"Awwww, Tia, please! Why won't you play a game with me?" Luna whined.
Celestia raised an eyebrow and continued to drink her cup of tea. "Because, I am a mare, and mares don't play silly games with their younger siblings."
"B-but you played charades with me two days ago! Two. Why can't we play it again today?" Luna pouted slightly and flopped her ears back.
"Because," Celestia placed her cup of tea down on a table, turned away from her younger sister and walked over to the bookshelf. Her eyes gazed over the titles of all her books, as she carefully selected a good read.
"Well, because what?" Luna ran after her sister and stood in front of Celestia before she could take a book off the shelf. She stood on the top of her hooves and reached her neck up as far as it would go, her head slightly tilted so it was level with her sister, and her eyes were narrowed. Celestia rolled her eyes and looked at her bored. "Tell me, Tia!" she tried to growl.
"I already told you, I am a mare," Celestia turned away from her sister.
"Urgh, no you're not, I'm not that much younger than you, and your birthday was ages ago," Luna followed her sister before eyeing her cup of tea. "And why were you drinking tea anyway?" She picked up the cup of tea in her aurora and waved it around Celestias' face.
"Well, mares drink tea, so therefore I drink tea now."
"But...you don't even like tea! Wouldn't you much rather a glass of orange juice?" Luna put the cup on the floor without much care and Celestia proceeded to pick it back up and take another sip, a slightly disapproving look plastered on her face as she forced down the lot.
"Yes, I would..." She trailed off.
"Urgh!" Luna stamped her hoof on the ground,"then why don't you have a freaking glass of it?!"
Celestia made an over exaggerated gasp and threw a hoof over her mouth. "Luna!"
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"You...you swore!"
"What? No I didn't! 'Freaking' is not a swear word."
Celestia forced back a slight grin. "I'm telling mother, I don't think she'll be very happy about it," she gave a smug look before dashing out of the door and down the hallway.
Luna stood for a few seconds with her mouth slightly agape. She shook her head and started to chase after her sister. "TIA!" She shouted down the hallway.
"YES?" Celestia called back as Luna began to catch up with her.
"Well-" Luna stopped herself as realisation came over her, "enjoying this game of cat and mouse?" she looked at her sister with a smirk.
"Why, yes, I am thank you very much," Celestia smiled smugly back.
"But sister...I thought you were too old for games?"
Celestia abruptly stopped, and fell back onto her haunches. Luna, who had not been expecting this sudden change of movement ran straight into her sister and toppled back into a table, knocking it as the vase on the top started to rock rather violently. They both stared in pained awe as the vase gave way to gravity and came crashing down to the floor. They sat there for a few seconds before they heard hoof steps come running down the hallway.
They both glanced at each other in dread, and then raced of down the corridor, back to the room they had been in previously, and shut the door behind them.
"Tia! We're done for, that was mothers best china!" Luna looked at her sister in worry, only to see she was looking at herself in the mirror, and adjusting her hair.
"Well, you are," she replied eventually.
"But you're the reason I fell into it in the first place," she threw her hooves, out in front of her.
"I'll tell the truth. You swore, I went to tell mother, you chased after me, bumped into me, and went flying into her precious vase and broke it," she frowned at herself in the mirror, before picking up a reddish-pink rose and placing it in her mane. "Say, do you think 'you know who' will notice me more if I wear this to the banquet?" She twirled around with a light blush on her cheeks.
Luna released a low growl and yanked the flower out of her sisters hair and threw it on the floor, to which she stood and squished it into the floor as much as she could. She looked up and glared at her sister. "I don't care about the banquet, 'you know who' and I most certainly do not care about you!" she shouted sternly in her sisters face.
Celestia face turned into a genuinely saddened look as she stood staring between her sister and the rose. "Lulu..."
Lunas facial expression slowly dropped until it was a look of dread. "Tia, I'm so sorry, I-"
The door swung open and a very annoyed looking pony greeted them. She marched forward towards the sisters until she was stood right in front of the, towering over them like a mountain.
