Transparency: Q. Mint Jewelip

That evening, after the quiet passing of the mantle of "Ruler of Equestria", the pair of royal sisters sat around a richly lacquered table. Celestia had been picking her way through a large slab of sheet cake as she weathered her sister's taunts and jabs.

Luna, for her own part, was sitting just off center, her hooves alternately clasping a bowl of jet-puffed grains or the mug of tar-black sin that the castle cooks had declared a danger to all living things upon her return. For the past half hour, Luna had been quietly prying for information on how their nation had been given away... and why there was an apparent infestation of moth-eaten ponies that no one had done anything about.

"So, dear sister, how were they able to beat you? Was it shear, animal ferocity?"

Celestia sighed as she carefully placed her fork to the side of the mostly eaten cake, resigned to this particular battle even though she wasn't looking forward to the teasing for the next few centuries. "No."

"Strength in numbers? Enough to topple mountains and blot out the sun?" Luna tempted again.

Celestia, lifted a richly decorated cup in her magic and took a tentative sip of the juice the serving pony had brought. "...No."

Luna raised an eyebrow, taking extra care to appear doubtful. "Certainly not by strength and tenacity. Certainly not that."

There was no doubt for Celestia, Luna was having fun with her questioning. The tiny quirk of her lips whenever she mock scowled gave her away... a remnant of the social atrophy sustained by her thousand year time-out on the moon. "No, Luna, not that either."

"... Did they outwit you? Did you gamble away our ponies precious freedoms and fritter away their futures?"

Luna's ~shock~ was almost comical in its blatant sarcasm, even so, Celestia felt a deep seated defensiveness jolt her from her well-deserved ribbing. "Luna! Never. How could you even-"

"But they did beat you, Sister." Luna's grin was almost predatory now, "So... I must wonder, how it was that these 'vile and distasteful monsters' overcame mine own sister. Mine sister, who has reigned for millennia, virtually unopposed and unmatched in power, wisdom, and wit."

Celestia pressed her lips together and averted her gaze.

Luna smiled as she stood from the table, leaning slightly forward, "Nothing? Nothing at all sister?"

Again, Celestia remained silent, her mouth a tightly maintained sliver of impassive silence.

Luna leaned further, her mane darkening as she played up the dramatic nature of her powers. "Not some pithy retort or scathing remark about my 'full moon' or the 'backwards facing of my tongue?' Nothing at all to excuse your loss of Equestria's ruling title?"

Finally, hoping to simply convince Luna to lower her voice a bit, Celestia flinched as the remnants of her migraine reminded her of her recent defeat. "... They.... they spiked my tea," she whispered.... suddenly finding the tablecloth to be very interesting indeed.

Luna blinked before rounding the table and lowering her muzzle to be directly in front of her sister. "... Really Sister? Doth thou trulest believe that I wouldst accept that?"

Celestia swallowed, though she had to hide the tiny smile at her sister's antics. "...Luna, She asked... I... I had a migraine and .... well, one thing led to another and it was just easier to let her take over to shut her up and lower the sun."

And for the first time in almost forty minutes, Luna was speechless, instead relying upon the suddenly very real look of shock and distaste that had replaced her taunting smirk.

"Oh - Don't give me that look, Luna! We still control everything, but now we at least know where they are."

Luna remained silent for all of five seconds as she carefully chose the words to reply to her sister of several thousand years. "Celestia, thou art an idiot."

Celestia snorted at the response, but quickly covered it with a sip of her juice before looking up with a tiny smile. "Aye. An idiot with a pet army of shapechanging actors capable of infiltrating and overcoming goddesses who are willing to oppose any force for the simple 'payment' of a hug."

Celestia sipped her juice again and took another bite of her cake, humming at the almost too-sweet flavor.

Luna blinked slowly... "You... you let them win? Just to conquer them?"

Celestia carefully dabbed her lips with a napkin before turning to face her sister full-on. "Luna... when you've ruled as long as I have, Diplomancy can become an art form."

-~oOo~-

Three guards looked on with curiosity.

A lone changeling was running in circles - chasing a troupe of guard trainees, who were in turn chasing after him - all while trying not to scream in frustration.

"So... ever get the feeling that we're just window dressing when it comes to actual conflicts?" Cedar Bolt asked as he watched a recruit trip as the changeling changed course.

His companion, a lanky earth pony skirmisher named Meat-Shield flinched as two other recruits tripped over the first. "Nah. The Princesses know what's up. We're here to keep ponies safe."

"Sure... but... didn't we just lose to these guys like.... a week after beating them?" Tandem Strike offered up as she tried not to squirm at the unfortunate placement of that stallion's hoof in the pile of fallen ponies.

"Yheah, and?" Meat-Shield looked over.

"And now we're THEIR subjects?" Cedar gestured to the changeling 'officer.'

"Look bud, They're the royals on paper. We're sitting pretty while they do the work." Tandem smirked.

"But they won!" Cedar nearly shouted.

"Oh? Seems like we're still doing the same stuff, but now we've got better numbers, better pay, and fewer hours since all the patrols got thinned out," Tandem smiled.

Meat-Shield and Cedar both paused and looked to the mare before they both asked at the same time, "You got a raise?!?!?"

"E-yup!" she smirked. "Looks like things are looking up for the 'drones' in this hive." Tandem chuckled again before whistling at the recruits, "NOW GET YOUR FLANKS RUNNING THOSE LAPS OR THE QUEEN WILL HAVE YOUR HIDES!"

At which point, every stallion on the parade grounds groaned before starting to trot as the mares watched.

-~oOo~-

Celestia lay sprawled across her bed, smiling as the faint whispers of music drifted up from the gardens below. The scent of night-blooming flowers wafted from tapers of silently burning incense while the trails of smoke traced luminous patterns through the moonlight.

The diarch smiled serenely as she took in another slow breath and turned her gaze to the open window beside her bed frame. Outside, the purple sky was glimmering with the artistry of her sister; thousands upon thousands of stars, shimmering brushstrokes of light that danced through the dreams of their charges... countless suns and moons and planets filled with untouchable wonders and unknowable dreams... and yet, despite everything that Luna had put into her nights, Celestia couldn't find it in her to fall asleep.

Instead, she took another slow breath, stretched her shoulders just a bit more, and curled her wings up around the two small forms nestled up against her sides.

The motion was enough to rouse the female of the pair, who blinked dimly glowing eyes before frowning at Celestia.

"You, peasant, I'm trying to sleep here," Sleep Dep muttered before snuggling in tighter against the larger mare - promptly falling asleep again with her muzzle laying upon Celestia's chest. The other, Deep Thought, if she recalled properly, was curled up almost like a cat, upon her belly and was gently vibrating as he flitted his wings while he slept.

Celestia, for her own part, smiled despite the snark of her new 'Queen,' and softly ran her hoof over the changeling monarch, getting a purr-like hum in response. True, they were an invading force, and yes, they had been terribly rude, but all things considered, they were not bad guests per-se. Clever... devilishly so... but not bad. Certainly not evil.

And disguising herself as Luna that one night she'd gone drinking, had worked out wonderfully in the end.

Silly little changelings, if all they had wanted was a hug, all they ever needed was to ask.