“First and foremost, we’re here to talk about Twilight.” Luna began, looking at the alicorns around her critically. Her gaze lingered on Celestia, whom was seemingly entranced with her mane at the moment. “I can’t even begin to convey to you two the sheer scale of the news. Twilight is an alicorn now, something that only happens once every other dozen-thousand years. She’s the first in such a long time that everything about her has to be considered and thought about before we do anything. She needs a place to live outside of the public eye right now, so I suppose we can start there. I would be more than happy to let her stay here in my tower, but that isn’t how a republic works.” She cast another glance at her sister, who stiffened at the weight Luna had put behind the word ‘Republic’ “I need your input before I make a decision about her well-being.
The four alicorns sat in near silence for a few seconds before Cadence said, almost to herself. “I suppose I could let her stay with me and Shining Armor if she wanted. But I’m sure that you’re happier here, Twilight. And I can only imagine how he’d react…”
Celestia spoke for the first time in nearly a half an hour. “I’m simply wondering how you plan on dealing with this, Twilight.” She said, addressing her former student directly. “You seem very at ease for a pony that I just insulted. Not to mention that you could lapse into psychosis if we left you alone for more than an hour at a time. You’re unstable and you know that, but you seem to be taking it all in stride. But, do you have a plan? How do you intend to share this with your friends, then Equestria? Or do you even plan to do that? Are you going to disappear into the wilderness in the night and never be seen again? I want to know what you intend to do now that you’re an alicorn.”
Luna gave her a look with her eyes half-shut, showing that she clearly wasn’t enthused by her sister’s straying from the topic. “The topic that’s on the floor right now is living arrangements. We’ll get to that later, but let’s focus on what we’re going to be doing in the immediate future.”
Celestia, used to being able to switch lesser ponies’ attentions easily, sighed heavily. Patience wasn’t her strongest suit. “Fine. Let’s do as my inferior sister suggests and deal with the small, pithy things first.” She relished the look on Luna’s face at the word ‘inferior’, and then began. “I will not let Twilight stay at the castle unless extreme measures are set to make sure she is not a danger to herself and others. I want a pony with her at all times, and not my sibling. She is capable, but she isn’t disposable and she has duties to perform. I suggest a guard or perhaps even one of my own personal assistants.”
“What about Spike?” Twilight said, wondering why Celestia hadn’t mentioned him thus far.
The princess only smiled sardonically at her. “We’ll get to that in a second. As my sister said, one thing at a time. Also, I’d like to ensure that, if worse comes to worst, Twilight can be contained so that we can stabilize her. I’ve seen what can happen when an alicorn loses her bearings.” She concluded, her eyes coming to a rest on Luna.
“You keep talking about her like she’s some sort of animal that could break and maul somepony at a moment’s notice.” Luna commented, clearly dissatisfied with her conditions. “I can see the second condition being met within my comfort zone, but I don’t see how Spike and I aren’t adequate enough to keep Twilight perfectly fine. We have thus far, and she is in perfect health, as you can see.”
“That is where I can come to my final condition. Neither Luna nor Spike can watch Twilight. Firstly, because I want Spike to be reassigned as my own assistant, and Luna is only conscious during moonlight hours. Thus there is nopony to watch her.”
Cadence, Luna and Twilight all turned to stare at her. It was like separating Yin from Yang. A push without a pull. A reaction without an equal and opposite reaction. It was nearly impossible to imagine Twilight living anywhere without Spike. And here Celestia was saying that her only true, set in stone demand was that Spike was to be taken away from her.
“That demand is ludicrous.” Luna protested, seeing that Twilight was still too stunned to do so herself. “It would do nothing but further destabilize her if you took him away! He’s the only thing she has from her previous life right now. If you do that you’d be cutting her one connection to her past.”
“That is why I’m going to make a pony that Twilight should be quite familiar with watch her.” Celestia elucidated. “I have my own reasons for taking Spike, including that he’s the only dragon of his species to be discovered in over a thousand years, and that his subservient nature makes him much more productive than most of the buffoons working under my direction. But the most important is that, if Twilight went ‘off the deep end’, as the colloquialism goes, he’d be one of the few that could bring her back to a stable state. We simply can’t afford to lose him.”
