Rarity had moved on, from cleaning the bookshelves, to sweeping the floor. With her magic, she waved the small, straw broom up and down, left and right, lifting small puffs of dust that would quickly fade in the air. Meanwhile, Spike was still organizing the books Rarity had taken off the bookshelves. It had been three hours or so since he had sent Rarity’s letter, along with the two cups of the Love Potion. Twilight had been sleeping quietly on her bed, occasionally shifting her position. Weak beams of afternoon sunlight seeped through the library windows.

“Hey, Rarity,” Spike muttered from the other side of the room; the unicorn looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t you think something’s off?”

“Whatever do you mean, Spike?” Rarity interrupted her sweeping, giving Spike her total attention.

“Well, I don’t know, I mean… I’ve had this strange feeling ever since I sent that letter. I can’t help but think that maybe we shouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh, Spike,” Rarity chuckled and waved a hoof around. “You’re concerning yourself over nothing. Trust me, I bet the Princess is fine, don’t worry.” The broom she held with her magic started moving again. “I’m sure it’s just your imagination.”

“Well, I hope so.” Spike shrugged and returned to his duty, still a bit worried. Rarity’s words weren’t enough to douse his concern, but maybe she was right. He looked up at the library clock, hanging a top of a wall and checked the time. “9 o’clock?”

As soon as Spike whispered those words, Twilight gave a huge yawn and stretched her legs. Both Rarity and Spike glanced at her, to see if she had finally decided to wake up from her nap.

“Well, hello there, Twilight. Slept well?” Rarity was the first one to greet her, giving her friend a smile.

Twilight blinked and rubbed her eyes with her hooves, still somewhat tired by waking up; she couldn’t deny she had a great nap, though. She stared at Rarity, then at Spike, then at Rarity once again. “Uh, yeah, yeah…” Trying to get back to her senses, she let out another yawn and shook her head. “I don’t think I have slept this well in a long time!”

“I’m glad to hear that, darling. By the way, we’re almost done down here.” Rarity pointed her hoof at the clean, sparkly bookshelves and desks. She was quite proud of what she had accomplished, although, maybe a greater achievement would be cleaning Applejack’s barn. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Twilight, fully awake now, looked around the room. In fact, she could easily notice the tidy walls and dusted bookshelves. It reminded her of her old library, back in Canterlot. “Wow, this looks so nice, Rarity. You’ve outdone yourself this time!”

Rarity slid a hoof across her mane and closed her eyes. “Oh, this is nothing, darling. You should see me in action whenever Sweetie Belle stays at the boutique. She’s a grade-A chaos machine.”

Both mares shared a laugh as Twilight climbed down her bed. She had noticed the faint beams of sunlight that came from outside and tilted her head. Had she really slept for a little while, or was it morning already? No, that couldn’t be possible since Rarity was still there. “Huh…”

“What is it, dear?” Rarity trotted upstairs, towards Twilight. She had left the broom leaning against a desk. “Still feeling a bit tired?”

“N-no, that’s not it.” Using her magic, Twilight enveloped the window curtains and opened them, letting the sunlight fully enter to the library. “How long have I been sleeping?”

“Well, about three and a half hours, Twilight, why?” Spike noticed some familiar reaction in Twilight; he knew it. It was the same reaction she would have whenever something was bugging her. All those years living with her sure made him know her a lot.

“Three and a half hours? But, but… that doesn’t make any sense…” Twilight wanted to turn her head and look at a certain clock, but she didn’t trust her eyes anymore. Instead, she decided she would listen to her ears from now on, at least she still trusted in them, for now. “Spike, what time is it?”

Celestia and Luna had placed the cups down.

“Hmm… quite a strange flavor it has,” Luna commented, still savoring the remains of liquid inside her mouth. “It was rather sweet and spicy at the same time, but still tasty.”

“Indeed.” Celestia nodded. “It was spicy… like a rainbow, and sweet, like a cloud...” As the words left her lips, she felt her cheeks turning warmer. “I haven’t drunk anything like that, before.”

