Chapters Of Empires and Princessdoms
Chapter 2 - A Royal Audience
I awoke to the hoofsteps of Twilight in my room. Centuries of assassination attempts left me quite the light sleeper. I turned to face her and opened my eyes, startling the unicorn.
"Good morning Twilight. Nearly time for us to leave, I presume," I more stated than asked, getting up and stretching. My clothes were unwrinkled despite sleeping in them. The benefits of modern textile engineering.
"Afternoon you mean, and yes. A chariot will be arriving for us in an hour," she replied with a huff of annoyance at my late start.
"Bah, waking up early is overrated. Happen to have a shower I can borrow? I would prefer to freshen up a bit before meeting equine royalty," I asked. Twilight motioned for the door and I followed her out into the hallway. The bathroom was a door down.
"You can use my soap if you need to," she politely offered before turning and walking back down the hall. "And remember, one hour!" she yelled as she went back downstairs into the library proper.
I quickly undressed and began my shower. It was quite tight, but I barely managed to wash. I snapped my fingers, summoning a travel soap container as well as shampoo and conditioner from my dimensional locker. After a few more minutes of scrubbing and soaking, I exited the shower and faced the mirror. Several more snaps and about half an hour later, I had finished my preparations. A well trimmed mustache and perfectly white teeth greeted me as I smiled in the mirror. Excellent. A final snap packed all my toiletries away in my pocket dimension one again, and I stepped out into the hallway to meet Twilight. Exactly on time.
I found her pacing in the library below. As I approached, she stopped her pacing and fixed me with a glare. Before she could berate me about not being early, I asked her a question I had been waiting to ask since yesterday.
"Twilight, may I have my blade back? You have my word I will hurt no creature with it, I simply wish to wear it while I meet your princess. It is just as much a mark of my position as the circlet on my head."
She appeared to consider for a moment, before walking over to where it sat on top of a bookshelf. Levitating it down, she laid it on the floor before casting a spell on it. After doing so, she levitated it to me and dropped it into my waiting hands.
"I placed a spell on it so that it cannot be drawn. I'll remove it once we're sure we can trust you," she said as I buckled the blade back on to my hip.
"A wise precaution. Well then, let us get a move on. This is perhaps the only scenario in which I wouldn't enjoy being fashionably late," I said, before opening the door to the outside. Twilight seemed to pale at the mention of the word 'late.'
"SPIKE! Keep the library tidy while we're gone, food is in the fridge. We'll be back by tomorrow!" Twilight yelled back to the purple dragon as he dusted a shelf.
"Gotcha Twilight," he replied, giving a thumbs up without even looking up from his work.
With that we both finally made our way onto the road outside. The sun bore down, although the air bore a typical autumn chill. As expected, a chariot awaited us in front of the library. By the bored looks of pegasi drawing it, they likely arrived a few minutes ago. They quickly stood back up to their full height upon spotting me, looking at me warily. They seemed to relax somewhat upon seeing Twilight though. Townsponies also gave me their fair share of stares, but they didn't last long as Twilight and I mounted the chariot. As soon as we were settled in, the guards took to the skies with us in tow.
I was positively terrified.
Space elevators, interstellar warships, water going boats, high speed rail lines. All these methods of transport I was used to. Indeed, although I took them rarely, I didn't mind fixed winged aircraft. This was completely different. I was keenly aware of precisely how little stood between me and the hard earth below. Beyond that, the wind whipped and whirled around my face, only enhancing the feeling of speed while this high in the air. I made the mistake of looking down, and nearly lost my salad from last night.
Twilight must have noticed the tinge of green in my face, because she laid a reassuring hoof on my back. A simple enough gesture, a friendly encouragement for someone. But it made my thoughts of dying a mangled corpse after a five-hundred foot drop cease. Just how long had it been since someone had even given me such a gesture? I had people I was close to, but even then the master-servant relationship kept a level of distance between us. Long ago the old Terran nobility may have treated me as an equal or even a lesser due to my upstart status, but these days? I was a lord to be feared or a tool by which to gain substantial power. The former tried to avoid me, and the latter either became the former or found themselves stripped of title and on the next colony ship to nowhere. I frowned as I realized I couldn't remember the last person to ever give a generally friendly gesture.
My thoughts were interrupted as Twilight attempted to say something. I shook my head and looked towards the mare, maintaining my white knuckled grip on the handholds on the chariot.
"What did you say?" I asked, raising my voice over the wind.
"I said it gets better! My first pegasus chariot ride left me vomiting on the ground once we landed, but nowadays I feel fine. If it gets too bad, I find mint helps to settle the stomach," she offered helpfully. It seems she mistook my consternation for holding in the contents of my stomach. Not that she was far off, I still felt sick.
"I hope you're right. I will definitely take you up on the mint offer as well, I'd hate to fly back to your place and soil the well maintained steps with my dinner," I said in a jovial tone. As jovial as I could manage anyways. She laughed at my remark and removed her hoof from my back.
Our flight lasted only a couple hours. My ruminations regarding the odd loneliness that consumed my life for the past few centuries was only interrupted by the occasional question from Twilight. Mainly regarding Terra's weather, she seemed interested in it greatly. Apparently the pegasi were able to control the weather here. I explained that we could to a limited extent through extensive technology usage, but preferred to allow nature to run its course. Tended to be healthier for the planet that way.
Not that the ecumenopolis of Terra had any natural weather patterns since it was encased.
Finally, a great mountain came into view. Perched upon its side was a majestic city, great spires and walls displaying the full glory of Equestrian architecture. The city itself was quite expansive for their time, likely equal in size to medieval Paris or bigger. Additionally, it was an absolute marvel of engineering, being set into the mountain side as it was. As we began to glide down into the courtyard I noticed that the walls were not all merely decoration. Killzones, murder holes, and other forms of defense were clear. It was easily to forget that such static fortifications not situated kilometers beneath the earth were still useful in this period. I wondered how they would have reacted to the moon after it was turned into a fortress world. Before it was cracked.
We finally settled down into a courtyard, the pegasi coming to a halt. Twilight and I stepped off the carriage, though I nearly tripped from the feeling of solid ground. Had to lose my sealegs. Or airlegs, rather. Before I could start walking off the slight loss of balance though, two armored ponies with spears approached me and Twilight.
"With us. Her majesty wished to see you immediately upon your arrival," one of them said gruffly before turning and walking towards a door. Twilight and I rushed to follow. They led us through grand halls, with large vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows. Each window seemed to depict some historical event or another, though many featured a white unicorn with wings. Likely members Celestia's family line. On the thought of Sun Princess, I looked over to Twilight.
"So Twilight, I heard you're Celestia's student, what exactly does that entail? Is she training you to be her heir or something?" I asked, receiving a sharp look from one of the guards at my lack of her title. I merely raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to Twilight.
"It's Princess Celestia, and no. She's closer to a magic teacher and general mentor for me. Sort of like a second mom, if that makes sense," she replied.
"Most intriguing. What's she like, if you don't mind me asking? I want an idea of what to expect."
"She's a very kind and fair ruler. I'm sure once she hears of your plight, she'll immediately find a way to help you! After all, if something can be done, she knows how to do it," the unicorn gushed. It was clear that she greatly respected Celestia, and considering my rather high opinion of Twilight at the moment, I figured at least some of it was deserved. Perhaps even all the respect Twilight had for her.
"I most certainly hope so. While mankind can and will survive without me for a few years until they can find me, it'd be far easier to simply be sent directly home."
"Agreed," Twilight replied simply.
"We are here." one of the guards said simply as we came to a large pair of ornate doors. They split off to stand guard at either side of them. I looked to Twilight as I raised a hand to knock, and she gave a nod.
I gave three swift raps to the door, before awaiting a response. I heard shuffling on the other side of the door, and a few seconds passed before I heard a response.
"Enter," commanded a feminine voice, motherly in its intonation. I pushed both doors open before striding in, straight backed with my cloak billowing behind me. I mustered every ounce of authority into my gaze, confidence filling me as I entered her court. For me, it felt like a return to home. Although typically I was the one on the throne.
Before me on a throne with a stylized sun set into its head sat a tall equine, exactly like the ones in the stained glass. Her white coat was pristine, and her multi-coloured mane rippled in a non-existent wind. On her flank was the same image of the sun, and she was quite a bit larger than the other ponies of this world. She had to raise her gaze to meet mine, obviously used to meeting with those lesser stature. As her purple eyes met mine, I stopped in my tracks. And by the sudden widening of her eyes, I could tell she was shocked as well.
For within her eyes I found the same wisdom, knowledge, and patience tinged with notes of loneliness and boredom that I saw in my own eyes every day within the mirror. My confidence wavered as we continued to stare at one another, standing stock still for a few moments.
"How many years?" she finally blurted out, interrupting our silence.
"Only another decade or so until my eighth centennial. And you?" I replied, still somewhat shaken.
"Nearly to my second millenium," she replied.
Twilight simply looked between us in confusion. Celestia moved to explain but I held up a hand and turned towards Twilight.
"I must admit, MIss Sparkle, to not being entirely truthful. While in body I am in my late twenties, I have lived for nearly eight hundred years. I apologize sincerely for this deceit, as I assumed your kind lacked the ability to prolong life for such a length of time. Introducing yourself as an impossibly old creature seems like an excellent way to either make your host regard you as a madman or some terrifying, godlike creature," I told her.
She cycled first through shock, then anger, before finally settling into thought. After a moment she replied, "I suppose I understand where you are coming from. From now on though, no more lies. We can only help you if you tell us everything."
I nod in acknowledgement. While I was able to talk circles around Twilight last night, I had no doubts such tactics would fail against Celestia. Whatever she asked, I would have answer truthfully. It would likely shake the foundations of their world, but I had few doubts the one nearly thrice my age before me could handle it. I turned back and re-established eye contact with the princess.
"Now then, where are my manners? While I am known by many names, I usually prefer Lux Aeternus," I said, leaving my name untranslated for the first time, "Or Eternal Light in your tongue."
"And I am Celestia, Diarch of Equestria. But you can just call me Celestia," she replied.
"A lovely name, quite fitting considering this whole sun raising business I've heard about." The princess blushed slightly at the compliment. She quickly took on a more serious look, however.
"Moving on to the purpose of your audience though, Twilight here tells me you were teleported from your home suddenly, and as of this moment have no way to return?" Celestia stated.
"Indeed, although now that we are here and not holding anything back," I turned to Twilight, giving her my best accusatory glare, "I believe Miss Sparkle wasn't telling the whole truth regarding my arrival."
The purple mare squirmed under my scrutiny, refusing to meet my eyes. Finally, after what felt like hours, she met my eyes with her own tear-filled ones.
"It's my fault! I tried to make a permanent teleportation circle and somehow snagged him! The circle, rather than staying, burnt out and left him here stranded away from home," she said, finally starting to full on sob after getting her last words out.
I only stared in shock. Not in that she'd lied of course, frankly if she had led with that I may have hurt her in a fit of panic induced anger. It was smart of her to hide this truth until I had an opportunity to collect myself. More so, I was shocked she had managed a teleportation circle, one capable of somehow getting me to wherever in the universe here was, without a method of producing massive amounts of energy. Of course, it was one use and somehow interfered with the Imperial transporter network, but it was quite the impressive feat nonetheless. While I thought, Celestia moved forward and embraced the young crying mare. As her tears subsided, I got down on my knees before her and looked her in the eye.
"I appreciate you telling the truth Twilight, and to be honest I am still quite frustrated over being stuck here. But I blame you no more than I blame those scientists who accidentally consumed a star in a black hole a few centuries ago. Which is to say, not at all. I am actually quite impressed than you managed to make a circle good enough to link up with the network on Terra," I said honestly. She seemed to perk up at my compliment.
"Indeed my most faithful student. I too am quite impressed with how your abilities have developed," Celestia chimed in. Twilight's mood continued to improve. Celestia, however, continued, "Although, I do think some punishment is requited for what you put our poor guest through. I want a full essay on your studies into these circles by the end of the week. In addition, while I know you would like to host Light at your own home as per your letter, I feel it would be best for him to reside here. A much more suitable home for a foreign dignitary, don't you think?"
I initially moved to say that I was fine with staying at Twilight's, but then I realized that as this castle was built to Celestia's scale, it likely had properly sized bedding and showers. Sorry, Twilight, but I can't do a game of twister to wash my body every day.
"I understand Princess. May I still visit and talk with him though?" she asked hopefully. Celestia looked to me for an answer.
"I am fine with that Twilight, just as long as you try not to summon any more aliens. Not all of them are as friendly as I," I joked.
"I won't! Oh yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!" she said prancing in excitement at the prospect of being able to grill me for information again at a later date.
I smiled, and then turned back to Celestia before saying, "Well then, with that settled, I presume your mention of me residing here implies that it will take some time for you to find me a way home?"
"Unfortunately so. While short ranged teleportation is commonplace, I'm afraid what Twilight has done is quite out of the ordinary," Celestia replied with an apologetic gaze. "I assure you that the best minds of my nation will be working on this issue though."
"Nothing to be done about it, i suppose," I said with a shrug. I then smiled, "An extended vacation was on my to-do list though. Perhaps this was just the opportunity I needed."
Celestia laughed at my joke. "You and me both in terms of needing a vacation. I wish somebody told me just how hard running a nation is, all those years ago. Now, as much as I would like to discuss specifics regarding your stay here, I have many more supplicants to see. In addition to wanting my sister present for our agreement, of course. If you would like, I can personally show you to your new quarters." she told me, before turning to Twilight and continuing, "Twilight dear, I suggest you get moving back to Ponyville. You have an essay to work on," Celestia said, with a hint of sternness in her last sentence.
"Yes, Princess Celestia," Twilight replied before turning to leave.
"Wait!" I shouted. She turned around, and gave her a quick hug. It felt wonderful, I hadn't done such a thing in years. She hugged me back. I pulled away as I remembered something important. "Before I forget, Twilight here put a spell on my sword to keep it locked in its sheathe. Could she remove it now? I assure you I will not use it outside of self defense, on my honor. It's more of a ceremonial piece regardless."
Celestia pursed her lips and once again scoured my eyes for any hint of deceit. Finding none, she looked to Twilight. "You may lift the spell Twilight. Thank you for ensuring everypony's safety though."
Twilight nodded and removed the spell from my blade. I felt some level of comfort return as the sword was once again functional. Even if it was arguably the least in my current arsenal, compared to the psionic force I could bring to bear or the stash of energy weapons in my pocket dimension. Then, for the first time in centuries, I gave another being a short bow.
"I thank you for your hospitality and trust, Miss Sparkle. My gratitude is not given out lightly. If I ever do find my way home, you will always be welcome as a guest of honor within my Imperium," I told her.
"It's the least I could do, Light," She replied simply. With nothing left to be said, she walked back out the way we entered, leaving me and the princess alone.
"Hopefully she won't take too long to forgive herself, my most prized student is her own worst foe..." Celestia muttered to herself. "Now, if you would follow me we can get you settled in," Celestia beckoned, beginning to walk to a side door within the throne room. Afternoon daylight continued to sift down through the stained glass panes, and I continued to observe them as we walked. We were content with silence, a precious commodity for those who spend their lives listening to others drone on about a million and one problems. Eventually she led me down another hall, and out a door to a large bridge that led to a tower. She halted before a large wooden door and opened it with her magic. Within was a spacious sitting area, with stairs that presumably led to the bedroom and bathroom above. Large windows offered ample views of the city and mountainside, while a chandelier provided light. As expected, everything was in alicorn scale, making it comfortably usable by me. I gave her a deep nod in appreciation.
"I would like to invite you to dinner this evening. I am certain my dear sister would love to meet you, and it would provide an opportunity to consider your conundrum in relative comfort. Come just after the sun sets, ask any guard and they will lead you to the dining room. Until then, make yourself at home," Celestia said with a smile.
"I most certainly shall. Actually, I have an odd question. May I watch you and Luna move the sun and moon?" I asked her.
Her smile only brightened as she said, "But of course! Her and I always love to show off to visitors. I just didn't want to impose on you if you were tired though. We'll be on the balcony near my quarters, guards would, as I said, be more than happy to give directions."
With that, she turns and begins walking back across the bridge. I close the door behind her, before moving up the stairs. On the next floor a bathroom is situated behind a door, a large tub and shower combo as well as a pony toilet, which reminded me of those toilets you have to squat over. There is also a medicine cabinet above a fine marble sink. With a snap all my toiletries reappear, this time here to stay for awhile. I then continue up the flight of stairs to the bedroom.
The bedroom is grand, with a large canopied bed dominating the space. Nightstands and a large wooden dresser offer ample storage, while a full body mirror is in the corner to assist in getting ready. Glass doors lead to a wraparound balcony, whilst a small bookcase contains a variety of reading materials. More than enough to pass the time until I can make a trip to the castle library. While what I'm wearing remains my only set of true formal wear, I snap and manifest several sets of simple slacks and button ups, in addition to a set of Imperial Legionnaire fatigues. I could summon my suit of armor and more advanced weaponry later if need be, but for now it was in my own best interest to appear as nonthreatening as possible. I carefully place the clothes in the drawers of my dresser, before lying down on the bed. The mattress is wonderfully soft, but has enough support that my back won't get all crooked. Despite really having gotten up only a few hours ago, this whole experience has been quite taxing. I yawn into my hand, before setting an alarm within one of my implants to awaken me in time to join the princesses. With that, sleep claims me.
I followed the guard down the hall. Even amongst the many palaces and castles I had visited during my lifetime, Canterlot Castle ranked highly. There was a clean elegance and old-school grandeur, not overly gaudy, that I quite enjoyed. Many places these days overused anti-gravity technology, our easy access to gemstones and precious metals, or a million other modern commodities to show off. Canterlot Castle was straightforward like the Imperial Palace on Terra, and I liked that. The guard led me down another hall, before indicating a door at the end.
"Princesses will be in there, sir," he said, before quickly turning and marching back where we came from.
"Much appreciated," I told him as he walked away. He waved his hoof as if to say it was no problem. I knocked before pushing open the door to the balcony.
Two individuals turned to look at me, one I recognized as Celestia. The other was a dark blue alicorn, with a mane that shimmered like the very stars. The one who I presumed to be Luna looked younger than her sister. She was much shorter in stature and was lacking Celestia's motherly gaze, but exchanged that for a bit of youthful spryness. As I looked into her eyes, I saw that she once again was quite old, but appeared to harbor a sort of loneliness or sadness far deeper than her sister's. Perhaps a good friend recently died, or some other traumatic event.
"Sister, doth this be the one thou spoke of earlier, the fellow immortal cast adrift?" Luna asked, her translated manner of speech reminded me much of Shakespearian English. Likely she spoke a much older form of Equestrian. Curious, for her being the younger of the two.
"Indeed, this is Lux Aeternus, or Light Eternal in Ponish," Celestia replied, surprising me by contorting her mouth to say my true name untranslated.
"We bid thee welcome to our world, and extend our hospitality to you," she said, extending a hoof before me. On human instinct, I took her silver-shod hoof and bowed, giving a gentle kiss. An ancient form of showing respect, one not even I had received in recent memory. She appeared shocked as I dropped her hoof and stood back up.
"Thy hearty welcome and offer of succor warms mine soul, Princess of the Night," I said, using her dialect in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable. That and it was fun use old vocabulary. Mainly the latter. Luna continued to stare, before shaking her head.
"It appears that the old ways hath not yet truly passed from our world. Thou art more respectful than those whomst claim to be gentlecolts in this age, despite thou not growing up within our princessdom," she finally said, before breaking eye contact.
"Respect is a universal constant," I replied, this time in my usual modern dialect. I paused and took a step back, looking at both of them in turn before saying, "Now then, I am curious as to how the setting of the sun and raising of the moon is done."
"Tis our special talent, human. To do so is part of our very nature, and to explain it nearly impossible. But thou shalt learn much by simply watching, we think," Luna replied. Celestia merely nodded in agreement at her sister's statement, before both of them turned back around to face outwards towards the setting sun. I stepped forward, and leaned on the railing. I watched as a golden light enshrouded Celestia's horn, and I carefully observed with my psionic senses. Luna's horn also glowed, but hers was a dark blue. I saw as their magic surged, making an apparent... connection with the celestial bodies. Much like how one would establish a telepathic bond. I then saw the sun slide down the horizon and set as Celestia lowered her horn. Afterwards, Luna raised her moon. Night took the world, and I had my theory concerning the nature of this planet all but confirmed. Best to keep such things to myself, however.
As the stars twinkled into view, the two sisters and I left the balcony. I followed them as we began to make our way to the dining room.
"Pray tell, human, how old art thou? Mine sister never mentioned such when she talked of thou," Luna asked suddenly.
"Nearly eight hundred. And you?"