“Who is going to be my assistant then?” Twilight asked, speaking to Celestia for the first time during the meeting. “You said it was somepony that I knew.”
“Well… let’s think about that. It can’t be Rarity, otherwise all of Equestria would know in a matter of days. Rainbow Dash is equally untrustworthy as a braggart. Fluttershy is too delicate to handle you if you had an episode, and Applejack has far too much on her plate to be babysitting you day in and day out. As for Pinkie Pie… she’s mentally taxing enough as it is. I wouldn’t condemn my worst enemy to have to stand next to her all day. So who does that leave us? We have a few ponies that are your acquaintances. There’s always the option to have you just live with Cadence, and that’ about it. So… I think that I know who would be a perfect guard for you.”
“Well then spit it out.” Luna snapped impatiently.
“Can I say something before you make your decision?” Twilight said.
Celestia shrugged, thinking whatever she had to say wouldn’t change her mind in the least.
“Well, I think that I should be with Luna. I mean, she’s been able to keep me from losing my mind so far. She even brought me back from the brink once. She didn’t do it in a very gentle way, but she got the job done. I think that Cadence should take Luna’s duties while I’m living in her tower. Besides, I don’t think that you even trust anypony I know enough to leave me with them.”
“That could work, I hardly even do anything all day.” Cadence replied enthusiastically.
Celestia shot her another one of her signature ‘looks of death’ and returned her attention to Twilight. “I think that is still preposterous. Luna sleeps during the day, and Twilight is awake during the day. They wouldn’t really be interacting.”
“My sleep schedule is usually largely leaning towards the day.” The youngest alicorn explained. “I don’t think that it’d be a huge stretch for me to just stay up all night.”
“Fine.” Celestia grated, giving way in the face of being so clearly outnumbered. “But I want you to be visited by your friends once a week. If you don’t, I will know. Then I’ll be the one you’re bunking with. Except you can sleep out on the balcony.”
Twilight had her own personal victory inside, even though she knew that Spike would be taken away from her. At least things weren’t all bad, since she still had Luna. Adding in the fact that her friends would be visiting only improved her spirits more.
“Next order of business is the long term plans.” Luna said. “Firstly is Twilight’s permission to be out in the castle. She should have the right to go where she pleases in my opinion. With her being supervised by myself, of course.” She added, slyly winking at Twilight. She knew where all the little curios and interesting rooms were in the palace. “What do you think?”
“Of course!” Cadence said, her eyes wide. “Then she can come and visit me! And maybe we can go out into the gardens together!”
“Negative.” Celestia said, much to the disappointment of Cadence. “She is not only dangerous, but there are a fair number of hazards associated with being an alicorn. The guards would see you and gossip would spread like wildfire. The servants are especially chatty. If a certain somepony heard about there being another alicorn, he’d be trying his best to get to her. Not only him, Discord, but Chrysalis would as well. It would be a threat to security.”
“And if we were invisible to the naked eye? And we only wandered around the castle at night?” Luna furthered, pressing her sister. “I’m sure those would negate the foresaid risks.”
“Fine.” Celestia said, nodding. “But as ground rules, you are to come nowhere near my section of the castle and stay far away from large congregations of ponies. Other than that, follow common sense. You might be invisible and inaudible, but you aren’t ghosts. You can’t pass through solid matter.”
Just then their attention was distracted by Spike walking up the stairs, carrying a large tray with an assortment of different teas, lettuces and sandwiches. He walked quietly over to the coffee table between the four and set it down. The young dragon took a slight bow and promptly went over and sat at the writing desk. He seemed to know that he’d showed up at an inopportune time, so he did his best to make himself scarce. It took a second for the four to resume their conversation, but it instantly picked up on the note of.
“Can I go out into Canterlot?” Twilight asked. “I swear I’ll stay invisible, or I’ll disguise my wings. I’ll stay on the down low and not talk to anypony. I just want to get some things to make this place a little more homey for myself. It’s not that Luna’s place isn’t, well, comfortable. I think it’s more than perfect in that aspect. But there’s just a few things that really make it feel like home to me.”
