//------------------------------//
// One on One 
// Story: Within The Seas of The Galaxies 
// by Soothing Stone 
//------------------------------//

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I have put a lot of thought in how we could meet each other again. Not within a date, I haven't decided on what we shall do when the time arrives.

Rather, I'm inviting you to return to the castle of Canterlot for a three day visit, you should find an enclosed train ticket inside this letter like before. The date listed for departure will be the first day of that trip. If you desire anything to ensure your pet dragon is safe while you're gone, I can send any Royal Guards you choose to write down, your brother Shining Armor if needed. We are not too busy with security, I admit.

Regardless, it won't be just for my sake you would want to come down here. Celestia is wishing to talk to you as well, concerning a few things dear to her heart. And to answer your first question, you are not in trouble. Think of it as a "parent-teacher conference" as they call it nowadays.

I look forward to reuniting with you again soon.

To the most charming student,
Princess Luna

"'Pet dragon'? How am I a pet?" Spike grumbled. "Dragons aren't supposed to be pets. And everypony knows I'm your assistant, it's not like you have me sleeping in a basket mean for a dog--hey, you do force me to do that..."

Twilight examined the letter after Spike was finished reading it aloud, and this time she wasn't afraid over what might happen this time. If anything, she was thrilled about meeting both her marefriend and her teacher. It didn't matter what they were going to do(as long as it didn't involve imprisonment over something), being with them was enough.

"Think about it for a second," continued Spike. "You have me sleeping on a basket made for a dog in the middle of the floor, and it might be comfortable and all, but it's still no real bed..."

Twilight placed the letter inside the letter archive shelf she had created recently, out in front with the newer reports. She smiled and felt her heart flutter, eager to greet Luna. Maybe with a kiss? That's way too subtle.

"...you bought a water bowl that was obviously for a dog, and you said it was for your first pet, even though owls don't eat out of those..."

Then she remembered the train ticket inside, and pulled the letter out again to take the tickets out. The date for departure was a few weeks away, plenty of time to adjust her schedule for. Luna was always the thoughtful one.

"...and there was that time where you handed me a bowl of gems--inside a dog bowl! Twilight, I'm not mad at you...well, yet...but am I really your assistant, or your pet?"

"Thanks for the letter, Spike," Twilight spoke. She pushed the drawer shut and placed the tickets inside another shelf. "I'm sorry, did you ask me something?"

Spike placed a claw on his face, shaking his head in shame. "Nevermind. I'll just finish sweeping up the living room..." He grabbed the broom and dustpan, trying to ignore the thought.

"So you know I'm going to be gone for a few days then. Do you want to go back to Rarity's house for those three days, if she agrees to it?"

The thought was gone. "Really? You would do that for me? You're the best sister ever!" He dropped his tools and gave Twilight a hug, catching her off guard. "I know you're not part of my dragon family, but you're the best sister I ever had."

Twilight smiled that Spike took the idea so warmly, but she had no idea what caused Spike to act like this. He sure didn't act this crazy when it happened the first time.

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And she acted the same not long after. As soon as she walked into the castle ground and spotted Princess Luna within the halls, she ran right to her and and gave the member of royalty one of the biggest hugs she ever experienced.

"Hi Luna! I know it's only been a few weeks, but it's felt so much longer," Twilight cheerfully stated. "So how were you while I was gone?"

"Fine, but please think about what you're doing," Luna responded, returning the hug before putting the unicorn down. "I did miss you for a while, but keep in mind nopony knows about us. Let's keep it that way for now."

"Oh, of course," Twilight blushed. "I don't have a clue what came over me. So what's the reason why you invited me back?"

"Good question. The first day, which would be today, there's something Celestia wants to say to you. She didn't explain what it was, other than saying she believes you need to hear it now. As for the second day, that would be some discussion between me and you over more recent discoveries, again. The final day...would be a date. I did figure what we could do for that while I had time to think."

The purple pony's eyes lit up. "Sounds great. So where is Celestia right now?"

"I'm right here."

Twilight spun around, and true to form, Celestia was behind her in all her majesty, with her flowing mane as it had always been.

"Celestia! How long were you standing there?" asked Twilight.

"Not very long, maybe a minute," the princess of the sun answered. "Speaking of which, I didn't know you hugged anypony like that."

Twilight blushed again. "So what were you wanting to talk to me about?"

"I'll get to you soon enough, but I'll be talking to my sister first. In private," glancing over at Luna. Getting the hint, Luna followed her into a hallway of the castle, arriving in a private study room.

The study room wasn't very big, built to be intimate for the two ponies that could fit inside the cramped space. And for two ponies as tall as Celestia and Luna, they barely had any room at all, intentionally so for Celestia.

"Luna, Luna, Luna," she started. "You have no idea how happy I was for you, when I realized you fell in love with somepony. But...I'm concerned for you, ever since you expressed how interested you were in that spell."

