At a grand table situated in the middle of an alabaster castle dining hall, two sisters sat beside each other, nursing their teacups with practiced manners, slow sips, and the absolute resistance to chug the entire cup in one shot in anticipation of a moderately stressful week. A small plate of scones accompanied the ornate tea set Celestia had set out, and it would not last long between the two of them.
“Hey, sis,” Luna began after she sipped her teacup.
“Yes, Luna?” Celestia asked just before she sank her teeth into a scone.
Luna’s horn glowed, and a small cube of sugar levitated out of a sugar bowl, held softly in her deep blue-violet hue of magic. It dropped into her cup with a plonk, followed by a light stirring with her spoon. “Considering how this journal’s deeply integrated with some dark evil Starswirl sealed away, do you think we should be a bit more proactive in helping with his journal?”
Celestia took a small handkerchief and wiped away some crumbs. “We could, or we could let Twilight and her friends sort it out. They’ve proven themselves to be reasonably capable with tinkering with Starswirl’s spells.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Even the one that was altered to ruin multiple timelines, sister?”
Preparing to take a sip of tea herself, Celestia stopped and set the cup back down. “Hey! Even if I don’t agree with the results, I will still respect the ingenious spellcrafting methods used to achieve them.”
“...Huh,” came Luna’s immediate response, and after a moment of mulling she crafted something more articulate. “I suppose that’s fair, but what if their meddling invites another catastrophe? What if they need our help?”
Celestia chuckled, and waved a forehoof dismissively. “I'm sure if it was really dangerous and crucial to the future of Equestria, Twilight would remember to let us know. She’s usually very good about keeping other princesses in the loop, especially when it comes to great evils being unleashed.”
“Sis, that’s you you’re describing,” Luna deadpanned. “You have to pull teeth with Twilight to get information out of her nowadays.”
“...Oh, right! Right,” Celestia said, a small sigh escaping her lips. Celestia looked away from Luna, her face distantly gazing at… no, beyond one of the stained-glass windows. Another bite of scone followed.
Luna took a deep breath, and exhaled. “...Sister, we’re probably going to be completely out of the loop on this one, aren’t we?”
“Unfortunately so.”
Luna tapped a forehoof to her chin, then a crescent moon smile appeared! “Well, why not do something else in the meantime?”
“Like what?”
“Something to distance yourself from this whole affair. Like… like a beach resort!”
Celestia’s eyes opened, and a small smirk appeared. “...You know, that actually does sound enticing. Do you know why?”
Luna paused to think before offering, “Because it will get you out of this somber state of yours?”
“That too, but I’ll get to enjoy some nice, quality sunbathing!”
Luna’s eyelids lowered and her lip straightened as the annoyance culminated into the most appropriate verbal response she could muster:
“...”
“What?” Celestia threw her forehooves out. “Don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming!”
Luna rolled her eyes. “I did, and I dread it all the more for you actually saying it.”
Celestia tittered. “It’s a good thing that’s the only pun I’ll use today. I’m all for this idea.”
“Excellent! I shall begin preparations immediately,” Luna stated with joy, nearly leaping out of her seat.
“Oh!” Celestia exclaimed. “But before we go, I need to hide Sunny and Moony on the off-chance that they figure something out to bring Starswirl back.”
Luna stopped just as she passed her sister’s seat and wheeled around. “What? Where did that come from?”
“Well, hypothetically speaking, he wouldn’t be thrilled to see two more of us running around. He could barely stand US as is, and with him knowing there’s double the trouble around, he would not stand for it.”
Luna shook her head. “Sister, they’ll be fine. We’ll just have them substitute for us in the castle as usual and—“
Celestia’s tone suddenly hardened. “No. The second he sees them, he will know what they are and send them back to the mirror pool in less time than it would take to register disgust with us on his face. I can’t risk their safety in his presence, Luna. I just can’t,” Celestia finished, her voice quivering with the last words she spoke.
‘Twas a nervous concern that Luna would not leave unaddressed. “...Very well. Where would you hide them?”
“Preferably in a place Starswirl would never think to look for magical shenanigans… or a place where Starswirl has never been before.”