“I will have Luna accompany you on this trip and you will have a guard. Disguise your wings, that is the only thing that I can advise.” Celestia said, looking at Twilight curiously. “You’re already beginning to think about the risks of your actions… You just might make a good alicorn yet.”
Cadence interrupted whatever was about to be said by picking up the kettle of tea and pouring herself a cup, levitating it over to where she was sitting. She gave a grateful nod over towards Spike and took a sip. Twilight shrugged and did likewise. This was supposed to be a friendly meeting for them, not a war counsel. Celestia was the only one who didn’t seem to want anything, so she occupied her time with looking out the window of the tower at the sky. It was slowly darkening, meaning that Luna’s moon was tucking itself under the horizon. Soon she’d have to raise the sun, and leave for her daily morning briefing. She sighed and decided to make this last part quick.
“I want Twilight to remember that she is now liable to be responsible for everything she does. Unless she has a very obvious psychotic break, then she is directly blamed for her actions. She is still susceptible to the same rules that everypony else has to follow. I’d also like to remind my sister that she is a three-thousand year old, mature alicorn mare that is equally as responsible for herself and Twilight. If I see that either of you are ignoring that, I will separate you. Forcefully. And Twilight, you aren’t off the hook for disobeying the commands I gave you in that letter. So expect me to be asking for you in a day’s time. I’ll devise a punishment fitting for your disobedience.”
And let me finish with this. Luna, you are not to engage in any sort of relationship with Twilight above a strictly platonic level. I know you’re lonely, and that you might feel some form of uncivil, carnal attraction to her. Especially since you’re so old and she is just a filly in alicorn terms. I can already see the gears turning in your head on how you can take advantage of her mental instability to grow her psychological dependence on you. You’ve been alone for a while, but that is no reason for you to violate the terms between the social construct of a student and mentor. I know I didn’t when I was teaching Twilight, and thus I trust you to adhere to those rules as well. No matter how exotic your emotions and imagination may grow to enjoy seeing her in that light.”
Luna’s face fell from a look of triumph to a furious, angry mask. One could feel that air thicken with tension and venom as she prepared to lash back at Celestia, but the eldest of the two sisters waved a hoof.
“I know that me anticipating your attractions towards lesser, weaker souls is infuriating to you. But as much as I’d love to be yelled at for that, I have to raise the sun in a half an hour and I’d really prefer to bathe and perhaps get down to the courtroom before that happens. I have a criminal to condemn directly after I raise the sun and after that I get to oversee her execution. It should be a delightful morning for me, all told. So I’m going to politely excuse myself.”
With that Celestia stood, her chair disappearing with a loud ‘snap’. She left the room with Luna in that state of anger, descending the stairs with a smile on her face. Spike looked from Luna to Twilight in confusion. He hadn’t understood half of what Celestia had said about Luna, but by the way the princess looked ready to murder her older sibling, he could tell it had plucked at very raw nerves. Luna got up and stormed out of the room as well, heading upstairs so that she could be alone. Cadence was left with Twilight, whom both sat wondering what had just happened. Things had been going fine, what went wrong? The mood had been great and they were wrapping things up when Celestia had said those last few sentences to Luna. Cadence coughed lightly, then said.
“Celestia has a particular talent in doing that. Taking a triumph for somepony else and then turning it around to make them feel horrible for themselves. She just called Luna a large number of things that… well, that she didn’t appreciate. She did them in a very classy way, but you have to understand there are more than just the words. It’s what she meant by them.”
“So what did Celestia say that was enough to get her to react like that? She looked like she was about to cry…” Twilight asked, disturbed by how fast the mood had changed.
“Well… there’s this thing that Celestia pulls out whenever Luna ever gets an interest in a particular pony. If she sees that she even remotely likes somepony, she’ll say that, legally, by law nopony with more than a forty year difference in age can have a relationship with one another. Otherwise it’s considered a statutory offense, as well as pedophilia. Since she’s over three-thousand years old she likes to point that out, since no living pony is that age or anywhere near it. She also implied that if she were to be in a relationship with you, she’d be taking advantage of your mental condition by making you rely on her. In a way she also just called her a pervert. It isn’t really fair that Celestia can just do that and walk away, but she just did. And I think it really hurt Luna…” Cadence explained, looking away. She felt slightly guilty that she’d just let it happen.
