Yes, Your Highness

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.

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