//------------------------------// // Twilight Counts to Ten // Story: Twice as Bright // by Cloudy Skies //------------------------------// “Pinkie Pie!” Sure enough, that was her name, but there were multiple reasons for Pinkie Pie not to answer Twilight’s call. One was that she was very, very busy watching the cake through the oven door. Applejack had once said that a watched pot never boils, but even if that was true—Pinkie Pie wasn’t rightly sure—it was a fact that cakes were at least two hundred percent tastier when watched. Give or take a hundred percent. Whether that was because the cakes liked being watched or because it let Pinkie whisk it out of the oven to begin decorating at just the right moment, that didn’t really matter. That, and the fact that Twilight sounded a little anxious or angry or one of those things, and in Pinkie’s experience, pretending not to hear or listen until the last moment usually relieved some tension. “Pinkie Pie! I know you can hear me. I’m standing right here, and I need to talk to you!” Or it made them more annoyed. Easy to forget the details. Besides, that Pinkie Pie was using Twilight’s own kitchen might add to it. Reluctantly, Pinkie tore her eyes away from the chocolatey goodness that was just starting to rise. Twilight stood in the doorway tapping a hoof on the ground. “Hi Twilight! How’re you?” “I’m just the same as I was five minutes ago when we last spoke. Anyway, I need to—” “Oh! So a total nervous wreck over the fact that Princess Celestia is coming for a visit and she isn’t going to Sugarcube Corner on some fancy royal visit, but instead, she’s just coming to see little old us, and that’s why you’re yelling at everypony and having to apologize for raising your voice at Rainbow Dash for not being neat enough with the dusting?” Twilight’s jaw hung open for a few seconds, eventually closing around a small frown. Her cheeks lit up with a blush. “If I say yes, will you please listen?” She blew a strand of mane out of her face and peered over her own shoulders. “No Spike, don’t touch anything on the table! Where’s Rarity?” “She said something about the upstairs curtains.” Spike’s voice drifted in from the main room. “Right, I’ll be there in a second, this won’t take a minute,” Twilight said, stepping inside the kitchen proper. For a second she said nothing, sitting down on her haunches and taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly. It made Pinkie Pie think of collapsing dough. “I was going to ask if you’re okay,” Pinkie said, bouncing over to Twilight’s side. She made her little hops as light as she could, not wanting to disturb the busily baking cake. “But you really don’t look okay.” “I’m fine,” Twilight said, waving a foreleg. “Listen, I know we’ve talked about this before, and I’m very happy that you, uh, let’s call it ‘arranged for Princess Celestia to come visit.’” “That’s confusing like you wouldn’t believe, because you don’t look very happy,” Pinkie said. “I’m stressed, because Princess Celestia is—” “A very important pony, and you really need to stop bothering her, Pinkie Pie,” Pinkie said, her head bouncing every which way as she put on her best Twilight impression. The unicorn offered a half-hearted glare in reply, but it was quickly gone again. “Very funny. Oh! By the way, I received a reply from her the day after you ran off to Canterlot. I meant to tell you, too, but I forgot. Gosh, I’m so sorry!” “Oh! Did she find the white rook of my chess set? I’ve been looking everywhere!” “No, she, ah, she said to thank you for the invitation, and that she was aware she may have forgotten some of the simpler things in life somewhere along the road. I can find the letter if you want to have a look, but I don’t really know what to make of her words.” Twilight furrowed her brow in that way she always did when things were very complicated and she needed to put her entire big brain to work. Which was very silly when things were simple. “She doesn’t sound bothered at all,” Pinkie said, smiling brightly. “She’s of course too polite to ever say that. Can’t you just, I don’t know, not do that again? Please?” Twilight didn’t look particularly angry, nor even frustrated. She even smiled a little, and somehow, that made it all worse. Pinkie hung her head and grabbed her own tail for comfort. “Am I really being a bother?” Twilight rubbed her face with a hoof and pinched her eyes shut. “I don’t know. No. Probably not.” “Then everything’s alright, right?” Pinkie tilted her head one way, then the other. “That doesn’t sound like a problem-problem, it sounds like a not-a-problem in disguise!” “The problem is—well. The problem is, she’s the princess.” The last word came from between gritted teeth. “Yes?” “There’s no ‘and,’ Pinkie!” “Exactly!” Pinkie sprang up on all fours and trotted over to the oven, ignoring the little wordless cry of angst from behind. “Well, maybe there is one. ‘She’s the princess, and she is going to love this chocolate cake’?” Celestia rewarded herself with a satisfied smile, putting the plan for tomorrow’s meeting atop the growing stack of paper from earlier this evening. When she’d raised the sun, her bedroom desk was nearly bare. Now, thanks to countless little visits to take her self-allotted “breaks” in her own bedchambers, it played host to the results of a