It took a while before Celestia was completely happy with the room. Everything was set up in just the right way. Roses hung from the glass smooth marble pillars that reached up to the roof above. Vases filled with wildflowers lined the royal red carpet that led to a wonderfully crafted gilded mahogany table with two seats. Upon the table was a simple white runner and a glowing silver tea set complete with some biscuits and cookies for later. The stained glass shone brightly with the sun beaming behind them, illuminating the room with a welcoming soft orange and deep magenta colors. The room was awfully impressive, even for the castle that it resided in.
"There," she whispered to herself, "Perfect."
Her horn stopped glowing as a couple loose wildflowers finally stayed in place. She was being particularly obsessive over the decor of the room, something most ponies found odd. The Sun Princess was usually busy worrying about the affairs of her nation, going over official documents or overseeing the defenses of Equestria, but today there was none of that. All meetings had been cancelled for the day and everything that wasn't a national emergency was delayed until tomorrow. She had specifically instructed her servants to decorate this room and to bring the mirror from her chambers down to the main hallway before they left for the day.
Princess Luna was unaware of what was happening, mostly because she snored loud enough that nopony could outshout her, and would remain blissfully unaware as per Celestia's instructions. She would raise the moon and go about her business, completely oblivious to what her sister was doing. In fact, almost nopony outside of those who had set up the room and moved the mirror even knew about this. This was Celestia's secret and to be privy to it, one had to have tightly sealed lips. None were tighter than her loyal guard, Celestial Sky.
The Royal Guardspony was an enigma of sorts to those who saw him. He was a stallion, slightly taller than others, but pretty normal. He had a noble set of rich chocolate brown eyes, along with the standard charcoal gray pelt all unicorn guards had. His mane was silvery white, almost like the marble in the hall. He hardly ever spoke to anypony outside of the Princess, Captain Shining Armor and his direct superior officer, so most ponies thought he was a mute or that he had taken a vow of silence. Of course, Celestial Sky wasn't a mute or a fanatic, he just disliked talking, especially to mares.
While it was easy for him to talk to Princess Celestia when she initiated, other mares, like the maids or the Princess's personal assistants, had never heard him speak more than one or two words. He always looked uncomfortable when they stood too close to him, sometimes even moving away from them entirely. Celestia had asked him about his behavior towards the mares after hearing he had even left a room when it was just the two of them and he resisted for a bit before answering her. While he had no quarrel with any mare he had ever met, he was always quite nervous around them.
With the stallion population in Equestria the lowest it had been in years, most stallions seized the chance to pick from any mare they wanted. Celestial Sky, however, had confided in the Princess that, while the mares were pretty, one never seemed to blow him away. He had tons of mares he saw every day, but not a single one had ever convinced him to approach her. He told her he was waiting for the right one and, slowly but surely, the Princess thought about his predicament and formed her own solution which involved what was to transpire today.
With her plan in mind, along with plenty of other things, she smiled as she swept her gleaming magenta eyes through the room once more, triple checking the room. Satisfied, she turned to see her loyal guard standing resolutely still at the doorway along with a few other ponies. After dismissing the rest for the night, she turned to her guard and smiled warmly.
"I am very glad you decided to stay here tonight," she spoke.
Celestial Sky nodded his head quickly and saluted her.
"It is my duty and an honor to protect you tonight, Princess," he spoke swiftly.
The Solar Princess smiled to him before tossing back her flowing rainbow mane and trotted through the doorway, her guard following her instantly. The two trotted through the hallways of the castle, making their way towards the entrance hall before Celestial Night spoke up.
"If I may, your highness, it seems you are expecting company of the highest caliber tonight."
Princess Celestia giggled a bit at that, amused with how long it took her guard to notice that.
"Yes, I am," she replied sweetly.
"I do not wish to intrude, but who are you entertaining tonight?" he queried.
"Oh, just a friend," Princess Celestia replied instantly, "A very good friend."
Celestial Sky refrained from talking anymore, not wishing to pry into her majesty's business further. It did feel a bit odd for the Solar Princess to be expecting a friend and to be hiding it from everypony. It wasn't like this would be strange, but then again, she had ordered the whole castle be off duty for tonight and had even kept her sister in the dark. Whoever this friend was, it was a very special and very secret friend.
