Yes, Your Highness

by Zaku Pony

Chapters

Chapter 2: Stuffy Tradition
Chapter 3: Night of the Fire
Chapter 4: The Second Phase
Chapter 1: We, the Lions

Chapter 2: Stuffy Tradition

Yes, Your Highness

Chapter 2: Stuffy Tradition

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” - Mark Twain.

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The Kingdom of Equestria was great.

The food was great, the weather was great, and its citizens were great. Everything in Equestria was greater than anywhere else in the whole wide world. Every single day the great sun rose, the great moon set, and Equestrians of all different species rose from their bedding to go about their business. Every day was a chance for something new. A chance to experience the joys of life, in a world where ponies are born and raised and die.

“Nrgh! Enough shinanegens! Release us, accursed festivus monstrosities!”

Hearth Warmings; a winter holiday celebrated just before the new year, by all the races of ponies across Equestria.

“Submit!” Luna demanded once more. “Or you shall not live to regret it!”

“Princess,” an amused voice called out from behind her, “be gentle with it! It has feelings too!”

“Be silent!” she snapped back, flaring her wings out and huffing in frustration. “Your sarcasm is not wanted! So help us, this...bucking... ARGH!”

The great hall that lead up to the royal throne had gone through its annual holiday-themed renovation, going from it plain decor to something much more seasonally inclined. Although Luna had returned from her thousand year vacation in time to celebrate Hearth Warmings last year, for some reason she had decided to try and take responsibility for coordinating everything in Canterlot this year. Not just the castle’s interior furnishings, but everything from the length of ribbons tied to every single magic street lamp, to exactly how much snowfall was being distributed by the local weather Pegasi.

Normally, seeing her highness cussing at inanimate objects was a good sign.

Sir Sunflower glanced at Pipsqueak, who was gulping down a large glass of milk after mowing through half a platter of pastries. After finishing his milk, without hesitation the young colt went back to his own business like paper through a magic shredder.

Ninety percent of the kingdom is going to bed right now. What is she thinking?

And so Sir Sunflower Dial, Luna’s permanent secretary and personal advisor, sat quietly watching the omnipotent entity responsible for raising the moon and arranging the stars being foiled by decorative foils.

He reached into suit jacket pocket for his silver pocket-watch to check the time. It was a little past midnight. As per the routine, Luna had risen from her chambers just before sundown to bid her older sister goodnight, and raise the moon into the sky.

So too, the castle servants began swapping out Celestia’s furnishings for Luna's in the great hall leading up to the diarchy throne. Like clockwork, the night staff of the castle were arriving or waking up to swap positions with their daytime counterparts. Maids and butlers, servants and laborers, cooks and gardeners, and even the Night Guard replacing the Day Guard at their posts. So too, a great line of civil servants were forming outside the massive doors of the throne room. All carried with them papers and documents in hoof, awaiting a royal signature.

But something was wrong. Even if he was an earth pony, he could sense it.

And it wasn’t because Luna was being intimidated by inanimate decorations.

He looked back over at her struggling and cursing like a sailor, and then to Pipsqueak who was (thankfully) oblivious to the scene only a few yards away from him. He tapped his foreleg on the table and his hind leg on the floor. What was wrong with the picture in front of him? There was something depressing about it, he decided. Yes, it was contrary to the spirit of Hearths Warming. What was the point of it all, to take on something centered around cooperation and unity, all by her lonesome?

No pony is going to believe this.

He silenced his own thoughts by taking another sip of his coffee. Dark and sweet, just how he liked it. On the inside, he worried that tonight would become another story that would never be allowed to leave the royal castle. He already had a small collection going, and he had no wish to see it increase.

I wonder if my autobiography will become a bestseller some day.

“We demand your cooperation!” Luna was becoming much more irritated and vocal. She continued to battle against the silvery tinsel, as a few strands of yellow and white lights joined the fray. Pipsqueak was still engorging himself on the countless holiday pastries on the table between them, but Sunflower (and unbeknownst to all, Celestia in hiding) watched with great amusement as the problem only got worse. What had been a small-time rebellion by the silver and gold decorate strands had now become a complete and total armed revolt to take down the princess of the night.

“Another cookie, Pip?” Sunflower pushed forward another plate on the table stacked high with baked treats.

“Would I?!” gasped the patchwork colored colt. Without another word he shoved aside the platter of assorted cakes, and began stuffing his mouth with the decorated shortbread cookies instead.

Sunflower looked down at the young colt with mild jealousy. What was the saying again? The benefits of youth are wasted on the youthful? The young colt had only begun his stay in the castle a few months ago, and so far he had managed to win over the hearts and minds of everypony he met. Something that he, a seasoned politician, would probably never manage to achieve. The lack of resistance to his presence by the nobility of Canterlot had surprised Luna and Sunflower, and they both had feared a greater conspiracy building in the shadows. But days had turned to weeks, weeks to months, and so their fears had been quelled by literally nothing happening.

But like so many other things, it didn’t matter at the moment. He had to focus on the task at hoof! He was a stallion of very limited action, but that didn’t mean he had the privilege of sitting handsomely while his princess was in distress. The number one thing to do, right then and now, was to ask the entity who arranged the stars what a mere Earth Pony could do to improve her mood.

...Right?

Sunflower stood up and out of his seat and walked over to where Luna had just finished her mortal combat. Although the tinsel had finally been defeated and wrapped to symmetrical perfection around the pine tree behind the throne, it had left her fur and mane scarred with countless bits of glittering foil. It gave her a strange shimmering aura in the moonlight that bled from the stained glass windows. In case she was still so focused on her work that she wasn’t aware of him, he let out a delicate cough to announce his presence behind her.

“Princess?” he said as plainly as possible.

"Yes?" came a threateningly tense answer.

“If you don’t mind me asking directly,” he dawdled deliberately, “is something the matter?”

“Is something the matter?” Luna repeated, in a tone that was neither friendly nor patient. Exasperated and frustrated was more like it, and a small voice inside of Sunflower’s head began begging him to just walk away and seat himself back at the table with Pipsqueak. It was the same voice that had warned him about terrible, terrible things in the past. (Like that one test conducted over the feasibility of magic-based explosion jumping, or water-balloons filled with magically-reproduced changeling silk.) But just like then, it was being ignored now. Whirling around in such a fury that her astral mane swung around too like a wind-blown cloud, she leaned her neck down slightly so that she could glared at him muzzle to muzzle. “Is something the matter!? Why would you ever think that!?” her lower jaw was clenched, and one eye twitched irritatedly. Sunflower felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Just an observation,” he mumbled out, waiting momentarily for Luna to turn back around and focus her aggravation on the pine tree rather than, say, magically throw him out a window. He trailed behind her at a distance, watching her inspect her work from all different angles.

“Is there anything your humble civil servant can do to help?”

“Neigh!” She only turned to look at him for a brief moment, still irate, before telekinetically opening multiple boxes of glass ornament bulbs of different colors. “You would only be a hindrance to our efforts,” she said bluntly, motioning for him to watch what she would do next. Then with some secret skill or talent beyond his comprehension, she threw the ornaments into the air and at Hearth Warming tree in such a way that they managed to land perfectly spaced and distributed around its entire circumference.

Sunflower stared astonishment while Luna, unphased, used her magic to pick up the next set of decorations without so much as a single word.

“Erm...I see,” Sunflower felt his own ego deflate.

He watched silent as Luna performed the same stunt with the new group of ornaments. Still without a hint of effort, she magically tore into their boxes and began to set up a third set of ornaments. Well so much for plan A, he thought to himself. Letting out a long sigh, just audible enough for her to hear, he steadied himself for the use of plan B.

“Forgive me, your highness.” Sunflower started off, “but I feel very useless sitting back and watching you work tonight. I just want to make sure that I am being useful as your permanent secretary.”

He had crossed a line that on normal nights no one dared tread past. He had used not one, but two forbidden magic words in his last sentence. And like she had been hit by magic, the tense and aggravated aura that Luna was emanating slowly and silently began to dissipate. She had been in the process of opening a sixth set of decorative ornaments, but slowly she set them back down into an uneven pile beside her. Letting her neck crane down in exhaustion, she turned her head around to look at him only out of the corner of one eye.

“Is our behavior so intolerable, that you would guilt us into submission?” she asked accusingly.

Sunflower nearly bit his own tongue. It surprised him at times how she caught on to his tricks, when comparatively the idea of indoor plumbing still fascinated her. Shame on him for underestimating her so.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he offered gingerly, already regretting his choice of action. “Immortal or not, exhausting yourself is not good for your health.” Luna turned away, still hanging her head down low to the ground.

“And what would you know of our health? You, who ceaselessly torments us year-round with secret agendas and hidden schemes.” Sunflower nearly bit his own tongue again.

“I do what I do for the betterment of all Equestria,” he firmly puffed out his chest and ignored the insult to his integrity, “and for you personally, your highness.”

At his last remark, Luna raised herself up and turned around to face him so that he could see the full glory of her doubt. She resisted the urge to rudely scoff too. It amazed her how often Sunflower could use works like betterment to defend doing something that was anything but. It was no coincidence or accident either. It was practically a skill Sunflower had mastered while in service to the seediest bureaus of the Equestrian government. Taught by some malevolent and evil department, dedicated to passing on the dark art of blindness to irony and doublespeak onto morally innocent youths.

If she ever found who was responsible for teaching her dear friend, it would be the creature in a very long time who would be launched into the sun.

“If we ask you a question, will you be honest with us?” She tried to stand over him with authority like her sister could, but found his height irritatingly equal to her own.

“When am I not honest with you?” he asked. Luna fought back the urge to scoff rudely, again.

“What I mean your highness,” he amended after a moment, “is that I don’t know if I can.” She cocked an eyebrow, wondering where he was going with this.

“Would you try if you could?” she offered.

“I would try if I could,” he admitted slowly after a few seconds, “but I don’t know if I can.”

“You can always try,” She continued in a matter-of-factly tone, “but will you tell us the truth?”

“I’m not sure,” he was now speaking in a hushed whisper, “that I know the truth.”

She tapped her slippered hoof to her chin, and thought carefully about how to phrase her next question.

“Then, pray tell, would you tell us if you knew?”

His answer was quick and unsubtle, “Only if ‘she’ said I could.”

Luna found herself blinking in surprise at the answer she had managed to wrangle out of him. There was only one (old) mare in the entire kingdom anypony would have to seek permission from in order to tell her something. The same (old) mare that had promised to never keep secrets from her. A double-dealing, cake snarfing, sun raising, prank loving (old) mare that breathed prestige and perfection. It didn’t take the wisdom she had gathered over hundreds of years to know exactly what he was alluding to. Feeling self-conscious, she leaned in and whispered her next question into his ear.

“And if she said that you could not?”

Sunflower lean in to whisper back.

“Then I would say that I don’t know.”

Like you are saying right now. Luna rolled her eyes, walking past him to take her seat at the table where Pipsqueak lay stuffed to his heart’s content. “Very well. We thank you for being truthful-”

“I try,” Sunflower smiled as he lied, following closely behind her as they walked back.

“-even if you are lying.” Luna finished, turning back around to give him a deadpan look. From behind her Sunflower gave her a pitiful face of shock and hurt.

“Why, I never lie, your highness! Not to you!”

“You lied to us just yesterday!” Luna shouted indignantly, pulling her chair out and seating herself grumpily. She lifted a warm cinnamon bun out from a pan on the table, and took a large bite out of it. “You fibbeth about the littlest of things! Do you take us for a fool!?” she accused, spitting out chunks of the dessert pastry as she spoke. Beside her, Pipsqueak burst into a fit of laughter in response to her gross lack of table-manners.

“Well, I only lie when I have to,” Sunflower said much more softly. “I know that much is true.”

