Luna made her rounds of the palace, hanging bouquets of lavender from the wall sconces.

“If We cannot enter the Dream Realm Ourself, We can still ensure that it is a more pleasant place for those around Us.” The filly, a bit larger than when she returned, but still obviously recovering her power, frowned as she noticed that the cleaning staff had missed one of the bouquets she left up the night before. It had wilted and dried during the day, and now draped rather pathetically from its sconce. She pulled it down, replaced it with a fresh one, and turned to go back to start the east wing.

As she walked, she idly considered the dead flowers in her magical grasp. It was a pity, really. So much time and effort on the part of the gardeners. The energy of the soil, the rain, the sun, all transformed into such fragile beauty, only for a single night to exhaust the magic of its scent.

Luna looked up over the wilted bouquet as she heard voice up ahead of her, hushed and whispering. She stepped behind a suit of armor, and cast a spell to stretch her senses out. Burglars in the castle? Spies? Some sort of conspiracy?

“You’re sure nopony comes down this hallway?” Luna recognized the whispering voice; one of the new palace maids. An excellent choice for a spy; nopony paid them much attention, nopony questioned them being anywhere, even she or her sister’s quarters! Who was the other agent, though?

”Nopony, trust me!” Raven? Her sister’s secretary? Luna’s eyes widened as she realized the importance of this discovery. If Raven were conspiring against Celestia, it could be disastrous! ”Even the guards never come down here. Only Princess Luna, and she’s already hung the flowers up, so she’s done now.”

Oh, somepony was certainly done! Luna scowled darkly, an expression of malice entirely out of place on the filly’s face.

”All right, if you’re sure. I just know you’d be in so much trouble if anybody found out about us!”

”It’s okay, sis.” Raven had a sister? Don’t worry about it. We can meet here until you get to move out.”

Luna’s expression softened, and her cheeks colored as she heard the sounds of two ponies kissing, of a maid’s uniform falling to the floor. Thinking quickly, she stepped out of hiding and walked down the hallway, intentionally stepping heavily so that the two could hear her. She heard them gasp, and then the telltale sounds of scrambling to gather discarded clothes. As she stepped out to the end of the hallway, she turned to confirm her suspicions.

Raven’s eyes were opened as wide as they could be, her pupils practically dots. She smiled shakily, fastening her collar with her magic and stepping to the side to conceal her sister, a beige-furred filly only a few years older than Luna appeared, from the Princess’ sight.

“P-Princess Luna! W-what a surprise to see you down here!”

“Our rounds are taking Us longer tonight than usual. Our thoughts distract Us; indeed, so addled are We that the entire night will likely seem imagined when Our sister raises the sun.” Luna smiled, yawned theatrically, and gave a conspiratorial wink. “Might We recommend that the two of you continue your tour of the castle with the Observatory of the Northern Tower? We are given to understand it has been largely abandoned since Our sister’s apprentice left for Ponyville. It shall surely become quite dusty if none of the cleaning staff ever go up there.”

“Th-thank you, Princess!” Raven stammered. Luna turned to continue back towards the east wing, a new spring in her step as she renewed her eavesdropping spell for a moment.

”That was so close! Maybe you were right about this being too risky.”

”Well, this spot is… but do we dare disobey a direct order from the Princess? The Observatory probably needs a very thorough cleaning, and I’m not sure I could find it on my own yet….” Raven’s sister giggled, then the dark-haired secretary herself, and the two of them darted off into the hallways.

Luna cancelled her spell, beaming as she disposed of the wilted arrangement of flowers and picked up her final batch of fresh lavender. She only had the east wing left to hang.

Her sister’s wing.

Perhaps she would stop to have a chat once she had finished her duties for the night.

Doing so took Luna a matter of minutes, and she made her way back to the door to Celestia’s chambers. She knocked politely at the door, and waited for a response, hoping she hadn’t yet gone to sleep.

“Enter!” The door glowed for a moment and swung open to reveal Celestia laying on cushions in front of her fireplace, closing the book in front of her.

“Good evening, Sister,”.Luna said as she stepped inside and inclined her head towards the elder alicorn. “We hope that We are not keeping thee awake?”

“No, not yet, Luna.” Celestia looked back over her shoulder to grace her sister with a smile. “Is there something you would like to talk about?”

“A few minor matters, actually,” Luna admitted. She stepped inside, closing the doors, and laying down next to Celestia on her cushions. “I would appreciate it if you let Captain Armor know that We plan to spend some evenings in the observatory on the North Tower, and that We would rather not be interrupted at those times. The telescope there is a more modern than mine own, and so it would be best to acquaint Ourself with the differences.”
“That seems reasonable enough,” Celestia nodded. “Though I had given the Tower over to Twilight and her studies. She seems perfectly happy in Ponyville, but she may want to return from time to time.”

“Of course, Sister. We would be honored to share an evening with thy pupil.” Luna smirked, casting a glance up at her sister. “Perhaps thou might join us?”

“Luna, do I have to worry about you seducing everypony I know?” Celestia asked her dryly.

“Well, you could try keeping me too busy to think about your dear student that way.” Luna reached up with a wing to stroke it along her larger sister’s side. “We were younger than I look now when we first laid together; have things truly changed that much during Our absence?”

“Yes, Luna,” Celestia sighed. “Yes, they have. For one thing, I’m no longer that young myself. For another… I am the Princess now. If I wanted, I could order anypony to lay with me. You, Twilight, Captain Armor, Raven? Any of you.”

“But thou are not that kind of pony, Sister. Besides, are We not your equal? If you ordered such a thing, We could simply refuse if We did not wish it ourselves. Further….” Luna nuzzled the base of Celestia’s jaw. “I’m the one trying to seduce you, not the other way around.”

“Please, Luna… not yet. At least give me until you’ve grown to a full pony’s size.”

“Very well, Sister.” Luna kissed her tenderly. “A time to look forward to helps immensely.”

“Have you anything else to do tonight?”

“No; Our dream magic is a few weeks off yet, it seems, and so Our duties are quite light. Do you wish anything of us?”

“If we can keep it chaste… do you mind remaining by my side? It’s been too long since I’ve had a pony to cuddle with while reading.”

“With pleasure, Sister.” Luna settled in under Celestia’s wing as the elder alicorn opened her book again, She smiled to herself when she recognized the book as a novel from before her banishment, and quickly began reading along with her sister.

Author's Note

FYI: Raven appears in-show as an earth pony in Ponyville several times, but the only time she appears in Canterlot she's a unicorn. I'm choosing to believe that there are two nearly identical ponies, and that Raven is the unicorn.