Mercurial Archives

In Vanity

Archive #0, Entry #1

3rd year of the reign of King Platinum of the unicorns

Location: Court room of Castle Corona, high seat of Duke Bluehart

Duchy of Westerlot, Unicornia

“And that is the name you propose for this realm, is it?”

I cringed slightly, as the taller of the two stallions gave a powerful snort that echoed off the stone walls of the room. It was quite evident he had little respect for the other, but was forced by bonds stronger than mere liking to submit to him nonetheless. Besides, Duke Bluehart was well known for being a stickler and a thornbrush in general. He didn't have much respect foranypony. If not for his well-honed skills in combat and even greater ability of command, he would never even have been crowned in the first place. As it was, though, he was the marshal of Unicornia – or, at least, the realm that was possibly going to be named Unicornia if the lords of the realm agreed with the king's decision – and his votum and voice carried a considerable amount of power in the budding kingdom. However brutish and gruff his manners, he could not simply be brushed aside.

King Platinum, High Prince of Throne and Duke of Cornica, Heritor of the Aurum Union, Liege of Lords and King of the Unicorns, sighed. It was well know that this was the confrontation he had dreaded most out of all the lords beneath him, but even I could not be sure whether or not he'd expected it to go this badly. My sister might have known, but we never talk anymore – since her marriage to the king, she has become too petty and selfish for me to stand.

I watched with tense eyes as the young king gave a brief shake of his head before replying. “Yes, Bluehart. It is not yet well known, but once I have the support of all the electors I will let it become public knowledge, after which a de jure title can be given weight enough to stand.” He gestured out of a window, pointing toward the northwest. “It is well known that Duke Revelant of Mane is not going to submit to me, and neither are several of thefree lords – pesky as they may be – separating his realm from ours. The Crystal Empire is surely not going to heed, and they have almost as many unicorns as we do.”

Bluehart gave a decidedly noncommittal grunt, but his brows were furrowed in thought; at last, a good sign from the sour old coot. Evidently this spurred the king on enough to keep going. “Look. The kingdom is all fine and well. We have no rebels in our midst, the peasants are reasonably happy – or quiet, at least – and since the lords have accepted my proposal of allowing mares to inherit, the succession is secure. Yes, yes, I know, my daughter is but a foal and there's nothing that can be said of her talents at ruling any kingdom – nor will there be any time soon – but princess Platinum is not the issue here, Bluehart.”

I covered my mouth with my hoof, concealing my yawn best I could. The king was a master of grand speeches and debate, but as well as that was it did give him a tendency to be overly elaborate at times. Not that it didn't help him to make his points, but still. These things could go on for hours – and had done so on several occasions before this one. All the luck I had to count on for getting any sleep tonight was that Bluehart was the polar opposite of that; he would reach a decision, and stick to it. Once the king had made his case, the duke would have his answer, and give it; and that would be the end of that, one way or another.

Hopefully.

“It would be preposterous of me to claim kingship over an entire race, and that's as simple as that. Besides, what then of the earth ponies of the realm? Thanks to the utter idiocy of that snotheadedChancellor Puddingfoot,” the king pursed his lips as if to spit, only stopping at the last moment when he remembered where he was. “Peasants aside, there are quite a few of their lords who have submitted to me, instead, and if I treat them right I will have some chance of retaining their loyalty even when those lazy idiots finally get their asses off the ground, hoist Puddingfoot offshore and put his son at the wheel. Oh my stars, speaking like a sailor.”

Brief chuckles went through the room – the joke wasn't very funny, but it wasn'tbad per se and Platinum was the king, so you laughed at his jokes when he made them – but none too soon the king went on. “What then if I am king of the Unicorns? Would that mean I have no authority over them? It may seem a mere thing of semantics, but sometimes it takes little more than that to change discontent to rebellion. We have already begun transforming our kingdom –our kingdom! – into something more solid, an actual state rather than a collection of petty lords and dukes united under a strong leader that will fall apart to nothing once a crisis of any kind comes along. I do not want princess Platinum to inherit a throne and a title; I want my child to have my kingdom!”

The king's voice echoed around the large stone chamber, as did the dull sound of his hoof striking the floor. The king was well known for being passionate, but even I was surprised by this display of fury. For a moment I felt some envy toward my sister for this; her husband, king or not, positively doted on their only child. Then again, from what I've heard of their relationship it is hardly a thing to envy in itself. She married him for his status, and he married her to gain legitimacy to our late father's crown. At least he does not claim it outright – Heritor, he calls himself, but unlike many others he has had sense enough to not actually claim the Golden Crown as his own.

