Chapters “Princess Luna?”
The Princess of the Night snapped out of her daze and returned her attention to the petitioner before her. The noblemare visiting her Night Court had an off-white greyish coat, and a purple mane with a greying streak. Her golden eyes looked concerned, probably worried she had lost the princess’s interest, that she was boring her with her problems.
And, remarkably, she was.
“Thank you, madam di Bray, we have heard enough.” This night had been so disappointing. In the two weeks since she’d returned from her banishment, nopony had come to her Night Court until tonight. The loneliness that had caused her to strike that awful bargain with the powers of darkness had begun to creep up on her again, though not nearly as strong; she’d come to accept the diurnal nature of most ponies. She now recognized her night offered them comfort and safety while they slept, but still the emptiness of her enormous courtroom had begun to press on her like a great, terrible weight.
The noblemare in question must have misinterpreted what she meant, “Then shall I go home and tell my herd our problems are over?” she asked tentatively. Luna had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. “No, your grace; we will discuss the nature of thy tax problems with our sister in the morning, and we will jointly make a decision as to if thy holdings deserve an exemption.” This was clearly not what the old noblemare wanted to hear. “But… I’ve just told you the nature of the tax myself; was my explanation insufficient?”
Luna was beginning to dislike this mare, “Madam di Bray, the night is long, and we get so few visitors, we’ve little else to do most nights other than read the transcripts from the Day Court.” Recognition finally flashed across the unicorn’s face. “And as such we are fully aware thou petitioned our sister to exempt thy holdings from this tax two days ago.” She made an effort to soften her expression, “Thou hast made a compelling case, but these taxes exist for a reason, and thou cannot simply circumvent our sister’s decision when it is not to thy liking.”
The noblemare bowed low, “I… as you say, princess, my apologies, my actions were uncalled for.” Luna motioned for di Bray to stand, and then bid her adieu. She levitated a few nearby ledgers and economic reports to herself via magic. Di Bray may be a self-entitled fool, but she had a point. The di Bray holdings on Horseshoe Island were the only territory in the kingdom that could grow coffee at commercial levels. An additional 10% tax was unreasonable and economically stifling. Luna hadn’t been lying; she really would bring this up to her sister first thing in the morning.
“Princess Luna?” Luna half-heard herself being addressed by another, more masculine voice after the duchess left. She was much too engrossed in the supply and demand reports from coffee merchants across Equestria. If they dropped this tax the farmers could expand their operations and the everypony could buy more coffee, more cheaply. “Princess Luna?” What kind of crazy pony didn't like the idea of more coffee? Luna loved coffee! Coffee was great! "Princess Luna?" And besides, did Celestia really think that the Council of Nobles could spend this money more intelligently than the merchants and farmers who earned it? Absurd! “Princess- hmph!”
Luna felt herself lose the telekinetic grip on her reference material, and noticed she was now inside a 10-foot, black-and-purple circle that defied her attempts to cast further spells. Baffled, she turned her attention to the unicorn stallion it was centered on. His horn had a warm, golden glow about it, and his face was scrunched up in concentration. He had a simple, tan coat with a short, blonde mane.
Luna found herself frowning, antimagic field was a serious spell. A thousand years ago, she knew the hoof-full of unicorns who could cast it by name. She momentarily considered that this stallion may be an assassin, but dismissed the notion when his expression changed from one of intense concentration to one of pleased satisfaction.
Luna found his mirth infectious, and soon displayed a slight smile of her own, to her annoyance. “Well then,” she said, “if we are quite done abusing high-level spells for the night, young stallion, thou perhaps have something thou would petition to thy princess?” The way he’d interrupted her was quite improper, she was a princess after all, but she decided she’d forgive him. Her second petitioner since her return was a potent spell caster, even if he was a stallion. He was probably here to discuss his research, or request funding for a magical project at her sister’s academy, or maybe even request Luna's assistance for a difficult piece of spellcraft. Regardless of the nature of his petition, Luna was fairly confident it would be worth her time, perhaps even interesting, and it was for this reason she decided to overlook his social blunder.
“Oh, I’m not a petitioner, princess” he said, “allow me to introduce myself; my name is Shining Dawn, I am to be your court wizard.” The Princess of the Night looked at him incredulously. She'd heard, of course, about gender-equality in this new era, but the idea that a stallion could hold a position like court wizard was still shocking. "We... nice to meet you, sir Dawn. Though typically a Princess chooses her own court wizard." The unicorn took this in stride: "Yes, your highness, but as you hadn't yet given the subject much consideration, your sister requests that you allow me to work for you in the mean-time. I assure you, I am quite qualified."
