Me, a king? Bah! (4)

Maps! Those are fairly important in determining what kind of situation we were in. Maps were the massive clues that helped in learning how a situation, may it be individual-based or centered about an entire community, really was.

And right now, the map that I was provided as a gift from the Equestrian Diplomatic Envoy opened no little issues with my current rule. None of the problems exactly manifested an immediate threat to the Crystal Empire, with the sole exception being the neighbor in the East and some troublemakers from the decentralized Changeling Lands that might try to come from the west. I doubted the civil war in the North was actually going to break into this country due to how small both Yaks’ armies had to be.

Still, there was a lot to unpack as I proceeded to study the map and elaborate how this situation might actually evolve in the next few months. While I doubted Stalliongrad was going to find a foothold here in the Crystal Empire due to the fact that there wasn’t any industry there to criticize at the moment and also because of how divided their current government was because of the oppositions shared between the factions of both Vasiliy and Altidiya, I still found the current state of technology disadvantage deeply upsetting. I knew I could rely on receiving some support from the only allies we had, but I knew that one thing was to ask help, another was to be completely subsided by them and becoming a possible puppet to them. I had to be careful, especially now that the Crystal Empire was supposed to completely take over the territories it once owned and that had been under Equestria’s leadership for sometime now.

Of course there were going to be a fair amount of debates about the sudden switch of government due to the recent circumstances, but I relied on the fact that the Crystal Ponies finally wanted to be recognized as the centerpiece of their own culture. Looking at the reports, while Celestia did make some efforts to try and integrate these ponies in her own kingdom, the unquestionable refusal to join Equestria started from a single, undeniable reason that I was actually surprised to find out this soon.

Thestrals, simply labeled as Bat-Ponies, were actually a thing here in this world. While it would be easy to confuse them for the vampire version for ponies, the truth was actually simpler and… dumber. This ‘fourth and forgotten’ tribe was fairly unpopular among Equestrian Ponies due to lots of mistaken info about them, starting with the fact that they were… well, like vampires, only stuck with blood as the main requirement for their diet. The truth was off by a far shot.

Sure, Thestrals were keen to drink blood if possible and within moderation, but it wasn’t something they needed to survive. They ate the same things as other ponies, but they were omnivores and thus could also eat meat and drink blood. In a certain way, I could relate due to the similar diets we had… until the blood thing comes up. Nonetheless, this bit of info was quite important since there was a fairly big community of bat-ponies within the untouched land of the Empire.

While Crystal City was stuck in a state of uncertainty due to what happened with Sombra, the rest of the territories kept a modest and friendly approach towards the Thestrals, allowing them to settle in these lands and become part of their community. I quickly had a convention prepared to address any issue that might be unfolding within these new settlements I was supposed to lead. At first I thought that the Crystal Empire was just the Crystal City but… yeah, that wouldn’t have made much sense. One thing is having a kingdom-sized nation to lead, another was to be a city-state that considered itself a full-fledged empire.

To be fair, Sombra is an arrogant jerk… but this nation was called an Empire even before he was in charge. Dammit, why are things growing so complicated?

So, beyond the agriculture-centered focus I wanted this economy to be started from, I will have to revise plans of a future industrialization. And that wasn’t exactly something simple considering the process was going to take a toll on the current society… of this city. Giving a look at the papers I received from the other cities, the process had been a little less than a century ago and some good and gradual progress was achieved until this very point.

Some engineers had also planned to stretch a railroad network that was supposed to boost the current infrastructure and transport section of the Empire for a while. Despite the lessened effects of the cold due to the effects of the Crystal Heart, lengthy trips across the Empire weren’t doable without some serious preparation being planned and completed.

To defeat this problematic situation, there have been plans to create the network as a mean to guarantee a stable link between the various cities and, if I played this situation well enough, I might as well set the first free railroad system due to the fact I would have government-hired bureaucrats leading it and do my well about it. Not only did it help the economy a fair bit by keeping the train state-controlled, but I would also start making some good rep with other ponies in this nation.

I was well deep into the paperwork, so completely submitted to the work for this early morning, that I barely noticed that someone had slowly entered the room and was quietly waiting for me to pay her some attention. It was nervousness that had her quiet, her inquisitive eyes checking all over the office I had yet to properly fill up as all old things from Sombra had been removed, checked on and burned if too dangerous to use for good.

A fake cough caught my attention, stirring me from my tortured shift of document-signing as I lifted up my gaze to find a certain maid with pretty blue eyes that was now sitting in one of the two chairs in front of mine.