“Me neither…” Luna felt warmth, growing deep within her face and body. She gasped and looked at Celestia. “Whew, is it me or did it just get a bit warmer?” She waved a hoof, throwing some air against her face. She wasn’t sure why the weather would get hotter out of nowhere; the heat wave would hit at noon, not at afternoon.

“I don’t know…” Celestia panted. For some reason, she felt exhausted, yet full with energy. Her body, especially her face, burnt with heat. Just what in Equestria did that potion have? She didn’t say it, but she started loving the sensation. “I feel… strange…”

“Me too…” Looking at her sister, Luna blinked. She could easily notice the bright red on her sister’s cheeks, as well as the agitation of her dilated pupils. The simple fact of staring at her made her feel fuzzy and weird, as if she had suddenly changed into something else, something… gorgeous. Both sisters hiccupped, releasing two halves of a heart-shaped bubble from their mouths, which joined together to create a full heart. Finally, the bubble popped in less than a second.

“Luna?”

“Yeah…?”

“Have I told you that you’ve grown into a beautiful mare?”

Luna gasped, the blush on her cheeks growing stronger. Chuckling, she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “W-what are you saying, sister? You embarrass me…” What was Celestia doing? Never in her life had she told her something like that. Sure, her sister would flatter her from time to time, but why now? Why say that? Regardless of that, Luna’s heart beat faster and the silly smile on her face didn’t fade.

Celestia smirked and leaned closer to Luna, the blue alicorn whimpering in response “But it’s true... Just look at yourself; gorgeous mane, a soft face, beautiful eyes… and pretty lips…” As she said those words, she removed her golden hoofwear and gently slid her hoof across the aforementioned spots. First, she gave her silky mane a soft stroke and continued her way down to her face. Luna felt Celestia’s cold, yet warm hoof rubbing against her cheek and blinked, looking at her sister’s big, magenta eyes.

“Sister…” Luna whispered, but she couldn’t articulate any other word as Celestia’s hoof met her lips, shutting them. Luna didn’t know why she was feeling the way she was. Something in her sister’s stare bugged, in a good way. What had changed from when she first entered the room, to when she drank that bubbly potion? That was when Luna realized, however, it was already too late.

“Do you think I’m pretty, little sister?” Celestia retired her hoof from Luna and slid it—up and down—across her chest. She had no clue why she was asking those questions, but something inside her told her that it was all right. She wouldn’t ask those questions to anypony, much less her sister. So, why was she? Why was that happening? It all started after she drank that weird, purple beverage. That was when Celestia realized, however, it was already too late.

Luna simply nodded and smiled at her sister. “You’re the most beautiful mare my eyes have ever seen, my dear sister.” This time, it was Luna the one who leaned closer, the tip of her hoof poking Celestia’s chest, just above her golden neckwear. Celestia replied with a single smile, pleased with her sister’s words. The two of them looked at each other, realizing the moment was near.

“Luna… have you ever… kissed another mare?”

Luna’s sole answer was a smirk, followed by a wink. Before her sister could react, Luna pressed her lips against Celestia, her wings spreading open in surprise as her sister deeply kissed her. Her widened eyes soon began to relax, slowly closing to enjoy the magical moment. Celestia submitted and returned back the kiss, allowing Luna to make her way in her mouth with her tongue. For somepony that had never kissed before, Celestia hoped she was doing it all right. She had seen plenty of couples and read many books about the matter, but she had never thought she would experience it by herself. And also, she had never thought her first kiss would be with none other than her own sister, Luna.

Luna spun her tongue around Celestia’s, mixing both their respective fluids into one. Naturally, she would find the whole thing gross, but her sister tasted way too good. She was surprised with Celestia’s response, though. For a first-time kisser, she wasn’t doing it so bad. After what it seemed like an eternity, but was in fact a few seconds, Luna broke the kiss. Both mares slowly pulled their muzzles away from each other, panting, catching their breath. They exchanged stares before Celestia leaned and returned the kiss.