When the two ponies made it to the entrance hall, they saw Princess Celesia's personal mirror standing straight up in the middle of the carpet. It was another wonderfully crafted piece of furniture, a mirror of perfect sheen held by the loving embrace of polished rosewood. The frame was carved to resemble a large and flowery vine with expertly crafted flowers of every sort gracing the woos every foot or so.
Princess Celestia approached the mirror with Celestial Sky in tow and stared into her own reflection, gazing at the flawless image of herself. A small smile began to cross her face and her eyes became half lidded, much to Celestial Sky's bewilderment. He began to think of an old pony's tale about a pool of water that duplicated the pony who entered it and wondered if this mirror did the same thing. Before he could reach a conclusion on the matter, Princess Celestia spoke.
"It has been too long, my friend. It is good to see you," she cooed.
Celestial Sky's eyes snapped forward to the mirror as he searched for who she was talking to. His jaw nearly hit the floor as he did so, because where Celestia's reflection should have been stood another pony.
He kinda reminded Celestial Sky of Princess Celestia, but much more.... masculine. The stallion that smiled back the same way to the Solar Princess was tall, easily as tall if not taller than the Princess. His mane was aglow with the radiant colors of the sunset, brilliant reds, oranges and a little bit of purple. His mane even had a thin line run straight down to his cheek and wrap around his jawline, a perfectly trimmed beard.
Just looking at the stallion, Celestial Sky could sense an aura of power, wisdom and dignity about him. He practically dripped it in his voice as he spoke to Princess Celestia.
"Ah, I could say the same," his deep, rich voice answered, "I had almost forgotten just how radiant you look."
"And I, you," Princess Celestia responded with the faintest trace of a blush.
The stallion seemed to gain even more confidence from the flattery as his grin became a tad bit wider, showing off his pearly white teeth a bit.
"I do so look forward to our meetings every year, Princess. May I come in?"
"On one condition," Princess Celestia responded, "Did you bring her?"
Celestial Sky's mind whirled with activity as he watched the scene unfold before him. Apparently, somepony lived in Princess Celestia's mirror, a very handsome stallion who radiated just like her, and was even flirting with her a bit. Now she was asking if he had brought 'her', whoever that was. How many ponies lived in that mirror that he had seen hundreds of times?!
The stallion's smile only widened as he spoke.
"Yes, I do have Lieutenant Starry Sky with me. Do you have your Lieutenant Celestial Sky with you?"
Celestial Sky nearly broke his composure at the mention of his rank and name. This pony knew about him?!
"Why, of course," Princess Celestia spoke, "I was the one who arranged this after all."
She added a small giggle at the end of that while Celestial Sky's mind blew a gasket. She had planned this?!
"Well then, I would say that we are ready to begin our yearly meeting," the stallion said.
"Indeed," Princess Celestia answered.
As soon as she finished speaking, Princess Celestia extended a hoof to the mirror and the stallion mirrored her moves perfectly. The spot where both of their hooves were touching began to shimmer and ripple, making the glass look more like water. Once the whole mirror was moving, Princess Celestia backed away from it as the stallion walked forward through the mirror.
Celestial Sky's mind couldn't take anymore of this. The stallion had just walked through a mirror and was now standing about three feet from him! As a unicorn, Celestial Sky was used to seeing some inexplicable things, but this was beyond strange. Once the majestic pony was through, it was easy to see he was an alicorn, just like Princess Celestia. His large wings were tightly pressed to his sides, just underneath the glowing gold armor he wore. His large horn split the well groomed front of his mane, making him look more regal.
As he stepped through, Celestial Sky noticed another pony follow him. His heart nearly stopped as he saw her, sending chills throughout his rigid body. She was a smaller mare, a little less tall than the mares he saw on a daily basis. She had a set of wonderfully colored brown eyes, reminding him of the color of teak wood. Her mane was a brilliant snowy white which contrasted against her marble gray coat. She wore a very well made set of armor almost identical to his from the helmet to the plates on her back.
