"Lieutenant, any progress on the investigation to report?" Princess Luna asked, her voice booming across the throne room. It had been only a short time ago that the Princess had awoken to take the throne for the night. The Lunar Princess was not surprised when she heard that her sister wasn't there. The navy blue alicorn didn't envy her sister's duty of breaking the news of the death of Twilight Velvet to her only daughter.
"The investigations continue, Princess Luna. No solid evidence for who the perpetrator was," responded the pegasus officer to the question she had almost forgotten she had asked.
"However, we have found a few more pieces to the puzzle. One of our unicorn guards cast a detection spell over the fountain itself using blood from the corpse as a base. It turned out positive. Whoever attacked her washed off their horn or weapon in the water."
Princess Luna nodded, sending waves rippling through the flowing blue fields of stars of her mane. "That is just common sense. The villain could hardly walk through the city with blood covering their head. Anything else?"
"Nothing at the moment, Princess."
Luna studied the guard for a few moments. It was the same one who had shown such ignorance of magical enchantments before and yet proved to be rock solid with an eye for detail when faced with a gruesome murder. Her next question failed to catch him off guard.
"How fares Captain Shining Armor?"
Rolling his shoulders with a clatter of armor, the lieutenant's reply, while mostly neutral was tinged with sympathy. "The death of his mother has hit him and his father hard."
"Indeed," the princess murmured in a low voice. A nervous cough from below caught her attention. "Yes, guard?" She asked, annoyance slipping into her voice.
"Permission to speak candidly, ma'am?"
It was an odd request, Luna thought, but waved a hoof for him to continue.
"Why did you inform the Captain of his loss in such a blunt manner, milady?" The guard asked in subdued tone, wincing when he saw the Princess's body stiffen.
"Thou art a bold one, indeed!" Luna boomed, the sudden volume increase and antiquated speech making the guard shiver in fear. Unknown to him, Luna had been asking herself the same question ever since then and the guard's question made her feel worse.
-The night before-
The knocking on the door was urgent, however the two stallions inside barely registered it as they discussed their missing family member.
"Dad, are you sure there is nothing you might have forgotten? Anything that might tell us where Mom might have gone?" Shining Armor's urgent voice betraying his concern. His mother Twilight Velvet had been missing for several days now and quite frankly it terrified him. He trained his entire life to become a guard and would gladly face down many foes, but the fear he felt now wasn't a foe so easily beaten. Ponies don't just disappear.
"I'm sorry, son. I've told you everything I know. Surely you can pull a small detachment of guards to help sweep the city for her!" The older blue unicorn looked at his son in desperation.
Clad in his lavender and gold captain's armor, Shining Armor was about to respond when the door to the house shattered under a fierce blow. Stalking through the broken wood remnants of the door came the familiar shape of the local night goddess followed by her bat-winged guards in their characteristic blue armor.
"I'd apologize for the door, but I'm not feeling too patient right now."
"Princess Luna!" Both father and son chorused before dropping into deep bows, not noticing from their position the princess rolling her cyan eyes in exasperation.
"Raise, my subjects. We have much to discuss and it is most annoying when ponies try to converse with their nose to the ground."
Shining Armor and his father, Nightlight, raised their head's to meet the Princess's gaze.
"What is it that you require of us, princess?" asked Nightlight, preempting his son.
Princess Luna didn't answer immediately. Instead her horn was surrounded by a blue glow as she picked up the pieces of the door and restored it. With a nod, her two guards exited the house before she set it back in place.
The only distraction for her out of the way, Luna finally faced the two unicorns. She gave the elder pony a glance before locking eyes with Shining Armor. "There has been a murder, I'm afraid, the first in a very long time."
Nightlight couldn't help but feel nervous. The Princess was here in his house and now news of a murder in Canterlot! He was in the middle of a mental prayer for his wife's safety before the terrible truth dawned on him. His son must have put it together about the same time if the way Shining suddenly sagged as if his armor weighed ten-times heavier was any indication.
Seeing their distress, Luna merely nodded. "Yes, the victim was Twilight Velvet. I'm terribly sorry. She was stabbed twice and her neck was broken. We are in the process of looking for the killer now, but unfortunately, whoever did this has been pretty thorough."
Somehow learning how their loved one had died and that the murderer was still loose didn't cheer the two ponies up.
Feeling the two needed time to grieve, the alicorn left the house and headed back to the castle.
Back in the throne room, Princess Luna dismissed the Lieutenant. This left her some time to brood before ponies started to show up for Night Court. Most of it was ponies wanting to know more about the murder.
Despite Luna best efforts, some of the guard must have talked. After a glance at the stoic and tight-lipped guards, the Regent of the Night changed her mind, decided it was more likely her sister had decided to go ahead and head off a panic by addressing it directly rather than covering it up.
Just as the last group of worried but inquisitive ponies was heading for the door, a brilliant gold light flashed through the throne room. Several ponies panicked and rushed out the door while other's recognizing it as a teleportation spell simply shielded their eyes. The guards remained impassive as did Luna.
