It was another delicate day with one more amazing sunrise, and I was there to witness every moment of its beautiful existence in my bed. At the moment that the sun had fully risen, and not one point was touching the horizon, a servant walked in, greeting me.
“Your Highness,” she said in a monotone voice while bowing before looking out a window, trying to not stare at me. “Today you have royal day court, and visitors from the Minotaur Empire will arrive twenty minutes to 5pm, around tea time. When should they be leaving?”
“After tea, and I don’t want them to think me rude, so be sure to serve their local brew, for all of us.” I said. Despite the aloofness I spoke with I really had a fondness for her beyond anyone’s imagination.
“Very well. Will you be teaching today?” She said with the cutest voice a mare could handle, but it made me mad that she thought herself so highly as to forego mention of my name or rank; however, it would be more rude to not reply.
“No, Miss Earth, I think I would rather visit the children in school and have lunch with them.” I really wished I hadn’t had to act like this with her, but rules were rules.
She panicked a little at the formality, realizing that she forgot to mention my name; she quickly came over her surprise, “Very well, your Highness Princess Celestia of the Sun. Your sister, Princess Luna, is about to have dinner, and is expecting you to come shortly. Perhaps it would be wisest to get dressed now, and have your bath later.”
I nodded my approval of the advice, and she went to get my crown from the nightstand, a yellow dress --it was more of a nightgown than it was a dress suitable for public attire-- a bottle of perfume smelling of sunflowers, and the golden shoes my mother wore.
Breakfast was, expectedly, uneventful. It was a simple meal of oats with honey and dried cherries, spiced cider, and a slice of lemon cake with strawberries on top. The best part of the meal was how Earth would stand just off to the side awaiting my call, in a frilly, flowing maid outfit; I had it specially made for her as a show of rank amongst the other servants. Luna was curious about what I would do today, and we made light talk about such things until we got to talking about the dreams of ponies. Dreams were the most important part of our discussion in the morning because it helped me to understand my subjects better. She made mention that there was an increase in ponies dreaming of perverted things lately due in to impart Hearts and Hooves Day being around the corner. When I asked what kinds of perverted things in a low and tantalizing voice, not unlike a mare would use to seduce a stallion soon. Luna blushed a shade of deep red, akin to the beets on her plate. She replied that she was tired and that she would be retreating to her chambers and not to be disturbed for “reasons unspecified.”
When breakfast was done, Earth helped me undress for the bathes back in my room before proceeding to get massage oil for later use and today’s scented lotion and shampoo. The bath was small, being only fifteen feet by ten feet with three feet of water, but it was a steam bath, heated to the point it could just melt the muscle in your body if you weren't paying attention. Stepping into the water.
I heard Earth say,“Today we have a new shampoo sent to us by one Unilever*. It is the first of their products, and they sent a letter with it as well. Would you like to read it, your Majesty?”
“I don’t see why not.” I took the letter in my magic.
To her Majesties, Celestia, Princess of the Sun, and Luna, Princess of the Moon.
We give to you our finest creation ever made, a lotion so smooth and brilliant that your manes will shine for days unending, in both the radiance of the sun and the glimmer of the moon.. We give in patronage to our Rulers so that we may be blessed with fortune and benevolence. May the lands of Equestria stand the tests of time for another thousand years under your rule.
“Does it work?”
“Yes, but it only lasts for about a day’s time, your Majesty.”
“Hmm, very well, let me try it”
“Wise choice, your Majesty.”
Earth proceeded to wash me with the new lotion, making sure to spread it evenly all over my body. She seemed to spend extra time on my legs, but I would never complain about such treatment from a s-
Knock, knock, knock. Blast whoever was at the door ruining this perfect moment, don’t ponies know not to disturb a lady in the bath. Earth blushed heavily, but got up and proceeded to the door. A guardsmare walked in and said that day court was about to begin before briskly leaving upon seeing my expression.
“Earth, hurry up, I can’t be late to court. Just wash my hair and brush it, then we will be done.” Sigh.
Sometimes I wish I just had a few extra minutes to relax. Maybe I can slow down the sun tomorrow?
“Yes, your Majesty.” She looked slightly sad at the thought, as if she wanted to just kneel before me and kiss my hooves.