That was for certain. Still, it never hurt to follow protocol. "You've an application, I assume?" There was that infectious grin again, "Of course!" His horn lit up and he levitated a scroll to her from his saddlebags. Luna took it and began reading. The heading of the document was what caught her attention first:
Shining Dawn: Abjuration Specialist
That hurt. It hurt more than it should have. "Abjuration" essentially meant wards, shields, and countermagic; spells that could prevent her from becoming Nightmare Moon again, if it came down to that. She felt at once touched at her sister's thoughtfulness, and devastated that she didn't quite trust her yet. And the worst part was she deserved it. While Celestia loved her, she still deserved every bit of her scrutiny after what she'd done. She wouldn't hold it against Dawn, though; she was beginning to like him. "You're an abjuration specialist, Mr. Dawn?" She said, neutrally. The stallion stood up straighter. "Yes, your highness." he replied, "not usually a specialty of magic that sees a lot of use in courts, but I assure you I am quite skilled in the other schools of magic as well." Well, judging from that response, he didn't know he was to be her pseudo-jailer. She looked over his spell list. "I can see that. Do you mind if I keep this resume?" she asked. "Not at all, Princess; I have plenty of copies." Luna nodded and set the scroll down by her other reference material.
"Antimagic field, that is your best spell, yes?" she asked. He hesitated for a moment, he seemed to consider the question longer that she would've thought necessary. "...yes, Princess." he finally replied after a moment. She raised an eyebrow at him, "You sound unsure about your own spell repertoire." she observed. He blushed again, and Luna just realized how cute he looked when he did that. He stared at his own hooves, abashed. "Well... I can't cast it reliably, so I didn't put it on my application, but I've... sequestered objects before."
Luna just stared at him in disbelief. A sequestered object was utterly undetectable unless you actually came into contact with it. It turned completely invisible and couldn't be detected by magic, not even the most powerful divinations would reveal such an item's whereabouts. "Could thou... could thou try for me... us? We'd very much like to see that." The unicorn looked unsure of himself, but then he looked Luna in the eye, and seemed to gain some determination. Now it was Luna's turn to blush. "I'll... I'll try, Princess."
She walked over to him, and levitated her crown onto the floor in front of him. After another moment's hesitation, he focused, his horn and her crown aglow with his spell. Dozens of motes of golden light swirled about them like fireflies, and the crown began to glow brighter and brighter, until, in a flash, it was gone. Shining Dawn collapsed from the effort, panting heavily. Luna felt a twinge of guilt and concern, but was far too focused on the spot where her crown used to be. She lightly kicked the crown just be sure it hadn't simply been annihilated, and was satisfied with the light contact and "klink" noise from her invisible head-ware. She then rapidly cast several scrying spells to try and detect the crown.
As far has her magic was concerned, her crown did not exist.
"Does our sister know thou can cast that?"
The exhausted stallion just nodded his head.
Luna considered the facts:
One: Celestia knew Luna could not cast that spell herself.
Two: Her sister knew Luna could easily compel this stallion to cast that spell on whatever she wished.
Three: Cast on the Elements of Harmony, nopony would ever be able to find them unless they physically bumped into them.
Four: Celestia knew this, and put this unicorn forward anyways.
Her sister did trust her.
She felt tears sting her eyes. Despite herself, she nuzzled the prone stallion gratefully. "Shining Dawn" she said softly, "I think you and I will get along quite splendidly."
Shining Dawn felt pretty excellent tonight.
He trotted down the mostly-deserted streets of Canterlot with a pleased-with-himself grin on his face. Just a few months after graduating Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns Celestia herself had offered him his first job, to be her sister's court wizard no less!
Most ponies would have pinched themselves, Shining Dawn, though, had cast break enchantment on the spot, convinced his friend Lucid Dream was playing another illusion-based prank on him. When the spell cleared and Princess Celestia was left standing there with an amused smile on her face, he'd quickly agreed to take the job and thanked her profusely.
Wizard of the Night Court! ...What in Tartarus is the Night Court? He'd read up on it, of course, after accepting the job. It hadn't been difficult to deduce what the Night Court was, what with the much-discussed return of Princess Luna, but it never hurt to do some research. From what he read it worked pretty much the same way the Day Court did, save historically more commoners visited the Night Court. Emphasis on the "historically"; the Night Court had not been held since Luna's banishment.
He'd sold himself a bit short, he supposed: it wasn't that surprising a newly-graduated unicorn could get picked for a job like this when the unicorn in question was as skilled as he was. He was an abjuration specialist, for sure, but he had high-level spells that weren't even abjurations. Compared to his peer group he guessed he was actually quite well-qualified. His friend Farsight often lamented that Dawn, an abjurer, could cast several divinations that eluded her, and while his roommate Starfall certainly had more powerful evocations than he did, Dawn's evocations were arguably more impressive on a technical level.
He had even managed to impress his new employer on his first night; Luna had only been asked by her sister to consider him for the position, but he was fairly certain he'd secured his new employment indefinitely.
Dawn's face flushed at the memory. The Princess of the Night had also nuzzled him; that was kind of weird.
But, hey! When the an Alicorn Princess decides you deserve royal nuzzles, you must frikkin' deserve royal nuzzles, right?
Though why did his sequester spell make her react like that in the first place? Sure, it was an impressive bit of magic, but it was hardly something to tear up over. He wondered if it was a mare thing. He'd ask Starfall when he got home; she was a mare. He'd have to wait for her to wake up, though, after all he was working nights now.
