Hoof-steps rang across the Canterlot Palace hallway in the dead of the early morning, still a somber pitch black save for a few lingering stars dotting the endless highway of the sky. One lone unicorn hummed a merry, if not somewhat restrained, tune in his throat as he made his way over to the bed chambers of the princess of the sun, ready to inform her of the day's many important tasks. He was raring to go, as he just had his early morning coffee and was riding a buzz that he hoped wouldn't wear off anytime soon.
"Ah, it is such a fine day for an adviser of my standing to report the daily agenda to his princess! I wonder what today's marvelous social gatherings and gripping debates will bring to an already fulfilling life such as mine!"
The powder blue unicorn stallion's eyes lit up behind his spectacles as he approached the door of their sun princess, feeling like he could take on the world with all of the fun things going on that day. Trying to be as discreet and unobtrusive as possible, not wanting to wake the rest of the palace, he gently yet forcefully tapped a hoof on the large oak portal, emitting a resonant, hollow thud from its surface.
"Your Highness," he crooned in a sing-song voice. "Rise and shine, it is a most wonderful morning to mingle with Equestria's populace today!"
A profound silence was all that greeted him. Princess Celestia must have been really wiped out from yesterday's proceedings. The middle-aged pony decided that a second set of taps was in order, after no reply had come for a minute or two.
"I know, Princess Celestia, it is quite early in the morning. I'm sorry to have disturbed you so abruptly, but our land needs its princesses, yourself no exception."
A creeping sense of acute panic crawled its way through the horned pony's spine as another deathly silence accompanied his words.
"...Princess? Is everything alright in there? Please, answer me if you are able to!"
Now became the perfect time to worry, as nothing could be heard from the other side of the door, and the adviser became more aware of the fact that he was not hallucinating.
"Oh dear, pardon the intrusion, Your Majesty, but I am coming inside!"
He didn't want to be disrespectful just in case his suspicions were flawed. He quickly unlatched the large door and trotted inside briskly, beseeching the heavens that the co-ruler of Equestria was safe and sound in her chambers. Unfortunately, he was having no such luck today. His happiness from before was completely replaced by an icy chill as he gazed upon the lifeless room, immaculately untouched and Celestia not in her bed as he had surmised.
"OH NO..." The unicorn's lip started to quiver as the weight of the situation set in. He did the only thing he could think of in the event that one of the two princesses were nowhere to be found...
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
Two pegasus guards, patrolling the hallway at the time, heard the cries for help that the old pony bleated. Tearing through the short passageway within a matter of minutes, and arriving on the scene of a dry-heaving, blue stallion, looking for all intents and purposes like he was having a psychological breakdown.
"Mr. Bright Ray," one of the guards addressed the grey-haired adviser. "What in the name of the Royal Sisters is going on here?"
Bright Ray looked like he was going to faint. His wide eyes and slack jaw were sign enough that something was amiss to the guards.
"Princess Celestia...has gone missing!"
"WHAT?"
Celestia had just left the residence of one of the most important ponies in her long, slightly dreary life. She was sailing through the air with a light exuberance unknown for many, many years, a genuine smile curving on her face, and bell-like laughs chiming from some place deep inside of her at the unbelievable realization. Twilight really did share the same sentiments she did. Not for a hundred years would she have thought it possible. As smitten as the white mare was with her pupil, she learned that the violet unicorn loved her in return.
Quietly, and withholding as much of her power and joviality as she could not to be noticed by the townsfolk, Celestia practically performed stunts as she soared toward her castle home, corkscrewing every so often, and doing a few loop-de-loops for good measure.
Just thinking about all of the fantastic things they would be able to do as a "couple", under wraps, of course, if her student was not ready to reveal them together yet, made the last few days of suffering, loss, and regret so worth it. The sun princess was already scheming some romantic get-togethers, each different location and activity making her more excited as they submerged her conscious thoughts in her beautiful filly.
It was so relieving to her, for once, to be able to forget about the problems in the world, and simply be a pony in love, not worrying about the repercussions of such a taboo relationship, or of shirking, once in a blue moon, her tiring duties as a princess. She heaved a great breath of fresh, mountain air, both in relief of the tensions of this life, and finding the cool, crisp wind so much more appealing now that she was drowning in pure bliss from her recent rendezvous with the mare she could now call her own.
Although everypony would be awaiting her eventual return to the castle, she started to lazily drift in the wind like a leaf, letting this feeling of contentment wash over her. They wouldn't be needing her there right this very minute after all, or that's what she assumed was the truth. She could see the palace not but a five minute flight by the time an hour or so just passed, so everything was going to be a-okay...
"Please calm down, Mr. Bright Ray! I'm certain that the princess had a reasonable need to step out for a few moments."
The old statespony tore a hole through the marble floors of their princess' bedroom with all of his jittery pacing. A hoof could be seen flying up to his face in exasperation constantly as the various unsavory possibilities for Celestia's absence screamed through his aching brain.
