The afternoon had gone extremely well, Twilight decided once she was safely ensconced in her library and free to let her thoughts wander a little. The food had been good, the weather had been perfect and, best of all, not one of them had guessed that Sable was actually Luna. Twilight felt her heart flutter at the thought that this odd little plan might actually be working. She skipped down the stairs to find Luna, who had once again settled in the reading room and was nose-deep in a book.
"Apple Husbandry, Care and Management," she read. Luna peered over the top of the book at Twilight and raised her eyebrows. "Reading up on the local industries?"
"We find it an interesting subject," Luna said with a defensive glare.
The book wavered in the air for a moment, then gently lowered to a table as Luna lost interest. She closed her eyes and pressed a hoof against her temple.
"Twilight, I am concerned that I have offended one of your friends."
"Who, Applejack? She's not easy to offend at all, you're probably worrying about nothing."
"I am not so certain," Luna replied. She began to pace the room, a habit that Twilight could see becoming annoying if it occurred too often. "When I greeted her I was—I reacted as if I were offended by her. It is so easy to pick up the habits of court, Twilight Sparkle, and a farm pony of such robust calibre would be treated with some disdain by many ponies in Canterlot."
For a while the only sound was of Luna's hooves as she walked back and forth across the reading room and the odd snatch of birdsong from an open window upstairs. Twilight glanced at the book again and then at Luna, still pacing, but now with her head down and her ears lowered. Every so often her tail would slap against her flanks, chasing a non-existent fly. She seemed out of sorts.
"Luna, are you..."
"Sable, please, Twilight." Luna raised her head. Pain etched her features. "I must find some way to make amends to your friend. I would not wish to come between the two of you by my offence."
"Sable, you won't. I know Applejack, she's a good, honest pony. She won't let a little thing like that get in the way."
Luna smiled, but shook her head as she resumed pacing and Twilight wondered just what was going through her mind. In truth, understanding the moon princess was already much harder than she'd thought possible. How could a mere pony understand a goddess, after all?
"I'm making some tea," she said, moving toward the stairs. Luna's vague mumble she took for assent. A nice cup of tea always put Twilight in a better mood, though she knew it was as much an imitation of her beloved Celestia as anything she'd chosen for herself. Surely it would help Luna as well?
Rifling through her large selection of teas she finally settled on the lapsang, taking a moment to experience its rich, smoky aroma before she began her preparation ritual, ingrained by long repetition. Soon the kitchen was filled with the muggy warmth of steam and the scent of long nights spent studying arcane lore. Twilight loaded her tray and trotted back down to the reading room.
"Sable, I brought you—"
The room was empty. Twilight looked over her shoulder at the stairs, wondering if she had somehow managed to pass the princess in her rooms above but that didn't seem likely. Unless she was invisible. Twilight placed the tea tray on a nearby table and quickly explored the library, searching for any sign of habitation.
"Sable?"
Silence was Twilight's only answer. She closed her eyes and conjured a spell of allsight, seeking the hidden world of magic before setting off to explore again. A strange and ethereal realm overlaid the library, lines of magical force twisting and bunching around sources of magical potency, particularly her collection of Starswirl's Historia Magicae, but of Luna there was no sign. Twilight dispelled the magic and sat down, staring at her books.
Disappointment, just a little of it, laid over Twilight's heart, but she knew Luna wouldn't be gone for long. She'd probably just gone for a walk to clear her head. Feeling suitably re-assured, Twilight poured herself a cup of tea and settled in the corner to read.
It had always just been 'the spa', never knowingly named in Applejack's presence. Ponyville was a fairly large town despite its agricultural economy,m but it was still too small to justify more than one spa, so nobody ever referred to the place as anything else. Applejack wasn't even sure if it had a name, not that she'd ever felt the need to find out. She appreciated the hot baths but almost everything else in the place was Rarity's territory, completely alien to Applejack, and completely impractical. Take the whole concept of mudbaths, for example. Rarity paid anything up to seventy bits a session to lie in a bath full of mud with vegetables on her eyes for an hour, when she could do the same down at the creek all day. For free.
And Applejack could have a hot bath at home whenever she wanted, though it wouldn't have any of the fancy-pants stuff they put in the water here. Anyway, there was something to be said for bathing in a pool larger than her entire bathroom. Applejack relaxed into the steaming hot water and let it soak away her the aches in her legs.
Through the mist she heard a quiet splash as Rarity settled herself into the pool with a contented sigh. "Oh this bath is going to feel so good..."
