by JKinsley
***
Twilight yawned and stretched, with her hooves slid out in front of her and her back arched as far as she could manage. She flexed her wings out and ruffled them. After she turned her head, she saw that Celestia was still snoozing heavily.
The last silvery sliver of moonlight slipped below the horizon, leaving nothing but the far off, dim lights of the city to provide any illumination.
“Wake up sleepy head, it’s sunrise. Or it should be,” Twilight whispered from beside Celestia in their bed.
Celestia murmured and stirred, but snuggled the blankets ever tighter.
Twilight clicked her tongue and rose, bidding her beloved a brief bye with a soft kiss to the forehead while she prepared the day. At the time of the Friendship celebration, Twilight hadn’t realized that Celestia was literal when she said that she already possessed all the skill needed to pull off her plan: when she had previously taken the magic of the alicorns, her own magic left an indelible mark on all she touched. Both the sun and moon recognized her as a steward, and would obey her wishes that they move.
Twilight giggled softly to herself. She was getting used to moving celestial bodies more and more.
The soft tinkle of magic faded into and out of her hearing, and the pale reds and oranges of a new sunrise came over the other horizon.
With new light shining into the room, Celestia finally stirred awake and blinked. “Twilight?”
“Good afternoon, princess,” Twilight playfully whispered. She kissed Celestia again. “We have court today, so we’ll need to be on our best behavior.”
It remained a closely guarded state secret; one princess courting another would invite far too much unwanted attention, and their budding love needed peace, quiet, and time to grow.
In the interest of maintaining state secrets, Twilight returned to her chambers to bathe and prepare for her day in court. On the way, she passed Luna’s chambers, and chuckled at the poor guards being serenaded by the freight-train-like snores of the lunar princess.
Twilight received a curt nod as she passed. No comment was made on the state of her mane, or that she smelled of a warm summer’s afternoon.
Once she reached her own chambers, Twilight hopped into the shower for a quick shampoo. And conditioner. And a good amount of brushing. In fact, Twilight cursed not bringing Rarity along to the semiannual tetrarch summit. On a rotating schedule, two of the four Equestrian princesses would preside over court at the same time. This was Twilight’s favorite week: she would be with Celestia in court for most of the day.
It beat presiding with Luna, who had a habit of muttering threats under her breath about protecting her sister, or presiding with Cadance, whose gossip-mongering would go down in legends. Though, Celestia said the positions were reversed for her: Cadance was the protective sister(-in-law) and Luna was the relentless gossip—something about having missed a millennium of court intrigue. Twilight and Celestia both quietly assumed Luna and Cadance spent their court plotting and swapping notes.
After a longer-than-expected grooming session, Twilight felt herself presentable enough to don her regalia. Then she headed down to the breakfast hall. Upon entering, one of the hall’s waiters swept her into a chair and placed her favorites, chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, in front of her.
“The Princess will eat in a quick-but-dignified manner and proceed immediately to the throne room. Court will begin in a half hour.” He bowed low and shuffled out of the room. Twilight looked at a clock on the wall and blanched. Court really would be on in a half hour. She poured herself a glass of water and plunged her fork into her pancakes. A quick breakfast would have to do.
With barely a minute to spare any glances except at her throne, Twilight nearly galloped up to it and turned to face the doors. Sooner than she’d like to calm herself, petitioners would spew forth and demand attention. She took a deep breath and finally looked to her side, where Celestia sat calm and serene.
A rosy blush sprang across Twilight’s cheeks. Celestia wasn’t wearing her peytral! Her pristine, soft, fluffy white fur stood proudly for Twilight and anypony else to ogle! Well, obviously, only Twilight could ogle; everypony else had the good sense to only catch a glimpse.
Her lascivious thoughts were interrupted by the first of the petitioners bounding into the throne room. Twilight cursed under her breath. How would she be able to concentrate when that beautiful, nuzzle-able neck was right next to her, begging to covered in kisses?
But Twilight restrained herself. At least, until she heard a few scandalized whispers talk about that slender, graceful, swan-like...
More scandalized whispers, and even louder gasps. Even the guards’ composure was broken as they turned to look. To stare. At Twilight, secret lover of the Solar Princess, nuzzling Celestia in public.
At first, Twilight didn’t notice, enthralled as she was in the always delightful sensation of that soft fur against her muzzle and the way Celestia’s breath would catch ever so slightly when she nuzzled that one spot just above her barrel.
When Celestia’s breath didn’t catch, however, and remained frozen in place with bright red blush, Twilight turned and looked. The entire throne room stared back at her.
“Horsefeathers.”