Uneasy footsteps sound throughout the ancient halls of the royal palace. First the clear sound of stone resisting their weight, then the softer sound of wood. A door was shut.
Briefly did the steps break off before resuming, though at a slower pace. They marched in slow time towards the opposite end of the room. A wall of purple curtains which suffocated the light within the room. Below them, on the floor, one could see the light of day. Beyond them, one could hear screaming, chanting, shouting.
A gentle claw moved to grasp one of the curtains, Carefully, the exterior was revealed, but only minorly so; enough to peek, but not enough to blatantly show oneself.
The outside was a riot. A literal one, that is. Protestors lined the streets running up to the gates and premises of the palace. Some of the hippogriffs hovered in the air, clearly just as upset as any one of their grounded comrades. Many wore shirts with ideological imagery on them, which called for revolution, for worker solidarity, for justice. Some of them held signs with a hammer and sickle on them, others with a bright red star held high. Police were there to help, but it hadn't been enough. The infamous thin blue line, now reinforced and interweaved with her majesty's most loyal and honourable Royal Guard. Their golden plate armour was outdated in a modern battle, but proved to be good protection against all the rocks and other objects hurled at them by the crowds now. In front of them were not the usual tourists that would take photographs next to them, nor children gawking at their splendor. They were being yelled at by grown adults, many of them looking poor, their feathers in poor condition.
The defenders were weary. They were tired, and unnerved. Some looked ready to snap, others questioning if their Queen had abandoned them, if she had fled the palace in secret while they stood here, braving the masses and their violence.
The curtains were shut again. Once more darkness filled the regal office, with but one hippogriff there to fill out its vast size.
The ancient chair behind her desk creaked as Novo placed herself upon it. The piece of furniture was as much a part of the royal family and monarchy as she - older even, having served this office well for generations since her great grandfather. Kings and Queens went, but it, like the Crown she still wore upon her head at that very moment, was a stable constant that had remained firmly in its place. It was always there. You could rely upon it being there. It was unmoving, unchanging - but in a good way.
She leaned forward, pausing just before switching on her desk lamp. Had she, too, not been such an influence for all her subjects? For all her youth, she was groomed to rule, and when finally her time came to ascend, she ruled with kindness, in harmony and peace.
She flicked open a black book that laid on the desk, and remembered vividly how things went oh so wrong.
The news of the Storm King's rise were a shock to her and her court. The warning signs may have been clear in hindsight, but confirmation did not reach her in time to prepare for the onslaught. There was no time to prepare, to defend, to hold. All she could do, as the lawful, loving sovereign lady of her people... was to act a coward. She called upon forces ancient to congregate in Seaquestria, where they sealed themselves away.
Fear is what dominated life of most seaponies then, yet as time went on, it grew into anger. Impatience and misunderstanding with the measures Novo had decreed were growing vocal, as her people longed for freedom, longed for their place in the world, for their hippogriff homes and birthplaces of old. And yet, they remained sealed deep beneath the waves - all because of her. For when the High Priests did as she asked - heeding the advice of her privy council - they forsake both seaponies and hippogriffs to a life in isolation. In cowardly retreat. They did so while speaking aloud for all to hear:
"As Queen command."
She shut her eyes for but a moment, rubbing her lids with one tired talon each. Had she been wrong? Was it even her fault to begin with? The Storm King was a threat unprecedented, and she was as baffled as the next griff. In the end, she simply followed the advice of her councillors, of her advisors. To live a coward - safe beneath the waves - was a better fate than dying a hero, they told her. The coming invasion would not be about petty squabbles over land or rights. It was going to be for the survival of the nation, of her people.
She opened her eyes again. It was a challenge; She hadn't slept for two days now, soon to be three. Her claw moved and straightened out the small book in front of her to continue reading. Outside, she could still hear the chanting, occasionally damp thuds as police batons or the butts of spears met the unprotected bodies of protestors who were probably pushing things too far. And every single one of those sounds seemed to rile up the crowd further. Another dull thud, and then a rousing cry from the crowds at the perceived violence. Would it all boil over soon?
Her right ear flinched as she tried to rid herself of those thoughts. She just wanted to read, to calm herself, to simply forget about all the disastrous things outside her room that moment.
Curse the Storm King. A thousand curses upon his every shattered shard of being and his dreaded soul in Tartarus.
If not for the Yeti tyrant, her reign would have remained stable and calm. An era of harmony and peace in relative isolation. Her father, King Skylance, was the one who had first come into contact with the Princess of Equestria, Celestia. The ponies, like they here on Aris, were devoted whole-heartedly to Harmony and Peace. And both of them achieved this through absolute rule from the monarchy. A benevolent, wise ruler to chief over the nation and their beloved people. Such was the way in Equestria, where an ancient goddess ruled in the absence of her sister. Such was the way in Hippogriffia, where Kings and Queens passed on their crown to one another, each taking up the torch to keep the fire of peace and understanding burning bright.