"I believe, my dear sir" -the blue stallion grumbled through a polite mask that seemed ready to break at the slightest provocation- "that you are underestimating the severity of this situation!"
Bright Ray stopped walking around in circles for a brief second as he unceremoniously informed the guards of his tempered opinion on the matter.
"What if she's been kidnapped by a band of rogue unicorns who want money, notoriety...or worse" -the pony's pupils dilated- "indecent, primal contact with the princess' body?"
He fell in a heap on the ground at the very thought in a dramatic, fainting motion. The guards in attendance contorted their faces in both confusion and distaste at the adviser's insinuations.
"Get a hold of yourself!" One of the pegasi stared down at the old codger vehemently on his right side. "If the princess had been kidnapped for some kind of ransom, don't you think they would have left us a note demanding something?"
The other guard stepped on his other side, looking down with a grunt of agreement, "Besides, I don't think there's a pony alive who would dare try to kidnap the princess, what with her being able to barbeque them and all."
The former guard gave the pegasus before him a comical grimace, noting the harsh characterization of their kind, fair ruler.
"What?...I've heard some tales..." the apologetic pony brushed his forehoof against the back of his head.
Bright Ray picked himself up, snorting at the lax attitudes of those who should have been the elite guards of Canterlot. He felt like he could have done a much better job in their places. If he was in their horseshoes, and the princesses had gone missing, he would've sent every stallion, mare, colt, and filly in Equestria on a mission to find them, and given a sizable reward for their successful efforts to boot.
"I cannot believe the kinds of tom-foolery I have to bear witness to here!" The bespectacled unicorn gestured to the two. "You should be sending a cry throughout the streets of her disappearance, not standing around making flimsy excuses for not doing your jobs!"
Incensed by that arrogant remark, the right-sided guard angrily stared Bright Ray down in place, eliciting a suddenly powerless whimper from the advising stallion.
"Now see here, you snobbish..." he composed himself slightly, minding his lower station, "Do you really think that causing a panic in Canterlot, getting hundreds, thousands of ponies into a ragtag mob and spreading chaos is going to find the princess faster?"
He couldn't tell if it was the crushing gaze of this brutish guard pony or some semblance of logic finally creeping into his terror-addled mind, but Bright Ray conceded that maybe he had a good point.
"Well...I mean...I..."
"Exactly, that's what I thought."
He let up on the old man and gave him the chance to walk over to one of the large glass windows. The blue unicorn was not any more comforted by the realization, and the other pegasus guard put in his two bits with a similarly worried look on his face, though he tried to remain confident.
"The princess has been out for a while, judging by the time it is now. If it makes you feel any better, in five more minutes, if Princess Celestia has not come back, then we will sound the alarm for the rest of the GUARDS to go out and search undercover."
Bright Ray folded his forearms together in frustration for a bit as he pondered the proposal. He gave a heavy sigh of defeat after some seconds of thought.
"...Alright...five more minutes...and then...no more waiting!"
An uneasy quiet settled into the atmosphere. None of the ponies present could deny the bad feelings they were getting at the whole thing. Five more minutes, and the princess would be back, and they'd all be happy again, and there would be no more need to fear, right? Still, it just didn't seem as simple as that. They were all afraid that the castle would have to be awoken. Princess Luna herself would be furious at their incompetence for not knowing where Celestia had went, and some unknown punishment would be in store.
"Princess Celestia," one of the guards bemoaned pleadingly in his thoughts. "Please be back by that time, and put this annoying adviser's mind at ease so he doesn't do something stupid that we'll all take flak for!"
Princess Celestia was the picture of serenity as the not-so-routine trip came to an end and her bed chamber's window was within clear vision. Smiling to herself, pleased from the night's activities, she glided delicately onto the veranda of one of the monumental portals, making tiny metal clinking sounds from her hooves. With a similarly dainty precision, the window was nudged open with another gold slipper as she entered.
A sharp gasp and airy sighs of relief, none of which came from the princess herself, alerted Celestia that she was not the only pony in attendance. As soon as her head whipped around to face the intruders who would dare trespass in her sacred hideaway, a small, old colt, eyes wet with as of yet unshed tears, barreled through the sizable chamber toward the white mare. Her own face took on a trained, regal surprise when the pony almost tackled her, stopping with his forearms outstretched a foot away from her, trying his best to observe decorum in the face of infinite weight lifting from his shoulders.
"Oh, my princess, I thought I had lost you!"
Bright Ray bowed politely, though the stream of liquid from his eyes that was threatening to leak at any time decided it had waited long enough, and in the bow the unicorn nearly curled up on the floor in alleviated, yet unstable emotion.
The princess was flabbergasted that Bright Ray had awoken so early, and in turn, had come to wake her up before the dawn. What in pony hell was he doing out of bed at this hour? Celestia eyed the powder blue stallion nervously, knowing beyond a doubt that her shadowy escape and return plan was thrown out with the rest of the horribly laid plans she had made throughout her life. She didn't show it on her face though, opting instead to smile in a warm, motherly manner, doing what she could to ease the overblown paranoia of her subjects, a task that she was so familiar with that she had it down to a science of sorts.