"I suppose tis only fair as I inquired first. A couple years younger than my sister, though for a span of over a millenium I was... indisposed. Perhaps more correctly, mine mind is merely nine hundred," she said, with a hint of hesitation regarding what I presumed to be some form of stasis. I wondered what prompted her being in such a state, most placed themselves in stasis to prolong their lives back in the Imperium. Perhaps it held an additional use here.
Finally, we arrived to the dining room. A long table stood before me, with candles for light. Three places were set, one at the head and two in the middle. Celestia sat at the head, while Luna and I sat across from one another. A servant walked over and placed a menu before me. To my surprise, several dishes contained meat. Seeing my expression, Celestia turned towards me and spoke.
"Twilight told me of your diet, so I had the staff purchase some meat from the Kingdom of the Griffons. I hope it will be to your liking."
"Your consideration of my needs knows no bounds, it appears."
"Nonsense, such is what I would do for any who are guests within these halls."
"Regardless, you have my thanks," I turned to one of the serving ponies before asking, "May I please have the smoked salmon with asparagus and rice? Oh, and a glass of soda if you have any. Otherwise I'll just have water. Thank you kindly," I said, handing him my menu before turning back to the table. Celestia and Luna also placed their orders, some strange sounding dishes with daffodils and other usually inedible flowers in them. A logical diet for equines, I supposed. With that settled, we began to get down to business.
"Lux, I do believe that Twilight will be capable of replicating her teleportation circle. However, it may take several months for her to do so and ensure that it is safe. Until then, we do not mind caring for you, on two conditions," Celestia said, before gesturing to her sister.
"We ask of thee for assistance regarding our own advancements in technology. Some of that which your kind hath discovered could save many lives indeed," Luna continued.
"And the second is that you follow Equestrian law while you stay here, which should not be hard," Celestia finished.
I considered for a moment, before giving my answer.
"I have but one condition on my own: I refuse to give the knowledge of modern human weapons. As much as I think you two would be excellent stewards of such knowledge, some things are simply better left unknown in a world of peace. Additionally, I myself only know so much of the science behind our technology. But I have a... library of sorts which I can sift through. Still though, it may take me a few days to actually give any workable blueprints of even the most relatively simple of devices." After my statement the two alicorns looked at eachother, before turning back to me and nodding.
"Excellent. Now that we've settled that, let us eat!" Celestia exclaimed with a clap of her hooves. Our food and drinks were brought to us on silver platters. I smiled at the sight of something resembling cola. I politely stuff my napkin into my collar, and muttered my prayer with closed eyes before eating. Once again, I was surprised by the difference in flavor due to the freshness and quality of the food. Perhaps some section of the Lunar Memorial Gardens could be converted to agriculture, so I could eat such fresh food every day. I finished quickly, though not so quickly as to be rude, before looking at Luna. She was demolishing a salad that was before her, it seemed she was quite hungry indeed.
"So Luna, pardon my asking but why is it that you speak in a more antiquated dialect?" I asked. She paused her happy munching and frowned. I was about to drop it and apologize, when she spoke.
"We told thee of mine time in exile. T'was an unpleasant experience, and it ended only but a few months ago," Luna said. She never mentioned it was an exile before. Now I was quite curious, but knew better than to push further on such a touchy subject.
"It must be hard adapting to a completely new time period. At least you still have your sister though."
"Indeed, we are lucky to have such a wonderful mare for a sister." Celestia squealed with delight at her little sister's compliment.
Without a word, Celestia ceased her eating and tackled a surprised Luna in a hug. I smiled brightly at the scene, I always loved seeing the joy of others. It's why I tried my best to ensure nobody was left wanting in my empire. My smile waned slightly as I thought of my near constant failure in that regard. Soon Celestia released Luna and returned back to her own chair.
"Lux, do you have a sibling or family?" Celestia asked. My slight smile quickly turned into a frown as I thought. I used to, long ago. But they refused my offers of life extension technology, and while I ensured my extended family lived comfortably, most of them hardly knew me outside of the monthly stipend. I never had the time to spend on them. Once again my mind betrayed me, and the names of my mother, father, and siblings eluded me.
"No, I do not. I haven't for quite some time," I finally replied. My worsened mood put a damper on the conversation. They looked at me with a sort of pity. I hated pity. Finally, they finished eating the main course, and dessert was brought out. I selected a cup of coffee and a lovely looking slice of cake. Luna also drank coffee along with a donut, while Celestia...
Celestia had a glass of port, and quite literally had buried her head in an entire cake. I nearly spilled coffee on myself at the sight of her sheer gluttony. I turned to her sister in concern.
"Tia loves her cake," Luna stated with a sigh and shake of her head. She smiled up upon seeing my coffee. "Pray tell human, doth thou also stay up during the night?" she asked me, her eyes almost seemed aglow with excitement.
"I do, until around three in the morning or so. Always preferred the night," I reply.
"If it wouldn't be much of a bother, would thou join us for Night Court? Hardly any of our subjects ask us for an audience, and we get quite bored..." she inquired, with a hopeful glint in her eye.
"Of course, though eventually I wish to go stargazing," I answered. I watched in amazement as she replicated Twilight's earlier prancing movement. Seems it was a common expression of extreme excitement.
"Huzzah! We shall have much fun this night!" she cleared her throat before taking on her usual frown, "And help the citizens of Equestria as well."
She was absolutely, positively, fucking adorable. And I do not curse lightly. My attention was once again drawn to Celestia however, as she stood up from... a completely empty cake stand. I wonder how she handled the stomach aches.
"I apologize, but I must bid you a good night Lux. I have a busy day tomorrow. As always..." Celestia announced, though she mumbled that last part. She yawned as she walked over to her sister and nuzzled her. "Good night Lulu."
"Good night Tia, sleep well."
And with that, the Princess of the Sun sleepily stumbled towards bed, leaving me and the Princess of the Night alone.
Author's Note
Well, this has been another chapter. Hopefully the writing continues to be passable, I haven't stretched my vocabulary muscles in a long time.
Also yes, saving the rest of the Mane Six for later is intentional. It always struck me as odd when stories didn't have Celestia intervening ASAP. That and as a lazy writer I didn't feel like putting in the effort to properly write them yet. Regardless, I think Lux and the six will have some... interesting reactions when next Twilight and her friends visit, to say the least.
Before then though, we have many interactions with Lux's hosts and their staff, as well as some peeks into our main character's past and motivations.
Of Empires and Princessdoms
I looked at myself in the mirror one last time before beginning my day. A face not a day over thirty peered back at me, only the quiet wisdom of an ancient man within my bluish-gray eyes betrayed my true age. I was olive skinned with light brown, curly hair and a well groomed handlebar mustache, I gave a nod in satisfaction at my appearance before turning away from the mirror. Long ago I had been dressed and groomed by a swarm of servants, but these days I much preferred the simple pleasures in maintaining my own looks.
I stepped out of my bathroom and looked at the grandfather clock on the back wall of my living quarters. Nearly 1 in the afternoon. I gave a sigh before shrugging on a red cloak made of silk woven with strands of ruby, and placing a simple golden band with a single crystal embedded within it upon my head. The crystal gave off a soft red glow, and almost appeared molten. A gift from the Quenni people some four hundred years prior as a thank you for saving their homeworld from the Abyssals. They made it to look like the red giant star within the center of their home system. I wore it now not just due to its beauty, but also as a reminder to the Imperial Court today of my status as the upholder of the Pax Imperialis. The member states of my Imperium were getting bold in their accusations towards one another, and I feared soon yet another series of wars would plague us if I failed to play my cards right. But that was no matter for right now.
After ensuring the circlet fit well on my head, I strapped on the last item of my imperial regalia. A simple longsword made of steel in a black leather scabbard, with the only adornment being the feathers laser etched into the blade. Another gift from one long ago, long enough to make my memory fuzzy on the details of why it was important to me. A sign I would need to read my journals again later. With one final glance at the clock, I made my way out to the balcony. The view was pleasant as always, the three orbital rings of Terra barely visible in high orbit as the sun sat high in sky. The Imperial Lunar Memorial Gardens stretched for hundreds of miles in each direction, enshrouding the palace complex in a level greenery not seen anywhere else on the ecumenopolis that Terra now was. Looking to my right, I found whom I was looking for.
"Good afternoon Blade Parks. How is your wife doing?" I asked a tall man with dark skin and hazel eyes of about 40. He was dressed in the ceremonial armor of the Household Guard, plate armor with no helmet and a long cloak similar to mine whilst he was wielding a large spear. But the psionic implants visible on the side of his head betrayed the fact he was more than just for show. Indeed, the same was installed on me, albeit a far more expensive model that was almost hidden aside from the two little bumps behind my left ear.
"Doctors say she'll be fine, just cancer. A week or two and she'll be right as rain," replied Parks in what I recognized as some derivation of a Southern United States accent, although few today would know what "South" I referred to.
"Good to hear. And you're positive on not wanting a week or two off? It's paid you know," I pressed. Not giving him a moment to get a word in, I continued, "While you are amongst my finest, I doubt I will find a way to die if you spend time with her. Ruled for 600 some odd years before you were even born."
"That may be so Your Imperial Majesty, but I get a strange feeling you'll have need of help in the coming weeks. And us Psions always trust our gut," he stated, in a tone leaving little room for argument. I sighed in resignation, knowing no words beyond an outright command would get him to budge. And even then I got the feeling I would have needed to use the Imperial Voice on him, which is unpleasant for all parties.
"Well then, let us be on our way. Set the transporter to put us in the throne room. I want to end by one in the morning," I commanded. The nice thing about ruling the entire galaxy was that I got to set my own hours. I had always enjoyed the cool of the night over the heat of the day. Hence the late start.
"Primed and ready to go, just step on when you're ready," Parks said after inputing a series of commands into a holographic keyboard next to a now glowing circle on the balcony. A moment later, I stepped onto the platform and felt the slight tingling sensation I had grown used to when using one of these circles. However it was soon replaced by extreme nausea, and a sudden splitting headache. I barely had time to register what was going on before the pain spiked and I blacked out, my consciousness tumbling through the void along with my disassembled particles.
---------- Twilight Sparkle ----------
Twilight stood around a circle of glowing arcane runes as she ran a series of experiments in her laboratory in the basement of her library. The idea of a teleportation circle permanently linking two areas to enable even those not gifted in magic to teleport intrigued her greatly. Her excitement only grew with the idea of the Princess praising her for completing another spell.
Her thoughts regarding her mentor were interrupted as suddenly a new swell of power flowed into the circle. Her eyes widened as the runes glowed brighter, before she cringed and covered her ears as a loud crack and a bright flash of white light emanated throughout the room. When she looked up, she nearly screamed.
... Okay she did scream. Very loudly in fact. But who could blame her? On the floor before her lay an unconscious figure, vaguely resembling a hairless ape. It wore finery that surpassed even the clothes Rarity made for the Gala. She never even made the other circle that was supposed to connect to this one! This was just a dry run to make sure it wouldn't explode!
Though she supposed her dry run did indeed do exactly that.
She began to pace, right as Spike ran down the stairs, ready to wield a push broom as a quarter staff in his claws.
"I... I'm not sure Spike. I was experimenting with those teleportation circles I was talking about when... this creature appeared. I've never seen mention of such a being anywhere in the Royal Canterlot Archives or here! Spike, we could be seeing an entirely new spe-," Twilight started rambling excitedly, only to be cut off by Spike giving a loud gasp and pointing behind her. Turning around, her eyes widened in horror as the figure began to stir.
---------- Lux Aeternus ----------
I began to open up my eyes with a groan, spots clouding my vision. I was going to have to have a serious talk with the engineers about doing routine maintenance checks on all palace transporters. Luckily I managed to reassemble into my regular body, I was fairly certain, but that was close. Finally my vision began to clear up and I looked around where I ended up. It appeared to be some kind of rudimentary science lab inside a cinderblock building, probably a basement of some kind. I felt the tingling sensation that indicated the nanites in my bloodstream were doing minor repairs on my body's internals.
It was then that I looked over and saw two creatures I had never seen outside of old picture books. One was a purple unicorn, and the other was a miniscule version of a Western European dragon without wings. The way they stared agape was almost insulting, but then I thought about how I would feel if the ruler of the Milky Way just appeared in my living room randomly. I began to pull up to my full height, which made me nearly twice as tall as the creature before me, while saying, "Good day to you, I am Imperator Lux Aeternus. Would you be so kind as to tell me your names and where we are at the moment? Court is very soon and I need to secure transport back to the palace as soon as possible." Again, they simply stared before finally the purple one cocked her head and approached me, babbling in some language I didn't understand.
Great. Just my luck the translator implant would act up. At least, that's what I thought until I saw a notification in the periphery of my vision stating the language was unknown within Imperial records and would require a picture dictionary or some other form of medium with which to begin deciphering the new language. Thus either the translator is still broken or... I am on a planet not yet contacted by the Imperium. The latter of which is a terrifying thought.
I finally held up my hand which stopped the purple one's speech, and mimed opening and reading a book. At first she looked at me in confusion before the light of recognition showed in her eyes. A couple words were said to the dragon-like creature, who then scuttled away up the stairs. Moments later, he returned with a book in hand. Then the purple unicorn levitated it to me.
That stopped me in my tracks. I sensed her psionics as she moved the book up to my now outstretched hands, and yet she bore none of the signs of having any implants. And her horn seemed to glow as she moved the object. Recovering from the momentary shock, I picked up the book and began rapidly flipping through the thick, hand bound tome. Not that I could read it of course, but it gave the translation AI some reference material to begin tinkering with. The AI began the grueling work of decrypting an unknown language, while I set the book on the desk. I then mimed the motion of reshelving the book. Once again the winged unicorn was quick to understand, and nodded towards the stairs before beginning to walk. With a brief glance towards the blackened floor where I appeared, I followed her up the stairs and out of the basement.
Her home was quite interesting. Bookshelves soared high up towards the ceiling, and the entire structure was made of wood. Excellent idea for a library, I thought sarcastically. Ample natural light poured in through the windows, and another set of stairs sat across from me, presumably leading up to her living quarters. Frankly, it felt quite cozy.
Relaxing somewhat, I decided to take off my heavy cloak and set it on a wooden peg on the wall. I only realized my mistake when I felt the unicorns psionics begin to charge up. I turned and saw her looking with concern at the once-concealed sword I had hanging at my hip. I quickly raised my hands above my head, though I prepared to throw up a shield with my own psionics just in case. To my great relief, she simply removed the scabbard from the straps going across my waist and chest using magic, before setting it aside. The little dragon went and sat on my blade, giving me a suspicious glare. After a tense moment, the unicorn nodded towards the bookcases and I started walking over. I haven't made a diplomatic slip that bad in years, perhaps peace has started to dull my edge a bit. Either way, I began to sort through bookshelf after bookshelf while the other two watched me with interest. Finally, I found what I needed. A section dedicated to children's books. I rapidly skimmed through as many picture books as I could, before moving up to early chapter books for elementary schoolers. Since only the AI needed to scan them, I worked incredibly quickly and got through a few dozen books in only half an hour or so.
After feeling satisfied with my accumulated data, I turned and saw the purple unicorn reading a book of her own while the dragon continued to watch me intently with its arms crossed. Odd, how trusting these creatures are. No attempts to bind me, and the only time they ever seemed hostile was when I had a weapon. Regardless, their disposition is beneficial to me. Perhaps I could even convince them to help in getting my feet back on Terra.
Finally, I heard a ding resound within my mind as another pop-up appeared informing me that the AI had finished translating all the content I had fed it, and was merely needing some verbal data to finish translating completely. I flicked my wrist, and a notebook along with a pen appeared in my hand as I retrieved them from my personal pocket dimension. Handy little thing, useless in terms of getting me back home but at least any items I kept within it would be available to me. Some of my more outspoken servants call me paranoid for keeping essentially a survival kit in my pocket dimension, but who was laughing now? Using my newfound knowledge of her written language, I began to write. It was a simple message, asking her to say a number of words and phrases out loud. I cleared my throat and presented the completed note. She looked up from her book at me, then took the note in her hands before her eyes once again widened in utter shock. Finally, after a moment, she began to repeat the written phrases out loud. Soon the AI alerted me that the final phase was complete, and it could at least translate their spoken language. The wonders of 30th century technology, and centuries of alien language data.
I began to speak, although the implant partially seized control of my vocal chords and mouth to make the noises necessary for their language. It was always an odd sensation. Untranslated it sounded like whinnies and neighs, which I suppose made sense considering the physical resemblance to the horses of Terra.
"Hello, and thanks for bearing with me for a minute; I simply had to translate your speech into mine. I am Eternal Light," I said, allowing it to translate the meaning of my name into her tongue. I doubt her vocal chords could pronounce Lux Aeternus if left untranslated. Much less my actual name, whatever it was. Can hardly remember these days.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle!" she then inhaled a large breath before continuing, "How did you learn the basics of our language so quickly, where are you from, what species are you, do you like books, because I like books, why did you have a sword-"
I stopped her tirade of questions by holding out my hand.
"Woah there Miss Sparkle, slow down. I need time to answer."
Twilight took a deep breath before plopping herself onto a pillow on the floor. She bid me to do the same. While I settled onto the floor she grabbed a piece of paper and a... quill. Odd, while her lab may have not been advanced by intragalactic spacefarer standards, with that level of equipment they certainly should have had at a minimum fountain pens. Perhaps it was more a matter of Twilight's preference.
"I... apologize for getting carried away. Just excited to find a new, intelligent species is all!" she said with a bright smile. Her smile and large eyes combined with my general wariness fading made me realize something. Her species, whatever it was, was positively cute. The eye to head ratio, combined with being small and fluffy was an absolutely diabolical combination. These creatures could easily have trillions wrapped around their fingers. Hooves. Whatever.
"It is quite alright, not every day you meet some strange alien species that spontaneously appears in your home," I replied with a slight smile of my own. Before she can begin barraging me with questions, I continue, "While I understand your curiosity, I know nothing of your people. To keep it fair, for each question you ask, I get to ask one of my own."
"Yes, of course. That sounds reasonable to me. Before I begin, does your species drink tea and would you like a cup?"
"We do, seems putting dried leaves in hot water is some kind of universal constant amongst creatures. I'll take whatever you have on hand."
"Spike! Can you get our guest some tea?" Twilight shouted at the small dragon, waking him up after he dozed off atop my sword.
"Wuh- I mean, sure Twilight," Spike responded with a yawn, before walking through a door in the back of the library. Twilight turned back to me.
"So first off, what does your kind call themselves?" She asks, quill at the ready in her psionic grip.
"I am a human, and I ask the same question of you."
"My species are known as ponies, though we have 3 subspecies. Unicorns, like me, Pegasi who have wings, and Earth ponies who have neither. Well, there are also alicorns but they . . ."
Our exchange continued as such for many hours. The tea Spike brewed for us was pleasant and reminiscent of ginseng. I answered many questions, though I often answered in half truths. I learned that the country I was in was known as Equestria, and was primarily home to ponies ruled over by two princesses. It was odd to me that neither claimed the title of queen, but Twilight said the title had some bad connotations amongst ponies, and I didn't press further. Most strangely though, the psionics were natural to all creatures of this land, although how it manifested varied between species. She also explained the odd markings on her flank, which apparently were called 'cutie marks.' They were symbols that represented a pony's special talent. Quite bizarre. When she continued to comment that these princesses known as Celestia and Luna had cutie marks of the sun and moon, and raised said celestial bodies for day and night, I began to harbor a theory. But one I would have to test at a later date.
She also was hiding something from me when I asked how I appeared here. She was a poor liar, but I couldn't exactly force my host into giving up information. Though I did the same, as while I was open regarding some of our technology and the concept of interplanetary travel, as well as my status within my country, I left out equally as much. As far as she was concerned, mankind had only colonized a few other planets outside of the Sol system. Best she not know we likely dominated the galaxy that surrounded her kind. If I was still in the Milky Way...
I also would have kept my title of Emperor a secret as well, but my clothing and general manner more than gave that away. She seemed to take it well though, giving an apology for the lodgings and my welcome. I was simply happy she offered her home to some mysterious otherworldly ruler from the stars. I also lied regarding my age. Well, not technically. I was biologically about 29. The same could not be said for my mind though. She seemed to not question it, however. As the sun began to set, we concluded our conversation. She said she would contact the princesses regarding my arrival, which I was completely fine with. Perhaps they could even prove useful. She also mentioned eventually introducing me to her friends within the town, which was known as Ponyville. One hell of a lazy name if you asked me, though I had also signed off on naming a colony New Terra some centuries ago, making me a hypocrite.
"So, what do your kind eat anyways? I'm sure you're hungry!" she said as she stretched up from her pillow.
"I'm omnivorous, I can eat both meat and vegetables. Though given your teeth I assume your kind are herbivores," I replied. She seemed to take the whole eating meat thing well. She did mention other species aside from ponies and dragons, likely there were carnivores amongst them.
"Correct! So then, would a salad be fine?"
"Absolutely, I could go for something lighter anyways. That whole transporter mishap has my stomach still in knots," I reply with a slight chuckle.