As he was looking her over, Celestial Sky locked eyes with the mare, who froze instantly. They both stared directly at each other until the mare's eyes began exploring Celestial's own body before coming back to them. Unseen by either of them, both Princess Celestia and the stallion watched the two guards with some well hidden amusement.
"I think you were right about this, Tia," the stallion whispered to her.
"I'm always right, Solly," she hissed back to him playfully.
The two alicorns watched their guards stare at each other for a few more seconds before Princess Celestia cleared her throat, causing both Celestial Sky and Starry Sky to nearly leap two feet into the air. Both guards saluted as crisply as they could before the two alicorns turned and began to walk down the hallway. Celestial Sky made a point of being on the side Princess Celestia was on while Starry Sky gravitated heavily to the stallion's side.
"I am so glad you could visit, Solly! It has been far too long since we last met," Princess Celestia stated brightly, breaking the silence that had crept up on them.
The stallion's eyes flicked over towards Celestia, a smug smile coming to his face.
"The pleasure is all mine, Tia!" he responded a little more enthusiastically than before, "Thank you for hosting this year's dimensional relationship meeting."
Behind the two alicorns, the guards were busy still eyeing each other up. They each maintained a very crucial four pace step behind their respective charges, marching perfectly in sync with each other. Celestial Sky watched this Starry Sky like a hawk, making sure to keep himself in rhythm with her every step. As he did, he noticed she had the same kind of stance he had, a held back demeanor so Celestial Sky would be at a disadvantage if he made a move on the stallion or her.
He kinda liked that. It was smart, efficient and it made her figure stand out a little more.
As they continued to watch each other, the group approached the big golden doors that led to the room Princess Celestia had spent hours preparing.
"Speaking of which," the stallion continued as Princess Celestia opened the doors, "We will conduct the next talk in private. You two may wait outside till we are done."
As the stallion trotted past Princess Celestia into the room, he shot her a small wink. The Solar Princess smiled smugly a bit at him as she followed.
"By the way," she started, poking her head out of the door, "This isn't an 'official' meeting. Take off the armor, be social!"
She shot Celestial Sky a small smile and ducked her head inside the door, leaving two very wide eyed ponies staring at the door as it shut. A very stern silence ensued as the mare and stallion stood resolutely still, unwilling to look at each other. Eventually, though, Celestial Sky twitched his eyes towards Starry Sky, seeing her glace at him for a split second before returning her eyes to the door.
For some reason, Celestial Sky found that incredibly cute. So cute, his gaze didn't return to the door like it should have. Instead, he continued to stare at the mare next to him for a minute before she dared to look back at him. Something must have caught her eye, because her gaze fixated on him the same way his was on her.
Inside the room, both rulers stood still, waiting for something. Through a bit of magical prowess, Prince Solaris had made it to where both ponies could see what was transpiring outside. So far, neither guard had done much of anything, which made them nervous.
"So... this is not good?" Prince Solaris asked with a slight questioning look.
Princess Celestia pursed her lips before having an idea.
Outside the room, both Celestial Sky and Starry Sky snapped to attention as a shout rocked the room.
"That's an order!" both voices echoed from behind the door.
Looking away from the door, Celestial Sky scrunched up his lips nervously as his eyes peered back over to Starry Sky. Much to his surprise, she had an almost similar expression on her face. Knowing not to disobey a direct order from his Princess, Celestial Sky felt his magic activate and the metal plating running down his back lifted off of him. As he did so, Starry Sky's armor began to levitate away as well, revealing a good portion of her body.
Instinctively, Celestial Sky's eyes swept across her body, though he didn't want them to. Her charcoal gray coat covered every inch of her, letting him know that was her natural color. Her tail was the same brilliant snowy white as her mane, but what really floored him was what was on her flank. A cutie mark of a telescope surrounded by two planets, one green and one purple, resided there.
The exact same one that was on his flank.
Celestial Sky felt his jaw drop finally as he stared at it, completely unaware that hers had as well. She was not only cute, but she even had the same freaking cutie mark as him. Unable to resist any longer, Celestial Sky turned to Starry Sky, who did the same. They locked eyes with each other and said nothing as the silence wrapped around them.
Finally, Celestial Sky mustered up his courage to say something.
