Like Father Like Son

Twilight was panicking. Zipping this way and that, fixing everything that looked out of place, dusting the same spot five times before deciding it needed to be dusted again, just to be safe. Spike was also running around, dusting and putting books away, and making sure the crystal walls of the Castle of Friendship shone and gleamed, completely unblemished. So far, things were looking good.

The lavender alicorn woman clad in a long scholarly robe didn't even bother sighing or showing any sort of fatigue, she was too busy worrying. "Come on Spike, the princesses are going to be here this afternoon. We can't let anything be out of place."

"Come on Twilight." Spike said putting a book in it's place. "They're here for a casual visit aren't they? The letter said they were looking simply to spend a bit of time away from the ponies in Canterlot and with someone they can simply talk to normally. Don't you think that fussing over everything kinda defeats the purpose?"

"Of course not!" Twilight burst out. "Yes they're here for a casual visit, but that doesn't mean that we can't show them the common courtesy of making sure that this place isn't a mess. If you went to visit Fluttershy or Rarity would you want to walk in on a giant mess?"

Spike deadpanned at Twilight. "This place is never a mess! We get books out sure, we do things in here, but it's not like we don't pick up after ourselves. Honestly, all this dusting and polishing is completely unnecessary."

"Spike, they're still the rulers of Equestria." Twilight insisted. "Even if it's unnecessary we should at least show that their visit means something."

"I think it's clean enough Twilight, besides they should be here soon. We should be putting these cleaning supplies away and getting ready for them to get here." Spike said simply. "So instead of dusting and polishing we should be making tea and gathering some snacks."

"Oh no." Twilight cursed, her face going pale, "I forgot about snacks! Spike, get on that!"

"Already got it Twi." He said as he jog-waddled out of the room, and to the kitchens to get some refreshments started.

The Apple family was known for their apples, some of the finest in Ponyville, heck not some of, they WERE the finest in Ponyville. But they didn't grow on their own. It took work, hard work over the entirety of the year to grow the apples right, luckily though, the growing season was ending, and the harvest had been finished. They weren't done processing all of their produce, but now was a bit of a recuperation time for the Apple family, Big Mac was free, Applejack was free, Granny Smith napped, and Apple Bloom went to school as usual.

Applejack had nothing to do, so she decided it was as good a time as ever to go visit Twilight, and see if she needed help getting ready for the princesses' arrival. Clad in her usual jeans, workboots, hat and flannel shirt she walked across the packed dirt that made up Ponyville's streets. Passing by the familiar sights Ponyville had to offer, there was the flower shop, the salon, the Sofas and Quills shop, honestly whoever decided to pair those two together had a strange mind.

And of course, there were a few other places that were a little more important to her. Carousel Boutique was one. She was never one to worry too much about her appearance, aside from basic hygiene of course, but Carousel Boutique was a place run by a dear friend.

"Howdy Rarity!" AJ called out to the purple-maned unicorn exiting the building.

"Well Hello Applejack!" Rarity called out. "What brings you here on this fine day?"

"Ahm headed to see about helpin Twilight with gettin ready for the Princesses comin down to see er." She told her. "Ahv got a feelin she might be fussin over stuff, and I thought I'd lend her a hand."

"Perhaps I could be of use in that endeavor." Rarity responded, closing the door of her Boutique behind her. Her plain but beautiful and well-made dress flowing behind her as she spun back around.

"Ah reckon you could." Applejack chuckled. "Come on."

The two friends walked fairly quietly on their way to their other friend's castle. A large treelike structure of crystal, a mix of white and varying shades of purple made up it's color palette. A beautiful structure, but very, very out of place in Ponyville, it stuck out like a sore thumb, considering most if not all houses were constructed of wood with straw roofs. Whereas the castle was constructed entirely of crystal, crystal walls, crystal windows, crystal balcony, crystal roof. Everything. Even the doors were crystal.

Applejack knocked on the large door, and within minutes it was opened by a lavender colored alicorn in a scholar's robe of dark blue. "Oh, AJ, Rarity, what're you girls doing here? Aren't you busy?"

"Not at all Darling." Rarity assured her, "In fact we came along to see if we could help you out. We know how you tend to stress about these sorts of things and we decided we should come and alleviate your worries and help you get ready for the Princesses' visit."