After a few hours of walking around Canterlot, Shining Dawn was coming to a realization:
Everypony bucking sleeps at night.
There was nothing to DO in Canterlot at 2 AM. Save a few late-night diners and the Canterlot Archives, most of the shops were closed and all his friends were asleep, the diurnal traitors! He eventually ended up in a coffee shop with his nose buried in his copy of Advanced Transmutation , deciding he may as well use his hours of unwanted free time productively.
He tried to focus on learning the rock to mud spell he'd chosen at random but found he simply couldn't concentrate through his anxiety. He was usually quite content to read by himself; even though he rarely needed too, he could always count on talking Starfall, Lucid, or somepony else if he so desired. He never considered how unsettling it would be without that luxury.
But now they were all asleep, and when they woke up, he would be asleep. What was he to do with himself? Distract himself with another job, perhaps? The six-hour Night Court certainly left him with plenty of time on his hooves. His salary certainly covered all his expenses and then some; did he really need another job? And if not, what would he do with all this extra time he found himself with?
Shining Dawn sighed, closed the book, and left some bits for his tab. He knew at least one pony who was awake at this hour.
Luna closed "Equestrian Legislation Volume III: 4-6 P.N.E " with a relieved sigh. "Well, six down, 994 years of political history to go." she said dejectedly. Forget banishment, THIS was true torture. Immediately after court concluded Luna had gone to the Royal Archives and checked out volumes II through IV of Equestrian Legislation and returned to her private study at the palace, and there she'd stayed for most of the night.
She was about to retrieve Volume IV from the far end of the room when she heard a knock on the oak double doors of her private study. Strange, who could that be at this hour?
"Come in," she replied, curious. A golden glow enveloped the door on the right and it swung outward, revealing Shining Dawn of all ponies: his saddlebags full of quills, tomes, and notes. "Young wizard," Luna greeted him, surprised, "we did not expect to see you again until the morrow."
"My apologies, princess, I did not disturb you, did I?" the stallion asked. Luna shook her head, "No, not at all; do come in and sit down." She gesture to a nearby chair. "You look troubled, may we ask why?"
The unicorn thanked her and set his saddlebags down by a large, red chair near the window. "I meant to get some studying done after court concluded, but I found that I could not focus properly." He replied. He sat down in the chair, "I was quite excited about taking this job, and until court concluded earlier, I couldn't have been happier."
Luna sighed; she knew where this was going, "But?" she offered.
"But after I left court, I was walking around the city and, unsurprisingly, everypony is asleep, and all the shops are closed for the night." There was obvious sadness in his voice. "I feel so... alone, you know? Because of this job everypony else will be asleep when I'm doing my best work."
"They're always asleep, Tia! Every night I paint for them a wondrous, jeweled sky! I give them a beautiful, serene silence and calming darkness, yet they never even stay awake to experience it! Am I so wrong to think that maybe, just maybe, if they gave it a chance they'd love my night just as they love your day?"
The memory hit Luna hard, but she managed to keep her composure. She felt her disappointment with the stallion's inevitable decision fade, replaced by empathy. "We... understand," she said, proud that she kept her voice mostly level. "We won't force you to bear that burden, we accept your resignation, sir Dawn."
Shining Dawn looked confused, "I... OH!" he exclaimed, smacking himself in the head with his hoof. "That's not what I meant princess. Sorry, I understand what that sounded like." Oh? What else could he possibly mean? "I was just wondering, since everypony else is going to be asleep, and well, you look like you're going to be in here reading all night too... would you mind if I studied in here... with you?"
Luna didn't know what to say. All she could do was chuckle, just to herself at first, and then out loud. After a minute or so, she calmed down and wiped a mirthful tear from her eyes, but noticing the dumbfounded look on Dawn's face she just laughed harder. Eventually, though, she managed to control herself, "Yes, yes we think we'd like that, young stallion."
The unicorn's face changed from one of bewilderment to an uneasy smile. "Uh... thank you, princess," He said, levitating a book out of his saddlebag.
Just like that, the room descended into companionable silence, save for the occasional turning of a page or the scratching of a quill. A maid came by to check on Luna after a few minutes. After asking her to bring more coffee, Luna asked Dawn if he'd like anything, he told the maid he'd very much like some ice water. She returned shortly, and they thanked her for their beverages.
Luna had not felt so at ease since her return. Even the mind-numbing boredom of the 7 P.N.E. apple price-freeze wasn't bothering her; she could get used to this. That aside, she did eventually desire to speak with her studious companion, "What are you studying tonight, young wizard?"
Dawn seemed surprised, though not unpleasantly so, that she'd decided to break the silence. "transmute rock to mud" he answered. "What about you, princess?"
"All the Equestrian legislation from the last thousand years." Luna said distastefully. This got a laugh out of Dawn. "Why rock to mud? " Luna asked.
"Well, actually, I just picked a transmutation spell I didn't know at random. I don't know specifically what spells I should be learning to make a more useful court wizard." The stallion admitted. "Do you have any suggestions?"