"Your cutie mark is a..." he began.
"Uh huh," Starry Sky responded before he could finish.
"And your coat color is..."
"Uh huh."
"And you are a..."
"Uh huh."
With all of his questions answered, Celestial Sky couldn't think of anything else to say. This Starry Sky was a Lieutenant, had the same coat color and cutie mark and was cute. He could only wonder what she thought of him, because he was suddenly very interested in her.
"Do you like..."
"Yes."
"Have you done..."
"Yes."
"Do you want to...."
"Yes."
Celestial Sky fell silent again as he stared at the mare, wondering just how she knew what he was going to ask. Before he could question it, his face lit up.
"I'm okay with this," he stated happily.
Inside the room, the window outside dropped and Solaris turned to Celestia, who was smiling very smugly.
"How did you know they would get along so well?" he asked in a bemused tone.
"Isn't it obvious?" she replied, "We did when we first met."
Solaris smiled at the princess, wondering why his female self was so smart.
"So, shall we begin our meeting?"
Princess Celestia wasted no time in trotting over to the table at the center of the room, planting her plot on a velvety cushion.
"Well, let's start with out interdimensional trading," she started, "We need to make sure nopony finds out about where our extra shipments of apples are going. The Apple family here has started to ask questions."
"If I may say so," Prince Solaris intervened, "This won't be going on for much longer. The Apples on my side have finally cured their orchards of the Barkworm problem and have begun to harvest them again."
Princess Celestia smiled at that, relived.
"Well, I am very happy to hear that. I will personally thank the chemist here who invented the repellent I gave you."
"I would like to as well," Prince Solaris stated proudly.
"So, what has been happening on your side of the mirror?"
Princess Celestia smiled over to Prince Solaris as he joined her at the beautiful mahogany table. The handsome stallion flicked his eyes towards her and smirked as he planted his royal rear into a velvet cushion. It was comfy for him, even though he didn't know it was stuffed with twice the amount of cotton and feathers than Celestia's. The table was a little short for him, making him have to look almost straight down to see what was laid out before him.
On the table was a wonderfully crafted silver cup and saucer, decorated with imprints of the sun and moon. Solaris let out a small snort of amusement as he levitated the cup with his magic, noting the sun was both Celestia's and his own coolie mark, or cutie mark as it was called in this dimension.
"Oh, nothing out of the ordinary," he spoke calmly as he set the teacup back down, "Your student's idea of finding a hobby for Eris was quite effective. She hasn't repainted the castle to polka dots in three weeks."
Princess Celestia gave a small laugh at that.
"And your student had quite the right idea of how to reform Discord. I wasn't sure he would change that easily when presented with kindness, but he seems to be in much better spirits now."
"It's amazing what having a friend will do, especially if she's a mare," Solaris mused.
"And you would know this how?" Celestia asked teasingly.
Solaris merely grinned at her before replying.
"I do have other friends than just you, Tia,"
Celestia laughed again as Solaris joined her, each amused by a joke nopony but them would understand.
"Oh my," Celestia spoke as her horn began to glow, "We really must get Luna and your brother to join us one time."
Solaris looked up a bit as a hoof came up to tap on his chin.
"Artemis?" he queried, "I am not sure that would be wise."
"Oh?" Celestia responded as the teapot on the table rose into the air, "And why would that be?"
"Artemis is, how do you say, a little preoccupied at the moment,"
"Don't tell me he went and did it?"
"He did."
Celestia's jaw dropped as her magenta eyes stared into Solaris's green ones, searching for any sign that Solaris was toying with her.
"Artemis actually went outside?"
"Yes."
Celestia squealed happily as the teapot tilted over Solaris's cup, pouring the steaming contents gracefully. The tea itself had a rich red color, indicating this was from Celestia's personal stock. Though the Solar Princess was giddy, the tea never spilled or shook in response to her. Once the cup was full, the teapot righted itself and drifted back to Celestia.
"My, that is spectacular news! He has finally gotten over his fear of what ponies will think of him!"
"My thoughts exactly," Solaris stated proudly as he levitated his cup.
Once Celestia's own cup was filled with the same tea, she lifted hers and smiled to him.