“Cinnamon,” I greeted curtly, frowning at the unexpected intrusion. “I don’t recall hearing you coming in.”

The mare blinked, blushing a tiny bit at that remark and giving a slow nod.

“A-Apologies, your highness. I wanted to ask for a moment of your time to talk about… yesterday,” The maid replied quietly. “The guard at the door said that it would be fine since I am a known servant here in the castle.”

That was actually a big problem. Sure, this world is made of nice ponies with big fuzzy hearts, but also of manipulators and murderers that would exploit any circumstance to get a free assassination out of those predicaments. Changelings in particular were going to have a field day with that kind of procedure, the one where the guards neglected to make sure no illusion or transformation was used to hide away a potential killer and allow them to infiltrate deep enough in the castle.

Luckily for me, I could tell that this Cinnamon was the real one and not a changeling. Not only had the return of Crystal City been recent, but I also noticed a couple of details that helped determine if she was the real Cinnamon or not. The telling sign that definitely confirmed this assumption came from a little thing she got when she was nervous. Her left hind hoof would start tapping on the ground, slowly and as if she was keeping count for some reason.

A little adorable quirk that further created quite the endearing sight to be subjected to. But, regardless of me recognizing the mare or not, I was still going to have a serious talk with the guards about being this lenient with the controls.

“How is your brother?” I asked calmly, recalling that the guy had been left in the dungeon for some time before I stepped in and got him and other prisoners out of their cells. “I hope he is doing well.”

Cinnamon nodded. “Wild Velvet is going to be fully healed and discharged by tomorrow.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“But… there is also something else I wish to say, your highness,” She said with a nervous look. “Yesterday I… behaved a little bit too unruly. I shouldn’t have disturbed your highness’ day like this and-”

“I believe I mentioned that it was fine. Especially taking into account the circumstances that got you to take that extra step.”

“But...”

I sighed, I could say that, regardless of what I was saying, the maid really wasn’t that convinced about this much generosity being dropped so suddenly. I guess it has to come off fairly weird to suddenly have a kinder monarch compared to the previous dickhead one. Still, what kind of solution could I come up with to handle this as kindly as possible? The maid might be a little inopportune with her requests, justified requests at that, but she was so polite and genuinely dedicated to family and work.

So how about I just give her something that 'punish' her but also aid her and me at the same time?

“How about I give you something to work on?” I offered with a calm tone. “Something that should, by all means, make the little ‘reckless’ attitude of yours moderated?”

…

“W-What?”

“Well, you still feel embarrassed for coming up with your request in such a sudden and unusual manner, so… how about I give you a new duty?”

“Wh-Which would be?”

And that's were the fun was meant to begin.

“I’ve heard from Shadow Mark that the position of Head Maid is currently devoid of a proper worker, so I think your promotion to the role would fit well as your punishment.”

…

“This promotion is… my punishment?”

I could see the confusion. I couldn’t help but sigh sympathetically at her unsuspecting self as she was comfortably shoved into some real hard work. I remember when I was stuck in a similar situation back in Uni. Truly unpleasant, but nonetheless it was a job compared to what I had back home. There it would just count as merely 'studying and learning' and no checks being granted for doing the best of work as an assistant researcher.

Poor girl, she has yet to realize that she is going to handle paperwork too since, you know, being the head maid means handling paperwork for the other maids too. The tragedy, the drama!

I said this, but, as I would soon learn after putting the confused mare at work, I was soon proven wrong about her way to cope with the hard work. The girl was instantly set to work, provided new tasks and new duties to get through the day. I monitored her progress, expecting some whining from her part at the sudden ascension to a higher but tougher role. Instead of feeling stumped by the sudden increase of her tasks, Cinnamon just smiled, promised results and… showed me that she was a workaholic. The worst part? She actually passed by and thanked me for granting her the chance to prove her worth to me.

To me, not to the Empire.

Goddammit, this idea just backfired by a fair lot...

So, as I ended up granting this little upgrade to her work station, I prepared to face the rest of the day with a cautious approach. Maybe I expected something big to also happen, possibly from the Equestrian diplomats but… I was actually spared from anything relatively big from their part. I spotted Shining Armor sparring with some of the guards that wanted to challenge him and I saw Cadance wandering around Crystal City to see how it looked right now compared to other cities within the nation that she had the chance of touring a few years ago.

I was slightly relieved by this, mostly because it meant I was avoiding any unexpected pressure this early on during my rule. I had so much to do paperwork-wise, and I really couldn’t afford to get off my office beyond the three meals of the day, some breaks to not have me fall asleep by the table, and nighttime.