"What is wrong with such a thing?" Luna countered. "You said to me that as long as Twilight approved of it, I could use the spell. If she is consensual to such an action, what is wrong with it? If anything, this could be deemed beneficial in her eyes, so what is your objection now?"

"Of course she would be consensual, she would have no clue on the downsides. Most ponies who used it on themselves thought that at first. And then time went on and they started to see what was wrong with it. I assure you, unless her husband survives long enough to benefit from it, Cadence is going to come to regret it one day as well. Didn't you feel the same way at one point?"

"I was banished to the moon before I could find out," Luna said coldly. "And there's nary a hint of what happened to my friends when I came back. And you? What happened to you during that time?"

"My case was different. You should know that, you were my partner in battle when we dethroned Discord from the throne of Equestria. We had to do it, there was no way we would allow anyone like him to rule again after we were gone."

"But you're saying you had to deal with the pitfalls too, correct?"

"You have no idea. I had to wait a thousand years for you to return, and every day was as painful as the first. I don't want Twilight to experience anything like that, and that's what this would do to her."

"But the difference is that she has me to be there for her. I'm not going to let her do this alone, if she agrees to it."

"Why do you even want her to be like you?"

"I love her too much to see her go."

That was it. Celestia knew there was no convincing Luna anymore, and she didn't like it. She kicked at the ground, and paced around the study as much as she could.

Luna felt like she had made her point as clear as water, but felt a twinge of guilt. She had rebelled against her sister's wishes...again.

"Fine," Celestia sighed. "You have my permission. But I'm going to put a few guidelines for you to follow, and I need you to listen right now. You're not going to say anything about this until the final day of her trip. I want you to see how she takes to you during the second date to see if it's just a spin of the moment, or if she really has feelings for you.

"Next, when you do say something, you tell her EVERYTHING about it. No details out, like how only the both of us can use it and only once in a century and why, and how this decision might come back to haunt her in the future.

"And lastly, let her go home to think about her decision. You're asking a lot out of a pony that's fresh out of teenagehood, and she shouldn't be forced to choose in the middle of a moment with you."

"Why are you so determined to ensure she is safe through it all?"

"Because I'm concerned for both of you," Celestia said, tears welling up in her eyes. "You're my sister and she's my student, sometimes like the daughter I never had. And I wish the best for both of you, but I don't want it to break her either. Can you promise to keep her best interests in mind, and can you think about this first? For me?"

Luna nodded. "I will. I apologize, I...I hope I didn't offend you at all."

"Of course not. Just take good care of her."

"You didn't even have to ask."

Once the discussion was over, they hugged each other, with a few tears coming down from Celestia's eyes. Luna, what am I going to do with you? There's so much I need to teach you about pony nature...

After the hug was over, Celestia held the door open for Luna. The moon princess exited the room, only for the sun one to shut the door.

"Tia? What's wrong? Should I bring Twilight in there for you?"

"No...I'll be out there soon enough, give me a moment."

She listened closely as Luna's hoofsteps faded out, leaving her with some time to reflect. There was a tissue box on a table next to the door, and she pulled out one of the tissues to wipe her eyes dry of the tears.

It was killing her, whenever she acknowledged it or not. She had seen her sister return in the first time in a thousand years, and here she found herself, worried over the fate of Luna again.

She grabbed another tissue and blew her nose into it. Thank her parents nopony was here to see her like this. Princess Celestia of Equestria was always known for knowing the best decisions to make, but she had never been as unsure as she was here.

Am I afraid that Twilight and Luna WILL end up together? Why do I feel like this?

The two pieces of tissue were tossed into a wastebucket, and she pushed the door open back into the hallway. Once she was out of the study, the old and confidant Celestia emerged back out.

But she knew she had to answer that question eventually.

Celestia arrived back into the lobby room, seeing Twilight as her perky self and Luna blissfully unaware of her big sister's conflict.

"Twilight Sparkle, I'm ready to talk to you know," huffed Celestia.

Twilight nodded, and turned to Luna. "I'll see you later," she whispered.

The student followed her teacher into the study room, feeling cramped inside even though she had more room than Luna did. She adjusted her weight inside so she could comfortable sit down on the ground, as Celestia watched her with saddened eyes.

"Twilight, I know about your relationship with Luna."

Twilght gasped, and tried to run around the room for a hiding spot, but it was too small fo a room to hide. So instead she was flat on the ground and hid her face with her hooves.

"I'm so sorry!" she explained. "I should have known it was wrong for me to be dating your sister, but I didn't know better! I won't let my feelings get in the way again, I promise!"

Celestia laughed, and pushed Twilight's hooves away from her face. "It's OK. I'm not going to throw you in jail or punish you at all for dating Luna. I thought it was cute at first."

"You're not mad at me?" Twilight asked as she got back to her hooves. "You should be, I even kissed her on the lips and went out on a date with her! And I liked it!"