"To our dear younger siblings," she proclaimed with a smile.
"To them," Solaris agreed.
Both alicorns wasted no time in taking a sip out of their cups, allowing the steaming liquid to wash over their tongues. The tea itself was a wonderful blend of several spices and leaves, some from Celestia's dimension and some from Solaris's. It had a very distinguished taste of earthy materials, but there was a latent sweetness to the beverage.
After taking a rather long drink, Solaris set his cup down, pleased with how this meeting was going. The last meeting in his castle had nearly been a disaster due to a rather large bullfrog stampede that Eris had caused, leading to an early awakening of Prince Artemis. The ensuing name calling match nearly collapsed the tower on the western wall due to the sheer volume. It was pretty minor by comparison to other events, but it was enough to make Solaris utterly embarrassed in front of Celestia.
As the Sun Prince sat and stared into his tea, Celestia gave a satisfied sigh as she set down her empty cup. The beverage was quite delicious by comparison to other teas found around her Equestria, causing some ponies to believe that she hated tea when she cringed at the taste. Her horn glowed again as a small cookie levitated from the tray containing the tea set.
"So, how do you think our guards are doing, Solly?" she asked politely.
Solaris brought a hoof up and scratched his chin, thinking.
"I suppose they are doing fine. I've never seen Lieutenant Starry Sky so enraptured by anypony like that before."
Celestia nodded, her illustrious mane rippling gently as she did.
"If I may ask, how did you know that they would react like that?" Solaris queried, "I would never have guessed they would have taken to each other so quickly."
Celestia let out a soft laugh before she explained.
"Well, it dawned on me from past experiences. In particular, when we first met."
Solaris paled a bit before looking down slightly.
"Ah, that."
Celestia smirked a bit before continuing.
"I seem to recall you pleading with me to come out on a date with you and how I was the most ravishing pony you had ever laid eyes on."
Solaris put a hoof to his forehead, remembering all of that.
"To be fair, though," Celestia continued, "I was honestly considering taking you up on that offer, especially since you were so charming. Luckily for both of us, we discovered the truth before anything happened."
"Yes, that was quite fortunate," Solaris agreed, lifting his head up, "I now shudder at what I was hoping to do back then."
Celestia gave another laugh and Solaris finally smiled.
"Imagine if we did go through with something back then," he continued, "We would literally be courting ourselves. Is there even a word for that?"
"Narcissism, I presume," Celestia responded lightheartedly, "The act of falling in love with one's self."
"Something my niece and your nephew seem to manifest," Solaris slyly jabbed.
The two alicorn's laughed for a few seconds before it died down. Still smiling at each other, both Solaris and Celestia lost themselves in conversation of past experiences, retelling events like when both Luna and Artemis tried to bond with Philomena and Scorcher after their return, only to come back with smoking manes and bad tempers.
Outside the room, both Celestial Sky and Starry Sky sat on their haunches, unsure of what to do. Both of their charges had ordered them to be social, but they were still on duty, meaning most forms of socializing were out of the picture. They had spoken for a bit before the conversation had turned awkward, especially after Celestial Sky had stupidly said that he thought Starry Sky was incredibly pretty. While she didn't voice it, Starry Sky thought Celestial was extremely handsome.
So, with nothing left to do other than to wait for their lieges to come out from their meeting, the two ponies sat in silence, wondering just what to say to each other.
"Hey," Celestial Sky finally spoke, "What is your home like?"
Starry Sky looked over to him, a questioning expression gracing her face.
"What do you mean?" she asked pointedly, "My 'home' home or my homeland?"
"Your homeland. Is it peaceful?"
Starry Sky gave a small snort at that.
"Peaceful? You don't know what I would give for peace and quiet like this every day."
"Oh?" Celestial Sky answered, "What do you mean by that?"
"You would not believe the pressure of being a Royal Guard," she lamented before looking over to him, "Well, okay, maybe you do, but it's so difficult where I come from."
"What's wrong with your home?" Celestial Sky asked with concern.
"The whole place is in an uproar for most of the year. We have to pacify a riot about a sport's team every other weekend, we have to deal with Eris on a daily basis and then there's the pressure to settle down with a stallion since the mare population is declining."
