Sun and Moon: A Night Shift Omake
Chapter 3
By Bree R.
Sorry not sure how I forgot to post this last one.
xyz
Twilight Sparkle could barely stop herself from shaking in fear. She had stared down a Ursa Majors and Minors, monsters, dragons, Pinkie after a day without sugar, a Changeling queen, a Draconequus, Nightmare Moon herself, and most recently a magic stealing demon ram. But all of that paled in comparison to what was before her. Her always calm teacher, the eldest and wisest pony Twilight Sparkle knew had called her into Canterlot for an important mission.
She thought she was being called upon to defend Equestria against a new threat, learn a new lesson or spell, practice moving celestial bodies, or maybe even another attack by some ancient enemy. She had prepared for each possibility, but she was not prepared when Celestia stuck raggedy old pieces of linen in her face and had her wrapping fragile ancient items and packing them into a neverending procession of saddle bags. While Twilight wrapped Celestia, ran throughout her private chambers like an excited filly about to go off to camp for the first time sticking odds and ends, various scrolls, and books into a growing pile of saddle bags.
"Ooh I'm sure Ranma will want to see this." Celestia muttered to herself before placing yet another scroll into a bag that was so full it was near bursting. Before rushing out the door and galloping back inside with a collection of various antique silver and gold gilded pottery floating behind her held in her telekinetic grip. She then proceeded to carelessly shuffle them into a waiting saddlebag and with that Celestia carelessly heaved it onto an ever expanding pile of bags. "This will look great in the family room!" Celestia said nodding, before pulling a large area rug off the floor and tying it closed with some twine which she cut by running it along the tip of her horn.
"Princess…" Twilight began uncertainly pausing in her wrapping attempts. "Is there something wrong?" Twilight asked, though Celestia gave no indication that she had heard her as she continued to gather more objects to load onto the pile. "Are you moving somewhere?" Twilight wondered after a moment passed. This caused a mild reaction as at the word 'move' Celestia grimaced and began to trot then gallop around the room loading more bags full of various knick knacks and old tomes. One large crystal vase made a shattering noise as it entered an already full bag making Twilight wince, though Celestia showed no sign of noticing or slowing down.
"Where are you moving Princess?" Twilight began fearfully. "Is there something wrong with the castle? Is the foundation failing? Did I do something wrong? Is there a invasion imminent and you're moving to a more defensible location?" Twilight inquired rapidly before her eyes widened as she remembered the opinion poll in the previous days edition of the Equestria Daily newspaper.
"It was the opinion poll wasn't it!? You shouldn't let those bother you! I mean Princess Luna and myself are both rather new to the common ponies. And the Daily is overly popular in the Crystal Empire with the end of their exile as they catch back up on current affairs, so of course Cadence got a disproportionate amount of the votes! Please don't abandon Equestria! Coming in last isn't-" Twilight cried nearly in tears.
"Opinion poll?" Celestia asked, her voice slightly muffled, finally noticing Twilight's rising panic somewhere in the middle of her rapid fire set of questions. "What opinion poll?" Celestia reiterated turning to face Twilight her face partially in one of the bags she had just finished packing using her teeth on one bag to make sure it was securely closed, while using her telekinesis to mirror her action even as she turned her attention to her former student and released the bag with her telekinesis both Princesses failing to notice that it made a muted grunting noise when it landed.
"You didn't read the Daily yesterday?" Twilight questioned flabbergasted. Without fail each morning Celestia would wake up, set the Moon, raise the sun, take a bath, comb her mane and tail, put on her royal adornments, have a morning cup of tea with toast and fresh jam, and read a newspaper or three.
"No Twilight." Celestia stated turning back to her luggage and checking the bags. "I've been far too busy packing. Should I have?" Celestia inquired giving Twilight a steady look for a second before looking again at her set of luggage letting her eyes quickly roam over her room again looking for anything she might have missed.
"Of course not! How silly would it be to read yesterday's paper?" Twilight responded one eye briefly twitching, but thankfully Celestia had already turned her attention fully back to her packing and seemed satisfied with Twilight's explanation. "But…" Twilight began after a few moments had passed, "Where are you moving? I didn't hear anything about a new castle being built. And you've been in Canterlot for so long!"
"That's what makes it all so exciting!" Celestia said idly floating her bags into a preformed spell circle in the corner of the room near a large picture window. "This will be the first time that Luna and I have really had a private home of our own. Not one for keeping up appearances with the citizenry. Just for the two of us, and some of our most treasured friends." Celestia finished longingly.
"Oh." Twilight replied thinking about the length of time that Celestia had been ruler of the Equestria. Her only recollection of any time Celestia ever left the palace was for the occasional festival, her yearly holiday, a few cake officiating competitions, and of course for official diplomatic visits to other locations. She failed to recall the Princess mentioning a vacation much less taking one in all the years she had known her.
"And now with you and Cadence doing so well, and what with your own castle now so near Canterlot Luna and I can finally take some trips! And we won't have to worry about the Sun or Moon having to be placed in the care of a group of poor overtaxed unicorns while we unwind." Celestia finished grandly.
Twilight winced at Celestia's apparent approval of how she had handled the Sun and Moon. She had first done this when they had temporarily transferred their magic to her when Tirek was running loose, and then she had been a temporary substitute while the two sisters had visited with the creature they usually called Princess Euryphaessa. Twilight's thoughts turned darker at recollections of the Sun and Moon being in the sky at the same time and her barely being able to get the stars in the correct position. And what if she was expected to put the thousands of stars in the same positions every night? The amount of studying she'd have to do and the star charts she'd have to read... Along with her duties as a Princess? Even she wouldn't enjoy that much research and studying she thought with a shudder nearly dropping a two thousand year old Plains Period vase.
"Will this be a long leave of absence?" Twilight asked quite worried at the thought of managing the celestial bodies around their planet for any length of time.
"Only for a weekend, on this occasion. It was so nice of one of Princess Ranma's friends to help arrange for us to purchase a home there. The cost was only a few dozen gold pieces and assorted gems. The Earthlings do not value their land overmuch." Celestia said continuing to stack her bags into the spell circle the pile now almost reaching the ceiling of the room. "Today we simply need to finish purchasing the residence, take responsibility for something the Earthlings call services, and of course start moving some of our essential possessions in." Celestia motioned waving her hoof at her bags.
