Teatime for Two

by Stardust Live

Good Morning, Celestia

"You want ME to rule Equestia?!"

"Calm down, Twilight" Starlight's expression was one of exasperated patience as the little ballerina figure that her mentor was using as an avatar started to hyperventilate.

"I can't rule all of Equestria, that's too much to do! I need to organise everything, I need to work on the plans for the next school year, manage the schedules of the students returning, organise the meetings and the galas, I need t-"

"TWILIGHT" Starlight slammed her hoof on the dressing table, making the music box jump and causing Twilight to stare at her, "Calm down a second, you'll pull a spring if you keep doing that"

"This is no time for jokes, Starlight!" Twilight snapped back, her voice higher than normal with anxiety, "How could you suggest that to the Princesses?! They've never taken a day off, no-one else can do their jobs!"

"Uh, pretty sure some ponies can" Starlight wasn't buying Twilight's view of the responsibilities of the dual monarchs, "I mean, what has Celestia been grooming you for, if not to be the next Princess of ALL of Equestria? Seriously, think about it. Everyone knows it. This is just ... a test run"

"I haven't been groomed for that" Twilight snapped defensively, but Starlight rolled her eyes.

"Please. Anyone with half a brain can see that's what this is all for. You're not going to do it alone anyway; I've said that Princess Cadance could help too. After all she rules the Crystal Empire-"

"And has to look after Flurry Heart!" Twilight almost seemed personally offended at the Princess of Love being offered up for the position, "You can't just-"

"You DO realise that Shining Armour looks after Flurry Heart too, right" Starlight rose a brow, "It's not like Cadance does it all herself. And they have staff. She keeps saying the Empire is too peaceful, I think she'd enjoy the chance in scenery"

"Well, no offense, Starlight" Twilight took on that smug tone and equally smug smile she wore whenever she thought her point was best, "But I think I know my sister-in-law best" Pointing a hoof to her chest, "And I'm telling you, she-"

"Already said yes" Starlight's face mirrored Twilight's smug smirk, at least, until Twilight's smirk fell away to a blank stare.

"She ... did?"

"Mmmhmm" Starlight curled her hoof under her chin, her smirk deepening, "She says she'll pick you up on her way to Canterlot, if you wanna do this. She says it will be no big deal, and she can visit some friends in Canterlot while she does it"

"..." Twilight look put out at being proven wrong, and sighed in defeat.

"Very well, Starlight. Tell Princess Celestia that I and Cadance will be there ready on Thursday so she and Luna can have the weekend off"

"Great" Starlight beamed, hopping off the stool she was perched on and heading to bed for the night, "The Princesses are just doing some stuff together, no need to panic"

"Right!" Twilight tried to be optimistic, wringing her hooves together, "No need to panic ..."

---

Sitting atop Celestia's tower side-by-side, the Sisters watched the night sky twinkle gently and waited for the right hour to come to see the change of night to day. Luna stifled a yawn, much to Celestia's amusement.

"Tired already?"

"No, I'm just used to getting ready for bed at this time" Luna's horn glowed in preparation to lower the moon, "I think it's just a natural reaction"

"I do the same when the clock in the main hallway strikes" Celestia admitted, "I always hope I'm not with other ponies when it happens"

"I wonder if our guards do the same" Luna mused. One night guard and one day guard stood at the entranceway behind the sisters, purely out of habit, and they looked at each other at the corner of their eye before shrugging in unison.

"Here we go" Celestia's horn glowed brightly as she waited for Luna to bring the moon down beyond the horizon. When she had the duty of day and night, she found moving the sun to be as effortless as breathing, but moving the moon ... it felt so heavy and cumbersome, on more than one occasion she thought she would somehow drop it. Luna, on the other hoof, moved it so smoothly and perfectly, slipping it underneath the skyline as Celestia brought up the sun, turning the dark sky into a colourful patchwork of purples, pinks and golds before sky blue became the dominant colour.

Celestia smiled, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face and warming through her fur, "Raising the sun, check. Now, we can do things we wish to do. First thing's first; breakfast!"

"This will be very strange; I usually have a snack and then head to bed" Luna noted, taking her place at the breakfast table as Celestia prepared the pan for pancakes.

"Well, as long as it's not a banana peel this time ... I'm surprised you ate that, it must have been very .... chewy" Celestia took a banana from the fruit bowl on the table herself, setting it on the chopping board to use for decoration once the pancakes were finished. Flour, eggs, buttermilk and various other ingredients were whisked together and poured into the sizzling pan, Celestia humming to herself as she worked. A maid pony brought Princess Luna the day's newspaper, bowing whilst another pony brought in two pots of tea for them. Foggy Mountain Grey for Celestia, Shire Lanka Jasmine for Luna.

"That would be an understatement" She made a face, sipping her tea as she unfurled the newspaper, "... though I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes some sort of health craze. Remember that time cake smoothies became a thing when you enjoyed the winning entry to the National Dessert Competition"

Celestia winced as she turned her pancakes over, "How could I forget? I had to tell ponies not to drink three gateaux shakes for dinner instead of food!"

