A Journey Beyond: Equestria's First Ambassadors

Prologue Part 2

The Ministry

“Ah... What were they called...?”  Luna whispered to herself as she looked out into the city.  “Ah yes, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs!  Now where would be an appropriate place for one such thing...”

A day had passed since Celestia and Luna had discussed and officially began their foreign affairs project dubbed 'The Heavenly Endeavor'.  The sun was now setting, which put the city in Luna's domain.  She much preferred moving throughout the city during the Night.  She was never quite sure why, but the way something as simple as the day giving way to night could change the atmosphere of a city so greatly was inspiring.

Luna was laden with a map tube strapped to her back and a pair of saddle bags as she set off into the city.  She was hoping for both easy access and a central, regal location.  Both to look a bit showy should any foreign officials ever arrive, and so as to not give them unnecessary headaches in arrival.  There would be no perfect place in the crowded city, so she would have to settle for acceptable and make it as close to perfect as possible.  One of the absolute necessities of the ministry would be that it needs to be on the outer ring of the city so as to allow direct airship access.  Luckily, this considerably narrowed down locations.

In her first hour, she ran into many a place that would have been ideal... had it not been already occupied by a building or business.  The outer ring of Canterlot was probably the most upscale and well-run area of the city.  It made sense, considering the beautiful view of the surrounding lands and the accessibility for cargo and merchant airships, however it certainly didn't make Luna's job any easier.

The first few hours the streets were relatively crowded as the masses shuffled home from their work day.  Luna garnered a lot of glances and double takes, as if it wasn't a common occurrence for royalty to be trotting around in the public’s eye!  Once the sun had finally completely sunk behind the horizon, Luna pulled the map out from the canister on her back.  Examining it, she realized she had barely covered an eighth of the outer ring.

Despite the general high-class of the outer ring, the patronage and architecture varied greatly.  When she first set out she had been prepared to see nothing but ritzy restaurants and taverns.  The longer she had explored, however, it became apparent that it was home to everything from Earth pony specialty bakeries to seedy looking gryphon-run taverns.  While looking at her map, she realized she'd been trotting for hours and hadn't so much as taken a drink.  It was then that she realized she had neglected to fill her water bottle before departing.

A small group of bat ponies and griffons were clustered outside the doorway to a tavern just a bit further along the road.  Luna decided she would stop there to fill her canteen and get a drink.  Luna had always had an affinity with the bat ponies, her entire personal guard was comprised of them after all.  However she was unsure how their culture had evolved in the thousand years she had been absent, which made her slightly uneasy when heading into the tavern.

Slowly but confidently she approached the tavern.  An aura of laughter and joyous merriment emanated from the establishment, something which helped put Luna to ease a bit.  Upon entering the front door and taking a few steps in the noise hushed in a cascade away from her.  Every patron of the establishment had their eyes fixated on her, at least for a few moments.  Whispering started back up, then cheering, laughing, and eventually the tavern was back to as it was before she had even entered.  Bat ponies, gryphons, Earth Ponies, pegasi, and unicorns all enjoying themselves.

Luna approached the bar and took a seat as the barkeep approached her.  The barkeep was a stout older bat pony, an eyepatch adorning his face.  The edges of a scar escaping the eyepatch, betraying what lied beneath. “'Ello tha', Princess!”  The barkeep said, his voice deep and gravely yet containing a sort of merriment.

The bat pony barkeepers cordial tone sounded sincere as could be, “Hello, art thou the proprietor of this establishment?”  Luna replied.

“Ah'm indeed, m'lady!  Been runnin' this 'ere establishment for ten years now.  Been doin' quite 'ell too, if I don't say so m'self.”

Luna was a little taken off guard by the casual tone the barkeep had.  Before her absence, speech had been filled with formalities.  Despite her prior revelations in Ponyville, it was still difficult for her to wrap her head around modern speech.  Even so, the lessened formalities was one of the reasons Luna had enjoyed the bat ponies company before her absence.  Luna cleared her throat, “Yes, well it does seem that your patrons are enjoying themselves to the fullest.  I'm somewhat envious of this carefree environment.”

