Between Two More

~~~Golden Oaks Library~~~

Ten minutes and one closed up library later, Twilight was more than just a little bit nervous. “Celestia, please let me explain…” she began, only to be cut off by a lifted hoof. Celestia shut the blinds to the library herself and stepped out of her hoofboots with a little sigh of relief. She trotted into the kitchen a moment later, humming softly and thoroughly confusing Twilight. What in Tartarus was she up to? She glanced over at the still heavily breathing Sunset and dropped her voice to a whisper. “What were you thinking talking to the princess like that?” It was hard not to panic in moments like these, but she’d been through so many of them by this point that she was doing quite well. The sound of running water and clattering dishes drifted out of the kitchen…

“Mistress…” Sunset whispered back, more nervously intense than irritated. “Today… I didn’t have a good day with Rarity, okay.” She flailed a hoof aimlessly. “Mistress, I was a good filly like you asked, honest. But she’s the one making it hard on everypony, and I’m sick of it. That... and... well… I don’t like it when anypony other than you tries to protect me…”

Twilight huffed silently, opening her mouth and then shutting it just as fast as Celestia returned to the room with a tea tray. It smelled wonderful and oddly soothing, and Celestia set it down on a side table before turning to regard them both. “I’m going to need to speak with you both in private.” She did not quite sound stern, but she wasn’t far from it. Twilight wanted to smack her head on the desk. Sunset was already unstable enough, and the last thing Twilight needed was her getting more nervous.

Twilight took a deep breath and planted her hooves. “Celestia, Sunset’s been doing very well recently. She’s just under more stress than normal, and she’s already given a very good apology.” She gave Sunset a withering look, hoping to keep this from getting even more out of hoof. “She hasn’t been a bad pony by any measure.” Well, that was… kinda stretching the truth there, but she had to do something to try to defuse the situation.

Celestia nodded, filling a teacup and sipping with a little smile. “I understand that, Twilight. But it is very clear that Sunset and you could both use some outside advice on how to deal with that stress.” She arched an eyebrow at her, and Twilight swallowed her knee-jerk reaction. “I care very much for both of you, you know…” The princess’ voice turned wistful, and she looked away from them for a moment. “And I’ve many years of experience in these sorts of situations, too.”

Well, that was an impossible thing to dismiss. The princess was more than one thousand years old, and given that she’d been pretty laid back about all this oddness so far meant this probably wasn’t the first time she’d seen trouble of this nature. Still, it went against the grain! She was supposed to be the Mistress here, and that meant it was her job to find a solution to this problem. …. Somehow.

The princess shook her head once and smiled at them both. “Twilight, I have rarely interfered in your life because I have always had faith that you could easily handle the problems the world presented to you.” She gestured at Sunset, her smile growing wider. “But this is a crucial issue, and given that I can trust nopony else with such a delicate situation, I felt I had to at least consult with both of you before something else went amiss.”

Twilight bit at her lip, trying to resist the siren song of just listening to the princess, but… No. That’s not what she gave you a crown for, Twilight. She steeled herself and lifted her head defiantly. “Nevertheless, I really do not feel terribly comfortable leaving her alone like this. We’ve figured out how to work with each other very well, Celestia, and I would feel much better if I could be here to support her.” There, that was perfectly logical and only slightly over-emotional. She’d take it.

Celestia, unfortunately, appeared unmoved. She sipped her tea again and shook her head slightly. “This is not just chit-chat, Twilight. This is an intervention.” Her voice turned much more serious at the last word, and Twilight felt a cold chill run through her. “Sunset assaulted one of your friends. Indeed, it was in the heat of a moment of anger and frustration.” She held up her hoof, once again commanding silence with but a single motion. Why couldn’t Twilight figure out how to do that? “But regardless, there was physical violence. I must be able to speak to Sunset about that without fearing that she is censoring herself because of her love for you.”

That was…. devastatingly logical. Twilight almost winced in pain at the subtle admonishment of her presence causing the issue to remain murky. She loved Sunset, truly she did, but was that really what was going on? Was Sunset purposefully holding back how she truly felt around her for fear of offending her? She glanced to her little love, and gently squeezed her around the shoulder to try to impart some comfort. It would be horribly irresponsible of her to take the risk that she herself was the source of this pain and not allow somepony else to try to solve it. “Sunset, I’m going to just be in the next room.” She spoke quietly and as firmly as she could. When Sunny opened her mouth to protest, she pressed her hoof into it. “Ah-ah. No. You’re a big girl, and I know you’ll be fine. It’s the princess, and I trust her like you trust me.”

