Cuori Intrecciati

The blinds and drapes were drawn in Celestia’s room, blocking out all but a few errant bars of afternoon sunlight. Wood burned and crackled in the fireplace, pushing back the shadows just enough to cast Luna in it’s warm, orange glow. Her eyes scanned over the thick tome nestled between her outstretched forelegs, shifting occasionally to the stack of notes and quill at her side.

Her book of choice… wasn’t her choice. Written in Griffish, it was one of three history books on the feli-vian culture that Celestia had tasked her to read.

Up until the week prior, she’d focused her historical studies on the last thousand years of Equestrian history, which amounted, more or less, to reading Celestia’s resume as a monarch. There were inconsistencies there, growing more and more obvious to her the further back she read. Anything more than six-hundred years past seemed oddly speculative, considering her sister’s presence, with many instances of things Luna knew to be real treated as little more than superstitions and old pony-tales.

In a fit of something akin to morbid curiosity, fear and anticipation making her fidget, she’d searched for what she could find of the years following her banishment. A day of research produced all of three volumes, none of which could be counted as even attempting to stand as historical fact. Even the official records of the time were scarce, little more than censuses and tax reports. It was almost two hundred years before things began to return to normal recorded history. She was concerned about that, but had yet to find a good time to question Celestia on it.

Now, all of that had been put aside in favor of focusing outward.

Currently, her studies were zeroed in on the history and culture of the Griffon Empire. Next would be the far more stable United Minoan Oligarchy. From there she would learn about the Donkey Republic, the Zebrican Dynasties, and the Saddle Arabian Queendom. All in preparation for the thirteenth World Trade Summit the next year.

It was Celestia’s crowning achievement of the past century, a marvel of political misdirection and subterfuge.

Changelings and other minor nations notwithstanding, the Summit had brought an end to much of the large scale warfare that had plagued the early years of the Sisters’ reign, and continued to plague the rest of Equis after everyone learned that Equestria wasn’t worth the trouble. A month’s worth of meetings, negotiations, and culture exchange, it all culminated in the renewal of a decade long treaty that provided the framework for the peaceful resolution of conflicts between the countries involved.

Unfortunately, history was far from Luna’s favorite subject. Oh, it held some points of interest, the evolution of warfare and battle tactics for one. Each of the nations had a unique martial tradition and philosophy based heavily on the environments they developed within. For example, Minoan soldiers were expected to operate on their own, foregoing battle lines entirely, each Taurus out to prove their worth. Griffons preferred lightning fast hit and run tactics supported by high concentrations of ballistic weaponry, breaking their enemy’s will before running them down. Meanwhile, Donkey’s were much more defensive, digging in and extracting a high price for every inch of ground.

Celestia’s task for her, however, had little to do with those. Instead, she was to focus on culture, learning everything she would need to understand to negotiate between the other governments and maintain the trade agreements.

Of course, it didn’t help that she had no desire to attend the event, much less head it. Treaty negotiations were far more her to her liking. That Celestia hadn’t so much ‘asked’ as informed her of her coming role, hadn’t improved her disposition. She tried reminding herself that it was Tia just being Tia, but—

“Boo.”

Luna’s heart jumped into her throat as every muscle in her body stiffened. It was all she could do to keep from springing to her hooves in fright.

With a curse and reprimand on her tongue, Luna snapped her head around, intent on letting her sister have it, only to have her lips otherwise occupied. Most of her annoyance melted into the kiss, but not all of it. Even when the kiss broke, however, Celestia tried to keep the initiative.

“How are your studies going?”

“How do you do that?” Luna demanded.

Celestia just smiled. “That, my love, would be telling.”

Luna grumbled to herself but let it drop. She’d sooner be able to talk a dragon out of its horde then prise a secret out of Celestia’s lips. At least she’d managed the former once. As she turned back to work, Celestia settled to the ground, humming and snuggling against Luna’s side and resting her chin on Luna’s shoulder.

Between her already mounting boredom and the warm comfort of Celestia, Luna’s focus on her studies waned, flitting constantly toward the latter. After rereading the same paragraph three times without seeing a single word, she finally broke.

“I still do not think this a wise course, Tia. Mother knows I am no diplomat.” Celestia’s wing opened, splaying across Luna’s back, a blanket of feathers that cupped beneath her chest and pulled her tight against Celestia’s side. “This is your project. You know these people far better than I could hope to in a full decade, much less learn from books in less than a year.”

Celestia sighed. “That is true, I suppose. But you need to begin somewhere.”

Which she could not deny, but, “I would still much prefer your company.”