"Ah! In that case, let's eat out on the balcony. It's night so most likely nopony else will catch sight of you, and some fresh air may do your stomach some good."
I gave her another smile and a nod, before making my way up the stairs. The balcony was connected to the public section of the library, so I managed to find it and settle in comfortably. With almost no light pollution, I gazed at the stars set in the sky. Eventually I pulled out a copy of the star charts I kept within my pocket dimension to figure out where I was, but at the moment I was content to do simple stargazing. It reminded me of Earth. Before the rings, before the planet became a city. Before the Abyssals shattered our own beloved moon in their thrice-damned invasions. Speaking of, odd that the translation chose to call the Princess of the Night 'Luna' rather than just 'Moon,' but I figure it was simply trying to represent her name perhaps being more antiquated.
"Princess Luna did a wonderful job crafting this sky tonight indeed," Twilight suddenly murmured next to me. I hadn't even noticed her appear. She set down a bowl of of salad and a fork, along with a glass of water in front of me. I bowed my head and prayed over my meal before digging in.
The salad was one of the best things I've eaten. To be honest, most of what I eat nowadays is genetically modified to hell and back, pumped full of a trillion chemicals, and shipped several thousand light years to end up at my table. While such isn't harmful and bears many benefits in terms of supporting a huge population, it definitely affects flavor. Twilight allowed me to eat in silence, which I appreciated greatly. Eventually, I finished my meal and down the glass of water, setting my dishes aside for now.
"What was that you did before eating, Light?" Twilight asked me. It was clear she had been wanting to ask that question since I began devouring my salad.
"A human ritual. Specifically a prayer to the creator of all things to make sure what I'm eating won't to kill me," I replied.
"I see. Is that a common practice amongst your people?"
"Not anymore, it was common some centuries ago. I'm amongst the few who continues the tradition. Perhaps even the last one."
Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but instead let out a loud yawn. This prompted a giggle out of me. A giggle. I never giggle. I chortle, chuckle, and very rarely laugh, but never giggle. This world must have an odd affect on all its inhabitants. Maybe it's like that one pleasure world where the atmosphere contains mind-altering chemicals. I hoped not.
"Well Twilight, seems it's about time for bed for you. I'm a bit of a night owl so I'll be up awhile longer," I said as she stifled her yawn.
"Sounds good to me, spare bedroom has its door open and is right next to the upstairs bathroom. Can't miss it. Have a good night, Light," she said as headed back inside.
"Sleep well."
The night dragged on as I was left in solitude. Tomorrow I needed to make a good impression. Hopefully from there I could negotiate their help to get home. Even if not, eventually someone would find me. Transporters usually left an energy trail of sorts that could be traced to find me. Just a matter of how long, and whether or not my Imperium could hold itself together long enough under my Privy Council to find me.
Out of curiousity I once again did the flicking motion with my wrist, this time summoning a small metal cube. I place it on the ground and gave two quick taps. Holographic star charts blinked to life above the cube, and I began attempting to decipher my position within the galaxy, with the aid of the shackled AI in my head. I proved unsuccessful this night, and would have to continue tomorrow. My internal clock registered it to be about 4 in the morning, which is usually when I fell asleep. What was unusual though, is that this planet's rotation seemed almost the exact same as Earth's. The moon was in the exact position I'd expect it to be back home during the fall at this hour. While in the grand scheme of the cosmos this could simply be an interesting coincidence, perhaps it could be something more.
Either way though, it was late and I was tired. I retired to my new room and curled up on a bed slightly too small, before the usual nightmares took me.
Author's Note
And so it begins! I've never written with non-original characters before, so pardon me while I try to find the correct "voice" for each pony in these early chapters.
Constructive criticism is especially welcome in these early chapters where characterization is key, especially for ones either original to my tale or underdeveloped in the original show.
I hope you all will enjoy future chapters in this tale, I have quite a doozy planned for this one.
Of Empires and Princessdoms
Chapter 3 - Light and the Moon
With their meal complete, and coffee consumed, Lux followed Luna towards the throne room once again. The moon shone brightly through the stained glass, its ethereal glow giving the castle an almost dreamlike feeling. The day guards in their gold and white were replaced by their night counterparts in blue and silver. They also had bat wings, different from the more eagle-like wings of pegasi or the alicorns. Lux was quite interested actually in how the Equestrian military worked. But first, he had a more pressing question that had bothered him since Luna asked for his company this night.
"Why do ponies not attend Night Court? You'd think they'd jump more at the opportunity to talk to one of their rulers personally," I asked her. People would kill for the chance to have my ear for a few minutes at three in the morning. You would think that the same would apply here.
"We... suppose it must be out of fear. Few ponies hath seen us since our return from exile, and fewer still look upon our visage without fear. Beyond the obvious of ponies simply sleeping through our night," she replied after a moment of hesitation. Once again it harkened back to that exile business. I still wondered what it was all about. She didn't seem ready to tell though, and I was willing to respect that.
"I see. I suppose adjustment is needed for everyone. Couldn't imagine how my people would react if I went missing for a millenium. Hopefully I don't have to find out," I reply as we walk through the doors to the throne room. Luna takes her place on her throne while I lean against a nearby column. The lovely scent of lavender wafts through the halls, one of my favorite smells. I deeply inhale and smile in contentment.
"We see that thou enjoys the scent of lavender, yes? Tis a simple herb that serves many purposes, but we find the smell calms the castle staff and allows a good night of rest. We place fresh bundles of it every eve," Luna says from her throne.
"Lavender has one of my favorite scents. Although, not to be rude, but don't you have better things to do other than place lavender everywhere? It would be a simple enough task for your servants I would think."
"A thousand years ago, we did indeed. Today, we find ourselves further in dear Tia's shadow than ever. She hath not needed us for a millenium, and she finds it difficult to give us new purpose in a world as peaceful as our modern times. Though mine nights are far more skillful than hers, we know not of the many changes our sister hath made to the political runnings of our country. But we digress, and simply say that we have an abundance of time upon our hooves," Luna replied. That feeling of purposelessness was all to familiar to me, as I felt it within my youth. I think I did anyways, not that I remember specifics. But something else caught my attention.
"You said you find it difficult during these peaceful times? What was your purpose before peace took this land?"
"We served as leader for Equestria's armed forces, in addition to caring for the dreams of our ponies. But in this era, the nightmares are simple to resolve, and we haven't fought a war in centuries. As much as we enjoy the peace this gives our subjects, part of us doth wish for battle and great turmoil in order to simply have a purpose."
"Ah, I see. I've encountered this problem before, especially with the introduction of the Pax Imperialis. Er, Imperial Peace, rather," I said, slowly approaching one of the stock still guards near the doors. "Many soldiers found themselves feeling out of place when war is practically unknown. But an old politician from Terra had an excellent saying. 'Speak softly, and carry a big stick.' Honeyed words and whispers of peace are far more appealing when the alternative is fighting overwhelming military superiority. After all, peace requires maintenance. Thus, my armies and navies began to view themselves as the watchers of our tentative union of nations," I continued, finally reaching the guard. I inspected his spear and armor. Frankly both were more decorative than useful. But such could be made up for with raw skill. Which I couldn't know unless...
"But politics aside, how would you care for a show, Luna? A spar between one of your guards here and I. Presumably you could magically blunt our weapons, yes?" I asked, with a flourish. She seemed to consider for a moment, before nodding. Once again my blade was enshrouded in a psionic aura, this one blue.
"It hath been many years since we have seen entertainment of this variety. We accept thy proposal, tis not like much happens here anyways. Quicksilver, would you be so kind as to face the honorable Lux?" Luna asked one of her thestral guards. He stepped forward and his spearhead was enshrouded in the same blue light.
"As you command Princess," Quicksilver said, perhaps a tad annoyed at having to move from his place.
"10 paces, to allow for some maneuvering. No magic aside from weapon manipulation, not that either party utilizes such," I stipulated. He gave a nod before standing across from me. I drew my sword and he readied his spear. We both looked for Luna to begin the spar.
"Ready... begin!" she shouted, raising a hoof.
The spear had the reach advantage, meaning that I needed to be smart in order to avoid a solid stabbing. In addition, his lower height gave some other advantages when it came to fighting, as he could target my legs much more easily. I would also have to aim my strikes lower, further reducing my already comparatively abysmal reach. With this in mind, I carefully advanced in a bit of a fool's guard, blade held point towards the ground, leaving me relatively exposed. As I got into range, he took the bait. Propelled by his leathery wings, he attempted a simple stab to center mass. Efficient. Unfortunately, I quickly brought my sword up and deflected his spear. As he pulled back for another strike, I launched my own attack on his hooves while he adjusted their position on the haft. He took a step, back, attempting to maintain range whilst simultaneously trying to ward me off with the butt end of his spear. I didn't allow it, merely continuing to close in while carefully parrying what I needed to. Then, I pressed my attack. I flowed from one cut to the next, occasionally pausing in a guard stance to protect myself from a riposte. But consistently he took steps back, until finally he backed into a pillar. Our fight ended with my longsword at his neck.
I had gleaned much from this. While individually a more than passable fighter, he lacked a certain battlefield awareness. In addition, despite the relatively short bout, he was huffing and puffing. While his strength certainly did not mark him as out of shape, perhaps the guards lacked endurance training. He also fought defensively and with a degree of hesitation, which would be a boon if these were police or some equivalent. Not so for a professional soldier. And this says nothing of the fact that I swear I saw one of the Solar Guards sleeping on duty earlier today. With a bit of a frown, I sheathed my sword and extended a hand, which he shook with his hoof. Without a word he returned to his position by the door.
"Understand I mean no insult by this Luna, but even for peace time your men are... lacking. Not that this is particularly anybody's fault, peace breeds complacency after all," I stated, climbing my way up the dais to stand before her. "All of this was my elaborate way of showing that your skills are needed, even if your sister does not wish to acknowledge it. The nations of this world seem content to allow Equestria to continue as is, but how long shall such last? How long until some crisis sees a tyrant into power, who gazes upon your land with greed?"
I stare into her eyes for a few moments while she chews her lip. Finally, I see a small fire ignite within her. Minuscule for certain, and it will take her time to feel as though she has a place here. As well as words from others that I cannot give. But for once she seems hopeful, and I smile in satisfaction.
"I suggest you bring this up in the morning to your sister. But in the mean time, best to consider how you will present this to Celestia. While I am certain she is a fierce foe when provoked, she seems much more... reactive than proactive. A byproduct of age, if I had to guess."
"Thou art correct, this must be approached carefully. We must beseech thee to not bring forth our sister's flaws so readily, however," she replies, the last part with a bit of an edge to it. These two were very close indeed. Though I suppose I would treat my siblings the same if they lasted as long as I. It was siblings plural, right?
"As you say."
I then took my place again at a nearby pillar. I left Luna alone as she seemed to be deep in thought, which was good as I too had much to consider. Primarily concerning what exactly this world was. Natural psionics were a key feature of many worlds life-seeded by a handful of ancient civilizations. So far as I am aware, it is impossible to naturally evolve the biology required to pierce the veil into the dimension of pure energy that lay next to ours. Beyond that was the whole moving celestial bodies with magic situation. If I had to guess, the two of them psionically interfaced with a machine that then manipulated the sun and moon. They did not have the power to move an entire star without aid, otherwise I could have just launched Sol itself at an invading fleet, a conclave of Imperial Psions being more than a match for the two mares. All in all this screamed of those strange societal experiments the ancient empires that came before mine used to run to pass the time. Likely the thought being tested here was how a naturally magical society would evolve when they literally have to move the sun themselves. However, there was still one issue. How did Luna manipulate the stars? I would have to ask her later. Actually...
"Luna, are there any good spots for stargazing in the castle? I apologize for leaving so early, but I have much to accomplish before sunrise," I ask, hoping she won't be too upset at me taking my leave. She seems torn initially, but then I see her spark with an idea.
"We maintain an observatory on the castle grounds, if thou wishes to follow us," she said, before stepping down the dais and beginning to walk towards a door.
"Princess, I couldn't possibly ask you to lead me yourself," I replied politely. I had a feeling I knew what her response would be though.
"Nonsense, we shall treat thou as the guest of our castle you are. Besides, we hoped that perhaps you wouldn't mind us joining thee. We always love to talk of our night sky, and thou must admit that our Court is hardly bustling at this hour," she countered. Precisely as expected.
"Of course, it is your castle after all. That and I did promise to keep you company."
"Indeed thou did."
After a few minutes of walking, we found ourselves in the castle's observatory. A great telescope dominated the room, with a variety of books on astronomy lining the walls. There are a few pillows for sitting scattered around, and Luna takes the opportunity to claim a few. While she settles in, I think on how best to phrase my question.
"We know thou wanted to ask us something, Lux. We will not take offense at any questions thou may have, provided they are within reason," she says from her position on the pillows behind me. Few people could read me like a book, and it would seem I would have to be more careful than ever within these walls. Perhaps I should have stayed with Twilight. I got the feeling that I had willingly walked into a lion's den.
"I was simply curious as to how you set the stars in their place. The moon makes sense, but I cannot wrap my head around your carefully curated night skies, as gorgeous as they are," I said, turning back to look at her. My flattery scored me a blush, it appeared.
"We thank thee for thy compliments. Few stay up long enough to witness our greatest work, and fewer still tell us they enjoy it. But to answer thy question, we merely bend the light from the stars themselves so that they appear where we desire them to. Even our sister lacks the power to move objects so far away, let alone us."
I nodded in satisfaction at her answer. Nothing truly beyond explanation yet.
"Out of curiosity, would it be possible for me to see the night as it naturally appears? I wish to try locating where I am based on the relative positions of the stars in the sky," I asked, hopeful. She frowns for a moment, furrowing her brow once again in thought. Finally, she replies.
"We suppose it would be okay for this night. But thou must realize this is a large favor, one we expect repaid in full."
"I expect nothing less, Luna. Simply name your price and I shall satisfy it however I can."
"We have nothing in mind at this moment in time, but we shall return to thee if we think of anything," she stated while her horn glowed a soft blue. Eventually, the stars rearranged themselves into presumably their natural state. I snapped my fingers, summoning the small cube containing the Imperial star charts. Luna looked warily at the box in my hand.
Without giving an explanation, the holographic charts sprung to life in the room. Unlike previously, this time I ensured it was projected as large as I could get the thing to. The Milky Way swirled before myself and the alicorn, millions upon millions of pinpricks shining within the air, alongside the colorful swirls of nebulae and other stellar phenomena. Several dozen pieces of text sprung up from the three-dimensional chart, each pointing to important worlds within the Imperium. From Terra itself, to the Imperial Fleetyards in Deneb, to the birch world of Eternity within the center of the galaxy. I smiled as I surveyed my domain.
"Princess, I present to you my Imperium, such as it is," I said proudly. She looked at the hologram in confusion.
"Where, precisely? We recognize this as some galaxy, but we fail to see where thy domain stands," Luna said, standing up and squinting her eyes at the labels on the map. Realizing the maps weren't in Equestrian, I quickly changed the settings so she could read them.
"All of it is mine, or mine by proxy. Though I suppose if you want specifics, here," I explained as I shifted it to a political overlay. The member states of the Galactic Imperium were now outlined in their flag colors, with their names and heraldry centered on their territory. "The thirty-two member states of the Galactic Imperium. All bow to me as the currently undisputed Emperor of the Milky Way, though admittedly only this," I pointed to the Empire of Humankind, which took up nearly the entire Orion arm, "Is directly administered by me. The other states are largely autonomous, aside from taxes and when the Imperial Charter is amended with new laws from the Senate. In exchange for living under the Senate's laws and paying taxes, they are guaranteed the protection of the Imperial Navy, free trade and free movement between other member states, as well as access to the technologies researched by other members. It's my great work, my magnum opus."
Luna swallowed before asking, "How large?"
"Well, you need to be clearer on what metrics you're after, but in terms of citizens around eight-hundred trillion sapient individuals, give or take a few billion, swear allegiance. In terms of star systems, only a few million I want to say. We tend to ignore stars that are difficult to reach or lack resources," I answered, trying my best to seem casual. Frankly even I tended be to shocked at the numbers my staff provided on the regular in regards to the state of the galaxy. Luna simply plopped back down onto her pillows. While she processed, I looked at the night sky. The AI in my head began to search for recognizable features to pinpoint my position. Now I merely had to pray I was in the same galaxy...
"I always loved the night sky because it inspired me. When I was a boy, all those centuries ago, we had just begun to launch manned missions to Mars, the next planet over from Terra," I began to think aloud. "I wanted to go further, for mankind to dance amongst the stars like the comets that shot over the night sky. Greed and selfish ambition nearly stole that dream, my world bathed in the fires of war as we voraciously consumed the last of our easily accessible resources. But the dream and my faith sustained me when no other could, as I worked to unite what was left of our species," I said, before making eye contact with Luna, "And now I claim the very thing I used to hold in reverence as my own. Egotistical, it it not?"
Luna simply looked back in silence, which was quite fine. For once I spoke without the expectation of any answer, merely voicing my thoughts. Turning away from her, I continued to fondly gaze at the stars above.
"We don't think it egotistical at all. That, or we are equally as prideful. We claim the moon as our own, that which we adore and revere as well," Luna finally said, walking over to stand by my side. "Not even a millenium of exile upon it could dull our love for our wonderful moon."
"Was it lonely up there?"
"Only as much as it has been down here," she replied with a sad sigh. "The Nightmare bore most of the mental burden of being alone.. I was more in a sort of... unaware state."
"And what exactly was the Nightmare?" I finally asked, seeking an answer to the question that burned in my mind. Something so terrible as to force her own sister to sentence her to exile on the moon. She stiffened slightly, but eventually did begin to formulate an answer.
"Long ago, we ruled together with our sister over the ponies much like we do today. But few people appreciated the night, and many spurned us in favor of our sister. Eventually our jealousy of the adoration the ponies gave our sister boiled over, and we transformed into Nightmare Moon. Tis at this moment we lost control of ourselves, and attempted to kill our sister in order to claim Equestria and be its sole monarch. As a result, we were banished to the moon for a millennium. However, Twilight Sparkle and her friends wielded a set of powerful magical artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony upon our return from our banishment, cleansing us of the Nightmare. We have been trying to atone since then," she answered, the guilt and pain plain upon her face. She never made eye contact with me once during her tale.
I sat back with a sigh. At first I thought it some form of dissociative personality disorder, but the way she described the way it was removed from her and how it seemed to almost possess her correlated with one thing.
"I wouldn't have thought someone of your caliber idiotic enough to make a pact with one of the creatures beyond the Veil," I thoughtlessly said aloud. My eyes widened at my own statement, and I cursed myself for lapsing. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she turned away from me. She began to shake.
"Thou art correct in thy words, we art a terrible pony, undeserving of our place here," she said miserably. "Perhaps it would hath benefitted all if we simply died alongside the Nightmare."
In all honesty, I had no clue what to do. I had expected rage, or some other form of anger at me for how I insulted her, but agreement? I was not prepared for that. And I was especially not prepared for what she had just said. Unable to come up with any words to smooth over the situation, I simply acted. I scooted over and embraced Luna, who seemed so small now, around the base of her neck. As I drew her close, I realized the shaking was from her crying. Excellent job Lux, you managed to make a woman cry in a single sentence. Truly the greatest wordsmith of our time. I squeezed her tighter, the sort of peytral upon her chest digging into my side slightly. Eventually, after about a minute, I said something.
"Just because you made a single mistake doesn't mean you are a bad pony. And it most certainly does not mean you deserve death. I've made countless mistakes that arguably resulted in worse, but my people have forgiven and forgotten," I stated.
"But hath thou forgiven thyself?" Luna choked out, a simple statement that stopped me in my tracks. I licked my lips.
"No. I suppose I never have," I finally replied, thinking of the nightmares that plagued my sleep every day.
We sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Which is really saying something considering most days barely registered as a moment within my memories. At some point one of her wings had slipped around me, returning my hug. I still doubted I would get used to the odd feeling of a hug. I felt magic begin flowing out of her eventually; it appeared she was projecting her soul elsewhere at the moment if my recognition of psionic patterns was correct. As I began to truly start dozing off, a small ding resounded in my head, and a another blip was added to the star charts that swirled above me and the blue mare. I looked up, and smiled at where it was.
"Well Luna, it appears some pressure will be off Twilight's shoulders," I said, breaking the silence. She didn't immediately respond, but soon the glow around her horn disappeared and she looked at me inquisitively.
"Your world is at least in the Milky Way, and it's not terribly far outside the existing hyperlane network. I'd give them two years to bore another hyperlane to my position, perhaps less if they actually put some effort into it," I answered her unasked question, while pointing at the new blip. "What do you call your planet anyways?"