“Mistress…” Sunset managed to whisper out, truly whisper. She wasn’t trying to hide anything or be cryptic. The fear of being, for lack of a better term Twilight would look up later, interrogated by the princess had quite literally taken the power out of her voice. Twilight tried standing up to leave, and she felt her heart clench up when Sunset’s forehooves lingered on her shoulders until Twilight’s standing height caused them to slip down her legs onto the floor.

She searched wildly for something, anything to go on. “Princess, she’s just been home from Rarity’s place, and it didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped-” She bit that one back and reached down to squeeze Sunset’s hoof. “Give her a day, at least, please?” That was pleading, and it wasn’t a terribly great plead, but it was all she had.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia’s voice did not… quite… thunder at her, but she came awful close to it, “your dedication to Sunset is admirable. Laudable, even. But I am going to have private words with her, and if I need to recall her to Canterlot to do so, I will."

“You wouldn-” Twilight snapped her mouth shut around that. Of course she would, if she deemed it necessary. Twilight could say many things about her mentor, but Celestia never made idle threats. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself… but that wasn’t going to fly. “No. I won’t let you.”

There was a distinct pause and another calm sip of tea. How on earth did she manage to stay so calm? The tension in the room was thick enough to spread on toast! “Ah,” was all Celestia said, her eyes closing for a moment as she withdrew a bit. “So, that’s the situation then. Hm. I owe Lulu a forfeit.” A hoof came up and rubbed at her temple. “What to do…” She was… muttering to herself. Celestia. Muttering. To herself.

Twilight stared in what had to look like dumbfounded shock. Celestia was never anything but completely composed and utterly self-assured. Seeing her momentarily lapse into uncertainty was very troubling.

A few moments later, Celestia had polished off her first cup of tea and set it down on the tray. “I have to admit, I’m surprised Twilight.” Her voice was back to being serene, but there was something… distinctly troubling about the way she was looking at them. “You’ve made some ill-conceived decisions before, but I’d have thought you’d learned your lesson after the Want-it-Need-it-Spell.” Twilight stared at her dumbfounded, and Celestia kept speaking without once taking her eyes off of her. “Surely you remember, don’t you? So wrapped up in the problem you couldn’t even see who was getting hurt in the process? An entire town under a terrible enchantment, and all over a simple letter.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed a little… and the room seemed to get awfully chilly. “I came and bailed you out of that mistake once, Twilight Sparkle. But if you let Sunset continue down this self-destructive path toward its inevitable conclusion, the next time I have to come may be a great deal less pleasant for everypony involved.” For just an instant, Twilight could see something crack under that serene mask… “I will not have another pony obsessed with that which they possess get to that level again.” ...and then it was back again, all at once. Celestia’s voice was gentle again, and the room warmed considerably “I am trying to help you, Twilight. And you too, Sunset. Let me.”

Twilight was fairly certain she wasn’t breathing for a couple, very long, seconds. She couldn’t take her eyes off Celestia either, and the princess’ steely gaze was more imbued with authority than Twilight had ever seen it. For some reason though, she couldn’t speak. And quite frankly, she felt as though she couldn’t think. Until somepony broke her out the hollow stupor anyway. “Mistress,” Sunset said, and Twilight’s head turned to see her. Her dear Sunny wasn’t exactly devoid of the fear from before, but there was sincere respect there now too. Her eyes glanced back and forth between Twilight and Celestia, and she said, “You… I’ll be okay… alone, for a couple minutes. I love you, Mistress, and I don’t want to see you go… forever.”

Twilight stared at her for a moment, then leaned in to kiss Sunset gently on the cheek. “Okay.” It was hard to say, but Sunset was grown enough to make that call herself. She glanced nervously at Celestia then exhaled. “I’ll be in the bedroom if either of you need me.”

The princess didn’t say anything in return, but her smile was back. Twilight tried to suppress her nervousness as she trotted upstairs. The conversation she would have later with Celestia wasn’t going to be fun but… She glanced back at Sunset, and Sunny nodded to her, putting on a tiny smile of her own. She would be fine. They would be fine. Somehow.