"Essential?" Twilight skeptically interjected pointing a hoof at the large pile of bags in the corner, the marble floor beneath them nearly cracking from the weight, before she could catch herself.
"Maybe I overdid it a little." Celestia said putting a shod hoof to her mouth before daintily laughing and pulling two bags off the very top of the pile and setting them to the side before resolutely nodding her head. "There, that should do it! Ooh I almost forgot. I'll need to get the recipes from the kitchen staff. I'll be right back." With that Celestia took off at a regal trot down the hallway. Leaving a bewildered Twilight in her wake.
"A weekend. That's only two days." Twilight sputtered gathering her thoughts. "That means setting the Sun tonight and then raising the stars and Moon. I've done it before. It's not that hard. And there's only thousands of stars. That...that's not so bad." Twilight muttered. "And then I need to set them all and raise the Sun all while making sure none of them collide into each other." She was beginning to breathe a bit harder now. "And then I only need to raise them again…And get some sleep in between that. And Pinkie wanted me to go to that party, Mayor Mare wanted to talk about constructing a new park around my palace, Rainbow Dash wanted to give me some more flying lessons, and...and…" Twilight began shaking now.
"Sister- Are you almost done with your ponderous preparations?" Luna asked as she entered her sisters chambers through the open doorway only to be nearly jumped on by a nearly panicking Twilight Sparkle.
"How do you do it?!" She shouted into the Night Princesses face causing the easily frazzled Princess Luna to take a step back away from the unhinged mare.
"Twilight Sparkle, what is the…" Luna managed to get before Twilight continued crashing one of her hooves into the ground.
"Three thousand! Or more! And it's almost ALWAYS the same pattern! And then you tweak them for the seasons! And you do it every night! How?!" Twilight began staring at her waiting for a response.
"If thou are talking about the stars…" Luna began trying to force herself back into modern Equestrian language habits, "Then you have severely underestimated the full amount. There are over seven thousand visible to the naked eye during the night and the ones on the opposing side of the planet must also be properly arranged for those living in those locales. Then you must take into consideration their positions relative to the different hemispheres…" Seeing that Twilight was looking at her with an increasingly doomed expression Luna came to a halt. "Am I not helping to put you at ease?" Luna questioned with a nervous smile.
Twilight lifted her head and gave her a serious glare her expression manic. "How- many- are there?"
Luna took a few steps back from the mare and coughed. "When working with such a large number, it is not of import to think in exact amounts-" Luna said before noting that Twilight had fallen to the ground in a stupor. Feeling out of sorts Luna reconsidered her approach. "Twilight really you must worry only about three or four at most." She suggested seriously. "Those stars that will help a lost Pony find her way must be always exactly right. The rest will find their own way."
"I can do that." Twilight mumbled into the floor before regaining her footing shakily.
"If you wish, you can treat the night sky as your canvas." Luna suggested whimsically her expression becoming openly happy as one of her hooves began making vague sweeping gestures as if she was painting a massive canvas above her. "You may arrange them to your whim. There is much enjoyment to be had!"
"Thank you Princess." Twilight sniffled honestly, fascinated to see this side of the usually elusive Princess of the Night.
Nodding awkwardly but trying to maintain her regal bearing Luna's horn glowed a bright blue and two relatively small midnight black bags floated through the open doorway and onto the pile that Celestia had created.
"Do excuse me for a moment Twilight Sparkle. I must get...changed." At Twilight's nod Luna's horn glowed and a third bag floated in through the doors. Holding the bag with her telekinesis she walked into Celestia's bathing suite and closed the door behind her. From underneath the door Twilight could see a bright blue flash and then a short time later there was a loud thud.
"Princess Luna!" Twilight called out worried over what might have happened to her fellow alicorn. "Are you alright? Do you need any help?" Twilight babbled knocking at the door obviously worriedly.
"I am fine." A muffled voice called from inside the door. "I simply forgot how difficult it is to balance in this form when attempting to don clothing. What is the point of this extra layer? What could it be if it is simply to to be hidden?" Twilight was about to inquire further when a loud high pitched musical noise rang out in the room from Celestia's bed. Interested in what could be making the racket, Twilight trotted over to the bed and looked at a slim rectangular piece of what looked to be a composite of metal, glass, and other materials. Poking at it with her hoof she felt it vibrating angrily against her.
"Is there an animal inside?" Twilight asked herself using her telekinesis to pick the strange object up. Turning it around on the opposite side she saw incomprehensible alien pictographs. Rotating it from side to side Twilight didn't see any opening large enough to allow something inside to make the object shake so rapidly.
She was wondering how she might examine it further when a voice from the bathing area startled her. "Twilight Sparkle. Is that the mobile telephone? Could you please answer it?"
"A what?" Twilight pled rushing over to the door. "Why is it shaking? How do I do that?" Twilight inquired.
"It requires electrically conductive digits to...Oh that would be a problem." With that the door opened and the much taller Princess Luna in her human disguise walked out. Twilight remembered the blue skin and flat hair of the Vice Principal Luna at Canterlot High in the alternate reality she had visited after crossing through a magical mirror, but in contrast to that Luna this ones form had the magically waving long raven black hair with star patterns hidden within, brighter aquamarine eyes, pale white skin, and she could sense the magic hidden just underneath her disguised form.
This was also the first time she had seen the Princess wearing anything white, clothed in a dress that hung from around her neck down to just above her digited feet, and trailing along the floor in back.
The very first time she had seen the two Princesses in their human disguises she had almost agreed with Spike that they had been poorly cloned imposters from one of Spike's silly comic books. To think she had tried to attack the two for being evil humans engaging in an ill thought out attempt at taking over Equestria. Lyra would have been proud.