"Eeyup." Applejack confirmed in a similar manner as her elder brother. "Ah figured you'd be runnin poor old spike ragged with your worryin and fidgitin. So we popped by."

"Thanks girls, I am pretty nervous really." Twilight admitted, while ushering them inside.

"Why are you nervous darling? You're a princess now too." Rarity pointed out. "You're their equal, which is probably why they decided to drop by for casual talk in the first place. As much as life in Canterlot seems glamorous, it must be pretty stressful if you have to run the nation too, and I don't imagine anyone is willing to speak casually with them aside from each other. So it must be refreshing for them to have someone to talk to about just anything."

"Maybe, but they're still the rulers of Equestria. Which means we need to make sure things are alright for them." Twilight said closing the front door behind the two mares as they came in.

She brought the two mares into the castle, and they got to work. The castle was already pretty clean, so making sure that it was in good condition was far from a difficult or time consuming task. They finished the work before fifteen minutes had passed. And just in time too, as less than thirty seconds later, there was a knock at the door. They were here.

Princess Celestia had been tired for a while. Bureaucrats were an absolute pain to deal with, paperwork was mind-numbing and other than that she had to deal with tons and tons of each. Luna wasn't too much better off, she being seen as the younger sister who was very far behind the times, and so Bureaucrats and nobles who knew their proposed legislation wouldn't go through Celestia, often tried to bypass Celestia by sending it through her instead. Luckily for the country, Luna was far from oblivious to this and stopped such attempts when the popped up. But that didn't make it any less tiring for either of them.

Celestia was looking forward to seeing Twilight again, she wanted to see how her former student now fellow princess was doing and hear about what she'd been up to. It had been a few weeks since last they'd spoken or exchanged letters. It would be an refreshing meeting, to catch up with her beloved student, see how she'd grown. It would also give her something simple to talk about, no dodgy politics, no backstabbing, threats, bribes or attempts at appeal, just a conversation between equals who trusted one another, a conversation between friends.

Luna was also anticipating this meeting quite a lot. It had been a long time since she'd seen or spoken with Twilight. She'd grown rather fond of the lavender mare, she was one of the few ponies aside from her sister that she'd had the courage to truly approach. After that first nightmare night sure she'd gotten out of her comfort zone and the crisis had been averted, but it had still left a bitter taste in her mouth. Twilight was only in Ponyville, nowhere else, and she didn't want to risk something similar happening elsewhere, so she'd limited her interactions with ponies to be while she held night court and when discussing matters of state. Otherwise she was fairly secluded, not many friends, even less than Celestia had, that she talked to on a regular basis, which is to say none. So she was definitely happy to be seeing someone she knew she could both trust and get along with.

Celestia looked over at her sister as they flew, and nudged her shoulder with her own, "What's on your mind sister?"

"Nothing Sister." Luna replied. "We aren't thinking of anything in particular."

"Come Luna, I can clearly see the smile on your face." Celestia pressed. "Tell me."

"We are simply looking forward to seeing Twilight again, as we are certain thou art similarly sanguine of this upcoming communion." Luna replied.

Celestia shook her head with a smile, and said no more. Her white robe flowing in the wind as she flew.

Celestia was a tall mare, very tall, standing at nearly seven feet tall, with a long rainbow mane that flowed in a nonexistent breeze like a flag. Her clothing consisted of a simple but baeutiful robe of white trimmed with gold and embroidered with golden thread in various spiral patterns. Her pink eyes gazing caringly at her younger sister, who wore something a tad less loose.

Luna had always been of a military mind, so she always wore a uniform in public places. But now she wore something a little less formal. A grey shirt with long, tight fitting sleeves and similarly grey pants that were a tad less form-fitting. Her cyan eyes gazing distractedly into the distance. Her own height was significantly closer to that of most ponies, a tad tall for a mare, on par with a large portion of the stallions of Equestria, but not even the second tallest pony in Equestria.

Both princesses had abandoned their royal regalia in exchange for a far more comfortable, more offhand attire.

Celestia grinned and decided to tease her sister a tad. "You know if you don't talk to her about it, it's never going to happen."

Luna looked her sister's way with a confused expression. "Whatever dost thou mean Sister?"

Celestia simply grinned knowingly at Luna, until Luna caught onto her meaning. At which point she looked the other way to hide her flushed cheeks. "I know nothing of what thou speaks, Sister."