"Wow, sounds rough. The most we get here is the occasional disaster when mane styling products don't arrive on time. The whole city goes into panic mode and hoards the stuff."
Much to his relief, Starry Sky let out a small laugh at that, causing Celestial Sky to grin a bit.
"I'm surprised there's pressure to settle down where you're from. I'm always told that we can have our pick due to the overwhelming number of mares here," he said nonchalantly.
That must have triggered something, because Starry Sky spun to him with a determined look.
"What did you say?" she asked pointedly.
"What? All I said was there are an overwhelming number of mares here..."
"Seriously? A city full of mares?"
"Not just a city. The whole country has a skewed mare to stallion ratio."
"Wow," Starry Sky said with awe, her brown eyes twinkling, "That sounds like heaven."
"Yeah, until you realize just how small you feel knowing you are expected to be this macho savior of mares or the dreamcolt they spend their lives waiting for."
Starry Sky remained silent after that. She had secretly hoped for her own dream stallion to come and sweep her off her hooves one day, so mentioning that to Celestial Sky seemed like a bad idea. Celestial Sky, however, mentally cursed himself for saying that, knowing it made him sound like a stuck up jerk. In pure desperation, he tried to change the subject.
"So, do you know any good spells?"
Starry Sky shot him another questioning glance, causing Celestial Sky's grin to become awkward.
"I know a few. Why?"
"Well, since our charges are busy, I figured it might be fun to do something."
Starry Sky's eyes narrowed a bit at him before a large grin broke her stern facial expression.
"I got one for you!" she nearly shouted as she rose to her hooves.
Her horn glowed with a soft green aura as her armor began to levitate. Celestial Sky rose to his hooves as well just as her armor started to attach itself to her.
"Uh, I think they wanted us not to wear our armor..." Celeatial Sky stated lamely.
"That's the thing," Starry Sky said excitedly as her armor snapped into place, "You need the armor to make it work!"
Celestial Sky blinked twice uncomprehendingly as Starry's armor finished positioning itself. She turned to him, brown eyes gleaming, and smiled.
"Come on! Get your armor on!"
"Uh... okay...." Celestial Sky mumbled as his horn glowed with a slightly brighter green aura.
As his armor clicked into place, Starry Sky took up a defensive position, placing her hooves apart to give her the least recoil from this spell. Her gleaming eyes instantly switched from the friendly look Celestial Sky was fond of to a harsh glare. Her smile wiped itself away into a determined frown. She went from cute and friendly to angry and stoic in less than three seconds.
As Celestial Sky watched her, he saw her horn begin to glow green again as a small orb of light gathered at the tip of it. His eyes widened as the orb grew bigger and, when it was about the size of a ping pong ball, she gave an angry shout and sent the orb flying into a nearby pillar. The pillar exploded into a cloud of smoke as debris shot from it, but thankfully both ponies were far enough away.
As Starry Sky breathed heavily, pleased with herself, a small bit of laughter filled the air. Turning her gaze to Celestial, she saw an amused grin on his face poorly hidden by his forehoof.
"And just what is so funny about that?" she almost demanded.
Celestial Sky pointed a hoof towards the pillar, causing Starry to turn around. The pillar was still upright and solid, but there was a minuscule crater where her spell had hit. Unhappy, she turned to him with a pout on her face.
"I still don't see what is so funny," she said tersely.
Lowering his hoof, Celestial Sky took a small breath before talking.
"It's just that, well, that was a weak spell."
"Of course it was weak! I didn't want to destroy that pillar!"
"You still could've done more damage than that."
Starry Sky narrowed her eyes and moved her face to within a few inches of his.
"Then why don't you show me how strong yours is?" she challenged.
"And then Eris said to Artemis, 'What do you mean I got away unscathed?! I was burping glitter for three days!'"
Celestia let out a huge unsophisticated laugh as Solaris's own laugh rumbled throughout the room. While the conversation had started at some pleasant moments from their first few meetings, it had shifted to funny moments from each pony's respective universes.
"I can't believe Eris would actually eat his mane like that!"
Solaris wiped away a tear before replying.