"You got that right," Applejack replied. She almost couldn't remember why she'd objected to coming. She let out a contented sigh of her own and slid a little deeper into the water. "I feel better already."
"After that little display at lunch, darling, I'm glad to hear it!"
"Rarity, you know how I feel about gossip—"
Rarity tittered and splashed at Applejack. The farmer blinked water from her eyes and glared at her friend.
"Not that, you silly pony. Naturally you were right, it wasn't our business."
Rarity lifted her hoof to her face and examined her closely. Was she thinking about a hooficure? Oh Celestia she was! Better distract her!
"So... display?"
"What? Oh... oh yes, the way you treated Sable of course."
"The way I treated her?"
"Naturally!"
"Now you just wait an applebuckin minute, missy, I did not treat her with anythin' but politeness and respect and all she did was look down her pretty little nose at me like I was some sort of no good, common, dirty—"
"Earth pony?"
"Right! Wait..."
"Oh my stars, there's a terrible working class monster in my bath!" Rarity giggled and splashed at Applejack again, then let out a sigh. "Darling, she took to Pinkie Pie well enough and that particular earth pony smells of nothing but sweat and stale flour most of the time. Did you see your face when Sable talked to you?"
"Mah... Rarity, I can't see my own face."
"Yes, that right there is exactly how it looked," Rarity replied, examining her hoof again. She stood and began to climb out of the tub, humming a bright little tune. One of the spa's attendants waited at the top with a towel. "Aloe, dear, I believe my friend and I shall be taking the massage today."
"Of course." Deep blue eyes turned to Applejack, filled with amusement at her predicament. Aloe indicated the stairs down to the spa's floor. "This way."
"No fancy stuff, I can't work if y'all give me fancy stuff."
The spa pony gave Applejack a languorous wink and turned away from the pool, swaying her rear in what she probably thought was a provocative manner but which Applejack just found lewd. She kept her yap shut about it though; no point in antagonising the staff when they had access to hair curlers.
Aloe had a massage tablet set up by the time Applejack had dried herself off, and was examining her hooves in an off-hand manner while she waited for her charge. Behind her Rarity was undergoing some sort of primal torture judging by the way her spine was crackling under the ministrations of Aloe's sister, yet her face was the very picture of bliss. She turned a lazy eye toward Applejack and stuck out her tongue.
"Hurry up, darling, you're missing all the fun."
At Rarity's words Aloe tapped her hoof and shot Applejack a withering glare. The put-upon earth pony carefully settled herself on the table and waited for the pain. She winced as Aloe's hooves pressed against her withers and the spa pony began to probe gently at her spine.
"Madame is under a great deal of stress, I feel," Aloe murmured.
"I suppose I might beyyaaaah! What in tarnation—"
Applejack's protests wilted as Aloe jabbed another hoof into her back. She could feel muscles relaxing that she didn't even know existed and what should have been intense pain became... something else.
"Oh lordy..." Applejack winced as her back popped, expecting a sudden spike of pain, but all she got was a warm sensation below her withers. Her head flopped against the pillow and she let out an enormous sigh.
"This tension in your back, it is like a great burden you must carry all day."
"Uh-hm..."
"You have spasm in your left longisimus dorsi," Aloe said, caressing Applejack's sides in a most unladylike manner. The probing hoof paused and rolled at a knot of muscle on her mid back. "We press here..."
Aloe's stabbed a hoof into Applejack's back and twisted. Applejack felt her entire body go limp. She realised she was drooling on the pillow but she couldn't stop, it was... it was heaven. With a great deal of careful attention she was able to turn her head to look at Rarity; her unicorn friend looked as if she had been lulled to sleep by Lotus Blossom's careful ministrations but she was aware enough to give Applejack a lazy wink.
"Marvelous isn't it," she sighed.
Applejack couldn't even nod her agreement. Her eyes were pulling closed and the warm feeling in her back had spread right across her shoulders and down to her back legs, an area to which Aloe was currently applying her attention. After some time and perhaps a short nap, though she wasn't sure, Applejack realised that Aloe had abandoned her work and left, probably to attend to some new patron. Applejack didn't care. She'd never felt so relaxed in her life and she was quite prepared to stay on this comfortable little table all day.
Slowly, oh so slowly, Applejack felt her senses returning. Somepony was standing nearby whispering urgently to Rarity. She could hear her friend's refined voice, and then–
"Darling! So nice to see you!"
