The Mare of the Sun, The Ruler of Days, Princess Celestia of Equestria is tired. She is tired of, to a very small extent, all of her titles. But more importantly, she is tired of organizing. Preparing for a visit from her most favored pupil was new- She was used to Twilight living in Canterlot, not Ponyville, and they had not truly spent much time together since that change. She... regretted it, as good for Twilight as it was, and as necessary for Equestria as it was. Losing one of the few ponies close to her hurt. Oh, there were ponies of all kinds and colors and ages and types for her to spend time with. But at the absolute worst end, they were fearful or hateful like the dignitaries and the politicians. And even at the best, they were grudgingly respectful- Her closest friend was the Captain of her Guard, who frequently spent time during his shifts speaking with her. But even that relationship was strained and...

She hated to admit it, but one of the greatest flaws of her power, of her nature, was the sheer fragility of relationships. She maintained her perfect, only slightly-false royal persona, walking on eggshells, and nothing was wrong. But at the same time, she could not truly become close to anypony that way- The myth was far larger than the mare. It had been years since she had a confidant, decades since she had a true friend, and hundreds of years since she had a lover- In any permanent sense, least-ways. Her sister's return, glorious and joyful as it was, could not provide a true friend-- They were siblings, for all the good and all the bad that implies. But Twilight...

Another book slid into place on the reading table, and she smiled for a moment: Pride in work well-done. The study area for the weekend was nearly complete, and she had absolutely refused anypony else's help- If she was going to spend personal time with her pupil, she would make it as personal as possible. Because of all the ponies in Equestria, she could honestly say that few of them treated her the way she wished to be treated. Twilight was her loving and obedient student, somepony who looked at her with awe and respect, but also knew she was still a mare, alicorn nature and royal status regardless. And Fluttershy was one of the few ponies with the bravery required to stand up to her, to take her own pet out of her care because she felt it was ill, or to make an emotional advance towards her sister. Speaking of which...

Her sister's brash actions, actually kissing the young pegasus in return, had admittedly made her a bit angry. Of all the times for Luna to finally show her nature as the rebellious younger child... No. That is a lie. Luna did nothing of the sort- She simply acted as anypony would have. The problem was with Celestia herself. She was... Not necessarily jealous, but possibly aware that despite her long absence, Luna might be leaving her behind, making progress in ways she had long ago forsaken for the sake of running the whole of Equestria alone. But now. Now they both ruled, together, as it had always been intended, and the two of them could use this fact. Each of them was under far less stress than either would be alone. She could actually do things for herself again.

And thus, when her pupil came into the throne room, nervously asking for more advanced and personal lessons, the teacher in Celestia leapt for joy, the magic theorist inside of her cried out in glorious jubilation, and the part of her... The part of her that, like Twilight Sparkle herself once did, yearned, without quite knowing it, for companionship? That part was still celebrating. Celestia, the alicorn mare, the Day-Bringer, Princess and Co-Ruler of Equestria, finally had somepony with the potential to be more. To be a peer, a companion, a friend. Certainly, she thought of Twilight as one of the most important ponies in her life. But now... Now she finally had enough freedom in her own life to express it.

------SCENE BREAK DISRUPTED

Speaking of expressing things, Celestia wonders if the author isn't possibly using her lack of any present relationships as a veiled insult. Not to mention playing up her easily-distracted free-associating nature, amongst other offenses... As such, she would like to know how he feels about long-term placement on a celestial object somewhere. She has heard the moon is quite tolerable this time of year.

...

The author, in return, would like to excuse himself to go narrate for somepony else. Quickly.

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Wings beat in time with the sound of the rain in the far distance-- A storm, but not one coming to Ponyville. Which was good. No rain today. Nothing wrong today. Despite how much she was worrying about the weekend, Fluttershy felt... Good. She was flying, steadily and happily. Not far off the ground, sure, but flying regardless. She wanted to make sure that everything was right for when Luna came, and... She didn't know how. But she knew somepony, several someponies, who would. So to town she flew, quick as an arrow, a strangely calm smile on her face. She was having her emotional freakout about how abrupt this was inside- On the outside, she was getting things done. It just felt like the right way to handle it, somehow.

Her first stop was at Carousel Boutique. She knew how much she and Twilight had been relying on Rarity lately, but she also knew that her spa partner, to some extent, craved that kind of work and stress. Sure, she had limits. Everypony did. But Fluttershy knew, from their time together, how much was too much, and was careful to never rely on her friend even close to that amount. But this... This was one Rarity would want to be involved in regardless of stress.

She knocked, gently, once. The reply came instantly: the door swinging open on the hinges. No lights on inside, no Rarity in sight. Fluttershy stepped partway inside and called out.
"Um, is... is everything alright, Rarity?"

A sudden clamor as her unicorn friend came bolting up the stairs from the basement, her mane and tail immaculate, coat sleek, eyes bright. Rarity reached forward, embraced Fluttershy quickly, and then backed away smiling.
"Oh! Fluttershy, dear, I am so sorry I wasn't at the door when you came but I had an idea and I simply had to start working on it right away. But it's alright for now- I got the base down, it's all set and ready for the next run up. What can I do for you?"

Fluttershy was used to seeing Rarity on her "high energy" days, so she didn't flinch in front of the exuberant speech. Instead, she did what Rarity had said was best to do in this situation: Just be normal.
"Well, I got news today."

"News? What sort? Good, bad? Don't tell me it was bad."

"Oh no, no! It was very good. Really good, actually. It seems that, uhm... Luna is coming."

Rarity instantly deflated a bit, suddenly looking a touch scared.
"The Princess? How soon? Is my mane alright?"