~~~~~~~~~

It seemed like Mistress took her time walking up the stairs. Maybe that was true. Or more likely, Sunset just wanted it to be true. Even now, knowing that having to sit through whatever the princess had in store for her was a better alternative to it being forcibly shoved down her throat, Sunset felt locked in place. She kept repeating in her head that she hadn’t really sent Mistress away. That she hadn’t really disregarded all of the courage it must have taken Mistress to put her hoof down to the princess.

But the thoughts wouldn’t stop, and she eventually decided that Princess Celestia wouldn’t pay it much mind. She lifted her hooves up to her head and clenched them on either side, slowly rocking it back and forth. This had helped her rid herself of doubt before, of guilt, and as she couldn’t exactly talk to herself or to Mistress at the moment, it would have to do.

“Would you like a cup, Sunset?” Celestia’s voice was infinitely soft, and a cracked eye showed her pouring herself another cup of the fragrant brew. “I find it always helps me when I’ve had a rough day.” It was off-hoof, casual, and probably quite sincere. The princess always did seem to be making the stuff…

“Can’t hurt,” Sunset managed to say, reaching for the pot with her magic.

Celestia nodded, turning to regard the staircase. “There are days when she really does remind me a lot of Luna.” She hesitated for a moment - nopony but somepony who knew her would have noticed though. “She’s been so close to me for so long, I often forget how much she’s grown. Sometimes I wish...” The princess sighed, closing her eyes. Whatever she might’ve wished, she wasn’t going to voice it. “Sunset, I’ve now heard about last night from three different perspectives. I’d like you to describe it to me from yours, but to keep it just to the facts as you saw them.”

Sunset felt a tremor run through her body, and her mouth cracked open a touch. Now she really did regret asking Mistress to leave. She could draw strength from Mistress just being in the same room, and now… Now she had nothing. She couldn’t even stutter start. She tried darting her eyes around to the books in the library, but she worked with them so much, they didn’t manage to distract her. She eventually returned her eyes to the princess and gulped, hoping her eyes weren’t dilated too far to concern Princess Celestia.

Celestia half smiled and gestured for her to come closer. That was hard to do… very hard. But it was also a lot easier than trying to speak, so she stood and crossed the room slowly. Like Fluttershy, the princess exuded an aura of calm and peace that was difficult to ignore if one got close enough to her. “Sunset, I promise you that I am simply trying to help,” Celestia spoke with quiet reassurance, the smell of fresh apples strong around her for some reason. “And if I am to help, I must understand what happened from everypony’s perspective. It is the only way I can truly understand what went wrong, and how I can help to fix it.” Then… Celestia’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “I’ve got sweets from Mister Mallow’s shop for you by the way...”

“I didn’t want Mist… Princess Twilight to go upstairs,” Sunset blurted. It was the only thing in her head, seeming to block anything and everything else. Getting it out helped some, but she supposed it was more the princess’s face from her outburst.

“Mm. Salted Caramels, your favorite,” Celestia idly commented, producing a small wrapped box from...somewhere. Probably one of those dimensional holding spells Mistress was so fond of. She unwrapped the box and offered one to her with a small smile. “Relax, Sunset. The absolute last thing I am going to do is hurt you.” She paused and wickedly smiled. “I think that Twilight might get mad at me if I did that without asking permission.”

Yep, aside from producing a ridiculous blush all over her face, that certainly helped clear up all those muddling thoughts. Or maybe the blush just replaced them. She didn’t know, but it was better than before anyway. Still, she couldn’t look Princess Celestia in the eye when she took the caramel. It melted away in her mouth more quickly than Sunset would have liked, but by the end, she thought she might be able to at least talk. “I… I was angry even before she arrived,” Sunset said, slowly, contemplating. It seemed so long ago. “I didn’t want her back then, and, I wouldn’t be unhappy if she left again. She and Mistr - I mean, um -”

“You know, I’m very used to all of her guards calling Luna their Mistress,” Celestia slyly commented, as though sharing a secret. “It’s hardly going to bother me to hear my student’s own submissive do the same.”