Reaching forward and nearly stumbling but managing to right herself Luna carefully plucked the phone out of Twilight's telekinesis the now human Princess Luna pushed at a colored section of the glass on the front of the device. "Greetings and salutations!" She greeted exuberantly shaking her head for a second to clear her hair out of her face before reaching a hand up to brush it back. To Twilight's surprise she could hear what sounded like a person responding through the device. "Thank you for your promptness, Lautia. Yes, my sister and I are almost ready to be translocated. When should we expect your arrival?" Luna nodded at whatever the other speaker had said and went and walked back over to Celestia's bed and placed the device on the bed.
"What was that Princess some sort of magical telegraph?" Twilight asked excitedly after a moment as Luna looked into a nearby mirror running a hand through her changed mane. Spike would likely be far more interested in that form of magic than even herself.
"An accurate summation from what I understand." Luna affirmed with a nod turning away from the mirror to face Twilight.
"But how does it work?" Twilight wondered staring at the device on the bed.
"I know not, you would need to confer with its creators Princesses Ami and Ranma." Luna answered causing Twilight to frown, her curiosity not accepting the answer being postponed. "Surely they have great tomes containing the information you seek. When next I see them I shall ask that they gift thee with your own." Luna offered with a hesitant smile.
"Thank you Princess!" Twilight exclaimed favoring the the shocked Princesses with a grin before stepping back to the phone to look it over. "Why is it glowing like that?" Twilight questioned as the front of the device lit up and a red light began blinking on the side.
"I believe we are about to receive a guest." Luna confessed.
"Good day Princess Luna!" A voice called from behind Twilight's head.
Spinning around Twilight looked behind her but saw no one there. "Hello?" Twilight questioned nervously. "Who's there?"
"Greetings Lautia." Luna stated with a smile looking to a spot on Twilight's back. Which caused Twilight to rear up slightly to try to see what was on her back. Managing to catch a brief glimpse of red hair with an instinctive motion she bucked repeatedly to try to dislodge whatever it was. "The young Alicorn who you are lounging on is our newest Princess, Twilight Sparkle." Luna snickered a vague tone of amusement in her voice at Twilight's struggles.
"Twilight Sparkle?" the voice asked and with a flash of light Twilight looked forward and saw a small red haired figure that was dressed in an outfit mirroring that which she had seen worn by Sailor Theia when she had first met the human. "And she's the Princess of Friendship correct?" The small human in front of her gave her a interested expression while behind her Luna nodded.
"Lautia?" Twilight asked blinking bewildered. "But you look just like Princess Euryphaessa-er Sailor Theia did when I met her."
The little Senshi in front of her beamed at the comparison. "Thank you! I was modeled directly after her mature form before she had an unfortunate injection of Earthling genetics in her current incarnation." Lautia boasted smiling from ear to ear and striking an odd pose with her forelimbs behind her head.
"Well that's-hello." Twilight finally settled on with a smile looking over the miniature senshi in front of her. Cocking her head to one side, she noticed other similarities. "You kind of remind me of a Breezie! All you need are an adorable little pair of antennae and wings."
Throughout Twilight's gushing Luna's face had paled. While Lautia's expression had grown at first strained then livid, unfortunately Twilight was still not quite up on how to read humanoid expressions and did not realize the minefield she was gleefully galloping into.
"Excuse me, Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Lautia demanded glaring at her while Luna looked on.
"Yes?" Twilight asked a wide smile still on her face.
"Are you implying that I am a fairy?" Lautia questioned softly her clothes shimmered. After a brief flash of glitter the miniature redhead was now wearing a black cowboy hat, long black leather boots, and a small vest. Strapped to her hip was a wound up rope and floating in the air to her side was a saddle perfectly sized for Twilight's form.
"A what?" Twilight stammered barely taking note of the change of uniform but definitely noticing the saddle.
"Lautia, why don't you take this opportunity to inspect the castle? I know that thou has voiced your interest in surveying its full extent and inquiring more on Equestrian building techniques. I believe there are some masons working on the East wing today. You could ask them any questions you might have."
"I would like that very much Princess Luna! Thank you for the opportunity." Lautia answered enthusiastically anger abruptly forgotten, as her clothes glowed and the recently added extras vanished before she floated off through a exterior wall.
"Well…" Twilight began uncertainly as Princess Luna released a sigh. "She seems nice?" Twilight answered.
"She has changed much over the millennia." Luna cautioned seriously. "Tread lightly around that one Twilight Sparkle. She is far more than she seems."
"Wait. She was mad at me wasn't she?" Twilight lamented eyes widening in horror at insulting the tiny human. "And that saddle was a little disconcerting."
"I forget that you have had very little interaction with humanoids to date." Luna said before walking back into the bathroom and collecting the bag she had left in there and placing it on the large pile on the floor.
"Have you known her long?" Twilight questioned obviously very interested in the miniature girl.
"She is an ages long acquaintance." Luna remarked before a contemplative look passed over her face. "She was...for lack of a better term Tia and I's foalsitter at times when Princess Euryphaessa was away from her castle. Though that was ages ago, and her personality is far more outgoing and lively than it was at that time."
"So she's as old as Sailor Theia as well?" Twilight theorized having pulled out a scroll and quill taking some brief notes.
Luna forced a smile. "She is an artificial construct. So she is not exactly alive as we are. Age is likely not the term one should use." Twilight simply nodded focusing on her notes as Luna continued. "She was created at a significantly later date then when Theia was first active. You would have to ask Ranma herself when that was however as my sister and I were not privy to such things."
"But didn't you ever ask? How could you not want to know more about your Mother and her friends?" Twilight wondered face agape at the lack of curiosity from the night Princess.
Luna simply chuckled sitting down upon her sisters bed before awkwardly standing and smoothing out the dress she was wearing before sitting again. "At the time Tia and I were but small foals and were far more interested in begging her to create small toys and games for us to enjoy. And shortly after we grew out of that stage we soon had Equestria to shepard, and our time with both Euryphaessa and Lautia was curtailed greatly." Luna finished slightly melancholy.
Twilight nodded and her expression crossed into concerned. "And I insulted her! I'll have to apologize. It'd be fascinating to learn more from someone even older than Princess Celestia and yourself…" Twilight mused before her face turned beet red. "Not that I'm calling you old Princess!" Twilight exclaimed lamely.