Celestia put a loving hand on her sister's shoulder, which caused Luna to meet her gaze, cheeks still flushed. "I know it's hard to confess feelings Luna, I know. But the sooner you do it the better, if you wait to long someone might beat you to it, and you might never be have another opportunity."

"It is not so simple as that Sister." Luna said with a shake of her head. "We... I have caused her and her friends trouble far too many times. The first time I had actually intended harm for her and her friends. The second I terrorized her town, and the third a creature of my making terrorized her town. Three times I've caused her and her friend, nay, everyone around her great peril. She may forgive me for it, they may forgive me for it, but in doing such things I have revoked my right to ask anything of her, least of all her love."

Celestia sighed sadly. "That's not how it works sister. I am no expert on it, but I've loved enough to know that love is given freely, with no conditions or requirements. Sometimes it's even nonsensical." She chuckled after this, remembering how she had actually fallen in love with Discord before his defeat, and how him being sealed in stone tore at her heart despite him only ever having been her enemy. "She wouldn't have forgiven you if she didn't love you. Maybe it she doesn't love you in...."

Luna looked at her sister sorrowfully.

Celestia sighed. "That's not what I meant. I mean it might not be the kind of love you're looking for, but that always comes with time. She does love you as a friend, and if you go to her and ask if she'll try taking further, then it is likely that she'll return your affections."

Luna looked down. "Still. How can I bring myself to ask that of her? Even if it is without conditions or requirements or even logic, how can I approach her after everything, even if I am forgiven my transgressions, I am far to tainted a mare to approach someone so pure. It is true that nopony is perfect, but never has she been a villain nor the source of any great evil nor a menace, I have been. Thrice. It's not a question of can I, but rather should I. She's already dealt with me and my blunders enough times. I could hardly ask her to put up with more."

Luna didn't give her sister a chance to respond, as Ponyville was now below them, and she tucked into a shallow dive to approach the crystalline castle wherein the youngest of the alicorns dwelled. Celestia following close behind, the two landed in front of the great arched doorway, which lead into the great crystal tree upon which rested the castle.

Luna landed first, and stepped closer to the door but no closer, Celestia landing just behind. Neither moved to knock yet. Celestia took the opportunity to speak. "Do not bottle up your feelings Luna, do not bury them. It only leads to heartache."

And with that the tall white alicorn strode up to the double doors and grasped the knocker, before swinging it thrice against the door, announcing their arrival.

"That's them!" Twilight exclaimed, her horn glowing and a bright flash followed as she teleported directly to the front door, and grabbed the handle to pull it open and admit the two waiting princesses inside.

"H-Hello princess! Please, come in." She said, still a little nervous that she'd missed a spot of dust or maybe she'd spilled a coffee or something.

Celestia giggled as she stepped in. "Twilight, please. This is supposed to be a casual visit. No need for any formality. Besides, you're a princess now too, you don't need to address me as one."

"S-sorry." Twilight stuttered, her nerves refusing to calm down.

Celestia rolled her eyes and Luna followed in after, not saying anything as Twilight lead them into a sitting room, it was pretty normal looking aside from the crystal walls, floor and ceiling. Sofas positioned on either side of a coffee table, with a tray of teacups, tea pot and a plate of snacks was set. Spike zipped to the side of the door where they were coming in and snapped to a salute.

Twilight smiled his way, "Thank you Spike."

"You're welcome." Spike said happily. "Unless there's something else you need me to do I'll leave you guys to it."

"I don't think we need anything else Spike, go ahead and have some time to yourself." Twilight said to him.

Spike snapped another salute then zipped off.

Twilight turned to her fellow princesses. "Please, sit down, have some tea, make yourselves comfortable."

Celestia did just that, gracefully sitting down on the far side of the sofa to their right, while Luna took a seat next to her, leaving Twilight to have the opposite couch. Neither princess reached for the tea or the provided snacks yet, Celestia instead opted for starting up a conversation.

"It's been a long time since last we've spoken Twilight. Tell me about what you've been up to. How's your student?" Celestia started.

Twilight's face brightened up. "Oh Starlight's been doing wonderfully! She's made quite a few friends as well as furthering her study of magic. I've been teaching her everything you taught me, and she's been getting better at an fast pace. She's been getting really good with new spells. I can honestly say I fully expect her to surpass me."

Celestia cocked a brow. "Really? that's quite the feat."