“I guess I’ll go, then.” She finished, standing up. “I hope that things go well with Luna and Spike. Good day.”
Cadence left, leaving Twilight alone with Spike. She couldn’t believe what had just happened in front of her, under the guise of a distinguished vocabulary. Celestia was capable of being cruel, but this pushed the envelope of just how sharp her silver tongue was. She’d basically called Luna a complete sexual deviant right in front of her, but she’d been unable to see through the curtain of formality that she’d thrown up to prevent her from seeing. She knew that Luna felt hurt, and that she’d been called those things many times before. But having them said to you in front of the one pony that you considered to be most important was hovering on the edge of pure sadism.
Twilight was about to get up, but before she could Spike walked over to her, wringing his hands nervously. She closed her eyes, preparing for what she thought would be another onslaught of guilt brought on by her not returning his affections. But he cleared his throat politely, looked up at her with sincerity in his eyes and said.
“Twilight… I know that I was wrong to think that you’d take me as more than a friend, just because I’ve known you so long. And I was wrong to make you feel guilty about it afterwards. I was also wrong to assume that you weren’t reserved already, and thinking that you were mine. So… I guess…” He choked on the word for a moment, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I accept that you don’t like me that way. And that’s okay as long as we can still be friends.”
Twilight stared at him for well over a minute, shocked at how mature he sounded. Looking around, nopony else was forgiving her for anything she’d done recently. Except for him, and he wasn’t even fully grown yet. Here she was, surrounded by alicorns that were tens of centuries old and here, in front of her, not even older than thirteen by his race’s standards, was a dragon that possessed a skill that they did not. He had forgiven her, and even admitted that he’d been wrong. Celestia herself didn’t have that quality, and Cadence and Luna had a hard time with it. She exercised it on a daily basis, but here he was a million times younger than everypony she knew and still he knew how to do things that immortal beings, beings that were supposed to be above him in every way, simply could not.
Twilight reached down and wrapped him in a bear hug, pulling him close to her as she dared. He hesitated at first, then returned the gesture, glad that she’d forgiven him in return. When she let him go she smiled and said to him, in a soft voice like a teacher to her student.
“Spike, I’m proud of you. You’ve learned to do something that ponies a million times older than you can’t do. And that’s forgive. Not only that, but you admitted you were wrong. Celestia, who was just sitting in this room, far smarter than me and you, can’t do that yet. You are the most mature, and the most intelligent dragon I’ve ever known. I forgive you, and I’ll admit that I did feel bad about breaking your heart. But let’s not dwell on the past. I’m glad we could clear the air, but now I have to go and check on Luna.”
“Thanks Twilight. Do you want me to come with you?”
“No thanks, I’ve got it. I’m sure I’m enough to get her back out here.”
With that Twilight rose from her seat and trotted over to the stairs, still amazed at how nice it had been to make things right between her and her assistant. It was like some invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she could now walk a little easier with the knowledge that it wouldn’t come between them again.
As she emerged into Luna’s room she noticed that the lights were dimmed and the moon wasn’t in the sky. The sun was rising on the other side of the tower, the side with no windows. The curtains were drawn shut, and the candles on the chandelier were just barely lit, as if the azure flames they held had lost the will to burn temporarily. Twilight saw that, over on the bookshelf, there was a single tome missing. She walked as quietly as she could over to the shelf, then looked to see that, where the book had once been, was a small bottle. When she uncorked the bottle it let off a very noticeable, pungent aroma that struck a familiar chord in Twilight’s mind. It was a sleeping draft, one that reeked of cherries and was very potent. From that Twilight only assumed that she could be in bed, sleeping off what had just happened.
“That was last night’s sleeping draft.” Luna said from behind her bed’s curtain. “I was about to get up and take tonight’s, but then you came in.”
Luna sounded like she’d been crying, from how hoarse she sounded. Twilight looked over at the desk to see that there were multiple bottles, all littering the desk’s surface. Each on was the same size, shape and every single one was empty except for the bottle at the very center of the desk. Twilight couldn’t believe that Luna had any sort of trouble sleeping; she always seemed so relaxed to her. What stress was she holding onto that would prevent her from sleeping?
