Breakfast had gone well, and Derpy had left almost immediately- Apparently, even if she was only one of the three messengers spreading the news of Luna’s announcement, that meant a fair bit of work. Fluttershy helped her clean, insisting (“Even though I cooked, I still want to help take care of the dishes.”) despite her protests. With that out of the way, neither of them had anything specific to deal with unti... Wait.

“Fluttershy, I had been meaning to ask thee a question: Has my visit been... harming thy work?”

“Oh, not at all! I mean, I was prepared for it, and it’s... um, not really a high-impact job or anything. I don’t exactly have a wing-breaking amount of work on my plate, you know?”

“Mmh. I’m glad- It would make me feel dreadful to have imposed.”

“No problem! Although...”
For whatever reason, she blushed before continuing.
“Would you, uh, like to help? Today, I mean? I have a few heavy things to get done before lunch, so...”

Luna clapped her hooves, grimacing when Fluttershy recoiled from the vast sound. She really did have to keep that under better control.
“Gladly! We... Um. Yes, that sounds lovely.”

Luna had not worked with animals (apart from her scuffle with a certain rabbit the other day) in quite some time, but she got back into the swing of it quickly. And when her Royal Voice escaped her out of frustration or habit, Fluttershy was always there to bring the more skittish animals back to their homes and pens. Eight hooves and four wings were certainly faster than half that amount, and a horn completely changed the equation- Fluttershy’s morning of work was reduced to a forty-five minute flurry of activity, the two of them happily chatting as they worked.

If there was one bit of frustration, it was a single recalcitrant robin which refused to leave its nest. Fluttershy explained, softly, that it had to spend some time away or the baby birds would never be independent. However, the stubborn animal didn’t move. Fluttershy continued to cajole it, until eventually Luna became exasperated and used her Voice. The sheer volume sent the bird flying, and it shot her a confused expression before flying away. She apologized to Fluttershy, but the pegasus mare thought nothing of it- Sometimes force was necessary, she said.

Afterwards, both of them a bit labored from the speed (they had just gotten so wrapped up in the project), they paused for a drink. The lemonade was refreshing, but her eyes kept glancing back to the bottle of Morning Sky. She was most definitely forgetting something, but what? There was no reason to partake this early, and the only other thing she could use it for was...

“Oh!”

Fluttershy startled, dropping her glass and catching it just before it hit the table.
“Are you alright!?”

“Oh... My apologies. But yes, very much so! I have just recalled something.”

“Did you have something to do today? Did I make you late?”

She shook her head, pausing to stretch a wing across the table and embrace her marefriend.
“Nothing of the sort. Do not worry so much, my dear. I simply remembered a spell I used to favor... Would you like to check in on my sister, and our friend Twilight?”

--------

It didn’t take long for the spell to be ready- Somewhat more ritualistic than normal Unicorn magic, it was still simple. A single strand of her transcendental mane, plucked and then knotted into a loop, and then a drop of Sky, stretched across it to form a liquid portal. The resulting disc of shimmering colors slowly began to turn frosted blue at the edges, absorbing power from the hair. Fluttershy looked at it curiously as Luna suspended it in mid-air with her magic.

“So this is going to let us talk to them?”

“And see them! We will admit, it is not common magic, and really only Celestia and I are regularly able to maintain it for long- Even somepony like Twilight could only get a brief message out using it.”

“Well, I’m excited anyways! It sounds really neat.”

“Neat indeed. Now I simply need to breath the spell across it, and...”

-POP-

--------

Twilight stared at the portal in confusion. On the other side of the three-foot-tall disc of light, Fluttershy and Luna were visible- Fluttershy almost entirely hidden behind the Princess, Luna waving vigorously. The image was cloudy, but it was still obvious who was there. Celestia sighed and turned to her.
“I had wondered when she would remember how to do that.”

“Is that... a two-way spell? Can they see us right now? Is my mane alright? Can they hear me?”

“Twilight. Calm. Yes, it’s two-way, but not until I complete it. We made sure to make it as such after we interrupted each other in... indelicate situations, one time too often.”

“Gotcha. Well... Oh wow Princess, this is really intriguing! You need to show me the theory behind this one afterwards, alright?“

A chuckle- Not so much had changed that Twilight wouldn’t be curious about a new spell.
“Gladly, love... Mmmh, that brings a point- Are you alright with your friend knowing about... us?”

“Yes. She was a big help in me getting the motivation to confess at all, so... Yeah, she already knows, more or less.”
On the other side of the portal, Luna’s enthusiasm was flagging visibly, her waving slowing with time. Twilight pointed this out.
“Let’s not keep her waiting much longer, alright?”

Celestia tapped the side of the ring with one hoof, and the image sprung into clarity, Luna and Fluttershy’s voices become audible.

“Are you sure it worked, Luna? Not that I think it wouldn’t work, or anything, just...”

“Hmm. I suppose it might have-”

Celestia grinned wide, shouting into the portal, leaning far too close (or so Twilight assumed) for good measure.
“HEY LUNA! HOW’S IT GOING OVER THERE?”

Twilight’s assumption was confirmed when Luna fell backwards, barreling over Fluttershy. Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle as they righted themselves, and Luna shot a dirty look across the spell’s surface.
“Dear Sister, please cease these shenanigans. We know full well thou understand the mechanics of this spell. Speak normally-- Even I am restraining my volume.”

“Oh, Luna. I’m sorry, but I just had to. Quite worth the reaction.”
She paused for a moment, winking at Fluttershy across the portal- The pegasus blushed in response, hiding further behind Luna once more.
“How are things, with you?”