The golden light quickly faded revealing a rather bedraggled looking Celestia. Her mane and tail, now dry, had not seen a comb since her soaking. Her coat looked as pristine as ever however the look on Celestia's face told everypony she couldn't care less about her appearance.
The younger sister, seeing the look, motioned for the ponies to go ahead and leave.
"Guards, leave us."
At the order, the pegasus and unicorn guards ringing the throne room bowed and exited. After the doors closed behind them, Luna leapt into the air and glided down to her sister.
"Celestia, art thou ill?" The Night Princess knew her sister wasn't likely sick from any disease, but even alicorns weren't immune to illness of the heart.
"I'm fine, Luna," Celestia insisted. "It's just that Twilight took the news hard. Real hard and I'm worried about her."
"Bring her here then." The younger alicorn stated flatly.
Celestia shook her head. "It's not that simple, Luna."
The Night Princess smiled and nudged her morose sister with a wing.
"Yes, it is, big sister." Luna ribbed Celestia playfully before conjuring up a brush. "Now is the time for family. When was the last time Captain Armor saw his sister? What about her father?" As Luna spoke, she brushed her sister's mane and tail until it regained it's usual shape and flow.
Celestia arched an eyebrow as she thought. "It's been months at the very least. Perhaps even a year now. She left shortly after the Changeling Treaty and hasn't been back since."
"See? This is the best time for family so they can be there for one another."
Celestia, seeing the logic behind her sister's reasoning, soon bowed to her sister's idea. "I see. I'll retrieve her tomorrow."
The elder alicorn thought for a moment before smiling. "Hey, Luna, would you like to see what Twilight has been working on? I was astounded at the idea myself."
"Show us then, Celestia." Luna giggling at Celestia's frown at her use of the Royal "We."
With a flash of her horn, Celestia summoned forth the forms of an iron bar, an apple, and a simple pulley."
"Conjuration? Celestia, we've seen that before."
It was the Solar Princess's turn to smile knowingly. "Not quite, Luna. Unlike conjuration, this is a bit different. Twilight has found a way to imprint the very essence or idea of an item into magic itself."
Luna simply stared at her sister in surprise before catching herself. Thinking she responded. "I think I see. Conjuration only summons pre-existing items." Here she held up her brush in her magic as an example "Whereas these items before you aren't truly there."
Celestia beamed at her sister. "Now you got it. Try licking the apple."
Feeling vaguely foolish for licking the air, Luna did so. "By the moon! It actually tastes like an apple!"
One by one Luna examined the objects. She tried licking the iron bar which got Celestia laughing. Her hooves passed through them if she tried to touch them, though by putting her hoof beside the rope on the pulley and moving it up and down, Luna was able to see the simple machine work. Satisfied, Luna nodded to her sister.
"Your student has truly out done herself this time, Celestia. I wouldn't have ever thought to this with magic. I will not be surprised when her name is as synonymous with magic as Starswirl the Bearded, if not more so."
The older alicorn smiled, accepting the praise on her student's behalf. "I'm sure Twilight would be thrilled to hear that from you, Luna. Perhaps when she comes here the three of us can try out some new spells. After all it not far the Silver Pinnacle gets to keep her all to themselves."
"Oh yes. Them." Princess Luna's voice lost the sisterly familiarity from before. "Speaking of the Pinnacle, Celestia, I will just say it: I don't trust them. Whatever caused that magical spike and that teleportation spell couldn't have been done without them noticing, I know it."
Before Celestia could come to the defense of the mages that served Equestria, Luna continued. "You must have noticed that they been working on teleportation spells to transport a pony from a town to town or say Ponyville to Trottingham while weaving the spell from that tower of theirs."
"LUNA, PLEASE!" Celestia finally blurted out, hoping to interrupt the torrent of words. True enough the outburst rocked the younger sister onto her rump. It was only then that Celestia sheepishly realized she had accidentally used the Royal Canterlot Voice. Extending a gold-shod hoof to her sister, she apologized.
"Er, sorry. At any rate, Luna, the ponies at the Silver Pinnacle are supposed to be testing spells like these. I'm glad you are vigilant, but there's a difference between vigilance and paranoia."
Her sister gave nodded in acknowledgement, sending wave through her sparkling mane, though Celestia caught the look in her sister's eyes and knew Luna was far from letting o of the issue. While she won the battle, she hadn't won the war. However a win was a win and the Night Princess bowed to her solar counterpart at least this once.
At Luna's insistence Celestia taught her sister how to summon the magical projections. The night-loving pony had an idea that had been biting at the back of her mind since Celestia first showed her Twilight's newest work. Now on a suspicion, she cast the spell but with a few variations.
Horn glowing with an azure light, Luna watched her sister's impassive face shift slowly to surprise to sadness when she found herself facing a familiar light-gray and purple pony. Throat tightening, Luna herself had to start blinking to keep away the tears as she admired Twilight Sparkle's final farewell to her mother.