Applejack was pulled from her near-slumber by the yelled greeting. She raised her head, shocked, suddenly fully awake. A dark-haired unicorn stood before her.
"You?"
"Hello," Sable said, an odd smile tugging at her lips. She tilted her head and drew a little closer to Applejack, at once reluctant and eager, though it made no sense why she'd be that. "I... I came to... you appeared somewhat reluctant to interact with me earlier. I am sorry if my actions offended you in some way."
"Oh... I should be the one who's sorry. Y'all caught me at a bad time an' I guess I took it out on the wrong pony."
They stared at each other in the awkward silence, neither wanting to speak lest they say something else to offend. After a few moments of thought Applejack slid from her bench and stood before Sable, trying to close the metaphorical distance between them somehow. She smiled. Sable returned the gesture.
"We got off on the wrong hoof, I guess. Maybe we could start again?"
"I would like that, Applejack. I am Sable."
Applejack took the proffered hoof and shook it with great formality. "Applejack. I work on a farm."
"Yes, I was aware! I have always held a great interest in rural pursuits," Sable replied, far too cheerily. Did she even have a middle gear? "I would dearly like to see your farm!"
"Well, I guess I could. Rarity?"
"Oh darling, by all means entertain Twilight's guest," Rarity purred. She stretched out, cat-like, as Lotus continued to work on her back. "Mmm, and feel free to join me any time you like, Sable. Lotus and Aloe here are absolute miracle workers."
"I would again be honoured, Rarity," Sable replied with a formal bow. Rarity's eyes went wide as dinner plates but she remained mercifully silent. Possibly because she had stuffed both her hooves in her mouth. A muffled squeak escaped around them shortly after.
"I do hope Rarity shall recover her senses," Sable said as the pair made their way through the foyer. Applejack grabbed her hat from a waiting attendant as they passed and slapped it on her head.
"She'll be fine, she's just a mite overexcitable what with y'all bein' some high falutin' Canterlot princess."
"P-princess? I am n-not—"
"Sable, everyone from Canterlot is a princess as far as Rarity's concerned."
Applejack went to open the door but found it snatched away in the grip of a deep blue aura. She glanced at Sable. The unicorn gave her a half shrug and motioned Applejack to step outside, before following shortly after. As they walked across the grassy gardens around the spa Applejack pointed to her home, stood atop a large hill overlooking the town.
"That there is where we're headin'. It's quite a walk."
"I shall be fine."
As they set off Applejack noticed her forelegs felt a little freer, as if some great weight had actually been lifted from her shoulders. It felt like one of those metaphor thingies Twilight liked talking about, but she wasn't too sure of the details so she decided to just enjoy the feeling while it lasted. Maybe more visits to that spa were in order.
"Applejack, I must confess, I was worried I had angered you in some way."
"Angered? Why you ain't seen me in a real deal angry yet, darlin'. I just had a few bad times with your... with Canterlot types. I admit I was leery seein' as you seemed so cold earlier, but I reckon I probably didn't help matters none. Besides, y'all are Twilight's friend an' I suppose she don't pick bad'uns."
"She does not," Sable replied, giving Applejack another of those odd grins. "She has written to myself and my sister many times of your adventures together. I find them most entertaining!"
"Entertainin' ain't how I'd put it," Applejack replied.
"I have offended you again."
"Whut? No!" Applejack cast about for some way to explain herself. She found herself staring at a tree. That wouldn't work. "Y'all are just seein' things from th'outside. I can see what we do makes a good story, I ain't gonna deny I've made a lotta hay outta it myself, but—well, when y'all have faced down monsters and dragons and hydras an' Night Mare Moon you kinda see the world different y'know? Entertainin' for me is buckin mah trees all day an' not havin' to worry about the world fallin' over on me agin."
They were close to the edge of town, the last few buildings petering out before a large meadow. It was a richer area, most of the houses large and well-appointed with enormous gardens lined by hedges that Applejack considered to be far too pruned and primped to be really healthy. She turned to Stable and found her companion had stopped a few strides back, looking around as if lost. Applejack turned back to the unicorn mare and tried to look her in the eye.
"What's the matter, Sable? Y'all look like you saw a ghost."
"I... No. It is nothing to be concerned about, Applejack." Sable trotted forward along the path, smiling once again as she rejoined Applejack. "We are free of the past, are we not?"
"I guess..."
