it for me. Then she stayed and helped me with my research" Twilight said.
"Okay, but that still doesn't answer why she's in your bed..." Rainbow Dash replied.
"Oh, that's because...huh..." Twilight didn't know what to tell her friends next. Luckily, Luna came up with something.
"I noticed that Twilight was sort of dozing off, so knowing that she wouldn't want to call it a night, I suggested that we bring some of the books here and finish our research up here so that way, if she falls asleep, she wont be sleeping in a chair" Twilight shot her a look of gratitude for saving her just there.
"If you don't mind my asking your highness, why were your legs wrapped around Twilight?" Rarity asked.
"Huh...that's actually a rather amusing tale...you see, I have this habit of wrapping my legs around a body pillow that I have in my room. I suppose I just forgot where I was; sorry about that Twilight" Luna explained.
"It's okay, princess" Twilight said, repressing a chuckle. She remembered the first time she and Luna slept in the same bed; Luna wrapped her legs around her that time as well, but Twilight didn't mind; she actually kind of enjoyed it.
"What about that pretty ring on your horn, Twi?" Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight gave Luna a 'just go with it' look as she nodded. Who knows what she was going to say.
"It's an...early birthday gift...from...from Cadence! Yeah, that's it. It came in the mail yesterday. I guess I just forgot I had it on...it's quite a lovely ring" She lied. She didn't like lying to her friends like that, but she just wasn't ready to tell them the truth just yet.
"It looks as if it was well preserved over the years. If I were to estimate it's age, I dare say it's older than my sister. I wonder where she got it..." Luna said.
"Really?" Twilight asked, amazed as she placed the ring back in it's box that just so happened to be on her nightstand.
"Alright. Well, we just came by to see if you were still up for our picnic this afternoon" Fluttershy said.
"Yep, I am. I will see you girls later; just let me get cleaned up and we can head out whenever" Twilight replied as her friends finally left her room, leaving her and her secret fiancé alone.
"Is it true what you said about the ring?" She asked.
"Yes, that ring is quite old; it was my mother's ring. She gave it to me a long time ago. I placed a preservation spell on it to keep it in good condition" Luna explained.
Twilight was awestruck. She could hardly believe what Luna had just told her. Seeing that she didn't know what to say, Luna simply pulled the mare into a tight embrace.
"Twilight, I gave you that ring because I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you; I love you so much, Twilight" She said.
"I love you too, Luna" She replied, lightly kissing her lover. After a couple of moments, she broke off the kiss and said:
"I should go get ready; don't want to keep the girls waiting, but I will see you later?"
"Of course; see you this evening my love" She replied.
With a flash, Luna was gone, leaving Twilight alone. The princess of friendship decided to go ahead and hop into the shower real quick; seeing as her friends were waiting for her downstairs in the throne room. After drying herself off and fixing up her mane, Twilight went to the throne room and she and her friends headed out for their picnic.
Princess Luna, trying desperately to be as quiet and sneaky as possible, appeared a good four feet away from her bedroom door. Checking to see if Celestia was anywhere in sight, she quietly made her way to her room, tiptoeing every step of the way. Halfway down the hall, Luna came to a quick halt when she nearly crashed into her sister's hindquarters when she appeared right in front of her path.
"Ah, hello sister" Luna said, in a very poor attempt to make it seem as if she wasn't hiding anything.
"Luna, where in Equestria have you been? Did you even come home last night?" Her sister asked, going into 'worried-sick big sister' mode, in which Luna found somewhat annoying.
"Ah, well...huh...I was...huh...out...stargazing! Yeah! That's it! Stargazing! The sky was perfectly clear last night so I took advantage of the opportunity. And I didn't come home last night because Twilight Sparkle had found a ancient mysterious text, so she asked me to help her translate it. I guess we just lost track of time and fell asleep during our research." Luna said, silently praying that her sister wouldn't see through her lie.
"Oh, alright then. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, sister. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm afraid I have a stack of paperwork that is only going to get larger..." Celestia excused herself.
"We most certainly did enjoy ourselves, sister. And have fun with your paperwork" Luna teased as she headed towards her chambers.
Once inside her room, Luna noticed a piece of parchment on her bed; it was a note from Celestia:
Luna,
I noticed that you've been taking off at night more than usual, is there something bothering you? I don't mean to intrude into your personal affairs, but if there's anything on your mind that you wish to talk about, I just want you to know I am always here for you and ready to listen. You seem a little...distracted over something. If you ever want to talk about whatever it is that's on your mind, you know where I am.
