Teleportation was always believed to be a work of fiction. To travel from point A to point B in mere seconds was purely science fiction but this was not the case in Equestria, as Celestia and Luna found out. The Physics Department at the university would have a field day with this.
In those mere seconds, Celestia and Luna found themselves in another room, one much larger than the one they were in previously. Judging by the architecture and the large throne, they could easily deduce they were in another castle.
“Welcome to Canterlot Palace,” Princess Celestia said. The two royal sisters stepped forward and took their places at the throne. “This is the true heart of all of Equestria and, needless to say, the room we both frequent often.”
“Um…I have a question,” Luna said. “If you two are both rulers of Canterlot, why is there only one throne?”
“Yes dear sister,” Princess Luna added, giving her sister a look. “Why is that?”
Princess Celestia looked bemused as she cleared her throat. “Actually, I’ve been trying to get Luna her own throne but…I’m having issues with the company in charge.”
“Wait…really?” Princess Luna now looked surprised. “You actually ordered a new throne?”
“Of course,” Princess Celestia said with a nod. “It’s not fitting for us to only have one throne. But enough about that, I think it’s time we offer you a tour of the grounds. Oh, but before we forget…” The two sisters nodded towards one another before their horns glowed once again and sudden in a bright light, their appearances quickly changed and now stood two unicorn ponies, one with a pink mane and the other with a bright blue mane.
“It’ll look very suspicious if there were four princesses walking around,” the pink-maned pony said, who now had a slighter higher-pitched voice.
“You can change your appearance at will?” Celestia asked.
“Oh yes,” the blue-maned pony replied, her voice slightly lower pitched. “It’s not an easy spell to master but Tia has had a lot of practice avoiding the media.”
“Now then,” Princess Celestia said. “There isn’t much to say about this room other than its an audience chamber where anypony can come to us and speak to us about any matter, but we’ll explain more about that later. Moving on…”
The two alicorns were led throughout the castle and to any other ponies who passed by, it looked as if the princesses were giving a private tour to a pair of young unicorns. However, Luna was quick to pick up on something. “Is it just me…or do these ponies seem…uncomfortable around me?”
Her counterpart sighed. “I admit I…come across as sometimes cold…I’ve been getting better about being more pleasant around other ponies but…well some still have vivid memories of when I was…not myself.”
“You’ve been doing much better sister,” Princess Celestia said, giving her sister an encouraging hug before they entered the observation room. “This is where Luna and I do our parts of raising and lowering the sun and moon. This requires powerful magic-users such as alicorns like ourselves but the practice is more or less simple. I don’t think we’d be gone longer than needed before we have to lower the sun but…”
“It may be best we teach you both this technique just in case,” Princess Luna replied. “Sister, are you sure we’re not going to cause a panic?”
“Oh no one will complain about a little sky show,” Princess Celestia said, brushing off any worry. “Now…watch closely…you have to focus on your target and at the same time picture it in your mind. Tell yourself where you want to go and the magic will do the rest.”
Both sisters stood next to each other as their horns glowed once again. Suddenly, the sun appeared to move to the right as the moon rose over the horizon and appeared next to it. Soon, the two celestial bodies started to rotate around one another as the two bodies went around in a circle itself. It was quite the sight to take in.
“You make that look so easy…” Celestia commented.
“Well, when you have over two thousand years experience…” Princess Celestia said with a slight grin. “Would you two care to try?”
“Honestly, I’m kind of worried I’m going to turn this into a Clock Town situation…” Luna murmured.
The two princesses looked confused. “She’s worried about bringing the moon down on us,” Celestia explained.
It was quiet for a moment before the two royals burst out laughing. “O-Oh trust us, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Princess Celestia giggled.
“Oh yes, the first time I tried to raise the moon I think I almost killed all of Ponyville by heart attack,” Princess Luna laughed.
“That…doesn’t make me feel any better,” Luna said.
“Ahem…do not worry, we’ll make sure to take control if something does happen,” Princess Celestia said.
