King in the North

Chapter Two: Two Queens

Year 557 of the 3rd Age

Celestia and Luna waved to the crowds of crystal ponies as their carriage trundled down the Crystal City’s southern street toward the castle. One year after their first visit, the queens of Equestria had returned to the Crystal Empire, though Luna had been there herself more than once in between the two embassies. The crystal ponies cheered louder when they spotted the lady of the night. The night’s stars and their emperor’s displays of lights in the sky were always more vivid and spectacular when his beloved was in the city, so there was ample reason for celebration even outside of happiness on their sovereign’s behalf.

Luna gleefully soaked up their cheers—praise that was so seldom offered by her own subjects, it seemed. Well, perhaps someday these wonderful ponies may be my subjects as well. When Luna had such thoughts, however, the reason was very different from those in her sister’s mind. Celestia could see the benefit for Equestria of her younger sister’s relationship with the emperor of the Crystal Empire, but that didn’t mean she liked it. Her plans for unifying the continent had worked, in a way, but not exactly how she’d wished.

Boreal and Luna’s romance was the talk of court both here and back in the Everfree, and it was far from just idle rumor. During the previous year’s embassy, Luna had stuck by the emperor for the whole trip. She always seemed to be at his side as the three monarchs traveled the Empire or discussed trade and diplomacy. At first, Celestia had supposed it was a simple infatuation; even if Luna was far too old for such foolish things (by several centuries at least), she’d never succumbed to them before. However, it had quickly proven to be a more serious yearning. Within the month after returning to the Three Palaces of the Two Queens, Luna had opened a portal to pay a visit to the emperor. This visit was not the last time that the queen of night had abandoned her and Celestia’s capital in order to see Boreal. Though untrue, sometimes it seemed that Luna recently spent more time in the Crystal Empire than in Equestria.

Luna was having the most stupendous time and felt like she was walking on the clouds. When she thought about Boreal, all her worries seemed far away. She no longer felt excluded and overshadowed by her elder sister, or even noticed how little the ponies of Equestria paid attention to her night. Most nights she didn’t even hold court anymore, preferring to spend her time writing letters to Boreal or visiting him in person.

The carriage holding the queens of Equestria pulled to a stop beneath the Crystal Castle, and servants helped the two mares down. Their grand return to the city had been earlier that day, with festivities held throughout the town to celebrate. They were only visiting tonight for a feast and were minimally accompanied by lords and ladies of Equestria, not their retinues and baggage trains. One change from their last embassy was the location where they would live and sleep during their visit—a side effect of Luna’s frequent visits to the city and relationship with its monarch. A manor house had been set aside for them just outside the Crystal City, and Luna had spent much time already. The archbishop of the city had made it clear that the two courting ponies, monarchs or not, both spending the night in the Crystal Castle would be “improper.” Luna didn’t care a whit what the archbishop thought, but for appearances’ sake, she made use of the manor house that now accommodated the entire Equestrian delegation apart from the soldiers, who’d pitched their tents in the surrounding fields.

Celestia and Luna ascended the castle staircases, following the course to the great hall, where a feast was once again being held to welcome them. Along the way, Luna deftly greeted the Crystal Empire’s nobility, having gotten to know them well during the last year. As they trotted into the great hall, Luna spotted Emperor Boreal at the high table, an ornate chair carved with stars and a crescent moon sitting next to his. As their eyes met, she thought she saw a twinkle of joy. Nothing could be more perfect.

***

Later that night, Luna and Boreal were together in his rooms in the Crystal Castle. The queen had returned to the manor with Celestia and taken a portal here immediately after sequestering herself. The archbishop wouldn’t approve, but she’d never know; Emperor Boreal had remarkably few servants to spread rumors. He was a simple stallion with simple tastes and simple needs. On reflection, Luna and Celestia had much been the same until their desires for opulence had increased with the centuries. Of course, it could just be that no gilding or ornamentation could compete with the beauty of the Crystal Castle, its gemstone walls seeming to pulse with a life of their own.

“I missed you,” Boreal said as he nuzzled Luna’s neck tenderly, “I love you.”

“I know,” Luna said, before she sighed, “I wish we could be together all the time.”

“There is no reason why we shouldn’t,” Boreal said, “It could be arranged.”

“I must rule Equestria, and you have the Crystal Empire to lead,” Luna said, “That is why.”