Luna considered this for a moment. "If you've made any progress on learning that spell, finish learning it first. Once you've done that, though, we noticed from your application you can't cast mass lighten object, actually, we can think of several spells that would make your job easier. Would you like a list?"
Dawn smiled, "That would be very helpful, princess." That was a high level transmutation spell, so it was probably in the book he brought with him. Dawn evidently decided to look it over quickly before getting back to the transmute rock to mud spell, as he began to magically flip through the pages to find it, he asked Luna, "What year are you on right now?"
"7 P.N.E" Luna answered.
"I think... that's the year Equestria disbanded it's standing army, right?" Dawn asked. Luna was taken aback, "We do not have a standing army anymore?" Dawn shook his head, "No, we do now: it was reinstated forty years later, after the end of the Second Griffon War. Duchess-General Swift Wings' reasons for disbanding the army were quite compelling, though after Detrot was razed to the ground by the griffons nopony really felt safe without a standing army, even if it was just a small one that could react quickly to threats while the levies were raised. The Canterlot Archives actually has a very detailed book on the subject: History and Dynamics of the Royal Army, Post Nightmare Era, I could bring it to you before we meet for court tomorrow night..."
The two ponies continued on like that for the rest of the night. They read quietly, volunteered some insight to the each other's work when appropriate, and grew increasingly comfortable with the other. They even had dinner brought up to the room so they could continue their work without being interrupted by pesky details like hunger. Eventually, though, Celestia raised the sun, and Luna had speak with her about those tax issues and Dawn reluctantly had to get some sleep.
As they left the study and were about to part ways, Dawn had one final question for the Princess:
"Tonight was... I really enjoyed working with you tonight, your highness. Would you mind terribly if I studied here with you on a regular basis?"
Luna could not help but smile softly, "No, young wizard, I would not mind at all. In fact, I insist you do."
Author's Note
Hey hey every po-neigh!
Would anyone be interested in editing this story? There are several -bits- of my writing that I dislike but can't quite place my finger on why, and I think an editor would help in that regard.
Shining Dawn awoke just before dusk the next evening. Judging from the smell of hearty vegetable stew wafting through the air, his roommates were just having dinner. He trudged sleepily downstairs, hoping to talk to them before they went to bed. Starfall was just setting the large pot of stew on the table when he came downstairs. “Hey you, good morning.” she said, giving him a friendly smile.
“I think ‘good night’ is more appropriate for me from now on. That smells excellent; would you mind if I had some for breakfast?” Shining Dawn said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
The dark red unicorn chuckled a bit, levitating three bowls over to the table along with the accompanying silverware. “That was the intent. We should start eating breakfast and dinner together since we won’t be seeing each other as much anymore.”
Dawn nodded in agreement. Just then a light blue, blindfolded, unicorn mare with a black mane walked in from the living room. “Hey, good morning Dawn, or should I say good night?” The mare said.
“We’ve decided on ‘good night’, Farsight.” Dawn cocked his head at the envelope on her telekinetic grip, “what do you have there?”
“It came for you earlier today. It has Princess Luna’s official seal on it and everything. Wow, come to think of it you’re probably one of the first ponies to receive a letter with that seal on it in a thousand years; I only recognized it from history books.” The mare passed the envelope over to Dawn. Even when he accepted the letter Farsight’s horn kept its minty green glow. The unicorn was almost certainly viewing this scene with her divinations rather than her eyes. Dawn shuttered to think about having to cast so many scrying spells every day just to function normally but Farsight considered the practice invaluable.
He opened the letter and began to read:
Young wizard,
As we discussed earlier I’ve taken the liberty to select some spells that will allow you to serve more effectively as my court wizard. Though first you should master transmute rocks to mud and sequester as you’ve begun to study them already and learning sequester will make learning other high-level spells easier. After that please learn these spells in the order I have presented them. Once you feel you have mastered them I will prepare for you a test, and then a list of five further spells for you to learn.
-Luna
Dawn frowned; three of the five spells on this list were conjurations. Magical aptitude aside, Dawn was actually a pretty lousy conjurer. It seemed like Luna wasn’t asking him to learn spells that would make him a more effective court wizard, she was instead acting like a mentor eliminating a student’s weakness.
Was that what Luna meant to do? Mentor him? That would certainly be an honor. Based on how she’d helped him last night she was, unsurprisingly, a much more powerful and knowledgeable spell caster than him.
“Wow, it’s almost like she knows how lousy you are at conjuring.” Farsight said, interrupting his thoughts.
He didn’t look up from the letter, “Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s impolite to scry other ponies’ mail, Farsight?”
“Yeah, whatever, what’s the point of unseen eyes if you don’t abuse them from time to time? Anyways, it looks more like she’s guiding your studies than anything else. Is that what this court wizard gig is? An apprenticeship?” Farsight asked. Curiosity piqued, Starfall trotted over to read the letter, and Dawn passed it to her so she wouldn’t have to read over his shoulder.