“Oh, I… we just don’t usually… Damn it,” Sunset ended up muttering, really more at herself than the princess. “I can’t stand that we have to censor ourselves sometimes and not others,” she idly grunted. “Over-sensitive morons…” She glowered for a moment at the thought, but when the silence lingered, she shook a bit to refocus. And she couldn’t tell if that was exactly a good thing given her feelings on the subject at hoof. “Well, Mistress and she were just constantly trying to make small conversation, and it was just so fake and… ugh. It didn’t help my mood. That she was even in Mistress’s house after what she did was rubbing my coat the wrong way. And then she had to go off and apologize.” Sunset let that last word linger in her mouth with every ounce of disgust she could muster. “I… I can’t really describe why it… I don’t know. I lost it, and I tried knocking her lights out.” She regretted it almost immediately after, but the word escaped anyway. “Happy?”

Celestia waited for a full thirty seconds to respond. Just long enough to make Sunset’s heart begin to hammer in distress over the thought that she might have gone too far. Then, “No, Sunset. I’m not happy,” Celestia spoke with a motherly voice, reaching out to push a lock of mane back from her face. “Three ponies I care a very great deal about are all hurting inside, and only now do I realize that there is something I can do to help them. But I do thank you for telling me how you feel.” She sighed gustily, lifting her teacup. “Sunset, I would like to ask you an honest question. Aside from the…” She paused, looking thoughtful. “Momentary lapse of judgement she had at your birthday party, has Rarity ever intentionally caused you harm?”

“Yes,” Sunset answered briskly. “She came back here.”

Celestia arched an eyebrow at her. “Oh? You think she came back because of you?”

“She said so herself,” Sunset replied, shaking her hoof. “The first thing she wanted to do was come and apologize. Didn’t even decide to get settled or give anypony time to think about how to deal with it.”

Celestia took another calm sip of her tea, still serene. “That’s quite funny, as I understand it she’s been here for longer than a week, seeing her friends individually.” Celestia sounded suddenly dry and a touch angry. “And even if that were not enough, this is her home, Sunset. Do you expect everypony who wrongs you to pack up their things and leave town?” She tsked, shaking her head sadly.

Sunset balked. She had hoped, but really shouldn’t have relied on, the princess not knowing that. “Well…” she tried to come back, but faltered ever so slightly, “somepony could’ve told me. And Equestria was my home, but everypony was more than happy to see me up and leave several years ago.”

Another long silence. Celestia lowered her head as it dragged on. “Sending you away…” Celestia… whispered? “Was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do in my life, Sunset.” And when she looked up, the princess was wiping something from her eyes. “I had hoped you would realize that by now.”

“I’m pretty sure everypony else at the school wasn’t tearing up all that much,” Sunset glowered. “But no, she just crossed the line with Mistress and me, and I won’t forgive somepony who willingly tried to take away the only pony who really loves me.” She said that last part a little more fiercely. She could believe that more than anything else she’d said.

Celestia cocked her head at her. “Is that what she tried to do?” She leaned in and spoke in an intense voice of her own. “So, you deny that she told you how unworthy of Twilight she was? Or how, after speaking to you in confidence about her feelings, you chose to speak ill of her in public at every opportunity? Or that she has not spoken one ill word to you in the time since?” Celestia was being far, far more intense than she had been before. She was pressing in, but not yelling or even sounding angry. “Please tell me, Sunset. Whenever and however did she perform these heinous acts? As I understand it, Twilight was and remains utterly unaware of how Rarity feels about her, and I very much doubt she would lie to me about such a thing in light of recent events.”

“It’s more just her presence,” Sunset sighed, backing away from the princess ever so slightly. “And… I don’t want Mistress to ever, ever, ever find out how she feels. And it’s better if she’s not here so that never happens.”

Celestia pulled back to her normal sitting, and nodded faintly. “Sunset, like it or not, Rarity is and always will be an integral part of Twilight’s life. If she tried to leave forever, Twilight would simply chase her.” Celestia drank down her tea and set the cup aside. “To make my point, Twilight once chased Applejack all the way to Dodge Junction, and Applejack had even said she would come back.” Celestia fixed her with a steely look. “That’s nearly seven hundred miles south of here and very much off the beaten path. Their friendship was forged by the Elements of Harmony, and I very much doubt anything could stop them from trying to stay together.”