“If we have proven anything this past year—has it truly been so short a time since our meeting? It is that distance is no obstacle,” Boreal said, “As I said, it could be arranged.”

“I dare say, Emperor Boreal,” Luna said as she pulled away from him, “I have the feeling you might be trying to propose marriage to me.”

“And if I am?” Boreal asked earnestly, “In truth, all I have been waiting for is the blessing of Celestia, which I hope to obtain during this visit.”

“Celestia?”

“Yes. As your only family, I had assumed you would wish me to ask her,” Boreal said.

“I see. No, Celestia and I are equals,” Luna said, though an uncertain feeling she’d thought was long gone reappeared in her stomach as she made the statement, “There is no need to ask her.”

The implication was that there was somepony else he should ask, and Boreal took the hint. Sweeping his snow-white cloak out of the way, Boreal knelt before her.

“Luna, Queen of Equestria, Guardian of the Moon, and Lady of Night, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” Boreal proposed.

“Yes, yes, I will!” Luna replied as she embraced her new fiancé, nearly knocking him to the ground.

“Of course, given our positions, we’ll need to have a more ostentatious ceremony in order to make it official, and Archbishop Fethrus will need to announce and bless the betrothal, and I’ll have to inform the peers of the realm,” Boreal said once he’d regained his hooves, “If I start preparations immediately, we could make the announcement in the morning.”

“Let’s not wait a moment,” Luna said as she reluctantly extricated herself from her beloved, pausing before fully detaching from the embrace, and stared into his eyes, “I hate to be apart for even an instant, but there are preparations I’ll need to make as well.”

It still took several minutes for the two lovers to truly part, but eventually they managed it. Boreal watched Luna leave, opening a portal to the manor outside of the city. After the portal closed, he smoothed his mane before sitting down to write the many letters he’d need to send tonight.

Luna had no sooner arrived in her unlit chambers than she left them, tearing down the hall and nearly knocking a servant over. She would need to rouse some more servants and the Equestrian nobility to get things ready for the morning, but first she needed to share the news with her sister. She hammered on the door to Celestia’s chambers, but there was no response. It wasn’t terribly late, but Celestia was most likely asleep. Even so, Luna didn’t want to wait, and she let herself into the room after waiting for a few minutes. Candles and the hearth were still lit, but Celestia was nowhere to be found. As the night queen departed the room to search for her sister, she nearly ran into the same servant she’d had a close encounter with before.

“Where is Queen Celestia?” Luna asked the stunned mare.

“Her majesty was in the library last I knew, your majesty,” she answered shakily.

Luna took off for the manor’s library, heedless of the noise she made tearing down the corridor. Equestria’s nobility were incensed that they had to share the manor with each other in such close proximity, and the sound of hooves in the night would doubtless only give them something else to complain about. Luna didn’t care. For centuries, Celestia had been Luna’s constant companion; she deserved to hear the news first. When Luna arrived at the library, a small room with walls lined with bookcases, Celestia was seated on a cushion, several tomes laid out on the table in front of her.

“Sister, sister! I have wonderful news!” Luna exclaimed as she rushed up to her.

“Oh?” Celestia said inquiringly as she looked up, but then a worrisome shadow fell over her expression.

“Boreal and I—” Luna exclaimed before lowering her voice so that not everypony in the house would be able to hear her, “Boreal and I are engaged to be married! We’re to make the announcement in the morning.”

The troubled shadow on Celestia’s face grew darker. It was just as I feared, though I didn’t expect it to come so suddenly. She should have noticed sooner, but she’d been preoccupied with other business: plans to absorb the slave kingdoms to the south across the Equestrian Divide, expand the Equestrian kingdom into Stygra, or subjugate the Grittish Isles. Celestia had considered their relationship little more than a romantic fancy that would waver in time; that was before she’d seen the crowds of crystal ponies welcome Luna as their own, as well as that night’s feast. Things had gone too far, and she hoped it wasn’t too late to reverse them. Luna and Boreal cannot be wed; surely she can be made to see reason. Looking at the glow that seemed to surround her sister, though, Celestia had her doubts.

“No,” Celestia said.

“No?” Luna said in disbelief, “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“You and Boreal cannot marry. I forbid it,” Celestia said, which was entirely the wrong thing to say.

“You forbid it?” Luna said incredulously, “You have no right! We are equals, sister! I can marry whomever I choose, and I love Boreal!”

