The nocturnal court was quiet, as it oft was. Luna lamented again that of all the cloaks that adorned her presence it was the menace of nightmare that shone most brightly. This time felt so wasted, a feeling Luna resented like few others. But to ignore her own court to study? To administrate? Whom would respect a court illregarded by its own sustainer? Whom would listen to a Diarch so lesser as to have no Courtiers? No Retinue? No Patrons?
The smothering silence of her Sister's grand marble hall answered her.
Yes. Better to let fortune come than to chase it as she had before.
But yet on the edge of her hearing came the rhythmic clacking of hooves. Luna's ears twitched. Neither was it the dull clap of steel guard shoes nor the muted patter of wood-soled servant clogs. These were the elegant tinks of glass. The growing closeness of Nobility.
Luna locked and buried her excitement. Worse to seem an eager dog than to remain a pariah.
"Presenting the Lady Aurum Sprig! of the House of the Golden Bough!" Despite the guard's thick Romarian accent Luna understood the proclamation well. Perhaps if– "And with her a gift for the most esteemed Princess Luna! For services rendered!"
What? When? Luna had not even heard of the family since before her banishment! But Luna hid her surprise deftly.
To her throne strode a beautiful mare, in all those ways Nobility oft are. Yellow-cream coat and mane the dark brown of a lively oak. Though her dress, the design was ancient. Old enough to be more familiar to Luna than modern fashions.
At the foot of the steps before her throne the mare stopped and bowed deeply and waited in silence. Ah, decorum, very old decorum. 'As we swear our fealty unto thee forever and again, know our lands and subjects be bound to thy majesties as obsequiously.' the vow would go, renewed and vigorous. There was a melancholic joy erupting in Luna. Better times.
"Thou mayest speak, House of the Golden Bough. The Diarchs of the Twin Skies admit intrigue at thy most welcome intrusion." How difficult it was to tamp her happiness made Luna truly realize how deep that nostalgia reached.
"Aurum Sprig, scion and last of her name wishes to thank thee and thine tirelessness of pursuit in thy divine duties." She spoke well, though the refinement of the old tongue held the halting of recent study—not quite the verbose dance it was meant to be.
"Our duties and subjects are numerous as our stars. Prithee, name the service done unto thee that thy gift may be judged equal worth."
This Lady Aurum remained bowed, "Verily. Of thine many shadows this Noble subject adulates thine most compassionate. Diarch Luna, Keeper of Dreams. Thou, in thy kindness, delivered me from nightmares most horrible and endless. Freed me from subconscial flagellation."
She meant those words, truly and deeply. Of that Luna held little doubt. If only she had remembered this mare that had been hurting so. But addressing one-thousand years of inattention meant every dream blurred until her memory of it all had been as though scattered light through misshapen stained glass.
"Raise thine head, Lady Aurum. That the heart in thine eyes mayest say what words cannot."
Blue and green met, souls touched, some may say. In them Luna beheld that twinkle as beautiful as her stars. That which her Sister could not give and that which she had been denied by too many subjects old and young.
Admiration
Wonder
Respect
And most sweet of all! Appreciation.
Despite their drapery of archaic decorum Luna feared very seriously that she may start crying...
It was all she had wanted. Just one pony, anypony to notice her. All that she did. The depth of her emotions showed in but a slight tremble of her lips.
"Thou shalt join us in the gardens. Thy gift will be most beautiful showered in Our moonlight amidst a choir of stars." T'would be better for her self-control to falter to but one pony.
The gardens truly were majestic at night. Subtle colors ensconced in a near mute chorus that only just tickled the ear. To focus on it bought Luna a little more time for the height of her emotions to further wane.
Lady Aurum obediently followed behind, from her conduct Luna judged that dawn could come before the mare would dare speak out of turn. Not that Luna would allow herself such rudeness. Unlike her Sister she did not find amusement in flaunting decorum and wheedling at the propriety of high society.
They came to an edge of the gardens, an isolated alcove with a porthole that looked out away from Canterlot and far into the moonbathed farmland and hamlets and towns of distant Equestria. Though Luna supposed the window's useless position in a siege made it more of a fenestra... She should stall no longer, it was becoming unconscionably rude.
"Now, thou needn't twist thy tongue any longer. Though We are touched thy speech should not be dirtied by speaking in a tongue lent to thee by a book. Prithee, speak in the vernacular of thine home."
Aurum winced faintly, "I fear an empty home grants me few words to say, Princess."
"Oh? Perchance this be the root of thy nightmares?"
She shook her head, "Only insofar as a gem-cut lense atop a bulb is the root of the thousand scalding rays." Aurum lightly waved her hoof to cast such thoughts away, "But my troubles only humble my gift Princess, they are not truly relevant."
