As The Sun Sets

"I'll make sure to get in contact the next chance I get." Said Blue Skies, writing Twilight's P.O. box address down.

Cadance nodded, "That's hopefully the initial staff sorted, I can pull interest and support once we break ground on where the actual building will go."

Homeward tilted her head, "Isn't that a looong way away?"

Dawn answered just before Cadance, "Yes, but it's still a good point. If we're going to be getting letters and resumes coming to us to fill out the staff, then we're going to need to prepare; know what we're looking for, that sort of thing."

Symbol paused clacking away on a calculator to raise a hoof, "Motion that Dawn handles that since he mentioned it."

Cadance couldn't tell if she was joking from her completely serious tone as she said it, yet Marker and Homeward both additionally raised their hooves and Homeward added, "Passed." To which they all put their hooves down.

Cadance met eyes with Blue Skies in humored confusion and was answered with a shrug. Cadance looked away, but her eyes snapped to movement just outside, a few more heads turned as a jet black pegasus with a purple and blue toned mane opened the door and stepped inside.

"Uh." Said Dawn.

"Can I help you miss?" Cadance led

The mare locked eyes with Cadance and a peculiar glint in them, "I was looking for you, Princess Cadance."

Cadance reached out with her emotional senses.

Ah

"Luna? Is that you?"

The disguised Luna's ears flopped in disappointment. "Yes, though I was hoping to remain incognito."

Marker finally looked like he cared about what was going on around him, "Wait? Princess Luna?"

The mare nodded, "Good afternoon, subject."

Marker's wit left him momentarily as he corrected her, "uh, Marker"

Luna nodded again, "Good afternoon, Marker, and to the rest of you." She turned back to Cadance "A humorous stallion named Rim Shot told me you would be here."

Cadance looked around the room for a clock, "What time is it?"

Marker answered, "Just about to become two thirty."

How did- whatever

"Already?" Cadance quickly glanced between the disguised Luna and the meeting she was still not nearly done with.

Silver will probably be here around five, I'm going to need to eat something... eeeeh

Eventually Cadance came to a decision, "You're a bit early Luna, do you think you could meet me up at my office in about an hour?"

Luna responded, "Of course, and my mistake."

"I didn't really specify a time, it's my fault, don't worry about it."

"I will not."

The ponies at the table watched the exchange, their heads bouncing back and forth as Homeward suddenly had a short introspective episode about the sudden path her life had taken.

"I shall go bother your secretary." Luna exited the room with a flash of teleportation.

Once the flash had dissipated, Homeward asked Cadance, "What was that about?"

"Me and her have a..." Cadance spun her hoof around, "Thing to do tonight."

Blue Skies' eyes darted back and forth while Marker chuckled, Dawn said, "What kind of thing?"

Cadance rolled her eyes, "Nothing scandalous, we're just going out for some Princess work."

Homeward looked like she was about to ask something else, but Cadance interrupted her, "And we've only got an hour left to finish up here, so let's focus. Now, about those literature alternation laws."

Cadance turned the corner to the far too high hallway that held the doors to her office. Amber waved to her from her own recessed station at the end of the hallway.

"Hey Amber, I haven't seen you all day." The alicorn said as she approached, hoping to strike up a friendly conversation.

"I've been busy, that's all..." Amber looked away, and busied herself shuffling papers around. Flipping up a folder and tapping it on the desk to cause all the papers inside to fall into place.

Cadance got a weird vibe. Something that made her internally scrunch her eyes and frown in concern. As Cadance opened her mouth, Amber spoke just before she did, "Princess Luna is waiting in your office for you. Will you need anything?" Amber looked up from her seat with a smile that didn't fit on her face.

Cadance closed her mouth, "No, say Amber?"

I’m just going to be direct

"Yes Princess?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

Amber had a series of expressions flicker though her face too quickly for any one of them to settle, and Cadance felt the mare's anxiety rise.

"Oh, yes. I'm feeling just fine Princess." She nodded earnestly, at least tried to.

Just as Cadance was about to call her out on her lie, the disguised Luna pushed open the door to Cadance's office. "Ah! Cadance, perfect, now we may get started." Luna grabbed Cadance by the shoulder, and began pulling her into the office.

"Wait, hold on."

"Nonsense my niece," Luna continued to shove, "I have waited long enough!" Luna was of course jokingly doing what she was doing. If Luna wanted to move Cadance, there wasn't a chance Cadance would be able to resist as much as she was. As Cadance looked over her shoulder at Amber to see her smiling and chuckling at her aunt's antics, she thought the mistake of which many do.

She'll be fine

Cadance relented and stepped into her office, Luna right behind her.

"So." Luna had seemingly already set up a table and a series of cushions pressed up against the opposite wall in front of Cadance's ill-used bookshelf. How exactly Luna got the table and cushions into the room was not clear, but nonetheless, Cadance followed Luna to the table as she continued, "What night of revelry do you have planned for us?"

Cadance took her seat, while internally rolling her eyes at Luna's excitement. "I don't actually plan anything, Silver usually picks a location and the activity."

Luna's smile widened a bit further than it should have, and Cadance finally sensed the nervousness behind her excitement. "Right! Of course, that should go well, and you've told her of my presence."

Buck! I knew I forgot something!

