“Oh, paperwork. Truly the bane of all rulers.” I muttered to myself as I decided to turn in for the night. I had just been dealing with more objections from Gold Scroll, a particularly loud voice in the noble ranks against me and my sister. ‘I suppose I should count my lucky stars Luna isn’t dealing with this, her temper would make her toss the whole pile in the fire.’ I thought to myself, chuckling.
After that amusing thought, I, Celestia Solis, moved away from my desk and to my bed. I felt truly exhausted, the mindless scanning of countless scrolls draining faster than any kind of physical foe I could face.
The situation my sister and I were in was a rather unconventional one. We had been groomed for the throne since we were very young, though our actions during childhood did not endear us to the established order. Due to my blunt attitude, the nobility quickly realized the disdain I held for them. Luna was a mite more subtle, though it was obvious that the both of us would quickly remove the large majority of them from any kind of power once we got our hooves on the throne. As such, as the day of our ascension to ruling Equestria came ever closer, the cries of the nobles grew ever more incessant.
Gold Scroll was a particularly loud and irritating voice, but the fact that the only objections to his words were muttered in closed rooms, his opinions were unfortunately widely held.
‘I need to stop worrying about these things, otherwise I’ll be napping in Day Court. What a field day they’d have over that.’ I thought.
~~~
Many hours later, Celestia was nudged awake.
“Sister, it is time for our duties.” Her sister, Luna, was the one bringing her up at this unfaustly hour.
“Ugh, five more minutes please.”
“I was nice enough to already do that, now get up before you give our detractors more ammunition. I can hear them already, ‘Young “Princess” too lazy to warm her poor citizens? Revolt!’”
“Hmph, you know I hate it when you’re right.”
“Come now, we shouldn’t keep Father waiting.”
Our Father, Starswirl, was the one who lifted us from our village of birth. Our progenitors disliked us both from our births, our mother dying in the process. Our birth father spent much of his time drunk, making it very clear what he thought of what we “did” to his lovely wife. We were glad when Starswirl came through, and that he chose to bring us with him was the greatest gift he gave us. Barely counts for the throne he dropped on us both, but we still love him dearly.
“I suppose. Just give me a minute to properly wake up.”
~~~
After our obligatory raising and lowering of our respective spheres, we went to eat breakfast. With Luna being largely nocturnal, we unfortunately have little time to interact.
“How was Night Court?” I asked her over our pancakes.
“We had double the participants as last time!” She exclaimed.
“Oh really?”
“Yes, we had a whole six.”
“Oh sister, I’m sorry.”
“Do not worry, I know their reasons. Neither of us are proper rulers yet, and I am the one representing something many of them fear.”
“Faust, if we could only switch. I know you like interacting with ponies more, and I despise the noble ponces.”
“I do hope you don’t say such things in public, dear.” A new voice butted in, that of an elderly grey stallion walking into the dining room.
“Father!” We both shouted. The stallion quickly went down under the hugs of two proto-princesses, and we all descended into giggles. He was Starswirl the Bearded, Archmage of the current Regent Starburst, and would certainly be keeping his position.
“I thought you would be away for another few days?” Luna asked when we had all gotten ourselves seated again.
“That was the original plan, but then we came to the realization that I am a Magus, and transport between our destinations became much quicker.” Starswirl mentioned. After a while, we saw the side door open, and another stallion came out. This one being a middle-aged stallion with an immaculately groomed light lavender coat and a nearly black blue mane.
“Ah Starswirl, I see you’re back,” said the current Regent for the throne, Starburst Twinkle. “Have a good night, girls?
For all his friendly demeanor, the only one who had any kind feelings for him in that room was himself. Starburst was a rather vapid stallion, and a culture of elitism and opulence had developed and calcified underneath his lazy rule. Breakfast went by quickly after his arrival and was mostly silent past the occasional request to pass something.
~~~
Day Court was the worst time of my day. I had to spend several hours discussing with ponies that hated me, and that I hated nearly as much. The worst part being that while anypony that came in could see that, we still had to act politely to each other. These louts were furiously jealous of my own and my sister’s Faust-given gifts that let us touch power over a nation that they could only get over their own indentured servants. I made only the barest of niceties with the nobles around me as I walked in, knowing full well that I was five minutes late.
“So Ink Quill, can you bring in the first petitioner?”
Ink Quill was possibly the only one in the room I didn’t have a seething dislike towards. She was assigned to be my secretary, as I could not hope to manage all the things even my fledgling rulership had for me. The laziness of the Regent made my sister and I bear the brunt of what likely should be his job. We were the ones to talk with the nobles, we were the ones to sign policy, we were the ones to be in the public eye. Starburst, the damn fool, just went around, spending away the crown’s treasury and collecting accolades.
“Our first petitioner is Lord Grey Top, Princess.”
I chuckled at her formal address. “Not quite yet, Ink. Not for another week. Just send him in.”
Lord Grey Top was not a particularly objectionable stallion on his own if a bit spineless. What was irritating about him were his cadre of wives that carted him around everywhere, using his name and money as they pleased. Speaking of Discord, the mares animating the poor stallion strutted in the room, with the lord that was announced trailing behind them.
“Well darling, tell her!” One practically shouted at Grey Top.
“Celestia, my wife Hot Suite has come into a spot of trouble with the Royal Guard. She was minding her own business at her friend Lengthy Leg’s manor when the guards burst in to arrest everyone present on charges of supporting Red Rider.” Red Rider was a rather infamous crime lord based in the slums of Everfree City. He had been a thorn in the Guard’s operations for some time now.
“She is obviously innocent, and I cannot stand these baseless accusations.” His voice had an indignant cover, but also sounded incredibly tired. From the look on his face, a quick execution was what he truly wished for the mare.
There was a quick back-and-forth, with the mare’s dislike for me readily apparent, and it was decided that Top’s wife would be treated like all the other “victims” of the guard’s raid. Things continued on in a similar vein, with some nobles being more presumptuous than others.
~~~
“I demand that you take my proposal seriously!”
“Mr. Bar, I will not, nor ever, use Crown resources to pursue your petty matters of political agenda. Your request is wasting my time, and you will either leave or be escorted out by the Guard.” This stallion was of the particularly annoying sort. He was one that thought so assuredly that he was in the right, that not even the Faust-blessed soon-to-be ruler of Equestria could persuade him to realize the galaxy was orbiting around Equis, and not him in particular.
Luckily for what little was left of my patience, Day Court mercifully ended with his inane blatherings. Afterward, it was lunch, and then I set off to do various things required of me in pony. Lunch was uneventful, my father staying up in his tower and the Regent still puttering around the city with his entourage of sycophants. My duties outside the palace were relatively unimportant and significantly more bearable. Out there, I was not dealing with nobles steeped in their own self-importance, I was talking with ponies who had spent their lives actually doing things, and they were infinitely more pleasant to interact with.
They reminded me of our previous life, that of a slightly abnormal peasant filly. If Starswirl had not come by that village, I would likely have lived a life similar to those in the outskirts of the capital. Had a pleasant life, dealt with my father by moving to another village when we came of age, fell in love with some colt, settled down, and lived in ignorance of the rancid underbelly of the capital’s elite.
Once the time for sunset came around, I arrived back in the palace significantly more calm than when I had left. The shifting of the celestials with my sister also helped, as it always did. Dinner was a pleasant affair, with the Regent luckily staying away. Small dinners with my family were always a rarity, and we had to treasure them when they came. After dinner, came the onslaught of the monster known as paperwork, laying me low under its weight for another few hours before I succumbed to my own sleepiness.