Curious. Luna tried to reassure her subject with a smile, "Rest assured the gift shalt be taken in the spirit it is given." Privately she made a note to investigate the demesne of Aurum's House. Nobility down on their luck could resort to nasty things to rectify such. Fortune willing it is all as simple as Royal advisory and treasury loans.
"A spirit of friendship may be all that my gift may offer Princess Luna."
Now Ms. Sprig was delaying. Luna wordlessly bade the noble mare to continue. She'd not receive any more verbiage with which to pirouette around the matter.
The Lady Aurum understood Luna's patience ending, the mare breathed deep, that faint edge of worry unmistakable.
"My Majesty, Princess Luna, Diarch of all that is subtle and healing and twinkling. I, Aurum Sprig of the House of the Golden Bough, do pledge all that is me and mine to thee as Courtier. Though my lands be meager they shall move to thy behest until not one stone stands atop another. Though I alone can answer your command I shall dance to the choir of thy stars until the last drop of blood dries upon my bones. This I swear to you, my one and only Lady and Liege." With this proclamation the young Lady Aurum Sprig knelt before the majesty of the night, and the night itself trembled and wept at such loyalty sworn.
Luna's night dimmed, it and its peerless Lady below overcome with a warmth seldom ever felt before. What could the night do if not gently raise the young Sprig's gaze from the floor? Once more to touch their souls together in their locked eyes.
"We accept thy loyalty, Aurum Sprig. Thou shalt join our lunar cosmos and be as one of our very own stars forevermore."
Breakfast was a private, quiet affair between the two sisters. After Luna's return it had quickly become the most consistent point of contact between them. They sat close together in their dining hall, almost side-by-side were it not for the paperwork both had brought with them.
Between her spread of waffles, hay-sausage, official correspondence, and Royal approval documents Celestia found herself curiously glancing at Luna's own paperwork with a carefully controlled cocktail of excitement and concern. Luna was getting involved! Did something come up last night? Would her sister need help? She'd tell her if she did. But would she? Would asking be taken as a lack of trust? Wasn't 'letting things be' part of what drove them apart?
"You don't usually take work to breakfast, Luna." Celestia probed, it was awkward, but safe.
"Until this day We've had no work with which to match thine own morning panoply." There was a distant pang of hurt in her sister's tone.
"I'm so-"
"It is fine, sister. Thour't not to blame for thy subjects' reasonable fears." Celestia used a waffle to smother her retort. Rebuking her sister's guilt wouldn't help anypony. "But in whole truth," Luna continued, studious eyes never once leaving the arrayed scrolls, "We are attempting to divine the recent histories of the Golden Bough. Sole House of our newest and herself sole Courtier."
Contrary to her frank tone the news could not have been more exciting! Celestia abandoned her breakfast and pulled Luna into a nuzzle, "What a wonderful thing to hear, Sister!" Luna may pout at the sudden distraction but a sister could spot her tiny smile from a mile away. "Give it a few months and ponies will be lining up around the castle to see you! We can even resume the Winter Moon Festivals this year!"
"We envy thine iridescent optimism, Sister." Luna huffed without bite. She returned the nuzzle before pushing away—engage to disengage, a sisterly tactic. "We wouldst thank thee as divine providence if thou mayest elucidate some things, however." She gestured to her array of archival scrolls about the table, "The Lady Aurum Sprig—our new Courtier, belongs to the House of the Golden Bough, last to hold their name. We are familiar with their noble writ and influence as of prior to our fall, however records of their deeds and genealogy seem to cease near entire after the tragic deaths of the main family six centuries ago."
Celestia's gaze meandered amid the vaulted ceiling above, "Golden Bough, property sales, tax reductions, alchemical imports, a fire, Winesprig Manor... Ah! I remember now!" Like hopping stones across a creek she navigated her memories with admirable alacrity. "They were a very private family I'm sure you recall."
"Indeed. The living gold trees of their namesake were a monopoly they guarded jealously."
"Yes, well, that paranoia meant that all of the family's records and knowledge were lost in that same fire that took the lives of the oldest son and his family."
Luna's face fell to a frown, "Didst thou know them well, Sister?" Her concern earned a distant forlorn smile from Celestia.
"Not really. I spent some time with the younger brother and his family as we mourned and picked up the pieces. They had been specialty winemakers until the tragedy—I still keep the last bottle that remains from them, in fact!" The nostalgia tickled a giggle out of her. Funny how such morose times could sparkle like gems in her memory. "They were good ponies. After helping them recover I believe I gave them a decade of tax exemption to sort out their lands and such."
