It had been exactly one week from Twilight's coronation as a new Princess of Equestria. Mercifully, Princess Celestia had let her go back home to Ponyville for a week afterwards to celebrate with friends, and get used to the changes that had happened to her.
But even after the giant party Pinkie had thrown, and the mayor giving her the first ever "Ponyville Alicorn Princess Award," which Twilight was pretty certain she'd just made up so she'd have an excuse to give Twilight an award, things still didn't seem quite real. Twilight didn't feel like she'd changed, but the wings on her back were a constant reminder that something big had definitely happened.
As if it wasn't bad enough that they made it hard for her to sleep, the ponies around her weren't going to let her forget about them, either. At least in Ponyville the ponies still mostly treated her like, "Twilight," although with a bit more respect. But back in Canterlot, where she was now, everywhere she went she was mobbed by a throng of ponies wanting to meet her, talk to her, or even just get a look at her. She enjoyed making new friends, but this was simply overwhelming, and she looked forward to the time when the legal technicalities of being a new princess were taken care of, and she could finally leave Canterlot and go back to the relative peace of her library.
It also didn't help that she was now expected to act differently than she had before. She wasn't used to being a princess, and to be honest, she didn't quite know what the meant. She'd spent her whole life looking up to and admiring Princess Celestia, but now she was supposed to not just treat her and Princess Luna as equals, but be their equals. How could that even be possible? The thought alone seemed more than just uncomfortable, venturing into disrespectful territory, but she didn't know how to resolve it.
It was with these thoughts that Twilight rested in her suite in the palace. It had been a long, difficult day, full of lawyers, lawmakers, nobles, and lookers-on, and now she just needed a break before going to bed and getting ready for another long day tomorrow. She winced slightly as she heard a polite knock at her door, and then sighed.
"Come in!" she called, expecting yet another bureaucrat with, "just one more" item of business for the day. Much to her surprise, Princess Luna entered the room.
"Oh! Good evening, Princess Luna!" Twilight said cheerily, though she couldn't quite keep the exhaustion she felt out of her smile.
"Please, Twilight," Luna pleaded, closing the door softly behind her. "You are a princess of Equestria now. Please call me Luna."
Twilight hesitated, and her smile vanished. She wanted to comply, she really did, and she'd been trying to for days, but the more she'd thought about it, the more determined she'd become that she couldn't. She sighed again, deciding that this was as good a time as any to get the issue out in the open. "I'm sorry, Princess," she said, her ears drooping as she looked down at the ground. "I just... can't."
"But, why?" Luna asked, puzzled.
"Well..." Twilight paused, looking back up, but averting her eyes, and wondering how she was going to put it. "I know I'm a princess now, and I know we're supposed to be equals, but it just doesn't feel right. You know? I mean, you're the Princess of the Night, and I feel like I'm still just a glorified librarian with a horn and wings."
Luna cocked an eye at this, but Twilight was looking back at the ground again, so she didn't notice, and continued.
"You've got purpose. You raise the moon and control the night, you rule Equestria and have fought battles along side Princess Celestia, and you're far older and wiser than I could even comprehend at this point." Twilight cringed inwardly as she realized she'd just called Luna old, but hoped the part about being wise would cover for it, and decided it was best to just move on.
"As Rainbow Dash would say, you're awesome." Twilight said with a small smile as she glanced towards Luna, hoping to give things a positive spin. Unfortunately, she couldn't read the expression on Luna's face, and her smile quickly faded as she looked back down. "I guess what I'm saying is, I just don't feel worthy to call you by such a familiar name. Beyond that, we really barely even know each other. Maybe I will some day, if we're able to spend more time together and can really call each other friends, but for now I just can't. I'm sorry."
Twilight tried to look Luna in the eye as she apologized, but found that now Luna was the one staring at the ground with tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. "Oh, no! What have I done?" Twilight thought in horror. "I've offended her! What do I do now?"
Twilight didn't get the chance to think about it for long, though, as Luna then spoke.
"I understand your feelings," she said softly. "But please remember," she continued, as her voice broke. "It was you and your friends who saved me! If ever there were a pony who was unworthy of another, it is I." Luna's tears were now uncontrollable, and rolled down her face as she paused for a moment to fight back sobs.
She looked back up at Twilight, who was now torn between terror and remorse. "So please, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Luna said, getting down on her knees in the deepest bow she could manage, her nose pressed against the cold, stone floor. "What shall it be? May I call you my friend?"
Now it was Twilight's turn for tears as she viewed the prostrate Princess of the Night before her. How could she possibly say no? "I... I think I'd like that... Luna," she said, offering Luna a hoof up.
Luna accepted it gladly and stood once again, the two ponies now looking at each other through tear-filled eyes. "As would I, Twilight," she said as they embraced.
She certainly hadn't been expecting it, but of all the changes that came with being a new princess, Twilight decided this was one she wouldn't mind at all.