Celestia stares at the glowing mark on Luna’s flank. If one looks closely they can see her magenta eyes shift, and not just in their focus, but as if the ancient alicorn is bringing entirely different modes of observation into play. They shine a pure white, a common trademark of magical scans, then shift through a rainbow spectrum. Her eyes briefly end at an inky blackness that drips wispy tendrils of purple, similar to Discord’s magic when it was swallowed up by Doug, before returning to normal. She glances from Luna to Doug, then between him, Rarity, and Lemon, her frown lengthening.

Luna, curious as to the marked reaction, inspects her own flank as well. “Dost thou think there is some connection?” she asks, indicating the identical mark on Doug’s back. “Perhaps Harmony’s doing?"

“...”

Celestia opens her mouth as if to reply, but no words come out. She shakes her head instead. “I cannot say,” she states, head bowing. “I would not presume to know Harmony’s intentions. To utter wrongly in such a manner would be… blasphemous.”

“You can’t even guess?” Doug asks, eyes widening. She sounds seriously Old Testament, this Harmony, with Celestia as the high priest or something, not that there is any sort of organized religion.

Celestia draws herself up, warmth returning to her motherly smile. “Not without sufficient sign that I am at least on the correct path. And while this portent is obviously something, it is impossible to say what it is indicative of. If I were to speculate, I would be speaking from a position of authority, even with qualifications. That is not a mantle I can put down without repercussion.”

“But we can guess?” Doug asks cautiously, motioning to himself, Luna, and the others.

Celestia inspects Luna for a moment. Though her words sound as if they might be in jest, her tone says anything else. “I doubt you would be in danger for doing such.”

“Huh.” Doug looks down at himself as he thinks. The fact that she can answer there, but wouldn’t answer earlier… He finds he doesn’t actually want to speculate as to whether this sign is a good omen or ill.

A few moments pass in awkward silence as the other ponies glance around the room, obviously feeling the same way.

“On a happier note,” Celestia says, breaking the silence with an optimistic nuzzle for her Sister. “I hope your intention to blaze your own path, as it were, only extends to the physical accompaniment and not to any material assistance.” She ends with a sanguine smile, obviously exaggerated.

Luna rolls her eyes. “We have half a mind to decline any such succor. But, knowing you, there must be some reason.” She peers into her Sister’s eyes, searching. “It is not some music-box, enchanted to monitor our progress?”

Celestia titters. “No, though using such a spell in that manner could be quite useful. Thank you for the idea.” Luna rolls her eyes again. “As you well know, the process of maintaining any spell for an extended period of time can be quite draining, and a detriment to your concentration in other areas.”

“Ah,” Luna says, nodding in understanding. “Seaquestria being, as the name implies, underwater.”

“And while I am sure you could maintain an atmospheric spell, I think that this will help immensely.” Celestia pauses, not exactly for dramatic effect; her head swipes back and forth, as if perusing the pages of a catalog. “Aha! Here we go.” Her horn flares, and a long black mask pops in front of her. The pliable material stretches as she picks it up and displays four holes: one for the horn, two for the eyes currently covered by clear goggles, and one gaping open for the mouth. It looks far too ornate to not be magical, with bands crisscrossing the entirety, and long enough to cover a normal pony’s neck to the barrel or partly past an alicorn’s head.

“Is it just me,” Doug asks Rarity in a low whisper, hesitant to voice his guess. “Or is that…”

“A gimp mask?” Rarity answers automatically, having sold a fair number from the back room of her Boutique. Her eyes spring open as she realizes what she just said, glancing at the two fillies eager to listen in. “Err, I mean…”

“There is no zipper,” Luna states dispassionately, though otherwise she has drawn the same conclusion. “A rebreather?”

“Modular, with truesight goggles,” Celestia explains, nodding. She continues, mostly for Rarity and Doug, the latter showing quite a bit of interest, “It draws toxins from the air along the inner surface by trying to keep to the standard atmospheric composition, though it is not particularly swift at doing so. For instance, it will save you from a gradual build-up of carbon monoxide, but not a lethal dose of fluorine. Watch what you inhale. Also, notably, it will not fully prevent nitrogen narcosis nor decompression sickness. Be careful with your descents and ascents, and I would recommend against flying afterward.”

“‘Tia,” Luna starts, exasperated.

“Sorry,” Celestia says, offering a contrite smile. She continues, this time focused mostly on Doug, though Luna can easily hear and tell the lecture is aimed at her. “The goggles allow you to see underwater, even through an octocat’s ink cloud, though that has been known to confound mage-sight.” She turns to Luna, who returns a huff, “I would like them back, undamaged; they can be quite exhausting to repair. And if you’re going underwater, you’ll need…”

Celestia focuses, and in her hoof appears a small, light blue ring. Miniature pinion feathers twist around each other to form a band, each a slightly different shade and hue, that create a pattern of jagged lightning bolts in the gaps. It is too small for a hoof, too large for Doug’s finger, but might fit his wrist (if you don’t mind breaking the hand bones) or wing should you somehow get it past the expansive feathers.

“A ring of lightning?” Luna frowns skeptically.

“You can shoot lightning with that?” Doug asks, intrigued. “Underwater, that seems…”

“It does not ‘shoot’ lightning,” Luna answers. She motions to the ring. “It electrocutes anything currently passing through.”

“I didn’t realize you made puns,” Doug says, smirking as Luna scowls.