"We named it Faust, after a goddess once worshipped within these lands long before our time," she replied. The blip renamed itself from 'unknown planet' to 'Faust.' We were on the arm opposite of Terra, closer to the galactic core. I gave a slight hum to myself; they were incredibly lucky to not have been naturally linked to the hyperlane network. This area in particular used to be an absolute warzone, claimed by a bunch of genocidal maniacs. Later it was desolated by the Abyssals, and that was after being one of the galactic core civilization's first conquests once they left the core. It took centuries for it to be rebuilt.
"That is truly wonderful!" Luna exclaimed, though she seemed to realize something that put a bit of a damper on the happiness she held for my discovery. Thinking back on our night, I carefully chose my next words.
"But, you still get to deal with me for quite some time. And even were they to arrive tomorrow, I still have a debt to repay to you and your sister."
"Indeed thou does, my friend," Luna replied. I frowned at the second half of her sentence. Luna took a step back at my expression. "Unless thou doth not consider us a friend as of yet. Per-"
"No, I was merely frowning because I cannot remember the last time somebody called me friend," I quickly interjected. She gave me a sad look at my words. And then, a great confidence filled her.
"Then we shall be your first in however many centuries it has been, Lux."
"I would like that very much Luna."
I once again made myself comfortable on the myriad of pillows, and soon the exhaustion hit me like a freight train. I fell asleep under the stars, as Luna continued whatever duties required her to project her soul elsewhere. Unfortunately, it appeared the presence of my newfound friend would not prevent my usual nightmares.
Or at least, so my subconscious initially thought.
Author's Note
Boom, another chapter complete. Fair warning I may slow down when I get back to college, but I intend to maintain at least weekly chapters. Hopefully more, course load willing.
To be 100% honest, I initially intended to have a more standoffish Luna. It came off a bit forced though, so I scrapped it in favor of this. I feel far happier with this, though I do wonder if perhaps I swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction.
Not to worry though, Lux Aeternus will face his fair share of detractors soon enough. From both expected as well as unanticipated places.
But that aside, I think this next chapter will shed some more light on Lux, pun intended. While much of his personality has been shown already, there are some sides we have yet to see. Conquering the entirety of a galaxy is no bloodless task.
Of Empires and Princessdoms
The blast door slammed shut behind me, as I attempted to ignore the the screams from the rest of my squad. I slumped against the wall, useless laser rifle in my hands as I closed my eyes. Soon the screams died down, and I was alone in a sterile hallway within the fortress-moon of Luna. I was originally a cook for the garrison here, but the professionals troops died out a year ago. Now they called forth non-essential support staff to serve as fodder on the front lines. Our gear couldn't even hurt the damn things, but we fought nonetheless. Command touted that we just had to buy time, that we were working on a weapon to kill the things. A pleasant lie, one that gave hope in possibly the most hopeless situation in the history of mankind.
My thoughts were interrupted by a noise on the other side of the blast door. It sounded like the crackle of static electricity. Fear filled me as I realized how much I didn't want to die. I hadn't had an opportunity to really live yet: to have a wife and kids, to own my own home, to spend my twilight years traveling the galaxy. I shook in terror as the static only grew louder. I wanted to run, but found my legs unable to move. As if they were foreign to my body. Eventually I began to panic, hyperventilating on the ground even as my body screamed at me to run. Eventually, a large oval simply... ceased to be on the blast door. And through it, stepped a creature of nightmare. Its form flickered rapidly in and out of reality, features hidden by a sort of gloom that oozed from it. I felt its gaze lay upon me, and I knew my fate was sealed.
As it reached out a tendril towards me, a shot rang out from the dark behind me. It sounded like no weapon I had ever heard before, but by the way the creature shrieked upon being hit, I knew whatever it was actually hurt it. The foe before me focused all its attention down the hall, and I saw dozens of shadowy appendages shoot towards the source of the shot. Two more reports from down the hall, and the thing before me let out an unholy scream, before crashing to the floor in a heap. As the gloom dissipated around it, I inspected it. The flickering had ceased, and instead an eerily featureless humanoid lay on the floor. It had no face, no eyes, and its appendages, of which there were four, ended in nubs rather than hands or feet. As I got closer, it twitched. I slammed myself back against the wall.
"Calm down there son, it's still unconscious," a figure said in a gravely voice. I turned to my left and saw the lizardlike features of a Dearc before me, clad in the living metal armor of an Imperial Legionnaire. I had thought all of them dead on this damned moon. She, based on the scale coloration, placed a box near the unconscious Abyssal and pressed a button. I saw as it slurped up the monstrosity, presumably storing the thing inside it.
I turned to thank my savior, when an immense heat hit us both. In slow, excruciating agony I felt as my clothes caught fire. Soon my armor melted and fused to my flesh. I felt myself moving, but I was too busy screaming my lungs out to figure out why.
Then, the pain ceased. Suddenly I found myself outside of my body, looking at a horrifically burned human with its flesh beginning to slough off, being carried by the Legionnaire. It was then that I realized that wasn't me.
"Another nightmare. Usually these aren't lucid though..." I thought aloud.
"That would be our doing," a familiar voice said from my side. "We saw thou was having a nightmare, and tis our duty to assist all those in Equestria who suffer from such things."
"How did you manage to get past my mental defenses?" I said without turning to face Luna.
"Twas not easy, if that is your concern. But we have much experience in regards to the mind."
For the first time since arriving on this backwater, I actually felt genuine fear. A creature capable of forcing her way into my mind. I swallowed a lump in my throat. A den of lions indeed.
"Apologies for not seeming thankful, Luna, in regards to you just letting yourself inside my head without asking permission," I finally said sardonically, attempting to conceal my horror at the creature I had dared to find comfort just moments before in the waking world.
"We were simply trying to help thee-"
"And why exactly should I believe that?!" I shouted, panic starting to set in.
"BECAUSE THOU ART OUR ONLY FRIEND ASIDE FROM TIA, AND YOU WERE CONVULSING VIOLENTLY IN THY SLEEP! " she shouted back, I suspected the volume could have ruptured my eardrums were this in the waking world. This was a bit of a revelation.
"I always have nightmares, and the palace staff always said I slept fitfully but... convulsing?" I said calmly, my panic subsiding. I looked at the mare who was on the verge of tears, and continued in a placating tone, "I... apologize Luna. My own head is the one place where I thought I could be certain of safety. While I know you have no intent to do so, I must admit my very first thoughts were of you and Celestia turning me into a sort of puppet."
"We do not have that sort of power over the mind, dear human. We can merely influence the dreams of our ponies," she said with a snort, though her look was one of... sadness? "Apology accepted. However," she continued now in a somber tone, gesturing at the dream around us, "Would you care to discuss this with us?"
"What, are you my psychiatrist now?"
"These nightmares appear for a reason, and talking about them may help thee slumber better in the future. If appointing ourselves as thy psychiatrist is the only way to get you to talk to us about it, then we shall do so."
"Well, I have hired therapists before. None of it seemed particularly helpful, but maybe you'll be able to succeed where they failed. I can manipulate this dream however I wish, correct?"
She gave a nod in response, and focusing intently on my surroundings, I began to shift them.
The heart of palace bunker complex stretched out before me, a hub of near constant activity. While I stood alongside Imperium High Command on a raised section, hundreds of staff swarmed in the various workstations below. The furious clacking of analog keys, the shouting of various officers issuing commands, as well as the soft hum of machinery all fought to overwhelm one another. The scent of coffee and pizza, the typical foods devoured during an operation, permeated the entire room. Luna stood beside me, ignored by the staff around us. My focus, however, was on the map before me.
"The 1st and 5th Fleets report success on the Quenni front, and it appears that the newly engineered weaponry is a success. Traxis Fleetyards have already made significant headway on the refits for the rest of the Imperial Armada, my liege," Fleetmaster Leweniqila finished her report regarding the sudden war we found ourselves in about a decade ago. Some fool had made a bargain with one of the beings that lived beyond the Veil, and now we all paid the price. Field Marshal Merkas stepped forward. It appeared it was finally time to address the situation that had all of us worried.
"Luna's defenses hold strong as of yet. Traditional energy weaponry continues to be practically useless, but using the schematics beamed over from the Nexus, we have managed to craft the new weapons within the moon's own manufacturing plants. The Lunar shield still holds over Terra, preventing enemy bombardment for the time being; although, we have still ordered civilians to retreat into the lowest levels of the arcologies, as a precaution. As per your orders, my lord, we have spread out the Household Guards to protect the civilians. In addition, the 10th, 13th, and 20th Battlegroups under Sector Admiral Kane are merely a few hours out. Their new weapons should be able to deal with this relatively small fleet that slipped through," Merkas reported.
We had mobilized everything against the initial strike into our reality, a mistake I made in overconfidence. Our foe had rather advanced slipspace drives, ones that could instantaneously jump several systems away provided those systems remained connected to the hyperlane network. In addition, something they had done rendered gateways and wormholes unstable, stranding our fleets years away from the capital. They bypassed most of the sector defenses, and while our planet side guns put up a good fight on Luna, it wasn't anywhere near enough. Luckily, Luna maintained a shield that enshrouded Terra, and had some of the most advanced ground defenses in the galaxy. Unfortunately, most conventional weaponry appeared to hardly even scratch our foe. The brave defenders of our moon had practically given up on repelling the foe, simply resolving to buy time. And buy time they did as the moon held for 3 years. Just long enough for us to design weapons that worked against the besieging entities.
I visibly tensed as I looked at the map of Sol. I knew what was about to happen, despite the looks of hope within the room. Finally, the anticipated notification popped up, pointing towards something in orbit of Luna.
"Massive energy spike detected from that flagship. Appears to read like some sort of world cracker, though why they didn't attempt to use it before now is a mystery. Regardless, the shielding system we recovered from that one archeological dig should hold against it," one of the technicians close to the platform we stood upon reported. The brief look of concern amongst my staff was replace by relief.
Until the flared energy signature fired. It should have simply been reflected back at the planet cracker by the shield... instead, the shield merely absorbed it until it finally shattered. All of us watched in utter silence as a laser dug its way towards the core of our beloved moon, before finally the entire thing was destabilized. And it shattered.
The shockwave hit Terra a few moments later, causing many of the tallest starscrapers to collapse in on themselves. The palace was protected by its own shielding system, separate from the one projected around the planet from the moon. Luckily most people had been evacuated to the lower levels, so as casualty reports trickled in they numbered in the mere hundreds of thousands. No reports came from the moon, obviously. The only saving grace was that the dead hand system activated, the resulting explosion seeming to do significant damage to the Abyssal fleet regardless of their reality shifting properties.
I paused the memory there, shifting Luna and I to one of the palace balconies. Even three centuries later, the sight of our shattered moon still broke my heart. I looked expectantly at the blue alicorn beside me, but she merely looked in sadness at the night sky. Eventually, she opened her mouth.
"What did thou do after this? How doth a people recover from such... disaster?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Perhaps one day I'll show you," I replied, my tone equally soft. She then turned to me, and I looked once more into the blue eyes of the one I had learned to call 'friend.'
"We can gift thee sweet dreams, unnatural they may be. Tis preferable for dreams to come from thine own mind, but sometimes an artificial comfort can be used. Especially when this is the alternative," she offered. I recoiled from the idea on instinct, but I forced myself to consider it. Eventually, I simply gave her a nod.
Her horn glowed blue for a moment, before true sleep once again claimed me.
------ Luna ------
I awoke from my trance, once again within the observatory. The human before me slept quietly now, curled up into a ball. I had given him a simple dream, one where he relaxed on a beach. I smiled at how peaceful he now looked, twas a job well done indeed. I had ought to return him to his quarters, however. I floated him up with my magic, carefully arranging him so he balanced on my back. Conveniently, he reached around my neck automatically, and snuggled up against my mane. I chuckled as he held fast, like I was some massive teddy bear. I began to walk to his room, accompanied by a pair of guards who had respectfully stood outside the door until I had exited the observatory.
As I walked, I considered what Lux had told me earlier. At first I wondered how best to broach the idea of expanding the military to Tia, until I saw the early morning train leave Canterlot. I smiled as a devious idea crept its way into my mind. While I couldn't directly improve our armed forces, I could improve our ability to wage war indirectly. Additional rail lines, expanded highways, state-funded blacksmithing apprenticeships. Introducing wrestling or other martial arts to schools as a sport. A million and one ideas, all of which I knew Tia would approve of, as they improved the lives of her little ponies too.
I was giddy as I laid Lux down on his bed, and drew the covers over him. It took some prying to get him to let me go earlier, but luckily it seemed he was sleeping quite heavily. I frowned as I considered his actions and fear during the dream. He hid it well, but I could tell he was filled with fear at my power. I wondered at how terrible a place his home must be, to where his first thought was that I would turn him into a mindless puppet.
Such wanderings of the mind led me back to a shattered moon in the sky, while fires raged from a giant city below.
I turned around to leave, but paused. I then walked back to his bed, and leaned down into his ear.
"We wish thee a wonderful night, our friend. Thou deserves rest after so long," I whispered, the royal 'we' still proving quite the impossible habit to break, even if I now thought in singular pronouns. And despite his deep slumber, I could've sworn he smiled. I left him to his sleep then, cantering towards breakfast with my sister before I lowered the moon.
Author's Note
A rather short chapter, for which I apologize, it was simply difficult to write for some reason. I rewrote the entire thing about three times from its initial rendition. But I think this chapter gives Lux some important characterization, as well as gives some additional tidbits regarding these 'Abyssals' mentioned prior. I also wanted to give Luna some additional agency, which I hope I accomplished.
One thing I would like to note, if it isn't obvious, is that this takes place before Luna Eclipsed. Specifically in the gap between 'Best Night Ever' and 'Return of Harmony' Quite early on in the show timeline, which as you could guess means some excitement will be due for us soon. Any events that have occurred in season 1 thus remain unchanged.
Also I hope it was clear when I referred to Luna the moon and Luna the pony. I believe it was fairly obvious but let me know if it's confusing and I can edit it.
Of Empires and Princessdoms
I slowly blinked my eyes open, my bones creaking as I sat up in bed. I looked at the clock and felt shock at what I saw. I never woke up late, much less a full two hours late. I wondered why the machinery within my head failed to wake me up, before remembered I failed to set an alarm last night. It was then that I noticed another odd thing.
I felt well rested.
While I was never truly sleep deprived per say, my apparently fitful sleep rarely left me feeling... refreshed upon awakening. I pondered the events of last night, and came to the conclusion that Luna needed a thank you gift. A favor of this magnitude requited a planet to serve as a personal fief at the least, but such was not an option at the moment. Perhaps her sister had ideas. Placing the blue alicorn out of my mind for a moment, I walked downstairs and did my usual routine. After I finished getting dressed, choosing to not button the top two buttons of my shirt due to it being slightly warmer outside than the past couple days, I walked down to my sitting room.
On the table in the center of the room I found a scroll, sealed with what I presumed to be Celestia's own signet. Putting off a journey to the palace kitchens for breakfast, I sat down and broke the seal.
Reading her neat cursive script, it appeared that she wish to have a conversation within her rooms in.... 15 minutes. Plenty of time to get there, but it appeared food was out of the question. Continuing down the page, she also stated that for dinner we would be joined by Twilight and her friends who had a variety of questions for me it seemed. Well, if they were anything like Twilight I'm sure it would end amicably.
Finishing up the letter, I got up and strapped the sword it appeared Luna had left by the door on my hip. I immediately made haste to the Solar Diarch's quarters, praising the heavens above that I had not simply rolled over and slept for another hour. I figured the better guest I was, the more painless this entire situation would be. I had finally started to get a feel for the castle halls, assisted by the maps my implants made as I looked around the place. I finally arrived at Celestia's room, the image of a sun shining brightly was inlaid into the wooden doorframe with gold. Either gold was exceedingly common here, or the Princesses were just that rich with how much of the stuff they used, considering it was likely mined the hard way. And by 'they' I really meant Celestia, as Luna seemed to have a greater affinity for silver. I rapped thrice on the door, and it glowed a golden color before swinging inwards.
The Princess of the Sun looked exhausted, her crown lay on haphazardly on its side on the couch she laid upon, while she nursed a hot cup of tea in her hooves. She gave me a genuine smile as she saw me, and beckoned me to sit in one of the chairs opposite her couch. I took my seat, and accepted the cup of tea she levitated towards me.
"Thank you for joining me Lux, I just wanted to have the opportunity to speak with you before you met with the Elements of Harmony," the Princess said, before sipping on her tea.
"Pleasure is mine as always Celestia. What did you wish to discuss?"
"I wanted to start off by deciding on how to fully reveal you to the rest of the world. Obviously everypony in the castle is aware of you, and my little ponies are no strangers to odd creatures; however, an alien is indeed a first. Especially one of your... standing," she said, cutting straight to the point. I considered her situation carefully, before giving a reply.
"The way I see it, you only have about three options. One, you tell everybody the whole truth, and just deal with whatever fallout occurs. It will blow over, it always does for those of our lifespan. Two, you tell everyone a cover story, except for a select group of important world leaders, and just pray nobody questions why they haven't heard of my kind before. Or three, you simply tell everyone I'm from a far off land and hope that nobody bothers to think about it. Especially when I stay here for a year or two without heading back to a supposed home. While personally I'm more partial to just telling everyone nothing, that primarily benefits me, not your nation," I told her. She nodded, having likely come to the same conclusions regarding her options.
"Part of me just wants to rip the bandage off, but another part wishes to be far more tactful regarding this. I will have to consult my sister again, I think."
"Regardless of what you decide Celestia, you cannot hide what's bound to happen in a year or two. I presume Luna informed you of... what we talked about last night?"
"Yes. Yes she did," the Princess replied, with a bit of a nervous edge. "Actually, may I see the map you showed my sister?"
"Certainly," I replied as I pulled out the small cube. I attempted to turn it on, but unfortunately it appeared leaving it on basically all night had drained the battery. I sighed, and snapped my fingers, retrieving a small orb from my pocket dimension. The inside of the clear sphere crackled and howled with energy, and if one reached out you could feel immense psionic pressure. I tapped the star chart projector against the orb, and energy flowed from the orb to the cube. If you listened closely, you could even hear a scream from within the orb. I snapped and it returned to its place. Celestia simply gave me a look, and I answered her unasked question.
"State secret I'm afraid. If your kind ever achieves faster than light travel while I'm still in power, however, I will share what it is with you. All I can say is that it's quite the power source," I said as I set down the projector. A familiar sight stretched before me. I gave a heavy sigh as I realized I was probably going to be asked to do this at least five more times. Celestia stared in awe, once again filling my ego to the max. She waved a hoof through the hologram, before approaching the planet labelled 'Faust.'
"It's odd, feeling small again. I suppose it would be the ultimate hubris to assume we were alone in the universe, or even that we were the most advanced around," she said, with a sense of childlike wonder. It reminded me of when we humans made first contact.
"And to think, my creation is likely not even the first or largest of its kind. I have no doubt someone has conquered multiple galaxies, and perhaps there exists a universe out there who has completed united themselves," I commented, before once again changing the settings to show the known universe. "And this is what makes me feel small." I watched as my galaxy faded into a tiny pinprick of light amongst billions of others. However, we still had much to discuss. I retrieved the cube and slipped it into my pocket.
"Let us continue our discussion Princess, I am certain you have more to say."
"Unfortunately, I do indeed," she said with a sigh. "Perhaps someday I could take a day off and we could chat for longer. Regardless, I have one very important question. What happens when your people arrive here?"
I had hoped she would never ask that, but it was the only logical question to have when an alien tells you his servants are en route to pick him up. I sighed, she deserved the full answer.
"Under Imperial Law, primitive species are protected from genocide, slavery, or any other crimes that would be considered a crime against sapients. However, invasion, provided the conquered species is granted equal rights and protections under whatever laws the invading nation has, is not illegal provided the star system falls under the invading nation's sphere of influence. And I must admit, your planet is desirable. It's practically a Gaia planet here," I answered her. My statements only seemed to confirm her suspicions. She looked at me with a sort of calm menace.
"We help you, only to be repaid by being crushed under the heel of your people?"
"I never said that. It's far more likely they simply put a satellite in orbit and watch you. I simply wished for you to know the dangers."
"And there is nothing you can do to more solidly guarantee my ponies their independence?"
"I-," I nearly lied and said no. There were things I could do, things that would cost far, far more than I gained. I looked at Celestia's now pleading look, her desperation at wanting to protect those she viewed as her children apparent. I then thought of perhaps my first friend in centuries. I considered, and took a deep breath. It wasn't that it would cost more than I gained, I myself gained plenty, it was that my empire did not. Thus, I came to a revelation.
"Celestia, by my word as Emperor of Mankind, I promise you this: Equestria is to henceforth be considered an ally of the Empire of Humankind. Your enemies are mine, and my sword is yours to command should anyone try to harm this peaceful world. Even if such requires ignoring my own Pax Imperialis," I proclaimed, my implants recording the decree. Even should I die, the decree would still be transmitted should an Imperial vessel get within range. I smiled, feeling a weight off my shoulders. Then I said more personally, "It's the least I can do, and they can spaghettify me if they don't like their lord being a bit selfish for once."
