Labeling Theory

First, a word for all of you who flock to my stories for the sole sake of the clop value. Go away. This is NOT a clop fic. Clop is in here, but it is used as it should be and is not the sole purpose of this fiction. It is a work that tells the story of the Canterlot Servants. Sorry, but otherwise relocate yourself.

If not, please, by all means, keep reading.

It was the longest night of the year and Celestia was in her quarters, enjoying her time to relax and do nothing. She napped in her luxurious bed, dozing peacefully, her jewelry set to the side as to be more comfortable. She was content at that moment, something she very rarely was. She was usually swamped by work or the duties of being a leader, but at that moment she was completely at rest, the moon shining through her window and basking a fair portion of her turret suite in its silver glow. The furnishings were not unique or over-expensive, as this was her second bedroom; the one she used publicly and the one she slept in. The real room was far below the mountainside, stacked high with her own, far more personal, belongings. There was a room off to the side of her suite, however. It was below her quarters, a guest bedroom only for her most trusted friends. It was in this room that Twilight Sparkle was staying the night for a sleepover.

The princess had invited her for a simple study escapade to the royal library that had ended in them retreating back to the castle. Rain and storms had set in on them in droves that night, forcing Twilight to stay for the evening. At first it had been a bit unsteady and awkward, even though they had known each other for years it was still rather formal. At long last it had been time to sleep and Celestia had gladly taken off her jewelry and went to bed. She was glad to be out of the tense atmosphere that her student presented.

It is here that his tale of deception and realization began, in the room that started it all. The room that inspired Celestia to make the decision to get new servants after last month's 'accident' that had actually been a massive blunder of Luna's. She had been working on a magical project when she suddenly came to need a few willing participants. So, being of lower status, Luna performed a little test of her newest spell on them. Quite sadly, all of them perished in the aftermath of the botched spell. Celestia had been furious, but it was literally no use being angry now. The servants were dead and gone and being angry wasn't going to solve anything. So now Luna was straddling the fine, fine line of being on Celestia's list to banish.

So the sun princess lay in her room, sleeping the night away, a luxury she hadn't been able to afford for 1,000 years. She had missed it, being able to escape into her own mind and not have to worry about duties or how her kingdom was fairing economically. She could just lie down, and relax. But sadly, the fair royal's sleep was about to be interrupted. The reason, certain little mortals sometimes get nightmares, and being innocent little mortals, they look for comfort.

Celestia felt herself prodded in the side with a familiar hoof. The princess sighed in annoyance and opened her eyes, reluctant to release her hold on much needed sleep. At first she was confused, there was nopony there. Until a certain lavender mare appeared, startling the princess.

"Princess, could I... um, sleep with you tonight? I had a bad dream and... well..."

The goddess sighed; if anything this would only make the tension between them worse, considering the fact that she didn't want to touch the mare. She decided that she would politely send her back to bed, until she was stopped dead in her tracks. But what really, completely shocked her was that she was crying. This mare had been through a lot and she wasn't easy to upset. Most of the time she was level-headed and calm, but the unicorn looked terrified as she stared at her mentor, her huge purple eyes reflecting the moonlight perfectly.

"Twilight..." She bit her lip, fumbling with the decision. "Fine. Stay on that side of the-"

She was already curled against her side, face buried in her soft white fur. Her breath shook and wavered, the after effects of her sudden night terror. The princess wanted to pull away but... something stopped her. An instinct she didn't even know she possessed after 300 years. Her heartstrings twinged and a warm emotion choked the usually stoic leader. As much as she hated to admit it, she liked having her close. The lavender mare shivered against her, absorbing the larger alicorn's warmth. She didn't want to acknowledge her warmer feelings towards her student, but she could not deny she adored having her near. She was like a soft little doll.

Admittedly, the princess had been quite lonely of late. It wasn't that she couldn't get somepony to court her; of course that wasn't the reason. The reason was the unfortunate schism between every living pony and herself. She was thousands of years old and had seen it all; she was more intelligent than anypony around her. She knew two things would happen if she attempted a relationship with anypony: they would either prove an idiot, or the stallion wouldn't be compatible. She wanted depth, sophistication, soulfulness, not a shallow, one sided, soulless git that would just make jokes and try to cover the fact he was dumber than a brick. She wanted a pony to push her, to get her to try new things and adventure. But everypony around her just seemed...impossible.