“9 o’clock…” Spike muttered. He already knew what was wrong. “But… the sun—”

“9 o’clock!?” Twilight spun her body and jumped in front of Spike, the startled dragon cringing back in response. “How is it possible!? The bright sunlight is still out there!” Puffs of smoke escaped from her nose as she yelled at her ‘innocent’ assistant. Thinking about certain possibility, she blinked. Maybe Spike and Rarity were just pulling her leg… yeah, that had to be. It had to be 9 in the morning, there was no other explanation.

“Now that you mention…” Rarity stared outside the window and looked at the clear, sunny daytime. “Y-you’re right, Spike! It should be nighttime by now! What’s going on!?” Hoping that she would have an answer, Rarity stared at Twilight.

“I-I don’t know! This must be a joke, right? I actually slept during the whole night and woke up in the morning!” Twilight looked at Spike and Rarity, who didn’t seem to agree with her. “Right!?”

“We have been cleaning the library ever since you came back and took your nap, honestly! It has passed only like three hours!” Spike took a few steps back. His experience told him that staying distant from Twilight was a smart move at times like this.

“Princess Luna is in charge of the night, isn’t she?” Rarity added. “What if something had happened to her so she couldn’t bring the night?”

“But Princess Celestia is able to raise the moon as well. Wouldn’t that mean that something had happened to both Princesses?” Spike had a point. Even if Luna—for whatever reason—were unable to rise the night, her sister, Celestia, would easily do it. After all, she did it for the thousand years her sister was gone. “What if… what if Discord came back and has captured the Princesses!?”

“No, Spike, that’s impossible,” Twilight said. “Discord isn’t ever coming back, but I think something is actually out of place. I talked with Princess Celestia around noon!” Twilight dragged a hoof to her chin to meditate about the situation. Spike’s logic was correct; even if Luna couldn’t perform her duty, Princess Celestia would. “However, what is the cause of it? Are they really unable to perform their duties, or are they doing this on purpose? What if Princess Celestia has transformed in some sort of monster like Nightmare Moon, and has decided to bring eternal daytime?” Her hooves couldn’t help but shiver at the sole thought of it.

The imaginary bulb inside Rarity’s head lit. Could it be possible that the extended daytime could be somehow connected to the fact that she had sent love potions to Celestia? Her eyes rolled over and glanced at the desk where she had prepared the potions; she had forgotten to clean it up. However, even if she did send the potions to Celestia, what could have caused for the night to never show up? That’s when a single thought ran into her head. What if… the pony Celestia drank the potion with was… “Oh…”

“Wait, what’s that?” Twilight pointed her hoof at the desk, down the room. In a flash, her horn lit and she disappeared into the air. And in another flash, she appeared right in front of the desk. Twilight examined the table and the strange liquid inside the jar. Spike and Rarity looked at each other with clenched teeth; the dragon was the first one to rush downstairs. “W-what is this!?”

“Oh, that is… um…” Rarity trotted downstairs while forcing a chuckle. “I-It’s just a…” It was pointless to lie now. Twilight’s face showed that she already knew the answer, but was too shocked to reveal it. Rarity only stood there, not willing to give any step closer. Spike stood behind Rarity, sharing the thoughts of keeping a distance with her.

“W-why did you brew a Love Poison!?” Twilight yelled at both and gave them a piercing glare. She wasn’t upset, but rather astonished and clueless of why a jar of Love Poison was resting on her desk. “Don’t you know how dangerous this thing is!?”

“Love… Poison?” Spike whispered and tilted his head. The name didn’t sound as he remembered it. The same chills he felt a while ago were coming back.

“Answer me! Who made this and why!?” Twilight didn’t want to hear any excuses. She knew the exact consequences of a Love Poison, especially more ever since that atrocious Hearts and Hooves Day.

“I… I mean, us… uh…” Rarity stuttered. Twilight’s cold, paralyzing glare sure was intimidating, but nothing a lady like her couldn’t handle. “Well, after what you had told us about Princess Celestia never having a special somepony, I thought I would help her out, so—”

“Y-you brew a Love Poison for the Princess? Are you out of your freaking mind!?”