full day’s work. To think that a few years ago, her bedroom didn’t even have a desk. The ostentatious chamber had once been nothing but her pillow-drowned bed and all the bookcases the walls would fit. Recently—to one such as her at least—she had her carpenters assemble a desk to allow for some work during off-hours she’d never had since before her sister’s return. She’d barely gotten so far as to consider which project or treaty to read next before a soft knock interrupted her thoughts. “Yes?” The door opened slowly, admitting only the head of a rather timid-looking earth mare with russet coat and pale mane. Celestia beckoned and tilted her head. “Please, enter. Glitter Top, is it?” The mare nodded low to the ground and did enter, though only barely. Her tail still rested in the open doorway. “Yes, your highness. I’m in accounting and planning. My superior asked me to bring something up before you.” Celestia got up and turned to face her. She could ask why this wasn’t handled the usual way and why she was at her door, but there was no harm. “Then speak, please.” “Well, uh. I don’t have anything to do.” “Pardon?” Glitter averted her eyes and curled her tail around a leg. “I was working on contracting and clearing the new aqueduct proposal for Canterlot.” “Ah. Yes.” Celestia sighed and nodded, casting a quick glance towards her desk. “I have that in my pile here somewhere, don’t I? I did not mean to take your work from you.” Except, of course, she did. Finding things to do was becoming quite the challenge, and the project would take weeks, at least. Celestia pursed her lips. “If I recall correctly, you’ve served loyally for years without ever asking anything much. I think perhaps a paid vacation is in order if your superior can’t find anything for you to do at present. Does that sound acceptable?” Glitter glanced back over her shoulder and out the door before she looked back up at Celestia. “She said you’d say as much.” “She? Isn't Chestnut your supervisor? I’ve spoken to him many times.” “I, uh. With all due respect, I didn’t say I was sent by my supervisor. I was sent by my superior.” Glitter Top’s smile was pained. “And if I’ve asked for nothing before, it’s because I’m happy with my job. I’ve put a lot of work into that project.” “Thank you. You may go.” Celestia frowned at the second voice that had spoken before she had a chance to reply. A moment later, the sun-emblazoned bedroom door slid fully open, revealing her sister. Glitter bowed to them each in turn and disappeared down the hall, clearly eager to be gone; there was no more humor in Luna’s demeanor than her voice. “What is the meaning of this?” Celestia said. Luna strode inside, but rather than make for Celestia herself, she skirted the edges of the room. While she walked by the bookcases that lined the walls, her horn took on a soft glow. For each bookcase she passed by, she gathered a smattering of dust. It wasn’t so much from the failings of the maids, of course, but the inevitable result of disuse and neglect. Celestia turned to watch until Luna finally halted in front of her. “I worry,” Luna said. “If that is the case, this is certainly an interesting way of displaying it. Why is our staff suddenly a part of this discussion?” “Because ever since I returned, we’ve been working towards this. Towards me opening the Night Court. Towards me taking on my full duties. At first, I thought you kind to give me time to re-adjust, but after the first full year, I had doubts. We did this so that we could be equals once more, and so we are—” Celestia sighed and shook her head. “Luna.” “—and you are already jumping to conclusions. No. My point is, this was in part so you could take some time off. Like you said, it’s been a long time. You’ve had to change to deal with running an entire nation alone, and I respect that. You’re so very, very strong.” With those words, Luna stepped closer, and Celestia had no words with which to reply when she leaned in to hug around her neck. Her sister was as warm as the sentiment of her words. Luna drew back and smiled, looking into her eyes. “But you have to realize you’re not alone any more. Take the day off. Please.” Celestia nodded very slowly, eyes locked with Luna’s as she did, imploring and willing her to believe the sincerity of the next few words. Words that had been ready ever since she understood where Luna was going with this. “I don’t mind. I enjoy the work.” Luna’s face fell, and the younger sister looked away, her body sagging where she stood. “Really, now.” “Yes, really,” Celestia said, smiling and reaching out to steer her sister’s muzzle back to look at her. “I don’t feel burdened by the tasks, and I would not take them upon myself if I did not think I could handle it. I am aware it’s not strictly needed, but I enjoy keeping busy.” “So you say. You believe it, and perhaps you’re even right, but it hurts you all the same.” Celestia rolled her eyes, though the smile stayed put. “Come now. That’s rather melodramatic.” “Is it? What time is it, and where are you supposed to be right now?” Celestia frowned. It was obvious bait. Luna was getting at something, but what? The date and the time had showed nothing in her schedule. There was a reason she’d snuck out to find a few more projects with which to busy herself; there was a six