Luna scowled, and continued to chew her sweet treat slowly. When Sunflower talked in circles it was one thing, but what she could not, and would not stand for was being lied to straight to her face. It was frustrating beyond belief! Was answering her simple questions honestly so hard!? Even though she loved and hated having to rely on her status as a monarch, she would not hesitate to use it against him if he became too insubordinate. He was her permanent secretary, after all...

“You are talking to me in circles now, Sunflower.”

“I was only a cadet in the academy for a year, princess.”

Luna stared at him in disbelief, and Sunflower poured himself another cup of coffee. “Clever,” she muttered after a moment. Wiping her muzzle clean, she pulled a plate aside and placed the uneaten remains of her dessert onto it. “Very well. Since you are clearly trying your hardest this night, we suppose it would not hurt to talk about what we are thinking.” she waited to see how he would react to her backhoofed insult, but Sunflower's face remained perfectly neutral.

“Thank you, your highness." he bowed to her respectfully, "It is hard for us mortals to understand the machinations of immortals. What can this humble civil servant do you for?”

Lifting a spoonful of sugar out from a bowl on the table, she gingerly dropped it into the tea she had poured for herself and stirred it in. She detected no venom in his words, or altercations of hidden dealings. But honestly, he was such a colt! (And not an innocent and well behaved colt like Pipsqueak.) To think that she would have to outfox him into being honest for anything to get done so early in the night.

Lifting the cup to her lips, she took a small sip of her tea before setting the cup back down on its saucer. It was then, that a devious idea hit her.

Perhaps, just this once, brutal honesty would be the best weapon.

Yes. A swift and brutal honesty without any warning. It went against all unspoken agreements they had with each other, but what could he do about it? Mulling her idea over one last time, she decided to try it. He would never see it coming, and there would be no escape.

“...Sunflower?”

“Yes, Princess?”

She paused for a dramatic flair, wanting to take in every second of his reaction.

“What do you think of our role, as a princess?”

Luna watched as Sunflower almost choked on his coffee mid-sip, his eyes bulging out of their sockets comically. Trying her hardest to not laugh at his misfortune, she only raised an eyebrow in amusement. Sometimes he was too easy to read, and for a moment she guilty for manipulating him so. Sensing her scrutinizing gaze like the glare of the moon’s rays, he reached for a napkin and quickly dabbed at his muzzle that was dripping messily.

“I’m not sure what you mean, your highness.” He coughed harshly into his napkin, and finished wiping his muzzle clean. “I believe you’ve done all that can be expected of you. For such a short time, that is.”

One of the most infamous red-flags a bureaucrat might encounter in their career had just been raised without warning, and Sunflower was secretly proud of himself for not outright spitting his coffee out all over the table between them. The red-flag of when an immortal entity asks a mortal entity about the impression they have of them. A moment ignorant romantics yearned for, arrogantly thinking that anything out of their mouths would actually be good enough to pacify an emotionally distraught Alicorn. It was somewhere above the tier of when either princess asked for an opinion on a serious political topic, but below the tier of when a princess would ask how she looked in her gala dress.

It was horrifying, and Sunflower silently thanked his training for helping him survive it.

“But how would you rate us?” Luna pressed, giving him a sweet smile. “Say, against our older sister?”

Sunflower found himself shaking in place, his nerves shot to Tartarus and back. Gingerly, he reached out to take something to eat to help calm his nerves, but found Luna pulling the plate of cookies away from him with her magic.

“You know I can’t answer that,” he mumbled, trying to take a deep breath to calm down.

“Try.” Luna winked at him playfully. “For us. For your princess.”

Sunflower felt sick, but he pushed past it. Sweat was forming on his brow, but he forced himself to speak. He opened his mouth, before stopping and closing it. Did she want the truth? No, no sane pony ever wanted the truth. Not to mention that the truth was usually something objective between the realms of perception that--

Luna watched as her vizier began to speak, before shutting his mouth with a fretful and panicked expression all over his face. He repeated this, over and over again for a minute, until he began to resemble a frog in a pond aiming for dinner.

“Sunflower,” Luna said, now a little concerned that she had pushed him too far, “you can just--”

“You’ve done alright!” he finally blurted, wanting to hide his face in shame.

She blinked in surprise and looked at him. “...What?”

“I said,” he swallowed, and pulled at the collar of his shirt, “that you’ve done alright.”

She continued to stare at him, expectantly.

“...And?”

Sunflower swallowed again, and shook his head.

“Just...that.”

Luna sat speechless. Was that all she had to her credit, after two whole years of nonstop work? Two years of safeguarding the financial, physical, and mental health of all Equestrians, and it was just alright? Endless promises and pledges to uphold, contribute to, and protect the integrity and shining image Equestria had with the other races of the world?

“Everything so far has been alright,” he shot her a fragile smile, taking note that she was not taking his answer well. “And being alright is...alright, right?”

Her night had only just begun, but suddenly everything becoming an unwanted case of deja vu. Everything happening was just like the previous night! An endless pile of problems just waiting outside of the throne room’s doors, followed by an endless effort on her part to try and solve said problems. Each night carried an endless amount of newer problems, and it didn’t help that some ponies didn’t seem to want solve Equestria’s problems in the first place! A thousand years ago, she never would have imagined that ruling over thousands upon thousands of ponies could be so tiresome. And stressful. And thankless. And unrewarding. And...

And... Why, now finally surrounded by responsibility, did she feel so alone?

“Please, your highness,” Sunflower implored, interrupting her thoughts. “Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t... I mean, how can you expect me to judge you as if you’re in some kind of competition?”

Luna turned away from him sulkily. It was just like him, to speak his mind before backtracking as far as possible! Why did she allow such a spineless stallion to feed off of her prestige in the first place? “Of course not!” She shot a glare his way that made the hair on the back of his mane stand on end again. “Why would you? It would be a waste of your time to judge somepony who is merely,” she narrowed her eyes and hissed that disgusting word. “alright!”

“Princess, please! I didn’t mean it like that!”

"If our reign is so..so...impotent! Perhaps we are not fit to hold the night court any longer!"

“Princess! Surely, you don’t mean that?” His eyes grew wide. “You’ve done so much since your return!” But Luna laid on the table still angry, and clearly unconvinced. “Oh, Princess,” Sunflower sighed. “Please, do cheer up. It wouldn’t be right to hold the night court with you in such a mood. Would it?”

But you would have us hold it anyway, Luna thought to herself. How miserable my night has become! If only we could put my duties off, just for one... No! Ten. Or maybe, thirty?

It was then, that a second devious idea hit her.

Sunflower watched, slightly disturbed, as Luna’s mood changed in front of him. Slowly she began to perk up, with a sneaky glint running rampant in her eyes and a wild grin across her face. “You are correct, my vizier!” she proclaimed, and thumped a slippered hoof onto the table with a loud thump. Inspired, she looked at one of the few unstained windows and admired the beauty of her night. “It would be wrong for us to host the night court in such a fashion!”

“Um, yes?” He was becoming acutely aware that she was leading him on. “Your...highness?”

“That is why,” she grinned his way, “we will not be hosting the night court tonight. Excellent idea, my vizier.”

If Sunflower had been drinking his coffee, he would have choked on it again. Again.

Luna sat serenely and nearly burst out laughing when her words finally registered with him. Sunflower did a double-take, with his first words being nothing but gibberish. “W-what!?” he finally shouted, his eyes flying wide and his jaw hanging slack. “Y-you can’t be serious! Princess!” he then thrust a hoof in the direction of the countless ponies waiting to be let into the throne room.

“You can’t just NOT hold the night court becau--”

“Because of what?” she teased. “You were the one who suggested it to us, after all.” She then winked at him, reducing him back to inconsistent babble.

“Wha-- No--! I-I most certainly did NOT!”

“Did so,” Luna insisted.

“I did not!” Sunflower protested, slamming his hoof down on the table.

“You did so,” Luna smirked deviously. Slowly but surely, a genius plan was unfolding in her mind. “And I will be sure to tell my sister that as well.”

Luna almost burst out loud into a unrestrained laughter as Sunflower now looked as if he were going to start foaming at the mouth. The solution to her problems had been right under her muzzle the entire time! What was responsibility to somepony who had no equal in authority? What was wrong with her taking an impromptu holiday every now and then? It was not as if she would be sent to the moon for it.

“Who are you to stop me? Tis’ OUR night, and we shall do what we please!”

“No! It’s-- Well, YES it is, but--! You can’t just--!” Sunflower still couldn’t think of nothing to say. His mind was racing, but it kept turning up the same question time and time again: how could he stop her?

What were her responsibilities as a princess?

Sage advice? No. There was no pony in the kingdom who would come all the way to Canterlot at midnight for council on the metaphysical meaning of life. And even if they did, Luna hadn’t earned the reputation of being as fair and wise as her older sister yet. Something he hoped would change in the future...

Legal enactments? No; as her vizier, he had the legal authority to make decisions and sign legally binding documents on her behalf. There had been plenty of nights where Luna had gone off to play with Pipsqueak, and he had offered to do both of their work for the night. Not to mention the small army of salaried civil servants the castle employed to handle all sorts of matters across the kingdom.

National disaster? Hopefully not. Anything short of the return of Discord the combined forces of the Day and Night Guard would be able to handle. It wasn’t as if a long lost empire under the magic of a corrupt king was about to emerge from a dimensional rift any time soon. Or something weird like that.

Dream guarding? She never went dream diving in public, especially while she was occupied with paperwork and more bureaucratic assignments. Luna always told him, very sternly, how the bond between herself and the ponies she watched over was something dear and personal to her. She would never do so while multitasking something else at the same time.

Symbolism? Of course not. What right did he have to choose what she wanted to be envisioned like?

What could he say to stop her?

“This isn’t right!” He worked his jaw over, trying to think of anything else. “You can’t just abandon the throne! It’s the principle! The principle, I say!” he insisted helplessly.

“Your efforts are noted, my beloved vizier,” Luna said patronizingly, enjoying ever second of her dominance over him. To rub it in further, she promptly lifted herself from her seat and walked past him, bopping him on the nose with her hoof as she passed. “But ultimately futile. We have made up our mind.”

She waited for another minute, watching his face contort with frustration in an absolutely adorable way. For once his face was showing exactly what was on his mind, in a vibrant display of chaotic emotion seldom seen by anypony. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he gave up and slouched back against the back of his chair.

“...Is there nothing I can say to deter you from this mad quest?”

She waved her hoof dismissively at him. “Do not be melodramatic, Sunflower. This is just... A temporary reprieve from our responsibilities as princess. Nothing more or less.” She nodded along with her explanation, and Sunflower raised his eyebrow in suspicion.

“When your sister said that, she came back with a personal apprentice.”

“Very droll of you, Sunflower. But we will not be persuaded otherwise.” Focusing her magic, she lifted Pipsqueak from his seat and placed him gently on her back. “Come young Pip! Let us go to wherever the night takes us!”

The young colts eyes glowed with anticipation. “Are we going on an adventure!?” he asked eagerly, and quickly wrapped his forelegs around Luna’s neck in preparation for flight. “Can we go fight pirates!? No! Even better, can we BECOME pirates!?”

“Mayhap!” Luna laughed at his enthusiasm, and spread her wings out fully. She flapped them roughly, spilling out a double handful of tinsel and glitter from her feathers. With her wings still extended for flying, she adjusted her tiara on her head one last time before looking over to Sunflower. As expected, he was still giving her a sore and sullen look.

“It is decided! Very well!” Luna rolled her eyes in resignation, bopping Sunflower on the nose again as she went past him. She had toyed with the idea of using her magic to tape his mouth closed from saying anything further, but decided to save that for another night. “Tis’ not our fault you can not be convinced,” she turned to look at Pipsqueak, who was grinning from ear-to-ear, “to have some fun for once.”

“Fun.” Sunflower said flatly. “You’re going to call it that?”

“Yes.” Luna replied simply, half-heartedly listening to Pipsqueak who was still rattling off suggestions as to what they should do together. “We are. Not that you would know what ‘fun’ even is.”