“It’s not like she needs someone to cast spells for her. Maybe… maybe the whole ‘court wizard’ thing is a holdover from the unicorn royalty? Back when royals weren't necessarily potent spell casters a court wizard could’ve come in handy. The alicorns could have simply kept the practice so they could tutor promising unicorns.” Starfall theorized.useful to the princess. Noticing his distress, Starfall nuzzled him apologetically, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“
“No, your point is fair. I appreciate the input.” Dawn returned the gesture absently, lost in thought. Princess Celestia’s personal protégé, Twilight Sparkle, wasn't Celestia’s court wizard. Although she’d been Celestia’s student since she came to the academy, and was a mare besides, so maybe the pretension wasn’t necessary.
…Pretension…
The more he thought about this, the less he liked it. He’d wait till after court, but he definitely wanted to bring this up with the princess tonight.
Dawn made an effort to finish his breakfast quickly and still talk to his roommates a bit before he went to work. Both of them had found work with the Royal Guard since the three of them graduated the academy three months ago, Starfall as a palace guard and Farsight as a crime scene inspector. Starfall was already on daily patrols at the palace but Farsight was still finishing up her training. Dawn felt a twinge of sympathy for anypony who committed a crime in Canterlot; it was hard to hide anything from a diviner of her skill level.
Dawn grabbed a cup of coffee before he left and bid his roommates goodnight, court didn’t start for just under an hour but he wanted to grab some post-unification history books about his position.
Luna was at court early when Dawn walked in with his third cup of coffee of the night. “Good night, princess,” he said as he took the seat next to her. It was a purple and gold high-back chain adorned with scrolls, open books, and stargazing equipment engraved into its arm-rests and into a crest at the top. Dawn recognized it as the court wizard’s chair from his studies, and made himself comfortable. From what Luna told him last night, the Night Court did not get many visitors.
Dawn nodded, taking a sip of his coffee, “Yes, princess, though I still need to cast a darkness spell over my bed to sleep properly.”
Luna laughed at this, “You may as well get used to that; we must still cast that spell each day to sleep as well.”
“Do you know what kind of petitioners we can expect tonight, Princess?” Dawn asked.
Luna frowned; “None, most likely, duchess di Bray was actually our first petitioner since our return.” Well bugger; he could probably ask her about this whole apprenticeship thing now. He’d wait a bit, though; just to be sure there wouldn’t be any petitioners tonight. He wouldn’t want this discussion interrupted, for sure.
In the meantime, Shining Dawn had something to keep him busy. He levitated a rather large rock out of one of his saddlebacks, and unceremoniously dropped it to the floor with a thud. He caught Luna’s wry smirk out of the corner of his eye. “Nice rock,” she sounded amused.
“I call him Tim,” Shining Dawn said, opening his copy of Advanced Transmutation. “And no, Tim is a bad rock, sorry to say he’s condemned, in fact.” Shining Dawn opened the book to the page with transmute rock to mud and began reading diligently. After a few minutes, he attempted to cast the spell, and failed as he expected, but had a better idea of what he needed to work on.
He alternated between reading for twenty or so minutes, and then trying to cast the spell. After about an hour and a half, Luna spoke up, “Would it help if thou saw the spell cast first-hand?” she offered helpfully. Dawn jumped slightly, forgetting Luna was even there. His reaction made her laugh at his expense, and he found, despite his embarrassment, he enjoyed making Luna laugh.
After he regained his composure, he replied, “Yes, Princess, that would be very helpful.” He passed the rock over to her, and she took it in her telekinetic grip. Once Luna had custody of Tim, he prepared a divination that would enable him to better observe Luna’s casting.
He saw her focus, draw on the magical energy necessary for the spell, and cast, all with deliberate slowness, so he could see every step clearly. The rock was itself one moment, and then a spot of mud on the floor the next. Satisfied with her casting of transmute rock to mud , the princess then cast transmute mud to rock , and levitated the reconstituted stone back to Dawn.
“Thank you, princess,” Dawn said, appreciatively, “that was quite helpful.” Luna nodded, and returned to reading. Her demonstration had been quite insightful; he noticed how she avoided some of the mistakes he himself had been making. Dawn made a few more attempts at the spell, steadily getting closer to success, before he decided to re-start their conversation with the tried-and-true method of talking about the weather.
Luna smiled wryly, “Somepony? ” Dawn chided himself. That probably sounded like overly-coy flirting to her, you dolt. Well, if he was going to be coy, he might as well commit to it.
He did his best to put on a mischievous smile, “Yes, princess, somepony did a particularly stunning job on the skies tonight. I just wish I could express my gratitude to them in person.” Luna actually she giggled a little bit, he’d never heard that before. It made her seem more like a normal pony, actually, just an impossibly beautiful, unfathomably powerful, and immortal one. He’d been very nervous about talking to Luna about the usefulness of his position earlier, but now he was sure he could talk to her about it without any problems.
He was fairly sure he could talk comfortably with Luna about anything.
Still smiling, he asked, “Princess, I was wondering, given that you do set the moon and stars in the sky every night, what do you even need a court wizard for?”
Luna considered this for a moment, “Nopony else by our sister and ourselves knows the spell any longer, but raising the moon and bringing night involves a spell called nightfall , it’s a high-level evocation spell, actually, and as such I am an evocation specialist. And if I specialize in a school of magic, what else must that mean about me?”