“Aha!”  Laughed the barkeep, “'Ell, I guess you princesses are trapped up in that castle all day so we can 'njoy our lives down here to thar' fullest!  Truly, we owe it to th' both of ya fer our way a' life!”  The barkeep laughed heartily, “Anyway, what could I 'elp y'to, m'lady?  Ah'm not so thick as ta' thinkin' you came in 'ere jus' to sit n' talk!”

“The insight afforded just by this short conversation has done wonders for me, as it were.  However, you are correct.  I require my canteen to be filled, I would also like to request a pint of your finest cider.”  Luna said, relaxing her speech just enough to still maintain a regal tone to her voice.

“Ah, you flatter me, y'do.  If'n only some'a those OTHER patrons took me words to 'eart as much as you do!”  As the barkeep put emphasis on his words, he looked at another group seemingly enjoying themselves off on the other end of the bar.  They looked up as he obviously was referring to them.

“Ah, farget'chyou, Silver!  Jus' get the princess her drink, eh?”  One of them yelled from across the bar.

The barkeep turned back to Luna, “Those there guys 'ave been comin' 'ere about every night since I opened.  When they first came in, I was hopin' they'd ne'er return... Over the years they've grown on me heart, however.  I'd prob'ly get worried if they didn't show one night!  Hah!  Me, worried about that lot?  Ah, how time can change things.  Anyway~  May I have your canteen, m'lady?”

Luna produced the canteen, and as the barkeep retreated to the water basin behind the counter, she thought about what he had said.  How time can affect one's feelings... If just a few years had turned him and a group of enemies into friends, she wondered how her absence had affected Celestia... and how it affected herself.  Though she could remember her time as nightmare moon, it was very vague and didn't feel her own.  It was as if she had been living in someone else's body, not able to talk, scream, or even cry.  She had willingly let Nightmare Moon get out of control, but had that never happened... there's no telling what could have transpired.  Had the hate just grown, and had the silent dissent continued... despite Luna's thousand year absence, she was still able to repair her relationship with her sister.  Had Nightmare Moon never appeared, she may have continued to let her relationship silently fall apart until it was irreparable.  It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Luckily, her thoughts were interrupted by the returning barkeep, “'Ere y'go m'lady!  The houses finest cider, and some basin water.  Can't say I really think either are fit fer royalty, but it's the best I've got on hand.  Apologies if'n it's not up to snuff.”

Luna smiled, “I'm sure both will be enjoyable.  How much do you require in compensation?”  Luna asked as she brought up one of her saddle bags.

A sort of look of disbelief shot across the barkeeps face, “Ah, we'll 'ave none of that 'ere!  Din'cha just 'ear me say you and yer sister are the reasons why we down 'ere can live our lives the way we can?  I wouldn't live with m'self fer chargin you even more than that.  A pint of cider and some water is a small price ta' pay!”

Luna made one of the happiest smiles she'd made in a long time, “It's been a long time since I've heard words as kind as those.  Thank you.”

“Think nothin' of it, m'lady.  I'm the one that should be thankin' you!”

“By the way, I don't believe you ever gave me your name.”

“Me legal name is Silver Tap.  But fer'get all that legal-like talkin', folks call me Silver.”

“Silver, I see.  I shall remember it.  Thank you for your hospitality.”  Luna nodded her head at Silver, then drained her pint in one solid go.  Silver's face was of pure shock, he clearly wasn't expecting the princess to be capable of such an action.  Luna returned the pint mug to the bar counter and promptly left, nodding at Silver again.  After Luna had exited the building, she heard the noise within die down again, followed by what sounded like Silver yelling at the top of his lungs.  She couldn't quite make out what he said, but after he finished the tavern roared with cheering even louder than before.  Perhaps she was being a bit full of herself, but she couldn't help but assume she had made a good first impression upon this particular sect of ponies.  It would be a long time before she could consider her relationship now and the relationship she had had to be similar,  but it was enough to allow herself to smile as she walked away.

Luna's renewed efforts were much more enthusiastic than before.  A little interaction with her subjects went a long way, and the crass wisdom of Silver had rejuvenated her commitment to the kingdom.  It had been a difficult journey for her to realize that she truly was appreciated, and that Equestria's inhabitants truly enjoyed the night.  Talking to people who thrived on the night life such as Silver only reaffirmed that for her.