Novo now held that torch. It was, together with the crown, the final gift bestowed upon her by her late father. It was a divine mission. A quest to rule, to govern. To be swift but fair. To be wise but also brave. Among all hippogriffs, and among all seaponies, she was the first and the last. The first and the last instance of authority. The first to oppose fear and threats, and the last to feel the consequences of her own actions thus.
Such was the burden of her crown. A burden she had taken too lightly - over and over.
When the Storm King came, she fled and forced everycreature with her. When he demolished Mount Aris itself, she did not rile up her people to claim revenge... she waited, mulled, and accepted defeat.
It was humiliating that it was not her who ended it all. Six ponies from Equestria, all on their own, had come to Seaquestria with a plea for help, and they returned home without any, still promising to fight the Storm King - on their own if necessary. It was they who inspired hope and courage in her subjects, and it was her military commanders who acted on their own accord in their war of liberation. The drawing of swords and readying of spears; it was all the will of the people - her people - rushing forth from the ocean to reclaim what was theirs.
In the end, even her own daughter, her very heir to the throne, had betrayed her decision and abandoned her to sneak away to Equestria and aid the six ponies. And with her help, they won.
It was not she, the Queen and first citizen of Aris and Seaquestria, who defeated the greatest threat to her people since inception. It was her daughter, a bunch of ponies, and the violent, self-governed mob of disgruntled subjects who had simply had enough.
She flicked over to the next page of her book. The crown upon her head felt heavy not just in that moment, but for the last weeks.
When news came that Skystar and her newly acclaimed friends had defeated the Storm King on their lonesome, celebrations were indeed in order. Yet, Novo knew she was now, somehow, the odd one out. She had been the one fervantly avoiding a confrontation, the one who fled and hid from him all this time.
She was lucky back then. The jubilation was far too grand to give way for negative thoughts, at least during the actual public celebrations. She was careful even then, allowing her generals - and Skystar - to take center stage with speeches and more, not desiring to draw too much attention to herself in light of what she had done - or not done.
The fallout came after. The cracks began to show not soon after celebrations were concluded. Novo had seen fit to dismiss many of her old advisors, who had been the leading force in advising her to flee in the first place. When news of the dismissals reached the public, it brought with it the debate about her true responsibility for the cowardly, embarassing course of action taken.
That was more than two years ago now. By now, problems had only grown in magnitude. Her eyes briefly looked to her desk lamp as it flickered ever so briefly, before she continued reading, or trying to.
Novo knew she had made mistakes, but she was also a trained monarch, groomed to rule from birth. She knew well how to deflect certain arguments and accusations, and so for at least some time nothing much came of the 'Storm King affair'.
But time was moving on, now. They were in a new age now, and it was showing more and more. They could not just sit idly by, trusting in their isolationist roots just for some megalomaniac from abroad to invade once more. They needed to be open to the world, and reach out to others like them. Equestria, chiefly among them, was happy to oblige.
With her own niece sent to a supposed 'School of Friendship' one and a half years back, she hoped to send a signal of cooperation and trust to the now re-established Diarchy there. It certainly did the trick, as capitalists from Equestria began to move to invest in Aris more and more. She didn't know it at the time, but a landscape like in Manehattan would bring with it a whole other world of pain and problems.
Industry. Factories. The cogs and gears of the economy. Such was the way of the future, and the ponies clearly understood this very well. But she? She acknowledged the economic benefits, but completely passed up the risks.
Her eyes and mind wandered to the curtains, behind which the windows to the outside stood. Many, if not most of the disgruntled griffs bashing at her gates were 'workers'. An entirely new thing for her Kingdom, given the agrarian nature prior to this sudden, cooperative industrialisation. They had asked for rights, for representation, for limitations here and limitations there. They wanted extra pay and extra benefits.
And chiefly now: they wanted her gone.
Just as she looked back down to continue her read, her eyes once again moved away, this time to her left. A series of footsteps approached down the hall outside, meeting the solid, polished marble there.
There was a series of gentle knocks on the thick, wooden door to her office.
"Your majesty?" called out a male voice.
"Enter."
The door handle moved downwards, and a loud mechanical clang sounded off as the door opened. There was the quietest of creaks as it swiveled open, flushing the room with light from the hallway. The light stopped just short of Novo's desk, leaving her shrouded in dark.
A hippogriff presented himself after entering. He wore a well-ironed black suit and tie as he looked at her.