And suddenly, the waiting was all over. Bluehart rose and stomped his hoof twice, making the floor ring like a stone-hewn bell. “Enough, my king. You have my support.” He thrust his face well inside Platinum's comfort zone, and frowned deeply. “I will not say I like it, but there is a need of it being done.” He backed off, but the intense frown on his face remained. “There is no use in waiting. I wish you luck in convincing the others. Your majesty,” he finished, kneeling briefly.

-/-/-/

The scene in front of my mind's eye dissolved into swirling masses of watery nothingness as the memory my apprentice had sent me ended, but the recollection remained firm inside my mind. I was surprised – very much so, indeed – yet most of all, I was proud of what she had accomplished.

Even I had never been well versed enough in magics dealing with the astral realm such as this one, and that my filly of an apprentice – well, at the very least she was still a quite young mare – had managed to surpassme was beyond extraordinary. Were it not for who she was, I would most definitely have taken her in as my personal student, and possibly betroth her to one of my many grandsons or so, to tie her to the family; but alas, that was not to be.

Princess Mercuria, youngest daughter of the late king Aurum and sister to Argentine, king Platinum's queen consort, gave me an expectant look. “Master Starswirl, did it work? Did you see it?”

I gave her a pondering look, still trying to decide what her discovery meant – for me, as her master, but also for me, as a mage.

Evidently the young mare was displeased with me not answering right away. Her horn lit up, shining bright green, and she gave a sharp tug at my long white beard. “Starswirl!” she huffed at me impatiently, pouting best she could. Which was quite well indeed, but only goes to show she is little more than a filly yet.

I decided it was in both out best interests to avoid having the young princess throw a tantrum, so I nodded at her in reply. Immediately, her face shone up with a beaming smile. “Yes, princess, I saw it. It was quite perfect, actually. There were quite a few reflections of your own in there, as well – it seems that our conscious thoughts are transferred as well, along with everything else. You have made quite a discovery, Mercury.”

The young princess was immensely pleased with my praise of her, and did not seem to mind me using the male form of her name. In my case, it was purely out of habit. She was the first mare I'd ever apprenticed, and if I got the chance to finish educating her, she might even become the first female mage in history. In her case, it was probably out of ignorance.

To someone of my generation, referring to a mare named Marisa as Mars would've been greatly frowned upon if done in private, and possibly perceived as quite insulting – definitely so if it was the other way around. While stallions seldom used mare's names even in these days, it seemed that the opposite case was becoming more and more common. Quite likely it had – at least in part –  to do with the king's new inheritance laws, allowing mares to inherit and own land on the same grounds as stallions. He was a reformer in many ways, Platinum was, and the memory I'd received from the princess only confirmed it once again.

Once more I noticed the impatient girl looking at me, this time with a worried frown on her youthful face. She was probably dithering over why I had suddenly stopped talking – one did never really understand the workings of an old pony's mind until you were one yourself. I'd learned that lesson long ago.

I gave her an encouraging smile, and an idea rose up in my head. “You know, princess, Archmage Clover and the other mages here in Cante-Wirl have been asking me about building a Lighthouse of our own, so we don't need to rely on the Crystal Empire all so much. The king has told me he's thought about it himself, too, but I've never really...”

I drifted off again – by choice, this time, mainly because I knew there'd be little point in explaining all the details to the princess. She knew all the facts already, but she wouldn't be quite ready for the politics of it all until she was a bit older. So I simply went on to present my idea to her.

“Princess Mercury,” I began, only realizing I'd once again used the male form of her name after the fact, “how would you like it if I named our Lighthouse after you? This discovery of yours is beyond revolutionary, and I feel this is an honor to be bestowed from master to apprentice. You hardly lack gold of your own, and my knowledge is – or will be – all yours already. The naming of a Lighthouse is, I believe, the grandest gift I can give you, and for this, I would give it gladly.”

Mercury only stared at me with an amazed look in her eyes, gaping wide. It took several seconds before she even blinked, and she did that several times before she managed to close her mouth, stuttering as she spoke. “Y-you you'd d-do that? For me?”

I smiled at her again, and nodded sagely, pride beaming in my heart as I regarded my apprentice. This, she was more than worthy of, and she was too humble to even consider it. “Yes, my dear apprentice. Yes, I very much would.”

It took several minutes before my sagacious patience could break the princess out of her revelry, and return us to the matters of magic we were here for. “Now, I'm sure you'll have time to celebrate this later. However, there's something we need to do first. Would you show me how to cast that spell, Mercury?”

I had picked up plenty of its structure the first time she'd used it, but nonetheless a few peculiar hours we spent with our roles reversed – Princess Mercuria as the master, and duke Starswirl the Bearded of Cante-Wirl himself as the apprentice. The sun stood low, its red light gleaming through the windows as I gathered my magic; formed inside my mind, I crystallized my memories of today's lesson, and used the spell she'd just taught me to transfer them to the princess.

In more days than one, this was a day none of us would ever forget.