Luna’s glare softened, and she smiled- Twilight hadn’t seen her smile like that at all, even at the height of Nightmare Night’s festivities.
“Phenomenal. Glorious, even. But I called on a business note- We can catch up later.”

“Oh? Do tell!”

Luna scuffed a hoof, looking to Fluttershy for a moment, who looked back in confused support before peeking through the communication-portal. Twilight waved at her when she looked up, and got a confusingly garbled response. They tried to speak without saying anything, but instead just managed to make it clear how much they needed to talk. Over their hurried gestures and inexplicable attempts at signalling, they could hear the conversation continue.
“Well, I had already told thee of my plans, and the time seemed right. And so the thought came to me that I might make the proposal-”

“Tonight? Around midnight, perhaps?”

“...Hast thou been watching me, Sister?”

“No Luna. It’s just that... We’ve both always been a bit theatrical, and giving a big speech like that when Sunday becomes Monday, when the sun gives way to the moon? Very ‘you’.”

“Mmhmm. I... I will admit that I miss the way the sun used to ‘give way’ to the moon.”

Twilight’s brain tried to process that sentence, and Celestia’s matching blush. She could see her confusion mirrored by Fluttershy on the other side.
“Oh you. We can discuss things of that sort later. For now... Yes, I agree. Twilight and I will be making our way to Ponyville and will arrive in time for a late lunch. Does that sound agreeable?”

“Very.”

The portal closed with an almost ominous -CLACK-, a thick spiral of pinkish-black smoke taking the cerulean disc’s place. Celestia turned to her, smiling.
“And I suppose our plans for your “last day in Canterlot” were just made for us.”

Her neurons were still a bit frazzled, but she managed to nod in agreement.

--------

-CLACK-

As she turned away from the now-closed portal, there was a lingering question in the back of her mind. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now her curiosity was piqued.
"Dear Fluttershy, I did have one question, regarding thine work earlier..."

"Oh dear! Did I do something wrong? I would hate to have been making some kind of mistake all this time."

Luna chuckled and put a hoof on her marefriend's shoulder.
"Calm, dearest. There is nopony who would be able to correct thee in thy field of expertise, least of all me."

"Oh, alright. Um, sorry about the conclusion-jumping."

"It is not a problem. What We had been wondering was about the disobedient animals. Why did thou not simply Stare them into submission?"

At that question, Fluttershy actually got quite embarrassed, looking from side to side. Her blush got stronger as she replied.
"Well, I... I can't actually control it. It just sort of crops up from time to time, I suppose."
Luna's bafflement must have been clear on her face, because Fluttershy seemed almost concerned. She stepped forward, and looked up at Luna.
"Is... is that a problem?"

"What? No! I merely tho... Dost thou know much about it? We must admit it is not a common talent, or was not in Our day."

"I don't think it is now, either- The only other pony I can ever think of that did it was my mom. She never had to use it on me, mind you. I was always the very model of good behavior."

They laughed, but Luna grew serious quickly.
"Well, in that case, We think We might take it upon Ourselves... Wait, allow me to restart that with less Royal We: Today's been a rough one for that. I think I would like to help thee learn more about it. It has always been a subject near and dear to me, since I have a similar skill."

"You do?"

"What, did you think everypony could speak in a Voice loud enough to crack stone and blow the limbs from trees? It is, if not the same talent, then certainly a related one."

"Oh. Oh my. I never thought my Stare was anything all that special!"

Although it was normally more her sister's area of expertise, she felt comfortable being 'sappy' at the moment. She leaned close and nuzzled Fluttershy, leaving a trail of light nibbles behind her ears.
"Everything about thee is special, my dear."

The only response she got was a beautiful laugh, and the two of them curled up against one another. Luna mused over the day's schedule as she held her lover. Soon, her sister would be coming from Canterlot, student in tow, and then she could set her plan in motion. Tonight would be a grand spectacle indeed.

--------

Twilight paced around the room as Celestia watched. She admittedly didn’t have much reason to be worried- Her mentor of course had an appropriate plan. But still, it bothered her...
“How are we going to get back to Ponyville that quickly? Even the fastest carriages won’t take us very far in time, and I can’t teleport that distance...”

“Can’t you?”

She looked at Celestia, confused.
“What?”

“Twilight, don’t tell me you already forgot what we’ve been learning all weekend. If I guessed correctly, you used the “psuedo-teleportation” we developed to get Spike to send the confession letter, right?”

“Aaaw, I thought it was such a good trick.”

Her marefriend / teacher smiled and kissed her. Twilight leaned into it, just a little- It would be a problem if they got sidetracked, given how tight the timetable was.
“It was- After all, I only just figured it out now. But if you managed to make that spell from theory into truth in just a day’s time, who’s to say you can’t learn my personal long-range teleportation spell just as quickly?”

“Princess... I would be hugely honored. I am especially glad that, well... That you think I have the stamina to do that.”

A week ago, the kind of massive reverberating laugh she heard from Celestia just now would have frozen her heart and made her question the sanity of the world. Now, she recognized it as a laugh, not cruel or mad, but overpowering, and more importantly seductive, and it made a shiver run down her entire body, horn to hoof.
“Trust me Twilight, I have no doubts in your ‘stamina’- But that won’t be an issue today. I was thinking we could cast it... together.”

Twilight stared. She was trying to think if Celestia meant that... And from the look of things, it seemed she did. Her teacher, her ruler, Princess bucking Celestia (Twilight immediately admonished herself for thinking of her marefriend like that), was blushing, white cheeks turned red as apples. Her mentor was suggesting that they... that they... Oh. Her thoughts went back to one of her most important studies, suddenly desperate to make the topic less immediate, more... academic. And so she flashed back to her thesis, to the paper that had given her so much trouble, to the topic of doing... that.