Celestia gave her a reassuring squeeze. “You know that I would, but my presence would undermine your authority. They need to see that your word carries no less weight than mine.”

Luna almost rejoined that, but bit back her tongue. It wasn’t worth an argument. Celestia was right, after all. She needed to begin reestablishing her presence as a ruler with their allies as much as with their own populace. Attending the Summit on her own would serve multiple purposes, not the least of which was a public showing of Celestia’s confidence in Luna. Still, it would have been nice to have been consulted first.

“The real question,” Celestia began, poking Luna’s ribs with her feathers, “is why are you awake and in my room?”

Luna flushed a bit and glared at the book as though it were responsible. When she responded, it was in little more than a mumble, “I could not sleep.”

“Oh?” Celestia asked, her voice at once worried and amused.

“Too much coffee.”

Celestia snorted but, thankfully, did not push the subject. Instead, she cooed a bit and nuzzled the side of Luna’s neck. “That answers the first half.”

Luna tried to hide her deepening blush in the pages of her book. So smothered, her response was unintelligible, and Celestia had to prod her once more to repeat it. “I like your room better… It smells of you.”

The sound Celestia made was something between a guffaw and a coo. Burying her nose in Luna’s mane, she took a big whiff before kissing her behind the ear and squeezing her tight as she said, “I like the way you smell too.”

They grew quiet after that, Luna renewing her struggle to focus on her studies while Celestia, half laying across her back, seemed to have fallen into a light nap.

Celestia’s presence, while at first distracting, quickly shifted toward tranquilizing. Between her lack of sleep, the boring text, and the warmth provided by Celestia and the fire, Luna’s eyelids grew increasingly heavy. Every blink lasted longer and longer until she decided to stop fighting it.

A large yawn signaled the end of her resistance, or it would have if she hadn’t glanced back at Celestia and saw her wide awake, staring into the heart of the fire. Surprised more than anything, Luna shrugged her shoulders and asked, “Does something trouble you, Sister?”

“Hmm? Oh.” Celestia sighed and resettled herself. “You know me, always working even when I’m relaxing.”

“‘Tis surely more exciting than the third succession of the fifth Griffish Empire.”

“Forsooth,” Celestia said with an affected accent. “The arrangement of seating is frightfully exciting.”

Luna rolled her eyes, only to frown a moment later. “Seating arrangements? I do not recall any such event in the near future.”

“Your birthday party,” Celestia said as though it were plain as day.

Luna snorted. Short and derisive, the noise slipped out before she could stop it. She closed her eyes, hoping against all reason that Celestia had missed it.

She did not, of course. “Luna? Is everything alright?”

The lie formed in a flash, eager to be released.

It was such a small annoyance, after all, nothing terribly new or unexpected. She wasn’t angry, not really. Oh, it hurt a bit, like there was a tiny hollow in her heart, pulling at the rest in an attempt to fill itself. But anger? She couldn’t bring herself to that if she wanted to. Not yet. That, however, was the problem. ‘Yet.’

“It is…” Luna started, but stopped, the lie dying before it could stain her tongue.

There was no doubt in her mind that they would find themselves in this situation again and again. She could not recall a time—a happy time—when Celestia did not lead. She was the elder, the visionary, the guiding light. Where she went, others followed. So it had always been, and always would be. And that was fine, but they were supposed to rule together.

She’d been lying to herself, biting her tongue, afraid of… what? It was not something she could put her hoof on. Of the mare who meant more to her than all of Equestria? No. Of losing her? No. Of revealing the ancient wound Celestia had caused so long ago, one she had allowed to fester.

“I am not mad,” she said, because it was an honesty to which she could anchor herself.

Celestia nodded but remained silent, waiting patiently for her to continue.

Luna took a deep breath, steadying herself and buying time to think. “If you asked me to leave all of this behind, I would. If you asked me to make our relationship known, to suffer what may come of it, I would. If you asked me to never raise the moon again, I… would consider it… only because you asked. But I want—I need you to ask, Tia. You speak again and again about ensuring that everyone sees me as your equal, that Equestria is well and truly a Diarchy once more. Yet, you continue to make decisions and only later do you think to inform me. I know it is not intentional, but that only means so much. If even you cannot think to consult me first, and for my own birthday no less, how can I hope others will act any different?”

When Celestia finally spoke, her voice was weak, ears drooping. “I’m sorry. I just… I didn’t…”

“No.” Luna pulled her sister’s head close, nuzzling her. “You were not to know. I did all I could to keep it from you. If either of us are to blame, it is I.”

“I could have—should have asked. You should not need to prompt me.” She paused. “I will do better.”