“I’ll have you know,” he pointed to the door holding back countless pony bureaucrats who were about to get the shock of their lives, “that holding the night court is fun for me!”

“...Do you expect us to believe that?”

“Yes!”

“Very well.” Luna craned her neck around, and asked Pipsqueak, “what do you think of our night court, young colt?”

Pipsqueak let go of her neck for a moment, sitting upright on her back and crossing his forelegs in thought. After an adorable minute continuing this, he gave a shrug of indifference. “I don’t know. It’s kind of boring, I think.”

Sunflower immediately shot the young colt a dirty look. Pipsqueak let out a small yelp in surprise and fear, and tried to hide behind Luna’s mane. Luna then shot Sunflower an even dirtier look for scaring Pip. The grown stallion let out a yelp of his own, and jumped behind the back of his chair. From behind it he stared broodingly over its top at them. The two lunar stallions guarding the entrance exchanged looks too, and the hoard of pony bureaucrats unseen all looked at each other in expectation for the night court to start that actually wasn’t.

“Enough of this!” Luna finally shouted, as she brushed past Sunflower and headed toward the massive double doors to exit the throne room. "We are leaving! The night court is cancelled until further notice!"

With Pipsqueak still on her back she glared at the two posted guards, as if daring them to try and stop her as well. Their eyes met hers momentarily, but soon their stoic gazes returned, and she walked past them triumphantly. Victory was in her grasp! Just beyond the massive doors held her freedom! Nothing could--

“Princess!”

She heard his one last call to her, but she dared not turn around to even acknowledge him.

“What shall I tell your sister, should she rise to investigate?”

She looked up at the last massive barricade to her freedom. The ornate design of the door were more impressive up close, and she wondered wistfully how long it must have taken the ponies responsible to make it. Something so simplistic as a pair of doors, but so critical in what symbolic role it played in the castle. And what an unexpected hinderance it was now.

“Tell her...that we will return when we choose to.”

With her magic, she flung the doors open with such force that it sent a gust of air blistering through every corridor of the royal castle.

“Yes, your highness,” Sunflower muttered, watching Luna and Pipsqueak go.

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

Chapter 3: Night of the Fire

Yes, Your Highness

Chapter 3: Night of the Fire

"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down." - Arnold H. Glasow

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

(Ponyville Library, Dusk.)

“No! NO! How could this happen!?”

There were fires everywhere in front of Twilight’s eyes. Everything was burning! Lights around her flashed in a brilliant red, and wailing sirens screamed at her about what she already knew. The black oily smoke from the fires stung her nostrils and brought tears to her eyes. She winced away from the picture, unwilling to look at what was happening in front of her.

It was a disaster.

She had tried her best to fix it. Control the damage, and try to avoid taking more. Repair something here, and put out another fire there. But in the end it had all be for naught. Without warning the flash of another explosion blinded her eyes, rocked her senses, and rung painfully in her ears. Now her engines had been destroyed. The fires were still spreading, and soon they could consume everything. And they were the least of her problems!

Her trusted companions were already dead; the first fires consuming them as they had tried to put them out. It had all spiraled downward after that, and in revulsion to her failure she searched her mind to think of anything she could have done differently.

Were there any options left? What could she have done differently!? No, what SHOULD she have done differently!

A second explosion interrupted her thoughts, and the panel in front of her showed that the oxygen generator had been destroyed. Now there was nothing left, nor anyone alive to try and fix it.

Perhaps, she lamented, it had been doomed from the start.

She had been completely and utterly outwitted. She gave an involuntary shutter from remembering the fear and horror she had felt from being ensnared in a lethal trap. Only realizing too late, how futile her resistance had been. So too, the gravity of her loss was beginning to weigh on her heart. How could she have known, she lamented again. She had tried everything could think of. Tricks and tactics. Strategies and cunning plans. Diversions and ruses. It had all been for nothing, and she could feel her heart and mind sinking along with the horrific scene in front of her.

“Guess what? It’s closing time Twilight,” a voice in her ears mocked. There was no compassion or mercy in his voice, and she even sensed a little glee from enjoying her suffering.

“Any last words before I finish you off?”

In memory of the fallen, Twilight stiffened her voice. She planted her hoofs down firmly too, and forced herself to sit upright. Even if the her world was ending, she would not give in! The prized personal student of Celestia would not give up!

“Do your worst,” she spat. “You may think you’ve won, but--”

“Okay!” Spike interrupted happily.

Twilight spluttered incomprehensibly, and watched two magic missiles from her little dragon brother’s ship streak with a magnificent glare across her screen and slam into the hull of her spaceship. With a wrenching groan, the flaming battered wreck that was her pride and joy only minutes ago finally exploded. The H.M.S. Celestia had been annihilated, by the untouched S.S. Rarity. Slowly the jagged wreckage drifted apart in space, and the choking smoke that had once filled every compartment spewed outward with tremendous force. As if it were taunting her, the S.S. Rarity pushed through the flaming smoke and debris unimpeded, with its pure-white paint unmarred, showing no signs of the brutal battle it had just waged.

It was over, and they game they were playing repeated that fact to her in bright red lettering.

Hours of careful planning, resourceful tactics, and elaborate strategies had been for nothing! NOTHING! Spike had gone with a (stupid) self-described plan of “shoot-more-dakka.” Whatever that meant. Twilight didn’t even know! How could her little brother, who couldn’t remember what jewels in his collection he had eaten earlier in the day, completely outwit her in a strategy game!? How!?

But facts were facts: she had lost, and Spike had won.

“Buck,” Twilight grumbled.

Rainbow Dash had been right, this stupid game was rigged.

Glaring one last time at both monsters responsible for burning three hours of her life, she telekinetically yanked the game cartridge out from its slot in the base of the crystal ball she had borrowed from Pinkie Pie. The crystal ball had been placed on the central library table, in lieu of the handsome stallion bust normally seated there. Searching for a moment, Twilight pressed a small button on the crystal ball’s stand. Quicker than expected, the magically projected atmosphere of the room began to evaporate, and her world turned back into her beloved Ponyville library once more.

She sighed contently, being happy to have the familiar shelter of books over the blackness of space. It was not as if she didn’t love to gaze at the stars, or anything else in the universe for that matter. But there was something about being in a place where her mentor’s sun was no different from any other star, that made her uncomfortable.

Space was large. Too large, she decided. It was a place where anything could go wrong.

So terribly, terribly wro--

“Hey!” Spike yelled, still across the library where he had been playing. “Twilight! What’d you do that for!? I never got to save my victory!”

“Oh, Spike. We both know you won, so what does it matter?” Twilight said, trying to keep a straight face. “It’s just a game, afterall.”

“Just a game, huh?” Spike rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in protest. He hadn’t been hatched yesterday, that was for sure. “Yeah, I bet you’ll say that to everypony when they ask who won.”

“Oh, Spike.” Twilight rolled her eyes, and with a little magic pushed open the blinds covering the windows and let the sun flow in once more. To her surprise and annoyance, the sun was already being lowered into a position to be set just over the horizon of Ponyville. She really had burnt through an entire afternoon playing one game with Spike. Begrudgingly, she decided make a mental note about the time-stealing properties of the game (similar to books of magical theories about defying the laws of thermodynamics).

“Hey, Spike?” she turned around to look at him, and saw him stretching himself out before heading to the kitchen. “Does the sun seem brighter to you?”

“Brighter?” Spike shook his head, “Are you sure it’s not just because we’ve been in the dark for a few hours?”

“Hmm, maybe,” Twilight mumbled back, unconvinced. She squinted at how bright the sun seemed to be, even while setting. Maybe something was going on in Canterlot? It was a little known secret, but Celestia had once confided to her that the intensity of the sun could change depending on her mood. Was something amiss?

“We didn’t get any letters from the Princess while we were playing, did we?”

“Uh, why would you think that?” Spike called back from inside of their kitchen.

Twilight could hear the hesitation in her little brother’s voice. “Spike? Are you not telling me something?”

“Well, there might have been...one.”

“WHAT!?” Twilight felt her heart jump, “Spike! How could you!?”

“I didn’t want to stop playing,” he confessed, coming back around into the library wearing the apron he usually donned while cooking. Casually reaching into the front pocket of the apron, he pulled out a neatly folded letter in an envelop. Even from a distance, she could see the red wax of the royal-seal holding it closed.

“And besides, I was kicking your butt real good.”

“Oh, very funny,” she said, snatching the letter out of his claws with her magic. Spike gave an indifferent shrug, and went back into the kitchen to continue preparations for their dinner.

Resisting the urge to tear it open (incase another Equestria-ending crisis was just on the horizon), Twilight found herself staring at was hovering before her. What she held was much different than the usual scrolls she had become accustomed to sending and receiving, to and from her mentor.

It was a letter, sealed into a pristine white envelope.

It showed no signs of being crafted from wood pulp or any natural material, like the (slightly aged) scrolls she had stocked in the library. It immediately reminded her of the color of her mentor’s flawless coat and feathers, and she wondered for a minute if it had really come from the castle in Canterlot. But when she turned it around, the unmistakable red-wax royal-seal had been pressed onto its closing folds. Nopony would dare counterfeit or impersonate anything that bore the mark of Equestrian royalty.

...Right?

So without another thought on the subject, Twilight ripped it in two and extracted her prize.

“To my beloved student,” she began to read aloud.

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

To my Beloved Student, Twilight Sparkle,

I apologize for this sudden letter, but I have a delicate matter I would like you to oversee.

It has come to my attention that my baby sister (and possible company) will be paying you a visit later tonight. I am not sure what it is that she will be visiting for, or how long, but I ask that you please let her stay in the Ponyville Library until she wishes to return to Canterlot.

Please write back to me if she chooses to speak about what is on her mind. I am disappointed that my sister is unwilling to come to me to discuss her grievances, but I am sure what you and your friends have done to win over her trust during Nightmare Night last year was no simple feat.

Since there is only room for you and Spike in the library’s upper floor, I have made arrangements for basic furnishings to be delivered to the library’s basement. I am aware that you are currently using the basement for arcane experiments, but it is my hope that you will be able to find new (temporary) homes for them.

Should my sister find a reason to stay in Ponyville for a longer period of time, I will look into other options around Ponyville for her to stay.

Best of luck,

Princess Celestia.

P.S.: Please order something from the Cake family tomorrow that my sister would enjoy over tea. My treat, of course.

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

“Oh no,” Twilight shook her head in horror. She read over the letter a second time, and then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, but the future refused to change. She looked around at the library, and could see a million things she and Spike had put off doing for a later date. Window curtains and furniture covers in need of a washing, top shelf books collecting dust, and some cobwebs along the ceiling to name a few.

“No, no, no, no... This can’t be happening! She can’t come HERE! It’s not--”

“Knock knock! Package delivery!”

Twilight whipped her head around, and peered out her window again. At her front door she could see a gray-coated mailmare pegasus with a familiar cutie mark. Not wanting to keep her waiting, she took a deep breath to calm down and trotted over to the door to opened it.

“Ditzy?” she asked. Ditzy Doo nodded happily, holding out a clipboard for her.

“Magic package delivery!” Ditzy said, cheerfully. She then reached over to fish out a pencil from her mailbag, and held it up for Twilight to take with her magic. “I can’t believe that it’s from Princess Celestia herself! Do you get a lot of things from her often?”

“Oh! No no,” Twilight shook her head. It had never occurred to her, but now she wondered if the question lay in the air around Ponyville that the princesses were supplying her means of income to live in the library. It was true that Celestia had arranged for a stipends to be paid to her for maintaining the library, but it was hardly anything extravagant.

“I just get letters, really. Spikes sends them and receives them magically.”

“Oooh,” Ditzy nodded in understanding. “Well, she should try sending them through the postal service! I don’t lose that many letters. Anymore, anyway.”

“I’ll try to do it more often,” Twilight wrote her name down on the dotted line where it told her to sign. With her magic she handed it back to Ditzy, who promptly stuffed it back into her mailbag. “Thanks for the delivery, Ditzy.”