First came the tension relieving giggle she used, not too derisive as to offend, but genuine enough that the subject in question was submerged in confidence that Celestia knew what she was doing better than anypony else.
"Ha ha, oh My Little Pony, what in Equestria is troubling you so? I was only stepping out for a little exercise in the morning. These wings won't keep themselves strong and limber, you know."
Works like a charm. As her opening statement had ended, the unicorn hiccuped once or twice, but ultimately quit crying and raised himself off of the ground into a more dignified position, giving a quirky, grateful smile back to the princess as he did. The guards rushed forward, quite tense about the whole situation themselves, but keeping composure more effectively.
"Your Majesty, we are glad to see that you have returned! In the future, it may be prudent if Her Highness could let the guard squads know about any deviation from her morning schedule, to be better prepared for it, naturally."
The guards bowed to her themselves as one took the effort to greet her personally, and to inform her, in the most respectful way possible, that a princess' whereabouts should not be unknown.
"Great," Celestia thought to herself, defeated. "They'll never give me a moment to breathe at the rate they keep finding me away from one thing or another..."
With a gentle craftiness borne from over a thousand years of leadership, the white alicorn considered the two pegasi with another soulful gaze, turning the charm up to eleven as she did so.
"You are all such considerate stallions to worry about my safety. I couldn't have hoof-picked better ponies even if I wanted to."
Celestia regally sauntered over to the unturned bedspread for a moment, giving the statement a moment to sink in for the three in the room with her. As much as she didn't like trying to avoid her subjects' requests, being further shackled to the palace was not high on her list of "things I can tolerate easily". She regarded the winged sentries, especially, with her next statement.
"If I promise you that I'll take better care of myself, and keep closer to the castle from now on, can we put this matter behind us?"
Secretly, the princess was sweating bullets under her unmarred coat of fur. She knew it would be a stretch for them not to be on high alert after the stunt she pulled, but she was hoping that her loving eye contact to each of the men in the room and her sweet, near pleading grin would be enough to melt or short circuit the reasoning functions in their brains, and bring them over to her side of things.
Luckily...stallions didn't really seem to change that much throughout time, and with a few disgruntled shirks in resistance, the last of their willpower was washed away. A guard spoke up after a few minutes of fidgeting. A light flush stained his white cheeks as he gave a choppy response back.
"Please Princess, next time, be more careful."
He was the first to bow again and leave, while the second guard lingered for a tiny moment before following suit. Bright Ray, by his original intent, stood firm inside the bedchamber, although looking slightly disheveled from the morning's events as well.
As much as Celestia wanted to dry heave in relieved appreciation of her charms, a huge proponent in centuries of trouble evasion, that would have been most unladylike, and her daily task adviser was standing at the ready, eager to start the rest of the day now that it wouldn't be ruined by her being spirited away or killed. They seemed to be able to come up with any excuse to make an official adviser for everything...
"Ahem...well Princess..." the old unicorn coughed as he went back over to pick up his clipboard, lost from his magical grip in the turbulence of finding her gone. "...Shall we start by...raising the sun for the day?..."
"Oh...OH...right!" the princess quickly composed herself as her trusted statespony had, hoping that her impromptu trip would soon be forgotten, and life would move on as usual.
...and wow...did it ever move on as usual...
One of the first orders of business of the day was one Celestia had been dreading since last month, presiding over the court as the monthly census for the Equestria Royal Treasury was discussed, at mind-numbing length and, in her opinion, unnecessary detail. She tried not to shift uncomfortably in her seat and retained her regal posture at the large, rectangular table, as business ponies, economics professors, and her financial advisers chatted away mercilessly about anything and everything expense related for the last month. It had been hours and they weren't even onto this month's business yet. The princess had learned the virtue of patience long ago, but it was completely ridiculous when one of the professors gave an incredibly monotonous speech regarding prices in the marketplace.
"So...as we can see," -this professor, a yellow earth pony with the slowest enunciation the princess had ever heard, droned on- "since the bit value and scarcity of cords of cherry wood lumber have increased exponentially in the last three weeks, the Architectural Guild's plan to build a new school of carpentry with said wood, not including the cords they would need for classroom materials, is going to have to either be postponed for a few months, or they will have to find a different type of wood that is cheaper than the two thousand bit price per cord that cherry wood is now. I would suggest..."
Celestia couldn't help it anymore. She felt her eyelids drooping down as the uninteresting stallion's speech just would not end. Visions of what she and Twilight would be doing on a first date ran through her mind: a quiet, quaint little picnic on a hill outside of either Canterlot or Ponyville, a candle-lit dinner in the library, an intimate evening curled up by the firepl...
"Princess Celestia?"
SNAP
Celestia bolted upright in her seat, her chair rocking forward a fraction, now fully awake after the offended voice reached her ears. The goofy grin she had on her face before replaced by a more comfortable, calm smirk as she regarded whichever of her subjects that had requested her.