"Do you honestly think I would be mad over something like that? No...but that's part of the reason why I brought you here. Would you be comfortable if we talked about it for a while?"

Twilight's cheeks blushed again, but she nodded to agree. She sat down on the floor again and the talk began.

"If I remember, this is your first relationship of your life. That must be both fun and scary, right?"

"Oh, hay yeah. I was so nervous, I didn't want to hurt her feelings and I was terrified what everypony would say when this thing becomes public, if it ever does. But it's like falling in a hole, I don't know where it's going to go."

Trying to not her feelings? Celestia thought. I can relate.

"The start of most relationships are like that. And she's told me that you've fallen in love with her too. How does she make you feel, when you're around her?"

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, and then she opened the door to ensure there were no Guards nearby, which there weren't.

"Promise me that no matter how cheesy this is, you won't laugh about it?"

"I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best."

The unicorn gulped, and slowily opened her mouth. "Like I have wings."

There have been jokes where I wanted to laugh so badly at, but I had to stop myself if I wanted to feel comfortable with my skin. And Celestia was the same, repressing any desire to laugh. She hid one laugh with a hoof, stopping herself from embarassing Twilight.

"That's fine, I'm sure somepony felt the same way. Is there anything else you feel about her?"

"I love her, obviously. But what I love about her is how she can be a bit of a dork, and yet when she's not trying to make me feel safe and comfortable around her, I still feel that way. When I kissed her the first time, I felt like everything that would ever happen would be fine, if I had her by my side."

"Wow, that sounds like it's a fun ride for you. And in the end, if you had to guess right now, do you think you would want to spend the rest of your life with her?"

"Yes, without a doubt," Twilight shot back, not even a breath after Celestia had asked her. "She might have been my first marefriend ever, but she's the only one I needed."

It's just as I thought. She's head over hooves for Luna. She...she's going to say yes to the spell, isn't she? I can see her saying yes all of a sudden.

"Really? No doubt at all?"

"Why would I? I like everything about her, honestly."

"That's a big statement to make. Not that I see anything wrong with that. You did have some time to get to know her, and as she told me, you'll be spending more time with her shortly."

"She told you about that? I thought you didn't know about our second date."

"She's become more honest and transparent with me ever since she came back to the throne. Not that I can blame her."

"I see, I just...I'm still wrapping my mind around the idea that you're fine that I'm dating your sister, because in the nonexistant case we break up, I wouldn't just be hurting her, I'd be hurting you too."

Nonexistant? You're that deep into this love?

"Thanks for your concern. I think it's great that you're enjoying your time with her this much, I really do. Just be careful what you do from here, can you do that?"

"For you, I'd do almost anything."

"Thank you again. I'll go ahead and you and Luna have the rest of the day together."

She pushed the door open, and Twilight got up to exit the room with her teacher. The unicorn felt a lot more comfortable about all of this when she left the study room, it seemed like everything would be perfect. Being with the pony of her dreams, and Celestia approved of it, from what she could tell. How could this get any better?

I can't believe it, Celestia thought to herself. This has to be some kind of puppy love, it has to be. There's no doubt Twilight's love for Luna is geniune, but I had no idea she was this deep. I shouldn't interfere in this other than with the spell, and only as long as neither one hurt each other. I can't believe it...my student and my sister are destined to be together...who would have thought?

She laughed about it as she escorted Twilight back to the lobby, where Luna had been waiting for the two of them to return. Once Twilight found her marefriend, they came together for a hug, with the unicorn kissing her on the cheek. Luna smiled as she looked at her big sister, watching the events unfold.

"Well, I think that's settled. I'll go ahead and let you two spend the rest of the day together, which I'm sure you'll enjoy," said Celestia.

"We will!" Twilight cheered, hanging onto Luna. "You're the best teacher in Equestria!"

"And best sister," Luna laughed.

I'll make sure she will answer honestly about the spell when the time comes she mouthed to Celestia.

I know. I just want you to be happy, Celestia mouthed back.

The couple left the lobby for the gardens, as Celestia sighed while she had another moment alone.

It was strange, all of this. The princess of the sun had been alive for over a thousand years, experienced breakthroughs of all kinds, and saw hundreds of generations rise and fall to their graves, and she had never experienced so much change in one period of time as she did now.

Yet, when she had the one on one time with Twilight Sparkle, her faithful student, she found that she didn't mind, once she got the full picture. It was interesting how just a few minutes changed everything even moreso than finding that letter Luna had left kissmarks on.

After she had more time to think about it, she returned to her bedroom, and found her storage of picture, full of photographs and drawings of her students throughout the years. She found the picture she had of Twilight on the first day she became Celestia's student. The unicorn was always a bit socially awkward, her eyes crossed from the light bulb of the camera. But she looked happy as she posed near Celestia, ready to begin her advanced studies.

Twilight Sparkle had finally grown up. And to Celestia, adulthood would be exciting to watch.