“Luna, consider the facts,” Celestia said as she rose from her cushion, “He is mortal, and we are not. You are certain to outlive him and would have to deal with that loss forever.”

“He’s a powerful sorcerer,” Luna objected, “He’s already lived nearly a century and is still young.”

“He is not an alicorn,” Celestia said with a sad but firm shake of her head, “You will outlive him, for many centuries at the least. Save yourself the pain and abandon this course of thought now, before you become too attached.”

“Too attached? You don’t understand anything! I love him!” Luna proclaimed, not caring how loudly she was shouting, “And he loves me! Boreal is a powerful sorcerer! He might become an alicorn himself someday, and all your worries would be for naught!”

It was possible, but not likely. Boreal had tried multiple times to become an alicorn and had failed each time. He’d shared this information with Luna, but she was too blinded by devotion to consider his multiple failures as definitive evidence that he’d never become what she was. He hadn’t died or been horribly malformed like others had when they’d tried … had he?

“The fact remains that he is not an alicorn,” Celestia said, growing irate, “Do you think this is an advantageous pairing for him? Do you think the Crystal Empire’s nobility will allow it? You cannot give him an heir.”

“You don’t know that for sure!” Luna yelled, “Yliiena and Nostracom never even tried!”

“I know!” Celestia yelled back, “Stop being so blindly naive, and look at the facts! I never imagined you’d fall for somepony like him so wholly that you’d cease thinking and ignore reality.”

“Just because you can’t have foals doesn’t mean I can’t!” Luna screamed.

Celestia recoiled as if Luna had struck her a physical blow. It was something that was left unsaid, and Luna hadn’t intended to mention the tender wound until Celestia had angered her so deeply. Boreal was Luna’s first love, but Celestia had had her own flings and romances with various levels of seriousness. In the early years of the queens’ reigns, some of the more devoted of these relationships had led to pregnancy, but that was long ago. Each one had resulted in a stillbirth, until an emotionally broken Celestia had concluded that the alicornification process made one unable to properly reproduce. She’d never allowed herself to be in the position to conceive another foal since. Luna immediately regretted mentioning it. She hadn’t meant to hurt Celestia—no, she had, but she hadn’t meant to cut so deeply.

“Sister, I-I’m sorry,” Luna said as Celestia fell back on the cushion she’d previously occupied, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No. You shouldn’t have,” Celestia said tersely as she glared up at Luna, steam rising from the corners of her eyes as her tears evaporated, “I … I had hoped to be able to convince you to abandon this course of action without poisoning your memory of Emperor Boreal, but …”

Silence stretched between the two alicorns, the two queens, the two sisters.

“But what?” Luna asked as she sat down on a cushion across from Celestia.

“I suspected a marriage proposal might come, so I began looking into marriage law of the Crystal Empire,” Celestia said, gesturing to the books between them, “Did you know that when two rulers wed, the wife forfeits all titles to her husband?”

“What?” Luna said, learning of this for the first time.

“Yes,” Celestia said, “If you marry Boreal, he will become Emperor of the Crystal Empire and King of Equestria, and you will be … nothing.”

“That can’t be true,” Luna said as she looked at the books Celestia had left out.

“As I said, I didn’t want to poison your memory of the emperor, but I fear he’s just been using you, sister.”

“Using … using me?” Luna said disbelievingly.

“He had to have known from the moment we arrived that if he seduced you, he could gain a claim on all Equestria, not just the North,” Celestia said.

“No! Never!” Luna exclaimed as she angrily stood up, but she didn’t storm out. Something kept her hooves rooted in place, her body trembling slightly.

“Consider everything, Luna,” Celestia said seriously as she too stood, “Marrying Emperor Boreal would be a terrible decision.”

Celestia left the library, leaving Luna standing alone with her head spinning. Minutes ago, she’d been besotted with Boreal, but now she didn’t know what to think. Celestia’s arguments had seemed so foolish before, but that was before Boreal’s very motives had been thrown into doubt. Even if his intentions were pure, did that make the consequences any less true? Luna sat down, mournfully pondering her position.

***

“You are dismissed. Go with all haste,” Boreal told the courtiers assembled in his chambers, sending them out to make preparations for the day’s imperial announcement and subsequent festival, organized with only a moment’s notice.