“We…” Luna starts, then closes her eyes as Doug ruffles her mane. “Indeed. No, the flux of the material passing through is what determines the charge applied. But to a liquid…” She considers for a moment. “Ah. It shall electrolyze the water, thus providing hydrogen and oxygen. The mask will absorb any excess hydrogen, among any other unwelcome outputs.”

“So you don’t use it to…” Doug motions back and forth with his hand.

“That would leave one alternately numb and in a lot of hertz,” Celestia answers, straightfaced, getting Doug to groan. She turns to Luna, who doesn’t seem terribly pleased herself. “Much easier than bringing your own tank, should your stay be longer than anticipated.”

“Helium would be better,” Luna remarks.

“If you require me to make some on-site,” Celestia responds, suddenly quite serious, “just send the word.”

“That’s our Sister,” Luna says with a roll of her eyes. “Always planning for contingencies. We shall try to keep from necessitating that sort of intervention.”

“Oh, I know,” Celestia says, scratching at the floor with a hoof. Without warning she surges forward, embracing her Sister and nearly knocking her to the floor. “Oh, dearest Luna. I will miss you sorely. I can scarcely wait until you are ohm.”

“Thou does not hold this against us?” Luna answers, returning the hug to the best of her ability and certainly not trying to strangle any further puns out of her Sister.

“Of course not.” Celestia nuzzles Luna, deep and longing. “The only thing we would ever hold against you is our barrel.”

Luna snorts, pulling away with mock indignity. “Then we best not give our stallion any ideas.” She winks at Doug, who ruffles her mane. “Still, we must depart, should we have any hope of arriving in time.”

Celestia sighs, reluctant. “You set a waypoint in Klugetown, yes?”

Luna nods, though not without a huff at the fretting of her Sister. “What did we say about letting us go on our own?”

“Yes, yes, you’re right.” Celestia sighs, stealing one last hug before pulling back. “Goodbye, dear Sister.”

Finally alone, Luna steels herself. “Goodbye, dear Sister.” She gives Doug a quick kiss and firm nod goodbye, which he returns. Her horn flares cobalt, brighter than normal, and she disappears with a rush of displaced air.

Celestia dances from one hoof to the other, obviously disconcerted, and finally able to let out her worry. Doug, being the closest to her and her stallion, takes the brunt of it. “Oh, do you think she made it there in one piece? Does she remember how to get out of the embassy? What if her wing cramps up on the way to Mount Aris? What if she can’t find the mountain!”

“Celestia,” Doug tries, to no avail. “Celestia.” It’s like trying to break Pinkie Pie out of one of her funks. “Celestia!” He finally goes to his trump card, slipping his hand between her flanks and tickling her belly.

“What if-” Celestia starts, then her whole body jolts, collapsing into a giggling fit. She rolls to her back, her belly now fully exposed, front legs frantically churning while her back legs stay locked to her side, afraid of lashing out and kicking her stallion as he falls with her.

“Better?” Doug asks as her motions slow, snickering at her exaggerated reaction.

“Much.” Celestia lets loose a long sigh, letting herself relax and fully splay out on the floor. “I didn’t say stop.”

“Sure, sure,” Doug says as he goes back to rubbing her tummy, finding the taut surface just as enticing as always. “Your foals are going to hate you if you constantly check up on them like that.”

“Yes, well, these are alicorn foals we are talking about, not earth ponies.” Celestia glances at Lemon. “No offense.”

““Dam says I’m not a hoofful,” the exuberant earth pony replies, bouncing up and down. I’m two!”

“And we don’t know how alicorn foals will behave,” Rarity counters. “For all we know, they could be perfect little angels!” She joins Doug at Celestia’s side, peering at the alicorn’s belly. “And with this stallion, you can be sure he will be as brave with them as he was with the two of you.”

“That wasn’t really bravery,” Doug disputes, shaking his head. His grip on Celestia becomes a bit harder, rougher, pressing deeper into the yielding tissue. “If anything, that was cowardice, because I was deathly afraid of the alternative.”

“Of my Sister?” Celestia frowns, a slight curl downward, at Doug’s hesitant nod. “I do hope she succeeds, and receives the recognition she deserves.”

“Exactly.” Doug gazes longingly at the alicorn underneath his hand. A part of him desperately wants to finish what they started earlier, but he can hear the sounds of the others in the house starting to stir. He doesn’t want to get behind, not that his deadlines are very strict, and stands, offering a hand to Celestia that she takes more out of graciousness than needing his help to rise. “Any plans for the day?”

“Raise the sun. Day court. I would like to explore my- I mean our- old castle, but with Luna gone I may need to uphold her duties as well.” Celestia nuzzles Doug, somewhat reluctant to share the next item. “Weekly check-up. I am sorry, for however much of our animosity today was caused by an inability for myself or my Sister to hold our tempers. Your foals, not that I am blaming them or you, can be…”

“Draining,” Rarity answers for the Princess, nodding along. “Not that we regret anything.”

“Precisely.” Celestia nuzzles Doug again, about to turn to something more, and only pulling back as a disheveled Diamond Tiara tries to sneak into the main bathroom without being noticed. Behind her, a bleary-eyed Apple Bloom teeters toward the kitchen, and soon enough a new wave of early risers fills the room.

Next Chapter: Ch. 77 - Fluid Motion, Part Four Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 45 Minutes