“So... how was the trip? Hit much traffic?” I ask, reading from the script and doing my best Twilight impression.
Celestia just glares at nothing in particular, more grumpy than angry.
“So... how was the trip? Hit much traffic?” I repeat a bit louder.
“This is ridiculous.”
“You’ve done it before,” I remind her.
“It’s still ridiculous.” She finally looks at me, with a softer glare. “Do we really need to practice? I wrote the lines from memory.”
“The vision was very specific this time, you can't mess up the words.”
Celestia goes back to glare at nothing. “You know I won’t be able to forget the vision even after it passess.”
I gently place my hoof against her leg. “Please, humor me.”
She lets out a long sigh before turning to face me. Her horn glows with golden magic, and after a blinding flash of magic, I look exactly like Twilight.
“Ah, what is this? Oh ho ho, these creatures are adorable,” she says with an innocent smile, an illusion of a parasprite landing on her wing before flying away. “I'm terribly honored that you and the good citizens of Ponyville have organized a parade in honor of my visit.”
“Parade? Oh. Yes, the parade!” I exclaim, getting into character.
“Unfortunately, that visit is going to have to wait for another time. I'm afraid an emergency has come up in Fillydelphia. Apparently there's been some sort of infestation.” Celestia kept smiling through the lie.
“An... infestation?”
“Yes, a swarm of incredibly bothersome creatures has invaded the poor town. I'm sorry Twilight, to have to put you all through so much trouble.”
That last line sounded far more sincere than the rest.
“Trouble? What trouble?”
“Before I have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the magic of friendship in person?”
“Your right eye it’s twitching,” I whisper.
“My mane will cover it,” she whispers back.
“My... report?”
“Haven't you learned anything about friendship?”
“Actually, I have. I-”
“That’s enough practice,” Celestia interrupts me before walking to her chariot. “I can be honest from there.”
“Very well.” The illusion on my body fades with another flash of magic. “I already made preparations for the reconstruction of Ponyville. They’ll start tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you Raven.” She glances at the town over the horizon, taking a deep breath before looking back at me. “You could take the day off if you want.”
I let out a small chuckle. “I doubt your schedule would survive.”
“I’m supposed to be in Fillydelphia dealing with an urgent infestation.”
I raise an eyebrow. “An infestation that doesn’t exist.”
“That depends on your definition of ‘infestation’,” she says with a smirk.
I do my best to resist, knowing that I would probably regret it later, but her smile is so genuine. “Okay, I’ll take a day off.”
“Have a nice day.”
Celestia gives a command to the pegasus pulling her chariot and they lift off with her, flying towards Ponyville.
Now I have to figure out what other ponies do on their days off. I guess a nap would be a good start. I make my way back to my room, but before I reach the door, I hear some light sobbing behind me.
It’s coming from Luna’s room.
I walk over to her door and give it a few knocks, but I get no answer. “Princess Luna?”
The sobbing stops, and a ragged voice responds. “Yes?”
“May I come in?”
“Is it urgent?”
“Yes.”
A blue aura takes hold of the doorknob and opens the door for me. Luna is sitting on her bed, her face dry of tears, but her eyes are red. “What’s the emergency?”
“You’re crying,” I answer as I move inside.
Luna frowns at my words. “That’s not an emergency.”
“Your sister would disagree.” I sit at her side, looking her in the eyes. “Did you have a bad dream?”
“We don’t have bad dreams,” she answers rather defensively.
“I would assume. It was your job to keep everypony away from bad dreams.”
Luna’s eyes open wide for a moment. “You know about our work?”
“Your sister told me some stories,” I say with a smile. “She paints a good picture of you.”
She looks away from me. “An inaccurate one.”
“Why? Was she lying?” I ask, tilting my head to the side. “Are you secretly evil?”
“We do not appreciate the joke,” she growls.
“I wasn’t fully joking,” I admit. “Your interpretation of your sister’s emotions is what brought you to this day.”
She still refuses to look at me. “We do not resent her anymore, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Then what are you feeling? What made you cry?” Luna doesn’t answer, but I can tell she’s thinking about it. “If you’re still feeling guilt about what happened to you-”
“Happened to us?” she questions, glaring at me. “Nothing ‘happened’ to us. It was all our fault. We betrayed our sister. We became Nightmare Moon, We tried to destroy everything she and I worked for over a millenia!”
I take a few moments to think of what to say next. It’s clear she won’t open up now, but maybe later she will.
I get an idea.
“Are you good at telling if people are lying?”
Luna looks at me, an eyebrow slightly raised. “We can tell. Why?”
I move closer, looking her straight in the eyes. “I would like to hear your version of what happened millenia ago someday. Your perspective is valid, even after what you did.”
Luan stares at me for a few long seconds, mulling over my proposition. “Maybe.”
“You know where my room is,” I tell her before moving to the door. “And also, I know it’s difficult for you to be around your sister after what happened between you two, but I think you both need to talk about it.”
Luna looks past me, to her sister's bedroom. “I’ll consider it.”
“Thank you,” I say before closing the door, letting her go back to sleep.