“It’d be easier if I just took the place of the Element of Generosity,” Sunset mumbled, not really expecting Princess Celestia to hear.

Celestia almost snorted and put her hoof up to her mouth. The sound escaping from behind it very much resembled ‘giggling’. “I do not think so, Sunset. That ship has long since sailed.” But she didn’t clarify as to what that meant, instead focusing her gaze on her. “Sunset, do you really think my most faithful student…” She paused, half smiling. “Who I might remind you, just stood up to me and told me to back down from you not a few minutes ago, would ever conceive of leaving you for any reason?” She shook her head slowly. “I was almost prepared to have this talk in front of her, given how strong she was feeling.”

“Mistress is always doing things… I know she loves me more than anything,” Sunset said, and deep inside, she felt her heart swell just being able to say that. “But… she wants some of that, and I don’t want her to have any or think she has any right to even approach Mistress that way.”

Celestia slowly shook her head. “Nopony’s heart belongs only to one pony, Sunset. Not even Cadence and Shining Armor reserve all of their love for one another. Family and friends will always have a place.” She fixed Sunset with a steely look. “Especially for Twilight, they will.”

“But she wants to… eeeugh,” Sunset rolled her tongue and eyes in slight embarrassment. “She wants to have Mistress to do the things Mistress does to me… That’s special for us unless both of us are okay with… more.”

Celestia… Sunset blinked. Celestia was rolling her eyes at her. “Sunset Shimmer,” she said sharply, her mouth twitching into a smile. “I am going to give you a little dose of reality. There are probably no few ponies in town, and elsewhere for that matter, who wouldn’t mind Twilight wielding her crop on them.” Her mouth turned into a full grin. “I cannot say I would not be one of them. But no matter how much they might want that, Sunset,” she put her hoof down firmly, the stomp making Sunset jump a bit, “no matter what they might daydream about or what have you, Twilight’s love and her lust belong to only one pony.” She stabbed her hoof into Sunset’s chest. “You, and only you. Nothing and nopony is ever going to be able to change that except for you. Or did Cadence not tell you that your love was True?”

Sunset blinked several times and cracked her neck slowly, trying to forcibly rid her mind of the images now filling it. It worked about half-way. “Then somepony explain that to her!” Sunset said. “She won’t listen to me or Mistress. Or… wait. You don’t want me to, for the love of all things unholy, actually change that do you? I’m Mistress’s only one.”

Celestia fixed her with her gaze, her voice soft. “Sunset, I would never dream of telling you such a thing. That is far from my place to do so. But I do expect in the future, you will think about what lives in the hearts of others before you act… and remember the new chance that you were given.” She shook her head slowly. “I have already had words with Rarity today. We spoke shortly after you left for luncheon. She has assured me her only desire right now is to mend fences with you and restore her life to normal.” Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “I sent you here to learn about friendship, Sunset. So I expect you to commit yourself to those lessons with gusto and aid in the repair of this rift.” Celestia’s tone made it clear she wasn’t interested in discussion on that matter. “And in return, I will promise you this…”

Celestia suddenly brightened, her eyes sparkling. “I will commit myself to helping build you an environment here where you will not need to hide your relationship with Twilight from anypony. It will become as normal to those you live amongst as any other relationship they see, and it will protect what belongs to you and Twilight.” She extender her hoof, her smile slow and broad. “Do we have an accord?”