They continued the trip in silence, Applejack not quite able to bring herself to say anything else to this odd little 'princess' walking by her side. Sable seemed content to just walk, taking in the sights and making the occasional detour to nose at a tree or a flower; once even to chase a butterfly, giggling all the while. Perhaps this was normal behaviour for a city pony in the wilds, Applejack couldn't rightly tell, though she remembered that Twilight had been absolutely fascinated once she'd had a chance to look around. Every new sound and colour and shape had been another detail to put in her never-ending supply of notebooks and, for a while, she'd become the most avid botanist Applejack had ever seen. In fact Twilight had been the only botanist Applejack had ever seen. She hadn't even known botany existed until then.
The descent into her memories of Twilight passed the time quite nicely and they were soon at the main gate of Sweet Apple Acres.
"Here y'are. Home sweet home," Applejack said, pushing the gate to one side and ushering Sable through. They walked up a dusty path to the farm house, Applejack in the lead and pointing out the sights. Orchards as far as the eye could see, laden with fruit and now mostly quiet, their workers lost in the distance. They passed by a large red barn, the oldest building in Ponyville, her grandmother had always insisted, though Applejack suspected it had been rebuilt at least once in that time.
"And this here is the family home," Applejack finished. She tapped the lapped planking of the Apple farmhouse with a hoof and smiled. "Mah great grandpappy built this place from nothing but dirt an' a dream."
"It appears he also used a great deal of wood," Sable said. She looked at Applejack such with an intensely thoughtful expression that the farmer couldn't help but burst out laughing. Sable joined in a moment later, a little nervous, but taking the joke.
"Come on," Applejack said, finally choking back her chuckles. "I'll show you around some more."
They passed Big Mac on the way to the orchards and paused for an introduction. Sable seemed quite taken with the stallion, which wasn't in the least bit surprising; Applejack still experienced occasional spurts of jealousy at the way her brother could so effortlessly attract the attentions of the opposite sex, and often as much frustration at how little attention he paid to them. Not that she was playing matchmaker, and certainly not with Sable. Wouldn't be fair to Mac to foist such a strange little mare on him. A brief discussion of the harvest preparations and they left Macintosh lazing beneath his tree and moved out into the orchards.
The trees were her favourite place, Applejack explained to an attentive Sable. Not least because they were her livelihood, but also because they were so peaceful. They anchored her life and gave her a purpose beyond merely existing.
"I think, perhaps, we share a commonality," Sable said. They had been walking in near silence for a while, Applejack inspecting the odd tree as they passed, Sable observing in a remote way. "I have spent my entire life with the stars and the moon. I know... I feel as if I know many of them personally. Their motions, their lives..."
"Stars have lives? I thought they was all just giant balls of gas burning billions of miles away. That's what I learned in school anyhow," Applejack added, frowning.
"A learned pony of my acquaintance once observed that such is not what a star is, merely what it is made of." Sable's magic reached out and plucked an apple from a nearby tree. Applejack near bit her tongue in half trying not to shout at her to stop, but it was only one apple. "Life is more than merely existence and substance. It is growth and change. This apple, for instance, lives because it becomes something more than it was before."
"If I'm lucky that one'll be part of next year's mulch."
Sable stared at the apple, frowning, then at the other apples in the trees. "It appears to be the same as the others."
"Oh-hoho, a wise old dam told me once that things ain't alus what they looks like on th'outside." She heard Sable choke and wondered if she'd said something wrong, but when she turned the unicorn was looking at her with curious intensity. Applejack grinned. "Granny ain't got all her hearin' but she sure does have all her marbles."
She thought for a moment, gauging strength and quality of fruit and wood, then kicked out at the tree behind her. A gentle tap echoed through the deserted orchard and a moment later a single apple bounced off Sable's head and landed on the floor in front of her.
"Y'all ain't no earth pony so I reckon you can't tell the differences between this'n and that you got there, but I can." Applejack picked up the fallen apple and buffed it against her chest. She held it up to the light and shook her head appreciatively. "This here's ready for harvest. That one you got there should have stayed up another week, let it mellow a little and get used to the idea, plus it... well. On the outside they look the same 'ceptin maybe one's got a bit more bulk to it but inside, right deep down where it matters, they're completely different."
"I believe I understand..."
"I reckon you don't, not yet, but you're a smart'un." Applejack returned the apple to the ground and stared at it. Maybe she'd just leave it there. A moment later, Sable set her apple down on the ground and let it free of her magic. It rolled against its companion like a rosy-cheeked drunkard against a lamppost. "You'd prob'ly figure it out if you wanted. An' if I had time to show you."