"Yes My Subjects, was there a question that you asked of me?"
The very same professor that had been speaking not but a few short seconds ago was the one to speak up, and he did not look pleased that the princess of the sun was snoozing during his oration, though using nothing but the utmost reverence in addressing her yet again.
"As I was saying, please, Your Majesty, how would you handle this situation? We would all be most appreciative of your thoughts on the matter."
You know the kind of wavering line that one has on their mouth when somepony asks them for advice on a topic they completely ignored? Well, Celestia imagined a similar look in her own cheeks as she scanned the room of curious stares rapidly. She hoped that the last topic she vaguely listened to was the right one as she made a response.
"...Well...I would suggest making the school building out of oak instead!"
She dripped sweat from her pores as she continued at the intrigued grimaces on her subjects' faces.
"I do recall that the price of oak this month was a little higher than it was the last one, but hundreds of new oak trees were planted about two hundred years ago, and are set to be harvested soon, dropping their expense before next month's meeting. It's a solid material, and as a bonus, even if the coloration isn't the same as the cherry, painting it a similar shade would still keep them under budget by at least a thousand bits per cord..."
Celestia could swear that everypony in attendance gawked at her. An old pegasus business pony on the other end of the table even had light refreshments spilling out of his gaping jaw. It was probably the most they had ever heard from the princess on any financial affair. The faint, long-forgotten urge to run out of the room crying in embarrassment was starting to overtake her, though she remained steadfast in the tension of the court.
The awkward moment was finally shattered as two hooves beat together, slowly at first, as if to stop at a moment's notice, but gradually rising up to an enthused clap. Others followed suit, including, eventually, the yellow professor.
"BRILLIANT!" The earth pony cheered as the thought had obviously never crossed his own mind at all.
"Well said, Princess, well said indeed!"
The white mare leaned back imperceptibly in her chair, smiling to her little ponies as red dusted her cheeks, flustered by the sudden question and possibility of being caught off guard.
The discussions proceeded with renewed gusto, at least for the stallions and mares around the table with the princess. One particular conversation piqued her interest, to the point of undivided attention.
"Now then," another reddish pink unicorn mare interjected. "There has been a matter of...great misfortune I must inform you all of. By the ledgers presented by our operatives in the administrative sector of Ponyville, it has come to my attention that over eighty percent of Ponyville's citizens are either not paying, or inadequately paying, their income taxes, and as we all know, a small percentile of that tax is paid in directly to the royal treasury. While I would be more inclined to make complaints about Manehattan's rising criminal activity, or Trottingham's mayor's blatant abuse of campaign funds and political "gifts" for personal diversions, this income tax evasion does harm to not only their local government, but to the land's governance as well..."
"..." Celestia thought for a second. "...Ponyville...Twilight lives in Ponyville...the perfect excuse!"
She waited until the mare was finished with her own statement to propose a motion of her own.
"Ahem," Celestia cleared her throat gently, more out of habit than anything else, but once she did, the entire room went silent, waiting for the princess to speak. "Perhaps the problems going on in Ponyville need to be dealt with on a more personal level. I would be more than happy to make an appearance at the town hall and address this issue with Mayor Mare myself."
The attendees glanced at each other incredulously, wondering if this was some kind of joke. The same unicorn who had brought up the income tax evasion respectfully bowed to Celestia before disagreeing with that idea.
"My Lady is most gracious to wish to work the matter out with the mayor personally, but in all due respect, I do not foresee any altercations or conflicts that would require direct supervision from the princess, this seems like something another member of the council could resolve easily."
The sun princess gave her a reassuring smile and hummed a little in humor. She knew the rose colored financial wizard was only looking out for her protection. She knew she loved her princess so. All the same, Celestia wanted to press the entire weight of her political power over her for getting in the way of her top-ranked mission, see Twilight by any means necessary. Instead, she spoke again in a compassionate tone.
"My Dear Adviser, what kind of princess would I be if all I did was bark orders at ponies, and micromanage them from afar, never getting in touch with their problems and concerns? My sister and I haven't ruled Equestria for over a thousand years for nothing, and I like to think that our personal involvement shows that we care deeply about them. If nothing else" -Celestia attempted to lighten the mood by ending her rebuttal with some laughter- "it would be a good PR move!"
The intended effect was noticed in the phantom giggles from a few of the ponies at the table. The red mare was still a little apprehensive about it, but if that's what the princess was ordering to happen, then nopony else could really object to it now, could they?
"Alright Princess, we can have you flown out to Ponyville today, if that is not too much trouble for you. The sooner this matter is dealt with, the better off the treasury will be."
"Oh I do not mind at all," Celestia beamed radiantly. "I will inform my Daily Tasks Adviser after this meeting at once!"
Soon, the meeting would be out, finally! Celestia was overjoyed to find a legitimate way to go to Ponyville without having to resort to sneaking around and flying under the cover of darkness.
