Luna was standing just outside the dining room when Celestia arrived, fully dressed and groomed for the day. She was wearing the hint of a smile, which all but disappeared at the sight of her elder sister's face. Tia tried to be brave and put on a grin of her own, but it was fooling nopony, and she knew it.

Dropping the charade, she sighed and asked, “Is everypony else here already then?”

“Indeed they are,” Luna replied, speaking softly, “I guess we're not being very good hosts to keep them waiting like this.” When Celestia only grunted in reply at her joke, Luna's ears drooped and her brow scrunched up in concern.

There was no time to discern what was wrong with her sister, however. Their guests had waited long enough as it was. The Archbishop of Canterberry had come a long way across the sea to visit them, and it would be an injustice to deny a figure of his stature the time he desired. As with every day, though, there was a crowd of ponies visiting. Many of Canterlot's elite had taken advantage of Celestia's permanent open invitation to come see the visiting VIP.

The Archbishop Siar Geata sat right beside the head seat of the table, which was unoccupied and waiting for the elder princess. Every other seat along the extended table was filled. And down at the very end was Luna's own spot. Everypony's eyes were on Celestia as she sat down and acknowledged the Bishop. Not a one of them seemed to notice the younger sister as she walked around the table to where she belonged. Maybe it was just her imagination, but a chill seemed to run through the room.

Celestia did her best to care about the droning on of her guest. She was politely nodding to everything he said, but thoughts of last months tax debates kept drawing her attention away from his pompous flank. After setting her fork down, she realized that the bishop had just asked her something. She chewed slowly, straining her memory for his last question.

“Yes,” she said, hoping against hope that she had guessed right, “It's been a while, but even back then the bell was out of tune. It's a shame though; for all that the cathedral has gone through, the bell that withstood all the damage and reconstruction is finally being taken in for repair.”

Siar Geata paused for a moment before answering. “With all due respect, my liege, the Hierro Bell in the North West Tower is the oldest bell in the cathedral, not the Litaneia Bell.”

“Ah yes, common misconception,” Celestia replied, eager to get an upper hand over this snob, “I remember the Hierro Bell well. I was the one who forged it from the iron deposits in the Sierra Madre. The Griffons spend so much time with their heads in the clouds, they tend to forget the Fey that run wild among their islands below. I figured that, as iron is poison to the touch for them, the warning vibrations of an iron bell would remind them to shy away from a town under my protection. However bell metal had already been in use for a while before I started my forging, so yes, there are bells there older than my Campana de Hierro.”

She took a nonchalant sip of her tea, mostly to hide her smirk in the cup. It was good to see that even the head of her church in the Gryphon Kingdom could still be humbled by her. No matter how arrogant they got, she was always able to pull a little joy from toying with them.

As he was still stunned by her retort, she took the opportunity to glance around. Her heart sank at the sight of Luna slipping out the door into the hallway.

“Archbishop,” she said, before he could start rambling again, “have you met Primrose?” She pointed to the pony on his other side, and as soon as his attention was away from her Celestia bolted.

“Luna, wait!” she cried, catching up to her sister and slowing down until they were at an even pace.

“What are you doing sister?” Luna asked with mock coldness, “It is not queenly to leave your guests unattended.”

“And now you know why I've not taken the title.” She waited for a moment. When Luna didn't respond, Celestia cooed, “Please don't be mad at me, sister. We knew it would be a long road to recovery.”

“I know,” Luna agreed, “Even still… you have a church in your name.”

“You have followers too. Among the sarosians, remember? I'm sure they're just as interesting as the archbishop. Spent six minutes talking about his cats, um… I think so anyway. I wasn't really listening”

Luna failed to suppress a chuckle. Celestia allowed herself a concerned smile. They would have talked more, but Luna had to flee for her meeting. They needed to talk more. Celestia knew they could not mask the subject of her pain with laughter forever. She just wanted to sit down and discuss the issue with Luna. She just needed more time.

But her power could only send the sun forward.

A cold meal and a small plethora of guests awaited her back in the dining hall, but Celestia wasn't headed that way. Her throne room was almost devoid of guards, and her servants wouldn't have thought to look for her there during lunch. But it wasn't just the loneliness she wanted. She had started referring to it not as her “throne room” but her “Hall of Stain-glass Windows”, of which she was constantly adding to.

One would always stand out as special to her. Celestia gazed into the memorial of her sister's redemption just a few years earlier. The door opened and closed, but she assumed that it was just another guard moving through. She didn't actually turn to face her visiter until she heard the familiar sound of him clearing his throat.

“Silent Majority!” She exclaimed with mock joy, “It's so nice to see you.”

But as much as he was her favorite legislator of the bunch, she couldn't force herself to be excited at his presence. The look in his eyes suggested he knew what she had been brooding over.

“The next session is about to begin,” he told her bluntly, “I thought you should know.”

“Yes, thank you for finding me.” She cast one last glance back at the window before beginning her walk. She told him playfully, “The very least we can do is arrive late together.”

“Scandalous,” he replied, “I can hear the rumors now.” And as the sound of Celestia's laughter filled the halls once more, Silent Majority let himself a small grin. Turning to matters at hoof, he told her, “Some of the nobles are demanding that we cut taxes on the wealthy again.”

“And knowing you, you've come to insist that it's a bad idea.”

“You can read my like a book,” he told her.

“No, I can read First Draft like a book. I just remember your platform.” Mimicking his voice the best she could, she proudly exclaimed, “No pony shall suffer at the hand of self-righteous corporate heads who would retain their bits for their own pleasure! The wealthy few will not be allowed total domination of society!”

He grinned sheepishly at her recollection. “Yes, yes I did say that, didn't I? More or less.”

“Relax, Silent,” she said, “You have a strong following. I remember Magna Carta was a lot like you, boldly demanding that I turn over power to the nobles and establish a proper hierarchy of power.”

“You mean I'm a lot like Magna Carta,” he tried to interject, but she ignored this.

“You've just taken his ideas further and demanded an equal chance for everypony. It's laudable if you ask me. Just remember that Equestria is changing even as we speak. The very corporations you fear are replacing the noble class that's reigned for so long. Progress may be frightening, but you cannot hold it back forever.”

“Perhaps,” he admitted, “But I can try my hardest to ensure that nopony suffers unfairly because of it.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. Taking a moment to change the topic of conversation, she asked him, “So how is your wife? I trust she's not aware of the 'scandalous activities' we've been up to?”

Author's Note

Siar Geata is, if I'm not mistaken, an Irish phrase for "back gate". Litaneia is a greek word for "prayer", and Campana de Hierro literally means "Iron Bell".

There are actually three Sierra Madre mountain ranges, all of them located in Mexico. I know that at least one of them has some amount of iron deposits.

The reference to iron being poisonous to the Fey (read: changelings, kelpie, etc), I took from Dromicosuchus' "Mendacity" (I know, every chapter I'm drawing inspiration from somewhere else). It apparently took inspiration from The Dresden Files, which I've never read. Regardless, it's a good story that's not hard to understand and definitely worth checking out.
This is not to imply that they necessarily take place in the same universe.

I don't know anything about the actual archbishop of Canterbury, and if I did I probably wouldn't have anything against him. The archbishop character introduced in this chapter isn't based off of any actual person, religious or otherwise.