"I did not realise I was intruding on your time, I shall—"
"You ain't! Not today anyhow, I guess I'm just getting a little melancho... melon... I ain't happy, okay? I had a worker quit, another laid up in hospital, them idiots in Cloudsdale scheduled a huge storm over this way in less than two weeks. I got too many apples, I ain't got enough time to bring em all in, an' if I ain't got em thinned out proper when that wind is up, I could lose... ah could lose everythin'!"
"Oh," was all Sable said. She stared at her hooves and then turned to walk a short distance. Applejack shook her head.
"I'm sorry 'bout dumpin' all that on y'all, Sable, I just ain't used to failin'. Ceptin' a couple, none of mah family can git here in time, none of mah friends can really buck worth a damn 'cept Rainbow Dash, an' she's the poor filly stuck creatin' that storm I'm so worried about."
When she looked up Sable was returning, eyes dancing and a spring in her step. She looked down at the apples and then up at the tree. "What if I helped?"
"You? Sugarcube, y'can't harvest apples with magic, it does somethin' to em... an' y'all ain't no earth pony neither."
"I am not as tubby as you might believe, Applejack."
Applejack's ears flopped back against her head. "Y'heard that huh?"
"I did," Sable replied. She tilted her head to one side but the smile remained. "I realise I appear small but it is, as you said, just how I am. And, while you may not wish me to use my magic, neither can a unicorn grow anything from seed as an earth pony could, surely an extra pair of hooves must be useful to you?"
Applejack rubbed the back of her head as she thought over the offer. On the one hand she'd be stuck teaching a newbie how to buck. On the other... "Aw hey, I guess it can't hurt none to try at least, right?"
"Yes!" Sable leapt into the air, ecstasy filling her face. She landed with a thump and gave Applejack a huge hug. "The fun that shall be had by all! We shall work wonders, Applejack and you shall save your farm!"
"Mah farm ain't... aw shoot." Applejack returned the hug as briefly as possible and made her escape from Sable's grasping hooves. "Y'all gotta know right now, I don't tolerate slackin' in my workers. If you're serious I expect you here before the sun and you ain't leavin' until she's set again."
"That is a-a very long day," Sable said, her voice subdued. "But I shall do so."
"If it makes y'all feel better, I give a long lunch."
"Wonderful! I shall see you on the morrow, Applejack." Sable turned and practically skipped out of the orchard. "I cannot wait to tell Twilight Sparkle!"
A light breeze swayed the trees as Sable cantered over the crest of the nearest hill and away to the main gate, but even that slight threat to her crop couldn't keep a smile from Applejack's face. She watched for a while and then turned at the sound of familiar hoofbeats behind her.
"Hey Mac, how do you feel about trainin' up a new fieldworker?"
"I ain't doin' your job, AJ," Big Mac replied, his passive face working its way around yet another stalk of grass. He glanced in the direction Sable had run. "Strange cookie that'un."
"You ain't wrong there, Mac. That Twilight sure knows how to pick em."
Big Mac grinned and looked down at his sister. "Yup!"
The door of the library burst open, waking Twilight from her quiet doze in the corner as Luna burst into the room. She seemed happy. Too happy, though Twilight had to confess a relative lack of knowledge of the moods of the princess of the night. Nor could she accuse her friend of unwarranted happiness, when that was exactly why she had come here in the first place.
She settled for dropping her book on the table and shuffling into a more comfortable position.
"I take it you enjoyed your walk?"
"My walk? Oh yes!" Luna skipped across the floor – that was unusual in itself – and flopped down on a chair next to Twilight with a resounding thump, grinning all the time. "I walked all the way to the spa without anypony noticing me at all! Then I walked to your friend Applejack's farm... it has been such a long time since I have had the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of a country walk, Twilight. It was wonderful."
The book Twilight had been reading floated up to Luna and flipped open as she perused it without even asking. Twilight briefly considered demanding it back, but there wasn't much to be gained by it; she'd been asleep anyway.
"Would you like some tea, Sable? I made some earlier but you'd already left."
"I am fine..." The book slapped shut. Luna stared at the cover and frowned. "Twilight?"
"Yes?"
Luna shifted on her seat as if something was discomforting her. She continued to stare at the book, frowning, as if trying to discern the meaning of the cover, though it was nothing more than a basic stellar reference guide.