<<♃>>

Thanks to the encounter at the tavern Luna was in high spirits, and despite her nearly all-night search she didn't feel even slightly fatigued many hours later when she came across something that finally looked decent.  The sizable structure sat just within the outer rim, but airship docks extended out into the aether.  The docks weren't in any better shape than the buildings, with stray ropes hanging from them blowing in the wind while the aged wooden docks gave off ominous creaking noises.  The structure appeared to be an old row of trading houses, all apparently had shared the same docking area to save on costs.  This was a common practice among traders and merchants, however it was rare for the companies involved in such an agreement to all go under.

“Certainly not the best template...” Thought Luna as she looked around, “But it'll suffice.”

Luna pulled out the map she had borrowed from the royal archives showing current property ownerships within the city of Canterlot.  Luna was pleased to find that the old trading houses that stood before her were indeed unowned, and actually scheduled for demolition and the location for auction by city officials.  “Not anymore...” She said aloud, stamping the property with the royal seal to denote it's new found ownership.  Along with that, she filled out a small scroll informing Celestia of the seizure of the property and sent it off to her in a puff of smoke.  To finalize her requisition of the property, she affixed a royal decree to the doors of the structure.

“Now then... to work.” She said as she cracked the front door of the center trading house, dust falling from the doorframe.  Luna walked through the property, giving it a cursory inspection.  All the while, she filled in a blank scroll with required changes and repairs that would need to be undertaken before it could serve as a foreign ministry.  It had a mostly open floor plan, with occasional large rooms either for meetings or storage off to the sides, but it was indeed a sizable complex; a full three floors, each with ample amounts of space.  She was also pleased to find that the structure seemed to have been built as one large structure, and the partitions for each individual trading house were merely addons, something which would allow conversion to a ministry to be even easier.

As she walked through the building she could feel the wind finding it's way between the wood, stone, and brick that that the structure was comprised of, letting her know that a good amount of insulation work would definitely need to be done.  The Canterlot winters were harsh, the altitude of the city in large part responsible.  The more she looked through the building though, the more she liked it, despite all it's current flaws.  Due to the nature of a trading house, most of the rooms on the upper floors were smaller to accommodate guests or live-in workers, but would need renovation.  A bit of 'prettifying' would do the place good, but some support beams were a bit worse for wear, and she made sure to note that the supports be the first problem with the place to be tackled.  Before heading back outside, she made a copy of her notes and left them on a dust covered table in the lobby of the building.

The exterior was as bad as it had looked at first glance, but wouldn't take too much work to fix up thanks to the construction materials used.  The walls were paneled hardwood and stone, and therefore could be cleaned up, repainted, and all around improved  pretty easily.  The place would be a hefty chunk of work, but in the end would be cheaper than building one from scratch.  Besides that, Luna felt that a building originally constructed by the citizens of Equestria rather than their governing body was somehow more fitting to serve as a foreign ministry.  The rustic feel of the place certainly gave off a friendly aura.  The finished product was already taking shape in Luna's mind, and upon returning to the castle finalizing that vision and putting it on paper would be among her top priorities.

Luna made her way around back to the docks after surveying the prospective ministry building.  As she walked out towards the end of the docks she realized they would most likely need to be completely replaced.  They were worn to the point of near-collapse from who-knows-how-long of lack of maintenance and exposure to the elements.  Every step she took, she felt like the wooden planks beneath her could give way.  The only thing that kept her from turning back was the comforting fact that she could fly should the docks decide they no longer wish to support her.

Luna let a contended sigh escape from her lips as she sat down at the end of the docks, the soft fall breeze causing her ethereal mane to flow to her side.  The sun was beginning to rise far off in the distance, bathing the scene in a soft amber.  She had spent the entire night looking for the perfect place, and although the property at which she now sat was far from perfect, there was no other place she would have rather chosen.

She gazed out into the lands of Equestria, stretching as far as she could see.  The size of the lands of the kingdom, and just how big the lands beyond their borders must be  sank in in this moment.  It was intimidating, but she felt honored and humbled to be in charge of such an undertaking.

“The world can only get smaller,” She said to the wind.