She nodded, looking at her friend's lovely hair, her poise even in a moment of stress. Fluttershy only wished she could be half as impressive on her good days, much less her bad.
"Rarity, you look fine. Fantastic, even. I came... because I want to be prepared. To, um... impress her, that is."

The fashionista quirked her head to one side, tapped her forehoof on her chin, and then positively beamed a smile at her.
"Fluttershy, I have just the idea! Now here's what we're going to do: We head down to Sugarcube Corner..."

And from there, the two of them plotted.

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Twilight plotted her course through Canterlot in her head. It was about fifteen minutes to touchdown, and she was going to make it to the palace as quickly as possible- She only.had this one weekend with Celestia (for now, of course (she squelched that thought, worrying she might jinx herself (a thought which was also quashed for being absurdly paranoid and mildly unscientific))) and she wanted to waste none of it. So she could simply dart up to this building, ask kindly to use their side exit, and...

Oh! We're landing. Time to put this into motion...
In a way, she was surprised to find herself as energetic and dedicated to the task as she was- Normally, something like going through the city would be a simple, meandering trip. But her new-found motivation vis-a-vis spending time with her mentor pushed her onward. So she dashed up the streets, saddlebags quite full (although not too full, as apparently Celestia had kept her old rooms intact) and eyes bright. This was a wonderful start to what was sure to be a wonderful weekend.

----

When she arrived in her old home and study, she let her bags drop with a massive sigh of relief. All the shelves were just as she had left them- It had been a it of a rush as she packed to head to Ponyville, and a second rush when she came back to get all of her things to move in permanently. But still, this felt like... if not home, then certainly something close. Now she just had to head up to the palace and see-

"Twilight Sparkle, my favorite student!"

Twilight turned around, slowly, to find that Celestia was here, already, waiting, leaning against the massive hourglass and reading through an equally-massive tome on spell theory. Twilight sputtered, nickered, blushed, and finally settled on bowing quickly and waiting for a response. There was the gentle sound of hooves as Celestia approached and laid herself against Twilight, neck curling around her in a short embrace.
"Welcome back. I'm very glad you made it promptly, and seemingly in good shape."

Twilight stepped back and looked at her ruler with concern.
"I... didn't know you'd be waiting for me. I'm sorry if I kept you away from something important-"

"Nonsense. As I said, we would be studying together during this weekend. I've chosen to spend this time with you as much as possible- right now, your education, and being with you, is the “something important” that nopony will keep me away from. Alright?"

"I... Thank you, Princess Celestia."

At that, the alicorn smiled, a twinkle of something (humor?) in her eyes.
"No need to stand on such formality, Twilight- Feel free to refer to me without the title, during times like this."

While Twilight had prepared herself for a lot of potential events on this weekend, being told that was not one of them. She whipped her head up to look at Celestia, who was still smiling.
"But. I. But you..."

Celestia seemed to understand without even letting her student finish, simply .
"Twilight, it's perfectly fine."

Now that stopped her in her tracks. Pri... Celestia had almost never referred to her as anything but her full name, and the change was... Nice. She smiled back, looking at the tome still floating in her teacher's magical grasp. It was one she had never quite gotten around to- A bit beyond her level, at the time, but now the contents were tempting her.
"Alright then... Celestia. May I ask when we're starting our studies?"

"Oh, I was thinking... Now?"
They shared a laugh, and the Princess- No, her mentor. Her mentor opened the book, and they began to read, shoulder to shoulder.

--------

Luna had insisted to her sister that she had no need for a carriage to Ponyville- She had magically transported there before, she was the Lunar Princess and thus had a private carriage, she had her own set of wings, you know? But no, Celestia told her that it was better to take a normal chariot- After all, it was an opportunity to spend time with her subjects. And truthfully, she did run into Twilight Sparkle at the waystation, which was... Hmm. Celestia likely did not plan that, but it was never wise to exclude that possibility where 'Tia was involved.

Regardless of her worries, she had a much more pressing bit of work at hand- Ponyville, and the discovery thereof. She had spent time here before, certainly, but had no opportunities to truly study the place, as she often did in a new location. The village was newer than her... departure. So she trotted her way to the center of the Town Square, and into the city hall-- A lovely and quite sizable building, suitable for ceremonies but at the same time containing many offices. The stallion working at the front counter bowed, and she sighed. It would be one of those days.

Thankfully, she managed to calm the clerk before he got too far into the various shows of fear and / or adoration that made up the average pony's behavior around royalty. Subsequently, he was quite the passable guide, showing her the layout and pointing out places of interest. And while it was not a perfect tour (in fact, quite sparse... she would need a better guide later), it was not long before she saw her destination. Sugarcube Corner was a renowned bakery, that much was for sure, but she couldn't risk involving Fluttershy's friends if she wanted to make this a surprise. So instead, she trotted up to the small and unsuspecting house she was told contained a particularly skilled confectioner.

She knocked, gently, and was surprised when the door was opened immediately by a green unicorn who... Did not, in any way, bow or shrink or even look surprised. Her Royal Instinct informed her that this was one of the ponies she was looking for, but she asked regardless:
"Excuse Us, but is this the home of... Lyra the unicorn and Bon-Bon the earth pony?"

The unicorn shrugged and looked over her shoulder to yell into the house.
"Bon! Royalty here to see you!"
And she turned back, grinning, no particular fear or devotion or even respect in her eyes.
"Pleased to meetcha! Name's Lyra."

Luna grinned just as wide and stepped in next to the mare, pulling the door shut with her magic. Friends, interesting events and locales, ponies who didn't treat her like a goddess or a monster-- She was really beginning to like this 'quiet village'.