Twilight giggled, scraping the sliced carrots off the cutting board and into the pot. "You did not!"
"It's true. And for the rest of the week, Blueblood was insistent on the poor girl following him everywhere. So much as a gust of wind was cause for an impromptu mane appointment." Celestia chuckled with Twilight. "But you have my solemn word that I will use my powers only for good."
"I still can't believe that one little comment could make him fly off the rails like that." Twilight pulled some onions out of the drawer. "One or two?"
"The recipe calls for two, dear." Twilight nodded and got to chopping. Celestia's magic eased the spoon around the pot in light, even circles. "But I can hardly fault Blueblood for taking my word to heart. Everypony does. On an unrelated topic, have you been keeping up with your studies? You shouldn't let your graduation dull your grasp of magic, no matter how well you may have mastered it already."
Twilight's scoffed in indignation. "Of course I've been keeping up with my studies! Why would you--" she cut herself off when she saw Celestia's face. "Very funny. I'll have you know Applejack or Rainbow would have gotten the same answer."
"So when do I meet them, then?" Celestia looked over. Twilight was done with the onions and was on the way to deliver them to the soup. "You seemed determined to see that I become comfortable with them."
Twilight scraped away the onions and wrapped a wing around her. Celestia leaned in against the smaller alicorn, closing her eyes to savour the touch. Twilight spoke into her mane. "I'm not certain about anything about this. It's still so big and I, well, I hardly have the charts to process everything that goes through my head about it. But I think you'd be happier knowing my friends better. I know I am."
The two of them stayed like that for a moment, letting the growing warmth between their coats do the talking for them. Their eyes closed in unison, their breathing synchronized together as best as it could. Then the soup began to boil.
"Wait! We haven't even done the parsley yet!" Twilight's eyes shot open, her wing flaring against Celestia's side.
Celestia gave a gentle smile. "Twilight, we don't need to--" Twilight was already away from her side and chopping vegetables. "--worry. I'm just happy to share with you." She said the last sentence more to herself than to Twilight, who was off in a world of necessity and perfectionism. Celestia took a moment to appreciate the ridiculous amount of precision that went into anything the littler mare did. Parsley, tomatoes and saute all move onto separate cutting boards and were swiftly sliced to bits by fine, rapid applications of magic. The ingredients all teleported from the boards to the boiling pot in a flash of magic. The pot was moved off the boiler in a current of salmon-coloured magic.
"Now, uhhh, what does the recipe say about emergency procedures?" Twilight hovered the book in front of her face, fanning through it to reach the glossary.
"Twilight--"
"No, no, no--"
"--Twilight--"
"What kind of chemisty book is this! There's no safety instructions or notes for correction or--ugh!" Twilight flopped her head against the counter and snapped the dog-eared recipe book shut.
Celestia moved over to put a hoof on Twilight's back. "Firstly, Twilight, it doesn't matter to me if our dinner is perfect or subpar. Secondly, it's a cookbook." Twilight's voice came back petulant and sulking.
"You said cooking was chemistry."
"No, I said cooking was like chemistry. There is a difference." Celestia wrapped her wing around Twilight. "Besides, a good cook knows when to improvise."
Twilight pulled up her head and shook it twice. She still seemed bitter. "I can't believe a serious author would write an instruction booklet on a time-sensitive activity without a backup plan!" She folded her arms and threw her head to one side in a snooty pout. "And you're wrong about the dinner being perfect."
"Twilight, perfection is hardly a fair demand from our first time--"
"It's already perfect." Twilight's bitter grimace turned to a coy smile. "You're here."
Celestia fought down a goofy smile. "Flatterer. And besides, you of all ponies should know I'm hardly perfect."
"Maybe not for everyone..." Twilight looked away and blushed a private blush. Celestia's face lit up with a blush of her own. "Anyway, the soup. I can redistribute the heat such that the new ingredients boil more than the ones that were in it when it came to boil or fish out the carrots and onions."
"Or we could just eat a lackluster soup and acknowledge we need more cooking lessons."
"Cheating with magic does feel wrong." Twilight put a hoof to her chin, moving the pot back onto the burner. "But you put aside so much work just to be here..."
"I didn't put the work aside for the soup, you know." Celestia smirked. Her turn to be candid.
"W-well...you know, a-anyway," Twilight's attempts to be serious melted away, "I just want you to be as happy as I am."
Celestia only answered that with another embrace. Let the force of her chest against Twilight's say more than feeble words ever could. They melted into each other, time once again losing meaning. But this time, Twilight snuck one eye open, and covertly turned the burner off once the soup began to boil over again.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Overcooked soup was shared over one of the smaller and less gaudy tables the gargantuan castle had to offer. Twilight scowled at the hard crystal. "My flank keeps freezing over on these seats. We're still trying to stock the place with pillows."