As if she’d read her mind, or at least followed her line of sight, Luna sighed. “Ever since I sent that letter to you bearing the spell to change you into an alicorn I haven’t been able to sleep. I haven’t been able to forgive myself for what I did, plunging you into this world for selfish reasons. I wanted you to be an alicorn, Celestia didn’t. I forged that letter brilliantly, but even a week later it hurts to think that you’ll never again be able to look at a clock and not laugh. Or, perhaps, cry.”
“What do you mean, selfish reasons?” Twilight asked.
“I mean that I thought it would have been a waste. A mare as intelligent, as creative as you would be a waste to keep as a mortal. You not only have a flawless intellect, but your morals are so in line that you make mine look shabby by comparison. And you take such good care of yourself that I… I couldn’t help but think that you practically deserved to be made into an alicorn. That and you… the way you do things, the way you move, the way you solve problems, the way that you even make potions and cast spells all makes me think that you’re the perfect mare to live forever. That… and all those reasons make me attracted to you in a way that almost scares me. Since I’ve been alone my entire life, I’ve been independent. I have never looked at anything or anypony and thought that I couldn’t live without it. And then there was the day I met you. The moment I saw you, you struck a chord in my head that made me think for the first time ‘I want to know you, live with you, and learn from you, forever’.
From that day on I raided the Canterlot Vaults, trying to piece together a spell that had the capability to transform you into an alicorn. I wanted to visit you, and I wanted to get to know you far better before I transformed you, but time didn’t permit it. Celestia was onto me, and I had to hurry. So I did, and now I find myself second-guessing all of it. If I made the right choice, for the right reasons.”
“You mean that you planned this?” Twilight said, nearly in shock.
“Yes. I did. But… then Celestia go involved. And you became so afraid. I couldn’t help it, I had to directly interfere, even though I was afraid that I might fall for you if I got too close. But I had to, otherwise Celestia would have let you rot in that house until you killed everypony there, and then yourself. She would have let you decay, so I had to get involved. Then, I fell for you. I was afraid I would from the start. What started out at a simple mission to make you the best you could be turned into a mission to protect you, and we were forced even closer together. I never did it so that we’d end up living in the same tower, but that’s how it played out… and for that I’m sorry.”
Twilight walked over to Luna’s bed and drew back the curtain. She was lying under the woolen comforter, her silk nightgown’s enchanted stars twinkling in the half-light. She looked sullen, and her cheeks were stained with tears. She couldn’t look at Twilight, and turned her head away to avoid looking at the estranged mare.
“I failed you.” Was all she said. “I did the wrong thing, for a wrong, selfish reason.”
Twilight looked at her for a long moment and shook her head, reaching out and setting her hoof on the princesses’ shoulder. “You didn’t fail. You succeeded. And in the process, a happy accident happened. I think it’s awfully serendipitous that we ended up in this situation together. I like the fact that we live in the same tower together, and that we’re both alicorns. I like that I’m going to live forever now. And besides all that, I think that you’re a really good mare for what you did.”
Luna looked back at her, smiling for the first time in an hour. “So you’re not mad at me?”
Twilight shook her head. “No. I can’t be mad at you for following what you felt was right. For following your heart.”
Luna looked over at the table, where the sleeping draft lay, corked and ready to be drank. “Are you going to be sleeping downstairs? Because if so I have a little space here in my own bed for you, if you want to sleep up here, of course.”
Twilight didn’t need to be asked twice. She walked around to the other side of the bed and slid in next to Luna, smiling at how warm it was under the covers. Spike would undoubtedly fall asleep downstairs soon. She… she’d sleep up here for the night. Luna turned onto her side and looked at Twilight curiously, admiring how her eyes seemed to glow a brilliant mauve in the darkness. The younger alicorn blushed, glad it was so dark that she couldn’t see her biting her lip. Luna stretched her wings out and pulled Twilight into an embrace, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Twilight was now a radioactive shade of scarlet, too shocked to comment on her hostess’ lack of royal manners. Once the smaller mare was tucked lightly between her arms, Luna enveloped her with a wing and slowly, delicately leaned down and kissed her horn. With that, the princess nuzzled herself into the pillow, and fell asleep.