“Nooo, problem Twilight!” Ditzy smiled back happily, giving her a mock salute. She then turned her head in confusion. “Or do I need to call you Lady Sparkle now? Your older brother married Princess Cadance, right? Does that make you royalty too?”

“No!” Twilight quickly shook her head, giving Ditzy an awkward smile. It had taken her over a year to get everypony in Ponyville to just see her as the local librarian, and not some mare of nobility because of her apprenticeship to princess Celestia. After the royal wedding, there had been another wave of artificial respect from everypony in Ponyville now that she was legally Princess Cadance’s sister-in-law.

“No titles for me...I just want to be Ponyville’s librarian, and that’s it.”

“Ah, I get’cha,” Ditzy winked at her knowingly. “Can’t handle the fame, huh? Yeah, I don’t think I could handle it either if tens of thousands of ponies I don’t know suddenly wanted to worship me either.”

You don’t know the half of it, Twilight thought to herself. Looking around, she noticed that Ditzy was hovering in the air with only her mailbag at her side.

“Uh... Ditzy? Where is my package?”

“Package? Oh! It’s a magic delivery, Twilight! So--” she stopped, and blinked in confusion. Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering if Ditzy had just noticed that there had been no package for her to deliver with the invoice from the start. “There wasn’t anything at the post office, just this invoice to get you to sign.”

“It’s fine, Ditzy. The princess will probably send that stuff later tonight with her magic.” Twilight read over some of the fine-print on her receipt, as she went to close the door. “Thanks for the delivery, Ditzy!”

“No problem, Twilight! Have a good evening!”

Twilight let out a small sigh, and glanced over her invoice receipt one more time. What she had failed to notice, was the creeping shadow that was silently walking down the stairs from her bedroom. Without even a trace of noise, it slipped from one piece of furniture in the library to another until it was right behind the unwitting librarian.

"HEY TWILIGHT! What did you get?!”

“GAH!”

With the agility of a cat, Pinkie Pie watched her egghead friend jump into the air with such force that she almost plowed into the library’s second floor. Wrapping her limbs around one of the support beams, she looked around frantically for her unexpected intruder. Bellow her a perky pink earth pony grinned up at her with her characteristic smile, all while steadily bouncing in place.

“Pinkie Pie!?” Twilight gasped.“When-- How-- What are you doing here?!”

“I used your bedroom balcony door, silly.” Pinkie smiled, looking up at Twilight who was still clinging to a wooden beam in the ceiling. “You know, what do they call it?”

“...Breaking and entering?”

“Yeah! That one!” Pinkie beamed at Twilight even brighter, as she began snooping around all of the corners of the library. “So what did you get? It was a package from the princess, right? Do you have another thingy to study about friendship? Are we all going to go on a giant adventure? Do we have to go save a long-lost kingdom? And what’s Spike cooking for dinner?”

“No Pinkie, nothing like that.” Twilight used her magic to gently levitate her down to the floor of the library. Looking around, she picked up the receipt from her delivery and showed it to her. “Just some stuff to accommodate a special visitor later tonight.”

“A special visitor?” Pinkie turned her head in thought, and then gasped. “Princess Luna is coming to visit!?”

Twilight did a doubletake, staring in disbelief. “Pinkie, how did--”

“PINKIE! I told you not to go in before I got back!”

“GAH!”

For the second time, Pinkie watched the Element of Magic almost smash through the ceiling of her home. The second time was too much for pink pony, and she burst out laughing and fell over onto the floor. Next to her, Rainbow Dash landed swiftly and looked up at Twilight who was giving dirty glares to the both of them.

“You know, you should lay off the coffee Twi,” Rainbow snickered looking up at her. “You’re jumpier than Rarity’s cat.”

“I am NOT jumpy!” Twilight shouted, as she quickly used her magic to land herself softly on the library floor. “Why is everypony breaking into my home tonight!?”

“I am not breaking in; I’m returning the book I checked out,” Rainbow defended, standing up and putting her forelegs on her hips. Pulling out a book from the saddlebag she was wearing, she floated over to the returns shelf and slipped the book in.

“See? Returned on time. But Pinkie totally was, though.”

“Yep! I can break into everypony’s home in Ponyville! Like a ninja!”

Twilight groaned, and brought her hoof up to her forehead.

“Look, gals. There’s something really important I have to do tonight. So whatever it was that you wanted to do will--”

“Are you throwing a welcoming party?” Pinkie interrupted.

“Huh? Why would she do that?”

“Because Princess Luna is coming to visit!”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow looked at Pinkie disbelievingly before looking over at Twilight who nodded. “Really? Just like that? She’s just going to drop in during the middle of the night?”

“Well of course, Dashie!” Pinkie said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “When else would she visit?”

“I don’t mean that! Of course I know that she watches the night and all that jazz, but it sounds weird to just have a princess randomly visit right before Hearthwarming, right?”

“Look girls, I know it’s not exactly...normal,” Twilight admitted, finally having calmed down completely from being surprised thrice. “But I think that it’s really important that she doesn’t know that we know that she’s coming. So please, don’t go telling everyone in Ponyville about this!”

“But can go we tell Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy?” Pinkie pleaded. “Like...right now?”

“No! I mean-- Yes! But not...well,” Twilight shook her head. “No! Don’t tell anypony yet!”

Looking around the library, Pinkie waited a moment.

“...Can I tell them now?”

“NO! This is going to be a secret, and I want it to stay that way!”

“Aww, but that’s no fun.” Pinkie sighed, and scratched at the floor.

“Yeah, Twi.” Rainbow grinned Pinkie’s way, with a glint of mischief in her eyes. “That’s so boring. Princess Luna secretly visiting our little town? I think everyone in Ponyville should know about this. And maybe that fastest flyer in Equestria could tell them all before sundown.”

“Don’t. Even. Think. About it.” Twilight growled, and rolled her eyes as Pinkie and Rainbow both burst into a fit of giggles from getting a rise out of her. Groaning from her friend’s foalish antics, her attention returned to the despairing look at the state of the library around her. How many times had she stopped herself from being lazy, and not let herself put things off until tomorrow. For it to come back to bite her the one time--!

“What am I going to do... This place isn’t presentable for royalty!”

“Huh? Why not?” Pinkie looked around, and Rainbow started to mimic Twilight’s fretting body language.

“For one, all of the curtains and drapes need to be cleaned--”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that!” Pinkie said, quickly rushing over and putting a foreleg over Twilight’s shoulder. “You can use the spare clean set in the mayor’s storage closet.”

“The mayor? Mayor Mare?” Twilight said, confused. “Why would she have--? And how do YOU know that?”

“Remember Twilight,” Pinkie grinned as she struck a pose. “Ninja! And besides, I can just pick them up on the way back from Sugarcube Corner. You were gonna’ get something Luna would like to eat, right?”

“Then what about--”

“SPIKE!” Pinkie screamed, causing Twilight to cringe from standing right next to her.

Turning around the corner from the kitchen wearing a white connoisseur's cap and matching apron, Spike glanced out at everypony. “Yeah? What’s up?” he asked, expertly flipping the grilled field greens sandvich in small frypan in his claw.

“Permission to execute plan number forty-two!”

Spike casually looked at Pinkie Pie who was bouncing in place with baited breath, then his older sister who was (to put it lightly) very confused, and then to Rainbow Dash who gave him an calm and cooler nod that she was ready as well. He readjusted the chef’s hat on his head with the spatula in his other claw, before giving an approving smile.

“Okay. Initiate plan number forty-two.” He said, flipping the sandvich in the frypan one more time and walking back into the kitchen.

“Okie dokie lokie! Dashie! Get ready!” Pinkie trotted over to the library’s front door and opened it, ignoring Twilights questions of what was going on. Rainbow in return went over to the door leading to the library’s basement, and opened it.

“Wait! Stop! What is going on!?”

Rainbow whipped out her flying goggles and put them on, and Pinkie braced herself on the ground.

“Get set...!”

“I said stop! What is--WAUGH!”

Before Twilight could lodge another word of inquiry (probably to be followed by protest), Pinkie burst out the door and Rainbow dashed into the library’s basement with such force that the entire library shook. She returned in a whirling blur of colors just as fast a moment later, with two large linen cloths in both hooves and a small bucket filled with wood polish clenched in her mouth. Stopping only for enough of an instant shoot her friend a confident grin, she threw the contents of the bucket into the ceiling with a large splash. Twilight nearly screamed in horror, desperately trying to collect all of the books in the library into a giant pile she could shield with her magic so they wouldn’t get ruined. But the Wonderbolt worshiper was quicker than her friend’s magic, and the cyan pegasus took to the air in the library flying in circles to create a miniature whirlwind. Starting from the top and slowly descending down, she ran the cleaning cloths in both hooves over every surface of the library’s walls until she reached the floor. By the time she was finished, gravity had kicked in and the remaining wood polish landed on the floor with another splat. And again before Twilight could say anything, with super-pony agility Rainbow flew with her hooves across the floor around and under furniture leaving no spot untouched.

Stopping only for a second to admire her work, Rainbow flew back down to the basement and up again to deposit the dirty rags in a laundry basket, before landing silently next to Twilight who had just remembered to close her jaw.

“I’m back!” came a shout from the library’s front entrance, and Pinkie Pie burst in with several boxes on her back and a bag in her mouth. “Spike! What’s our time!?”

“Not bad, not bad at all.” Spike walked in from the kitchen, laying out four plates on the library’s center table. Unphased by everything that had happened, he walked back in the kitchen and returned with a pile of grilled sandviches.

“But I think Rainbow left some polish on the ceiling, so that’s going to be a penalty.”

“Aww, Dashie!” Pinkie whined, bouncing over to the table.

“Hey! I did Fluttershy’s part too!” Rainbow defended, taking to the air just to seat herself at one of the spots on the table. “I should get time off, not added on!”

“I’ll just have to inspect your work closer after dinner,” Spike walked back into the kitchen one last time, coming back out with a bowl of assorted gems. Pulling up a seat and sitting on it, he looked over at Twilight who hadn’t moved or said a word the entire time.

“Hey, you coming Twi? Dinner’s ready.”

Still stunned by everything that had just happened, Twilight glared at them with all the indignity she could muster.

“Did you three plan this?” she asked, her voice carrying a deathly calm.

Spike swallowed nervously. Pinkie and Rainbow looked away too, taking large bites out of their sandviches to excuse themselves for not saying a world. “Well, I wouldn’t say planned so much as--”

“HEY! Twilight! Ah think there’s--... Uh, excuse me? Am Ah interrupting somethin’ gals?”

“Applejack!” Pinkie cried, jumping out from her seat and rushing over to the orange earth pony. “You just missed it! We actually got to do plan forty-two!”

“What? Ah shoot,” AJ stomped her hoof down on the library floor as she entered. “Y’all told me that we’d only go with plan forty-two together! Ah bet Rainbow didn’t want to wait, did she?”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” Rainbow shouted from over at the table. “It was Pinkie’s idea!”

“Huh. Guess Ah should have known,” AJ said, before freezing from Twilight’s icy glare at her.

“Really, Applejack?” She continued to glare at her. “You too?”

“Ah-heh, um,” AJ tipped the brim of her stetson down as a shield, and shot her a fragile smile. “Now hold on now Sugar Cube. It’s not what it, uh, looks like. Ah promise you, Ah can explain!”

“Oh come on Twilight, chill out!” Rainbow laid back with a sandvich in her mouth, using her wings to let her over on her back. “Now you don’t have to worry your big egghead about tonight!”

“Tonight? Wait, is somethin’ important happenin’ tonight?”

“Oh, yeah! AJ doesn’t know yet! But... I think Twilight wants to keep it a boring secret.”

“A secret?” AJ turned to Twilight who was busy taking calming deep breathes. “Uh... Ah don’t mean to pry Twi, but is it somethin’ serious we ‘ought to know about or...?”