Celestia put a hoof to her nose and groaned. "You're in luck. I always have a surplus."
Twilight blinked. "Surplus?"
"Staff are very, ahem, eager to please. As are seamstresses, cotton producers, visiting nobles..." She pulled the hoof away and looked up at Twilight. "My point being I have at least twenty pillows I'm not using at any one time. You are welcome to partake in them. So what is the plan for after dinner?"
Twilight beamed. "Luna's putting on a meteor shower tonight. I promised her I'd watch it and take some notes for next time. I was thinking we could watch them together."
"That sounds wonderful." Celestia took a dainty sip of her bowl, not a single drop of the soup touching her muzzle. "Perhaps in between we could discuss the changes brought about by the new castle." Twilight's expression soured at the mention of the location. "And ways in which we could commemorate the old one." Twilight brightened at this much, just as Celestia had hoped. There was a pause while the two supped their soup in silence.
"I also found a new spell published recently that I think you would take interest in." Twilight went from relieved to ecstatic in a heartbeat. Celestia basked in her triumph. "Somepony in the Crystal Empire has been studying the spells at the heart of the Elements of Harmony."
"It is a little bit worrying that they disappeared on us. I mean, what if Queen Chrysalis were to return? What if another ancient evil like Tirek were to be freed on accident again? What if we were menaced by an invasion of evil mind control pop stars?"
Celestia chuckled. "Your pop star-related fears are noted. But you are correct that leaving our nation without defense would be folly. To this end Empire resident Starburst suggested that the two-way connection of the Elements be looked into."
Twilight finished her soup and set it down with a gasp. In stark contrast to her larger counterpart, her muzzle was thoroughly soaked with the stuff. "You mean like we try to get the Elements to return to us through our bond with them? I'm not sure. I don't think we have the magic necessary within us to allow them to return. I've already looked into that much. I think the girls and I have already pushed our bond with the Elements as far as it will go."
"Had you considered spreading friendship to another group? Perhaps find a pony like yourself who has been struggling with the concept of friends and teach them as a pupil?" Celestia let her now-empty bowl settle on the table, where it was whisked away in a gust of salmon magic and set aside in a sink.
Twilight settled into her chair and let her wings stretch. "I'd love to take a student. But that wouldn't bring the Elements back. To be a suitable host you need a bond with the Elements themselves...which is kind of impossible now that they're gone. And what if the pony I teach doesn't make six friends? What if they only make two or three?"
"It doesn't take six ponies exactly to wield one Element each. Luna and I were able to wield three Elements apiece when we first utilized them against Discord. I confess it is harder without a pony to each Element, but it is possible."
Twilight's eyes went wide. "Wow, that's right! You have a connection to the Elements, too! I completely forgot. That's perfect, then! We don't need to hope some random pony shows up! We can use you!"
Celestia backpedaled a moment. "I beg your pardon?"
"You and Luna have connections to the Elements already from prior use. If you could reforge your bond with the Elements, and then with Luna, of course, you could potentially nurture them back into existence! Oh, that's a relief." Twilight wiped her brow. "For a moment there I was worried we were going to be kidnapped by sky pirates for sure."
Celestia tilted her head. "Sky pirates? Where would we even find sky pirates? A new country would have to materialize out of nowhere for us to even consider--" She dismissed the thought. Thinking on that kind of logic would get her nowhere. "Regardless, I do not think that such an option is viable. You and your friends are much closer than Luna and I ever were."
Twilight set her hooves on the table and focused her gaze into it. More diagrams began to spring up. "Isn't that damaging to the table?" Celestia chimed in.
"Hardly. It just grows back overnight. That's where our connection to the Elements is going." Twilight tried to keep the bitterness from creeping into her voice.
"It's alright to miss the library, you know." Celestia sounded as gentle as she could.
"I just...need some time to adjust. I lost a lot in the fire. A lot of it was personal. But this isn't about me and my library. This is about the Elements. And you." Twilight looked up. Darn. Misdirection failed. "We can worry about Luna later. For the moment I'd just think it would be good to rekindle your connection in case I was targeted by an enemy or something. And because connecting to the Elements was a wonderful experience for me, and I'd hope it was for you. You could learn a lot from meeting the current Bearers, too! We were going to see my friends about all this anyway, right?"
Celestia already disliked the direction of the conversation. "Right..."