She seemed to understand the gravity of what I had done, even if she didn't know such a vow hadn't been given since the Galactic Imperium was created. It required me to acknowledge another nation as equal, rather than subservient. She bowed her head out of respect, and said, "Thank you, for both protecting my ponies and for helping my dear sister last night."
"I should be thanking her, that was the best sleep I've had in... I'm not sure how long," I replied, meeting her bow. I hoped this wouldn't become a sort of thankfulness standoff.
"She is excellent at her job, isn't she? For the first time in a millennium Equestria sleeps without fear or nightmare. I only wish it wasn't such solitary work for her..."
"Indeed. She seems... sad that her own court remains empty, even if her work in the night sky and dream realm are beyond compare," I said thoughtfully. Then, an idea popped into my head. "Celestia, I have an addendum to what I said prior. Should you choose to reveal me, I will only be available during the night to hold conference. I am practically nocturnal, after all. I shall also need a proper hall to hold it, and ideally a princess to introduce me and keep order."
Celestia immediately caught on to my scheme. She nodded at my demands.
"It would only be fair to our honored guest that we only bother him during his typical working hours, after all," she replied with a knowing smile.
"Now, was there anything else Celestia?"
"No, just... be ready for the Elements this evening. They are quite the eclectic bunch," she advised, stifling a chuckle at the latter sentence.
"I shall prepare myself accordingly then. See you for dinner tonight, Celestia."
"As you say," she replied before downing the rest of her tea.
I then took my leave, giving a nod of respect before leaving the room. My stomach grumbled as I walked towards the kitchens to break my fast.
After a lovely roast chicken sandwich, I found myself back in my sitting room. I supposed it was time to hold up my end of the little deal I made with the Diarchs. For the first time in quite awhile, I reached behind my ear and pressed inward. A small, flat shard popped out of the back of my skull. I then swapped it out for one of many within my pocket dimension.
No human was ever meant to live as long as I had, and unfortunately the flesh and blood brain can only hold so much information. As a result, much of my life resided in silicon and metal rather than the tissues of my own head. Really all that I kept in my own skull were formative events, ones that dictated my personality and decision making process. Most 'hard' skills and memories were stored in little datashards I liked to refer to as my journals. Really that's what they were, a record of my life I could look back upon. I swapped out the shard containing my memories of the era of peace directly preceding the Abyssal threat, and lost all recollection aside from some fuzzy memories deemed important enough to my personality to maintain. I slotted in my oldest shard, the one containing my first two centuries of life. Instantly, as if the fog was lifted from the back end of my mind, I vividly remembered everything from my birth to about half a millenium ago, give or take.
I usually never used this one, the knowledge and skills contained within proved fairly useless when it came to running my Imperium. The AI in my head usually assisted me with the earlier computational skills I had learned. And the memories of mother, father, Brandon, and Anastasia just brought pain rather than comfort. But today, I would need it. Before I found myself thrust into a position of power, I was a chemical engineer. Knowledge regarding advanced mathematics, chemistry, physics, and even some biology flooded my mind. While useless compared to the understanding of a modern Imperial professor, my relatively primitive knowledge would be far more useful to the little ponies of this world. I couldn't simply use the AI, as while it could give me the information, it couldn't give me the questions to ask it. The only exception to this would be if I unshackled it and allowed it to think freely. And Lord knows, I was never going to make the mistake of unshackling it while it resided in my head. While I could theoretically request it to search for useful primitive technologies, then work from there, it would be far quicker to just work off my own memories of living in post-spacefaring human society. I also noted that this included my rather long military history phase, which Luna may find useful in our discussions.
I carefully considered what I would share first. Frankly the asymmetrical development of this world was... bizarre. I had seen trains, lightbulbs, Twilight's lab equipment, and more. But simultaneously they still used quills, lacked firearms of any kind, and a long list of things humanity had long figured out before the lightbulb. Even amongst the vast disorder of the cosmos, most species developed along similar lines. These ponies seemed to have completely thrown all preconceived notions of societal development out the window. I was certain the Department of Sociology at Terran Imperial University would be in utter chaos if they learned of this world.
When they learned of this world.
Finally, I chose something simple and practical. Simple being a very, very relative term. I worked for hours, transcribing the culmination of decades of human research onto paper. Luckily the AI helped to supplement the fields I was unfamiliar with, notably biology, but the process was painfully slow. Eventually, I looked at the clock and noted the hour. It was time to see Twilight once more.
I once again wore my full formal attire, which at some point had been taken and cleaned by one of the maids. With confidence I strode out into the halls of the castle once more, quickly finding the door to the parlor where I was supposed to meet Twilight's friends. I heard some commotion on the other side, indicating they were already here. Steeling myself for whatever proclivities Celestia considered notable enough to warn me of, I stepped inside. Within, five ponies sat, each quite different from the other. An orange earth pony in a Stetson appeared to be arguing with a rainbow-maned pegasus. Meanwhile, Twilight and a white unicorn in a dress who spoke in a mid-atlantic accent appeared to be discussing some of the castle's decorations, based on how they were pointing at the drapes currently. Finally, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane seemed engrossed by a spider in the corner. Odd, I thought there were supposed to be six. Perhaps I had misheard.
"Good evening Twi-," I began to say, before a prickling on the back of my neck caused me to leap to my left on instinct. Good thing I did too, as a pink earth pony fell onto the ground where I was with a tray of cupcakes in hoof. How she even climbed above the door was beyond me. All eyes in the room shifted between me and the pink one. Seeing she wasn't moving, I crawled over to her with concern. As I was about to ask if she was fine, she sprung up with impossible vigor.
"Surprise!" she shouted, presenting a cupcake that was somehow pristine before her fall. She smiled expectantly. Twilight seemed to currently be panicking on the sofa, while the yellow pegasus hid behind her. The two arguing ponies had stopped to stare, and the white unicorn looked positively mortified.
Typically I wasn't lenient when it came to assassination attempts, but luckily for the pink pony, red velvet was one of my favorite flavors of cake. I happily peeled off the wrapper and took a bite. And upon doing so, I found new purpose.
"You, what is your name?" I asked the cupcake bearer before me.
"I'm Pinkie Pie! And that's Rarity, and Twilight, an-"
"How opposed are you to relocation? Simply name your price and I will provide it, if you come back to Terra and bake for me," I interrupted, utterly serious as I took another bite of cake. The icing got stuck in my mustache.
"Not for hire, but thanks! Nice as you seem, I just couldn't leave my friends," Pinkie replied. I nodded in understanding. I finished my cupcake in just one more bite.
"Well, care to introduce me to the rest of your friends Twilight?" I said, looking towards the purple mare. She finally stopped hyperventilating.
"You... aren't mad and going to kill us all?"
"Wh- ho- No! Why the hell would I do that?!" I exclaimed, confused as to how in the world she managed to come to that idea. "We're friends Twilight, and it'd take quite a bit more than a simple scare for me to consign a whole world to die. Even if it didn't, that cupcake evened things out."
"Heh, that was a bit foalish of a conclusion to reach, wasn't it? Well regardless you just met Pinkie, the Element of Laughter," she said, significantly calmer than before. "This here is Rarity, seamstress and proprietor of the Carousel Boutique," she continued, pointing at the unicorn across from her. Rarity's horn glowed, and she trotted towards me.
"Mind stooping down for me darling?" she asked, as she pulled a handkerchief from a pocket on her dress. I complied and she managed to wipe the frosting out of my mustache.
"Much obliged, Miss Rarity. So you're a seamstress? I may require your services in the future. I only have a few outfits at the moment, and my people tend to wear clothes all the time. Do you accept gold bars? I don't currently have any local currency."
"Oh nonsense darling, just the prestige of working on the clothes of an alien ruler, and the opportunity to inspect your style is payment enough for me. Just stop by and I'll get you measured," she said, even as she closely observed the flowing cloak of ruby. Noting her interest, I took it off and held it out to her. "Thank you!" she shouted with excitement as she went and sat back down, pulling out a pair of glasses to inspect the gemstone cloth closer. As soon as she did so, the orange pony approached me and held out her hoof. I crouched down and shook it.
"Name's Applejack, pleased to meet'cha. If ya ever find yerself in Ponyville, swing on by Sweet Apple Acres. Mah family'll treat ya right, and we got the best darn apples in all o' Equestria!" she proudly told me, all while nearly shaking my hand off. Now was the time to pull out my secret weapon. Convenient that I currently had my early life shard in.
"Ya'll sound like good folk down there, ah'll be certain to stop by fer some apples at some point. Ain't nothin' quite like an apple orchard in the fall," I reply, matching accent for accent. Nobody remembered that I hailed from the Southern U.S.A., unless they were a particularly dedicated scholar of my life. Her friendly smile only brightened, before she turned to the white unicorn.
"See Rarity? Ah told ya just 'cause you got an accent don't mean ya can't be sophisticated," Applejack jabbed at a very distracted Rarity.
"Hm? Oh, yes darling of course," she mumbled while continuing to inspect the fabric. Applejack just rolled her eyes.
As I smiled at the scene before me, I felt a light tug on my shirt. I focused on the yellow pegasus whose hoof was still outstretched. She seemed to shrink back, even under my relatively soft gaze.
"It's okay little one, I mean you no harm," I said as I got on my knees and sat on my heels. She seemed emboldened.
"My- my name is Fluttershy," she whispered nervously. Again, these little ponies were designed to be adorable. I wondered if they were actually designed this way, or this was some form of evolutionary response.
"Well met, Fluttershy. What is it that you do?"
"I-I um, take care of ah, animals," she stuttered out.
"A noble task indeed," I encouraged her, giving another one of my smiles. I suddenly felt hooves running across my teeth.
"An omnivore right? I saw how you mashed the cupcake with your molars," Fluttershy said, every hint of her namesake shyness fleeing from her as she began essentially an inspection. She muttered things to herself as she looked at my teeth, eyes, hair, hands, legs, and more. I looked at Twilight, and she just shrugged her shoulders. I placed a hand on Fluttershy's back as she was inspecting my ears. She blushed, before retreating to the couch.
"S-sorry. I get a little carried away around new creatures..." she mumbled, her shyness returning with a vengeance.
"It is quite alright my dear, curiosity is a trait I hold in high esteem. My people would still be stuck on our own planet without it," I placated. That left just one pony left. I turned towards where the rainbow pegasus was, only to have my personal space utterly violated.
"Name's Rainbow Dash, greatest flier in all of Equestria, and soon to be Wonderbolt! Kinda expected an alien to look cooler though," Rainbow said, flexing a leg while only about an inch from my face. Boisterous, obnoxious, and quite rude. What a wonderful combination. I plastered on a false smile, I knew how to deal with these types.
"Are you now? I will be quite excited to see you perform," I lied. I was a good liar though, and Rainbow appeared to not pick up on it. Applejack seemed to be giving me the side-eye though. "And unfortunately I know I'm not much to look at, a couple centuries of books and paperwork will do that. Nothing to be done though."
"Eh, you're not totally lame. Just maybe about twenty-percent less cool than expected. You bet I'll put that jaw to the ground though with my awesome aerobatics though! I'll put on a show after dinner," she replied. With all the ponies officially having given me their names, I positioned myself in order to see all of them.
"A pleasure to meet you all, I am Eternal Light, or Imperator Augustus Lux Aeternus, if you want my full title. Though I believe you all already were aware of at least my name in your tongue through Twilight," I announced to the entire room. All eyes turned to me as I continued, while taking my place in an empty chair, "Now then, Celestia has told me you had some questions for me? Evidently you Elements are quite important, to have the privilege of meeting me before the rest of your nation."
"Flattered darling, but we are not all that important. Just well-connected. Now, if you would allow me the pleasure of the first question, how exactly was this made?" Rarity piped up, lifting the robe.
"I'm not certain of the full process, but the ruby is like a sort of plating on the outside of a core thread made of extremely strong metal. The result is flexible, durable, and has all the shininess of a gem. I am uncertain as to whether or not you could replicate it," I replied. She was satisfied, albeit slightly saddened by the apparent impossibility to manufacture such cloth here.
Such did our question and answer session continue. Frankly, these were getting quite old. Luckily I had relatively few repeat questions due to Twilight sharing what she had learned from me prior.
"So, how did'ya end up where you are now anyways? Seems like a might bit o' effort to name yerself ruler of an entire galaxy. Ah know Princess Celestia is overwhelmed just maintainin' her little realm of ponies."
"By careful political maneuvering, as well as cashing in a few favors," I half lied. If by 'careful politics' you mean, 'the blood of billions,' I was quite truthful. She only narrowed her eyes at me. While she never pressed me on any dodged question or half truth, it appeared I was leaving quite the negative impression on her. A shame, given how well it had been going at the start. I thought that would be all the issues I would have, but then Rainbow posed a difficult question.
"Your people sound quite powerful. What's stopping you from hurting my friends, huh?" she grilled, seemingly more aggressive when it came to protecting those around her.
"Celestia and I reached an agreement," I replied simply.
"And how is that being enforced? How can we trust you to keep your word?"
"That, Rainbow Dash, is between me and your betters!" I lashed out, finally unable to contain my irritation at the pegasus. She looked at me, shocked for a moment. Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
"Whaddya mean by 'your betters?' Mah friend ain't below your attention," Applejack said, but before I could state an apology, Twilight spoke.
"He's right, matters of national security are the business of the Princess. Who are we to question her judgement?" she said in my defense.
"Well, he said something mean to Dashie regardless!" Pinkie Pie butted in.
"Well, it was quite rude admittedly but you have to see that Rainbow started it by pressing the issue," Rarity countered.
Quickly it all devolved into a verbal shouting match. Fluttershy cowered and Rainbow seemed to be shocked by the sudden divide in her friends. Her shock pretty quickly turned to anger at me. Before the situation could devolve any further, I took action.
"Silence, " I said calmly, utilizing the Imperial Voice. Really it was more of an advanced mind control spell utilizing verbal commands, but it worked regardless. My own 'magic' as these ponies liked to call it quickly overwhelmed their own, and they found themselves quite literally speechless.
"Now, Rainbow, I apologize for my prior words. Regardless of my... opinions regarding your boasting, that was no way for a guest to behave. I do, however, ask that you refrain from pressing too hard. I understand your concern, but Celestia and Luna are wise mares. They do not require your help to run their country. As for the rest of you, please stop arguing. You're scaring poor Fluttershy," I lectured, seeing them silently nod in response to my statements. Finally, I released the spell.
"YOU CAN USE MAGIC?! " Twilight shouted the very instant my spell ceased. I winced at the volume.
"Yes, originally I intended to keep it a secret, but your kind seems rather used to psionics as a concept. As for why I've not used them before now, I have my reasons. Primarily my species don't naturally use magic, we needed technology to access it. As a result, I'm used to the old fashioned way of doing things."
"Do the princesses know?"
"Luna is smart, and I presume she figured it out based on my ah, commentary regarding Nightmare Moon last night, in addition to my 'magical' mental defenses. And knowing those two, Celestia also knows. But no, I have never outright told them. Perhaps I should rectify that tonight."
"Ah'll say. Seems like somethin' quite important to leave out," Applejack stated with a hint of sarcasm.
"Well, I apologize for not throwing my entire hand down in a planet full of strangers after being kidnapped. No offense, Twilight," I replied. Applejack's glare seemed to pointedly ignore the logic in my statement. Stubborn as a mule, it appeared.
"Regardless, I am starving. What say you all to dinner?"
I received an almost universal cheer. As we left the parlor and went to the dining hall, I felt quite good about how that went. While Dash and AJ weren't exactly friendly with me, they weren't necessary to my continued residence here at Canterlot Castle. No, better to focus on the good of three new friends. I seemed to be racking up quite a high number of those lately. By the time Imperial ships found me, I think I'll have gone native. I smiled contentedly as our group of seven entered the dining room.
Author's Note
College is back up again, hence the rather delayed chapter. I hope you all enjoy this one, and hopefully I haven't scared you off with 20k words of basically introductions. We'll start getting into the real meat of the story I wish to tell in a couple chapters. But everything must start somewhere, no?
As always feel free to leave any criticisms or comments, I'm not the greatest writer of all time and any advice you have will only make this story more enjoyable for everyone.
With that, I leave you until the next chapter!
Of Empires and Princessdoms
Author's Note
This is the first of two rewrites, the second coming here shortly. I decided kinda last minute to take this a slightly different direction, and that required fixing some setup.
As for the why? Simply put, the other idea I had was too big of an escalation too quickly. I much prefer the slow build, and I think the new direction will lead to a much more satisfying story overall.
Also added the self-harm tag because yes, the Tantabus will be making an appearance later. And frankly I don't see how dream torture is not a form of self-harm.
Chapter 6 - Diplomacy
I strode towards the dining room, the soft thumps of my boots against the floor accompanied by six pairs of hooves clopping along. My boots were perhaps the only truly well-worn thing I owned, most clothing of mine was either donated to aid shelters or restored by skilled craftspeople whenever it showed signs of wear. But not my boots, a broken in leather shoe is perhaps one of the most comfortable things God has ever gifted to man. And who am I to deny such gifts?
Regardless, the guards at the dining room doors swung said doors open, allowing me and the girls to enter the dining hall. Celestia sat at her usual place, but today Luna was not present, nor was her place set at the table. I frowned slightly before choosing to take the place to Celestia's right. Twilight sat across from me, while Rarity was to my left. As with last night, servants procured menus, my own different from the herbivore's. Today I was feeling extra hungry, so I selected a large manticore steak with mashed potatoes as well as macaroni and cheese. I also got my usual night time cola. After the rest of our group finished ordering, I turned to Celestia.
"Will Luna not be joining us today, Celestia? I hope I didn't scare her off last night," I said, with a smirk towards the end.
"Nothing of the sort," she replied with a soft laugh. "She was simply a bit tired and wished to sleep in."
While the first part was true, the excuse she gave was most definitely not. Odd, though I chose not to press the issue. Especially in front of her subjects.
"That's a shame, none of us have seen her since umm, then," Twilight commented, tripping over her words at the end. The rest of her grouped looked around nervously. Unfortunately, it appeared Luna was correct in her assessment of her own reputation.
"We'll have to rectify that at some point... Oh! What if she came by this Nightmare Night? A nighttime festival sounds like a wonderful way for her to get out," Celestia suggested. The other ponies nodded in agreement, quite reluctantly. Funny how the one nearly killed by the Nightmare was the one quickest to forgive. Though I supposed she was the only person to have known her as 'Luna' and not 'Nightmare Moon.' The struggles of those our age.
"What is Nightmare Night?" I asked, quite intrigued.
"It's this wonderific night every fall where we dress up and get candy!" Pinkie quickly answered, practically bouncing in her seat. I wonder if Adderall would help her at all...
"It's also a festival to remind us of the terrors of the Nightmare," Twilight added. I raised an eyebrow at Celestia, but either she didn't share the concerns I had regarding Luna and the festival, or she simply elected to ignore them.
"That reminds me of an old tradition on Terra. We call it Halloween, and it's almost the exact same. Aside from the name and origin, of course," I said, before pivoting to a slightly different topic. "Interesting how predictable most societies are. For example, I would be willing to bet money you all have a celebration in the winter that involves gift giving. I'd bet even more that with our dear sun princess here, you have a massive holiday on your hemisphere's Summer Solstice as well."
Their collective shock was quite satisfying. Really all I had done was a sort of sociological fortune telling, something just vague enough to always be true. But a fun party trick when stuck in the middle of some backwater nonetheless.
"You would be a rich man indeed if anyone had bet on that," Celestia said with what I had found to be her trademark soft smile. "I suppose it only makes sense for most societies to celebrate the longest and shortest days of the year in some way."
"Quite right."
Conversation continued amongst the table as we waited on our food. I found myself talking with Fluttershy, who sat to the right of Twilight. While she was still quite soft spoken, the pegasus was quite friendly after she got used to my presence.
"And there are these giant tentacled creatures capable of traveling between the stars. They can become several miles long, and come in many shapes and sizes. They're also quite friendly, indeed I have heard many a tale of spacefaring vessels being helped along by one of them after an engine failure," I told her, using hand motions to emphasize how large the beloved Space Whales were. Her eyes were filled with awe. It brought me joy to find yet another who could appreciate the beautiful diversity of the cosmos.
"Wow. Such wonderful sounding creatures; I hope one day I could see one," she said wistfully. "While we don't have anything like that here, we have these creatures known as Breezies that are simply adorable!"
And thus did we continue, swapping knowledge on the various critters that inhabited our different realms. She was even so kind as to invite me to tea if I ever found myself in Ponyville. Eventually our food arrived. Everyone took my diet in stride, after all carnivorous creatures did exist in Equestria. Though a couple glances were spared my way as I cut off and chewed the manticore flesh, which was to be expected.