“Nah, nothing like that,” Rainbow reached out for another sandvich. “Kind of normal for our egghead, when you think about it.”

“Come on AJ, Twi! Come grab a sandvich while they’re still hot!”

“Woah now, everypony! Wait a darn’ minute!” AJ shouted, putting her hoof up for Pinkie to stop and shook her head. She glanced over at Twilight too, who seemed to be at a safe level of composure. “The offer is mighty generous of ya’, but Ah I didn't come for chit-chat! Ah have somethin’ important to tell y’all, and it’s the reason Ah came ‘ere in the first place!”

As quickly as she had entered, she ran back to the entrance of the library and pointed her hoof out toward something unseen by everyone else.

“Y’all see that? Ah think the Everfree forest is on fire!”

“WHAT?!” Everyone shouted together, as they all bolted from their positions to look outside.

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

Chapter 4: The Second Phase

Yes, Your Highness

Chapter 4: The Second Phase

“Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.” - Joseph Heller

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

Princess Celestia, the nominal ruler of Equestria, looked far younger than her actual age. Sitting in front of her vanity in her bedroom, she stared at her youthful reflection with a blank mind. For over a thousand years, real power had been split between the Canterlot assembly and herself, in part because of Celestia successfully reigning in supporters of independence between the three tribes. But then some of her more hardline supporters had accused her of being too idealistic with Equestria’s reality, and had gone to form a separate faction in the Canterlot Assembly to separate parliament and the throne. The movement hadn’t lasted long with the onset of violence between the Griffon Kingdom and the eastern dragon clans, but it had been a stern reminder of the delicate balance needed to sustain and promote harmony at the same time.

If only they were still alive today, Celestia thought to herself. What they would say, knowing that their rulers had not only tripled, but didn’t always agree.

Out of concern for her sister’s development, she had kept the Equestrian media away from Luna until she had felt confident enough to enter the public spotlight. Wether it would take years, or decades, she had decided to let her sister take as many baby-steps as need be on a long path to normalization. But after word of the events of Night Mare Night in Ponyville has spread, Luna had been catapulted into the limelight and formed into a national idol overnight. The tone (and volume) of her voice sometimes made her seem aloof, but she always choose her words carefully, and she always addressed her subjects with kindness.

No matter what the situation, she had become famous for her public speeches beginning with the sentence, “We thank you, our little ponies, for giving us the opportunity to address you.” And almost everypony in Equestria seemed to know, that despite being her past, she wasn’t going to let anypony take her for granted any longer.

Needless to say, Luna’s increasing public popularity combined with Twilight Sparkle’s advancements in friendship studies gave her an immense, almost foal-like pleasure. It was a slow but steady assurance that the problems of the past were now truly behind them. Although Celestia’s role in her own government had been reduced to that of a figurehead because of the steady peace across Equestria, she secretly hoped that Luna would take the role in controlling the loose ends that had popped up in recent years.

It was the vain hope of an overly doting sister, dashed with the news of her sister leaving the castle without explanation.

Running a brush methodically through her mane, she continued staring back at her reflection in her vanity mirror. Satisfied that she was presentable enough, she debated whether her crown and regalia were necessary too. As far as Luna knew she had retired to bed hours ago, and it was important not to contradict that belief.

“Princess?” It was one of her hoof-servants speaking through the doors to her bedchambers. “Please hurry, I don’t think your sister is going to wait.”

“Yes, yes,” Celestia said only to herself, taking careful note of the apprehension in the servant’s voice. Were the castle staff still so afraid of her baby sister, that they felt she should be supervised in everything she partook?

Clearing her own throat and checking her appearance once more, Celestia opened the double-doors of her bedchambers and strode out boldly. A small group of servants had been clustered on the opposite side, and they parted like waves around her and began following her as she left. Before they could hit her with the barrage of questions she could see in their eyes, she decided to strike first.

“My little ponies,” Celestia said, with a tolerance masterfully honed over centuries. “I am going to go see my sister now. Please save your questions until I can speak with her first.”

“Yes, your majesty,” came the automatic response, and with the same automatic precision the crowd around her dispersed in all different directions. All except for one.

“You’ve something to ask, my little pony?” Celestia asked, looking down at her with a gentle smile. She could see flour and food stains her uniform, and the servant pony fidgeted nervously from the sudden departure of everyone else.

“Yes, your majesty,” the servant pony bowed before her again, “I’ve been sent here on behalf of the royal kitchen. We wondering if her Highness will be staying for dinner?”

Signaling for her to follow, Celestia began walking down the long halls to Luna’s own bedroom. “I don’t believe so. I’m sorry to inconvenience the cooks, but please have them prepare four complete meals for travel. I believe they will be both leaving the castle shortly.”

“Four? Oh, yes your majesty,” the servant bowed again. “But if I may ask, do you know when they will be coming back?”

“That is what I am going to find out. So please, tell the kitchen that they should be ready with dinner in...about twenty minutes.”

“Of course, your majesty!” The servant gave one last unnecessary bow, and turned to run off with unneeded haste.

Watching her go, Celestia brow furrowed in thought. Their tone, their movement, their behavior; was it from fear or respect? The last two years of her sister's return had shattered the melancholy stride between princess and servants she had become accustomed to over the centuries. At first, ponies around the castle had regarded Luna with an undistinguishable mixture of emotions. (Irrational fear and terror not excluded.) But now she found herself wondering just what kind of image she had fostered for herself over the last few centuries. More than ever there seemed to be problems popping up all over Equestria, and the last thing she needed the ponies closet to her losing faith in their leaders.

Striding down the halls of the castle alone, she looked around at how different the world seemed at night. The great halls and corridors of the castle were not lit by the blinding rays of the run, but by the dim glow of lanterns hanging on fixtures. The tapestries on the wall bearing the symbol of the sun had been replaced with ones colored in blue with the moon. The white-coated gold armored hoof-soldiers of the day guard had been replaced by their parallels too, who blended in with the shadows as went about their patrol.

Canterlot castle was her home; the gathering place of everything dear to her. In her heart she knew that their kingdom was to be shared equally, but it felt strange to see her world divided in two.

Upon reaching her destination, Celestia saw the large double-doors of Luna's bedroom giving off the faint glow of magic. A combination of enchantments and runic carvings had been placed on them, and were glowing with life because of her close presence. Behind the doors she could her a scuffle of some kind ongoing, which she suspected was her baby sister packing her belongings in hopes of leaving before being confronted. With a little apprehension, she laid a hoof gently on the surface of one of the doors. The doors were locked, but no loud bells, whistles, sirens, or alarms rung in response to her touch, and she gently tapped her hoof against its surface.

“Lulu? I know you’re in there. Can we talk about this?” Celestia said, trying to sound suggestive. The ruckus in the room stopped, and she could hear the faint sound of somepony walking up to the other side.

“What’s the password?”

“Pipsqueak? Is my sister there? Can I come in?”

“Auntie Luna says you have to know the password!”

Celestia thought to herself for a second.

“Hmm... Is the password, moonpies?”

“Yeah! That’s right!” Pipsqueak cheered, and Celestia chuckled softly to herself. “You guessed it-- Huh? Oh...” Listening in, she could hear somepony saying something.

“Sorry aunt Celly, but there’s a new password now.”

Celestia thought to herself for another moment, before rolling her eyes and sighing.

“Is the new password, Princess Sunny-Butt?”

“Yeah! You got it right again! I bet-- Oh... Sorry, aunt Celly, but auntie Luna says,” the young colt trailed off, and Celestia could barely make out her sister instructing him on what to say again. “Um, she isn’t taking...visitors. So please put in a file for...an...audience.”

“Pipsqueak, are you listening?” Celestia said back, making sure she could be heard through the double-doors very well. She raised herself up and folded her wings into her sides in a pose she always struck when emphasizing a lesson. “Please tell my sister that it is rude to speak through other ponies when somepony is asking to speak with you directly. Thank you.”

Having said her piece, she went back to relaxing on her haunches and waited.

And waited.

Until finally the runes and enchantments layered on the doors surfaced dimmed, and Luna’s scowling face peered out from a small crack in her doors. She scanned the world outside of her doors, as if expecting some sort of ambush or attempt to break into her chambers with force now that her spells had been deactivated. Finding nothing out of the normal, she turned back to her elder sister and starred her coldly into her eyes.

“Tia.”

Celestia, always first to extend the olive branch, put on a loving smile.

“Lulu.”

Silence followed, with only the sound of Pipsqueak packing a small suitcase between them.

“May I come in?”

Luna continued to stare coldly with her ears pinned behind, as if to say that she feared some consequence of letting her guard down even in the slightest. But Celestia would not be deterred so easily, and she scooted herself closer to the small opening in the doors. Baby-steps, like she had told herself countless times in the past.

“Please, Lulu?”

At her sister's placidness, Luna squirmed. It was unnerving how calm her older sister could be, and how she could instill a sense of guilt in anypony for denying her. “Very well,” she stepped backwards and allowed the doors to her bedroom to swing inward. “Won’t you come in, sister?”

“Thank you,” Celestia accepted quickly, being sure to walk in swiftly and close the doors behind her.

“Ahem, Pipsqueak?” She called out to the young colt, knowing that her sister was coolly gazing at her. Without time to talk and learn, it was still unclear what she was thinking. “Would you be willing to do me a favor?”

“Yeah?” Pipsqueak asked, as he stopped packing his tiny saddlebags full of his toys.

“The kitchen should be making dinner for my sister and yourself. Would you go see for me if they have it ready?” She asked, already knowing that they were not. “And if they aren’t, could you wait until they are?”

“Okay,” Pipsqueak shrugged and turned to leave. But without warning, he stopped. “Heeey, wait a minute,” he backed up and trotted over to Celestia, and stared up at her suspiciously. “You’re not going to try and stop us from going on our adventure, are you?”

Celestia looked down at the colt before her, more than a little amused at his courage. She looked at Luna with a sideways glance, and saw small (but proud) smile on her features as well. How long had it been since anypony in the castle, servant, soldier, or bureaucrat had had the nerve (or naivety) to interrogate her about her intentions? Naturally, with her power came due respect, but there was something about the small patchwork colt’s behavior she found pleasing in an odd sense.

“Not at all, young Pipsqueak,” she laid her hoof down onto his head, noting that they were almost the same in size. “I promise I won’t stop you and my sister from going on an adventure.”

“Okay... But you better not,” he threatened adorably, proceeding to leave with his head held high as a prince. Opening the door to step out, he gave a big chipper smile at both of them. “I'm going to be a big hero of Equestria! I promise, auntie Luna!” he proclaimed, before blushing a little in embarrassment as his voice echoed through the halls of the castle. “Someday, you’ll see!”

Celestia smiled to herself watching him slowly disappear from sight before rounding a corner, and turned to see her sister still doing the same. “I see that he’s learned to live in the castle just fine.”

“Yes he has,” Luna said, the concerned eyes speaking for her. “To think we worried so many days away about Canterlot changing him for the worst. We are glad to see our fair city has not stolen his youth away.”

“As am I.” Celestia agreed, but she stopped and turned to her sister. “But let us save that for another time. The night is still young, and I feel we must talk.”

“Then, are you here to stop us?” Luna asked, cutting to the chase. As boldly as Pipsqueak had moments ago, she strode up to her sister, casting side odds and ends on the floor. “As we told our court, we will not be persuaded otherwise tonight.”

“Peace.” The elder sister’s gentle gaze dueled with her younger sister's defiant one. Leaning forward, Celestia tapped the tip of her horn against Luna's producing a gentle spark of magic. “I am not here to argue or make demands. I simply want to ask some questions, and receive some answers.”

“Very well, ask away,” Luna offered, with fake optimism. “But be warned, you might not like the answers you shall receive.”

“Then I will have to hazard such dangers.” Striding in past her sister, Celestia walked over to Luna's bed and pushed aside its covers. She unfurled her wings, giving them a good stretch before closing them again and settling down. The normally tidy and pristine bedroom of her younger sister looked as if a great whirlwind had blown in, throwing things neatly shelved and stored into disarray. Looking about the room, she spotted a pitcher of water on a nearby cabinet and proceeded to pour a glass with her magic. “Come,” she gestured to the bed, opening up a wing invitingly. “Join me?”