"It is fine Twilight. I am quite used to it." Luna chuckled idly running a hand along Celestia's silk bedspread clearly enjoying the new physical stimulus. "You will learn to deal with such things yourself after a few centuries." She mocked lightly teasing the newly minted alicorn in front of her before her expression darkened her hand tightening into a fist. "To think that her long solitude hath allowed her to express such varied interests and a desire to learn and grow… while I..." Frowning now Luna forcefully steeled her emotions and stood slowly before shakily walking over to the pile of bags in the corner of the room.
Noticing Luna's darkening mood Twilight adroitly realized just what Luna was reminiscing about changed the subject. "So is that all you're bringing? Just the three bags?" Twilight asked.
"Should I have brought more?" Luna replied turning to face Twilight.
Twilight instantly started sweating under the Moon Princesses intense gaze before laughing forcefully. "No no of course not! It's just that Princess Celestia was bringing so much and I thought your new castle would need your own personal touches as well!" Twilight finished in a hurry.
"Tis not a castle." Luna said flatly staring at the pile of goods her sister had piled into the spell circle with a raised eyebrow. "I suspect Lautia will have to return a great deal of my sisters bags. Tia seems to have forgotten the size of our new residence and that a great deal of our possessions shall not be appropriate for the forms we will be wearing while residing in Tokyo."
Twilight's expression turned to shock, "Not a palace? But how can Princess Celestia-" Twilight began only to be cut off by a stack of books slightly taller than the doorway suspended in golden magical light running into the doorway to the room. The books floated forward briefly before slamming into the door. Hearing a moderately loud harumph from outside the books blinked out of place in a flash of white light before the two Princesses in the room saw a flash of golden light above them the pile of books about to rain down on their heads. Twilight's horn flashed and Luna's magic seemed to spring from her fingertips as the books stacked themselves and gently floated to the floor.
"Oh I'm sorry." Celestia stammered sheepishly re-entering the room and nodding affectionately at her sister who only rolled her eyes. "I haven't used that spell in quite some time. I didn't hit either of you did I?"
"We are fine sister." Luna said favoring her sister with a tired look. "And what did we discuss about practicing locomotion in your bipedal form?" Luna demanded rotely.
Twilight quickly tuned the two Princesses out excitedly grabbing one of the teleported books with her telekinesis and opening it before her expression quickly became disappointed. "Cookbooks?" Twilight responded a few seconds later.
"Yes! At our new home we'll have to cook for ourselves." Celestia proclaimed dramatically.
"Did not Kasumi, Ranma, and Makoto offer to help us with our meals while we settled in?" Luna queried intruding on her sisters domestic fantasy.
"They did." Celestia admitted before pointing at all of the cookbooks. "But just think of how excited they'll be to see the celebrated results of thousands of years of Equestrian cooking history!" Celestia finished excitedly. "These books represent the Royal Chefs recipes. Every single recipe they've ever used for all the years they've existed is documented in these pages!"
Twilight's expression instantly brightened. "That's a lot of history." Twilight declared looking at them with suddenly renewed interest.
"It is!" Celestia assured with a smile. "I thought we'd start the first night in our new home with the first meal the royal staff served us." Celestia proposed nostalgically.
"And then you'll have plenty of other meals to experiment and research and combine with the humans and our own history of recipes!" Twilight surmised. To this Celestia and Twilight nearly mirrored each other with a nod both smiling in mutual understanding the two standing abreast as they excitedly looked through one of the first volumes of the cookbooks in the series.
Luna meanwhile only stuck one hand to her forehead and sighed explosively. Shrugging she stumbled for a brief second before carefully striding forward. "I believe the first meal served to us as rulers of the realm was withered crabgrass served over a garnish of sickly dandelions." Luna interjected picking up the book the two were perusing and flipping to the earliest of pages in the tome before holding it in front of the two mares who looked at the page and stuck out their tongues in distaste.
"Perhaps I'll just bring the most recent volumes." Celestia said seriously floating only two of the massive volumes onto the large pile of bags. "Now Twilight Luna has prepared..."
"I will give Twilight her briefing Celestia. You still need to go get changed." Luna remarked shakily pointing towards the bathroom.
Celestia's expression tightened imperceptibly. "I'm sure that's not necessary. The last time none of the Earthlings were overly excited by my natural state."
"Did not Princess Serenity specifically state that it would be enjoyable to show us various human amusements now that we did not have to depart for Equestria at the end of the evening?" Luna idly questioned while Celestia nodded hesitantly. "It would be shame if we were the center of attention would it not?"
"That's true. And I certainly wouldn't want to disappoint Usagi." Celestia sighed before nodding her head. "I will leave Twilight's briefing to you then sister." she finished as she slowly made her way towards the bathing area. Meanwhile Luna used her magic to pull another bag out from under Celestia's bed before floating it quickly over towards her elder sister landing it directly on her back with a little more force than was necessary.
"Do not forget your human raiments once again Tia. The Senshi seemed rather surprised when we forgot to don them."
Celestia openly grimaced at that before reluctantly nodding, picking the bag off her back with her own magic, and walking through the bathroom door before closing the door behind her. "And do not forget the layers sister! Remember that we were informed they were of import for Earthling cultural mores!"
"I never understood those either." Twilight admitted with a shrug. "I would have asked Rarity about them but I was afraid she'd have threatened to kill me for not bringing samples back." Twilight said with a wince recalling her time at Canterlot High.
Luna smiled at that. "Now Twilight Sparkle," Luna began her tone of voice turning serious. "I have talked to your dragon companion and he informed me that you have felt most uncomfortable when taking stewardship over Equestria while we were absent."
"You talked to Spike?" Twilight wondered apprehensively.
"Indeed. And he informed me of what must be done to make you more comfortable with such an arrangement, especially if we are away for longer periods in the future." At this Twilight felt her heart racing and tried hard to reign in her panic. "To that end Spike has informed me that the way to make you most comfortable would be to provide you with this." With that Luna went and picked up a rolled scroll off of a nearby dresser and held it out to Twilight who noticed the seal of the Moon Princess and gently took it out of Luna's hand with her telekinesis and unrolled it.
Looking at the scroll in front of her Twilight blinked before a look of astonishment and reverence spread across her face. "You made me a checklist?"
