Stone and Secrets

Years before the dreaded and painful Nightmare Moon Incident, Celestia and Luna stood together for their ponies, guarding them as a duo against anything that threatened their kingdom.

Against that day's paperwork, however, Celestia was something of a lone warrior. And though she fought bravely and with practiced skill, even the best of ponies will fall to attrition eventually. Even though she gave up on old notions of honor and mercy, every battle still needed to be fought. Today, her opponent’s armies seemed to be infinite.

Infinite and stupid.

If only it really could be a battle...

Celestia repositioned herself upon her grandiose throne so as to more comfortably review her paperwork. Yet another request for royal funding for an eccentric personal project? Honestly, where do they find the nerve? Well, at least she got to hear the satisfying THUMP of the disapproval stamp. Of course, it was still followed by the shuffling of more papers, and the rubbing of her tired eyes yet again.

An endless stream of idiots with money and position! It makes me sick!

No, no. I must stay calm. They don't know any better.

That reassurance didn't last long, however, when faced with a fresh demand for stricter education of the... "Less refined, and oft barbaric earth ponies of the lower regions, that they may become more civilized"?

Her eye began to twitch. The papers in front of her began crumpling under the force of her magic. How can anyone be so... I just...

On another day, Celestia may have gladly told anyone that supporters are one of the finest blessings anypony can have, even if they're not the sort we may think we want.

Some days, however, she didn’t realize how blessed she was.

Celestia was about to scream in rage, until she noticed an apparently overjoyed face beckoning her attention from the marble floor in her peripheral vision. "Not now, please, I'm already very busy."

The face spoke in a somewhat familiar voice, thoroughly friendly and full of youth and energy. "Oh, but your Majesty, this is a very important matter. I'm afraid you'll have to come immediately."

Celestia groaned, and stared at the papers, unable to continue reading them. It's always something urgent around here. I honestly don't know how I'd identify a real emergency anymore. "If this is about the griffon diplomat coming next week, it's already been taken care of."

Something more tugged at her consciousness, and she wanted to look over to him, but she knew that doing so could distract her, and that would be unacceptable. The necessity of doing paperwork was a lesson she had learned years ago, when the courts descended into chaos following a vacation that had gone on far too long.

Even if the work did threaten to drive her mad from time to time.

Given her irritation and the stallion's continued bothering, it was no surprise that she accidentally stamped her approval on a request to fund a study of the effects of lunar cycles on various cheeses.

"Please, I've far too much to do, sir..." She found herself at a loss for his name.

"Shining Flank, your majesty."

Shining Flank? Well that's a strange name for a...

She looked up to the strange, smiling face that stood before her. "I don't believe I've-"

She was cut off mid-sentence by the sudden realization that it was not, in fact, a court official, but rather a cutie mark that she had been speaking to. Ah. Shining Flank. That makes sense now.

Its bearer, one Shining Smiles, now lay rolling on the floor in a grand fit of laughter.

She made a mental note to seek some sort of benign revenge, but she could not help but chuckle at the display. "Ah, Shining Smiles. I remember you. We met at the Gala last week, correct?"

He shot up from the floor and into his usual ready-looking posture in an instant. "Indeed we did! I never knew royalty could be so interesting! "

Celestia smiled at the compliment. Compliments on her wisdom, her kindness, sometimes even her beauty or poise were normal to her, but it was not every day that a princess was called interesting.

"I'm glad to hear it, Shining, but I have a lot of work to do and-"

"And you've probably been overwhelmed like this every day since the Gala, haven't you?"

The question caught her somewhat off guard. "Well, I suppose, but-"

"No buts! You're going to have some fun!"

A sudden realization hit her at precisely that moment. "Now hold on a moment.  You're not a member of the court, so how did you get past the guards?"

Shining lit up with pride. "Oh, that was easy! I just did it like this, see?"

He then walked behind a nearby pillar, popped his head out from and back into a nearby flowerpot, and lastly shot out from behind the back of the throne, giving Celestia a noticeable startle.

"See? Easy peasy!"

He then ducked back out of view again, and came out behind another pillar, this time holding her paperwork.

She did not know whether to be enraged or amused, but she did know to be shocked.

"What- how-"

"I just showed you how, silly! You should really pay closer attention!"

Celestia's wide eyes, when topped with uncharacteristically angry eyebrows, made quite the striking image.

"Shining, give those back this instant! "

"Come and get them!"

And with that he ducked away before dropping from the ceiling in front of two guards, who proceeded to tackle the spot where he landed, in a futile attempt to catch him.

Taking off after him was not so much a strategic choice as a instinctual reflex.

Getting out the door behind him in a few seconds, Celestia managed to catch a now-struggling Shining in her magic. She glared down at him, her eyes almost seeming to glow as she scanned him for the papers. Shining’s eyes became pinpricks, which nicely complemented the sheepish smile and loud gulping.

“Tia, I think you’re overreacting.”

Celestia dropped Shining and looked up to see Luna standing beside her, now holding the papers in her own navy blue aura. As one small foal might do to another, the great Lunar Princess played a momentary game of keep-away with her solar counterpart, who began to burn with the all the intensity that the sun itself might wield.

"Luna, what is the meaning of this?"

In response to the most furious fires of day, Luna exemplified the serenity of truest night. "It's very simple, Tia. You see, I've agreed to let Shining come by and see you as he pleases, provided he can do so without my help, as we've both seen that he can. You go have fun with him; he's very good at it, and I can take care of the paperwork later tonight. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be getting back to bed. Excellent work, Shining."

"But I don't need another day off! It's been less than two weeks since the Gala and—"

"And you've been running yourself ragged and getting half the sleep you should be getting since then, Tia. Trust me, I should know. It's no secret that this is the busiest time of year for you."

Celestia could not bring herself to think of a retort, even though some part of her brain would not stop shouting about how one was needed immediately. Instead, she floated on, allowing herself to be pulled along in the winds of the situation.

Well, the situation and the contagiously happy face that initiated it.

" Now you have to come have some fun! Come on, I know this great spot we can go relax for a little bit."

Luna managed to maintain her poise until Celestia and Shining had put a few doors between themselves and her.

Only then did she allow herself to show her anxiety looking at the pile of papers left for her.

"Oh, hayseeds. What did I just get myself into?"