"Majesty," he said again with a bow of his head, "the Princess is here to speak with you."
Novo perked up, both claws pressing down on the small book laid out in front of her. She stared the griff down for a split second before gesturing with a claw towards the door.
"Bring her in."
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, already forgetting about the attendant as he bowed his head once again. She only had a few seconds to prepare as another set of steps approached. It was Skystar, but still she didn't want to look pathetic or weak in front of-
"Mum?"
The Queen blinked as she looked up, eyes locking with her daughter. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the two royals stared one another down in a moment of uncertainty.
"I... hope I'm not bothering."
Skystar turned her head slightly towards where the curtains were. Even she immediately took in the rioting outside.
"Not too much, anyways."
She let out a sole, low chuckle. She was always the one to try and stay cheerful in her own way, but the time of isolation in Seaquestria, and then this period of upheaval had left their respective marks on the queen-to-be.
"No," answered Novo. She let go of her read and leaned back in her seat. The wooden creak that followed did not disturb her much. "No, it's alright."
The monarch nodded at her own words multiple times, as if they were more to reassure herself than her offspring's question. She looked to her servant then, who was still holding open the door, and with a dismissive wave of her claw, he removed himself from the room, shutting the door behind him.
Again there was an eerie silence filling the room to the brink. This time though, the two averted their eyes. Skystar seemed to always eye the curtains, listening to what was beyond, while her mother simply eyed the book on her desk.
She moved a claw and shut the book closed, gaining the attention of her much beloved, and much needed, daughter.
"What can I help you with, my dear?"
The Princess veered her head, but her eyes remained locked onto the window front for a moment longer. The worry on her face was painfully obvious to Novo, particularly when they once again looked eye to eye.
"I... think we have to talk, mum."
Novo's heart seemed to skip a beat.
"Talk? Surely not now, with what is going on right outside?"
With a claw gesturing to her right, Skystar once again looked to where all the dreadful noise came from. Chants and shouts, the unmistakable sound of somegriff being beaten by the police and guards who were there on sole authority of her mother.
"Please?"
They looked at one another again. Novo cursed herself, but found not the strength to deny her own daughter. Even with all that was happening now, with all the hate against not just her but the monarchy as a whole, it would be Skystar that had to take up the torch someday.
"Very well. Take a seat then."
Skystar didn't look as her mother gestured to a coffee table behind her, surrounded by white-coloured chairs and sofas.
"Do you want anything to drink?" asked her mother then, as she gently dropped out of her seat behind her desk whilst forgetting to turn the lamp off.
"Oh, I... sure," stuttered the princess. "I'll get the lights in the meantime."
Breaking eye contact once more, the two briefly went separate ways. Skystar moved towards the door, raised a claw and flicked a white switch with a talon of hers. On demand, the dreadfully dark room was suddenly brightly lit as the lights hanging from the ceiling turned on. Electricity - yet another thing the ponies had brought to the kingdom, and it too was part of the many issues they faced now.
The princess turned about face and towards the nearest sofa. She wanted to prtend she was calm and collected, but was evidently not as her mother turned and flapped her wings as she gently flew towards the table. The heir to the throne's talons twitched, threatening to damage the sofa's materials as they did, all while her mother placed down a sleek, silver platter, featuring a tea can and two filled tea cups with various shells painted on them.
The queen picked up one of the cups and offered it to her daughter.
"I hope you don't mind black. I didn't really expect to-"
"It's fine, mum. No worries."
Novo blinked as Skystar accepted the offered cup, taking it from her briefly paralysed claws.
"Of course," she said, coming back to her senses with a lengthy blink of her eyes. "Of course."
She reached for her own set and moved back a few paces before settling in opposite to her daughter.
"So. What can I do for you, exactly?"
The yellow-feathered hippogriff remained quiet at the question, prompting Novo to take a careful but also audible sip from her tea. Novo realised she was shaking, something painfully obvious now. She hoped her daughter wouldn't catch on, but judging by how her eyes had locked onto her shakey claws, which grasped the saucer tight, she already knew.
"I..." the Princess paused, gulped and cleared her throat to start again. "I wanted to come see you about... this, mum. All of this."
"What do you mean?" replied the monarch, acting out feigned innocence.
"I mean what's going on outside, mum."
Novo paused. Of course, it was obvious that this is what would inevitably be the subject of a talk at that moment... and yet, the queen had so long avoided talking directly about it with Skystar. She was Queen, after all, and like all her ancestors before her, she was the only one responsible and capable of fixing things. She didn't want to pull her dearest daughter into this mess.
Though, it seems that like so often, Skystar pulled herself into a mess. Willingly.
"I see," was her only answer. She took another sip.