"Indeed. Thy dragon assured me that this would help alleviate your stress. Was he incorrect?" Luna queried slightly tense at the answer to the question. She was not at all prepared for Twilight to gallop over to her and nuzzle into her side in a openly happy gesture with a wide smile. Collapsing to her knees at the unexpected gesture Luna awkwardly put a hand on Twilight's back to return the affectionate gesture.
"Thank you so much Princess Luna! This makes me feel so much better." Twilight shouted gazing up at her with reverent awe before turning her attention back to the list. "The whole day is planned and suggestions are given on the order of everything! You even included estimates on how long each item should take! Thank you!"
"Tis not a problem. We have demanded much of you while we simply enjoy the company of old friends." Luna replied. She was about to review some important points on the checklist when the bathroom door opened and on shaky feet Celestia strode out. She was as tall as Luna's human body in this form, but her complexion was far more tanned when compared to Luna's paler skin. She had long bright red hair reaching to mid back and was wearing a flowing green dress similar in style to Luna's white one. It shined at the seams where it had been stitched with golden colored thread and accents that were shaped into small slightly prickly sun shaped circles.
"You look very nice Princess." Twilight said complimenting her former teacher who remained stationed in the doorway one of her arms out to grip the wall.
"Thank you Twilight Sparkle." Celestia replied to her students compliment returning a smile that mirrored quite closely the one Twilight was so used to seeing on her natural form. "Have you informed Twilight of her duties while we are away Luna?" Celestia inquired hands firmly ensconced on the wall behind her as she took a few shaky steps into the room before leaning against the wall.
"Princess Luna gave me a checklist!" Twilight proclaimed using her magic to hold up the scroll reverently.
"That was a fantastic idea Luna!" Celestia declared favoring her sister with a nod.
Luna smiled sheepishly at that before staring at her sisters bright cherry red hair and shaking her head in barely masked distaste. "I do believe we shall need to depart soon or we may be late to meet with our estate agent."
"You're leaving so soon!" Twilight called out distressed. "But doesn't Lautia need more time to finish inspecting the castle?"
"I've been done for quite some time." Lautia's voice called out from again directly behind Twilight's back causing the Alicorn to buck slightly in shock. "And we are nearly behind schedule." She pointed out before floating off of Twilight and over to the stack of bags. "Are you both ready to go?" She probed foot tapping in empty air as she grew more agitated. "We're only twenty seconds from our scheduled disembarkation."
"Very well." Luna answered standing up and walking over to the agitated miniature senshi. "Are you coming Tia?" Luna asked her sister who was still stationed leaning on the wall just outside of her bathroom.
Nodding her head Celestia put one shaky foot in front of the other, hands trailing along the wall for balance as she awkwardly and slowly made her way to the stack of bags. Stopping just before reaching them she turned around looked back towards Twilight who was still looking slightly overwhelmed. "Good luck Twilight. I have faith that you'll be able to handle any problems that arise. And if you have any difficulties, you can contact us easily. Just use-"
"Deadline of one minute behind schedule reached. Teleporting five ponies, and two hundred and fifty eight bags of miscellaneous contents to Castle Neith." Lautia announced rotely as a large vortex formed around the bags and the startled two princesses in human form.
"Five?" Twilight called out rushing over to the spell circle. "And what do I use if I have trouble? Hey wait!" She called out to Lautia.
She saw Celestia try to also shout something at Lautia but the sudden magical breeze overwhelmed her usually soft voice though Twilight did barely manage to hear three young foals shout out, "Dimensional Explorer Cutie Marks! Yay!" As three young foals she was very familiar with poked their heads out of one of Princess Celestia's bags before a second later they, the two Princesses, and all of their bags vanished with a bright flash of light.
"Well...that's not good. Rarity and Applejack are going to be worried." Twilight muttered to the now empty room. "But they're with the Princesses! I'm sure nothing could go wrong." Twilight said convincing herself that everything will be fine. "It's not like those three ever get in any trouble." She ranted before her memories flashed back to one of their many misadventures. "Well...Maybe...It doesn't matter." She finally decided. "I'm sure they'll probably be sent back any minute now right?" Twilight pleaded.
She remained motionless staring at where the teleportation had taken place before a few minutes later with a flash of light a small paper note fell to the ground. Grabbing it eagerly with her telekinesis she read it. Blinked. And read it again before dropping it in shock. "I'm sure the Princesses know what they're doing." She finished lamely before shakily walking out the doorway long checklist floating behind her.
xyz
Ranma dressed in her typical red and black outfit nervously paced back and forth in the wide receiving room of her castle. Pulling her phone out of her pocket she flicked the power button and glanced at the time before tensing and walking to a window and staring out at the holographic live feed of Venus wincing at the omnipresent cloud cover before pacing back to the center of the room and the spell circle drawn out for receiving Celestia and Luna's possessions before the less complex teleport to their new home using the Senshi's already built teleportation network.
Seeing the translocation spell circle on the floor begin to glow a wide smile crossed Ranma's face. A magically created breeze began to blow through the room, but that ended quickly and with a flash of light Celestia, Luna and a multitude of bags blinked into existence.
In a flash of light Lautia appeared next to her. "We've arrived Ranma-dono." Lautia said with a polite bow. "I apologize for being behind schedule but they were simply not ready to depart in time." She announced curtly. "Should I arrange further transport to Earth now so that we can attempt to-"
"You will have to send foals back first Lautia." Celestia said shakily blinking back the brief disorientation teleporting out of Equestria's pocket dimension could cause. "I don't want them to get into any trouble."
"Foals?" Ranma asked at a loss. "Did you bring someone else to help you move in? All of the Sens-." Ranma's questioning was cut off with a sudden yelp as her reflexes barely let her jump out of the way as three young foals galloped directly past her to stare out one of the massive holographic windows of her receiving hall.
"Oh my gosh! Is that Equestria?" Sweetie Belle asked staring wide eyed at the projection of Earth out of the windowsill. "It looks so small."
"Girls, please." Princess Celestia began while stumbling forward towards them. "It's dangerous to stowaway. Your families are going to worry about you, now please gather around so we can send you back home." Celestia said softly and compassionately but the three foals complete attention was still directed at the bright blue and green planet shining out the window.