Twilight blushed at this praise. "Well, I..." She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"Truly," Luna added, "If thou expects this mare to exceed thine own magical prowess, she must be quite remarkable. Though We do not doubt the sincerity of thine words, fair Twilight, I find it difficult to believe somepony so inexperienced and without the many years of hard education you possess could eclipse thine own daunting capabilities."

Twilight blushed even further at those words. "Well, m-maybe not now but, I do believe that with time she'll get much better than me."

Celestia used her magic to pour herself a cup of tea. "What about your friends? Spike? How have they been? Anything special happen recently?"

"My friends are doing just fine. Applejack and her family have recently purchased a few more acres of farmland, and their products are bringing in more money for them, so they've been doing very well. Fluttershy's animal shelter is working perfectly, though a lot of ponies have concerns about what kinds of animals she's bringing in." Twilight chuckled as she remembered Roseluck scream in terror at the sight of a manticore in Fluttershy's shelter. "Rarity's boutiques are doing very well, I believe a few of her dresses are going out to fashion shows nationwide. Rainbow Dash, as you know, is living the dream with the Wonderbolts. Pinkie Pie is... well... Pinkie."

This earned matching giggles from all parties.

"And no, nothing has happened recently. Things have been remarkably calm. Nothing has happened, nothing is planned. I'm actually starting to think that Equestria's days in peril are almost over."

A knock was heard at the door. Twilight leapt to her feet, "I'll be right back."

As Twilight left Luna let out a quiet sigh, and looked to her sister to see a pitying expression.

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"You need to talk to her." Celestia said firmly.

"No Sister We... I do not." Luna replied.

"Princess." Twilight called, her voice getting louder as she came closer. "It's a royal courier, he has a message for you."

Celestia looked to Luna. "I'll take that message in the hallway, meanwhile, you need to talk to her." She then stood up and went to the door to meet with the courier. "Thank you Twilight, go ahead and sit, I'll hear what this courier has to say. Go and sit down, I'm sure Luna would also like to catch up with you."

Twilight nodded, and returned to her seat.

"You need to talk to her."

How could she? She, a villain, was barely worthy of speaking to this mare, who was a hero. She was there because she wanted to be yes, yes she wanted to talk to her, but still, she couldn't keep these thoughts from her head. Her heart froze after her sister continued.

"I'll take that message in the hallway, meanwhile, you need to talk to her."

It was basically an order, and she knew that her sister would pester her about why she didn't do it all the way home if she didn't, so she might as well.

Twilight came back in and sat down, taking a sip of tea as she did. Then she noticed Luna's somber expression, "Is something wrong Princess Luna?"

She felt the iron fist of terror grip her heart as this was said, and the feeling of being stabbed in it as she was addressed as "Princess" by Twilight, as though she were somehow Twilight's senior. But she didn't let this show.

"No." She said shaking her head.

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. "You're a worse liar than Applejack. What's bothering you?"

She cursed herself for being so transparent. She sighed. "Hast thou... have you, ever dealt with something... beyond just friendship?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well..." She said taking a breath. "Thou.... You see. I have an... interest, in a certain pony. They are a very dear friend to me, and..."

The door to the hallway opened quite suddenly to admit a now worried looking Celestia. "We have a problem. Twilight, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this short. Something's happened, I am needed in Canterlot."

"Oh." Twilight said, a tad disappointed. "Well, duties first. It was good seeing you again Princess. Thank you for visiting."

"Thank you for having me." Celestia said kindly. "Now I must be off. I am afraid this is goodbye for now."

With that Celestia left Luna and Twilight alone. Twilight returned her attention to the princess of night. "So anyway, this pony is very close to you and...?"

Luna stood up, "It is not important. We... I should go aid my sister in whatever crisis has arisen. Thank you Twilight, your hospitality was most gracious."

Celestia soared along the skies, speeding back to Canterlot. It was too great a distance to simply teleport across, so she had to fly. The wind whipping through her mane and tugging at her robe. She almost didn't notice Luna silently glide up next to her. She looked in her sister's direction. Luna met her gaze, a dour expression on her face, then looked ahead again.

"Well? Did you ask?" Celestia inquired.

"Yes."

"And?" Celestia pressured further. "What did she say?"

"She... informed me that she..." Luna swallowed, "Was not interested."

With that Luna pulled ahead, and Celestia's ears fell back. Poor Luna she thought to herself as they continued on.