"... And so from thenceforth?" Luna found it difficult to avoid the feeling of intruding amidst her sister's memories.
"I only heard in passing, I'm afraid. Where their ancestors had been secretive they have since been secluded. Over time I'd approve sales of parts of their domain and occasionally hear of mass alchemical shipments to their manor but little beyond that." Celestia frowned in thought and returned to her own meal beside Luna. "The family may still be trying to replicate their House's founding accomplishment—or just Ms. Sprig as it is."
The new context unfortunately did not provide much about Luna's newest Courtier. Ponies were influenced by their past, yes, but they were more greatly formed by their parents, defined by their lived experiences. Both of which she knew naught about.
"Why did she approach you?"
"Hm?"
"Why did Ms. Sprig offer her loyalty? Did she say?"
Luna studied her sister's suddenness. Just curiosity as far as could be told, "In my duty as Dream Keeper she purported We saved her from nightmares most foul and unyielding. Though to our great shame We remember it not, lost as it must be amidst the myriad thousands that had needed attention—post our torpor." Though they be now-eternal the very mortal limits of their minds were always lamentable whensoever as they became evident.
"You don't remember helping her, Luna?" Celestia's skepticism was apparent. Of the two Luna was the more methodical, at times unconfident but doubtlessly the smarter as Celestia could happily admit.
"We were too busy, in Our mind it is all blended as dyes roiling in ocean current."
"Hm..." The look in her sister's eyes unsettled Luna. It made her feel out of the loop—missing a puzzle-piece—as it were.
"Sister?"
"Nothing... It's just this Aurum has no income I've heard of, her family sold so much of their land over centuries and they certainly didn't return to winemaking. Most Nobility don't even remember them let alone would be willing to gift or loan them anything. She is the last of her line and possibly staring down bankruptcy after her family's centuries of fruitless alchemical experimentation..."
"And our Court is as empty as fresh-tilled field, ripe and open for an enterprising Noble to stake majority claim and have Our ear as confidante." Luna's mouth twisted at such grotesque cynicism, it made for a cold and bitter draught. But she would not permit it to occlude her sight entire, "However 'desperate' does not equate to 'Conniver', Sister. Such mayest simply be the lash needed to inspire one to take a chance on somepony, in all genuineness."
"Please believe that I hope I'm just overthinking it, Luna." Celestia pleaded, again catching Luna in another, softer nuzzling that was more accepted than the last, "But we've both seen desperate ponies do terrible things. I'm just worried."
"We know, Sister." Her sister's warmth was much like the sun's own, affectionate and gentle, "But it is my Court and my Courtier. We shalt capably handle both. Put thy trust in Us, Sister."
"You have it always, Luna." Celestia affirmed with a nod, both sisters returning to their meals. Though Luna regarded hers with a curious blend of resignation and wariness. "I know a salad's not quite 'dinner' food, Luna. But the kitchens are still reorganizing to accommodate both of our schedules."
"It is not that, Sister." Luna denied, picking at her plain salad (the dressings on offer were all so over-sweet) as though it were an assortment of alien fungi. "Vegetables are simply so different from Our time. A bizarre tableau of gargantuan size and almost dessert-like sweetness. E'en the broccoli carries not the bitterness they should."
Celestia laughed, Luna's observation had never occurred to her before. "I'd never even thought about that! Our little ponies have learned a lot about agriculture in the last thousand years. And just about everything's a bit more flavorful than it used to be, now that I think about it."
"We had never thought We'd miss the scraps foraged along the roads during Our campaigns." The pout on Luna's face was hardly convincing.
"Oh shush." Celestia tutted with a playful grin, "Go bury your muzzle in the Gardens if you're that nostalgic."
"Ha! Mayhaps seeing his Princess prefer dirt as seasoning mayst inspire Our Chef to get off his fanny and prepare Us a proper dinner!"
"Ohhh, 'Hail Princess Luna! Architect of the Night! Keeper of Dreams! Eater of Dirt!" Both sisters were now giggling, "Can't wait to hear that proclaimed."
"Better than 'Hoarfer of Cakes'." The sly quip earned an offended gasp.
"How do you even know that word!?" That Luna blew a raspberry in response only incensed Celestia further.
"The dreams of Our subjects told many tales of thy..." Luna's eyes pointedly darted down to her sister's generous haunches. Celestia's face was almost glowing now, "Vices."
"Lulu." The silence was deafening.
Oh dear. Luna hastily began her retreat. A rainbow blur ensured she never made it far.
No pony had the courage to comment on either Princess's frazzled fur and bite marks that day.