Day court was as expected: Long; Boring; Stressful; Exasperating; Dreary. It is not that I despise day court, I love it sometimes, it’s just I have other things I want to do. However, things did go smoothly and before I knew it, lunch was approaching, or so I had hoped. The last one to enter the day court for the morning was a pompous, fat, greasy, old stallion centaur who was so deeply in love with me that, well, I’d rather not have think about his dreams-- the ones Luna told me about. Now I will give him the benefit of the doubt and listen to his claim, but this is not his first appearance.
“My Queen! It is an honor that you will see me today. I was just wishing that I might be graced with your presence.”
“What do you want, Chiron?”
“My Queen thinks too lowly of me, I do not wish to ask for favors. I only hoped that you would be pleased with the offerings I present to you today. I have brought the finest of fruits to eat and wines beyond compare along with some of the most powerful soldiers,” he gestures to two very burly stallion horses, “I have ever trained.” He bowed deeply, and with his head still low said, “Perhaps her Majesty, my Queen, would like to see them in private?”
I wish I could reel in my seat, the thought of taking such brutes to my chambers just to look at them, they were much too close for my tastes right now.
Earth, after seeing me in distress, walked up the few steps to my throne, swaying slightly after each step, before leaning down filling my cup with new tea and speaking courteously so that no one except myself could hear. “Your Highness, perhaps you could send the horses to Bunny? He has been wanting some new people to work for him. We also know that Chiron has been spreading lies of his military service. Perhaps the honor to actually fight would be best for him? ”
“That could work. I would have to fudge the history books about me giving Chiron immortality, though, can’t have it seem like a death sentence, even if he does die on the field.” I cleared my throat so that I could speak in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “I have made a decision. Chiron, because of your continued patronage to her Majesty, Celestia, I give you immortality and the honor to fight where you are needed most. I hope to hear of your victories shortly.”
He became overjoyed at the notion of living forever, but when he heard he would serve his people in combat he paled, but knew better than to speak out at such a reward. Gulping heavily, he said, “Thank you, your Majesty. I only wish to serve.”
Now that day court has come to a close, lunch is around the corner, by the sound of one's stomach. I headed to the royal daycare center, a heaven all of its own. It was not very often that I came to the daycare because of time, but today I decided to treat myself.
The daycare room was filled to the brim of colorful wall flowers, sparkling lights, castles made of clouds, dolls of rainbow silk, and bookshelves as tall as the ceiling filled with every subject a foal could want; a veritable playground that every foal dreamed of. The amount of love that filled this room was almost thick enough to cut with a knife.
One of the foals yelled, “Celestia! Celestia is here!” Several eeks escaped from the rest of the foals as they ran towards me.
“Kids, Kids! Kids!” Said the teacher, while they all looked expectantly at her while climbing from all around me and hanging from my wings. “Manners, not everypony can stand all of your antics.” Sigh. “Now, like we practiced.”
The children got off of me and made two lines in front of me before awkwardly saying, “Hello Princess Celestia.”
“Hello children, do you mind if I have lunch with you?”
“We would love to have lunch with you!” a little filly shouted, too loud for the teacher, earning her a glare.
Lunch was nice and pleasent, slowly easing my stress away from day court. The whole class and I had cucumber-tomato, sandwiches with cream cheese on carrot bread, buttered corn and apples on the side--just the perfect mix of foods for a balanced diet. While eating, all of the kids wanted to know about my day, so when we were all finishing up I decided to spin a little tale. “Well, today I met with a riddler from the faraway land of Inponesia, He said to me, ‘It finds you when you least expect it, once you have it you never want to let go, and once its gone you’ll wish you never had it, and yet you’ll always seek more. What did you find?’ do any of you know what he meant?”
Hmm... “I don’t know, what is it?” said one colt in particular.
I decided to play coy and pretend I didn’t know. “I don’t know, maybe you guys can help me solve this riddle? It’ll be a class secret, so no asking parents.”
“Alright I promise not to tell them.”
We all cleaned up our plates after I gave my riddle to them. I sat with the fillies and had a private talk about who they liked the most, and who they would give chocolate to on Hearts and Hooves Day. Most of the time they had big peachy smiles with even larger blushes. They were fiddling with their hooves in such a cute manner that it makes ponies just want to hug them. Turns out, there was a three way crush on one of the cuter colts in the class; I might have started a rivalry.
They then had silent time for reading or drawing. I wanted to stay there a little longer, but I had some meetings to attend and evening court afterwards. I said goodbye to the teacher, and left them alone feeling lighter in my step and ready for the rest of the day. If Chiron hadn’t shown up today, I would be acting like a schoolfilly all over again; I guess even he has some usefulness.