Twilight seemed to catch on. Her gaze softened and the frantic scramble that was Twilight's rate of thinking seemed to slow to a gentle amble. "I don't want to force you into anything. I'm sorry, I forget sometimes that I get a little too enthusiastic about friendship problems and I just...thought it might be a good way to make you happier." Celestia relaxed almost immediately.
"I did not say no, and what you are saying does have some truth to it. If my reconnecting with the Elements could assist in our national defense, then there is no reason for me not to try." Celestia stretched her wings and stood up from her chair. "But I would appreciate doing so at my own pace and discretion."
"Right." Twilight rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, looking down. "Well, err, if you want any help or support, you know I'm here."
"Always." Celestia gave her a tender smile. "Perhaps we should focus on the meteor shower for now. I'm meeting Rarity later this week. I can see if such a connection you are talking about is even possible then, and we can discuss from there." Suddenly this was much more comfortable territory. Celestia could pace this much out. Gentle. Safe. The way she liked things.
"Right." Twilight rose to meet her, their coats intertwining. They walked towards the top of the tower in relative peace.
"I did mean what I said about the library, by the way." Celestia had a wing wrapped around Twilight, who in turn had pressed her head into the side of the larger alicorn's chin. "While this castle serves nicely as a sign of your authority--"
"--Which I hate holding over ponies to begin with--"
"--it distinctly does not suit you." She smiled down at Twilight. "Of course, the Elements are nothing if not effective. You may wonder why the Elements did not simply fill a gigantic, cozy castle with books and filing cabinets and welcome signs."
Twilight stopped for a moment. "Actually, yeah, that is weird."
Would she really give away this secret? Perhaps not. Better to let Twilight figure it out herself. "Why do you think that is?"
Immediately the smaller mare's mind set to work. A puzzle, a challenge, was always welcome when she was feeling down. And any talk of the library that once was was a surefire way to make her feel down. "Well, it seems so cold and distant and empty. There aren't even any basic amenities, like food or blankets--I had to borrow some of those from Applejack and...oh!" The pieces began to slide into place. But she had to be sure. "The castle's healing ability...it didn't heal around those things...so maybe--aha! The intent is for my friends and I to build it!" She smiled a little at the thought. "So it always reminds me of them." Her face fell a little. "But it's not exactly ideal putting that kind of weight on their shoulders."
Celestia chuckled. "I am sure they would not consider it a taxing activity, helping you to settle into a new home. But I think there's is even more to the symbolism of the place than that. This castle is astounding, taller even than the one in Canterlot, and full of magic we have barely explored. Powerful, magical, full of secrets of the world the rest of us scarcely understand. But also isolated, cold, lonely. Does that sound like anyone you know?" Celestia smirked.
"Right." Twilight bit her lip and looked away. Celestia raised her head back up with a wing.
"But it needn't be that way forever. Soon it will be warm, open and filled with the shared experiences of a group of the most wonderful ponies in Equestria. And when it is, I'm sure the ponies who arrive here will see the charm and joy present in this castle as readily as I already do." Twilight blushed and mumbled something about spoiling her into Celestia's mane. "Anything you wish to share?" Celestia's brow raised to match her playful smile.
"Let's just get to the top of the tower." Twilight led onwards, fighting the blood out of her cheeks. They reached the patio shortly, Twilight slipping out from under her wing to start arranging the telescopes. The evening was still young and the stars just beginning to shine. It brought Celestia back to when Twilight had told her stories of them not two weeks earlier. Despite the brief gap, it seemed like years had passed in the time between. She still hadn't told Luna what the two of them were tentatively doing. Let alone Cadance. It still seemed so fragile to her. A word or gesture in the wrong direction could push her back behind her mask, and she had no interest in forcing Twilight to fish her back out.
Her thoughts as ever turned to the opinions of her subjects and how they might react to her actions. Would they see her as having groomed Twilight for this? As having too much sway over the mare to form a healthy relationship with her? As having played favourites with Twilight for years over a crush that they thought ran back further than it did? Twilight interrupted her thoughts with a gentle poke. "Luna did a good job, didn't she?" The younger mare gestured towards the set of constellations with a flick of her wing. She was right. The stars were arranged in clusters and swirls that looked more like clouds of dazzling lights more than clumps of individual points. Gaps in the nebulae allowed for individual meteors to fall through.
Celestia tried to appreciate the show for its beauty and not read between the lines. But Luna was rarely so grand and sweeping in her art unless she needed the emotional release. Something was troubling Luna, and while the stress of Tirek's invasion could well have been the source, she could only hope Luna had not guessed at how her bond with Twilight had shifted. Disapproval from any of her family would be disheartening, but from Luna...Celestia had only just gotten her back. Twilight, bless her heart, moved herself close to Celestia and swiveled a telescope over to her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Twilight propped her head up on her hooves and summoned a blanket to wrap them both in.