"This is going to be wonderful, I just know it!" the princess thought to herself, still trying with all of her might to pay attention to the rest of the proceedings, lest she be queried again and not be able to answer it competently.
As the day moved on in the Ponyville Library, Twilight was still in a dreadful state of disbelief that the events which transpired the night before had even been real at all. Since the moment she had gone to bed for the rest of the night, only a few hours, and woken back up in the morning, she took every possible opportunity to have her number one assistant pinch her in an attempt to gauge her overall consciousness.
"OW!" Twilight yelped as the little claws obediently pressed the sensitive flesh of Twilight's back between them. "Don't clamp down so darn hard Spike, you almost drew blood that time!"
"Hey," the dragon forced his hands up into a surrendering posture, "I'm not the one who keeps saying 'pinch me Spike, I must be dreaming!'" Spike condescendingly squeaked in a caricature of Twilight's more feminine voice.
Twilight huffed dramatically at his antics, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry Spike, but I just can't believe that Princess Celestia is in love with me! I thought I was just some kind of child to her, maybe a child with exceptional magic talent, but she's had plenty of students before me!"
"Well what are you asking me for?" Spike asked, genuinely confused by what Twilight had just told him some hours ago, and was still telling him now, "I don't know what she's thinking either. I'll just say you must be something pretty special to have caught her eye."
Twilight looked at her companion, self-consciously flustered by the way he worded his musings. "I guess so, I mean, Princess Celestia probably gets her door knocked down by suitors every day. What she'd want with me, I have no idea."
Spike went over to her again as they stood in the lobby of the library, this time patting her shoulder in a gesture of comfort. "Oh Twilight, you've got plenty of things going for you that the princess would like, you're loyal, courageous, talented at magic and research, sure, you might have a little age difference..."
"A little age difference, Spike?"
"...Okay, maybe a huge age difference, but come on, if she really feels that way about you, and you feel the same about her, then what else matters?"
Twilight chuckled a bit, feeling better now that Spike had put things into a little more perspective for her. "Thanks Spike, I needed that..."
The warm "family" moment was cut short by a stiff, energetic knock at the front door.
Spike took a mutually shared confused look at his pony mentor and headed over to see who it could possibly be.
"Welcome to the...oh hi Applejack!" Spike spoke energetically after opening the door and realizing who it was.
"Howdy Spike, Twilight," Applejack nodded politely to the unicorn, who was now moving over to the doorway slowly.
"Hey, Applejack," Twilight mirrored Spike in her energy. "What brings you here, of all places, today?"
Applejack seemed pretty excited, as she had a great, big smile on her face and leaned into the two librarians to half-whisper something to them.
"Didn't you hear the news, Twilight? Princess Celestia is coming to Ponyville on official business! I knew you'd be pleased as punch to see her, so I came to you first to give you the good word."
Oh Twilight was pleased alright. She couldn't believe that just over half a day had gone by and the princess had found another way to get to the town without making anything seem too suspicious. She could've galloped around the room frantically, not just for joy, but also to make checklists of all the things she'd need to bring and do before she saw Celestia again.
"Oh wow, Princess Celestia's coming? I need to get everything ready! Everything needs to be absolutely perfect!"
Twilight gave Applejack an appreciative nod and thanked her before charging up to the bedroom and began stuffing things into her saddlebags that she either wanted to show the princess or to give her when she arrived.
"Golly," Applejack started chortling good-naturedly. "She must be pretty wound up about meetin' the princess, huh?"
"Yeah, she's always like that," Spike deadpanned before continuing the conversation. "How did you know the princess was coming to Ponyville, Applejack?"
"Well I was mindin' the apple stand out in the middle of town when Mayor Mare came out to make a public speech about it. She told everypony to be on their best behavior, and that today's visit was strictly official business with the mayor, so that nopony would try to make a huge scene and demand autographs or other things like that."
"Do you know what she'll be discussing with her?" Spike was getting more curious by the moment, hoping Applejack had more dirt than that.
"I'm not sure there Spike, but whatever it is, it must be important."
Applejack and the baby dragon glanced back over his shoulder at the apparent carnage being waged on one of Twilight's saddlebags, fascinated by how many things the violet unicorn could magically force into one.
"It looks like Twilight's a little busy right now. Hopefully I'll see ya both at the apple stand pretty soon if you're headed out that way."
"Oh, yeah," Spike grinned sheepishly at the farm pony. "See you later, Applejack."
"You too Spike."
They waved each other off before Spike closed the door. He inched his way back through the lobby, trying to slip by and head into the kitchen, where he would then jump out the window and avoid the pandemonium taking place in the bedroom.
"Oh no you don't Spike, you've got to help me pack for the trip!"
"Arrrrrgh!" Spike moaned to himself with a face-palm.
This time, Celestia could relax for a while and just enjoy the carriage ride over to Ponyville, seeing as this trip would be legitimate, and nopony would be suspicious of her motives or reasons for coming to the little village today. The time passed in a blur, maybe having dozed off once or twice from the late night and the (albeit marvelous) lack of sleep, and after waking the second or third time she spotted the town closing in.