As I ate, Rarity interrogated me on Imperial nobility and the 'high-life' as it were. After descriptions of the Unification Ball, the Eternal Soiree, and a slew of other events, she managed to extract a promise from me that I'd bring her to at least one. Frankly I did not intend to keep it, as I don't think she'd appreciate being talked to as, 'His Majesty's new pet.' Regardless of law, many regarded pre-FTL species as barely above animals, until 'civilized' by a few decades with access to modern technology. A disgusting mindset, but a prevalent one nonetheless.
Eventually we all finished our meals, and the six Elements retired to bed. They were a nice group of individuals, though I had to question the sanity in entrusting them to be the last line of defense against those who sought Equestria's destruction. But something must be working if they managed to beat an Avatar, provided the Nightmare truly was one such beast as I suspected.
And so, Celestia and I migrated to her sitting room. Her for a glass of port, and I acquired some coffee. To my surprise, Luna was already there waiting. My surprised expression was swiftly replaced with a smile. As well as a warm feeling in my belly as I saw my first friend here.
"Luna! How did you sleep today? I hope our conversation last night did not place you too far behind in your duties."
"We slumbered quite well. Thou did not stop us from performing our duties, far from it in fact. Pray tell, how didst thou sleep? We tried our best with what little we had to work with. Tis difficult to make sweet dreams for one who hath not rested at any point within his own memory," Luna replied, though she sounded a tad accusatory at that last part. I set my coffee on the table, before closing the distance to her.
"It's difficult to take time off when so much needs attention, but I think you may find more ammunition to work with tonight. Despite your supposed lack of things to work with," I gave her a tight hug, "I slept like I haven't ever before. Thank you."
"Thou art quite welcome," she replied, hugging me back with her wings after a moment. Eventually I stood up, and made my way to collect my coffee. Celestia gave me an indecipherable look as I walked away from her sister, before assuming her usual slight smile. I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as I sprawled out on one of the sofas, slowly sipping my coffee. Celestia soon sat down as well.
"Now then, we have one matter to discuss. Luna and I have decided to reveal you as an alien to save from future headaches, and we don't mind you making your... standing known. Indeed, it may be beneficial if they think you a representative of your people. We ask that you refrain from mentioning the extent of your... lands, as it were. Such could easily be too much for our little ponies, and even the world at large. We will be holding a night time ball here at the castle to introduce you to the Canterlot nobility and notable businessponies. Hopefully a party will relax the atmosphere some," Celestia spoke, and a more businesslike air settled within the room.
"Excellent. I figured you would stipulate as much, and frankly it will be better for your people in the long run. What point in your eventual journeys to the stars, if all the stars are claimed? Before I forget though, should I reveal our... impromptu treaty earlier, or would doing so upset the balance of power in your world?"
"We would prefer you keep such to thyself. Regardless of its purely defensive nature, we have no doubts it would be perceived with much hostility by our neighbors," Luna replied. A fair assessment.
"Well then, what day shall this ball be? Or night, rather."
"A couple days from now, I hope. Best to resolve this swiftly. The palace staff aren't exactly quiet about your presence, and many witnessed you leaving Ponyville."
I nodded, before downing the rest of my coffee.
"And there is one more thing of importance. Luna and I have made the decision to call a Convocation of the Creatures, the first in several centuries. We believe it would be ideal for you to be able to interact with the other nations of this world on neutral ground," Celestia continued. "It will likely be a few months until it can be organized, however."
"I suspect I'll receive a few diplomats in the meantime though?"
"Almost certainly."
I gave a deep sigh. It seemed that soon vacation would be over. Usually I didn't tend to care about planet level politics, but I would prefer to leave this world as peaceably as possible. Even if I could just conquer the entire thing as an afterthought once a hyperlane was bored here, there was something about the relative harmony of it all that made me wish to preserve their current world. Besides, I'm certain the Imperial Sociologists Guild would try to kill me if I interrupted their natural development too much, given how fascinating their society was.
"Well, I suppose that's that. I'll try not to anger the entire world with my flippant disregard of anything they have to say; just most of it," I said with a wink. The two princesses nodded seriously. I forget that to them this is a matter of national importance.
"With that settled, I'm going to bed. Have a good night," Celestia said with a yawn, before getting up and beginning to walk to her room. She only paused to hug and nuzzle her sister. I hid the pang of sadness I felt upon seeing their sibling bond with a fake smile. Thus, I was once again alone with Luna.
"Care to join us, Lux? Tis a wonderful night, and we wish to walk the gardens," Luna asked as she got to her feet.
"I would love to. I actually have yet to see them."
We talked as she led me through the halls. She convinced her sister to allow military improvements like a true politician: by veiling it as a bunch of public works projects. She and old Ike would've been great friends, I think. Not that I ever met Eisenhower, he was long before my time. Even removing the military readiness aspect, no doubt this would garner her a lot of praise from the average pony citizen. Few things made people more appreciative than simply making their lives easier. Eventually we finally arrived at the castle gardens. A variety of well-cared for plants lined the walkways, the moon illuminating the entire place in its soft glow. The night air was crisp in my lungs, with a freshness I rarely experienced on Terra. Most of her air was recycled.
"We've always loved our night time walks. Even at the old castle in the Everfree."
"The quiet will never not be pleasant to me. Almost every waking hour of my day used to be filled with incessant yapping. Ah, not that I want you to be quiet of course. I mean the more... boring things. Taxes, bureaucracy, how many dreams need to be crushed today. The works."
"We've heard similar from our sister many times," Luna says with a giggle, before continuing in a more wistful tone, "But we do desire such responsibilities. T'would not be worse than our current boredom. At least we would feel less redundant."
"You'll get there soon, I'm sure," I comforted. I then continued with a smile, "And then you'll be right with me and Celestia, despising every second of it."
"We crave it to be so, Lux."
Eventually our quiet walk brought us to a fountain, one of Luna and her sister swirling in flight. It almost seemed to defy gravity.
"How does it feel, Luna? To still have family after all this time?"
She seemed startled by my question, but replied quickly.
"We love our sister more than anything else in this world. She is a great comfort to us, when the mortal things of this world pass on. At least we shall always have her. Why doth thou ask?"
"Just... remembered something, was all."
She didn't pry further. Eventually we continued our conversation, leaping from topic to topic. Stellar phenomena, army logistics, food preferences, music, flowers, pets, and more. Finally, we finished with a game remarkably similar to chess in the throne room.
"Huzzah! We win once again!" Luna cheered, prancing in place with excitement. I was quite bad at this game. Never was a particularly astute strategist, just a damn good organizer.
"Well, it seems I am once again reminded why I never personally command soldiers in battle. I would have liked to win at least once though," I remarked.
"We must play more then in the future. Tis not a talent, but a well honed skill we have. One you could hone as well"
"Well honed indeed," I answered with a yawn. "But it must be another evening. I do have a question for you though, before I go to bed. Why were you not present for dinner?"
Once again my question caught her off guard. She seemed to be formulating an answer, before just giving a sigh and speaking plainly.
"We... are afraid. Of what they may think of us. Our last encounter twas not so peaceful."
"I suppose I could understand that. One day you'll have to face them, though."
"We know," was her reply. My question answered, I helped her pack up the board from the foot of the dais. At last, I stood up and stretched.
"Have a good night, Luna. Watch well, and sleep peacefully."
"We give thee thanks for thy wishes, and shall ensure thine dreams are sweet."
And with that, I went once more to bed, where dreams claimed me. Ones of hearth, home, and family.
The next day was veritable flurry of activity, castle servants scrambling to prepare for the recently announced ball. Tables were set up, decorations quickly strewn all over, and the kitchens were in chaos when I tried to go for my breakfast. Tired of dodging all the castle staff, I eventually ducked into a sitting room. While I wasn't expecting anyone to be present, the two who ended up being here brought a smile to my face.
"Apologies for the intrusion ladies, I hope you don't mind if I duck in here? It's quite chaotic outside, you see," I asked Fluttershy and Rarity, who were apparently taking the time to talk over some tea.
"Oh of course not darling, make yourself comfortable. Would you care for a cup? This is an excellent chai blend," Rarity answered, offering me a teacup with her magic. For her part, Fluttershy simply nodded, recovering still from my rather sudden intrusion.
"Thank you kindly, I will most definitely have some," I replied, sitting down in a chair next to Rarity while taking the teacup from her magic. A tentative sip from it brightened my already chipper mood. "You are quite right, I haven't had tea on par with this in about... two-hundred thirty-seven years? I think?"
"I am quite glad you enjoy it dear. Although, I would have thought you of all people would drink only the best."
"Theoretically I would, but to be quite honest I don't treat myself all that often. Not to say I'm some kind of ascetic, I have a palace that takes up a significant chunk of a hemisphere, but these days I try to live with the minimum my servants allow me to get away with. I had a century of straight hedonism and... well let's just say that if you have only the best and most pleasurable all the time, it leaves nothing for special occasions."
"Quite right darling, quite right indeed. Well, back to our original conversation Fluttershy, I do believe I can work on those blankets you asked for. I'd hate for those adorable wittle critters of yours to get cold this winter."
"Thanks Rarity. It means quite a lot to both me and my creatures. Just let me know how much it'll cost," Fluttershy replied in her usual soft spoken tone.
"Nonsense dear, you take care of my Opal so well, it's the least I can do."
And thus did our conversation continue, bouncing between animal talk, fashion discussion, and Canterlot itself. Eventually though, Rarity asked me quite the interesting question.
"So Light, what do you think of Canterlot? Isn't it simply divine? All the class, the prestige, the wealth... it's simply wonderful," Rarity asked, being lost in a daydream towards the end.
"Well, to be quite honest, I have yet to leave the castle. It's alright though I suppose, nothing compared to the Imperial Palaces on Eternity and Terra, but there is a level of rustic charm and class that I quite like."
"Yet to leave the castle? It's alright? RUSTIC?!" Rarity exclaimed, steadily getting more dramatic with each word. Fluttershy simply shook her head ruefully at her friend's outburst. "Oh no darling, that simply will not do. We MUST get you out on the town. I'm certain you've just not seen enough of it to form a good opinion yet."
"I suppose not," I said with a slight chuckle, "Though I'm interested to see how you'll top Terra. Let alone Eternity."
"What do they have that we don't?" Rarity asked indignantly with a hoof to her chest.
"Terra itself is gorgeous in the night, even if the light pollution is excessive. City stacked upon city, neon shining into the blackness while people dance, drink and are merry. Even as fortunes are won and lost in the great battlegrounds known as Terra's clubs and manors. And that is to say nothing of Eternity, while Terra may be the unofficial center of my power, Eternity is the ceremonial one. Trillions barely even make a dent in its living space, the various shells of it practically entirely uninhabited. You can make a trip to her deepest levels and back within a few hours to you, but in the meantime decades will have passed in the galaxy as a whole," I replied, my tone becoming more wistful towards the end. I both despised and missed my homes.
"Well, I'll only believe you when you show me. But regardless I simply must show you Canterlot itself! I cannot believe the princesses have kept you in here all this time!"
"Not been that long. I've spent a year straight inside my palace before, not going outside," I commented. She simply stared at me.
"Not to be terribly rude, but it is quite jarring to have another one as, ah, well-seasoned as the princesses, as it were."
"You can just say I'm an ancient, decrepit man, Rarity. I won't take offense," I told her, desperately trying to keep a straight face. I broke into a belly laugh as Rarity's mouth hung open aghast, and Fluttershy giggled behind her hoof. Eventually the white unicorn also gave a few polite giggles as well. "It feels odd to have people so... comfortable around me. Most either grovel despite my protests otherwise, or stare at me with barely disguised disdain for what I represent."
"Well, we used to be like that with Celestia too, but we've interacted with her a lot more because of our friendship with Twilight. Eventually you realize that even if someone is old and powerful, that doesn't mean you can't be friends with them," Fluttershy explained. I wished she could beat that into the heads of my subordinates. What I would give for friends like these.
"Ah, look at the time! I simply must get back to work," Rarity suddenly interjected, hopping out of her chair.
"What for?" I asked as she began to pack up the tea set.
"Well, with the upcoming ball, all of us chose to stay here for a couple extra days to participate. Unfortunately nobody aside from me had the foresight to bring formal gowns, so now I'm working on clothes for my friends," Rarity explained. I nodded in understanding before standing up myself. I assisted in cleaning up, before politely opening the door for the mares. Rarity practically sung my praises for such simple acts, which I found quite entertaining. I bid the girls farewell, before heading back to my room, once again dodging staff along the way.
Eventually, I settled down at my drawing desk once again and finished the work I had begun yesterday. Truth be told it would take years for ponies to fully digest and adapt Imperial organ growth techniques, but this would put them ahead by a century at least, I believed. I smiled at the thought of how many livelihoods this would save, and unlike the technology back when humanity perfected it, I had a feeling Celestia would ensure all could have access to it. Such were the benefits of being an autocrat, especially in a peaceful society. I tried my best, but frankly unlike ponies, most species of the galaxy were selfish by their nature. That didn't make them evil per se, simply far, far more difficult to work with. Especially when it came to trying to give people free stuff.
I then began to brainstorm the next thing I would give in recompense, and more ideas to make pony lives better and longer started filling my head.
---- Discord ----
The worst part of being encased in stone was just how boring all of it was. The same sights, sounds, and I'm sure the place would even smell the same, if I could smell. Would it kill dear Celestia to move something just slight left? Or to plant some new flowers? Hence why I was so excited when the boredom was finally broken by something.
Initially, I was pleasantly surprised. What better chaos than some unknown species arriving to Equestria, in Celestia's student's home, no less? But as I observed, I noticed something that horrified even I. See, all living things in Equestria possess some Chaos Magic. Such is the natural state of turmoil that all living beings have. But this one... he not only lacked the innate chaos of life, but he almost seemed to sap it from the things around him.
And that, to me, was something of my very worst nightmares. Not only would he be utterly immune to meddling with his person, but anything he touched that contained my magic would simply revert back to its natural state. There was no telling what would occur if he managed to lay a hand on me.
Thus, I began to think, and quite seriously too. Unusual for me, but when my existence is on the line, what am I to do? Ignore it, like I ignored those sisters and the Elements? At least they had no intent to kill. And truth be told, even with such intent, the Elements could never have done such a thing.
My mind finally settled on an ancient idea. One I had used long ago, to fight another powerful foe. It was indirect and required substantial and careful puppeteering; additionally, it would mean another year or so willingly trapped in stone, despite the Elements finding new masters.
But it was my only shot at even having a chance at survival outside my stone prison. And the pieces needed to be set in motion immediately.
---- Lux Aeternus ----
I double checked my appearance in the mirror, ensuring my mustache was immaculately oiled. The past couple days had been quite chaotic in the castle, and even Luna was busy helping her sister prepare everything for the ball. Such short notice made things infinitely harder on everyone, but the Canterlot nobles would never in a million years miss a castle ball. They, as well as many other influential individuals, would most certainly be there tonight.
As I strapped my sword on, completing my outfit, I thought back over the past couple days. The princesses decided I would enter after the other guests arrived, to be welcomed in the fashion of a foreign diplomat. Unfortunately my lack of a retinue made things difficult, especially in terms of finding someone capable of running the orchestra required for the Imperial Anthem on short notice, but apparently the ambient magic of this world made ponies rather natural musicians and singers. It only took me singing a couple lines, and they instantly knew the rest somehow. Frankly, it was a little scary.
Beyond that, I watched Rarity work for a couple hours earlier today. She was impressive in her sheer skills, much like Pinkie I was tempted to offer her a position in my entourage as my personal tailor. I wondered at what she could do if provided access to modern materials. Much like Pinkie though, she politely refused my offer. Unfortunate.
Additionally, Twilight and I talked much, admittedly partially due to Luna being unavailable. Her insatiable curiosity was quite adorable, and she herself was quite knowledgeable in magic. Speaking of which, it was quite fascinating how advanced their psionics were. Frankly, many of the more subtle applications she said this wizard named Starswirl came up with were undreamt of by our greatest psionics. I mean, time travel? The spell she described was beautifully simplistic yet immensely complex, in order to allow one to transfer across time. I actually feared what would occur if these ancient tomes ever made it to the Imperium at large. Equestrian magic schools could quickly supplant the budding psionic institutes of my own empire. We made an agreement, that she would teach me magic while I taught her the history of the Imperium above. Perhaps one of the alicorns may have more knowledge than Twilight, yet based on Celestia's rather hands off teaching style, I figured I might learn more from Twilight regardless.
My attention snapped back to the present as I arrived at the entrance to the castle foyer. Several guardsponies stood nearby, and after I gave a quick nod, two opened the doors for me. I stepped inside, my pace careful and head held high as I began to walk towards the landing where Luna stood.
"Presenting his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Mankind, Eternal Light!" the pony herald to the right of the door announced. 'Drumbeat of the Pulsars,' the anthem of the Imperium, played as I continued my steady march. It was quite an old song, written in honor of the pulsar lighthouses we used to map out the stars. The very same I used to pinpoint my location here within the Milky Way.
Right as the song ended, I took the last step to be on eye level with Luna, deliberately choosing not to climb up to the landing and tower over her by a few inches. Neither of us bowed.
"I thank you for your hospitality, Princess Luna. I am admittedly quite excited by the thought of what you have in store," I state, giving her a small smile. A smile she quickly returned.
"And we welcome thee to Equestria, fair Emperor Lux. Tis not often we receive a new species, and never one from beyond our own star."
"Indeed," I replied, before turning around and standing to her right, facing out towards the gathered crowd of Canterlot elites.
"Let the festivities commence!' Luna announced in the Royal Canterlot Voice, spreading her wings out. I swear she would have given me tinnitus if the nanites didn't repair my ears.
Almost instantly I was swarmed by dozens of ponies, all jockeying for my attention. Quickly the swarm carried me down the stairs, away from Luna who was laughing at me from the top of the stairs. I shot her a glare while she gave an apologetic look.
Finally, the tide seemed to slow down as we entered the ballroom itself. Quite stunning, done in the same style as the rest of Canterlot Castle, though now it seemed to shine extra bright. Off to the side of the dance floor food and punch were located, while serving staff carefully picked their way through the crowd, giving away glasses of wine and picking up empty glasses. My eyes fell on the reason I was finally released from the pony wave.
A unicorn stallion in a well appointed suit with a top hat and monocle strode towards me. Ponies seemed to part before him as he walked, and it was quite obvious he was very important. Or at least, people seemed to think he was. He gave a bow, and while it was shallower than Imperial tradition dictated, I gave a nod of respect in return.
"And who might you be, good sir?" I asked as he raised his head.
"Fancy Pants, your majesty. One of Princess Celestia's trusted advisors, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the unicorn replied in an accent that reminded me of the old English royalty.
"Well met, and please, just Lux or Light. Honorifics are quite bothersome in conversation."
"Very well then, Light. I very much so hope we can-" he began, only to be cut off as some sort of pink blur careened into him. The nobility surrounding us gave a gasp as he was knocked off his feet, and sent sprawling by none other than Pinkie. My ears picked up the clopping of hooves as the rest of the Elements soon caught up.
"Now Pinkie, what have we said abo-" Rarity began as she gracefully picked her way through the crowd, only to lay eyes on the tangle of legs and hooves on the ground before me. Somehow the alabaster unicorn managed to grow paler, though the science behind that was beyond me. Suddenly she seized Pinkie in her magic, and floated the earth pony upright beside her. "Sir Fancy Pants, I apologize for my friend, sh-"
Her apology was cut off by laughing. The full, unbridled, definitely uncouth belly laugh of a human. Rarity's eyes grew wide, and just when it seemed they could not grow wider, Fancy Pants joined me. There was an awkward moment where only the two of us laughed, before soon the entire room was filled with laughing, I extended a hand, which Fancy gladly took, and the stallion stood up. I made eye contact with Pinkie, and she gave a wink which I returned. She was a master at breaking the ice.
"Oh it is quite all right miss...?" Fancy began, looking towards Rarity. She was too stunned to speak, and thus I chose to answer for her.
"This is Rarity, a friend of Celestia's student and one of my favorite conversation partners while I've been here at the palace."
"Is that so? Well then Rarity, you simply must join me for tea one day. I would quite like to get to know you better," Fancy said to the unicorn, who was on the verge of fainting.
"Yes... yes I would be delighted," she managed to choke out. Fancy then turned his attention back to me.
"Care to join me in sampling this fine spread? The castle staff seem to have outdone themselves once again," he asked, beckoning me towards the tables lined with food.
"If you'll have me. I haven't eaten since awakening."
"I forget you share Luna's sleep schedule," he said after a moment of confusion. I noted how unlike with Celestia, he didn't use her title. Based on the fact that Luna hadn't mentioned him, I doubted that was due to familiarity.
"Indeed. Most supplicants have jet lag regardless, so my odd sleeping habits don't really affect much at all," I replied. When he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, I continued, "Other planets have different rotation speeds. Days can be longer or shorter compared to the standard Terran Day. As a result, regardless of when I open court, at least some people will be showing up during what feels like midnight to them. Thus I host it whenever I wish to, which just so happens to be during the evening. It is quite curious how Equestria shares the same day length, approximately, as at home in our northern hemisphere."