"It is still supernatural that you are able to do that." Celestia protested.
"Hey, I've had years to learn your tells. If your ear isn't higher than the third ring on your horn, you're worried about something. So...do you want to talk it out?" Celestia considered.
"I fear the damage disapproval from our subjects could do to our relationship." It was half the truth. That was more than she would have told any other pony. "I worry about the doubt it could place on my authority and on the respect and appreciation you receive as a newly-born Princess. I do not know who to tell and who to keep secrets from. I do not wish to come between you and your friends, but I fear they might give us away."
"It's not like we're plotting to steal Hearth's Warming, Princess." Twilight giggled. She stopped when she saw Celestia's face flicker with halfhearted mirth. "I know." She sighed. "I think we should tell Spike first."
"Spike?" Celestia thought on it. The meteor shower began, streaks of light cutting through the inky blue-black of the night sky.
"He's very loyal and pretty good at keeping secrets." Twilight craned her neck and swiveled a scope in order to catch a glimpse of a falling star streaking out from the center of Orion's Bridle. "Plus, we practically raised him. I think he deserves to know first. And it's not like he's likely to disapprove."
"No?"
"The little guy's got a crush on Rarity." Twilight smiled at the sight of the streaks of light crossing constellations and the joy of wondering how to calculate their course within her head. "Of course he kinda worships the ground she walks on, but, well, y'know..."
"You used to do the same to me?"
"Hehe, yeah." Twilight blushed and ducked her head a bit. "So what I'm saying is he'll get it. Or, he'll think he gets it. But he won't likely judge either way."
"That does seem like a good candidate, then. Mi Amore would also be a good first choice." Celestia looked at the stars. "She's known me long enough to know my intentions toward you were never impure, especially with her expertise in detecting love between ponies."
"True, but she's also married to Shiny." Twilight cringed at the thought. "And he's gonna be pretty much watching you like a hawk no matter what. It doesn't matter if you were a Changeling or some mare I met at a library or that you're the ruler of all Equestria. You're dating his little sister."
"Perhaps we tell her after Spike. The two of them should be enough to reign in any fraternal overprotectiveness on his behalf." Celestia began to breathe more fluidly. To her mild annoyance, she noticed that her ear was indeed now standing taller than the third ring on her horn. It would be Twilight who would notice differences in a pony's behaviour based on mathematical proportions. She flicked her gaze back to Twilight herself, who was currently enjoying the scientific and aesthetic masterpiece in front of them.
"That could work. We'll call it a work in progress. Now as for my friends...I think it'd make sense if you told them." Twilight looked up to Celestia, her gaze searching Celestia's own. "I'm sorry that that kind of puts you on the spot, but if you want them to be your friends, too, you'll need to feel comfortable telling secrets to them, and not just letting me do it. I don't know how they'll react, but they're all very accepting ponies. I don't imagine it will end badly."
Celestia tried not to look uncomfortable. But of course, that in turn was an uncomfortable situation and so Twilight's brow furrowed with concern and goodness when had Twilight gotten so good at reading her moods? "What you say makes sense. But, as we agreed upon, that may take me some time." Twilight nodded.
"That makes sense. We tell the family first and, if we have enough support, see how my friends react. Take it step by step." Celestia relaxed again. It was, to be fair, hard to stay tense when she was wrapped in a blanket and pressed against the beating heart of her favourite pony. But then, this was a conversation no other pony in Equestria would have had with her. This was a bond no other pony in Equestria would share with her. "Of course there's a lot that could go wrong down the road..."
She looked over at Twilight. It was a mix of relief, concern and admiration that flooded her when she saw Twilight's face. The little pony was looking up at the night sky with a frown and a squint to her eyes. Her body shivered from exposure to the enormity of both the evening sky and the waiting scrutiny of the wider world. It was oddly comforting to see Twilight as scared as she was. She chimed in. "Well, regardless of what happens down the road, I will treasure this time spent with you. You bring up feelings in me I scarcely knew I could still experience. Much in my life shifts and colours my perception. Much of what I hold onto is these few moments where I truly feel like an individual, alive and free." She looked up at Luna's sky, gargauntan and daunting, her head side by side with Twilight's own. "No matter what comes next, I will remember this moment for eons to come."
A pair of stars crisscrossed above them, two shining trails merging into one. Down below, two horns moved to touch together, sparks lighting between them as they went.