The meetings happened painlessly, they were mostly about budgets having to be increased because of inflation in the market and some engineering plans for the future. Some of the roads were getting worn out and had to be replaced, and plans for an underground aqueduct system to be designed, eventually the plans have to be submitted to the public to be voted and approved. It took nearly forever and afterwards I barely had enough time to get a drink before heading to evening court.
Evening court is different to day court in that the things held and discussed are generally more important. Other differences include that day court is open to the public and is a first come first serve basis while evening court is appointment-based. It mostly deals with companies and lawsuits or divorces, but anything can get a meeting with the proper papers.
Today I had to deal with a company making a new product and a lawsuit for them stealing the patent’s design to make it. I had to review the entire manufacturing process, along with the products that came out, and what the patent described. This was a week-long case, and the final verdict was to be made today.
A pony wearing a black suit stood in the center of the room and said, “Case number B86-24C8: Stealing of patents, copyright infringement, and illegal selling of products, will now open.”
“Thank you, announcer,” I said, “After reviewing, by the mediator, the materials from all previous meetings, the board will make a verdict on what is to happen.” sigh.
A mediator began to list off points of reference to the case. “The process of manufacturing has been confirmed to be the same as the patent described, with ninety percent of the process being identical. Such processes have been confirmed to be within acceptable regions of manufacturing procedures of such products. Point cleared as void.”
This went on for an hour and a half, with each topic being presented finally to the board by the mediator, stating each of the facts in turn and how it related to the court as either valid or void.
“Each point has been presented to the board and her Majesty, Princess Celestia. A meeting will now commence among them to decide the verdict of the case."
We all got up and gathered in the meeting room, about a minute’s walk from the courtroom. When the door was closed and the meeting officially started, I said, “By tradition, you are to review each fact, if brought up by one of you, to clear any misunderstanding. I’m here as council only and have no vote. Does anyone have any questions? No? Then you may begin.”
“Thank you. A key part of this case revolves around the fact of having one ingredient in the beverage that the patent described, none of the other ingredients were classified as valid. I believe that if we can come to a consensus about whether or not they added it because of testing or because of copying, then we can get out of here faster.
“Yes. Number Seven does have a point, the patent clearly said that the adding of Stevia was a key point; however, other companies are also adding it to their products. Shall we take a vote?” Everypony said yes and they gave a vote, twelve of them said it was not infringement, one didn’t. Sigh. We are going to be here awhile.
After an hour of debating and talking, we finally came to a verdict. We all walked down to the courtroom and filed into our seats. I announced, “Upon careful deliberation, the board has come to a decision of the case. Seat One, please present the judgment.”
“Yes, Princess Celestia. We, the board, find the defendant not guilty of patent infringement, and subsequently not guilty for the illegal selling of products.”
“Thank you. Court is now adjourned.” Finally, I can have tea.
Earth walked up behind me. “Your Highness, the visitor from the Minotaur Kingdom has been waiting for you in the gardens.”
“I thought I had a meeting with somepony from the Empire?”
“Miscommunication, your Highness.”
“Who is it?” Ow. Ponies are not meant to sit all day.
“Molten Maiden. I will also bring some pillows for you, your Highness.”
When I arrived at the gardens, the sun was setting and it gave all the beautiful flowers a nice orange tint. I saw my friend waiting at the tea table. Molten Maiden, or Molly, was two parts loving grandma cow and one part scary bullfighter.
Ah. “Princess, it is nice to see you again. I hope the trials were not that bad?”
Earth placed a pillow on my seat before I sat down. The cushion was chilled and felt good to sit on, especially after sitting on a stone throne. “It could have been better, I mean, sometimes the board just want to argue for arguing sakes. Today they debated for an hour, an hour, before making a decision. I like some debates, but that was just ridiculous.”
“I know exactly what you mean. Being a princess is hard, just be glad you don’t have grand kids to look after.”
“No. I think you are lucky to have kids. I can’t go on a date without the entire city going bonkers, and newspapers going gaga over it.”
“Hey, hey. I had my fair share of tabloid articles written, don’t you forget that.”
“Yeah, but they had to practically write it by hoof then. I have to deal with the printing press and cameras that capture my every moment.”
“That’s just the world adapting my friend, just the world adapting.”