Luna turned her nose up at her sister’s offer. “We are no longer a filly, sister. Please do not expect us to respond as such.”

“I didn’t mean it in that way,” Celestia closed her wing and slid over further. She looked her sister with pleading eyes, and after a moment Luna let out a sigh of defeat and joined her. “You're being so...so...” she struggled to think of the word, and waved her hoof in the air. “Heated tonight. Tell me, what happened in my absence?” She lifted the glass over to her in an offering, but Luna shook her head in refusal.

“We are not happy with our role as a princess.” The words left a bitter taste in her mouth as she spoke. With her own magic, she lifted a glass from the table and pulled two large ice cubes from the pitcher of water to place into it. At the same time with rehearsed precision, her magic fished for a blackened glass bottle hidden behind rows of other bottles in the lower cabinet. “We feel as if our effort so far have been for naught, and we fear it shall be this way...forever.”

“Nonsense, Lulu.” Apprehensively, she went to stretch her drape her wing over her sister, but a sharp look from Luna caused her to retract it again. “Just because our world hasn’t been saved by us recently doesn’t mean we’ve done nothing.”

“We are sick of paperwork, all night long.”

“Who isn’t?” Celestia took a sip of her water.

“We are tired of giving advice that’s not taken.”

“Who isn’t?” Celestia asked again, looking out a window at the bright night sky.

Luna looked at her sister flatly. “Do not patronize us, Tia.”

“Who isn--” Catching herself too late, Celestia dropped her glass and slapped her hoof over her mouth, before looking back at her sister in embarrassment. Luna threw her a silent glare, not amused in the slightest. Celestia then took a moment to clear her throat and pick up her glass from the floor, thankful it hadn’t broken. “I apologize, Luna. That was inappropriate of me. Now,” she quickly started, in hopes of shifting away from her gaff. “Now, I promised that I would not stop you from leaving. But I must know, do you have any plans as to where you will be going? Or for how long you will be away?”

“We will go where the wind takes us. We seek to explore more of our kingdom, to see things on a first-hoof experience.” Luna poured a tiny amount of liquid from the black glass bottle into her glass, before downing it in a single shot. She then got up from her bed, and trotted over to the towering bookshelves in her room. “We must have at least one map or atlas here somewhere...”

Celestia nodded, taking both of their glasses with her magic and placing them back on the cabinet top. “Very well, then. But, would you be willing to do me a favor in my stead?” she asked. Still picking over books on her shelves, Luna said nothing. She only raised an eyebrow in curiosity to show that she wished to hear what Celestia continue. “I received a report in the evening about a fire in the Everfree Forest, on the outskirts of Rambling Rock Ridge. Would you care to go to Ponyville in my stead, and see if everything is alright?”

Luna lifted the encyclopedia on her nightstand, before placing it back down. “We read that report as well. The weather team from Ponyville put out the fires before nightfall, did they not?

“Yes, but you and I both know how dangerous the inhabitants of that forest can be. I do not want anything heading in toward Ponyville because of the damage from the fire.”

Luna continued her preparations, neither agreeing nor’ disagreeing. Finally finding a map of suitable quality, she folded it up and stuffed it into her saddlebags. Double checking to see that everything was in place, she gave one last look at her sister (still laying on her bed) before heading for her doors.

“This isn’t a ploy to try and get Twilight Sparkle to make me reconsider and return to Canterlot, is it?”

Celestia said nothing at first, as she got up from the bed and began to fold the bedspread back over it. Once she had finished, she started picking up and returning other things to their proper place with her magic. “I would never use her as a tool in our business.” Celestia said darkly as she worked, in a tone that would not broker with a response. “I am worried about our subjects, given the dangers in our own borders in these times.”

“Very well,” Luna said in passing, brushing past her sister’s stern tone and opening her bedroom doors to leave. “We shall assure your fears by visiting Ponyville first, before our night is over. Rest assured, sister.”

Again for the second time, with her magic she flung open her doors with such force that it sent a gust of air blistering through every corridor of the royal castle. Magically grabbing her saddlebags and placing them comfortably over her back, she flapped her wings to feel their weight on her lithe body. It had taken longer than she had wanted (with so many unnecessary interruptions), but the time was finally here. All she had to go was pick up Pipsqueak at the royal kitchen, and find a suitable location to fly freely into her night.

“...Luna.”

She heard Tia’s call for her, but for the second time in the same night she dared not turn around to acknowledge the speaker.

“You’re being far too hard on yourself. They already accept and love you, I promise.”

Trotting out in silence with her saddlebags on her side and head held high, Celestia watched her sister leave to fly off into the night.

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

(The mountain fortress of Canterlot, just before Luna and Pipsqueak’s departure)

“Jasmine!!!”

Distracted, she had strayed a few degrees off course. “Sorry, ma’am!” Jasmine yelled back with force, snapping awake at the same time. In front of her, the first two lunar stallions of her patrol plowed through the camouflage cloak covering the second hangar in the Mountain of Canterlot. Following right behind them, she sailed in effortlessly and glided onto the steel-plated deck for a swift landing.

The flight hangars were big enough to house a single airship destroyer, or at least a hundred soldiers and their equipment. But because of this, everypony always underestimated how easy it would be to find the doors they flew out of upon returning. Her older sister always said that they should be able to spot the mountain’s camouflaged entrances with the naked eye, but it was never that simple. Anytime during the night, even with the pattern of the tarps never changing it was too hard to find them against the side of the mountain while flying at patrol speed. Going for a landing solo, as opposed to flying in formation behind their commander, was an art that would take years of practice to master and then still be hard. There was nothing quite as unforgiving as flying straight into solid rock when one expected a canvas tarp instead.

“Jasmine!”

The lime-green eyed bat-mare groaned inwardly. She had zoned out their entire flight patrol around Canterlot, and had almost gotten away with it too. But in the last few seconds of her flight, she had gotten caught red-hoofed. Still in her flight armor, she sat back on her haunches as comfortable as possible and saluted to her flight leader.

“Ma’am!”

Her older sister’s blood-red eyes bore into her own like daggers already covered in blood. “Not a bad landing for an idiot with her head in the clouds... But not good enough!” Without warning, she raised her left hoof and struck Jasmine across the face.

“That’s enough for now! You’re all dismissed until our next patrol!” Nightingale yelled to the rest of the mix of lunar stallions and mares in armor behind Jasmine. “We’ll meet later in the briefing room before our flight. Now hop to it!”

None of the cadets and soldiers needed to be told to hurry. They dispersed in an instant, all entering the network of tunnels that ran through the crystal caverns. If there had been one thing the royal wedding incident had taught anypony, it was that the Equestrian military had been sitting atop a potential fortress for a millennium and had not thought to use it. To the relief of the civil engineers in Canterlot, in one move they had managed to create a new military fortress to gather information about the entire empire, and found comfortable housing for an entirely new branch of the Equestrian military.

“Hey, Jasmine,” said Rezin, her own sky-blue eyes flashing as she strode past Jasmine who was holding her swollen cheek tenderly. “Try a harder to stay out of trouble next time, will you?”

“Ha, ha, ha...” Jasmine muttered back, and picked herself up to follow after her.

Nightingale watched her sisters leave, and gave a displeased grunt. For the third time that week she had caught someone in her flight group spacing out in the middle of their patrol. It was bad enough that the primary enemy of Equestria could completely disguise their appearance, but having her own soldiers not bother to pay attention while on duty was inexcusable. The royal wedding incident had put unwanted attention on all branches of the Equestrian armed forces, mostly for their lack of a coordinated response to predicted threat. It had been as disturbing as it was confusing to think that the posted day guard had been so swiftly defeated by sheer numbers alone.

Sheer numbers of an enemy who used their faces to try and break a magic shield.

But with the tightening of regulations and increased discipline that had followed, the problem had become very clear. Equestria was peaceful. Too peaceful. So peaceful, that the common soldier was better at polishing his armor than using his weapon.

If one Alicorn had been enough to make the enemies of ponykind think twice about attacking, then surely two with a third on the rising would force their enemies to try and make a move. It was a reversed lesson about cornering a scared animal that nopony could have accounted for. After all, Equestrians were not used to being the predators in the larger scope the international political arena.

Walking up the metal staircase to the hangar’s over watch tower, Lt. Commander Nightingale flexed her limbs with each step upward. When in flight, the limbs of a pony were usually allowed to hang lazily, but she always made an effort as a superior officer and example to her soldiers that there was a reason to streamline one’s form. The lunar titanium her personal armor was crafted out of was much lighter and stronger than Equestrian steel, but after a complete patrol it still weighed heavily on her entire body. She could hear the sound of her own armor echoing off the walls of the cavern as she climbed her way up the spiral staircase, but she resisted the urge to remove it prematurely.

“The Alexandria will be returning to dock in fifteen minutes, ma’am.” the staff officer in the tower said to her, as she walked in to sit in her seat at the central command station.

Nightingale grunted in acknowledgement, and stared out the windows of the tower to enjoy the panorama of the night sky unfolding for her. The large tarps that had covered the camouflage entrance to the hangar were being rolled up, to allow easy entrance for the massive airship cruiser to return to Canterlot for docking after leaving a week ago. This gave her a candid chance to look at her majesty’s beautiful night sky, since the hangar she was located in was still high above the earth, and on the opposite side of the mountain from Canterlot. Because of this, the peak of the mountain blocked out most of the light pollution Canterlot generated, and as expected she looked around to see most of the staff in the tower looking outside longingly as well.

“I want the D field magic scope on the projector!”

At her command, at the center of the tower a pedestal holding a larger crystal mined from the cavern walls began to light up. Within a few seconds, the rising light fed itself through the crystal mounted to the stand, and a larger projection of the view from the front of the hangar displayed itself above it.

“Projector is set to the D field,” a lunar stallion reported, adjusting a dial on his station, “lens is set to standard view distance. No contacts in sight, ma’am.”

Nightingale knew that the projection was not a perfect depiction of reality, since the system was using crystals mounted on the outside of the mountain as almost some kind of magic-eye to give them vision of the outside world. At the very least, the crystals could be magically adjusted to display settings the common pony eye could never see. And although it took experience to make proper inferences from the data display, it was possible to measure such things as depth and dimension of passing objects.

Scanning the hologram in detail, she found nothing out of the ordinary except for the heavens that seemed to glitter with more intensity than usual.

Strange, Nightingale thought to herself. She turned to the nearest staff officer and called out, “How long until the next patrol is expected to leave?”

In response, a unicorn in armor began to sift through the papers in front of him trying to find the answer. Something about having a unicorn actually working in the same post (and at night too) as bat-ponies distracted Nightingale, since traditionally the armed forces branches were segregated by race. She had been against the idea in the past, not out of pride or hubris, but out of fear of Changeling infiltrators taking advantage of having one less hurdle when impersonating any pony.

“The next patrol will be launching from hangar five in... Twenty minutes, ma’am.” came the response she wanted, and she gave another grunt of acknowledgement.

There was only one way to find out what was happening across Equestria, and that was though sending patrols and scouts to look. She weighed the idea of sending the Alexandria out once it had refueled and resupplied, but after a month’s excursion over the Crystal Mountains to investigate detected magic fluxuations, she had no doubts the crew was eager to stay in some semblance of civilization for a week at least. Not to mention that she would have to consult with the Day Guard, once they were awake, whether or not they had any plans for the crew of the Alexandria already...

“What information do we have from Ponyville and Cloudsdale?” she asked nopony in particular.

“Ma’am,” said a young batpony in the far corner of the tower, “we have a report from a patrol sent out by the Day Guard. Apparently there was a fire on the southern end of the Everfree forest at dusk, but the local weather team from...Ponyville, was able to contain it. The Day Guard patrol sent out returned to Canterlot before reaching Ponyville.”