Despite the princess' requests that Mayor Mare tell the townsponies to act naturally and remain in their places of work, or to simply write off her visit and act like she wasn't coming, a whole crowd had gathered in front of the town hall to greet their sun princess, dote on her, and shout their endless cries of adoration, and on the slightest occasion, unrest. While not particularly pleased that her subjects had willfully disobeyed their mayor, and by extension herself, she understood that this was an uncommon thing, and they just wanted to show her how grateful they were to host her presence.
"Smile, Celestia...smile..." she gritted through her teeth as the townsfolk put up a raucous cheer for the princess.
They touched down pretty close to the administrative building, thank the heavens, and she merely waved a few times daintily while giving the crowd a vibrant look of adoration. Everypony bowed to the ground in a show of respect, and then continued to chat amongst each other merrily, some inquisitive of what exactly she was doing here.
"Welcome to our humble little town, Princess Celestia," Mayor Mare bowed to the alicorn herself.
"It is so nice to meet with you yet again, Mayor Mare, shall we get started right away?"
Celestia was anxious to get this tax discussion over with, so that she could slip out, undetected by the large crowd, and meet up with Twilight for some...fun.
Their discussions weren't as productive as Celestia knew her advisers would've wanted, but all in all they had come to a few agreements that ensured the royal treasury would receive about fifteen percent more money from income taxes, cutting some other taxes here and there on products and services that the town of Ponyville didn't really even use much. It would be satisfying for now.
Celestia had more pressing matters to attend to now. As she said her goodbyes to the mayor, she slipped out the back door of the town hall building, conveniently placed so that important ponies wouldn't be trampled by loving crowds or unruly mobs. She had told the guards to wait outside for a time period much longer than she knew she would need to get the talks done, so they would not be accompanying her on her next stop.
The regal mare eyed the alley shiftily as she took a step...
"There you are, Celestia!"
She almost jumped five feet in the air, yelping at the relieved voice three feet to her right.
"Oh...it's you Twilight! You almost gave this old princess a heart attack!"
Twilight's face was as red as a tomato as she looked away for a second, embarrassed by her ill-planned entrance. "Sorry about that..."
The purple unicorn was completely adorable when she thought she had done something wrong.
"Oh Twilight," the white pony made a genuine, hearty giggle. "It's quite alright. I'm surprised that you found me out here. How did you know where to look?"
Twilight's face was still pretty flushed when she glanced at the beautiful mare, "I heard that you had gone inside the town hall building a while ago, and since I knew you wouldn't like going through the large crowd again I figured you'd come out the back way to avoid them."
"Very astute, my lovely pupil."
The two of them locked eyes for the first time since the night before, Celestia inching closer to the unicorn, as Twilight stood in place, waiting for the princess to shrink the distance between them.
"I know it has not even been a day...but I've thought of you since the moment I left, Twilight..."
Twilight shyly stepped forward a little herself, her heart and body making her do things that her mind needed no part in.
"Princ...I mean...Celestia, I..."
The words sort of escaped her after her ravishing teacher leaned in and captured her lips in her own, gingerly, with a wet, longing smack. Only seconds passed by as they basked in each others body heat before the princess let out a soft, unintentional moaning growl, taking the unicorn's lips once again, this time more forcefully, so much so, in fact, that Twilight was almost pushed up against the brick wall of the building in front of them. She moaned into the princess' kiss submissively, not minding that her rump was nearly pressed up against the stony surface, savoring the feel of Celestia's hooves cupping her face and traveling down further to the bottom of her neck. After a few moments of heated playing with each others tongues, Celestia pulled back again, remembering where they were, and where they should be going right now.
"Oh my...Twilight...maybe we should pick this back up over at the library?"
Twilight's breathing was just as laborious, trying to process the question in an intelligent manner.
"I...could get...Spike to...spend a night over at Rarity's or something..."
The princess looked away pensively and returned her gaze to her prized student, "Given the circumstances...I think that would be an excellent idea..."
Already knowing the situation going on before Twilight even thought he did, Spike took to the "take a hike" speech quite well. He told them that he'd go over to Fluttershy's place instead, since even though he did like Rarity, she probably wouldn't be happy with the fact that Twilight had dumped him on her all of a sudden. Fluttershy was a much more understanding pony, and she would most likely not question the reason for his impromptu visit, something else they were relying on.
"Oh Twilight, you didn't have to tidy up for me."
Even as she said it, the princess felt honored, in a way, that Twilight would take so much care and consideration into her visits.
Twilight smiled bashfully at the white goddess as she noticed how extremely organized and polished everything seemed, "I couldn't make you crawl through a dirty library, Celestia. It was no trouble whatsoever."
The white mare draped a large wing over the violet unicorn's back, giving her an innocent squeeze in appreciation, "You want to hear a secret, Twilight?"
The bookpony leaned into the hug dreamily, feeling Celestia's soft, velvety skin tremble under the contact, "Sure, I'm all ears."