It was when night finally came, it was time for me to see if Luna remembered the little promise we had set the day before and… she came in my dreams as promised. From that point onward it was… an interesting conversation between her and I.

Starting with her help in rebuilding my dreamworld.

“Luna, I don’t think chairs are supposed to stand upside down on the ceiling.”

“It will fix itself, John,” The Alicorn commented calmly. “It’s natural for some dispositions to be wrongly-placed in such an early stage, and the work here is far from over.”

I nodded, resuming my task of focusing while allowing her magic to materialize some of the objects I was familiar with. Following her instructions, I decided to turn the main form of my dreamworld into a copy of my home. Not only was it a place I was the most familiar with, but it was also the principal place where I would find myself safe, calm, and away from any hint of nightmares.

It felt like ages, but it didn’t take more than ten minutes to get a good bit of my room done. The place was one of the smallest sections of the house, and it was filled with very few pieces of furniture and little much more than the usual device. I thought about having my PC created too, but at the moment I wasn’t sure if the technology behind it was already known and I could explain it to Luna.

It was clear the lady was already in a tough spot to try and catch up with the current state of things compared to one thousand years ago, and I really didn’t need to make things even worse for her. She was even making an effort to try and sound more informal compared to what she was accustomed just to not appear so out-of-time with her speech and mannerism. Which is why, since the princess was already being incredibly nice by helping me with this stuff, I was rather open to resume yesterday’s exchange the moment she said we could take a break with the current work done today.

“This morning we- I tried to see if I could find some sweet food to eat for breakfast. I was particularly… shocked when I realized that my sister’s interest in indulging her sweet tooth might have depleted the kitchens of this category of treats,” She lamented with a huff. “I tried keeping a couple of snacks safe by hiding those away in a safe spot that I thought only I knew about but… those were missing when I went to check there.”

Not gonna lie, this is pure comedy gold in the making. While the cake obsession on Celestia’s part was barely mentioned early on and only given true confirmation much later from the clips I had seen around, I couldn’t help but wonder how much money was wasted on cake. Still, I felt sympathetic to Luna’s plight since I too had tried and failed to save some snacks from my sister’s reach when she was hungry. Differently from her plight, mine was centered about salty things like Pringels, PopCorns, or even cheap salty sticks. One moment I had them hidden away from anyone in the family, and then, as I needed to eat something while studying or writing papers I would find out that the temporary hideouts were previously looted by the very individual I was hiding that treasure away from.

“Have you tried hiding it on your own?”

“I tried to do so in the past,” She admitted. “But Tia- I mean, Celestia was never the kind of sister that would actually mind upholding my privacy if it was for something ‘as important’ as cake.”

I smiled and nodded. “I assume it can be as infuriating as entertaining.”

“To be fair… yes. It’s kind of refreshing actually since it reminds me of when we were both young and… she tended to do this a lot before we started unifying Equestria,” Luna added with a positive hum. “In fact, I’m surprised that she reverted to this behavior when we both were fairly serious back before I...”

Oh, that's a reference to her banishment, which means… bad memories. It’s time to be a good friend and… it’s time to enact a brilliant detour!

“I suppose she just mellowed over the peaceful years. The toughness of a monarch generally comes up in dire times and when there is a threat to face,” I pointed out, trying to hide away the little hint of panic at the unplanned development. “But I bet she is also happy to have you around. I heard she was fairly lonely when… gah, I really don’t want to bring this up.”

She frowned. “What?”

“I’m trying my best to not put you through that topic. I know it’s a sore bit and I don’t want to put you in an unpleasant spot with it.”

“I-It’s alright,” The princess remarked. “I don’t have a… big problem with it.”

…

I sighed. “Luna, I know this is… a little personal, and I really don’t want to sound too pushy about it but… do you want to talk about how you feel after coming back?”

“W-Why should I- Why even- Why do you think that...”

“You might try to keep a strong face before the upsetting thing that is coming back to a changed world, but you can’t expect to solve it all by keeping quiet and bottling things up,” I commented with a frown. “Even if it’s not me, which I would understand since we became friends literally yesterday, I think you should speak to someone about this. Someone you trust, of course, but the focus is not letting all of this remain bottled up.”

"Ever since- since I started to help ponies with their dreams-"

"You found a way to approach your subjects and feel them close, but I wasn't just asking about it. I can tell you are having trouble about settling to the new age."

...

“I’m… I’m fine.”

I stared at her for a while, taking notice of the fact that she was now glancing at the floor instead of looking directly at me to tell me this. So, knowing that it was one of those make or break situations, I decided to be a little bold about it. If I didn't, I could tell things were going to turn weird around Luna.