Cadance grabbed a leaflet from her desk and quickly wrote a few lines,

Hey, we're ready to go whenever you are

And by we I mean I invited a friend

I hope you don't mind, but she's willing to go if you don't want her.

It'd mean a lot to both of us if you let her tag along.

Cadance's quill tapped the bottom of the page just as she was about to sign her name, she stopped and thought for a second before writing:

-Little Princess

Luna had leaned over to see what Cadance was writing and spoke as she finished, "So you neglected to tell Silver of my presence? And still do not explain?"

"Silver would talk it personally if I did. I think..." Cadance lit her horn and cast the message sending spell. Luna reared back in alarm from her lean over the table as she did.

"Niece! That was-"

"A hybrid dark magic spell, I know." Cadance interrupted, "It's safe, and tested."

"Such a thing does not sit well with me." Luna frowned her trademark scowl. It looked a little awkward on her currently smaller face

"Noted." Cadance said simply.

Just then, a paper appeared in a flash of blue lightning. Cadance caught it in her magic and unfolded the square of paper.

I will be there momentarily

For their sake, I hope this friend of yours can keep up.

Because I will not be taking it easy on them.

Cadance flipped over the paper in her aura and showed it to Luna.

"Hmmm." She closed her eyes slowly with an exhale, "Yes, that sounds about right. This should be no difficulty."

"You know, I can tell you're still anxious about seeing her again." Cadance tried to keep a neutral tone. Hoping to not come off as accusatory

Luna tilted her head down, "Is it that obvious?" The slightly different, younger, voice of the elder alicorn made the question sound likely far more hurt than she actually was.

"No, but we have a minute before she gets here. Do you wanna talk about it?"

Luna considered it before determinedly responding, "No. I can handle myself for the night, Silver is- that is, I will be okay." She hurriedly finished

If you're sure

"Well..." Cadance tried to dig for some kind of wisdom, and ended up just repeating her last trip with the crazy immortal, "Actually try to have fun."

Luna gave her an eyebrow raise, "That is what I am here to do, was it implied that I wouldn't?"

"Sorry," Cadance chuckled, "What I mean is, there's just a way to... let it all out, you know? Don't let yourself focus on Silver all night, or on anything."

Luna slowly nodded, trying to comprehend the confusing phrasing, "Right. I believe I under-"

Cadance office door was pushed open as Silver came trotting in. There was a short second, a miniscule moment, where just as her gaze passed over Luna, her entire body froze in active motion, like a robot glitching, before she continued like nothing was wrong. She walked straight up to the table, and did not sit, instead choosing to just silently stand at the edge.

Cadance could practically feel the repressed anxiety attack Luna was experiencing as Silver silently glanced between the too of them, Cadance's failure to come up with anything to say leading to the silent moment dragging on extremely painfully; much to Silver's clear amusement, as she began to laugh several agonizing moments into the silence.

"So who's this?" Silver asked Cadance, once she eventually stopped chuckling to herself.

"This is-" Cadance started, lifting her hoof to point at the disguised Luna

Cadance was cut off, "Selene." Luna said a bit forcefully from the other end of Cadance's hoof. Slightly calmer, she added, "Noxa Selene."

"Ooo," Silver flamboyantly added, "Didja know Selene is old ponish for 'moon'?"

Selene nodded, "Yes, my parents were quite old fashioned."

Silver's head snapped to Cadance unnaturally fast, "Shall I show off your disguise Cadance?" She held out her hoof. Cadance strained her ears to hear just exactly how Silver said 'your', yet there was no insinuation that she knew Selene was a disguise.

Cadance reached her hoof over and bopped Silver's, their unspoken way of Cadance agreeing to have magic cast on her. In a second Cadance was Allium once more. She glanced down at her now green fur, and the exceptionally long braided mane that hung down over her shoulder, and into her vision.

Silver let go of Cadance's now shorter hoof, "Now don't go ruining the braid this time, I wasn't exactly ready to fix the spell last time either, Allium Bloom"

"Whoah..." Luna said in awe.

Silver smirked and propped her head up on the table, "So how much has Cadance told you about me then? Hmm?"

Luna ever so slightly shrunk from the direct attention in partial confusion, "Uh," She glanced towards Cadance. She contributed by shrugging with her eyes and eyebrows. Luna ended up going with, "Very little, just that you were in charge of the fest- er, our night out."

"Hmm." Silver surmised, and then tapped her hoof on the table once, "Well in short, I'm a thousand year old master of dark magic."

Luna chose not to respond, and Cadance could feel a vague hint of despair swimming around the other princess.

"Now that we're all acquainted, shall we get going?" Silver gestured in a random direction, pointing at nothing. Cadance stood in response

Luna spoke out, "Wait, what is your name?"

Silver stopped in place and paused.

She turned over her shoulder and winked at the disguised Luna, "Quick Silver." She turned away again, and summoned a portal, the spinning grated surface expanding into a gate big enough for each of them to see the bricked alleyway on the other side.

From behind Silver, Luna gave Cadance a confusing look. Cadance read it as desperation mixed with 'this was a mistake'. Cadance just nodded her head towards the portal, 'it's now or never, you can still bail.'

Luna closed her eyes and shook her head once, 'no, I can't, it's too late now.'

Then they all stepped through, one after the other.