"I think Equestria's dentists were not amused" Luna said, though her own tone was rather mirthful as she turned the pages.

"Anything interesting?" Celestia filled Luna's plate first before fixing her own, arranging the strawberries, blueberries, bananas and pineapples carefully.

"No, just the usual. Weather notices, society pages ... some interviews about the upcoming Daring Do books, nothing exciting" Luna set the paper aside as Celestia placed her pancakes in front of her.

"In a way, I'm glad" Celestia took her place at the table with her own pancakes, "I don't want Twilight to be overwhelmed on her first day"

"Cadance should keep her right" Luna noted, smiling as she saw that Celestia had arranged the berries into the shape of a crescent moon with little strawberry stars and a dollop of syrup to represent the dark blot of the Cutie Mark on her flank, "She's always been a lot calmer and able to handle herself"

"True, she could learn a lot from her" Celestia ate the pieces of pinapple off her pancake first, "At least this time she doesn't have to raise the sun and moon"

"Oh, stars, the last time that happened" Luna laughed, "Ponies thought the world had lost it's mind! I got all sorts of letters from the Pegasi and star watchers that were angry and upset about the change. 'It throws all our charts off, Princess!'. Yes, well, there is a great big centaur coming who is eating all the magic, I think we can let the moon and sun off just this once until we fix it"

"Sometimes I wonder what the issues we face sound like to other ponies" Celestia mused, "There was that, a insect pony Queen whose subjects eat emotions, a chaos creature who likes to play odd and twisted games with everyone, a pony made of shadows, a tyrant King obsessed with crystals ..."

"And yet ponies think we do nothing but treaties and dreamwalking" Luna sounded a bit annoyed, stuffing a whole pancake in her mouth, "I feel like saying 'Have you seen any Bugbear swarms or Maulwurf? No? You're welcome!'"

"And ponies think we are useless ..." Celestia's voice was sad and low, lowering her fork and her eyes to the table. Luna paused, then raised the slices of peach on Celestia's plate.

"Nonsense!" A funny voice from one of the slices, wiggling like it was alive, "You went horn-to-horn with the Queen Bug despite never seeing her before! The Queen thought she would be defeated, she even said so, it was just Shining Armour's love that made her stronger!"

"Yes indeed!" A warbly, snooty voice out of another peach slice, "Without putting all the Alicorn magic in Twilight to hide it, Tirek would have easily won!"

"Chuh, and let's not forget the time when the Sisters took down Discord alone! No help there except the Elements of Harmony! If they didn't have a connection to the Elements, Equestria would have been lost!" A grumbling old-man voice from the third peach slice, one that was a little more wrinkled than the others, "Back in my day, we didn't have no whipper-snapper friendship magic to sort that out, no sir! We walked a thousand miles on broken hooves while on fire to solve our world-changing problems! Whilst having no legs! Youngsters today, no respect for their elders!"

Celestia couldn't help but giggle at the little show in front of her, "Don't play with your food, Luna"

"I'm not playing with my food, I'm playing with your food" Luna countered lightly, stealing one of the peaches on Celestia's plate and popping it into her mouth. Celestia grinned, and started to move a couple of strawberries that Luna had set aside to finish last.

"My goodness, isn't it a lovely night for a stroll!" Celestia mimicked a high Canterlot accent, wriggling the taller strawberry, "Certainly no danger around here!"

"Indeed! I can't remember the last time I saw a cockatrice around these parts ... it's so nice to walk in peace without those ghastly tatzlwurms messin' up the place!" An Appaloosan drawl from the second strawberry, causing Luna to snigger behind her hoof, "That was worse than that time those gosh-darned pigasus plagues wiped out all mah turnips! Starved for fifty hundred moons, so we did! Wait, wait, nooooo!" Celestia slowly levitated the strawberry off Luna's plate and towards herself, "They got me! The pigasus are back for me! Save y'self darlin'! PROTECT THE TURNIPS!"

"Bravo!" Luna clapped as Celestia ate the strawberry, pleased with herself, "A solar performance with stellar reviews!"

"Oh, I think Twilight made it quite clear her opinions on my acting ability" Celestia was amused at remembering the ill-fated play, "Still, as long as it entertains"

"Speaking of entertains, what time is the Flyover?" Referring to the Wonderbolts weekly demonstration for fans and general public to test out new routines in front of an audience.

"Three o'clock, plenty of time" Celestia brought up a little gold pocketwatch she used to keep the time in her public rounds, seeing that it was still only seven in the morning, "We can do plenty before then"

"Then I have a suggestion ..."

---

"WELCOME TO BRIDLE BEACH!!" An overexcited pony greeted the sisters as they stepped onto the golden sands, "Care to try the water polo?? Or maybe some paragliding? We have a two-for-one special today!"

"Ooo, that sounds fun!" Celestia brightened, looking over to the waiting boat and instructor, a nervous-looking stallion slipping into his paraglider and helmet whilst his family cheered, "What do you say, Luna?"

"Mmm, maybe later, I kinda just want to chill by the sand" Luna admitted, her gaze over by the sunloungers and the waiter handing out coconut juice drinks.

