Catching Up

Throughout the next month, Luna spent most of her time reordering the Dream Realm. After her long absence, much had begun to go wild, and it took time and effort to restore some semblance of normalcy. Between sorting things out and resolving the nightmares that she could find through chaos, she was approaching the point where she didn’t have the time to tease her sister as much.

Fortunately, she still found time for other pursuits. Raven and Plover were both proving to be excellent company during times when they were off-duty at the same time Luna was. Tonight, Luna and Raven were sitting on opposite sides of a chessboard, a glass of wine in front of each, the game reasonably even at this point.

“And how are thee and thy sister doing lately?” Luna asked, moving her bishop out to threaten one of Raven’s knights.

“Very well, Princess,” Raven nodded, hiding her smile behind her wine glass. “We’ve been able to relax more, now that we don’t have to worry about being caught somewhere. It’s such a relief, even to just snuggle without worrying that somepony will notice us holding tails.” She moved her prince out to block the path to her knight. Luna raised an eyebrow, but claimed the piece without hesitation, taking a drink of her own wine as she wiggled it in the air.

“A sloppy defense, Raven! Quite surprising.”

Raven winked, moving her knight out of the way to threaten Luna’s princess.

“There’s always method to my madness, Princess. And you’re in check. How are your efforts to restore the Dream Realm going?”

“Quite nicely, thanks.” Luna brought a pawn out, claiming the threatening knight. “We should have things straightened out before We take raising the moon over again.”

“Glad to hear it. And how about things with your sister?” Raven asked.

Luna raised an eyebrow, but kept her response even otherwise.

“Celestia is glad that she should be able to turn over control of the Moon soon. Any weight that We can take off of her withers is a boon, as thou knowest.”

“I mean like how Plover and I are doing,” Raven clarified. She brought her rook into position, threatening Luna’s Princess in a square flanked by threats from both of Raven’s bishops. “Checkmate, Princess.”

Luna stared down at the board for a moment, cocking her head, and then refilled her wine glass.

“Thou art the only pony besides Our sister who beats Us at this game,” she observed, taking a sip.

“She taught me to play,” Raven admitted. “And it helps that I don’t concern myself with your rank, across the game table. She taught me that too.”

“When service at Our sister’s hoof is a daily thing, it must be less intimidating,” Luna allowed.

“And you are dodging my question, Princess. I know about the relationship that you and Princess Celestia had before your banishment. She’s noticed that you’re spending less time with her in the evenings; is something wrong?”

Luna sighed and shook her head.

“Nay, not truly. We have been busy in the Dream Realm lately, and should spend more time in the waking realm caring for Our duties here, no doubt.”

“She’s not worried about your duties, Princess. She’s worried that you’re upset with her over something. Maybe the fact that your relationship hasn’t recovered as quickly as you wanted? Celestia’s concerns, Princess, not mine,” Raven added, raising a hoof at the sharp look she got from Luna. “She would bring them to you herself, if she wasn’t afraid of making things worse, I’m sure.”

Luna frowned, then finished her wine and laid back on the cushions with a dramatic sigh.

“Thou’rt the elder sister, between thee and Plover. Did you ever let thy worries about thy relationship being discovered keep the two of you apart?” Raven nodded slowly, putting together her conversations with Celestia and what Luna was asking about now.

“Only on specific occasions,” she allowed. “But I did deal with the same worries Celestia is.”

Luna raised her head, indicating for Raven to continue.

“When Plover first said she loved me like more than a sister she was way too young. I wasn’t worried that we might be caught at the time, but that she was only interested because we were so close and she hadn’t looked for another filly or colt more her own age... and, you know, 'not her big sister.' I was in college at the time, and she didn’t even have her cutie mark yet! I didn’t want her to commit herself to some sort of a relationship with me when she hadn’t looked for anypony else. And I was worried about the fact that I wanted a relationship with her,” Raven admitted.

“Because of her youth?”