hour gap where she had no official or unofficial duties to attend. Because she was supposed to be in Ponyville. Celestia closed her eyes and let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She heard Luna make a noise as well, but she hardly needed her input to berate herself. A quick glance out the window, and the sun told her she was nearly three hours late. Even if she rode what little sunlight was left, if she teleported straight to Ponyville, it was pointless. “I forgot.” “So you did.” With the barest pulse of magic, Celestia closed the bedchamber door. She resisted the urge to leap onto her bed like a sullen foal seven thousand years younger than herself, but it was a close thing. Instead, irritation crept into her voice as she made for the center of the room. “Actually, I’m not sure that’s even the case. I don’t trust that I forgot. When was the last time I forgot something? I don’t forget things. I made myself forget it. Somewhere along the line, I convinced myself that—that this,” she sighed, indicating her desk with a nod of her head. “That these chores are more important to me than entertaining Twilight and her friends. That, or I’ve become so rooted in my habits I cannot even try something new.” Luna rolled her jaw as she sidled up to her sister’s side. “Despite your words, you’re still missing the point entirely. For whom was this visit intended, you say? Who was meant to benefit?” Celestia narrowed the closer eye and frowned. “Crypticisms? I thought prophecies had gone out of style.” “And I thought I was the one having to re-adjust after my return,” Luna said, though the younger sister smiled where Celestia most certainly did not. She was spared the difficulty of having to come up with a reply, however, interrupted by a knock on the door. Only after Celestia had surrounded the door with her magic did she realize that she was looking at the entirely wrong door. “Then again, I don’t think I have to do much,” Luna said, waving a hoof at the balcony door. On the other side of the glass panes, a bright pink pony bounced on the spot until a glimmer of Luna’s horn admitted her. “Oh wow, two princesses today. Hi! I didn’t want to bother Twilight’s brother since he got all upset last time, so I took the back entrance.” “Well, this is a surprise,” Celestia said, trying her best to keep her face neutral. She had a feeling she still looked every bit as shocked as she had felt the first time she tasted her sister’s cooking. “Hello.” “Especially considering that balcony faces Mount Canterlot’s sheer face, yes,” Luna said, craning her neck as if she could look past Pinkie Pie and over the balcony to confirm exactly that. “I brought cake!” Pinkie Pie dipped her muzzle into the single-sided saddlebag she wore and pulled out a platter with a cake rather larger than the container in question. Celestia felt the beginnings of a smile take root. Cake was as effective a conversation starter as any, neatly skipping a host of conversational milestones associated with surprise visits. Besides, it looked absolutely delicious; chocolate cake with colored sprinkles and bits of orange peel. “So you have,” she said. “May I ask exactly why you brought us cake, if it is indeed for us?” “Oh. Sure! I mean, that depends on who you mean by ‘us’, I think. I could probably take this in a single bite, but I was planning on letting you have some! It’s for eating. Do you princesses eat a lot of cake?” “Some of us do. Certain princesses seem to inhale cake, at times,” Luna said, grinning. Celestia jabbed Luna in the side with a wingtip and raised her voice a smidgen. “Still, I fear I have to ask how you got here all alone, and what this is for. If it’s about the visit, I’m sorry—” “Oh, I’m not alone!” Pinkie beamed. Had the smile been any less bright, it would’ve been easy to be annoyed by being cut off mid-apology. Very few ponies had the nerve to interrupt a royal apology. Still, Celestia thought no more of it, perhaps exactly because Pinkie didn’t even pause to acknowledge that. “Or, well, I’m not supposed to be,” Pinkie said. “They should have found the note saying I was off to Canterlot by now. Huh!” Celestia let her left eyebrow ask the question. Pinkie Pie apparently did not speak its language, continuing her own little soliloquy. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, actually. Do you think Twilight can teleport ponies across Equestria when she isn’t running for her life and isn’t really scared, but just really, really, really, really annoyed? That’s four counts of ‘really’.” Luna cleared her throat. Celestia blinked. “Me neither!” Pinkie said. “We probably have to wait another ten or twelve seconds for Rainbow Dash.” Celestia chuckled and shook her head, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. “Pinkie Pie, I appreciate you coming here, and the cake does look wonderful, but—” For the third time in less than ten minutes, Celestia was interrupted by somepony knocking on her door. For the second time in five minutes, she was interrupted by somepony knocking on her balcony door. Luna laughed, and Celestia simply stared as Twilight stuck her head inside, shortly followed by a very, very tired Rainbow Dash. “Okay, I am not—” Dash breathed more than said, her wings sagging. “—doing that again, ever. Even if you’re timing