"Who cares what it looks like! I'm going to go down in history as setting the record for the highest a Pegasus has ever flown! Wait till I tell Rainbow Dash about this! She's going to be so jealous!" Scootaloo said ignoring Princess Celestia who was still trying to draw their attention, and also disregarding the other red haired human who was only looking on bemused waiting for her two quasi-daughters to resolve the situation.
"But the shapes are jus' wrong!" Applebloom cried. "Remember geography class! Where's Horseshoe Bay? And look at Manehattan! There are way ta many islands!"
"And Rainbow told me that you could see reflections of the sparkling towers on the cloud tops from the Crystal Empire if you're anywhere near it. Why can't we see it? That'd be so cool!"
"Hello Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle." Princess Luna began softly, but firmly from directly behind them. All three foals quickly jerking around and giving the disguised Princess of the Night their full attention.
"Princess Luna!" All three foals called out at once happily until they took in her stern expression and their eyes dropped to the floor while their body language became instantly guilty.
"You know these three Luna?" Celestia asked walking forward tiredly, slightly exasperated that she hadn't been able to get their attention.
"Of course she knows us! She's our friend!" Scootaloo shouted angrily at the tanned redheaded human.
"Yeah she helped me save my sister's business once! And taught me a really important lesson! And who are you to call her just Luna, she's Princess Luna!" Sweetie Belle said seriously.
Celestia was taken aback jaw dropping slightly while Ranma only looked on laughing while Luna herself smiled placing a hand on Sweetie Belle's back to silence her. "Thank you for correcting my sister on her lack of etiquette Sweetie Belle, I'm sure she feels most ashamed by her rude behavior."
"Ya have a human sister Princess?" Applebloom asked bewildered staring intently at the two humans before her curiously. Not that the Crusaders hadn't seen mythological creatures before what with the monsters, odd creatures, and other things commonly found only in fairy tales that visited Ponyville on a somewhat regular basis.
"How does that even work?" Scootaloo interjected while Princess Luna snorted losing her composure when Celestia's face looked like she was sucking on a lemon.
"That's because she's really Princess Celestia in disguise." Ranma helpfully explained while gesturing to Celestia while Luna could barely stifle her giggles and Celestia still looked on shocked.
"But her mane is all red! Shouldn't it be pink?"
"No, I always thought it would be a really cool green if it wasn't all rainbowy!"
"Or it coulda been blue." Apple Bloom and the other foals all said near the same time while Celestia only sighed, shifting her hair back to its natural rainbow of colors.
"Girls, you shouldn't have come without asking first. Who knows where we were being transported you could have been injured. And then what would your parents think?" Luna asked the foals quietly causing them all to look away guiltily.
"But Princess we just wanted to see what was here! How many other ponies can say that they saw awesome stuff like that!" Scootaloo proclaimed pointing at one of the massive holograms lining the hall. Seeing that there was more than just Earth hanging in the hallway the Crusaders walked towards the representation of Saturn and stared at it with mouths agape.
Ranma, Luna, and Celestia each shared an indulgent smile as the three girls stood in the doorway mystified by the massive ringed planet.
"You think that's awesome huh?" Ranma said stepping in behind them, but the girls were totally lost in admiration of the planet and didn't even hear her approach.
"There's so many little floating rocks! It's like zillions of diamonds!" Sweetie Belle added making Ranma's smile spread further.
"Where's the land on that anyway? It's all just spinning around on nothin'." Apple Bloom asked finally turning her head back to look at the human that was kneeling right behind them.
"That's because it doesn't really have any land." Ranma explained.
"But who lives there then?" Scootaloo asked. "Are there a whole lot of Pegasi in the clouds?"
"No one lives there now…" Ranma answered regretfully. "But in a way, yes, people could live in the clouds there with a lot of work and special buildings. Want to see something neat though?"
All three foals nodded excitedly their attention focused solely on the red haired human.
"Lautia do you have a recent holographic model of Equestria?" Ranma asked turning to the floating magical construct.
Popping into place to Ranma's side Lautia nodded, hands glowing as she pulled up a small representation of Equestria directly in front of her that began to scan through various images while the foals looked on enthralled. "Of course! I just finished a re-evaluation of the planet to check for any instability. There's a seismographic, infrared, leyline flow, therm-."
"Pull up Equestria inside the Saturn projection. One to one scale, visible light render, no cloud cover." She ordered.
Lautia nodded and a small blue and green visible, though obviously far far smaller planet appeared to the right of Saturn as Ranma had ordered.
"That can't be Equestria!" Scootaloo shouted.
"Yeah there's no way it's that small. We live on it!"
"But Equestria isn't that small. Saturn is just that big!" Ranma finished dramatically. "Lautia switch focus to Equestria in orbit around Saturn. Eastern Continental landmass."
Lautia nodded and each of the girls looked on with wide eyes as their home planet was backdropped and dwarfed by the massive ringed planet. Celestia and Luna meanwhile just shared a nostalgic nod and smile as they watched Ranma interact with a set of foals.
"Ranma-dono I hate to interrupt..." Lautia began as Ranma turned to look in her direction. "But we're falling further behind schedule. Princesses Luna and Celestia are scheduled to meet with their estate broker in only five minutes now. So if we are to send the foals back now would be ideal."
Seeing the three foals looking disappointed looks Ranma frowned and played with her braid for a second before nodding and smiling at the foals. "No. No need to send them back. I'm sure they'll be safe here. Lautia would you please take these three on a tour of the castle. Show them all the neat stuff and then later maybe they can join us."
"Ranma but their parents will be worried. I'm sure Twilight noticed their stowing away." Celestia said. "We really should just send them back."
"Tia...these three are very responsible young mares. I'm sure they'd show the proper decorum in a Princesses castle and follow directions while seeing such wonders won't they?" Luna asked favoring each of the Crusaders with a stern look.
"Of course we will Princess!" all three shouted at once under Luna's stern look.
"But...won't their families-" Celestia began only for Ranma to cut her off.