“An unnatural fire at dusk?” Nightingale thought out loud. She looked over at the hanging clock on the wall of the tower, noting the hour hand pushing steadily past midnight. “By the moon, that’s already ancient information! What’s the Day Guard doing, not checking into a report like that?”

“Furthermore, ma’am,” continued the batpony, “according to a separate report received a week ago, there are more construction projects in Ponyville that violate the no-build zone between the Everfree forest.”

“Understood.” Nightingale grumbled.

That was just what they needed; another group of ponies going around and provoking things they didn’t understand, before begging for help once they got what was coming to them. What is so hard to understand that entering a forest that ran rampant with uncontrolled magics was a bad idea? What was it with her fellow ponies, that made them want to settle in areas already owned by other living creatures? She had heard about some disturbance between the colonists of Appleloosa and native buffalos a year ago, but had never linked it to some larger problem about Equestrian ethics.

I guess the Griffon Kingdom doesn’t have a monopoly on idiots, she thought.

“Ma’am!” Nightingale turned her attention to the unicorn in the room with her. His horn was alight with magic, and his communications set was over his head and ears. “You have a visitor from the castle. He’s waiting for you at the front of the caverns, ma’am.”

“Who did they say it was?” A break from stationed duty would be nice, she thought. But most of the time nothing good ever came from ponies coming from Canterlot castle. She listened to the unicorn relay her question back, and a wave of nausea swept through her as soon as his words met her ears.

“Princess Luna’s vizier, Sir Sunflower Dial, ma’am. He says it’s urgent.”

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

Chapter 1: We, the Lions

Yes, Your Highness

Chapter 1: We, the Lions

“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.” - H. L. Mencken

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪

Falling.

He was falling, and fast.

Undeterred by endless depth of the void he was in, he casually wondered about how long he had been falling. What direction was he was falling in? Where was he falling too? How soon until he would arrive? Why did he have to be falling in the first place? As an Earth Pony who had experienced one flying chariot ride too many, his calm demeanor toward his own tumbling and endless barreling was surreal.

There was still no sign of an end, but now tiny glimmers were passing by him at incredible speeds. What were they? Stars? Fireflies? Light bulbs? It was impossible to tell. An incredible amount of them were constantly passing by from all directions, but he was sure that he was still falling, even though there was no up, down, or sideways.

It was just as before. Like the first time, and like the second time, and the third...

And like all times prior, without word or warning it stopped. The world stopped. The empty expanse of space had ended, and in its place a more familiar eden surrounded him.

The no-longer falling stallion rose on his hooves silently. His mouth was dry, his nostrils cold, his legs ached, and his mind was still absent. He sighed contently; at least all of the former meant that he was still alive. Finally after a minute of standing in place, he felt comfortable enough to check his surroundings. The world around him had shifted to something similar in form to the deep archives royal library, even sporting the musty air of dust-riddled books hanging about like a polluted mist.

“There has to be a better way of doing this,” he grumbled.

Taking one last minute to prepare himself, he started walking at a brisk pace to meet his target.

Strolling along with only one thing on his mind, he swept past towering shelves filled with volumes upon volumes of books, maps, tomes and scrolls. They soared high as trees, almost threatening to break out of the crystalline nighttime sky mural above him. He could only imagine how much they weighed, since angling himself to look up at their peaks hurt his neck.

Breaks in the shelves acted like natural forest clearings, often containing tables littered with papers with incomplete scribbling etched onto them. Sometimes there would be desk with the remnants of some literary adventure spilling over and out its drawers. Sometimes too, there would be office drawers out of place in the middle of clearings, overflowing out at all angles with papers and parchments. He had tried using these as landmarks, but after passing different identical clearings more than few times he had given up.

She had convinced him during their first encounter that their relationship was mutual. He hoped that it would be for the better, but the increasing frequency of his visits and the lack of control over when they would happen were worrisome. He had realized far too late how many cards she carried compared to him, and even worse, was the realization that he had no power or influence to make sure she held her word.

“Trust is hard thing to come by between intelligent beings,” she had remarked, as if she had read his mind during one of their meetings, “it is a shame, don’t you think?”

Yes, it was a shame. But the real shame was how irritating finding her was!

To her it was a simple task, since it all revolved around him following her instructions. Instructions she had so snidely remarked anypony could follow. She would sit in place and do nothing, and he would have to walk around aimlessly until he found her.

Nothing more, nothing less.

To him it was a nuisance, and a real stupid nuisance at that. Why something so indirect, when she could just draw him a map? Or even better: have him arrive right in front of her. Cut out the stupid time spend tumbling through oblivion and have him just arrive. Punctually. Promptly. Properly.

Yes, it was a real pain. It was a pain to be the pawn of an immortal.

He was in far over his head. He had no doubts about that.

His weakness was the reason she had come to him in the first place, and he would rather be dead than become even weaker from her help. Volunteering to be used like a pawn in some long-game between immortals, like so many other ponies probably had been mercilessly condemned to. His pride dictated that he continue, but his rationality (long since put out to the pasture) still hoped for him to abandon his mad scheme and confess.

No. There was no going back.

“You’re late. Shame on you for making a goddess wait, young stallion.”

Yes. There was no going back.

He had arrived sooner than expected, but her tone said clearly that he had not been swift enough.

Hesitating, he remained in place under the dark shadow of a towering bookcase. It was still hard for him to believe that what was in front of him, being seen with his own two eyes, was real. Even if this was the fourth... No, sixth encounter they are sharing.

From the red ornate luxury couch she laid spread upon, she stared back at him with the same alert intensity. He was being watched, no, observed by a pair of teal draconian eyes, attached to a large inky cloud that shimmered and rippled as it floated. Occasionally some equine-esq features would begin to form when she spoke, like a leg or an ear attached to a head, but it would never last long. For whatever reasons she retained that form was something beyond his understanding. He felt like he was staring at something great and powerful, but incredibly dangerous too.

But without warning, she let out an immense lackadaisical yawn that said otherwise.

With his attention still so intently focused on her, she fluttered her teal eyes seductively. "Well? What say you? Did your mother ever teach you manners? And what would your father say, giving a mare such a leer?”

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, the stallion mentally kicked himself for being distracted her charms. He was a grown stallion who worked and lived with not two, but three goddesses of great intellect, wisdom, insight, and beauty every day. There was no need in the world for a fourth!

“I thought you should know, your grace, that the second part of your plan has begun.” He walked over to one of the large shelves surrounding them both, and slipped a volume out from the collection. Like the others he had checked before out of curiosity, he found the book to be blank from cover to cover. The bindings and pages were crisp and pristine, and he suddenly worried that his touch has soiled the celestial nature of something incomprehensible.

“Has it? I cannot believe how long it has been,” the wraith-like shadow said, with awe in her voice. “It has been nearly a year now, yes? How strange it feels; how suddenly time can drag out in this world.”

“Drags? Surely it can’t be that bad?” the stallion asked, pretending to read the book in his hoof intensively so that his eyes would not wander back to her. “Considering your years prior were spent in magical void, I would have imagined that a mere year in your view would be-?”

“No,” she cut him short, “you are correct; a mere planetary rotation is nothing compared to the losses I have endured, and will endure for eternity in the future.”

...Was there a twinge of sadness in her voice? Or was he just imagining it? No; any intelligent creature could emulate emotions to appeal to the empathy of present company, himself included. The cards were still in her hooves. He had to tread lightly, or risk being destroyed.

“I am just anxious to make up for time lost, you must understand.”

“Of course,” he lied.

The monstrosity looked to him, and his eyes met hers again. “Truly?”

“Of course,” he lied again, and looked away to resist the urge to scoff in its face.

Time lost? For an immortal entity? Well, he supposed it did make sense, given that her subjects were all forced onto a much shorter time span than her. Biologically speaking, that was. After all, objectively speaking a ruler could only be valued through how they managed their subjects and property during their time ruling, and not so much about legacies regarding strength of character or charisma. What was a princess without a kingdom? What was a kingdom without subjects? And what empire could last without a unifying-

“Young stallion, I command you to look at me.”

Against his better judgment, he shelved the hardcover shield in his hoof and back onto the shelf before turning around and looking straight at her. He was met with the same teal eyes giving a piercing stare into his own. They were even more profound to look at, since she had reverted herself completely back into something of an inky black mist.

“Enough of our shared banter,” she said. Without warning, a dense cloud of ink separated itself from her, and slowly evaporated to reveal a small table. On the table laid a font of liquid, and he looked in amazement as the ink inside held all the hues of the night sky.

“Since you have come here on your own, I take it you prepared for the next phase?”

The stallion stared at the ink, hesitating to answer. “What would you have me-”

“I shall not shelter your expectations,” two tendrils emerged to act like limbs, crossing each other implacably. He can hear impatience filling her voice too as she spoke. “This is but a slow start down a very long, and merciless road. You are not the first stallion who has volunteered to try and shelter this burden, and I doubt you will be the last. All I can tell you, is that you must be strong. Rising above your limits and retaining your sanity is but the first step of your journey.”

He mulled her words over silently. By now, had he not already committed himself fully to her proposal? Would he not have bothered coming to speak to her again, if he had any doubts? Did he fear for his own life more than those close to him? Hadn’t she always warned him of what he was getting into? Not once had she made any demands, or used her powers to force him into anything (as far as he knew). And surely, she had come to him in the first place because of her own confidence in him.

“What would you have me do?” he asked, with no hesitation this time.

She smiled. He was still honest, and it was nice to see. A good sign. His tragic upbringing had not scarred him, and would only aid him in trials to come.

“Don’t squirm.”

Before he could even scream in protest, the inky cloud leapt from its bedding and swallowed him whole.

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ♪

Another day, and another dream.

“Can anypony hear me?” Luna said, her voice neither echoing nor’ reverberating in the endless space of her own dream. “Is anypony out there? Hello?”

Another dream, and another nightmare.

Another nightmare, and another eternity bound to her moon.

It was a depressing thought. The idea that the ruler of the cosmos, mistress of the night, and master over the world of dreams had no control over her own. How many restless days had she spent reliving her vacation to the surface of her moon? Reliving the sinking feeling in her heart and mind, that her own sister had actually carried out her banishment. Her beloved older sister. Her only family. With the Elements of Harmony, no less! The same Elements that had put to rest Discord’s aimless chaotic fun. There was a chance for ponies everywhere to live their lives to the happiest and fullest, bound only by the gravity of the earth they lived on. A world where living creatures could be born and raised in peace and tranquility, before dying.

And she, bound to the moon by magic, would never see that world again.

There was no parole. No time off for good behavior. No visits.

Why? Why did it happen they way it did? All she wanted was to have her work appreciated! The malevolent and malicious forces that hid from the light of the sun always tried to go about their business during her night. How many countless nights had she spent safeguarding the lives of their ponies, just to be forgotten about like some introverted asocial when thanks were to be had!?

Was it wrong to want to be loved!? Why couldn’t--

“Princess? Do you like coriander seeds or turmeric powder? Forgive me, but I always forget.”

Startled out of her own thoughts, Luna’s eyes shot open from surprise. Instinctually she wiped away the tears of rage and frustration that had been forming in her eyes. Looking around, she was still on the surface of the moon.

...Wasn’t she?

Yes, she was. The ground still held its thin layer of pale gray dust. There were endless craters as far as she could see. Shards of frozen water dotted the landscape. The sun and the earth hung in space above her. Still looking around, she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something was different. Something indescribable and unfathomable had changed.

There was always a pattern her nightmares followed: it started with nothing, before her torment would start in a few different ways. Some would have her walking through and endless void, with her home always out of her reach. Other nightmares would have her bound to the surface of the moon, through some terrible medium that always restrained her from returning home. Some were even about the evils she and her sister had destroyed before her banishment. This time she had been restrained by chains of enchanted steel that her sister had had her bound in before using the Elements on her. Magic chains short enough to restrain her from leaving the moon, but long enough to let her walk for eternity over its surface.