“You must have an opposition school; an area of knowledge you neglected to focus on your specialty.” Dawn answered; he was starting to understand what the princess was implying.
“Right, and my opposition school is, in fact, abjuration,” Now it all made sense. The court wizard wasn’t some useless relic from a bygone age; they cast the spells the Sisters simply couldn’t cast because of their opposed schools. “Essentially, if we have a unicorn at our side whom excels where we are weak, then we effectively have no true weaknesses.” Luna finished.
Along with the pride he felt for being given such an important position, he also felt anxious to meet what was expected of him. “I understand now, princess, thank you. I hope I did not seem ungrateful.”
Luna waved her hoof dismissively, “You are our 56th court wizard, your 55 predecessors had similar fears. Now try that spell again and make sure you catalyze the transmutive forces like I showed you earlier.”
After a few more attempts and one more demonstration by the princess, Dawn was sure he had it. He focused, drew in the necessary spell energy, and cast. Sure enough, the rock was reduced to a puddle of mud on the courtroom floor. Dawn and Luna beamed with pride. “Excellent job, my little pony, and not a moment too soon; court is adjourned.” Luna picked up the mud with her Telekenisis and transmuted it back into stone, before tossing it out a nearby window.
A surprised yelp was heard from outside, followed by a pompous protest, “Who dares throw a rock at Equestria’s prince? Show yourselves, criminal scum!”
The princess and the unicorn exchanged shocked glances, but the two of them quickly descended into stifled laughter. “Oh my, that would be prince Blueblood. Take my hoof, won’t you? I can use dimension door to get us to the dining hall for lunch before he gets here.” Dawn obliged, wrapping a fore hoof in the princess’ before she cast her spell. There was a silvery-blue flash and the next moment they were at their destination.
Luna made a delicate, satisfied ah sound before she let go of Dawn’s hoof and trotted to a seat at the end of the long, oaken table. “Thank you, princess, I will see you after lunch in the study, I suppose.”
He turned to leave, but was interrupted. “Nonsense, come, sit, eat with us. As you said there are no decent dining establishments open at this hour. All the night staff are allowed lunch in the cafeteria nearby, but you might as well eat here.”
Dawn smiled, pleasantly surprised, and trotted over to a seat next to the princess. “Thank you, your highness, I’d love to.”
Author's Note
Just realized there were no spell italics like I usually use in this chapter. Fix'd.
Shining Dawn bid his roommates farewell just after breakfast (their dinner), slipping one of his spell book into his saddlebags and trotting out the door. As he stepped out into the cold, September night air he lit up his horn and drew his coat tighter around himself. He’d always considered summer much too warm for his tastes, and was usually relieved when fall came around, but now he worked nights and he found himself missing the summer warmth.
He would, of course, be spending the night with royalty, reading whatever piece of arcane literature he fancied from the Canterlot Archives, so he supposed the job was worth missing those temperate fall days.
Speaking of the Archives, they were just coming into view now. Shining Dawn made sure his new clearance papers were tucked away safely in his saddlebags as he entered the Cleansing Light wing. He was momentarily surprised not to see the usual archivist he dealt with, Warding Glyph, working the front desk. In her place was a middle-aged mare with a dark purple coat and a greying blonde mane, looking at him skeptically over the rounded, oaken front desk of the building. He reflected dourly that, indeed, Glyph’s shift likely ended hours ago, and he’d likely be seeing very little of his favorite archivist for some time.
Still, no reason to let his bad luck affect his attitude, he greeted the archivist with a pleasant “hello.”
She raised an eyebrow over her half-moon spectacles, “May I help you?”
“Yes,” Dawn said, still smiling, “I need to check out a book, Aegis: The Greatest of Shields , I believe this is the appropriate wing, yes?” As he spoke, he levitated a scroll from his saddlebags.
“Uh-huh” she replied skeptically, taking the scroll from his magical grip, “Are you sure you’re not lost? I doubt you have clearance for those spells, young stallion, back in my day-“ She stopped speaking abruptly once she noticed Princess Celestia’s seal.
“I’ll be right back, what volumes did you need?” She said after reading the scroll in more detail.
“Oh, I’ll just take the compendium, if you don’t mind, extended checkout.” Dawn replied politely.
The archivist got to her hooves hand headed around the central shelves until she was out of site. She returned with the book in question; a large, brown hardback with a gilded, golden shield, decorated by a single piece of amethyst in the center. Lettering matching the jewl in the center read, Aegis: The Greatest of Shields, and Dawn made no effort to contain his excitement; rocking back and forth on his hooves with a comically large grin on his face.
“Here you are, sir,” the archivist said simply.
This book
Dawn had learned all his high-level abjurations from this book. Symbol of sealing, greater dispel magic, antimagic field, sequester, break enchantment and many, many more; he’d learned all of them from this venerated manuscript. Only before he’d had to specifically request excerpts from this book, and every time the Royal Archivist Society made accessing those excerpts as difficult as possible. He didn’t have to worry about that now, though.
Best job ever.