"Out of all of the students I've ever had in the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, I've never had a pupil who was as eager to make me happy as you are, and I've never valued the attention more than I do yours."
As they climbed the steps into the bedroom, both ponies grateful to be able to relax and hold each other for the time being, Celestia nuzzled her charge's cheek with her own lovingly.
"Sure, there have been other students who fearfully worshiped me to the point of not wanting to incur my wrath, and those who were only trying to butter me up for better grades or more recognition..."
A lucid, reminiscent frown intruded on her features as the last statement was spoken. It pained Twilight greatly to see anything other than joy on her princess' face, and as they sat on the nearly inadequate bed, she buried her muzzle into Celestia's neck, intent on making all of the pains of the ruler's past as they should be, distant, long-forgotten memories.
"...but somehow, I know that isn't the same with you. When I look back on every spell you've learned, every book report you've ever turned in, every time I would come over to the Canterlot Library and I'd see you, little Twilight, inconsolable because a few silly books were out of place here and there, your visit with me ruined because of it, I could always sense that there were no ulterior motives to the things you wanted to impress me with. There was no fear of punishment, no desire for power, status, or altered grades. The only fear I ever saw in you was that I would be disappointed..."
Celestia used her wing to tilt Twilight's cute, adoring face to meet her own eyes, further accentuating her next point.
"...but it was such a deep fear that even I would never wish to put you through it. I'm very sorry for ever making you feel that way, Twilight, if I have."
The princess' face became tinted red with tenderness and regret. Twilight took a fore-hoof and caressed the wing, bringing it closer to her face in the process.
"Celestia, the only ways you've ever made me feel are safe, warm, cared for, and loved, even when I didn't want to admit that I felt those ways to keep from ruining our friendship and trust. I thought, for the longest time, that you only ever saw me as your student, maybe a distant younger relative, but no more than that. I thought that confronting you about my feelings would sicken you, and turn you away."
The princess forlornly chuckled as she put a foreleg around the smaller unicorn, embracing her tightly, "My Dear, what in Equestria would make you think that I'd be disgusted in any way, shape, or form with you?"
Twilight hummed at the exquisite contact, but was also a little embarrassed. "I know, I was just really scared to think about what would happen if you had hated me."
Celestia's laughter livened at the very notion. Twilight was, indeed, a silly filly sometimes.
"Never, not in a million years, my sweet, little pony..."
Celestia quickly pecked her on the side of her mouth to reiterate the point. The purple mage seemed troubled by something else though too.
"What is it, Twilight?"
She didn't come out with it right away, trying to find the right words to express her concerns.
"Is it alright that I'm not ready to tell everypony else about this just yet?"
The princess, while somewhat perturbed personally by the admission, would never make Twilight do something she wasn't ready for.
"I told you before, Twilight, I will take this secret to my own grave, if that time ever comes, if you wish to keep it that way. Whenever you want to tell somepony, don't worry about how it will affect me, tell anypony you want. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable about us."
The purple pony's ears perked at the last word.
"Us...I like that...it has a nice ring to it."
"Oh, does it now?" Celestia quipped playfully back, licking Twilight's nose quickly.
Twilight mewled bashfully at Celestia's increasing boldness.
"Please Princ...I mean Celestia, not in front of Smarty Pants!" she laughed out loud as the stuffed pony sat on the table, looking like it was staring straight at them the entire time.
The sun goddess had a rather mischievous glint in her eye when she noticed what Twilight was talking about. "Looks like Smarty Pants is about to get a free show, don't you agree?"
Twilight snorted at her princess' lewd comment, relieved to feel the slightly negative tension coiling around the room disappear. Now all that was left was a different kind of tension, one that could only be alleviated by other kinds of activities.
After the giggles had stopped, Twilight and her mentor gazed pointedly into each others eyes yet again, relishing in the momentarily forgotten heat they both generated in waves. Celestia took a deep breath, taking in Twilight's slightly sweaty scent, while the unicorn similarly breathed a sigh of contentment.
Without a lot of warning on her part, the princess dove down to position her tongue on Twilight's lips, stopping just above to tease the poor filly into giving in. She took the bait hungrily, pressing up onto the older mare's mouth with an uncharacteristic force. Their lips, teeth, and tongues danced together steadily, increasing the stifling warmth around them. Twilight's mane was matted against her sides and face, even parts of Celestia's regal mane clung to her own face in the hot room.
The sun goddess began to lay Twilight down further on the bed, to get some leverage and more access to the rest of Twilight's body. In doing this, Twilight moaned unabashedly into her teacher's kiss, willing the alicorn to make other moves if she wanted. Celestia would have it no other way as she sprayed kisses all along Twilight's cheeks, ears, and traveled down to her neck, giving the sensitive areas under the unicorn's jaw extra attention.
"Oh...Twilight..." Celestia couldn't help it much longer. She would have to keep going further soon if the violet pony didn't protest.
Unfortunately...