He blinked, then nodded in false understanding. Must be an odd concept to grasp when your sun and moon require manual moving. We didn't speak much as we collected our food, I also placed an order for the kitchens to make me some meatballs to go with the spaghetti they had laid out. Eventually we found our places at a table, and were joined by a few other ponies. The way they looked at Fancy Pants was quite familiar. It was reminiscent of the look a child would give their father, desperately craving his approval. A table of sycophants. Great. I suppose blame could not be placed entirely on Fancy Pants himself though, unfortunately such groups simply manifest around those with power. And often it takes years to truly notice it.
"So then, how has it been living in the castle? Many a creature would dream of such luxuries," Fancy asked, attempting small talk.
"As I told Rarity, Canterlot has quite the rustic charm to it. I would love to spend a vacation here, in all honesty."
And much like Rarity's initial reaction, everyone sharply took a breath. Perhaps I could have left the word rustic out.
"I meant ah, less densely populated," I hastily corrected. A pitiful save, but the ponies let out a breath. Apparently years of being the top dog had left my actual diplomatic skills... rusty.
"Well, we ponies do like our large living spaces," Fancy replied with a chuckle.
"So I've noticed. My living space is quite sizable, especially for a diplomat's apartments. Clearly your princesses waste no expense in terms of hospitality. This ball proves that."
"They are quite generous indeed. Why, the Princess's school for unicorns proves that. Allowing all young fillies regardless of status to attend and learn if they have talent is truly commendable. Do you have anything similar?"
"Somewhat. The Imperial University of Psionics on Terra is quite prestigious, and only accepts the best. Regardless of where they come from, and for no cost," I answered. I resisted the urge to sigh. His 'conversation' was no doubt a more subtle form of interrogation really. I couldn't fault him for it, I would do the same thing in his shoes. It was simply that I had gone through this thousands of times, and eventually it gets quite boring. I supposed I could simply refuse to play along, but I too required information. And much could be gleaned even from what questions he asked.
"Ah, so your kind can use magic then?"
"Not naturally, no. But we found a way," I replied, purposefully vague. As much as I would've liked to keep my 'magic' hidden from the populace, I doubted I could do so for long. Besides, telekinesis was useful for reaching the tops of bookshelves. I would keep the machinery in my head a secret though. Best they didn't know that I had almost as much silicon as gray matter crammed in there.
"Impressive indeed. It seems your people are quite inventive, if what little the Princess told me is true. Who would even think to go between the stars?"
"It has been a long time dream of mankind, and if I hadn't led us there someone else would have. The vast expanse of the cosmos is beautiful, and we children of Terra have always wanted to be amongst the heavens," I replied, a genuine smile creeping across my face. "You ponies should stargaze more often. The sun's light hides the glory of the constellations above."
Fancy Pants frowned, before giving a shrug and saying, "Perhaps one day."
And so did our conversation continue, Fancy Pants carefully probing as I played along. I gave him what he desired, though as the princesses asked, I carefully withheld information. It was quite easy, considering how roundabout our conversation was. And if I had any luck, perhaps he would think me a fool who was easily manipulated for information rather than a cooperative peer. Being underestimated was almost never a bad thing.
While Fancy Pants did his questioning, I took the time to observe the ball itself. Twilight and her friends were up to some most curious antics, with the exception of Fluttershy who, if I had to guess, had slipped out a door to the castle gardens. For her part, Rarity was engaged in damage control. Apologizing as Twilight bumped into a group of talking ponies while dancing, bringing a new wine glass to a noblepony after an aerial trick by Dash knocked it over, and other such things. I assumed that while the ponies were all quite annoyed by their activities, who could outwardly say anything against heroes of Equestria?
It was then that I noticed the distinct lack of an individual. I frowned, not seeing Luna anywhere. She of all individuals should have been mingling. Curious. I waved over a serving girl, and asked for a soda. After a few minutes, she came back with an open bottle of cola. Taking it, as well as a couple spare wine glasses, I looked over at Fancy Pants.
"Well, I have quite enjoyed our conversation. Perhaps we shall speak another time. For now though, I must take my leave. I had a few other ponies I wished to talk to," I said as I stood up.
"Ah, well, we simply must meet again. I'll send a letter of invitation at some point, keep an eye out for my seal. Have a good evening," he replied, carefully hiding displeasure at being the one to be dismissed, rather than vice versa. I couldn't decide if I liked or disliked him. He reminded me much of myself during my first century.
With that, I stood up and began my hunt for a princess. It didn't take long, the guards told me she had gone outside, to the gardens. I then quickened my pace, working my way through the gardens methodically, until I caught a glimpse of yellow and pink hiding in a nearby bush. I walked over, and crouched down.
"Just because I eat meat Flutters, doesn't mean I'll eat you," I said to the bush. A small 'Eep!' was given in return.
"No... but she will," the pegasus whispered harshly, not moving from her hiding place.
"She?"
"N-n-nightmare Moon."
"Really? Didn't you destroy that creature with the Elements?"
"Yes, b-but I just saw her a few minutes ago."
"And you're certain it wasn't simply a non-evil Princess Luna?" I asked as I rolled my eyes.
"No..."
"So will you come out then and point me towards where she went?"
Her lack of response made me sigh. I set down my cola and glasses. Moving quickly, I dove into the bush and wrapped my arms around where I thought her barrel was. I then stood up, dragging a flailing pegasus out of the bush with me.
"Now then, where did she go?"
A hoof nervously pointed down a path I knew led to that gravity-defying fountain I had seen earlier. And so with Fluttershy, who had now curled up into a small yellow ball in my arms, I began to walk. The glassware and soda followed behind me in my psionic grasp, as both my hands were occupied.
After a few silent minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the fountain. Luna didn't turn as the heavy footfalls of my boots approached.
"See Fluttershy? It's just Luna," I said, and the pegasus uncurled slightly to look outward. Unfortunately she didn't calm down at the sight of the princess's more diminutive form. This was apparently going to be quite difficult. I set my drink down on the fountain edge, before moving to stand beside Luna, her flowing starscape mane obscuring her eyes. Fluttershy was now violently shaking.
"I'm going to set you down now, okay? No running," I told her, before placing the shivering mess on the ground. She wasn't even this bad with me. I wondered at just how awful this 'Nightmare' creature was to have garnered such a reaction. Just as I moved my hands away from Flutters and stood up, she started to bolt. I seized her in my magic with a tinge of annoyance, before bringing her back beside me.
"Let her go, Lux. Do not torture our subject with our presence any further," Luna spoke up. Reluctantly, I released Fluttershy from my telekinetic grasp. She could've beat Rainbow in a race at that moment. I then hovered the soda back into my hands, and began to divide it amongst the two glasses I brought. I then levitated one glass over to Luna. She eventually took it, after I practically shoved it into her face.
"Makes me feel better. Haven't touched alcohol in... many years. Who knew that age doesn't necessarily give good self-restraint," I said, swirling the fizzy drink in my glass.
"We thank thee, Lux," she replied, though she didn't take a sip. Now came the fun part.
"That bad, huh?" I asked softly. I already knew the answer. While it may not have been a party for her per se, she was still its host. And here she was, alone in the gardens, ignored. She didn't respond for quite some time, and I was quite alright to just stand and look at the heavens. We had millennia, no need to press her.
"Is it a sin to want people to like you, Lux?" was all she said in response after nearly fifteen minutes.
"Quite the opposite. It's only a natural desire for all social creatures."
"Then why do ponies act like it's a crime for us to talk to them?" she began quietly, before slowly growing in volume. "We are their princess! While our sister has ruled it for the past thousand years, we along with her founded it. We ruled together! I wrote half the laws they follow as gospel, I fought and bled and nearly died for them! And when I dared to ask for the same love they gave Celestia, they shunned me!" she continued, and for the first time since I had met her she used first person singular pronouns. "And now they revile me as a monster, even after my cleansing! They hate me almost as much as my dearest sister loves me! " she shouted into the night, using the Royal Canterlot Voice. Luna then turned to me for the first time since I arrived, tears flowing freely. The matted down fur around her face alerted me to the fact that she had been doing so likely since before I arrived. "Even Twilight Sparkle's friend couldn't stand to be around me. What hope do I have?"
"You befriended me perfectly fine."
"Ah yes, the alien from outer space. Truly this gives me great hope, that I relate with an alien more than my own subjects."
"Fair point. I suck at this, don't I?"
"Thou does indeed," she replied with a giggle.
"I can manipulate the most skilled of politicians without thinking, but cheering up a friend? Heaven forbid. Never seen someone so depressed they switch pronouns before though."
"I usually think in the first person singular, it's just...," she waved her hoof around in the air, trying to come up with an explanation, "The royal 'we' reminds me of my era. Simpler times when Tia and I could just blast our foes with magic, or marshal legions to fight. The nobility just let us do whatever we wanted rather than questioning where we choose to breathe."
"I understand, the same goes for this sword. I can't remember why it's important to save my life, but I'm always calm with it. Even if it never really matches my outfits."
"Tis indeed quite tacky."
"And your manner of speaking makes you sound like an old hag."
"To tacky swords, ancient lexicon, and being terrible at interpersonal relationships!" she declared, raising her glass.
"That's a long ass toast, Luna," I said as I clinked my glass with hers. We then both drank simultaneously. Two things were wrong. One, the soda was flat.
Two, my nanites started working overtime as I felt a burning in my stomach. Then my heart. Luna heaved to my side, vomiting on the floor. At first I attempted to magically purge my blood, but whatever poison used had been mixed with... nullstone? How in the hell did they get any of that here? Thus I would have to endure the pain until my nanites filtered the stuff out of my blood. I assumed cyanide due to the burning sensation and lack of odor or taste.
Just as I was about to breath out a sigh of relief, I remembered my friend beside me. On the ground. In a puddle of her own vomit, her horn glowing desperately.
Thinking quickly, I snapped a small cylinder into existence in my right hand. I then injected the contents of it into her bloodstream. The same nanites that flowed in my own veins now worked desperately to clear hers of poison. I watched apprehensively as they worked, with Luna eventually fading into unconsciousness. I nearly panicked, but the slow rise and fall of her chest said otherwise. I gently picked her up, before sprinting into the castle, crying for help.
Of Empires and Princessdoms
I staggered into the ballroom, eliciting gasps from the few ponies who were still partying. In mere moments the guards were upon us, checking her vitals before attempting to use magic on her. Obviously it failed due to the nullstone contamination, and so they simply put her on a stretcher the hard way. A guard then approached me, spear at the ready.
"Until we can verify precisely what happened to the princess, you're coming with us," he stated. I was about to comply, until he pulled out a pair of manacles.
"I don't think those will be necessary. I have no intention of running," I said, staring at the cuffs in his hands.
"It's protocol, sir."
"For a witness who has only been compliant thus far? I doubt that. Just lead me to wherever you need me to be."
His response was to wave over more guards. I simply rolled my eyes before snapping my fingers.
Energy coursed through me before I teleported directly outside of Celestia's rooms. The guards on either side of her door stared dumbfounded as I knocked hard. When she didn't respond, I teleported the short distance to the other side of her door, and lit the candles with a snap. Unfortunately that depleted my psionic reserves for the next day or so. It would take time to siphon more energy from beyond the Veil.
"Celestia? I apologize for waking you but something has... occurred," I spoke, as she awoke with a start at the sudden light.
"Wu-wh- Lux? What's going on?" the princess replied sleepily, rubbing her bleary eyes with her hooves.
"Poison. It was intended for me, but Luna and I shared the dri-" I began, only to be cut off as Celestia suddenly shot awake.
"What happened to Luna!? " she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. I flinched as her magenta eyes took on a rage I would never have believed her to be capable of. I could have sworn her mane began to smolder.
"As I was saying, a poison mixed with nullstone. She is safe, but the stuff did a number on her before I could intervene. She's currently asleep and likely heading for the medical ward," I finished explaining.
"Put a hand on my neck," she commanded. Normally I wouldn't take kindly to demands, but I complied. Not every day you hear your sister almost died, after all. I was disoriented by a sudden teleport, and we appeared next to a group of guards escorting the unconscious Luna towards the castle doctors. Celestia visibly relaxed upon seeing her sister, though she glared at a pair of guards who began moving to apprehend me. Seems it was worth it to wake her.
"Report. I assume you're locking down the castle?" Celestia asked one of guards.
"Your Highness, the one next to you returned with your sister, who was unconscious, after slipping out of the ballroom for an indeterminate period of time. She appears to now be fine physically, although there were traces of nullstone earlier that have since disappeared. Magical diagnosis reveals her to apparently be in the best health she has ever been, according to prior examinations. However, some unidentified substance is currently in her bloodstream. It appears benign though. And yes, princess, the castle is currently under lockdown. You may want to make an appearance to calm the nobility," the guard reported, even as we continued down the halls. They still shot me the odd suspicious glance when they believed Celestia to not be looking.
"Then I shall do so. Send a letter to Captain Armor, tell him he and Cadance are to return to Canterlot immediately. Lux, you're with me. We shall see if we can't identify the servant who gave you your drink. Perhaps she can give us additional information."
"As you say," I replied with a nod. I swayed slightly, before catching my balance. It appeared that the poison had a greater effect than I thought. I felt my heart rate increase and strength quickly gather as a small cocktail of chemicals was administered throughout my body from my nanites. A temporary fix, but I could sleep after we caught whoever poisoned my drink.
Thus did Celestia and I continue the night. Guards marched along, patrolling the halls for any intruders while pegasi squadrons soared above the castle. Celestia talked to the assembled nobility, and while obviously not pleased with being forced to remain within the castle, they at least didn't openly defy their ruler. Unfortunately, the hunt for any sign of the perpetrator remained unfruitful. Likely they made their escape before the castle was placed on high alert, and whoever it was did not have an entry in castle's hiring records. With that, Celestia and I decided to take breakfast right before dawn. Guards were copying and distributing copies of a sketch based on my description, so all we could do now was wait.
"So, how did you save my sister? Not to say I am not thankful of course, but I am curious," Celestia asked as she ate some pancakes that she cooked for us herself. They were quite good, though how she found the energy on half a night's rest and under such stress was beyond me. I'd have at most poured myself a bowl of cereal before crawling into bed, at this stage.
"Tiny little machines that can do a whole slew of things. Blood filtration amongst them. They're what have kept me alive and physically young for so long, and they can heal a person from anything short of complete vaporization. Provided they have time to complete their work, and parts of the body are relatively close to one another."
"Your lifespan isn't natural?" she asked, slightly wide-eyed.
"Wait, yours is? The average human has a natural lifespan of around 75, add in modern medical care and you can easily hit three hundred. Most don't go beyond that though."
"Then why have you, and why haven't others.?"
I frowned at the question. It was difficult to explain, unless...
"Celestia, do you ever feel thin? Like, as if you've been stretched across an massive gap you cannot possibly fill, but somehow do anyways?" I asked. It was a rhetorical question, her eyes had given me the answer to that a long time ago. She nodded. "Some can last longer than others, but there's a sort of wall that exists. An age sentients hit where they simply seem to simply be too tired to go on. To be honest I hit that point a very, very long time ago. And yet..." I waved around my hand, looking for the correct word.
"You feel an obligation to stay. It's the same with me and my little ponies. They become like your children, and you feel the need to protect them. Even after it feels like you simply cannot go on," Celestia finished for me.
"Indeed."
Silence reigned for a few moments, before Celestia asked the question I had no doubt was burning in her mind this whole time.
"So, why were you and Luna alone in the gardens?"
"After talking with Fancy Pants for quite some time, I noticed she had left. After asking around, I followed her trail to the gardens, by a fountain we had talked near once."
"That doesn't answer my question, really."
"She wasn't feeling welcomed in the ball she was hosting. So she chose to leave, in order to make the rest of the nobility a little more comfortable," I replied with a frown, an expression Celestia soon wore as well.
"I had thought this issue resolved within Canterlot at least... Surely spending so much time near her would have warmed them up to her."
I looked up at her, and with a sigh I began to explain things from my perspective.
"She has no place here, the ponies practically worship you while reviling her as a monster, probably thanks to the holidays you have about her as the Nightmare. Her speech is archaic, her mannerisms strange, and she sleeps during the day so most ponies never see her. And to top it all off, she doesn't rule as a Diarch. At best she's an advisor, seeing as few approach her with matters of import. Really it's the exact same as what I read regarding the situation a thousand years ago, except she has resolved to simply endure in silence for your sake."
A single a tear rolled down her cheek. She closed her eyes and set her head down onto the table, some of her hair ending up in pancake syrup.
I went over and laid a hand on her withers. It was a difficult situation with her sister, most definitely.
"How much of a foal must I be to not realize what I have been doing to Luna for the second time? And why must I hear it from a random alien of all people?"
"It's easy to be blind to someone's suffering when the only time you see her is when either you or her are sleep deprived."
"Even so, I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, she'd share with me some of her pain."
"And burden her big sister, who already has so much stress? Better to simply endure and try to find small victories where possible."
"She doesn't actually believe that, does she? I failed her once before, and I would never let my duties interfere with our relationship again."
"Even so, she feels a sense of obligation. To make things right on her own, without outside aid. To atone."
"And how can you speak for her? What do you know, after only chatting for a few nights?"
I frowned, and looked at the slowly setting moon.
"Everything and nothing, I suppose," I replied simply. She scowled at my non-answer, but I wasn't intent on clarifying. I silently slipped back into my chair.
"As much as I hate it, perhaps there is a place for proper guard reform," she said suddenly. I raised an eyebrow, before she continued, "You said she lacks a place here, and you are correct. Truth be told I've avoided it for centuries, but I can feel the times changing. Such a bold attempt to kill someone within my castle precipitates worse, I fear."
"Indeed it does. Odd how quick whoever tried to kill me was in making a move. They have agents inside, and quite a few of them too."
"I will inform Luna that she is to resume her role in organizing the defenses of Equestria when she wakes up," she then looked at me as she stood up, "And thank you, Lux. Even if it was meant for you, you still saved the most important pony in my world from death. Do not think I will forget this."
She then walked out, and I soon followed. As the moon finally dipped below the horizon, the sun began to raise in its brilliance. I walked towards the clinic within the castle, and with a bit of arguing, I finally got to where I wanted.
I settled into a chair at Luna's bedside, sword point down between my legs. Out of curiosity I plucked a short book off a shelf filled with thin volumes and magazines. 'A Noble's Guide to Modern Equestrian Etiquette.' I began reading, interested in pony society. It appeared almost exactly the same as old Terran concepts of propriety, with some uniquely pony additions. Such as the fact that flowers were given less for beauty, and more for their flavor.
I continued my reading, half-attentive as I thought about the events of the past day. Obviously whoever had attacked was capable of refining concentrated cyanide, and had access to nullstone. In the wider galaxy it was fairly rare, but perhaps it was common in Equestria. Regardless, due to the anti-magic properties, it was likely a well regulated substance in a magic-reliant society.
Most importantly though, who would even go through the effort of trying to kill me so soon? And in such an aggressive manner? Really there was only two options. Either somebody was in utter fear of me simply due to being an alien.
Or somebody knew me and my history.
My thoughts were interrupted by a thrashing alicorn next to me.
---- Luna ----
I awoke with a need to scratch my nose. I began to reach up a hoof, when suddenly I felt my entire body.
Everything itched, from my hooves to my horn. I began to scratch myself all over, when I realized it wasn't just the outside but the inside as well. It was like a billion ants were crawling under my skin, in my intestines, and I swore I could feel an odd hum in my ears. All decorum was thrown aside as I thrashed in my bed, desperation setting in as I attempted to scratch an itch that couldn't be scratched.
Then, I was suddenly in the air, and I heard a muffled voice. I looked towards the source of the voice and saw Lux standing there, saying something. I simply looked on in confusion, unable to hear for some reason. He quickly caught on, and mouthed the words, 'I can help, just stay still.'
Exercising all of my willpower, I ignored the itchiness. The feeling of something foreign inside, moving around. I saw as he took out some kind of metal cylinder, and attached it behind my left ear. A sharp feeling of pain quickly subsided where the cold metal was placed, and I felt tears well up from the effort it was taking to sit still as these things writhed about. Soon my body began to feel oddly numb however, and I breathed a sigh of relief as the itchiness subsided. Finally, I heard Lux speak behind me.
"Can you hear me alright Luna?"
"We can hear thee perfectly well," I replied. I was quite curious as to why he was in my chambers. While my nightmare last night of dying to poison was indeed horrifying, enough that the Tantabus didn't make an appearance, I doubted my tossing and turning was worthy of him sitting at my bedside.
