Canterlot was calling in the middle of the night. The belch of green fire singed the edge of Spike’s basket and dropped a scroll, tightly bound in a violet ribbon, directly onto Twilight Sparkle’s sleeping face. Blearily, Twilight took hold of it in her magic and broke the seal, more or less by reflex. It was from Luna, of course—who else, at this hour?—and Twilight instinctively tilted the letter away from Spike in case it contained something that he shouldn’t read, but Spike hadn’t even woken up for the delivery. No such luck, anyway--and it was terribly brief:

My dearest Twilight,

As of this evening’s repast, a formal state of war has been declared between myself and my sister. Though battle has not yet been joined, I felt it best to beseech thee immediately for thy aid.. and thy loyalty. Come out of thy library, please, and meet me down by the river at the usual spot.

The Night’s age is coming, and the Sun’s is at an end, if thou will aid me. Please hurry.

Love,

HRH Princess Luna Revenia

Twilight grimaced. She’d known this was coming. The tension at the palace had been buttery-thick when she’d been there last month. The entire staff had been tip-hoofing about, terrified of what might next transpire between the two eldest princesses.

Most of the visit had been spent with Celestia and Luna each taking turns trying to slyly (they thought, apparently) coax Twilight into their camp. Celestia had plied her with books from the restricted section of the archives, but Luna had been… most persuasive that night. Luna was lucky they’d already been together for half a year, or Twilight might have been very put out that Luna thought she could be bought that way.

That it had worked was quite beside the point.

Twilight lit her horn and concentrated on her memory of the spot by the river. Her pool had been growing steadily since she’d sprouted wings, and Canterlot was now well within range, so long as she was only teleporting herself. With a flash of light, she was gone.

And with a flash of light, she appeared, just where she meant to. Luna was already there, and her face lit up when she saw Twilight. Immediately, she hurried forward and gathered the smaller alicorn into a tight hug.

“Thou camest,” she whispered as she pulled back to look at Twilight.

Twilight smiled softly, and leaned forward to lay a gentle peck on the tip of Luna’s nose.

“Of course I did, for you,” Twilight rolled on immediately, before Luna could question it further, “Now, what are we planning?”

Luna grinned wickedly. “Come to our quarters. We have prepared an itemized campaign list of pranks, backups, and alternates.”

A matching smile spread across Twilight’s face.

“Now thou art speaking my language, Luna.”

Author's Note

Prompt #468: A situation in which Twilight had to go against Celestia.