Emperor Boreal trotted over to his map table, taking a momentary break from the nonstop planning he’d undertaken for the last hours. The table was centered on Equestria, with bits of the Eastern Continent and Stygra visible at the edges. The continents rose out of the sea, with raised bumps that crossed them representing mountain ranges. The realms were painted in different colors, with the Crystal Empire colored white and the Kingdom of Equestria in yellow. Soon, one brush shall paint the continent. With his and Luna’s marriage, the two largest realms of Equestria would be united. It wouldn’t be difficult for such a land to finish off the continent’s conquests by subjugating the slave kingdoms, the Stormlands, and even the fledgling hippogriff colony on Mount Eris.

He gazed down at the tiny wooden pawns on the map representing important ponies. Three were clustered around the Crystal City, and he pushed the blue one that represented Luna closer to his gray figure and away from the white one representing Celestia. Whether Equestria would be unified or not after this wedding wasn’t why he had proposed. He truly loved the moon queen and would do anything to be with her. Anything? Yes, anything.

“Boreal?” Luna said quietly as she entered his chambers.

She hadn’t come by portal but had walked in through the doors. The emperor turned to look at the windows of his chambers. Yes, the sun had risen. She must have come by carriage now that dawn had arrived and it was no longer taboo for her to be here.

“My dearest!” Boreal exclaimed as he trotted over to her, suddenly aware of how rude he must appear, gazing at the window instead of rushing to greet her, “Did you get my letters? There is still much to be done!”

“We need to talk,” Luna said sadly, and the emperor began to come down from his elation and realized that something was bothering her.

“Yes, of course,” Boreal said and offered her a seat on the cushions laid out on the floor.

“I can’t stay long,” Luna said, sounding as if she were forcing the words out of her mouth rather than speaking them, “I … I think we may have been a bit hasty.”

“Hasty? Don’t tell me you’re getting cold hooves already. Although, in this climate …” Boreal said lightly, but his face fell when the joke had no effect on Luna, “Are you serious?”

Luna looked to be fighting herself internally, but she managed to nod glumly.

“Wh-what happened?” Boreal said worriedly, “What changed? Did I do something—”

“No!” Luna cut off that line of questioning, “I … I don’t think so, anyway. But ... is it true that in the Crystal Empire, a bride must give all her titles to her husband?”

“Well, yes. That is how it is done in the North,” Boreal said, and Luna’s eyes widened with the fear that everything Celestia had told her had been the truth, “Is that what this is about? We can work around it, I’m sure. We can change the law or be married in Equestria instead.”

“No, that’s not all it is,” Luna said, grateful for the thought that Boreal hadn’t been using her, but still pained by the conclusion she’d come to during the night, “It’s just as she said; it would be unwise for us to wed.”

“She?” Boreal asked, and he looked at the figures atop his map table, “Celestia? I thought you said her opinion didn’t matter.”

“I was wrong,” Luna said, “She made some good points. You deserve to marry a mare of your own era. I was already 469 years old when you were born.”

“I don’t care,” the emperor said passionately, “And what about you? Are you supposed to live a lonely life because no stallion has lived as long as you? I have another century or two left to live, and I would rather share that life with you than anypony else.”

“And then you’d die,” Luna said, blinking away tears, though some still escaped into her coat and glimmered like stars, “Then I would have to live on without you, on and on. I don’t think I could do it. You’re the greatest stallion I’ve ever met, but you’re not an alicorn; you can’t share my life. I love you, but I can’t marry you.”

“Luna, don’t end it like this,” Boreal begged.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Luna said haltingly, “Please … don’t make this any more difficult than it already is.”

The queen and the emperor stood together in the Crystal Castle, together but feeling so alone. The engagement had never been officially announced, and so as far as the law was concerned, nopony had been wronged. But the legal rightness of the situation provided no comfort. The promise was broken, and so were their hearts. It was all the more difficult for Luna, since she’d been the one to do the breaking to both herself and Boreal.

She left via portal to the carriage waiting below the castle, ducking into it quickly so that ponies would see her leaving, but not the state she was in. She wept all the way to the manor outside the city. Boreal was devastated and collapsed as his dreams disintegrated around him. To go from intense joy to intense sorrow in so short a time was incredibly painful, and he gave into the ache wholeheartedly. Part of him didn’t want to believe it had all really happened. The rest of him frantically sought for a way to undo the tragedy. By the time his servants intruded to make sure he was all right, the emperor had fully fallen into despair and desperation.