“Tia, you are not perfect. Even you can only work with what you know. If I had told you, had offered you anything, then yes. But I did neither. I drew away from you, from everypony, and the more I did, the more I proved myself right.”

“Luna—”

“No. I will not have you take this upon your withers as well. We are partners, more so now than ever, and we shall attend to this in the manner which we always should have. Together.”

Celestia nodded against Luna’s muzzle. “Thank you, for telling me.”

“About my birthday…” Luna said, unwilling to let a silence linger between them.

“Nothing has been set in stone, as of yet. If you would rather, I—we can cancel the whole thing.” Celestia’s grin was somewhat forced, but appreciated all the more for it. “Perhaps celebrate more privately?”

Luna raised an eyebrow, matching her sister’s grin. “Neigh, Tia. A party sounds lovely.” After a second’s pause, she added, “As long as you are there… and there is some of that red cake for dessert.”

“Of course. Anything for you, my love.”

“One other thing, Tia.”

“And what is that?”

“Do you still possess a domino mask?”

—————————————

Twilight knocked on Rarity’s door in a feverish manner.

Despite being well into the evening, the time wasn’t anywhere near what Twilight would consider ‘late’. Rarity wouldn’t be asleep yet, she was certain. Then again, she wasn’t all that sure when Rarity went to bed. She couldn’t very well use their sleepovers as any kind of baseline, nor their adventures. It occurred to her that Rarity may indeed already be in bed and—

The door jerked open to reveal the unicorn in question. With her mane set in curlers, a sleeping mask propped just below her horn, and a small spot of missed toothpaste at the corner of her lips, Twilight’s worries were set aside. After all, she hadn’t put on her muzzle cream.

“Oh good, you’re still awake! I—”

“No, Twilight, I was not.”

Twilight froze for a moment, her eyes focusing on Rarity’s face, on her tired ears and eyes, on the annoyed tilt of her jaw and the heavy furrow of her brow. The seconds before replayed in her mind, adding in the stomping of hooves downstairs she’d either missed or ignored, she wasn’t sure which.

“Oh,” Twilight said, with considerably less enthusiasm than before. Her recovery was quick, though. “I’m sorry, but I just got this,” she nearly shoved an opened envelope under Rarity’s muzzle, “and I need your help.” With that, she smiled, stretching her lips as wide as they would go.

Rarity snatched the letter out of Twilight’s field and opened it. She squinted, blinking as her eyes played across the stiff paper and flowing ink. When she finished, she summoned up a something that might have been a smile, if Twilight was generous, and said, “I am very happy for you, darling. And I promise that when you come back in the morning, I will positively squeal with surprise and delight. Until then, good night.”

Rarity stepped back in and slammed the door.

—————————————

Luna stared down at the book she’d stolen from the Restricted Archives.

She hadn’t dared remain there, lest she be discovered whilst casting. As such, she’d retreated to her bathroom, locking all the doors and securing them with wards to alert her should any attempt to approach.

Licking her lips, Luna spent some time studying the formulas and diagrams scrawled across the pages. They were faded and jumbled, but that was not unusual all considered.

The book itself contained only five complete spells within its thousand pages. Each of them had bordered on the socially unacceptable even a thousand years prior when they’d been written. Now… Well, times had changed, perhaps they would not be seen in such a negative light.

She was not willing to take that chance just yet. There were steps to be taken first, trials and the testing of waters. The first of which was verification of framework integrity, for if the spell did not work the rest would be a wash.

Luna reached out with her magic, checking the her wards and locks once more to sooth her unease. Pre-battle jitters: even after two millennia, she still suffered from them.

Testing the framework integrity was a necessary first step before casting a new spell, whether just invented or discovered. With simple spells, this could usually be done by eye, running through the components to ensure no fatal flaws in the spell-logic. For more complex spells, it required a dry run, a sort of faux casting, a spell within a spell that would allow her to poke and prod it, ensuring it had no unintended side-effects.

Luna gathered her magic, casting Starswirl’s Special Seclusion Shield, creating a temporary magic bubble inside of which she would cast the spell. Looking down at the printed spell work, she began to construct the spell inside the bubble.

As each piece slid into place without issue, Luna began to get nervous. It was working.

Up till that moment, everything had been so abstract, an entertaining thought experiment with no substance beyond her own imaginings. Now… now it was becoming all too real. All the moral objections that she’d swept away as unimportant refused to go ignored any longer.