Celestia and Luna glanced at one another nervously before they closed their eyes in concentration. Their horns started to glow and suddenly the two orbs in the sky started to move slowly. “Yes, that’s it,” Princess Luna said. “Now Luna, you try to send the moon back under the horizon and Celestia, you move the sun about forty-five degrees to your left.”
Fortunately, the sun and moon obviously weren’t next to each other in space but for a few seconds the two had caused a solar eclipse. However, Luna was able to move the moon slowly out of view while the sun moved back to it’s original place. Once it was over, the two ponies looked exhausted.
“I felt like I just pushed a Mack truck,” Celestia panted.
“The moon is…truly a heavy object…” Luna added.
Both princesses smiled slightly as the scene reminded them of their younger days. “That was actually better than I imagined,” Princess Celestia said. “With enough practice you could do that…maybe ten times faster?”
“I think that about covers all the important stuff,” Princess Luna said. “The royal chambers are right below us but again, I don’t believe we have to worry about that. Today is a bit of a slow day so hopefully nothing should come up but if so, all you have to do is either sign or stamp. It’s very simple.”
“Well, that part we do have experience in,” Celestia said. “Well…I guess this is it then…are you sure you’re all okay with this?”
“Well, if worst comes to worst, you still have Twilight and the others,” Princess Celestia said.
“That is true…”
“If she finds out, she’s not going to be happy with us,” Luna said.
Princess Luna snorted. “If Twilight gets unhappy, all Celestia has to do is give her the look and she quiets down.”
Princess Celestia looked upset. “Do I really have that effect on her?”
“She adores you sister.”
“A-Anyway…we’ll return to Ponyville and then we’ll make our way through the portal. Is their anything you need to tell us about your world before we go?”
Both sisters laughed. “Oh there’s much we need to explain,” Luna said.
Princesses Celestia and Luna made their way back to Ponyville, choosing to go on a route that would attract the least attention. “I didn’t realize their technology was so…advanced,” Luna commented as they were flying through the clouds.
“I would say at least fifty years ahead of our own,” Celestia replied. “It’s very exciting and yet…well I have to admit I’m a bit nervous.”
“It wouldn’t happen to be because of Sunset Shimmer now would it?” Luna smiled.
Celestia frowned. “I haven’t spoken to her in so long…I wouldn’t know how she’d react if she saw me.”
“Well, you are the principal after all,” Luna replied with a wink.
“And you’re the vice principal…did we really decide to go into the same career?”
“It would seem that way.”
Finally that reached Twilight’s castle and this time the two opted to knock on the front doors. The doors quickly opened and Twilight stood before them. “Oh good you’re back!” She then stared at the two of them for a moment. “So…did you two enjoy yourselves at the castle?”
“Oh yes,” Celestia smiled. “They gave us a whole tour of the castle.”
“And a couple of magic tips, but nothing major,” Luna added.
“I see…” Twilight still looked suspicious. “But I can understand if it’s a bit much…you’d probably love to head back home now right?”
“Er…yes, I kind of left my keys and phone in the car,” Celestia said, making sure to follow her script. “It’s a pretty expensive phone.”
Twilight smiled. “Oh then I shouldn’t keep you two waiting then! It was good to see you two again, even if it was kind of unexpected.”
The two of them nodded. “We’ll make sure to write to you the next time,” Luna said.
“Oh wait that’s it!” Twilight suddenly disappeared and then reappeared with a journal. “Take this. It works the same way as the one Sunset has so if anything happens or you just want to talk, just write in it and I can reply. Or if you want to, I can give the other to the princesses.”
“Thank you Twilight,” Celestia said, bowing her head slightly. “We’ll never forget your kindness.”
Twilight just waved as the two sisters said goodbye and went through the mirror. “See Twilight, you were just imagining things…as if the princesses of all ponies would even have the time to go to the other world. They’d probably find that hilarious.” She giggled to herself as she left the room. As she left, she failed to notice the blue glass of the mirror flashed a deep red not even for a second.