Yes, Your Highness

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.

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.”

♪~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~♪