Your loving sister,
Tia
P.S: I don't really have any paperwork to do, so if you wish to speak now, I'm in my chambers
How did her sister do that? How did she know that there was something on her mind? She wanted to tell her sister about her and Twilight, but wasn't sure if she was ready, if her sister was ready, and; most importantly, if Twilight was ready to tell anypony. She sat on her bed and pondered on what she should do for at least a good twenty minutes.
Finally, Luna decided that she should at least talk to Twilight about it. Even if she could talk to her sister about their relationship without her finding out, but Luna didn't believe that was the right thing to do; she should discuss it with her first, it was just the proper thing to do.
So she took out her quill and some parchment as well as some ink. The two mares had established a sort of secret code-it was really just writing in old equestrian- so that if she had to read a letter in front of anypony, they wouldn't be able to tell what it said. She then began to write:
Dear Twilight,
I hast a humour that Celestia may be on to us; she knows thither is something on mine mind and wants to talk about it. I, f'r one wouldn't mind talking to mine sister about us, but I will not say aught without thy consent to doth so. We can betoken Celestia whenev'r thou're ready and I will not push thou into doing so. the choice is yours.
Sincerely yours,
Luna
Once her letter complete, she sent it to her -now- fiancé. She waited maybe five? Ten minutes? Before she got a reply. Reading the short reply, Luna couldn't help but smile; Twilight had given her consent for Luna to openly discuss their relationship with Celestia. With that, Luna headed towards her sister's room where Celestia was sitting on a magenta colored cushion, sipping on her tea, waiting for her.
"Hello, sister" The white alicorn greeted.
"Hello Celestia" Luna replied.
"Make yourself comfortable, Luna. Now, I am assuming there is something you'd like to discuss?" Celestia said as Luna took a seat on the purple cushion right beside her sister. Luna wasn't exactly sure how to go by this, but she was going to try.
"Huh...well...do you remember when I would join those protests with Lily and Shadow Knight?" Luna started.
"Yes, of course I remember. What's that got to do with anything?" She asked.
"Well, I haven't been truly honest about why I took part in those rallies..." The lunar princess trailed off, Celestia immediately catching on to what she was implying.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" She asked in a calm and somewhat comforting tone.
"Because...because I was afraid, Celestia. You know how bad it was back then..." Luna replied, as Celestia hugged her little sister.
"I know, but you should have known that I would have accepted you no matter what, Luna. One question though; why do you bring this up now?" She asked.
"Huh...oh gosh, how do I put this? Sister, how would you feel if I told you I've been secretly dating somepony for a while now?" She asked.
This took Celestia slightly aback; was her sister dating somepony? And she never told her? Though she understood why Luna never said anything, she also felt a little hurt that her sister kept this a secret.
"I would be happy for you, but at the same time, slightly hurt that you didn't tell your own sister that you were seeing somepony..." She finally said after a few minutes of silence.
"Okay, and huh...how would you feel if...huh..." Luna trailed off, not too sure how to tell her sister about her and Twilight.
"What is it, Luna? You know you can tell me anything..." Celestia said as Luna sighed.
"Sister, me and Twilight have been secretly dating" She said, giving her sister a moment to process what she said.
"I should have known you two would end up dating; you are so alike!" Celestia remarked as she giggled. That somewhat reassured Luna a bit.
"That's where I really was last night; we went out stargazing and I brought her home when I noticed she was starting to doze off a bit. When I got her home, she asked me to stay with her, so that's why I didn't come home last night..." She explained.
"We didn't do anything! Jeez Celestia, get your mind out of the gutter..." Luna exclaimed, seeing her sister's scandalized expression.
"Whatever you and Twilight do in the bedroom is none of my business, sister..." The sun goddess replied.
"We didn't do anything!" Luna exclaimed once more.
"Whatever you say, sister" Celestia teased as she hugged her sister.
Once released from the hug, Luna stood up and began heading to the door. Before leaving, Luna mentioned:
"Oh, and sister, Twilight will be coming here this evening"
"Alright then," She replied.
"Oh and I forgot to mention, we sort of got engaged" Luna said as she sprinted out of her sister's room and back to hers. Celestia spat out her tea at her sister's words.
"What?! Luna!" Celestia exclaimed as she ran down the hall after her sister.
It didn't take Celestia long to catch up to her sister, passing multiple guards who simply gazed at the two sisters in slight confusion. Finally, Celestia lunged herself at Luna and the two mares tumbled down the hall until Celestia finally had her sister pinned under her.
"You have got some explaining do to" Celestia said making her sister cringe slightly. Oh boy...
This was going to be interesting...