"Mum, we can't just sit in here while others outside are suffering. Surely you know that?"
"The ones outside the gates now are rebels. They are rabble who would incite violence to harm, or kill, us, Skystar." Skystar frowned as Novo pretended to calmly lower her cup. She was very obviously not calm.
"They are upset, mum... because of us! They just-"
"Not us, Skystar, because of me," her mother interjected. "But there are ways and methods to make yourself heard in this kingdom I rule, and regicide is certainly not one of them."
"But mum, most of them are poor, helpless hippogriffs," her daughter argued again, raising an open claw as she tried to reason with her mother. "They don't have access to basic commodities, and the jobs they work, if they even have one, are ones where they could very realistically harm themselves - or worse. They risk this every day, with barely enough to come by."
The young adult placed her spare claw on her chest, above her heart, whilst the other still held her cup. "Is this harmony, mum? Is this really what we want for our people?"
"You've been mingling with the crowds." Novo stared at her daughter coldly, holding her cup in both claws - primarily to calm her otherwise shakey demeanour. "Haven't you?"
Skystar sighed, but nodded. "I've been trying to get a clearer picture of what is actually wrong, mum. I wanted to understand and feel with them. Because soon, they would be my subjects too, right?"
The monarch remained silent. The cup sounded off again as her second claw let go of it as she raised it to take another sip. Her shakes were growing worse now.
"Please," Skystar pleaded. "Listen to me. I only want the best for our people."
Slowly the crowned hippogriff lowered her drink again. There was a clack as she placed it safely on the saucer on the table. A movement done a thousand times over by that point.
"Skystar," she began, straightening out as she sat to look straight at her without distraction, "though I appreciate your concern, you must realise that the common creature is not the pure soul you make them out to be. They lie, they scheme and they will do anything to get what they want. They know who you are, and pretended to be deeply hurt in your face so that you would come begging for me to act in some way. They are beggars and homeless folks, and it is not us who failed them, it is they who failed themselves."
"That's not true!"
"Harmony means living in harmony, Skystar! It means relying on others, to make friends who can support and help you, and to respect one another. Those who fail at harmony are inevitably those who live on the brink of society - poor, forgotten, astray. Harmony did not fail them. It was they who did not believe in harmony."
Skystar shook her head violently, threatening to spill her cup almost before she rudely placed it down on on the table.
"This is not the message of harmony at all! Our people can't just be discarded because-"
"So long as I reign, and bear this crown, they remain my people, Skystar!" She pointed sharply to the top of her head, and at the iconic, triangular golden crown.
The princess's mouth dropped as Novo stood up and walked off to the side.
"What they told you is not harmony. It's whatever cursed ideology they are chanting there."
Novo moved a claw and grasped one of the curtains, once again daring a look outside. Hammer and sickle posters, banners decrying her as a tyrant, images of her golden crown being crossed out with the headline "TOPPLE HER".
"This is not the sprout of harmony. It is something evil. Something hateful."
"But it's something that is real. And yet you're in here, hiding from reality."
Novo snapped to face Skystar, who stared at her unflinching with a determined, if not a slightly disappointed glare.
"Things have been getting worse and worse, and everytime they do you hide behind locked doors and gates to pretend it will all blow over."
"Skystar, I forbid-"
"If not me then who else will stand up and tell you!?" The Princess rose to her feet likewise, moving towards her mother at a quickened pace as she spoke. "None of your advisors have the gut to say it, and everyone else is just avoiding the topic as much as you are. Because they trust you, mum! They trust and hope you can fix it, that you're working on doing so already!"
Reaching her mother, it appeared both of them were breathing heavily, their chests heaving under equal amounts of pressure. Novo had a poisoned glare with which she stared down her daughter, but for now the determination of the younger was stronger.
"But now it's... too late for you to do that."
The elder's frown dissipated for a moment as her daughter adopted a sad grimace. She was disappointed in her, at how all of this had come to pass.
She looked away from Skystar, waving a dismissive claw at her as she walked past her and towards her desk.
"This is little more than rabble trying to disrupt our way of life, Skystar. You have been poisoned by their criminal line of thought if that is really what you think."
Novo quickly got back onto her comfortable, old chair behind the desk, and moved to open her little black book again.
Then, a foreign claw came down upon her own just as she was about to flip open the cover. She looked up and saw Skystar leaning in from the other side of her workplace.
"Stop running away from this, mum. Please."
Novo remained inert, as did both the claws on top of the piece of literature.
"I beg of you. If not for them then... for me."
The queen felt an odd but familiar stirring inside her. Already it looked as though Skystar was close to tears herself.
"If we don't do something now then... it might all be over. For all of us."