"Then we'll just have Lautia send them a note." Ranma said and with a brief flash of light summoned a notepad and wrote in Equestrian a summary of what was going on. Folding the note she pressed it into Lautia's waiting hands. "Make sure that gets to Equestria after you transport us to Earth."
"Yes Ranma-dono." Lautia answered acidically.
"Great!" Ranma exclaimed putting an arm around both Alicorns in human form and leading them towards their bags. "Remember show them all the cool stuff!" Ranma ordered before taking in Lautia's mischievous expression. "But nothing too dangerous Lautia!" she added before with a flash of light the three ponies and all their bags disappeared out of the Hall.
With a sigh Lautia tossed the note she was holding into the air, transforming it into a scroll halfway through its upward trajectory and through a portal she had formed at the exact apex of its arc. Letting out an unneeded breath she turned to look at the three ponies who were each staring at her. "Yes? What is it?"
"Are you a tiny human?"
"Are there a lot of things that look like ya?"
"Where are your wings? How are you flying anyway? Are you some sort of Breezie?"
"Oh can ya show me what ma farm looks like from way up in the sky like a Pegasus?"
"Yeah! What's Ponyville look like from way up here!"
"Or the Crystal Empire!"
"Oooh can we see the Gryphon Kingdoms too?!"
"Enough!" she shouted causing the three foals to wince. "If you would please follow me I'll show you some 'cool' stuff as ordered." Lautia said floating off down the hall at a pace she knew what the average pony of their age would shortly feel winded at.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders field trip!" Sweetie Belle shouted from following dutifully behind the magical construct.
zyx
Kasumi made a contented moan as she happily lounged on her bed, a book she had been trying to find time to read for the last few months propped on her stomach as she slowly read the pages. It was nice to finally get a break from her part in the cooking for the small housewarming party that Ranma had wanted to prepare for her 'daughters' finding a place to live nearby. It would be great to see Luna and Celestia again along with the senshi. Suddenly having a far bigger circle of friends was nice, she thought with a small smile before turning her attention back to her book.
She continued happily reading her book until a bright flash of light above her drew her attention but she could barely restrain her scream as three fuzzy bodies crashed into the ground around with soft thumps all around her room. Her eyes finally re-adjusting after the flash of light she saw three small brightly colored ponies who each began to cough and gasp for breath.
"Are you alright?" She asked jumping to her feet and going to each ones side. Receiving only coughs and wheezes in response along with wild eyed looks she stood up to run to call Ranma's cell when with another flash of light the miniature Senshi Lautia appeared in her room.
"Greetings Kasumi-sama." Lautia said idly before floating over to each gasping pony in turn placing a glowing hand over each of them she nodded and floated back to their side. Seeing Kasumi's state of near panic Lautia bowed her head in an apologetic gesture. "My apologies for our sudden arrival, but the witless orange pegasus managed to cause a malfunction within Castle Neith's environmental controls while I was showing them the control crystals."
"My-name-is Scoo..." The orange pegasus began only to be struck by a coughing fit and then began to wheeze repeatedly from her position on the floor. Lautia meanwhile made it a point to not even gaze in Scootaloo's direction.
"Are they going to be alright?" Kasumi asked the miniature senshi with concern still hovering over the gasping Crusaders. "Should I call Ranma? Or Hotaru?"
"No please do not call Ranma-dono." Lautia pleaded a bit too quickly before her voice returned to normal. "The foals were only subject to oxygen levels below critical levels for thirty seconds. They had at least another fifty-four seconds before suffering any permanent damage." Lautia finished with a hint of satisfaction.
"Right." Kasumi said, used to the magical constructs quirks, and knowing that she could have probably transported the ponies faster, but probably wanted to teach them a lesson.
"Now if you'll excuse me I must get back to the castle and fix the environmental systems." Lautia announced.
"But what am I supposed to do with three- Great." Kasumi finished to empty air as Lautia had shimmered out of existence and saw that the three foals were looking at her with wide eyes their breathing returning to normal.
"Are you a real normal human?" Sweetie Belle asked as the other two Crusaders stared at her with equal interest.
"Um...Yes?" Kasumi answered shakily sweating as the three continued their staring.
"Not a pony in magical disguise huh? Or some sort of crazy wingless Breezie?" Scootaloo asked her wings ruffling slightly in suspicion.
Kasumi seemed to consider the question for a second before laughing. "Of course not."
Seemingly satisfied with that the three nodded.
"So this is a real human room! Lookit all the stuff! Cutie Mark Crusaders, investigate!" Applebloom shouted.
Laughing awkwardly as the three began to roughly rifle through Kasumi's neat and well organized room as Kasumi's fist tightened imperceptibly. She would pay Lautia back for dumping babysitting duty on her.
zyx
Luna idly grasped the moist grass with her bare feet as she sat on the porch overlooking her and Celestia's new home in Tokyo. Looking up at the sky from behind the eyepiece of a telescope she frowned and stood back up idly brushing her dress. The stars were obscured by clouds and far too much light from the city was making it impossible to see all but the brightest of stars. She was tempted to enchant the telescope with a brief channeling of magical power but before she fundamentally altered the telescope she was interested in seeing what the non-magically gifted Earthlings were capable of creating.
Growing frustrated she was about to turn to go back inside when there was a break in the clouds that had hidden Serenity's Moon and it shone in the night sky. She was making adjustments to turn the telescope to gaze at the Moon when she heard another round of laughs from inside her and her sisters home as the party with her friends and the three stowaway Cutie Mark Crusaders continued. Peeking her head inside the doorway she saw that Usagi and Ranma were both rapidly braiding a different crusaders hair. That had all started once the Cutie Mark Crusaders had gotten a closer look and become more sociable with Usagi, Ranma, and Usa. Sweetie Belle had stared at their braided hair, and thought they must have had a expert unicorn hair stylist on retainer to get their hair into such a intricate style. When the two had mentioned that they styled their own hair the three foals had been more than eager to have their own manes styled by such obvious 'experts'.