“Exactly. I was worried that my attraction was a sign of something wrong with me. That I wasn’t interested in her, but in fillies her age. Between them, those fears kept us apart more than anything else could.”

“And yet, now thou’rt her ‘partner,’ I believe the polite term is,” Luna observed.

“Still ‘sister,’ until we move in together and become ‘housemates,’” Raven corrected her with a smile. “Well, now she’s five years older, tried to have a relationship that didn’t work out, and is pretty much an adult making an adult decision, not a filly. And I’m still just as smitten with her as I was the day she confessed to me, so I know it’s her, and not just underaged fillies.”

“You think Our sister has similar concerns?”

“Somewhat. She’s worried that you’re going through a second coming of age,” Raven explained. “And that you’re just turning back to a familiar comfort, when you might regret it later.”

“We have many regrets, Raven,” Luna laughed. “Seducing Our sister will never be one of them. And the idea that she may have prurient desires for foals? The past four moons are proof enough she does not.”

“I know, Princess,” Raven agreed. “But you’ve just got to give her a bit more time. You’ve already grown into a fine young mare; I’m sure she’ll be more amenable soon. I’ll just let her know that you’ve been busy with the Dream Realm, like I thought.”

“Hmm. What did Plover do, that let thee know she was ready?”

“Well, the breakup with this earth pony from Ponyville who looked almost exactly like me was a hint,” Raven chuckled ruefully, lifting her wine glass magically to finish it off. She refilled it, pouring out the last of the bottle and leaving it for whichever maid cleaned up in the morning to get. “She also had this way of letting me know exactly how ready she was. That filly can do things with a soda bottle that are obscene.” She shivered as she thought about some of those early ‘hints.’

“Mayhaps We shall ask her for advice then,” Luna smirked, getting up to her hooves. “For now, I must return to my duties, and you need a good night’s sleep before my sister wakes to begin her own.”

“Indeed. Thank you for the game, and the wine!” Raven opened the door to her room politely, and Luna stood to leave her alone for the night.

Raven took off her collar and trotted over to her bed. She turned out the lights and settled in under the covers… before her yellow aura formed around the empty wine bottle and slipped it underneath with her.

The next morning, Raven was next to Princess Celestia at breakfast, working with the diarch to arrange her schedule for the day while they both enjoyed the pancakes she’d made herself.

“I think if we can trim five minutes off the meeting with the Weather Secretary, we can just slip in the extra time we’ll need for your personal correspondence, Princess.” Raven nodded and penciled in the changes.

“Raven, my personal correspondence is never five minutes,” Celestia chuckled, glancing over as Luna walked down from one of the towers to go to her room. Celestia frowned at her sister’s drooping eyelids and mane.

“Would you care to join us for breakfast, sister?” She asked. “I could have a plate for you in just a few moments.”

“Thank you for the offer, Sister,” Luna yawned, snagging a banana from the bowl of fruit on the table, and a few other pieces trailing behind her in her magic. “But We believe We will retire for the morn.” She considered the banana for a moment and then nodded, bringing up an apple to start eating on her way, letting the banana float towards the back of the trail following her.

“Have a pleasant day!” Luna smiled and flagged her tail, standing up tall. Celestia and Raven watched as she nearly skipped out of the room, apparently energized by starting her meal.

Or, Celestia realized, by exactly where the banana had gone after Luna let it drift towards her tail. The elder princess’ eyes widened just before Luna snapped her tail back down into place, concealing the bright yellow ‘tail’ that had just disappeared between two entirely different lips than normally intended.

Raven’s clipboard fell to the breakfast table with a clatter, and the normally professional unicorn mare was sweating bullets as Celestia’s face slowly rotated from Luna’s disappearing posterior and her assistant’s face. Raven smiled slowly, trying to seem as innocent as she could as she quickly filled her mouth with pancake.

“I think we should use those extra five minutes to discuss the conversations you and my sister have been having on your chess nights,” Celestia said dryly, shaking her head and taking a long drink of her coffee.

Somehow, she just knew that today was going to be a long day.