The monarch tried to retain a strong, noble posture, but struggled as her daughter's claw morphed from a restraining grab to a caressing clawhold.
"My daughter, I promise to you this is-"
"No, mum. You can't promise me that." Skystar shook her head twice slowly. "Because we both know that's not true. We both know this - they - won't just go away if we shut our eyes and ears and pretend they don't exist. Something has to be done."
Finally, Skystar relinguished and let go of Novo's claw. The parent looked conflicted, but not in outright denial as before.
"So much has happened, Skystar... in five years, we went from peaceful and harmonious to... this." She sighed, looking down at her little book. She caressed the cover with a talon gently, its title written in golden lettering. "I can make it all right, though. You just have to give me time to-"
"Mum."
Novo paused, not expecting the interruption, and looked back at Skystar expectingly. She watched with dread as her own daughter shook her head.
"No. You can't. But there is a way. A way to right all the wrongs and return peace to the kingdom. To stop all this violence."
Novo gulped.
"I don't know if I have the mind to do it right now. I haven't slept in... who knows how long."
"You don't. But we do."
Skystar's mother perked up at that comment, and the faintest of smiles formed on her beaked face. For so long had Skystar been tutored to become a responsible, noble queen like herself - but she was always kept away from real governance due to her inability to adopt such a character. Yet, perhaps, that could now be the shining light at the end of the tunnel for her. Claw in claw with her daughter. Perhaps.
"Of course... of course!" gave out the monarch, jumping out of her seat with a wide smile. "Together, as mother and daughter, we can show the public that our family remains strong and dedicated. We can show them all the good we mean, and that we care for them! It's just what is needed to dispel this rabble!"
She was out of herself with joy, at the seeming holy grace that had been in front of her this entire time. At last, she found it, and all would be well in the end.
Except Skystar was not smiling back at her.
"No, mum. That's not what I meant."
The pink feathers of the older hippogriff stood up a little as she dared ask a returning question:
"But you said... 'we', didn't you?"
Skystar didn't reply for a fair few seconds as tension built in the room. At last, she nodded, gulped audibly and voiced herself.
"Yes. I... I have been speaking with Silverstream, and we both went to speak to the common hippogriff and seapony actually."
Skystar appeared to ignore her mother's face gradually falling as she forced herself to continue.
"She and I both feel horrible about everything that's going on, and we want to do something... but we know it's too late now to make it happen... for you."
A dreadful moment of silence shrouded the conversation, pierced only by the cries outside the windows, with a bang from a piece of fireworks blowing up being perhaps the loudest of those interruptions.
"Skystar. Be very, very careful with what you answer me next:"
Novo took a deep breath, then another.
"What are you implying?"
Her daughter straightened herself out, like a soldier on parade - a rare sight even to her. It only fuelled her suspicion.
"Silverstream and I want to form a new government. We want to bring democracy to Aris, and form a proper parliament that can advise the monarchy and bring in laws that are needed. We want to help-"
*BANG*
Skystar flinched as her mother bashed her own desk with a fist.
"Skystar, what are you implying!?"
"Mum, I..."
For a moment, the yellow girl paused, and it seemed the flower she always adorned her hair with began to wilt as she began to speak the words.
"I'm asking you to abdicate."
To Novo, the world came to a crawl before coming to a complete standstill. She didn't even realise how she backpedalled and pushed away her chair by doing so. She didn't notice her face taking on a shocked grimace, one that spoke of shock and betrayal.
"I'm... sorry, mum, but... with everything that's happened..."
"You've..."
Skystar listened keenly as her mother slowly regained her senses.
"You've been planning this all along? Is that why you've come to me only now?"
Skystar didn't answer.
"You went and watched as the public turned against me, more and more, until they now stand at the very gates, and now you come to talk to me to ask me to forfeit my birthright?"
"No, mum. I was spending all these weeks with Silverstream, to-"
"Oh yes, and your incompetent cousin. Of course, how could I forget! I was dearly hoping Equestria would keep them after I sent her there, but nooooo, she just had to come crawling back here. And for what? To conspire with you of all creatures!?"
"Mum!"
"Do not call me your mother!" Novo decried as she marched back towards her desk with heavy stomps. "No daughter of mine has the absolute, undignified insolence to ask her own mother to forfeit the throne! No child of the royal line would ever dare such heinous treason!"
"Mum, I never meant to overstep-"
"You will be silent!" Novo screamed across the desk. "I already face enemies without, but now I see they are within already!"
"I'm not your enemy, mum, please!" begged the younger griff.
"Then listen close: I will never abdicate my rightful throne. Do you hear me? Never!"
*BANG*
"Never! I will never abdicate! DO YOU HEAR ME!?"
