Twilight stepped out of the chariot after it landed in front of the castle, smiling as Luna walked up to her. Everything seemed to have gone back to how it was before; they were good friends and they would, hopefully, continue to be so. It still hurt, but she had long since resigned herself to taking what she could get, if it meant she could keep their friendship intact.
“Hello, Luna!”
“Greetings, Twilight, it’s great to see you again,” Luna replied, smiling back.
Twilight wanted to nuzzle Luna, like she would have done in the past, but decided against it. I guess it’s not ‘exactly’ the same as before…
“Yeah, it's nice to see you, too.” Twilight fell in step beside Luna as they started making their way towards the castle.
“My sister wanted to greet you as well, but most unfortunately she is quite overwhelmed by the amount of appointments she has at the moment.”
“Oh...” Twilight hesitated for a few moments. Princess Celestia was usually able to make time even if it was just to say hi, but it was also true that she couldn’t expect it every time. “It’s alright, I understand.”
They entered the great hall, Luna leading them deeper into the castle. She had said in the letter that they’d have lunch and then think of something to do together, and Twilight had quickly written a reply saying that she was looking forward to it.
“So how was your week?” Twilight asked.
“Well, it was fine – I have been opening night court, at my sister’s suggestion, and helping her out with some paperwork. I’ve been raising and lowering the moon as usual… and Celestia is constantly asking me to join her at day court.”
Twilight tilted her head. “That sounds great! Are there a lot of ponies that come to the night court?”
“I can’t really say that there are, it’s at night after all and I don’t think many ponies know about it either.” Luna shrugged, making her way to one of the smaller rooms in the dining area, which was close to the kitchens.
It wasn’t a large room, and surprisingly plain compared to the main dining hall that hosted the royal meals, with its long ornate dining table and tinted glass decorations on the walls. This room simply had a small table in the centre and two couches, one light blue, one a soft pink.
“This is where my sister and I usually dine, when we want some privacy,” said Luna, moving to the blue couch and sitting down. She gestured to the other seat. “Please, sit, I’m sure Celestia wouldn’t mind if you used her chair.”
Twilight nodded and sat down, and Luna looked at her. “What would you like to eat?”
“Hmm,” Twilight grinned. She was no stranger to getting food straight from the kitchen staff either; it was her to-go place for light meals between study sessions back when she still lived in the castle and her order rolled off her tongue automatically. “I’ll have a daffodil and daisy sandwich, and rose petal tea.”
“Splendid.” Luna rose from her seat and headed to the door. “I’m going to tell them our orders, I shall be right back.”
Twilight nodded and shifted slightly on her couch so she was sitting more comfortably. Luna returned shortly afterwards with two plates, a teapot and two cups.
“Um, is there no staff?” asked Twilight curiously as she saw Luna carrying their meal herself.
“Celestia and I usually get our food ourselves when we’re using this room, it’s meant to be a ‘hideout’ of sorts after all,” chuckled Luna as she sat down.
“Oh, that makes sense,” said Twilight. She tilted her head as Luna set the plates on the table; each had a daffodil and daisy sandwich.
“I just thought I’d try out what you like to eat as well,” said Luna with a chuckle, in response to Twilight’s inquiring gaze.
“Yeah, they’re really delicious,” said Twilight enthusiastically. “You made a good choice.”
“Good to hear,” Luna replied, pouring some tea into both of their cups.
They sat for a few moments, neither of them saying a word, as Twilight pretended to be particularly interested in eating her sandwich while she racked her brains for something to talk about.
Luckily Luna broke the silence, which Twilight was grateful for, but she still wished that everything could be as easy as it had been. “How was your week? I told you about mine, it’s only fair that you tell me about yours as well.”
“I didn’t really do much – well, a lot of reading and cleaning the library, yelling at Spike to not eat all the gems,” Twilight chuckled drily. “And I went on a picnic with Rarity and Fluttershy, and then we had one of our pet days where we relax with all our pets, and I helped Applejack clean up a few fallen trees around her farm.”
What she had left out was that she had also hit low points a few times during the week, even cried once, but she wasn't about to tell Luna about that. The upside was that she was learning – learning to hide her emotions through the hurt, but learning nevertheless.
“That sounds nice. I’m glad that we can still -” Luna sighed softly, pausing briefly before speaking again, “-talk every week, Twilight.”
“Of course!” Twilight quickly swallowed her bite of sandwich as she looked across the table at Luna. “I wouldn’t miss our visits, for the world…” Her voice grew quiet as she trailed off.
Luna smiled and looked down, and they both fell silent again. They continued their meal in quiet, neither of them speaking until they had both finished their sandwiches.