Celestia meanwhile had been showing Minako, Kasumi, and Makoto her comprehensive set of royal cookbooks. Lautia and Ami had decided to add a non-dimensional room to the house to better store the many knick-knacks Celestia had simply had to bring along, leading to the outers being interested in seeing the groundwork for such a spell. Haruka especially was intrigued with using such a spell to expand her garage. While Rei and Usa decided to watch as Usagi and Ranma began to braid the girls hair into different and more intricate hairstyles as they naturally fell into a friendly competitive rivalry with one another. Leaving Luna by herself and not really involved or too interested in either activity so she had decided to go outside and make use of the gift Ami had provided for her, a rather nice telescope of human manufacture, but with the stars so obscured by cloud cover and city lights that interest had quickly turned to frustration.
Still peeking in through the open doorway she saw Apple Bloom reluctantly placed in Ranma's lap. The filly looked pretty uncomfortable until Ranma gave her a calming pat on the head along with a reassuring smile. With that the filly calmed down and settled in and Ranma got to work. Luna remembered fondly when she was a foal smaller than Apple Bloom when Princess Euryphaessa had brushed her mane, while she talked with her for seeming hours about her day. Seeing Ranma regard Apple Bloom with a similar expression was surprisingly painful. With a slight gasp she stumbled away from the doorway and took a step into the yard. Briefly concentrating, and with a flash of her magic she shed her human form. Stretching slightly on her four legs she shook her head letting her mane flow more freely and with a look to the Moon the Alicorn disappeared within a flash of blue light.
zyx
Luna's teleport ended just about where she had hoped it to be, just slightly above what had been the private residences of the Moon Kingdom's biggest castle. Not seeing the residence she knew had been there she cast a small cantrip and suddenly the castle was visible to her eyes. Landing in the Lunar Regolith that had piled up near the entrance to the complex, Luna grimaced slightly at the dust that covered her shod hooves before walking into a ruined and barely standing white marble-looking structure.
Trotting inside she was amazed at the casual damage and destruction that had been wrought on the structure all the while her hooves making hollow echoes on the ancient marble floor. Beryl's demonic army had been quite thorough she thought with a grimace as she stepped around a collapsed pillar and the roof of one branching hallway of the building. Thanks to this roadblock and a few other detours she grimaced as she simply couldn't orient herself to find her destination. Gritting her teeth, she cast another spell. Her horn glowed with blue light as a ghostly blue aura spread out from it to suffuse the area directly in front of her. Overlaying the ruins was a hollow blue shaded projection of the grand hallways that used to exist, though this phantom version of the complex existed only in a ghostly blue circle directly surrounding her.
Hearing no noise whatsoever, but the echoes of her own footsteps wasn't something she enjoyed, there were simply too many ghosts and memories in these halls she thought with a shudder. Making turn after turn she came to what had been the near center of the compound and what had been a full garden, but was now filled instead with Lunar regolith and ancient toppled and destroyed fountains and statues that her spell did little to obscure. Letting her spell disperse with the blue twilight effect her horn provided vanishing she gasped at the rooms startlingly bright white in color. The walls, floor, paintings, formerly beautifully decorated frescoes and fountains were all bleached a uniform white from the unyielding sunlight streaming in through the destroyed skylights above.
Grimacing she made to turn down what had been the most secure rooms in the residential complex. That of the Queen and her daughter. Looking down she smirked, she could almost see where the two honor guards would stand from the grooves worn into the floor over the millennia. Luna's ears twitched as she picked up the hoof falls of someone she knew more intimately than anyone else.
Without even turning around Luna montonely muttered, "Hello 'Tia."
"Luna." Celestia said fully entering the garden and taking a few quiet steps closer to her sister concern evident on her face. "Did you want to be alone?" Celestia asked quietly seeing as her sister still hadn't turned around.
"Yes-no-I know not." Luna said turning to face her sister a haunted expression crossing her face. "I came to see what was left-." Luna said one of her forelegs making a gesture around the grounds.
"There isn't much, is there?" Celestia asked sadly crossing the room to get closer to her sister.
"No. There isn't." Luna finished face downcast.
"The Queen was so proud of this garden, this palace. The trees that used to be here were from her home planet and…" Celestia began remembering the old garden well.
"I mourn the Queen less than all of the others who died here." Luna interjected cutting off her elder sister with an angry proclamation causing Celestia's eyes to widen. "Please sister, don't look so shocked. The Queen never held us in more esteem than clever exotic pets for her daughter." Luna finished.
"Luna-we were young. If she had lived to see all that we accomplished I'm sure she would have changed her view." Celestia answered hollowly.
"Perhaps. But we were still but the Princess's precious pets. Nothing more."
"Princess Serenity never treated us that way." Celestia finally said after a few moments of silence. "We were her friends."
"Exactly as Euryphaessa created us to be." Luna answered with a resigned sigh.
"Luna...Euryphaessa loved us." Celestia replied walking closer to her sister putting a supportive wing across her back. "Whatever we started as, whatever her initial plans for us were...you know they changed. We became more than just a present for her Princess."
"I know." Luna said with a smile, remembering happier times and a warm and supportive redhaired Princess.
"Do you want to come back to the party now, sister?" Celestia asked both Alicorns having moved close enough together that their wings touched together their tips touching and crossing over at points. "I believe Ranma has prepared more hay biscuits for us. I caught a hint of them in the air earlier." Celestia gossiped excitedly.
"You always think you smell those confections when Ranma's around." Luna answered lamely with a roll of her eyes.
"Luna, Ranma has not yet given us her housewarming gift! What could possibly be a better present?" Celestia answered excitedly taking a few steps away from her sister from her sister and with a flash of magic from her horn returned to her human form. "If you don't hurry back I'll just have to call dibs on all of them." Celestia finished hands on her nude hips sticking her tongue out at her younger sister.
"Thou wouldn't dare!" Luna said her own horn flashing a light blue while she to retook on her human form.
"Race you!" Celestia teased and with a flash of blinding white light she was gone.
"'Tia wait!" Luna cried as her white dress, shoes, and jewelry suddenly popped into existence on her body. "You forgot your human raiments again!"
End
Well that went a lot longer than I expected. Thanks very much for reading it and I hope you enjoyed it. If you did please review and toss me a comment or two. It makes me a lot more likely to keep writing, as otherwise it feels like a sort of hollow exercise for me.
- Frice