Novo's head flicked towards the windowside, as did Skystar's, as the loud, dinging sound of metal roared through the air. Was someone banging on the metal bars of the fence of the palace? Or... maybe it was something worse, already?
Novo turned and moved away from behind the desk, sneering.
"To think my own daughter would be a turncoat in the worst of times..."
She stopped, abruptly, when Skystar rushed in front of her, standing on her hind hooves with her claws held out wide to block the way.
"Wait! Please!"
"What, do you want to spit in my face now, too?"
"Please, mum! I'm begging you from the bottom of my heart to give this a thought!"
"Give it a thought? You go behind my back and exploit the worst position the monarchy has ever been in to try and seize the throne for yourself... and you want me to 'give it some thought'!?"
The monarch raised a claw of her own and rudely pushed aside her daughter, who briefly stumbled, but managed to unfurl her wings to go airborne and stabilise herself.
"I'm not! I swear to you that is not why I'm asking!"
The crowned hippogriff grimaced as her daughter appeared before her a second time, this time hovering just above ground-level.
"People - our people - are suffering, and they've grown to hate you because of all that has happened, mum!"
"And so have you, evidently," Novo sneered.
"That's not true, not at all! I've always loved you, but the people... so many of them know you only for the worst things in life. Everything that is wrong, in their mind, boils down to you."
"You're seriously bolder than I thought if you've come to deface and insult me like this," Novo admitted.
Once again, Novo pushed Skystar aside to get to the door.
"My subjects will know how to behave, and harmony will return!" she shouted defiantly without looking back at her daughter whilst grasping the door handle.
She opened the door and moved one leg forward - then froze.
"Heyyyy..."
A familiar, albeit somewhat dreaded voice filled her ears, and an even more familiar figure stood right in front of her as her right claw held the door open.
"Sorry if I'm late but... it was a bit hard to get through because of all the, y'know, people outside."
The Queen stood in the door, almost as if rooted, as she simply blinked over and over at Silverstream, who was carrying some sort of black folder clamped under her left wing. That had immediately gotten her attention after the initial shock of seeing her wore off.
"Sorry, I should have told you I was expecting her. We were originally gonna be telling you all this together but... I suppose it wasn't meant to happen."
Novo intended to turn her head to look back at Skystar, perhaps to frown at her - as if she hadn't already done enough of that by now - but found herself unable to take her eyes off of her ditzy niece. Skystar was already chaotic and free-spirited enough, but at least she was intelligent in her own way. Silverstream, on the other claw, was...
Sigh. If she were in any other moment and place, she would have faceclawed at the thought that she was somehow part of the royal family, given that she was the daughter of her younger sister.
"Did Skystar already...?"
Silverstream leaned in, but peered past the monarch and towards Skystar who now appeared next to her mother. Quietly, the princess nodded at the implied question.
"Right, ok... so uh..."
"Mum?"
Slowly, Novo managed to move her head to look at her daughter. Her dearest daughter, her only daughter.
"Would you give us another hearing?"
Skystar's head flicked towards the outside as a loud bang sounded, followed by a growing chant of cheers, as if something big had just happened. The thudding of batons meeting feathered bodies only increased in frequency. There was the occasional whistle of authority from police to try and motion the crowd back and to restore order. It did little, seemingly. Silverstream leaned past Novo still, her eyes now also glancing past her cousin and to the windows... but Novo stood still, uncaring for it seemingly.
Skystar looked back at her, and a piece of her mourned as for the first time since their meeting, she saw her mother with a deep frown on her face.
"Come in, Silverstream," the princess vocalised with heavy heart, motioning her friend towards the desk where she and her mother had been at moments ago.
The loud and cheerful cousin of hers looked as though she was about to say something, before her eyes, too, locked onto Novo's. She opted to remain silent as she entered at a slow pace.
At some point as Skystar and Silverstream walked back, they heard the door shut. They both paused, and looked behind them to see whether the queen had left or stayed.
But Novo was still there, in the same place as before. Her head had sunk, perhaps deep in thought. Skystar gave Silverstream a gentle pat to continue, and so they took their places in front of the monarch's workplace. The princess slid a hand to grab the black envelope underneath her friend's wing, and gently dropped it on the other side of the desk.
Hearing this, Novo raised her head once again. With very slow, unsteady movements, she placed one claw forward, then another, as she wheeled around towards her desk - perhaps for one final time. Skystar lacked any words to say, and luckily so did Silverstream. They could only look on as the pink-feathered adult approached them. Her eyes were red and wet, the effects of all this proving evident.
The three did not exchange another word as the oldest among them appeared behind the workplace, her weary, tired, and now tearful eyes glancing at both of them in turn, before her head sank to eye the black envelope laid out in front of her.