She stopped, only half finished, and began to pace, her mind running circles around her fears and desires. There were reasons that the book was hidden within the Restricted Archives. What if Celestia reacted poorly? Could she deal with that? Did she dare risk everything just for this… this kink? But… was it really any worse than what they were already doing? The condemnation by their subjects could hardly get any worse.

Luna stopped. She was being indecisive. Looking at the half completed spell, she made her choice. There was no reason not to keep going at this point. If the spell failed, it failed. But even if it worked perfectly, she could still chose not to use it. With her mind made up, Luna returned to the spell, constructing each piece until the whole of it was suspended for her to examine.

It worked within the confines of the seclusion spell. That hardly made it safe, but she could be certain that its effects would constrain themselves to the primary application of the spell.

Next, she needed to test the counterspell. Turning the book to the appropriate page, she checked it against her memory before casting it. It worked flawlessly, deconstructing the initial spell and leaving nothing behind.

Nodding, she dispelled the seclusion spell and took a moment to collect herself. This was it. She was as confident as she could be that everything would work as the book described. All that was left was one last test… casting the spell in truth.

Luna didn’t move for a full minute. Her pulse was racing, her breath rapid and uncontrolled. The cold wash of adrenaline flushed through her from muzzle to dock as her hoof shook and wings refused to settle against her sides. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and completely failed to calm herself.

It was the sudden urge to flee that brought everything into focus for her. She would not let fear dictate her decisions.

Her horn began to glow.

—————————————

Twilight tried to stand perfectly still as Rarity fussed with the dress’ hem. It was easier said than done. With what seemed to be a thousand pins stuck about the dress, every movement drew a dozen or more across her skin, not to mention having to keep her wings open, lest they turn unpleasant scraping into painful stabbing.

The dress was far too brazen in Twilight’s opinion. Where Rarity had previously stuck with shades of purple for the base of Twilight’s dresses, this didn’t so much edge toward blue as dive in. Silver and white were, of course, used for the accents, done in a dazzling display of more sequins than Twilight dared to contemplate. Were any pony not to look too hard, they would undoubtedly correlate her appearance with that of the night sky. That in itself was not the problem. No, the problem was the moon motifs sewn in here and there about the ruffles.

“Let’s go over it one more time,” Rarity said around the pins she held between her lips.

Twilight nodded, though Rarity could not see it, and said, “We will leave by sky-chariot at eight, arriving at the castle an hour later. Our first stop will be to locate the princesses to greet them and wish Luna a happy birthday. After that, we will mingle until dinner, making sure that I don’t embarrass myself by trying to monopolize her time. During dinner, we will converse as we are able. Only after dinner, when everypony has adjourned to the ballroom, will I attempt to engage Luna directly.” Twilight dithered. “I’m not sure if dancing is such a great idea, Rarity.”

“Nonsense, all you must do is let Luna lead, I have no doubt that she is a capable dancer. And she will certainly find your… inexperience endearing at worst.”

Still unconvinced, Twilight didn’t push the subject any further. “While she will share dances with a number of other ponies, I should try to be her partner as often as I can. After that, I should attempt to draw her away to a secluded portion of the gardens, perhaps the maze, where we can engage in private conversation. This will be my chance to lead things down a romantic path until we have ‘a moment’ when I will know that it is time to kiss her.

“I really don’t know about this, Rarity.”

“Everything will go smashingly, I’m sure. And I will be there if you need any advice.”

“I know. It’s just… doesn’t this seem a bit… choreographed? Shouldn’t I just go and try to have a good time, letting what happens happen?”

Rarity laughed. “I assure you, all romance is a well choreographed dance. All that ‘spur of the moment’, ‘let things take their course’ nonsense is just that, utter nonsense. Really, darling, it’s a wonder how little you know of love and romance, what with Princess Cadance having been your foalsitter and all.”

“We never really talked about that kind of thing.”

“No, I suppose you would have been a little young.” Rarity stepped away from the dress and eyed it for a moment. Her face lit up. “Wonderful! Are you ready?”

“Yes. My wings are exhausted.”

Rarity took hold of the dress in her magic, helping Twilight step out, careful not to dislodge any of the pins or scratch herself more than necessary. Moving to the side, Twilight watched as Rarity set it over the poniquin to have it’s final adjustments sewn in. “It will be ready in a day or two, I should think.”

“I can’t thank you enough for this. It looks beautiful.”

“You already have, darling. Why, if it weren’t for you, I can scarce imagine I’d be attending the first masquerade ball in centuries. Now, I do hate to rush you out the door, but I do have seven other dresses to attend to, and you have a meeting with Mayor Mare.”

Twilight’s head snapped toward the clock. “Oh, horseapples!”