“Luna,” I called at her quietly, trying to muster all the kindness I could come up with in that very moment. “If you tell me that you are fine without lying and looking at me, I will let you be on this matter. I’m sorry if this comes out as me trying to pressure you but… you’re my friend, and I know what happens when something like this is ignored. And you don’t deserve to be ignored.”

She looked at me, seemingly pondering about giving a try to fake her emotions just for that brief moment. But I could see, right within her eyes, that she wasn't prepared to handle this kind of big step without feeling guilty about it and...

It didn’t take too long for her reluctance to crumble and for her to finally talk.

Even though we'd only known each other for a little while, we felt we could trust each other; we just spoke so simply to each other. One wouldn’t normally trust a pseudo-stranger, but right now Luna was really in need to talk with someone, to express her own frustrations about her current circumstances.

While she made progress since she returned to Equestria, she was far from being completely happy with what was there for her to learn and relearn depending on the matter. She was marveled by some of these discoveries she was making, but in the end the detail that repeated loudly within her mind was that… this was only happening because of her banishment. And the banishment, from what I could tell from her current ranting, she considered her her own fault. She fully blamed herself for it, ignoring that she wasn’t exactly the only one behind the birth of Nightmare Moon.

While Luna was the main factor, the bit that truly screwed things up was Celestia’s partial negligence to the little family she has. The fact that the older Alicorn hadn't noticed that there were going to be trouble if she left her little sister in such predicament wasn't something one can just ignore, especially since it was absolute loneliness that caused the entire ordeal. The fact she didn't have someone to confide into, to speak about her frustrations and genuinely let go of the negativity that was spreading out of this. It wasn’t even something that I blamed on Celestia as a whole, mostly because I could relate on how tough it can be to spare time for your own sibling if there was something important that required your attention. I couldn’t exactly correlate until now to the magnitude of being busy since ruling a kingdom wasn’t relatable when you are just a glorified accountant for the local Uni.

Things did change for me, but even now that some months had gone by since I finished Uni, I still wasn’t sure if things were going great for me and those around me. Being pulled away from the ‘real world’ got me fairly detached as I had new responsibilities and trouble to handle. In a bizarre circumstance I couldn’t have exactly predicted, I ended up sparing my own counsel to the Alicorn, giving as much as I could without sounding too informal or too pushy with our familiarity.

Luna listened, then countered, then she would listen again, and possibly agreed to what she felt she could agree to. It was an odd cycle that didn’t just help her release what stress she had gained since she came back, but it also helped me find someone to talk without making things too awkward about myself.

Right now I was king of a nation, and those subjects of mine weren’t exactly going to start to treat me as an equal- not when I was supposed to show them the truest essence of a good king. A step above, but not in terms of worth or valor. It was all about leading by example, to be better so they can be better.

And with Luna I could say that this mindset wasn’t necessary. Both monarchs, we both had some serious troubles of our own and we desperately needed an outlet to let out frustrations and annoyances about our respective predicaments without having to fear any betrayal or reprisal out of those.

I was genuinely surprised that she opened up this much with me, but I was even more surprised when she listened to what I had to say about myself. She offered opinions over some bits of my backstory and she seemed rather kind when it came in offering a honest answer to certain topics I brought up.

By the end of that night, Luna left my dream with a relieved smile and she went as far as granting me a hug before leaving. Meanwhile I was left perplexed and confused about myself. Because, in such an unplanned situation, I was so quick to let out so much about myself. I knew, for some reason, that I could trust the one I spoke to- no, there was a reason.

Because if Luna was the keeper of my own stress, I became one for her own issues.

And that agreement was definitely going to help us both in our daily lives without anyone knowing or even suspecting something like this existed. If only they knew how tough it is to rule and to handle emotions…

Author's Note

AN

It’s been a while. I’ll expand this chapter since I feel like I can offer some more, but for now I will upload this. Maybe add some extra dialogues, maybe expand on some bits about the current world.

The map and lore is deeply rooted in the ‘Equestria at War’ Mod for Hearts of Iron 4. Why did I decide this affiliation? Lots of things that can be explored out of it. And I have a little arc planned to happen in the near future that will address quite the unusual ‘chaos disaster’. Expect lots of darkness, despair and… friendship missiles!

Alas, Luna’s relationship will be unique. I’ve yet to establish the limits of it, but I’m tending toward the friendship side of it for now. Who knows, I might change idea if it fits well with the current plot.

Next time, Shining Armor and Princess Cadenza- and yes, that last bit is going to matter a lot as the theme of the chapter itself.