Until now.

She scratched as the moon’s sandy surface with her own hooves, and felt the heavy weight of the invisible chains still holding her down. She then looked around in confusion, for the source of the voice that had just addressed her. What was happ--

“Princess? Your tea is going to get cold,” a shadow in the shape of a stallion pointed to a porcelain teacup resting on a saucer in front of her hooves. A teacup that hadn’t been there a moment ago, from a set that hadn’t been there as well.

“I made your favorite. Or at least, I think I did. I don’t remember things all too well.”

She looked down at her own hooves again, she saw her silver hoof-guard slippers on each of them. Above them, the entire body of the earth where Equestria existed eclipsed the sun, shadowing them and allowing the millions of stars in the universe to shine gloriously. Her body felt light, no longer weighed down by magic, and she spread her wings out and felt her blood running through them.

“Who...?” she began to ask, but the shadow pointed to the porcelain china between her hooves insistently. Impatiently. Demandingly.

With her magic, she brought it up to her lips and took a modest sip. She forced aside the horrible sinking feeling in her heart, and finished her entire cup without so much as tasting a single drop. Gingerly, afraid that she would somehow break it, she placed the cup back down on its saucer and pushed it away.

“Was it good?” the shadow stallion asked, now sitting on top of a red and white checkered blanket. She nodded in silence, now terrified that whatever was happening would stop if she didn’t obey him. Going for years without any interaction could drive a living creature mad, but somehow, she had retained her sanity for a thousand years on the moon’s surface. Perhaps it was out of spite for her sister, and out of spite for her ponies that did not stand up for her, that she had kept living.

Yes... She had lived for revenge. Not just revenge, Luna thought, but justice as well. When she returned, she would have justice. Or so she had told herself, over and over again. For a thousand years, her sorrow and anger had festered and rotted her heart. Days and nights of constant brooding had made her incapable of thinking about anything else.

Revenge and justice. To trade places with her older sister. No negotiations.

It didn’t matter to her that the world could not survive without the sun. Without her older sister. Pegasi. Unicorns. Earth Ponies. Griffons. Dragons. Changelings. Dogs. Monsters and beasts of all shapes and sizes. If they could not appreciate her domain, and her power, then their lives were already forfeit. She was a goddess, and what were they? Fragile. Their lives were so very fragile, and she relished the few times Tia and herself had made examples of their power.

For monsters who were used to dominating others, it was the fear in their eyes she relished. The smell of the sweat from when they ran was like an intoxicating perfume. Primal, and unabated by rationality. Their reaction to a pony, with some physical differences to so many others they had bullied, eaten, beaten, or tortured, performing an act of utter annihilation unrivaled by anything they had ever dreamed.

But those times were now long since gone...

The shadow stallion reached out, and from nothing a wicker picnic basket appeared for him to fish around for its contents. Without speaking he pulled out several bowls of a matching set, and a larger glass container of something of a vibrant orange color. After that, he fished out some more silverware and divided it between them both.

“I hope it’s still hot,” he tapped the side of the large glass jar. “I had the royal kitchen make this up. I know how you love vegetable curry and all, but I can’t imagine that it tastes good cold.”

Those two words alone caused her eyes to perk up, and she recognized the orange mixture in the larger glass jar immediately. How far had the culinary arts advanced in her absence? Ponies lived in countless different parts of the world, and so too, the things they brought with them to trade in Equestria were more strange and exotic as she could have imagined. Vegetable curry had been one of many thing Tia had insisted she try after her return. At first Luna hadn’t sure whether her older sister was trying to poison her or not from the vibrant color of the dish, but it only took a few bites for her addiction to start.

“I... I’m sure it will be fine.” Luna offered, still unsure of what she should be doing.

The shadow stallion smiled at her as he reached into the basket. He pulled out a smaller wicker container which he handed to her. “I certainly hope so. Anything for royalty should be more than fine.”

In her mind, Luna knew that anything different from her nightmares should be a welcomed reprieve. But that was still something that she couldn’t place a hoof on...

Was it ill-intentions, coming from the shadow in the shape of a stallion? Did she just not know who he was, or could she just ask? What if he was somehow hiding himself from her? Was this part some larger problem? Was she under the influence of some magic enchantment, and being controlled in the real world? Or maybe Chrysalis was attempting to invade Canterlot again, and she was being held captive and unconscious in one of those disgusting Changeling silk cocoons?

Opening the container, she was greeted by the sight of boiled rice. She inhaled the some of the steam venting from the boiled grains, but didn’t smell anything. Just like before with the tea, she could sense nothing coming from the food in front of her. She could feel the hard but flexible grains of the waved wicker the rice was being held in when she picked it up, but could neither feel, sense, or smell the rice within.

Reaching over and around the blanket they were sharing, Luna slipped off her silver hoof-guard and scratched the surface of the moon. It felt coarse and grainy under her hoof. The sands in Equestria were soft and smooth, but the surface of her moon was rough and jagged. The dust and sand of her moon was intrusive and irritating, yet, feeling it with her foreleg now she remembered it being a lot worse...

“Princess, if you don’t eat, it will get cold.”

“Thank you, but I--” Luna was snapped out of her thoughts again, this time by the sound of music. A piano. Was somepony playing the piano on her moon? In her dream? She looked around for the source, and on the blanket she was sharing a small record player was spinning a record.

“Do you like it?” the stallion asked, a bit timidly. “I don’t think silence would be appropriate while we had our picnic on the moon.”

“Picnic on the moon?” she repeated, and he nodded obligingly.

“Yes. It’s been so very long, hasn’t it?” He passed the jar of vegetable curry her way, and held his head down low before her. “Please... Don’t be mad at them. That is to say, at us, your highness.”

“What? Mad at who?”

“At everyone. Anything,” the shadow stallion raised his hoof, pointing to the world in the sky. She looked up to the world, and the stars glimmered in space around them. “Please don’t be mad at us for wanting to be free from you.”

“Free from me?” Luna asked. He nodded at her, and moved back to his corner of the blanket slowly. “From me?” Luna repeated again, the weight of the two simple words together felt just as heavy as the chains from her nightmares. She shook her head, “I don’t understand. What is this all of this? Where am I? What is going on!?”

“You’re in a dream,” the shadow stallion picked up his own tea cup with his hoof, and took a sip of its contents. “I’d wager you already knew that.”

“Whose dream?” Luna pressed, scooting herself closer to him. “Mine?”

“No, mine.” The shadow shrugged empathetically. “Or maybe not. I dream every night about holding a live fish in my hooves.”

Luna stopped in her tracks with a look of elegant amazement and distaste, and the music stopped too. “You do what?” she demanded.

“I dream about holding a live fish in my hooves.”

“What kind of fish?” Luna inquired sternly of the shadow stallion.

“I don’t know,” the shadow stallion shrugged again. “I can’t tell one kind of fish from another.”

She stared down at the shadow stallion with a suspicious and narrow squint. There was something familiar about the enigma before her, but she couldn’t place her hoof on it. “In which hoof do you hold it?”

“It varies,” answered the shadow stallion. “Yes. It varies with the fish.”

“Ah-hah!” Luna glared at the shadow stallion with a calculating smirk. She had caught him right where she wanted him: a contradiction. “If you can’t tell one fish from another, then how do you know which fish you’re holding in your hooves?” She let out a laugh in triumph, and crossed her forelegs sternly in front of him.

“Because you tell me,” the shadow stallion answered without cracking a smile. He reached out for her hoof and planted a kiss onto it, bowing his head as he did. “You’re always in my dreams, princess.”

Luna felt her face flush from embarrassment, and she quickly pulled her hoof out from his. Resisting the urge to slap him, she restrained herself to glaring at him with another stare of cold, unforgiving resentment. She hardly considered herself prudish, but who was he to act so intimate with her? “Enough of these games,” she demanded of him through thin lips. “I demand you tell me what you’ve done to my dream!”

“You mean your nightmare?”

“Yes! Er, no! I mean--” Luna shook her head, and glared at him for a third time. “No! Who are you!?” she thrust a hoof forward to push him, and to her surprise, his body seemed to have some weight behind it. “What did you mean that you were sick of me!?”

The shadow stallion tapped his chin with one of his hooves, “Would you believe me if I told you the truth?”

“That depends,” Luna countered, “In my experience, when somepony asks me if I would like the truth, their forthcoming answer is usually not the truth.”

“Very well then,” suddenly without warning, the shadow stallion stood up on his hind legs and threw his forelegs outward as if preparing to engulf her in a massive hug. “I am a deity that resides in all of your subjects. The god that ponies rely on to change the present into the future they desire. My name,” he paused dramatically, before sitting back down in the same withdrawn pose as before, “is Possibility.”

“My, how poetic,” Luna said before pausing, her sulking ire turning to melancholy. She frowned irritably, as though everything so far were all his fault. “You must be a romantist, to say something like that so shamelessly.” The shadow stallion scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, and she turned away regarding him with only one eye.

“Should I call you by your name?”

“If you would like,” he nodded eagerly. “Just Possibility will do, for now.”

“For now?”

“For now,” Possibly bowed to her again, “your highness. We will be seeing each other often in the future, from now on.”

“I doubt that,” Luna scoffed, and she thrust her foreleg outward at him. “Because the first thing I’m going to do once I wake up, is find out who you are, and how you’ve managed to invade my privacy. And then there will be a fresh cell opened in the royal dungeon for me to throw you in personally!”

The shadow stallion wilted visibly from her threat, “That seems rather cruel. Can’t you just let me off with a stern warning?”

“I’ll have you know that invading the privacy of royalty is punishable by exile.”

“That seems rather cruel as well.” The shadow stallion cocked his head on its side in curiosity. “Hey, now. Don’t you invade your subjects minds every now and then? Through their dreams too?”

Luna gawked at him, wondering if she had just been subtly accused of voyeurism.

“That is not the same! I am responsible for safeguarding the mental health of all of my subjects!”

“Oh, I get it,” Possibility reached for his tea and took a long sip. He nodded to himself, seeming quite pleased over something Luna did not understand. “That’s a Catch-22. I see what the problem is.”

“A what?” Luna asked.

“I said,” Possibility reached over to the teapot to pour himself another glass, “that it’s a Catch-22.”

Before he could reach it, Luna purposefully pulled the teapot out of his reach with her magic. She poured herself another glass before placing it back down near him. “And just what are you accusing me of?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything,” Possibility reached into the picnic basket and lifted out a small bowl of sugar, “I’m just saying, that your responsibilities are a Catch-22.”

Luna took a sip of her tea, and was met with the bitter but sweet flavor she was accustomed to drinking right before midnight struck. It was a brief respite in her battle for supremacy, both on the royal throne and in her dream, and it felt wonderful from the moment it touched her lips and slid down her throat. Carefully, she placed her cup back down on its saucer and reached for the teapot to pour herself another cup.

“I do not know what a ‘Catch-22’ is,” she admitted to him after drinking another cup of tea, “are you going to tell me?”

“I apologize princess, but it will have to be another time. It is time for you to hold the night court.”

Luna looked around at the dead landscape of her dream. “So soon?”

The shadow stallion nodded. “Mmm. Time flies when you are having fun, yes?”

“That is not what I would call it,” Luna said, as she stood up and looked around the surface of her faux moon. Up in space, the sun was beginning to peek around the edges of the earth, illuminating Equestria in a soft inviting glow. The stars glimmered too, and she knew what she would have to do. Standing up, she gave Possibility one last quizzical and judgmental stare as she unfurled her wings and prepared to take off into space.

“...Princess?”

Luna looked back to him one last time over her own wings, and pawed at the dusty surface of the moon impatiently.

“...Yes?”

Possibility stayed quiet, as he began to pack up the remains of their picnic into the basket.

“Do not be afraid to listen to your heart. No matter what your sister may say.”

Without waiting to hear another word, Luna pushed herself off and began to fly home.

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