"Oh, that's not the worst she's done to him. You remember the last time she painted the castle polka dots?"
"You mentioned it happened a week before she ate his mane."
"Well, nopony told him this, but she actually arranged them to say something when you looked at it a certain way."
Celestia leaned in, her eyes twinkling.
"What did it say?"
"It said, 'Forget the moon, Artemis's flank controls the tides!'"
As the two ponies roared with laughter again, they respective headpieces fell off of them. Celestia's slipped off her head as she threw it back and Solaris's fell to the floor as he leaned forward, gasping for air.
After a rather large explosion, Celestial Sky smiled confidently as the dust cleared, revealing half of the pillar was blown away.
"And that, my dear Starry, is how you properly cast that spell."
"Oh yeah?" she stated harshly, "Watch this."
It took both alicorn's almost half an hour to finish the tea and the meeting, but both were quite pleased with how events had turned out. While they had discussed business at the beginning, they always ended it on a light and cheery note by discussing personal matters.
"I'd say today's aggressive negotiations were a great success, Tia!" the Solar Prince stated with a bit of amusement in his voice as his helmet levitated back to its rightful place.
"Agreed, Solly. A nicely heated exchange. I'd even say politically enjoyable," Celestia replied as she placed her tiara back into her mane.
Solaris smirked a bit at that before saying, "You know, if anypony heard that, they would assume we meant something a little more physical."
"Good thing nopony can hear us," Celestia replied in an amused tone.
Together, the two alicorns started to walk off to the imposing doors on the other side of the room when Celestia spoke up.
"So Solly, should we schedule our next meeting..."
She never got to finish the sentence because, as Solaris opened the doors for them, two bright green orbs of light flew right in front of them. Both Solaris and Celestia's pupils shrank as the sound of power charging filled the air right before a deafening explosion rocked the room.
THWACKOOOOMMMmmm!
Both alicorns coughed violently as a massive cloud of dust and smoke kicked up in front of them. Once the cloud had cleared, both Solaris and Celestia looked opposite ways, their pristine coats and armor soiled and their flowing manes alight with a small green fire.
At opposite sides of the room, Celesital Sky and Starry Sky glared daggers at each other amid the ruins of the formerly glorious hallway. All the marble pillars were broken in certain places, some having fallen to the floor completely. The singed remains of the roses hung like limp noodles as the barely clung to the marble, as if pleading for help. The wonderfully polished floors were now riddled with scorch marks, indicating quite a struggle had taken place.
Both Celestia and Solaris turned to each other, a shocked expression on each of their faces.
"Maybe without the guards?" Celestia offered.
"Agreed!"
"Are you sure you do not want help repairing the hallway, Tia?" Solaris asked with concern in his voice, "I feel partly responsible for this."
Princess Celestia smiled to him at that.
"I am very sure. Your own castle probably needs you more now, especially if Eris and Artemis are at it again."
"How is it that those two always cause mischief in my castle, but Discord and Luna never do here?"
As the two alicorns conversed, Celestial Sky stood near one of the few remaining marble pillars, resolutely still and eyes forward. While he pretended not to notice, his gaze was on Starry Sky, who stood next to the mirror. Her armor was singed and dented in some spots, but Celestial Sky thought she looked even cuter than before.
The whole fight they had wasn't really out of malice or dislike of each other. Rather, it was a contest of strength that had gotten a bit out of control. The spell they both used required them to be in a battle focused mindset, which made them look like they were quite angry with one another. In truth, both Celestial Sky and Starry Sky were still friends.
As Celestial Sky watched Starry, both Princess Celestia and Prince Solaris said their goodbyes. As both Solaris and Starry Sky went through the mirror, Celestial Sky felt a small pit form in his stomach. Starry really was a sweet and cool mare, one he would have liked to get to know better. Then, by complete coincidence, Celestial saw Starry turn her gaze towards him and wink before she disappeared into the mirror.
Once the two were gone, Princess Celestia strode gracefully over to Celestial Sky, a sad expression gracing her face.
"I'm terribly sorry about what happened today, Lieutenant. I honestly thought the two of you would get along much better than you did."
Celestial Sky tilted his head before speaking.
"What do you mean, Princess? We got along great!"