Sunset scrutinized the princess’s hoof. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do, rather than blindly accept. It wasn’t beyond her abilities to fulfill all of those promises, and she cared enough about Mistress that Sunset knew she would follow through with them regardless. They were, simply, agreeable terms. Sunset reached out and shook Princess Celestia’s hoof, and said words she couldn’t remember saying sincerely to anypony save Mistress in quite a long time. “Thank you, Princess.”

~~~~~~~~~

Celestia finished the pot of tea and smiled faintly. “So, that is how things stand as of now. Though I’ve little doubt I will be needed to smooth out the edges as the week goes on.” She huffed out a deep breath and rubbed at her temple. “I am extremely glad I took a week to devote my attention to this problem. It will require at least that, if not more. But I shall cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Twilight swallowed and tried not to imagine Celestia staying in town for longer than week. Imagining her in town for an entire week, even in disguise, was terrifying enough as it was. Celestia half smiled. “Do not worry, Twilight. I will be endeavoring to remain mostly in the background while I am here. Just another curious Canterlot visitor named Sunny Skies here to gawk at where a Princess of Equestria has chosen to live.” She giggled faintly, and the merest suggestion of tourists made Twilight roll her eyes. “Should you require anything of me though, you will find me at Rarity’s shop. She has graciously offered me her spare bedroom, so that I do not have to fiddle with a hotel bed that cannot fit me.”

Twilight bit at her lip. She half wanted to invite the princess to stay here, but the thought of trying to enjoy herself with her little filly love with the princess potentially listening in was just too much. “Well, it will be lovely to see more of you!” Twilight tried her best to sound enthusiastic, and she was! Kinda. Sorta. She truly did love her mentor, but the situation was already all kinds of awkward. “I mean, I can finally talk to you about that transmogrification spell I’ve been working on. There was no way I was fitting all that research into a letter.” And there had been no way she was going to put the bloody thing on paper until she could find a way to disassociate it from what she’d been using it for. Namely, to buck Sunny into the floor.

Celestia gave her a beautiful smile and nodded her head once. “I look forward to it, of course.” She paused, eyeballing the teapot with a pensive stare before continuing to speak. “There is one other matter I think that needs to be addressed, Twilight. I’ve avoided it until recently, but it has become very clear that you are woefully under prepared to exercise your new office here.”

Twilight blinked at that one. “What do you mean?” She eyed the teapot herself, wondering what was going through her mind. “I mean, it’s not as though I’ve got any major duties right now beyond researching that box…” And she grimaced. The last thing she wanted to think about right now was that infernal Gordian Knot of a thing.

Celestia shook her head. “You will be having more such duties in the very near future, I am certain. And you lack much of the basic infrastructure to tackle them in an efficient manner.” Twilight widened her eyes. If Princess Celestia thought she was missing something important, odds were good she really was. Celestia cleared her throat and looked a bit sheepish. “Normally, I would not intervene in your affairs directly this way, but I am beginning to suspect you do not even realize what you lack.”

“Of course, Princess.” Twilight was quick to respond in the affirmative. Truthfully, she really didn’t have much of an idea of the political or sociological realities of what being a princess really meant. And when she did have an idea, it was usually just so she could dismiss it ever applying to her. “I trust your judgement completely.” And that was the stone-cold truth, defiant stands or no defiant stands.

Celestia nodded firmly. “Thank you, Twilight. I know it’s not easy sometimes to trust me when I’m at my most inscrutable.” She smiled in a very tired way, her eyes softening. “I wish I could be more forthright with you sometimes. Fortunately, this is one time I can be very straight forward.” She straightened herself up, and put on… was that a satisfied smile? “Twilight, you are going to need a royal staff of your very own.”

For a moment, Twilight was confused. Then her mind got around to parsing the language, and she was a great deal less confused but still a little curious. “But… I’ve only got the library to take care of, and Spike is an excellent assistant.” She felt the need to protest, if only for Spike’s sake. The little dragon had a fragile ego when it came to being her assistant, and she really didn’t need more drama in that department right now.

Celestia shook her head firmly. “Spike is an excellent assistant, I will not deny it. But he knows very little of royal court protocols or the finer points of the Equestrian legal system.” She tilted her head, grinning at the teapot. “More to the point, Spike is just one dragon. No matter how talented, he can only be in one place at a time. You have a great many things that are already occupying your attention, and you will have many more in the future.” She gestured broadly. “We are not so much moving to meet the needs of today as we are preparing for the needs of the future.”

Twilight worried at her lip a bit, turning over the thoughts in her head. Put that way, it made a surprising amount of sense. One didn’t run out to gather workers after one was already behind schedule if one intended to do a job efficiently. As much as she enjoyed running Winter Wrap Up every year though, she was a little nervous about trying to direct a royal entourage. “We would, of course, ensure you had some assistant administrators,” Celestia cut in to her thoughts, smiling. “Sunset Shimmer herself might prove very valuable at that job.” Twilight nodded slowly. Sunset was still a touch abrasive at times, but she did have a talent of her own for organization.

It was only then that Twilight realized she’d already agreed with Princess Celestia’s suggestion and sighed before fixing the princess with a half glare. “You never play fair, Princess,” she huffed out in minor frustration, and Celestia just winked cheekily at her. “Okay, okay. Just what does a royal staff entail, anyway?”

“Nothing overtly ridiculous,” Celestia began… slyly. She seemed far more satisfied than she had before. “A castellan to help deal with your meals and refreshments, a seneschal to help organize appointments and ensure the proper protocols are being observed.” She tossed her mane, sounding oddly bored as she listed off various jobs. “A lawyer, a bursar, somepony to administer all of them, perhaps a few other functionaries. Household staff as well. Maids, guards, hoofmaidens, courtesans…”

Twilight kept nodding as Celestia listed the various individuals, making a mental checklist of who in town could serve some of those posts. It might make it a lot easier to bring in some of the other ponies who she already knew to handle those duties. Miss Cheerilee would probably look really good in fishnets, and she knew for a fact that Cloudchaser was a huge slu-

Her mind slammed on the brakes of that thought process, sending her mental thought train clear off its rails and into an eighteen carriage pileup that set off a massive fireball explosion one hundred feet into the sky. Had she been drinking something, she would have spit it out in a spray of liquid. “Wait, WHAT did you just say!?” she half blurted, vaguely hoping that Celestia had just been messing with her.

Sadly, it didn’t seem that way. “Courtesans,” Celestia said in an almost detached tone… but she was looking very, very sneaky just then. “I could have sworn I schooled you on Equestrian Royal Law, Twilight. The proprieties must be observed, you know.” Celestia wasn’t just up to something here - she was hooves deep in it.

Twilight stared at her teacher. She couldn’t help herself. “What in the name of Luna’s plothole are you talking about?!”