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
The downstairs door was beaten on as if somepony was running from a murder. Celestia broke the passionate exchange instantly, heaving great gulps of air after forgetting to breathe, lost in Twilight's delicious neck. Wide-eyed and lustfully shaking from head to hoof, she jumped off of the bed to let Twilight get up, who was having her own problems standing straight and getting her own mind out of the fabulous haze her sexy mentor had induced in her. She fell on her rump a few times, disoriented, wherein Celestia helped her to her hooves and guided her down the steps. The mood had just been killed, at the worst possible time.
As the two frantically galloped down the steps, the princess had an idea.
"Twilight, when somepony comes through that door, just talk to me as if you were giving a presentation on...something...anything!"
Twilight nodded affirmatively, still dazzled from Celestia's excellent lip work. She regained whatever bearings she could and trotted over to the door calmly, opening it to the complete idiots who had absolutely ruined their fun.
"Hello?"
As the door opened, a pegasus guard tore into the library, thanking every one of his pony ancestors that Princess Celestia was, while looking disoriented and...slightly wet..., intact and unharmed.
"Princess Celestia, we have been looking everywhere for you! We thought something awful had happened to you!"
Oh...something awful had definitely happened alright... Pity the guard never realized that he and the others with him were to blame...
"Is this your friend?" One of the other guards pushed the purple and green creature through the door's threshold gently.
"Spiiiiiiike!" Twilight was furious. He must've ratted them out and lead the guards straight there.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, they nearly ransacked Fluttershy's cottage searching for the princess, I couldn't just let them destroy her house! Forgive me!"
Spike ran towards one of the rooms with a door in the library, opened it, and shut it behind him to get away from the guards who had...well...who knows what they did to get Spike to divulge information about Celestia being there?
"So as you can see, Princess Celestia," Twilight made it a point to show the guards what had been going on before they had so rudely interrupted, which was just an innocent little presentation. "Fungi in Everfree Forest have many differences from the types of fungi you encounter in the Whitetail Woods."
Celestia made a mock impressed face to her secret lover. "That's all quite fascinating Twilight, good job on that report!"
Twilight smiled crookedly to the guards, who would've probably known something was up if they weren't so happy to see the princess unharmed.
"Your Majesty, it is time to leave for Canterlot."
Celestia gave Twilight a crestfallen look, not wanting to leave. Since she had been caught though, she'd have a lot of explaining to do if she didn't go with them.
"Oh...yes...it is time for me to go, My Faithful Student. I will be expecting a riveting friendship report in my chambers by tomorrow night."
"Yes Princess, I'll send it to you as soon as possible."
Twilight gave her love a solemn look back, not wanting her to leave right as they were enjoying each others company so much. The guards went back out to prepare the carriage for the return trip. In that time, Celestia gave Twilight one more massive hug and passionate kiss, brushing the stray hairs of Twilight's mane out of her eyes, as well as newly forming tears.
"Now, now, don't fret, Twilight," she cooed softly to the young mare. "We'll be able to see each other again very soon, I'll make it happen somehow. Until then, I'll send you a letter by mail pegasus every day to keep in touch, and to keep Spike from seeing the messages I send. They might have some racy stuff in them, if you know what I'm saying."
Twilight's mood lifted a little at the joke and Celestia's reassurances kept her from weeping right there for everypony to see.
"Thanks Celestia, come back as soon as you can."
"I will, Twilight, and I want you to know that I love you more than you can possibly imagine."
Twilight barely found the strength to pry her hooves off of the gorgeous white princess in front of her, not wanting to let go. She looked one last time into the magenta irises of her teacher and spoke, "I love you so much, Celestia! I'll see if I can't try to find some way to visit you in Canterlot more often too."
The guards called for Celestia to get into the carriage. With slow, painful steps, she walked out to greet them as lively as she could, and soon she was off to Canterlot again. Who knew when Twilight would see her again? At least she would always be able to write about anything and everything she wanted to her.
She closed the door morosely behind her, melancholy setting in now that Celestia was gone. Luckily though she wasn't completely alone tonight.
"Spike," she called at the door she knew Spike was behind, "they're gone now!"
Spike slid the door open as slowly as he could. He peeked out the door for any sign of guards, freely sighing in relief at the knowledge they weren't there anymore.
"Woo...that was quite the panic there for a while!"
Twilight couldn't help but grin at her assistant. Whenever she was down, his antics were always something that could cheer her up. Spike eyed Twilight suspiciously though, as if she had something on her face. No, he wasn't looking at her face, he was more fixated on her neck.
"Hey, Twilight," Spike unashamedly asked, "...is that a hickey?..."
Twilight's hoof flew straight to her jaw line as her eyes grew wide with uneasiness. Sure enough, a twinge of raw, blistered pain rattled her nervous system as she traced the raised patch of skin.
"Whoa...that looks pretty painful. Did the princess give you that while I was gone, because I heard that Snails gave Twist a hickey because he thought it would look cool, and be all vampirey and stuff..."
"Oh...oh no...HOW AM I GOING TO HIDE THIS?"