“Would you like some more tea?” Luna asked, and Twilight nodded, levitating her cup to Luna.
“Thanks,” said Twilight, as Luna poured more tea into it.
“So, what would -”
Just then the door opened, and in walked the one pony that Twilight hadn’t expected to see – Princess Celestia.
“Princess!” Twilight said, surprised. “Luna said you couldn’t come!”
Celestia smiled and moved to stand beside Twilight, drawing her into a gentle hug with a wing. “I was sure I’d arranged for all my meetings to be finished before your visit, but apparently my secretary thought it was tomorrow and pushed most of my appointments to today.” Her ears perked up as she surveyed her sister. “Why so silent, Luna?” When Luna didn’t respond she tilted her head. “I’m not… disturbing anything am I?”
It took Luna a few more seconds before she finally looked up at her sister, eyes wide.
“I w-well, no,” Luna spluttered, “of course not.” She jerked her head towards the door. “But is it really wise to keep them waiting?”
“Which is why I was wondering if you could take over for me for a few minutes, while I say hi to my faithful student.” Celestia grinned. “Much as I know you’d love to keep Twilight to yourself it’s been so long since I last saw my dearest student face to face.”
“Wait, sister, are you seriously asking me to go out there and take over court for you?”
Celestia nodded, and Luna frowned. “B-but, I don’t have any experience -”
“Luna, you’ve been telling me that there are no ponies at night court, and this is your chance to get some experience.” Celestia looked reassuringly at her sister. “It won’t take long, I promise.”
“But they won’t be expecting me -”
“They’d be expecting a princess, Luna, it doesn’t have to be me.”
“Uh… All right, fine,” Luna huffed, getting up and striding out the door, but not without a reluctant backward glance.
Celestia walked to the now vacant seat and sat down with her usual grace. “How are you doing, my faithful student?”
“I’m fine, princess,” Twilight replied, “I missed talking to you. I suppose we have letters but -”
“There is only so much you can convey on paper my dear Twilight – especially if you keep your time with Luna out of it,” Celestia said with a chuckle.
“Well yes, but my friends wouldn’t talk about Luna in their letters.” Twilight sat up and waved her hooves. “Not that they don’t like Luna! It’s just…” She sighed. “I’m sorry Princess, I promise I’ll start writing about my friendship with Luna as well.”
Celestia looked confused, though Twilight couldn’t imagine why she would be. “Actually, Twilight, I would much rather hear in person, about how you and Luna have been getting along.” Celestia grinned again, though there was visibly something different about it.
“Us?” Twilight looked confused. “We’ve been getting along just fine, I guess.”
“That’s good to hear -” Celestia shifted in her seat, fluffing her wings. “Luna told me about the game you played last week, but she wouldn’t tell me anything else.”
“Well, we had a lot of fun.” Twilight furrowed her brow. What else was there to say?
“But you didn’t?”
“We didn’t… what?” Twilight racked her brains. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that happened, was there? “I’m sorry Princess, I don’t understand.”
Celestia held up a hoof. “It’s quite alright Twilight, I suppose I was wondering about something irrelevant.” She inclined her head and pursed her lips. “Twilight?”
“Yes, Princess?”
“Has Luna been a good friend? She’s still learning to interact with ponies again and I’m worried I’ve placed too much of a burden on your shoulders when I insisted she go to Ponyville on Nightmare Night.”
“She’s a wonderful friend!” Twilight waved her hooves. “And she’s far from a burden, there’s nothing to worry about at all!”
Celestia smiled serenely. “I’m glad to hear that.” She looked off into the distance, then back again. “Oh, and before I forget, I was wondering if I could join the two of you for a game sometime tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” Twilight bit her lip. “But I’ll be back in Ponyville tomorrow.”
“I see. Is it an important appointment?”
Twilight shook her head hurriedly. “No, I don’t have anything important tomorrow.” She looked up, waiting for Celestia to speak.
“Then, would you like to stay in Canterlot for another day? I’m sure your old books have missed you,” Celestia said with a wink.
Twilight’s face lit up, and she held her hooves to her mouth, but she was too late to stifle her giggle. “Of course, Princess!”
“And we shall have ourselves a game of Diskus, as well?”
Twilight nodded enthusiastically. “Sure, I can’t wait!”
Celestia nodded and got up. “I’ll hold you to that then. For now, however, I think I had better go and save my little sister more embarrassment.” She flashed a sly smile. “Do you remember that mare who kept insisting she be made mayor of Vanhoover?”
Twilight cringed. “Oh, is she still coming every day?”
“Indeed, it would be a shame if she droned on to Luna in that manner of hers wouldn’t it?”
Twilight nodded, raising a hoof in goodbye as Celestia gave her a quick smile before walking out.