“I hate adaption.” A somewhat sad pout showed on my face in remembrance of when I was younger, after which I smiled. “So how is your grandson, Iron Will? I hear he has a new program to increase assertiveness.”
“Will’s fine, he keeps trying to one-up his mom. Actually, I think he is heading to ponyville; don’t you have a student there? What was her name: Sparkle Light?”
“Twilight Sparkle, yes. Although I can say right now they won’t be getting married.”
“That obvious, huh.”
“Yes,” I said with poker face before a smile began spreading across my cheeks in a friendly manner. It has been a long time since I could relax with a friend. I looked over at Earth, who was officially on break, and saw she was sitting down next to another maid, with increasingly reddening cheeks. I must have smirked because Molly asked what I was laughing about. “Nothing, just a thought.”
She looked over and saw Earth who was now bright red and panting slightly. “What did you make that poor girl do?” she said in a whisper.
“Nothing...yet.”
“Well I know it’s fun, but don’t go overboard.”
Earth got up and started heading out, I’m guessing to the bathroom. The sun had just set, and the world turned dark almost in an instant.
“Excuse me, I think it’s time to have dinner. Will you join us?”
“No, I’m going to watch the stars tonight.”
“I’ll tell Luna you're here.”
“See you, Hot Flank.” She said it with just enough smirk to imply she knew what I was going to do tonight. Not that she is wrong.
Dinner was extravagant. It was yesterday’s cherry tomato salad with vinegar, that Earth made for me with love. If someone were to guess, they would most likely say it was an appetizer.
Luna was at the table eating breakfast: pumpkin french toast with maple butter frosting-- cavities in a bottle-- and chocolate milk. She was wide awake and said she was ready for the Night. I noticed that she was eyeing a particular stallion who looked a little worn out. We ate in silence, or at least as quiet as a filly on a sugar rush can be, only talking when I told of my day and that she needed to help me give Chiron immortality in the history books sometime this month.
I said our good night and went to bed, while Luna went off to do her royal duties.
In my chambers, I found Earth waiting with flushed skin and panting breath while fidgeting in place by rubbing her front legs together. After a few minutes of watching her and slowly getting dressed in a pale pink nightgown, I said “Come Earth.”
“Yes, your Highness.” Pant, pant.
We walked to a hidden stairwell in the back of my chambers, it was originally made to escape in emergencies but was never finished, and walked all the way down, deep into the heart of the mountain where no pony could ever hear us. When we reached the bottom, I opened a door made of black marble, etched with a series of runes made as a locking mechanism such that magic was needed to unlock it, and walked inside. The interior was black, having no apparent lighting source except for a dead hearth along one edge of the wall.
“Mistress...pant... please...pant...can I...gasp...take it off...pant...yet?”
“At least wait for me to light the fire... Slave”
“Yes, Mistress.”
I walked to the hearth and lit it with my magic; green flames burst to life, and their light danced down my skin in waves of radiance far more beautiful than the sun I controlled. Turning, I saw Earth waiting for the right to remove her clothes laced with an aphrodisiac. “You can take them off now, slave.”
“Thank you, Mistress!” she replied, and began to carefully remove them. The maid outfit I had ordered was made with complex knots to tie it and took a long time to take off, allowing me to appreciate Earth’s body. When she finally got out of it, she revealed that she was in fact a he; the most beautiful and dazzling male with a slim waist and long eyelashes, but was betrayed by the girth held tight in a cage against his body.
“Come, slave, let us begin our routine.” Earth stood in the center of a large white circle turned green by the flames from the hearth while I sat on a heart shaped bed along the opposite wall, covered in black sheets. When he stood in the center, convulsing in ecstasy, I shivered and released controll of my illusion. My body shimmering in place, in what appeared to be another fire of green and yellow, revealing my true body of a Changeling Matriarch--one rank below queen. When I began to breath in, a cloud of pure passion came cascading off of Earth’ body, a technique my mother taught me--the ultimate tease, no release and all pleasure. I was eating my fill of his emotions.
After several minutes, the spiritual mist began to ebb away until nothing remained. Earth’s eyes became heavy and clouded in confusion. I guided him to the bed careful so as to not hurt him, and laid him down where he promptly fell asleep. “Goodnight Earth, just twentyfour hours until release.” I whispered in his ear before I too cuddled with him on the bed and fell asleep quietly.