Except her apprentice. Eager, adorable and quite innocent, Twilight was the defining picture of what she wanted in most males. She was gentle, but if the young unicorn grew weary she would wander off and get into some sort of trouble. She quite liked it. She was like the daughter she'd never had. She enjoyed caring for the unicorn when she would bother her friends or mess up on a spell. The princess adored her physically, and mentally she marveled at her innocent nature, despite all they had been through together. She made her laugh on more than one occasion, mostly due to her antics when it came to tackling new projects. She was smaller than her and weaker, but Celestia didn't mind at all. If anything she liked her even more because of it. The perfect description of the unicorn would be a doll, warm, soft and very easy to cuddle.

As perfect as Twilight was, Celestia knew in the back of her head that the mare was her apprentice and that she was the mentor. It would be wildly improper for her to start any sort of relationship, be it platonic or otherwise. So the lonely princess sighed and closed her eyes yet again, trying desperately to not say anything. Her loneliness was crushing. Three hundred years of pure, agonizing romantic limbo. Twilight yawned, spreading her limbs in a massive stretch. Celestia's heart jerked at the sight; it was just so adorable. She bit her bottom lip and waited for the unicorn to fall back asleep.

Once Twilight was fast asleep, the princess rolled out of her bed and strode over to the door, wanting desperately to crawl back under the covers and cuddle her student mercilessly. But the immortal disciplined herself and maintained her stiff composure. With the utmost of focus she strode out her door and down the hallway, wrapping a robe about her and tying the sash about her waist tightly. She didn't know quite where she was going, but it was better than staying in her room, risking the stability of her friendship. So the princess decided that she would do the thing she usually did when she was upset. Visit Luna.

The immortal cantered down the dark halls, the moon shining brightly through the massive windows, casting long shadows on the walls. She looked at all of the rich decor and stunning chandeliers, the lack light creating a haunted sort of atmosphere. She could see cobwebs and dust settling on the furniture and doors rusting shut in areas. She sniffed and narrowed her eyes at the lack of care this place received. She was going to get new cleaners. Soon. Otherwise this section of the castle would become a home for mice and dust bunnies... perhaps other, more unsavory things such as the thieves that tried to get in on occasion. At long last, in the depths of this forgotten, dilapidated wing of the castle, she found the massive door leading to Luna's room.

Celestia brought her hoof down on the solid iron knocker, sending a thundering echo through the halls, louder than war drums. It took six long minutes for the door to open, even then only a small slat appeared, from which cool blue eyes regarded the sun princess.

"Sister." Luna said, her voice muffled by the door. "What doth thou require?"

"I require you open the door."

Luna narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?"

"I need to talk to you about a personal matter. Please let me in?"

The slat closed, followed by many mechanical and magical rattles and booms, ending in the massive, bulky door swinging open. The Empress of the Night gestured her sister in with her wing. Luna's quarters were more or less a dungeon. Dark curtains and sculptures of gargoyles and other, far more malevolent creatures were throughout the suite, leering at the two immortals with sightless eyes, their souls filled with cold malice and hate. Skulls were perched atop stands; blue-sapphire candles burned azure flames, hot wax dripping down into long dead eye sockets. Rugs designed in necromantic circles and hexes covered the cement floor, stained in the blood of animals that met their slow ends by Luna's hooves.

Celestia knew exactly why she didn't come in there often. It reminded her of a crypt. The entire room smelled of sulfur and decay. The princess began to pull in breaths through her mouth, hoping to avoid the awful stench. Luna strode over to her bed and leapt up onto the pale blue sheets, regarding her older sibling with all the warmth of the Arctic Ocean.

"Now, what did you want, sister?"

The sun princess took in a deep breathe; Luna wasn't the pony to explain more sentimental emotions to.

"I was just in my room with Twilight Sparkle and... she wanted to sleep in my bed with me. She had a nightmare and she looked so scared I decided it would be okay. The next thing I knew, she was against me and I felt... something. I don't know what happened. I hadn't felt that way in over three-hundred years. It was that same warm, soft emotion as last time. I don't know if I should pursue it, though."

"And so you came to me for advice?" Luna guffawed, falling backwards on her bed in mirth. "I say, sister, you should go to Cadence or your nearest guard captain for a little advice in that area."

"Please take this seriously, sister. I can't make up my mind."

Luna was still laughing her flank off. "Hah! Look at my sister, my older, wiser sister. Yet she falls victim to the same ridiculous sentiments that dominate lesser ponies. How comical. Say, if you really need a pony to care for you, why not just get another servant and beg them for a little romance? It seems a solution and for you there are no strings attached, you can simply wipe their memory and leave them on the side of a street."