He restrained himself from reading the book on his way to the palace strictly to avoid an accident, and instead set of at a brisk trot to get there as soon as possible. This quickly devolved into a full-tilt gallop, and he was panting by the time he reached the Night Court.
Princess Luna was at court early, ever-present cup of coffee and legislative history books and all. She looked up as dawn entered the large double doors of her courtroom. “Good evening, princess.” Dawn said breathlessly, levitating his book out of his saddlebags and trotting to his seat.
“Good evening, young wizard,” Luna answered, eyeing him and his new book “didst thou gallop all the way here from the archives?”
“Yes,” Dawn answered simply.
That was nearly five miles, it certainly spoke well of the stallion’s physical fitness, but a potent spell caster had better ways of getting around. “Mayhap thou ought to work on dimension door after you master sequester fully, and then move on to true teleportation after that.”
Dawn grinned ruefully at the thought of doing such intensive work in his opposed school, “Maybe we can start with some… easier conjurations?”
“Such as?”
“Maybe, um… fog cloud .” Dawn said sheepishly.
Luna’s eye’s widened, “Oh my.”
Fog cloud was actually incredibly basic for a dedicated spell caster like Dawn. A lot of unicorns didn’t study spells from their opposed schools simply because they believed the extra time learning those spells required was better spent elsewhere. When she saw Shining Dawn’s spell list she’d assumed his lack of conjurations was, like so many other unicorns, simply a matter of specialization.
From the sound of things, he actually had quite a lot of trouble learning any conjurations at all. What he just said was actually a fairly candid admission of his weaknesses: something many mages were often reluctant to do.
“We can help you with that, young wizard. But court will convene shortly, and tonight we actually have some visitors; petitioners for the Night Court positions that have yet to be filled are scheduled to arrive tonight.” Luna said gently.
Dawn nodded and returned to his reading. The court convened shortly thereafter and the first petitioners arrived. A white-coated pegasus guardspony by the name of Spartan Shield arrived first, applying for “Master of the Watch”, several other ponies applied for the position that but Luna considered Shield the most qualified.
The next few visitors petitioned for the positions of Majordomo and Court Scribe. After the last of that group left Luna founder herself considering two ponies for court scribe: a professional clerk, Silver Script and a novelist by the name of Ever After. Shining Dawn interrupted her musings with a question.
“Princess, isn’t the most important facet of your work the raising of the moon?” He asked, thoughtfully.
“Yes. Thou art no doubt wondering, then, why so many earth ponies and pegasi applied for Majordomo?” Luna asked.
“Yes, your highness.” Dawn affirmed.
Luna looked toward the door, thoughtfully. “Even were we very ill, as long as we could stay conscious for a minute or so, we could still raise the moon. In contrast, staying alert and attentive for court would be quite difficult. Additionally, we need not even be in Equestria to raise the moon, but we could not truly conduct court here in Canterlot from say, Saddle Arabia. Therefore, the Majordomo is a largely mundane position, rather than a cosmically important one. He or she must run the Night Court, manage the grounds, and review legislation if we are ever unable to.” Luna explained. She then grinned wryly at Dawn, “Were something serious to happen to Celestia and ourselves, well, we expect you to retrieve the Tome of Woven Fates from the Canterlot Archives and learn nightfall yourself.”
Shining Dawn swallowed hard and returned to his reading.
Expecting no further visitors, Dawn and Luna were both surprised when two unicorn mares entered the courtroom. At the fore was an ageing purple mare dressed in noble finery, behind her was a much younger mare with a similar coat color, a bright red mane, and intelligent, golden eyes.
“Princess Luna,” the elder mare spoke as they both bowed deeply. “I am duchess Due Diligence and this is my daughter, Starry Skies. She is a potent arcanist would make an exceptional wizard for the Night Court.”
“We…” Luna and exchanged a look with Shining Dawn who, strangely, looked mildly concerned. “The position is filled. This is Shining Dawn, wizard of the Night Court.”
Shining Dawn nodded respectfully, “A pleasure, your grace.”
Fine Line spared the stallion but a glance before continuing, “By my understanding, Princess Celestia assigned a temporary stand-in for your court wizard as you had yet to select one. His position is not permanent, yes?”
Luna pursed her lips. That was technically true, this was only the third night of Shining Dawn’s tenure; she’d seen no rush to do the paperwork to make his position official. Still, the duchess and her daughter had traveled far from their estate, which was all the way in the Highlands no less if Luna knew her heraldry. They’d taken this trip largely because Luna had failed to update her paperwork, and they deserved an apology for the inconvenience.
“I am sorry, your grace; that is largely a clerical error on our part. Shining Dawn may be a temporary appointment, but there are few unicorns better qualified for the position and we fully intend to keep him here permanently.” She noticed Dawn hold his head a bit higher, and realized she hadn’t even told him he was to be her permanent Court Wizard.
“I think it would be readily apparent why my daughter is more qualified for this position.” Due Diligence insisted.
Luna resisted the roll her eyes. She had some idea were this conversation was heading. “No, it is not, please enlighten the court as to why, your grace.”