She slowly raised a claw of hers, but brushed it aside for the moment, instead grabbing the book she had been reading this entire time. She looked down on it with the sort of sincerity she would usually only dispense when eyeing her daughter. Something inside her was jagged and broken, she felt.
Her eyes averted themselves to eye the dreaded folder once more. Gently did she put the book back down, off to the side, and moved the black casing in front of her. She forfeited the use of a letter opener, utilising a sharp claw of hers instead. She moved to grasp for the contents - and indeed, she felt a piece of paper hiding on the inside.
She paused, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. Still did the other two stay quiet.
She revealed the document in one quick swoop, unlike her previous slow movements, and immediately began to inspect and read it.
It was exactly what she feared it was.
Declaration of Abdication.
I, Novo the First, of Seaquestria and Mount Aris, of Seaponies and Hippogriffs, Queen, do hereby declare my irrevocable and absolute determination to renounce the throne for myself, and my desire that effect should be given to this declaration immediately.
In recognition of this act, which today, the sixth day of August, ten oh seven, I have willfully and with clear mind devoted myself to, all present witnesses of the signing of this declaration shall be subscribed below.
Signed, __________________________________
Her Majesty, Queen Novo I.
Signed, __________________________________
Her Royal Highness, Princess Skystar
Signed, __________________________________
Her Royal Highness, Silverstream
The Queen's eyes were painfully glued to the document she held in her claws. The shakiness of her limbs, which had plagued her during the initial part of this meeting with her daughter, was gone. Not even her limbs had the strength anymore to continue.
"Who wrote and printed this?" she asked without looking up.
"Your secretary and a small handful of advisors drafted it," answered Skystar simply and truthfully. It was another stab in the back for her mother, with not only Skystar and Silverstream coming to oppose her, but also others working with and under her.
"We wanted to keep it short, without much fancy wording," Silverstream commented.
And indeed. For something so incredibly impactful and important, the document was surprisingly brief and short, though concise it certainly was. It was almost insulting to the Queen how her ancient claim and birthright was intended to be signed away underneath two small paragraphs of simple writing.
"Skystar. My daughter." The two of them met eyes as the parent still held the paper in her claws. She seemed so utterly helpless now, completely different to her violent outburst from just before. "Surely there is another way."
Silverstream gave her friend and cousin a caring pat on the back, prompting a brief smile beaming back towards her, but one that was absolutely obliterated when the heir to the throne eyed her scattered mother once again.
"I wish there was, mum. We tried to do our research as fast as we could, so that you could be the one to make it all happen... but at this point, nocreature would listen to you anymore."
"Yeah, everygriff seems to at least dislike you now!" Silverstream again added onto Skystar's reply. "If you tried to make this work, no one would give it a chance."
"And if they don't then... well, I'm out of ideas too, at that point."
Skystar did not need to continue, knowing that her mother was more than versed on what a majority of the crowds desired nowadays. The toppling of the monarchy had become a major rallying cry among disgruntled masses, but it was always aimed exclusively at her. Skystar, on the other claw, was basically untouched by the defamations and insults, and was held in a positive regard by many.
But... to go this far?
"Then tell me... tell me what you want- no, what you need to do."
Silverstream wanted to speak but Skystar held a claw up to silence her before she could. She would probably go on a lengthy tangent that could upset her mother's frail being at this point. She stepped up to deliver an answer herself.
"I want to establish a proper, democratic government. With fair, general elections in both Seaquestria and Aris, we can reunite both sides of the kingdom while also seeing where our people's priorities and issues lie. We will hold a proper parliament, and I want Silverstream to be my first Prime Minister until elections can go ahead."
Novo let go of the paper, placing it on the ripped folder. Standing on all fours once again, she looked towards the outside - seeing nothing but the curtains but hearing still the violence of the mob. Her mind wandered, but unlike before, she made her thoughts known.
"For so many generations has our line ruled. We came to rule so long ago, our rise to prominence is more myth than history," she said quietly, her voice weak. "But we have always been fair and kind. We have always been the rulers that our subjects needed us to be. By our hooves and claws, word was made law and both sides of the kingdom advanced through it."
Her head veered back towards the paper. She sighed.
"And yet, you want me to not only forfeit that ancient rule, but want me to pave the path for a grave future for the monarchy."
She dismissively slapped the paper with the back of a claw.
"Our sovereign, golden crown, which has belonged to our ancestors throughout history, would be reduced to nothing but a farce. A plastic toy, a tool for scheming commoners and politicians."
There was a dreary silence between the three of them as Novo's eyes were completely fixated on the writing, occasionally darting to the right, towards the book she had put aside beforehand.