"I will not be able to spend much time with you tonight. I have promised your friend Applejack that I would help with her farm work tomorrow."
"Oh well that—wait, you did what?"
"I said—"
"I heard what you said!" Twilight snatched the book from Sable's magic and laid it on the table. This was almost too much. From being at odds with Applejack to working on her farm? Was there some memo Twilight had missed? Talk about the magic of friendship... oh horseapples, why didn't I say that out loud?
"L-Sable, I'm not trying to be picky, but do you even know what's involved in bucking apples?"
Luna's ears swivelled back and forth. She frowned. "I have worked on farms before, Twilight Sparkle."
"That was over a thousand years ago! Oh Celestia, that sounds so weird to say out loud," Twilight said, stifling a giggle. The mood broke as Luna chuckled along with her and they were soon laughing as if there had never been any argument.
A hoof rested on Twilight's shoulder as they calmed down and Luna gave her a gentle push, a friendly motion that Twilight found so very reassuring.
"I'm glad you found a way to reach out to Applejack," she said.
"She perceived I was hostile to her choice of profession. In truth I was intimidated. I have been intimidated in my long life on very few occasions, Twilight. Of those moments, two involved the Elements of Harmony."
Luna and Twilight stood by mutual consent and trekked up the stairs to Twilight's room. Here a telescope was already perched by the window, peering up at the sky, but it was quite small and all too close to Twilight's bed. She squeezed past the royal flank and urgently guided Luna up another flight of stairs to her rather optimistically named observation deck.
"I hope you don't mind, I set up some of your equipment here."
A small collection of very expensive scopes and related equipment was set up on the deck, along with two padded stools, a writing desk and a very large stack of parchment. As a final touch, Twilight levitated a thermos and a pair of cups from one of the boxes.
"Twilight, this is wonderful!"
And to think I was worried she'd be mad, Twilight thought. She allowed herself a little giggle inside and seated herself next to Luna, who had already busied herself with one of her scopes, a smaller one, almost a child's toy in comparison to the others, all rolled brass and fiddly screws that only a unicorn's magic could adjust.
"So, what are we looking at first?"
"They are still rather low on the horizon, but..." Luna took her eye away from the scope and moved aside for Twilight. The younger unicorn settled down and peered though the scope at the night sky. A pair of bright stars stood out against the night sky... no, not stars. Twilight leaned back and rubbed her eye as a distraction from the sudden thumping in her chest. Was it really...?
"A conjunction? There aren't any due!"
"Not just any conjuction, Twilight. They are Erato and Pistis."
"But... but that isn't supposed to happen for over thirty years!"
Luna shifted her weight and nodded, her face screwed up in thought and... apology? She was apologising? "I am afraid, when I returned, there were a few... issues. Some minor adjustments. This was the result."
"B-but Lu—Sable this is amazing! I can't wait to show this to our friends!"
"I felt certain you would wish to do so, Twilight."
"Can we—Can I—Oh I don't know where to start," Twilight cried. She peeked past the scope at the distant twin planets, still hugging the horizon and couldn't help but giggle at the sight. How had she not seen them before now? They even seemed brighter than usual. "I'd expected a little bit of cataloguing or some stories about how you designed the night sky, but this..."
Luna smiled. Their little spat from earlier was already a distant memory for Twilight now, with her eyes fixed on something far more important than an ephemeral worry about her friends. Nevertheless she tore herself away from the scope and turned to Luna. The princess smiled again and bowed her head just a little.
"I believe I shall retire, Twilight," she said. Twilight felt something rise up in her chest but she pushed it down and ignored it.
"I suppose I can't convince you tonight?"
"Nay, little one. I made a promise. I must keep it, as I shall keep yours." Luna walked away, but then paused at the head of the stairs and looked back at Twilight. She nodded at the pile of parchment. "I would appreciate some notes on the differences between your charts and my sky, Twilight Sparkle."
She turned again and was gone from sight. Twilight stared at the stairs for a while, not sure of what to do, then turned to the scope again. She had a copy of a basic conjunction schedules and a star chart with her already, but she might possibly benefit from a more detailed copy... no. This was a preliminary study, not a detailed one. Twilight flicked open the schedule and made a note of when and where the conjunction of Erato and Pistis was meant to take place. The position was roughly correct, but thirty years early? Her quill scratched against parchment and Twilight was amongst the heavens in every way she wished.