“Shining Dawn is merely the third son of a baroness, and my daughter is heir-apparent to a duchy. Not to mention she’s female besides.” Luna was less surprised at the duchesses silly prejudices, and more surprised to learn her court wizard was of noble blood at all.
Starry Skies looked very uncomfortable with the situation.
“I thought,” Shining Dawn interceded carefully “the chief concern of a princess when selecting her court wizard should be his or her spell casting ability. Maybe you believe peerage and gender could influence magical skill, though if so, won’t your daughter’s ability reflect that?”
Ah Luna observed, Now he sounds like the third son of a baroness.
Nobles third in line for their titles had a unique blend of courtly education on matters of politics and manners and they rarely had the sense of entitlement or pride their older siblings often displayed. This is generally attributed to the near-impossibility of the third-born inheriting their parent’s title or lands. It made them shrewd politicians, successful military officers, and consummate diplomats.
Due Diligence rounded on the stallion, “Don’t you think you ought to keep quiet?”
Shining Dawn went rigid at her words, a look of disbelief momentarily crossing his features. He seemed to consider something for a moment, then set his jaw, firmly focused on the duchess. He stood, and discharged a tight green beam of magic at the mare. Due Diligence flinched, but Luna knew the spell Shining Dawn just cast was completely harmless. It was a mid-level abjuration that simply prevented someone from teleporting or being teleported, plane-shifting, or otherwise conjuring themselves elsewhere.
“We are quite interested to learn,” Princess Luna said calmly, “why our court wizard decided to fetter you with a dimensional anchor, your grace.”
Due Diligence regained her composure, and stood straight again, “I’m sure I don’t know, but he will no doubt be leveling some ridiculous accusation at me momentarily.”
“Using enchantment to influence a royal decree or appointment is a felony offense, your grace,” Shining Dawn informed her.
“Ah, there it is,” the duchess remarked, sounding amused, “What is this? Some farce to prevent you from being replaced?”
Shining Dawn ignored her, and continued speaking, walking down the stone steps that led to his chair, and down to the courtroom floor, “Suppressed spell is an extremely useful piece of meta-magic that would allow somepony to cast, say, a suggestion spell on anypony else without any chance of being caught. Even if the victim preemptively cast spell resistance on himself…”
Due Diligence’s lips tightened noticeably.
“….the enchanter and the would-be victim are the only ones who’d be aware of any foul play. Therein lays the major flaw in the technique,” By this time the guards outside heard the serious accusations and made their way through the massive double doors and into Luna’s court. Shining Dawn was now nearly nose to nose with the elder mare. “Because you know what you did, and I imagine Princess Luna can play the enchantment game at least as well as you.”
Princess Luna let a slight smile come to her face in appreciation for her wizard’s cleverness, “that I can, Shining Dawn.” She stood from her chair, and lit her horn momentarily, Due Diligence scarcely had time to look horrified before the silvery blue glow if Luna’s lesser geas was upon her.
Using lesser geas to question somepony was a bit tricky; the victim was forced to comply with a command, not answer a question. Given that many of those unicorns could only cast such an advanced spell once per day often meant they didn’t get a second chance if they made that mistake. Luna, of course, was experienced enough to phrase her question as a command: “Tell us the last spell you cast on our Court Wizard.”
“Suggestion, ” The older mare’s voice was strained as she fought fruitlessly against the spell. Her eyes widened, “Your majesty, I am so sorry.”
“We are certain you are sorry you were discovered, nothing more.” The princess thought back to her studies on recent Equestrian law. “We are still entitled to sentence criminals by Royal Decree, though it hasn’t been done in many years. A ‘trial by a jury of your peers’, as is done in this age, would be sufficient for most ponies, but given that your only ‘peers’ under that law are nobles themselves, we are not entirely comfortable with the notion.”
“Guards, take this felon from our sight whilst we decide her fate.” Luna then turned on a very shell-shocked looking Starry Skies. “We did not wish to cut your spell casting career short, Starry Skies, but it seems the Equestrian highlands will need a new duchess for a time.”
Luna thought for a moment, “In sooth, we just met with some very qualified Majordomos just this evening, and would be happy to make a recommendation if you wish to continue your studies.”
After their last two “petitioners” had been escorted away and Luna and Shining Dawn had regained their seats, Luna spoke up, “So, Lord Shining Dawn, any other secrets thou wish to share with thy princess?”
Dawn bowed his head, “I’m sorry, princess. I didn’t want to tell you until my position was made official. I wanted my ability to be the only consideration for my employment, not my blood.”
Luna motioned to the courtroom floor, “Well, as you can see, it wouldn’t have been.”
“Yes, princess, I should have had more faith in you, and I am sorry, especially after tonight.” Dawn replied.
Luna waved a fore hoof dismissively, “You’ve nothing to apologize for, we understand the logic behind thy omission.” Luna thought for a moment, “Dost thou cast spell resistance on thyself every night?”
Shining Dawn grinned, “My friends from school have very unique senses of humor.”
Author's Note
This chapter seems like it jumped around a bit too much. Let me know what you think in the comments. :/