"Good, good. Hopefully all the nullstone should be completely filtered out soon," he replied. Without opening his mouth. And I realized that his voice wasn't coming from behind, but rather inside my own head. He appeared to notice my change in expression, and said aloud, "I just gave you a brain implant. One that allows you to subconsciously control the nanite swarm flowing in your blood right now. Nothing quite as advanced as what I have, but still useful. Most importantly it'll prevent your body from trying to kill the nanites, which is what that itching was. Itching that would've turned to fever and then death. Unfortunately I needed you conscious to install the implant, hence why you had to feel that."
"How... how did we survive if the events truly were not a dream? We felt ourselves slipping into the cold beyond..." I asked, shuddering at the feeling. I had been injured on many occasions, including being knocked out, but nothing compared to the near finality of the unconsciousness I felt coming upon me during those moments.
"Same stuff that keeps me trucking at the ripe old age of... however old I am. Tiny little robots that replace dead flesh, make your innards that became outtards back into innards again, fight diseases, and a slew of other pleasant benefits. They repaired your insides, filtered the remaining poison out of your blood, and also took care of any pre-existing conditions. Unfortunately the process takes a bit of energy still, hence you were sleeping so long."
"We appear to be in thy debt, human. We thank thee," I replied, the idea of what exactly he just said being unbelievable. I tried desperately not to think about machines in my blood. In my head.
In my mind.
"Think nothing of it. Besides, believe I owe you two last I counted. Means I just owe you one now. Not to mention you wouldn't have been poisoned if I wasn't here..."
"That may be so, but were you not present, we would be lacking one of our dearest friends. Something we have precious few of," I said, looking at Lux. It was quite entertaining to see how he smiled at being called 'friend.' It seemed his kind didn't place much emphasis on friends. Or he was like me, alone aside from one or two other ponies despite attempts to be friendly.
"I suppose that's true. Though I must say, I think you could be improving on that front just by speaking as you did after getting emotional last night. Feels less like talking to a walking history book."
"We-I think you may be right. For too long have w-I have hid behind a comfort blanket of tradition," I replied, though it was unusually difficult to slip out of the royal 'we.' Usually it wasn't even for use outside of when addressing commoners, but since my return I had been using it near constantly. Even with my own sister. Despite this... mental block, I managed.
"Much better. By the way, Celestia said you're back on defense organization. You're to resume your duties as they were prior to your exile to the moon. Only took you nearly dying for her to cave."
My initial excitement at the prospect of finally having something to do was soon overshadowed by dread. Something more had happened beyond this attempt on my life. As much as she loved me, such a dramatic move over a failed assassination attempt was not like her. She'd quietly enhance the guard force of course, and hire poison sniffers from the Diamond Dogs, but something this dramatic?
"You know, I thought you'd be far more excited about the idea. Field Marshal Luna, back at it again," Lux said, standing and spreading his arms at the last part in a grand gesture.
"I have no idea what thou means by a 'Field Marshal,' but this is quite strange. Tia would never so boldly set a change such as this in motion without significant impetus. Mine sister is terrified by something else," I replied. Lux nodded in agreement.
"That tracks with what I know of her. Perhaps she'll trust you with such knowledge."
"One can hope."
I noticed as suddenly Lux began to sway, and I looked at him with concern.
"Looks like the stimulants are wearing off. Catch me, if you would," he said, before beginning to collapse onto the floor. I quickly grabbed him in my magic, before gently placing him back into his chair at my side. A quick spell ensured his sleep was dreamless and restful. Soon I felt the need to sleep coming on once more as well, and I slipped back into unconsciousness.
Of Empires and Princessdoms
Chapter 8 - Courts and Picnics
I was going to kill whoever decided to open my bedroom curtains. A beam of light was currently going straight into my eyes, rudely waking me up from my slumber. The servants should have known not to mess with my rooms after I had retired for the morning. Ah wait, these servants wouldn't know that, now would they?
With a groan, I opened my eyes and sat up, still feeling utterly exhausted. Based on the sun's position, it was early morning. Barely a couple hours of sleep then, and I could feel it. No way I was going back to bed now though, unfortunately. With a dramatic slouch, I dressed myself and made for the kitchens to eat breakfast. I was rather disheveled, opting to wear my slightly more casual clothes as well as saving my shower and usual grooming routine for after my meal. I was absolutely, positively starving. Additionally, my AI apparently had a few reports from when I was asleep. I was certain they could wait, however.
I practically fell through the dining room doors, coming face to face with a horrible looking Luna, as well as Celestia who was simply brimming with positive energy. She must be solar powered or something.
"Goooood morning!" the Princess of the Sun exclaimed, before asking, "How did you sleep, Lux? You were out for quite some time."
"Only a couple hours by my cou- oh," I stopped dead in my tracks. Celestia and I had just eaten breakfast. And Luna looked as though she had worked her usual graveyard shift. And the sun was lower than it had been when I went to visit Luna. The only thing that then made sense was, "How many days was I out, and what exactly happened to me?" I asked, suddenly alert. Either the poison was vastly stronger than I initially believed, or something else was happening. The way Luna looked at the floor sheepishly even in her exhausted state gave me all the confirmation I needed.
"Only one. You see, Lulu may have... failed to catch you when you passed out. And by failed, I mean she grabbed your torso but failed to stop the momentum of your head as it slammed onto the floor. Apparently human skulls aren't quite as durable as pony ones. I'm told it looked quite grizzly," Celestia replied in between bites of pancake. The blue mare in question refused to meet my eyes.
"Remind me to never place my life in your sister's hands ever again Celestia. Not that I thought breaking my fall to be a life or death task," I said, giving Luna the side eye as I sat down. She had disappeared behind her bowl of cereal.
"To be fair, she did wake up from a poison-induced nap only a few minutes prior to you passing out. Speaking of, why exactly did you just fall over unconscious?" Celestia inquired
"A lovely cocktail of highly addictive substances was all that kept me awake as we searched for our would-be assassin. My nanites eventually stopped administering them cold-turkey to prevent addiction and subsequent withdrawals. From there, they put me asleep to recover energy. Much like what they did to Luna, minus the stimulants of course." I explained, digging into a plate of soft scrambled eggs. While to the outside eye I ate as usual, in reality my chewing was slowed slightly as the AI utilized my nanites to sample them for poison each bite. Most toxins were fairly harmless to me, but it never hurt to be safe.
"I see. And why did you not retire to your rooms before going out like a light?"
"I ah, lost track of time," I replied, taking my turn to stare intently into my eggs out of embarrassment. It was a foolish mistake, one quite easily avoidable. “An error that appears to have cost me an entire day. Have you made any headway in the investigation?”
“I’m afraid not. We’re still questioning all of the castle staff as of this moment; although, Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are due to return this evening, the former of which is typically in charge of security on the castle grounds. He may be able to succeed where I have failed.”
“We- I have begun looking into the dream realm for any signs of disturbance as well. Alas, much of my time has been spent looking into the state of our guard forces,” Luna interjected immediately after Celestia finished her report. I found it amusing that despite her usual excessive decorum, she chewed as she spoke. Her sister’s disapproving glare only made it better. It took a great deal of willpower to contain my mirth.
“I trust that a lead will be found soon, in that case. Though I am curious, you mentioned another Princess, Celestia? I was under the impression your principality had only two rulers,” I asked, a little surprised that such had been kept from me until now.
“Cadance is my adoptive niece, and also an alicorn. She has been elevated for… reasons I would prefer to keep to myself, for now. A matter of national security, you must understand,” she started, picking her words very carefully, before continuing, “Also Equestria is a Princessdom, Lux.”
“There’s a difference?”
“A very slight one, as it does not imply male inheritance.”
“I see,” I replied, not wanting to dig deeper into the vaguely sexist implications of matriarchal inheritance laws. Though I supposed most remaining hereditary monarchies in the Imperium had their odd proclivities with regards to inheritance, regardless of typical social equality. I frankly never bothered to write an inheritance law. I never intended on dying or stepping down anytime soon, nor did I have anyone worth considering having children with. I felt a pang of sadness at that, but I had long since given up on the idea of a family.
A gold-shod hoof waved in front of my face, and I suddenly realized I had completely zoned out for several seconds. I looked to the source of the waving, and saw a very concerned Celestia.
“Are you certain you’re alright, Lux,” she asked, very clearly worried. I nodded in reply.
“Apologies, I was simply thinking.”
“I tremble at the thought of what complex thinking would do to you in that case, you were practically catatonic. Even worse than Lulu in the morning,” Celestia quipped. I chuckled as I looked to Luna, who was currently in a very intense scowling contest with her empty bowl of cereal. One she was winning quite handily.
“Luna, you do realize more food won’t appear if you simply stare at the bowl, right?” I asked, and I felt a shiver as her eyes fixed their focus on me.
“We are well aware. We simply are deciding if we can eat another bowl before retiring for the day, or if we will collapse asleep into it,” Luna replied. She then suddenly teleported, without another word. Seemed she had made up her mind.
“I apologize on her behalf, she gets quite… ornery in the morning,” my sole remaining companion said with a sigh.
“I’m the same way when I actually have to work,” I replied with a wave of my hand.
“And what do you mean by that?”
“It’s hard to be all smiles after a day of telling people ‘No, you may not classify x species as sub-sentient and enslave them,’” I said nonchalantly, before throwing up my hands. “I mean really, how hard is it to just have a sustainable economy where people are properly compensated for their labor?”
“Is that really such a consistent issue?” Celestia asked, quite disturbed.
“Truth be told I only have to deal with the worst cases, being the highest authority in the galaxy. Someone committed genocide over there, some terrorist group got ahold of a planetkiller warhead somehow, a fringe psionic organization is sacrificing babies to summon Cthulhu. Most of the galaxy is practically a post-scarcity society at this point. Food, shelter, and entertainment become trivial to provide when you start harvesting suns for energy. I just wish I could enjoy it.”
Celestia hummed in agreement, not quite sure how to respond to such apparently “common” issues, before an idea popped into her head.
“You’ve kept Luna company during Night Court, would you care to join me in the Day? An outside perspective could make my day a bit more exciting. And I think you’ll find my court decidedly less… depressing than your own.”
“Well, it’s not like I’m exactly doing anything. I accept your invitation, Cel.”
“I have a new nickname?”
“If you’re going to call me just Lux, it feels strange to constantly call you Celestia. Too formal.”
“In that case, just call me Tia, like my sister.”
“As you say then, Tia. Though if you call me Sobrino, I will kill you,” I joked. Seeing her confusion, I clarified, “A linguistic joke. Probably got lost in translation somewhere.”
She did laugh at my wordplay for that one.
“Quite literally, it would seem. Now then, court waits for nobody!” Celestia declared, before getting up and cheerfully trotting towards the door.
“I despise morning people,” I muttered as I plodded along behind her. Still practically in pajamas, I quickly realized. A snap of my fingers fixed the clothing issue, though I had quite the head of bed hair to fix on the trek to the throne room. I managed though, having done it so many times I didn’t really require a mirror. Really the only difficult part was dealing with my compatriot’s humming. Even if it was admittedly a pretty catchy tune.
We arrived just as the sun finished cresting over the horizon, and Celestia took her place on the throne. There was a distinct lack of seating for me, and while Luna usually didn’t mind me laying across the steps or stealing her sister’s chair for awhile, I figured Celestia may take offense to that. So I took the most logical course of action.
I summoned a lawn chair from my pocket dimension, to Celestia’s left, and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.
“Lux, my friend, what in the hay are you doing?” she asked, fixing me with a look that simultaneously suggested confusion, amusement, and indignation.
“Basking in the sun’s rays,” I replied as I leaned back. At first I thought she didn’t realize exactly which “sun” I was referring to, and smiled in victory as I closed my eyes. That is, until the room got at least fifteen degrees warmer. Before I could be turned into a long pig roast though, the throne room doors began to open. With another snap I was seated properly in a comfortable wooden folding chair, hands respectfully in my lap. I glanced to Celestia, and whatever murder was likely in her magenta eyes prior, was replaced with a serene gaze. I put on my usual air of indifference I wore during court.
“Bring forth the first supplicant! ,” Celestia decreed in the full Canterlot Voice. My eardrums immediately ruptured, and her quickly hidden smirk of triumph confirmed she had enacted her revenge for my prior remark. My nanites quickly repaired my ears and cleaned up the blood before the first pony reached the dais.
She was a brown earth pony with a carrot cutie mark and she gave a deep bow to Celestia, though her green eyes did flit over to me once.
“Rise, my little pony. State your name and request.”
“Carrot Top, your highness. I have come forth with a dispute regarding the property line between me and a competitor’s fields,” the mare replied, and I internally chuckled at the name, given her carrot orange mane. Ponies seemed to have a thing for puns.
Regardless, I soon tuned out as Celestia began to arbitrate over… whatever issue this was. You’d think this would be more suited to the local village authority rather than a princess, but apparently her local government had lost the documents for those pieces of property. Actually, apparently most properties in the city as town hall had burned down some years ago. Why nobody thought to bring this up earlier was beyond me, but Celestia seemed content to fetch the Royal Library’s copy of the map for that particular village, and so the pony left with a guard to go and get her answers.
Really, most issues appeared to be similar, and have equally simple resolutions. That is, for the first hour. Soon things took a turn for the more serious, with nobility coming forth to request additional funds for various projects. It was at this point a pony known as Raven came forth, presenting budget calculations and various financial concerns in order to allow for informed decision making. A lot like my shackled AI, actually.
But from this I found many interesting pieces of information. Primarily, that while some landed gentry still existed, Equestria was closer to the Victorian era in terms of administration. Private ownership was the norm, with governors administering large swathes of territory semi-autonomously. They also had a somewhat limited understanding of electricity, having the capability to convert psionic energy to it. Oddly, they never seemed to have discovered the more mundane methods of producing it, nor can they turn it back into pure psionic energy. More things I was certain Imperial Sociologists would find incredibly intriguing.
Before I knew it, lunch had come around. Court was temporarily adjourned and I got up from my chair, legs creaking after sitting still for a few hours straight. I heard a few vertebrae pop from Celestia as well.
“Significantly less taxing, you were right Celestia. This reminds me of the earliest days of the Imperium, right after the Wars of Eternity. Never before had anybody attempted to unify so many disparate peoples and nations under one banner, and the birthing pains were troublesome. But, simultaneously, they were mostly just points of confusion between people, and organizing resource distribution. The Wars left everyone so tired they could hardly bother to be at each other’s throats, instead trying to rebuild. Probably the most unified we ever were,” I commented as we walked towards the gardens. Apparently she felt like a picnic, not that I was complaining in the lovely fall weather. Besides, the last time I had been on one was centuries ago, with my parents when they yet lived.
“I never thought I would hear somebody say my job was relatively easy,” she replied with a playful smile.
“I’m probably one of the few people who could justifiably say those words. Although, I also don’t have to personally throw around a celestial body. Perhaps we’re about even then.”
She nodded in agreement before summoning a blanket and food from the kitchens. She also teleported in a tea set. I took a seat next to her, grabbing the plate with a ham sandwich on it. She also grabbed a daffodil and sunflower sandwich, even as she used a fire spell to boil the kettle.
“I ought to do this more often at home. Though honestly there’s a huge difference between the crisp air of here and the staleness of home,” I said in between bites of food.
“My sister and I have always tried to keep the capital somewhat free of pollution. I couldn’t imagine living in a city like Manehattan.”
“Terra has more parks and trees than most ecumenopoli, but we still artificially recycle most of the air.”
“Why not live elsewhere, in that case?”
“Truth be told, I typically reside on Eternity for the Imperial Senate proceedings. Those last about four years, and then we go into a two year recess. As for why I spend my two years on Earth, I guess because it’s home. Even if she’s unrecognizable from when I was a child.”
Celestia looked out over Canterlot, at the thousands of ponies below and the vibrant buildings of the capital, before replying, “I understand. The Equestria of today is far from the Equestria my sister and I ruled all those years ago. But even so, I could never imagine leaving for long.”
“Indeed,” I stated simply, content to eat and look off towards the horizon. Truly Canterlot proper was a beautiful city, and I knew beauty when I saw it. That reminded me, however…
“I would much like to see the city. As wonderful as your hospitality has been, I would love an opportunity to stretch my legs some,” I asked, gulping down the last of my tea.
“That can be arranged. I’m certain my niece and Captain Armor would be willing to give a tour. I would offer my company, but I am busy. And I doubt you want to walk the empty streets during Luna’s usual hours.”
“No thank you. Though I must say, it is curious that your ponies go to bed so early even with the invention of the lightbulb. We humans tend to stay up a bit later in the modern day.”
“Truth be told, it’s really just Canterlot and our smaller towns that are like this. Manehattan and Las Pegasus are hubs of near constant night activity.”
I furrowed my brow at those names, and asked another burning question, “Celestia, why on earth do you ponies make every single town name a pun? Even your actual names I’ve noticed are wordplay.”
She put a hoof to her chin in thought. After a moment, she replied, “I believe it originates from when my sister and I went through our wordplay phase. We would hire ponies from across the land to demonstrate their best puns. At some point, the nobility began naming towns in such a manner so as to please us, and the rest is history.”
“Curious how cultural traditions such as that are simultaneously incredibly easy, yet impossibly difficult to start. The unintentional ones abound, but the traditions you want to stick? They die off the second you aren’t looking.”
“It is quite interesting, isn’t it? The Summer Sun Celebration to commemorate my sister’s banishment was never my choice to create, in fact, I made my displeasure at its very existence clear. And yet it was one of the few holidays outside of Hearth’s Warming to persist all these years.”
“I have a few holidays like that at home. Particularly the ones commemorating me,” I said, before pivoting back to our prior conversation, “Unwanted holidays aside, I am quite excited to meet… your niece Cadance and Captain Shining Armor you said, right? I wasn’t aware Luna had any children.”
Celestia nearly choked on her last sip of tea, gasping for breath before correcting, “Adoptive niece. All the royal blood is adopted outside of Luna and I.”
“I see,” I replied, amused at her response. As she gathered herself, I closed my eyes and laid back onto the blanket, letting out a long exhale. I remained as such for a long while, before finally Celestia stood up.
“Well, I must return to work. You can join me if you wish, or go about your day. Either way, I’ll see you this evening,” she said, before slowly walking off after I silently waved goodbye. The clank of armor signaled her guards followed as well, leaving me alone. I continued to rest on that blanket for some indeterminate period of time
It felt strange to actually be able to focus on a day. They tended to feel like the minutes used to for a younger me, but I supposed they were eventful days. Not merely ones where I was a cog, an important cog yes, but a cog nonetheless within the vast Imperial bureaucratic machine.
And thus I came to the realization that some part of me, the one that instead of craving glory and power just wanted to live quietly, wondered if I would truly be displeased if no Imperial ships chose to come after me. I frowned at the thought. No death in a fiery revolt, no retirement to live on some resort world for a millennium, just me on a primitive world living with two, scratch that, three fairy tale princesses. Hell, I could even start a family. The nanomachines were more than capable of the genetic modification necessary to make biological children happen. I even-
No. I could not continue down this line of thought any further. I stood up, looking to the sky. No, the trillions who gave their lives in service to me would not let me. Could not ever let me. The very stars would have to die to remove me from where I stood. The defenders of Luna in its last moments, the countless soldiers who died in the battle for Eternity, the untold trillions who were rendered into food for the Abyssals, and Mom and Dad who despised the unfeeling behemoth of the empire I created kept me bound to my throne just as surely as neutronium chains. To say nothing of that which I tried to forget. My empire was built on conquest, even if it was maintained through more peaceful means now.
And I hated all of it, more than words could ever describe. I loathed whatever creature Lux Aeternus was, the hollow husk of a man driven by the wishes of the dead and the inertia of previous greatness and glory. A beast who has transcended death, who barely reacted beyond mild curiosity when someone tried to poison him and nearly killed his friend. I desperately struggled to contain my thoughts and emotions, to don my carefully constructed mask once more. I hadn’t even noticed that I had started to cry, perhaps more in hysteria than true sadness, or that I had sat back down on my knees. How weak was I, that a mere handful of days outside my usual routine would drive me to this? My memories, so much senseless slaughter and cruelty in my name, flashed rapidly in my mind. I could hardly breathe, the cries of the dead condemned me for daring to draw in oxygen, their voices drowning out all cohesive thought. I barely reacted to the feeling of a wing enshrouding me.
——— Discord ———
Truth be told, emotional manipulation this… detailed was not my strong suit. Luckily, it appeared my unaware foe had several underlying issues that simply required a slight nudge to set in motion. Much like those pesky new element bearers, really. If my physical form could steeple its fingers and cackle like the cartoon villain I was without exposing me, it would. Everything was in motion, a near perfect storm of delectable chaos poised to strike soon.
I despised having to be so… rational in my planning. There’s no fun in making sense. But, I needed to be alive to have fun. And so, for now, I had to act with some rationality. Within lack of reason, of course. And so, my task complete for now, I pulled my spiritual form back to the statue, Celestia likely not having noticed in her busy day.
Of Empires and Princessdoms
Chapter 9 - The Princess of Love
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