"Now, ladies, your parents left me in charge of you whilst they are getting ready for the banquet, how do you expect me to explain why there was shouting," she looked at them both sternly," and how, Luna, do you expect me to explain why your mothers most precious china vase has been broken into a million pieces?!" She glared at Luna. "Don't even try to deny it, I found evidence it was you," she showed them a few strands of dark blue hair," I found these on the broken vase. So, how am I going to explain?"
Luna stood frozen to the spot with her eyes wide open, filled with worry.
"Well, I'm waiting," the mare started tapping her hoof on the ground.
Celestia opened her mouth slowly and took a small step forward. "Well," she glanced at the mares face trying to recognise her," Diamond...it went like this-"
"Celestia, I wasn't asking you," she faced Luna as Celestia also looked at her worriedly.
Luna managed to speak a few words, "well, I...b-but..." She tried to start.
"No buts, misses, your parents are going to be-" Diamond was interrupted by the sun shining rather brightly though the window. "My, my, just look at the time! Consider yourselves, both very, very lucky, that you two are actually required to be at this banquet, or I can guarantee it would've been no dinner for either of you, and time out until an earlier bedtime. Now, run along, Luna, you have a banquet to get dressed for," she looked at the filly in question, who slowly began to shuffle her way to the door. She looked back at Celestia. "You too, don't think you can get away with it either," she said harshly, before marching back out of the room, shutting the door behind her with a bang.
Celestia winced at the sound of the door, and looked back to the mirror. She shook her hair and drove a hoof through her mane a few times, effectively messing it up.
"Urgh," she shook her head, "right, now, what would a mare do in this situation?" She glanced around the room for something, anything before her eyes laid apon a gold coloured hairbrush. "Get ready for the banquet of course!" She half faked a smile to herself as she began brushing her mane in long strokes, being careful to make sure every strand was in place, and every knot had been untangled. After this, she began to use the same technique on her tail, before preening her wings to make sure they were in perfect condition.
---Meanwhile, in Lunas' bedroom---
Luna sat on the floor, leaning against her bed, with a few pebbles in her hoof. Without much care, she was throwing them against the wall, a few of them bouncing off lightly, and others just falling straight to the floor.
The door opened, and in walked Emerald- another maid assigned to help look after the sisters whilst their parents were busy. Luna groaned and crossed her forelegs with a grunt- she did not want to deal with any more ponies, especially ones who were going to tell her off.
"Um, Miss Luna? The banquet starts soon and your parents need you to be ready in time," Emerald stated calmly.
"I'm not going!" Luna glared at the maid and grunted.
"Ah...well, I'm very sorry, but it is a requirement, and is my job to make sure you do," she looked at the filly hopefully," please? If you don't do it now, someone else will be sent up, and I doubt your parents will be too happy about that, I know it's not that interesting, but it'll only be for about an hour," she walked over and began picking up the small pebbles off the floor, before placing them back into the flowerpot.
Luna continued to glare at the wall before replying," fine..."she stated before huffing and walking over to the mirror, as the maid left hurriedly.
She grabbed a hairbrush and started pulling it through her mane until she thought it was in a decent state. She then went over to her wardrobe and got the dress she was meant to wear. Luna laid it out on the bed, and looked at it for a second.
It was a dark purple dress, with black ribbon accents, and a black underskirt. There were two small holes for her wings to go though, as well as a necklace to go with it- a black coloured small chain, with a dark blue gem at the end. She also had a small ribbon she was meant to tie her hair up with, but to which she chose not to wear for the sake of time and effort.
After she'd dressed herself, she mentally prepared herself for the banquet, before walking out of her bedroom and down towards where the banquet was being held.
-----
Inside the small hall, were lots of ponies, lots of important ponies to be more precise. Luna peered round the doorframe some more, until she spotted her sister talking to the chef about something before taking her seat near the end of the table.