~~~~~~~~~

It was now early afternoon, and Sunset found herself treading familiar ground from the morning. Only this time, she looked like most everypony else in town. No clothes, no collar. She was just Sunset Shimmer for now. Rarity’s boutique came back into view, and she steeled herself against the numerous negative thoughts and emotions it conjured. She maintained her self-control all the way up the steps and even put on a neutral face after she knocked.

The door swung open to reveal Rarity, still wearing her sharp suit and looking surprised. “Sunset! I didn’t think…” Then she stopped, tilting her head to one side and giving a little hum. “Sweetie Belle’s gone to play with the Crusaders for a few hours,” she suddenly said, and stepped aside from the door. “So we can speak without fear of her young ears hearing. Come in, please.”

“I’m not here to talk to you Rarity,” Sunset said plainly, but swiftly. “I’m here to help you get moved back into the boutique and make it so we can actually live in the same town.” Yes, this was the way to go. Tell her exactly what she intended and what she expected. Rarity probably, no definitely, wouldn’t like it, but Sunset hardly cared. “I can’t stand you, just so you know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t work with you. So that’s what I’m working to be able to do. You get me?”

There was a distinct pause as the door shut, and Rarity exhaled softly. “Well, that’s certainly refreshing,” she quipped, and Sunset couldn’t help but jerk her head in surprise. “Since we’re speaking frankly, I suppose I’d best show the same courtesy.” Sunset rolled her eyes. That wasn’t the definition of a courtesy, but whatever. Rarity turned smartly, her head arched and still smiling faintly. “Normally, I would chastise somepony for having acted so rudely toward me, but in your case I’ll make a special exception for Twilight’s sake. That is, after all, why you are here.” Rarity walked from the door, never taking her eyes off Sunset. “All I want is my life back, Sunset. Nothing more. Assist me in that, and you need never fear a thing from me.”

“Yeah, that’ll never happen,” Sunset said in rapid sarcasm. “But like I said, I’ll learn to at least work with you.” Sunset half-paused, and the thoughts were words before she could really decide if they were the smartest thing to say. “I get to be rutted every night by the most beautiful mare in Equestria, so I’ll live.”

Rarity actually chuckled. “Just once a night? Well, I suppose stamina is a thing of experience after all.” She tossed her mane with a sly smile. “We really ought to get to work then, before you tire yourself out too much to enjoy it.” Sunset just smirked. If this was to be the way their interactions worked, she’d come out on top for sure.