me. But, uh, that was a new record, right?” “Pinkie Pie! I told you not to bother Princess Celestia any more, and this is what you do?” Twilight said, advancing on the mare in question all of three steps until she looked up. “Uh, oh, and Princess Celestia. Princess Luna.” The unicorn dipped her head, and Dash did the same, though the pegasus stayed down and quiet aside from the occasional wing twitch. If Pinkie Pie was even the slightest bit repentant, her way of showing it included bouncing around the room in tiny little circles. “Now everypony’s here!” “Yes, there are quite a few ponies in my bedchambers,” Celestia said by way of agreement. “Why?” “Isn’t it obvious? When you didn’t show up—” “You decided to bring the party here?” Celestia said. “Silly, it won’t be a proper party without Fluttershy and Rarity and Applejack and Spike. We’re having a mini-slumber party, but with cake!” Rainbow Dash was the only one to really react right away. A snort became a guffaw, paving the way for a chortle which transitioned into a full-bodied laughter. Pinkie Pie looked over at the pegasus as if her reaction was completely unexpected, and Twilight groaned, fixing Pinkie with a stern look. “Pinkie, I’m pretty sure princesses don’t—” Whatever else she said was drowned out by Celestia’s own thoughts. Whatever she was meant to do or not to do, she had made a promise, and breaking promises was most certainly not in her portfolio. A quick glance at her desk showed that the neatly stacked papers had gone exactly nowhere, but as tempting as paperwork was, she could hardly be blamed if she were forced to make good on an earlier promise instead. Still, it was a rather rude awakening from the privacy of her own thoughts when Luna interrupted not by speaking, but trotting past her and seizing every single paper on her desk. The documents sheathed in her magic, she made for the door while the three other ponies continued their argument heedless of the princesses. “Luna?” “Hm?” “What exactly are you doing?” Luna grinned. “I’m taking all your work away, because you’re going to take tonight off, of course.” “Am I?” Celestia asked, deciding that was about as far as she was prepared to go with her token disagreement. “I think you are. And you’re going to stop taking the administration’s work, but we’ll get to that later. For now, I’m cancelling the rest of your appointments. The Silver Lounge is free, for the record.” Luna shrugged. “Make of that what you will.” Celestia opened her mouth to say ‘thank you’. “If you say so,” she said. “I do. See you tonight, sister.” Celestia brought a hoof up to her forehead and sighed, mostly to cover up a small smile so Luna wouldn’t see. It wasn’t as if Celestia had never spent time with ponies outside of formal settings. She remembered plenty of evenings spent with her prized pupil by the fireplace, teaching her a new spell or other. Aside from that, though, the memories of moments spent with friends were all terribly rare or terribly old. Mostly old. And now, three such friends were currently engaged in a rather heated debate in her own bedroom. It wasn’t the best of starts. Rainbow was back up on all fours, but the centerpiece was Twilight and Pinkie’s quarrel which had really gone on long enough. Presently, Twilight was content to glare at Pinkie, and the earth mare herself had her hooves stuck in her ears, pouting. “What do you say we move on to a room that has actual seating?” Celestia said. “Feel free to bring the cake.” Twilight blinked, and was immediately subjected to Pinkie Pie performing the single most joyful blowing of a raspberry that Celestia had ever witnessed. “Seriously?” Dash said, her wings spreading and refurling out of synch. “Isn’t that a little, uh, weird?” The second she’d spoken, her eyes slipped down to the cake that waited patiently on the ground. “Actually, sure, I’m in. Slumber party’s good with me.” “You can’t be serious!” Celestia raised a brow at Twilight’s outburst. Pinkie Pie trotted past her with the cake on her head and Rainbow Dash sailed past as well, her body limp as her wings followed the piper’s song towards the door. Under the princess’ questioning look, Twilight wilted. “Twilight?” “She’s been like this all day! I just, I, um, I don’t think we should be bothering you.” The unicorn’s voice was muffled more with every word by her attempts to bury her muzzle in the coat of her own neck. It was hard not to smile. “Why not let me decide whether or not I’m bothered? If you’d like to go back to Ponyville, I can send for a chariot. It’s no trouble.” “Come on, slowpokes! What’s the hold-up?” Pinkie said from over by the door. The cake wobbled precariously when she tilted her head, and Rainbow Dash made a strangled noise. Pinkie hardly seemed to notice; the cake stayed put. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” Twilight said, ears splayed. “I just didn’t think, well. It doesn’t matter. What did you have in mind?” “Slumber party!” Pinkie said before Celestia had a chance to even consider the question. Celestia laughed, setting for the door and down the hall. “Let’s take it one step at a time. I don’t even know what goes into a good party these days unless it involves flags and a guard detail, but let’s find us a free room. I could use a break and something soft to sit on.”