Luna blinked, and slowly squinted her eyes. “...Such as somewhere here in Canterlot?”
“Yes, precisely!” Celestia confirmed.
“Should we vacate a broom closet in the castle then? Stash them in your hidden tower bunker? Perhaps one of our guest rooms that exist which the maids have forgotten?” Luna offered.
“Even better!”
~~~
“Sunny, Moony, I give you a tower that absolutely nopony has used for quite some time!”
Sunny regarded her surroundings with the sort of grimace a child wears when entering a haunted house for the first time. “Ew! This place is filled with dusty books, cobwebs, books made out of dust, cobweb-covered dusty books, and a huge bookshelf with all of the above!”
Moony, however, took in the musty place with less disgust than her sister. “Isn’t this Twilight’s old tower? Why are we out here?”
“It is, and it’s here you two are going to stay for a while until we come back from our trip, okay?” Celestia searched her vocabulary for a bit of careful, concise wording. “It’s for… important security reasons involving both of you.”
“Oh… is it because I broke that pot in the kitchen last week and found a replacement in your bathroom?”
Celestia’s eye twitched. “No, but many ponies were very upset at the swap, myself included.”
“But I told them like a hundred times that I cleaned it throw… through… really well!”
“That was still a crappy decision, Sunny,” Moony said.
Sunny whipped her head around to face Moony. “You don’t have to tell me twice! Or twenty, or two hundred times!”
“You still did it after the four-hundredth time, sister!” Moony shot back.
“Never mind about that!” Celestia interjected. “What’s important is that it’s not that incident, and you’re still staying in this tower until we get back. Understand?”
Sunny brought a forehoof to her head in a saluting pose. “Yes, big sis! I heard you loud and clear!”
Moony rolled her eyes, adding, “If she forgets in the next five minutes, I’ll remind her.”
“Excellent. Have fun, you two!” At that,
Celestia marched out the door to a world of sun, surf, and beach-crawling turf.
“...We’re not staying in here, right?” Sunny asked as soon as the door closed.
“Big sis, I would rather smash the windows of every building in Canterlot than spend the next three days cooped up in this tower with you.”
“...You could just say ‘Yes’, littlest sis.”
"Hey, Moony! I know what we could do. We could go back to the mirror pool and make copies of ourselves to stay here in the tower while we go out and have fun!"
"Isn't that what the last fifty copies of ourselves did?"
"And it worked perfectly! See!"
Punchline of this joke being that Starswirl likes Sunny and Moony better than actual Celestia and Luna.
Oh boy. I'm not sure what would happen if Starswirl accidentally sees Sunny and Moony.
Also, this is now the story with the most amount of words in my Favorites list, beating "Twilight Screws Up More Than Usual" and "Anthropology."
Well, this would be a good reason for them not being anywhere present during the finale. I was a little miffed that Twi and co. didn't bother to contact them, but eh, what can you do?
Amazed they didn't just send them through the portal. They'd probably come out looking like middle schoolers...
Rut-ro Sunny and Moony have existed too long and are growing into real ponies... Making them goddesses with the personalities of children... So Greek/Roman gods.
I have to say that I love it when Sunny and Moony get speaking roles in this series, if there is a spin-off with them I want to know or see one made.
Celestia and Luna are both tied for my #2 favorites, yet I love when high-jinks like Sunny and Moony happen to them.
8526419
I also would love to see this happen.
8527388
NO I CANT SIT IDLY
I CANT MOVE AT ALL
Yeah, Twilight's communication skills could use work. Maybe she just assumes that all she'll get back is a "I trust you can handle this on your own."
8527001
"Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal's office. There are shenanigans afoot."
All I could think of was that scene from 'European Vacation': (skip to 3:30 for the scene)
"Hey Dad, look ... bedpans!"
8526386 If he doesn't mirror-cide them, he'lll probably just dump them in the high school dimension like he did the Dazzlings.
8540820
Probably tied her up and lowered down to the center from the roof
8526522
To be fair it was a pretty crowded cast. Fitting Celeste Dia and Luna and there would have been tricky.
That's not what a chamber pot's for!
8527584
I curse the name
The one behind it alllllll