"Well, I'll keep a spot for you!" Celestia accepted the ticket for the paraglider, joining the queue as Luna made her way over to the loungers. She froze as Luna just made herself comfortable.

"Wait, Luna!" She dashed over, startling the waiter handing the moon princess a pair of complimentary shades decorated with toucans, "Remember, sunblock!"

"Sunblock?" Luna looked over the shades quizzically.

"Oh, right, you don't normally need it ... well, we need sunblock" A flash of gold magic, and Celestia summoned two bottles. A higher factor for Luna, and a lower one for her. Luna was even more bemused watching Celestia applying it to her own cheeks and horn.

"You're the Princess of the Sun, surely you don't need that"

"Everypony needs sunblock, no matter what" Celestia informed her, "Some need stronger, like you, you aren't normally out in the intense sun light this. I might need a milder one, but I need it too"

"If you say so ... " Luna applied the cream to her fur and horn, still a little confused but now content relaxing on her lounger, a cool coconut drink by her side and basking in the shade as Celestia took her turn on the paraglider, Luna smiling as her sister's excited yells sounded around the beach.

---

"Ahhh, it's been forever since I was on a beach" Luna washed off the sand from her hooves and legs, the sandcastle the pair build being added into by excited fillies who decided it needed a few more additions and a couple of dungeons full of bunnies, "We need to do that again sometime"

"I'll see if I can't add a beach festival to the social calendar" Celestia joked, making her way to the Royal podium in the Wonderbolt stadium for the Flyover, "We have enough social events, I'm sure ponies wouldn't mind one on the beach"

"We should possibly inform Seaquestria, so they don't wonder what all the noise is"

"I haven't seen Queen Novo for a while" Celesia mused, "We should invite her for lunch sometime"

"Or King Leo" Luna suddenly remembered, "The King of Abyssinia was very eager to have a chat closer to winter; I think his Kingdom are running low on yarn again"

Spitfire, the Captain of the Wonderbolts, appeared surprised as Celestia and Luna passed her in the hallways, abruptly turning around and racing up to them.

"Your Majesties" She offered a salute instead of a bow, "I wasn't informed you were coming"

"Oh, this isn't an official engagement" Celestia's voice was light, "We simply wanted to watch with all the other ponies. Please, pretend we aren't here and perform as you normally would"

Spitfire looked between her and Luna, wondering if there had been some sort of mix-up or mistake. Seeing nothing giving her a hint to some sort of trickery, she nodded.

"Yes, Princess" Another salute, "We hope you enjoy the show!"

"... I think we need to do more things casually" Luna remarked as they walked up the stairs to the Royal podium, "Everyone looks surprised or even a bit alarmed when we say we aren't here for something official"

"To be fair ... when we appear outside of engagements, it's not normally something positive" Celestia reminded her sister, taking a seat on the satin pillow decorated with sun designs.

"True ..."

---

"That was AMAZING!!" Luna's wings were spread wide, her voice breathless and her eyes wide as she relived the flyovers in her mind, "All that ducking and diving ... I was sure they were going to crash into the mountainside, I had a spell ready just in case! The way they can just zip through the clouds ... It's been so long since I saw flying like that!"

"Well, they are the best in Equestria" Celestia giggled at her younger sister's excitement, "I loved that they performed the Icaranian Sun Salutation and Batpony Backward Blitz for us just off-the-cuff"

"Oh, what I would have given to see my guards try that" Luna tried to picture the Night Guards flying backwards and somersaulting in the same way, "We MUST be present at the next Gala performance; if that was simply warmups and trials, the end will be stunning!"

"And the Gala is late enough you will see it" Celestia smiled, "Well, it's been a long day ... What do you say we turn in for the night and we can do all your activities tomorrow night?"

"DEAL! Sleep without dreamwalking ... If someone appears in my dreams, wake me up!"

Author's Note:

I am just assuming here that Celestia never fought Crystalis before, maybe knew about changlings but just not much about them?

Always remember to apply sunblock, no matter what, in bright sunlight. Skin cancer is no joke.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

[Another approach to A Royal Problem, combined with things from Between Dark and Dawn]

What happened in those two episodes, again?

[Stardust Live]

10373052
A Royal Problem had Starlight impulsively switch the Cutie Marks of Celestia and Luna in order to resolve the dispute between the two and let them see that each other's duties are difficult. Between Dusk and Dawn was the two going on holiday and arguing because neither liked the other's planned activities and Twilight managing Equestria in their absence.

[Stardust Live]

10373124
Thank you! What would you change/edit, if I could ask for some critique?

[Stardust Live]

10373155
Oooo I see, I'll get to editing that before the next chapter!

[Pete100]

"True, she could learn a lot from her" Celestia ate the pieces of pinapple off her pancake first, "At least this time she doesn't have to raise the sun and moon"

Doesn’t this take place before “between dark and dawn”? Also, I kinda want this plan to blow up in starlight’s face, don’t know why.

[Stardust Live]

10373308
She is referring to the events of Twilight's Kingdom, where Twlight rose the sun and moon whilst being the holder of Celestia and Luna's magic

[Pete100]

10373315
Oh, my bad.