Celestia was wearing a dress almost identical to Lunas, except that it was a light yellow colour with white satin shoes. That and, Celestia had also chosen to use the ribbon to tie two plaits into her hair, which joined at the back and helped to hold her fringe out of her face.
"Ahem," a voice behind her made her jump slightly, so she turned around to see a colt wearing a suit and tie.
"Oh," Luna moved out of the way and let the other pony through," sorry."
The other pony responded with a quiet huff of disapproval and Luna rolled her eyes. "Jeez, some ponies just don't have manners," she muttered under her breath before going and sitting down at her seat.
Luna sat across from her sister, neither of them making eye contact as they both just sat, staring at their knives and forks, waiting to be served. Luna glanced up at her sisters face, and guilt filled her more and she lost her appetite completely. Her sister looked quite sad, and hadn't even bothered to put the flower in her mane. 'That's because of me' she thought.
It took Celestia a while to notice that her dinner had been placed in front of her, and when she did, she raised her nose slightly and tried not to gag.
In front of her, was some fancy dish. It was all...just vegetables. They were neatly cut into thin strips, and placed around the plate in a circle with lettuce leaves on top. A single tomarto sat in the middle of the plate, with a pool of white, weird smelling sauce around it. Sprinkled on the whole thing was pepper, and lots of different types of herbs. She then glanced over at her sisters dinner, which was basically a slightlier fancier looking fruit salad with a smoothie in a glass, and instantly decided she should have opted for the same thing, rather than asking the chef to give her the adult meal, because she was...a mare now...
"Urgh..." Luna groaned from the other side of the table, a few tears in her eyes to which she quickly wiped, before getting up and sneaking off out of the room.
Celestias eyes filled with concern for her little sister, and stood up slowly, ignoring her father telling her to sit back down, she left.
"Luna...Luna...Lulu, where are you?" She called after her sister and ran down the hallway in the direction she thought she went, that was, until she heard sniffing coming from behind the curtains. "Lulu?" She pulled the curtain back, and saw her sister, sobbing as quietly as she could, whilst wiping her eyes frantically.
"Go away," she said, her voice slightly shakey.
"I can't do that, Lulu," Celestia sat down so that she was next to her sister, "what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"I-I said I didn't care about you..l said it so harshly, a-and...I'm a horrible pony," Luna sat staring at the floor.
"No, you're not, I am," Celestia replied as Luna looked up at her, about to protest, "look, I'm the one who started it all, I'm the one who decided I should be a mare because I'm too old for all the kid stuff...the fun stuff, how could I have been so...so stupid?" A few tears welled up in her eyes to which she wiped quickly. "Look, I'm really, really, sorry, Lulu, I really am," she gave her sister a hug.
"I'm sorry too sis, I shouldn't have shouted, I...just got mad I guess, I really wanted to play a game with you before we had this whole stupid banquet thing..."
"Well...why don't we play it now," Celestia started to grin.
"But...what about the banquet, and these," she said whilst holding up part of her dress.
"Who cares," Celestia used her magic to take of her dress, and her sisters dress before tucking them behind the curtain.
Luna giggled, "we're going to get in so much trouble for this," she checked the corridor for any ponies.
"As I said," Celestia smiled happily," who cares," she gave her sister another hug before a devious smile appeared on her face, "you're it!" She tapped her sister before running off down the corridor.
"Hey! No fair!" Luna shouted back before chasing after her sister, a spring in her step and a very happy smile on her face.
Unbeknown to them, down the other end of the corridor, at the doorway to where the banquet was, two older ponies were watching them, chuckling.
"What do you say deary? Should we let them off this time," he looked at his wife.
"Honey, I think that's the best idea you've had all day," she rolled her eyes and leaned into her husband, as they watched their daughters continue with their game of it, both smiling and happy, just what they'd always wanted them to be.