"I know... mum," Skystar muttered quietly, "but you have to trust me when I say I can do this right."
Novo didn't look up as her daughter spoke. She grimaced as she rested a claw on her desk, conflicted on whether to feel pain or sadness about all that was happening.
"I know it will be hard, but I know it's the one chance we have to make things truly right."
Novo shut her eyes, her claw on the desk clenching a fist, when suddenly it was met with the gentle touch of Skystar's own claw. Opening her eyes again with a look of ever so slight relief, Skystar had a hopeful smile on her face.
"Please, mum. I know I've asked a lot of you throughout the years but... I promise you I can get it right. That I won't just let myself be sidelined on everything, but that I won't overrule everyone either. I want to work claw-in-claw and hoof-in-hoof with everyone."
"We both do! Together!" Silverstream added on, now also placing a claw of her own on top of Skystar's.
There was an ever so brief pause before the princess continued.
"Do you trust us?"
Another silence was upon them. They each stood united, their claws meeting with Novo's at the base. A thousand words, a million thoughts and fears passed through the Queen's mind. She grimaced still, but tears were beginning to escape her eyes.
With her watery view, it was impossible for her to see Skystar nod briefly at Silverstream, and they both, one after the other, removed their claws from hers.
Novo moved a single, heavy, tired step closer to the piece of furniture. The claw already on the surface moved over to pull the declaration a little closer towards her.
A tear came falling from her eyes, drencing a tiny bit of the black envelope just next and underneath the paper. She heard one of the two girls shuffle and move about to her rear, but was physically unable to look. Her right claw warily moved further over the desk, towards a marble pen holder.
Just as she retrieved a black one from the small variety there were, Silverstream came up behind her and offered her to sit on her chair - her ancient, beloved chair - to help her.
And so she did, allowing herself to feel its old but comfortable confines one last time, she sat now in front of the document that could end the reign of a Queen like none other had ended prior.
She hesitated, the still sheathed pen tapping the wooden surface next to the document. The tapping became faster and faster.
"Mum?"
She snapped out of her brief lapse and looked towards Skystar. Her smile was contained and filled with sorrow, but the fact she managed a smile at all was perhaps a testament to her solidifed character as a young adult.
"I love you. Always. I hope you'll be there, next to me, to help me along."
The monarch stared at her daughter for what felt like a week. She wanted to do so many things then. One part of her wanted to throw away the pen and stomp out of the room, perhaps rushing outside to tell the guards to disperse the crowd with violence if necessary. Another wanted to stand up and hug her one and only daughter, the truly and only irreplacable thing for her in this world.
But in the end, her gaze simply lowered itself back down onto the paper. Her vision faltered under a layer of tears as she removed the cap on her pen, letting the pen simply drop without care.
She gave a final look to her right, to the book she had been so fond of, before fixating one final time on the document. Her claw moved and hovered over it, and for the last time, she hesitated to consider. Was this the way? Was this truly, without question or alternative, the solution to all this madness? Was there really no other possibility to save not just the monarchy but also her own throne? And what about if she signed? Would her ancestors not look upon her in disgust due to signing away absolute power to her daughter, who was sure to parcel it away to commoners? What more would remain of the crown than a tourist attraction at best? A ceremonial puppet to prance around as the common folks saw fit?
Then, the pen met paper. Skystar and Silverstream both lowered their heads and closed their eyes as a solemn silence was summoned, broken only by the slow scribbling of a pen.
Their eyes opened with the sound of the pen being tossed aside, against the desk lamp nearby, and at the first of surely many sobs to come from Novo. Their eyes naturally moved to look upon the declaration, and though upside down from their view, they distinctively saw it written black on white.
Novo's signature.
Skystar half-raised a claw to perhaps do or say something, but already her mother shuffled out of her seat. The two intruders watched her take hold of that small, black book, and then looked on as their now former monarch paced towards the door they, themselves, had entered from. Her steps were slow, dreary, with her head hanging low. They heard the suppressed sobs of a trained monarch as she looked to remove herself from the room.
Their bodies turned to face her as a claw of hers met the door handle, at which point she paused. She raised her spare claw higher, inspecting that precious book of hers one more time. It was her father's memoirs. Memoirs of a King and father who had always had an answer for everything, she thought. Maybe, she had believed, there would be an answer in what he had left her. Instead, the only answer remaining had been right in front of her this whole time.
"Gods save you, my daughter dearest."
The door opened, shedding an additional bit of light into the room as Novo looked to leave. She turned to face into the room, pausing again as she eyed Skystar one final time, the latter noticing how shortly after her eyes looked down to the ground, perhaps in shame, or perhaps with sadness or uncertainty.
"Long may you reign."
And so, the door swung and shut.