"Sister, please!" Celestia yelled. "I would never toy with a pony's emotions! This is very serious. I don't know what to do and if I try to pursue a relationship with Twilight, what if it makes things fall apart? What if I fail and she hates me forever?"

"Sister, don't ask me these things. I honestly don't know. My best advice is to find a guard."

The sun princess narrowed her eyes at how shallow Luna could be. It was all about her. She didn't contain the slightest drop of empathy. Sadly, she knew that the cold-hearted front the alicorn put up was just a mask for the turmoil within. Luna was having an awful time adjusting to life back on earth, especially since her trip to Ponyville. Sadly, the mare was more and more secluded, alone, and painfully isolated from the outside world. She hadn't left the castle in a year and her rooms in a month. Anything she wanted she ordered brought to her in bed.

Celestia turned on a dime and left, unwilling to stay in the dark room a second longer. Talking to Luna was infuriating, her room disgusted her and the way her sister treated anything regarding romantic emotions was downright wrong. So the alicorn strode off down the hallway, knocking cobwebs aside in the wake of her quick retreat. She could only think of one solution to her problem. There was one alicorn who was great at divining the depths of emotions and wise beyond measure in relationships. She would go to her niece, the one alicorn that seemed to have a heart nowadays.

The pink newly-wed made her home at the south end of the castle, next to the guard quarters for the sake of convenience. Although they were next to each other, the alicorn and her groom were always separated by about seven-hundred feet of castle wall. She had her office there, where she often stayed into the depths of the night. As much as she didn't like to be away from Shining Armor, Cadence knew that she was serving her country and her aunt, so she performed her duties tirelessly. So now Celestia set off towards the south wing, the judicial head of Equestria. The entire court system of the great nation converged at one point, and that was the pink alicorn's office. Cadence was the supreme justice, the last say in almost any legal matter. Almost, the only higher authority was Luna, then finally Celestia herself.

Cadence sighed. The workshift she was put in was awful and dragged on into the night like a wounded animal. Each moment in the small office was absolute torture. But the mare endured, for the sake of her groom and her country. Maybe if she had breaks or there was some way to entertain herself, other than this nonstop parade of pure, quintessential monotony. She'd seen bill after bill pass before her eyes. She read every word, deemed the bill correct or incorrect, then signed it. Simple, but so dull she felt like beating her head on the desk.

Celestia knocked on the office door politely, not wanting to startle her niece too badly. Despite the gesture, Cadence jumped out of her chair in fright. Smoothing her mane and feathers, the proud mare trotted to the door and opened it to the princess.

"Celestia! What are you doing here past midnight? Did you just get out of bed?"

The sun princess pushed past Cadence, seating herself in one of the green-blue chairs. As much as her body begged for sleep, she knew this was more important.

"Cadence... I want to ask you something... that most princesses don't ask. I'm older than you and you probably don't think I have problems like this, but I need your advice on a pony I have... affections towards."

"What? Who? When? I promise that I won't judge! Just tell me!"

"It's my student. She is sleeping in my room right now and I wanted to ask you... do you think I should? I never wanted the affection of another mare before, and not only that I haven't been in a relationship for three-hundred years."

"Calm down, please." Cadence sighed. "You should probably do what I used to do when I wanted a certain pony. You might just be lonely. Date somepony else first then, if you still long for your student, go for it. It won't be wrong in the least and nopony can question the princess after all!"

Celestia let out a huge sigh; that was a huge relief. It was plain, simple advice that she could easily follow to the letter. She could see the realistic logic behind her niece's words. Maybe she was just lonely and desperate. It was sound advice to be sure. So the princess nodded, stood, and prepared to return to her quarters.

"You won't stay longer?" Cadence asked.

"No, it is nearly daybreak and I must raise the sun, as is my duty. I shall see you tomorrow. Good morning, Cadence."

As much as the Sun Princess longed for sleep, she knew that soon she needed to raise the sun and go sit upon her throne, starting her daily routine. But before that, she had something to do. A favor she needed to ask. She untied her robe and put on her jewelry, grooming her mane into its usual flowing style. After she was dressed and groomed, she nodded to herself in the mirror, admiring her reflection. She would talk to the head of commons, have her post signs all over Equestria that she was searching for an assistant. It was the perfect guise when she was actually searching for her future suitor. She wanted a gentle-colt, a pony that would respect her and obey her wishes. Somepony... exactly like Twilight. Straightening her tiara, she smiled and left the room, leaving Twilight to still doze in her bed.

Author's note: Expositions are rough, no matter what. I had a few difficulties with this, but I did it!

Comments are greatly appreciated!