Chapter 3: Garden Party
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"Bring us thine Book of Stars; Volume Seventy-Seven: Constellations M-7 through Q-11." Luna ordered. Moon Trot frowned slightly, but nodded. The guards heard the Princess and began to return to their posts without need of Moon Trot to inform them, but she did go back out to the antechamber and told the surplus guards present to return to their regular posts.
She returned to hear Luna's next set of instructions. She nodded, took two steps towards the door, then stopped. "Um, your highness, if I may..." she began. She did not want to bring up the arguments made with the astronomers, but she did want to see if she could distract Luna from the monotony and continue to try and reintroduce her to society. Nightmare Night was a step in the right direction, but it was just a beginning. It had to be a beginning.
"The Elements of Magic and Generosity, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, were on the guest list to master Jet Set's party. Perhaps if you spent a little of the free time this night at the party, you could avoid the more tiresome guests by keeping company with them?"
Suppressing the urge to indulge in a sigh, Luna instead spent several moments trying to think of something that would be rather more Princess-like to indulge in. Attending parties required socialising, and socialising was something that was difficult to achieve when your tongue was not the most modern in the land. Alas, nothing came quickly to mind and it became obvious that the Goddess of the Night had been defeated.
"Very well ..." Luna breathed. "Lead the way."
Moon Trot could see that Luna was trying to think of something, most likely a reason to not go to the party, and while a simple refusal would have effectively ended the issue- though Moon Trot would have been persistent over time- the fact that the princess relented sooner rather than later spoke volumes for her subconscious desires.
"Very well!" the Minister of the Night said with a bright smile. "Shall we walk or would you prefer me to prepare the chariot?" She asked while signalling for one of the guards to come nearer. She instructed him to prepare Luna's escort by the palace exit and to send three Lunar Guards to the party immediately to perform the normal preparations for the arrival of the princess.
"Nay," Luna commanded as she flicked her ethereal mane over her shoulder. "We shalt journey with thine hooves with thee. Our night and our stars shalt be all the cover we require. It hath been so very long since we last attended a social function; the wedding of Cadance and the Captain of the Royal Guard aside, and even in that we were unfortunately tardy."
The Princess cocked her head to the side. "Tell us - can thee dance?"
Nodding to Luna when the chariot was canceled, Moon Trot corrected her orders to the guard and he left to make the preparations. She was going over a mental checklist when Luna asked if she could dance. Her first thought was that Luna wanted to dance with her, but she shook that thought from her head immediately.
"Erm, I usually just nod my head with the beat to the music," Moon Trot admitted. "If you're concerned for the party, I don't think an informal occasion will have any large expectations...or even a dance floor."
"We art not concerned with this coming function," Luna clarified. "It is customary at any royal function, such as that we art attending on the morrow, to begin and end a Prince or Princess’s celebration of birth with a dance. It is also customary for both Celestia and ourselves to dance with our chosen invitees."
The Princess stopped, raising an eyebrow slightly, in an imperious look. "As our companion, thou shalt dance with us twice; to open Blueblood's celebration and to close it. We expect thee to do more than nod thy head to the music."
Moon Trot blushed a bit. Dancing with Luna would be very nice, but it was nice in the way that suddenly getting asked to the prom by someone you had a crush on was nice. Her mouth had gone dry and she swallowed reflexively before moving her tongue to try and moisten it.
"Um...well, then, in that case, I will take some remedial dance lessons this morning so I can perform to your expectations." she said as she imagined herself tripping all over Luna's hooves and falling into a bowl of punch.
Luna nodded. "We recommend thou familiarise thyself with the Waltz of the Moon, and the Bright Star Hooftrot, We shalt excuse thee from thy duties for the morrow's day; the Waltz of the Moon alone hath over three hundred individual steps. To expect thee to learn it only a few hours prior to dancing it would be foolish."
"It is a great honour to dance with a Princess," She continued, flexing her wings idly. "Especially so as we hath not danced, as is traditional, in over a thousand years. With the entire extended Royal Family, Nobleponies and those of import such as the Elements of Harmony in attendance, thou shalt have a wide audience to impress. We are confident thine faith hath not been misplaced."
"I understand and am deeply honored to have been chosen by you as your guest," Moon Trot said, "I will but my best effort into learning...three hundred steps...as expediently as I possibly can." She gave Luna a half bow despite fearing she might embarrass the princess with her own inadequacy.
"The guards are ready to escort you to the party," Moon Trot continued, hoping to change the subject. "As soon as you are prepared, we can depart."
"We are sure thou shalt prove to be worthy of us," Luna nodded. "Let us depart henceforth."
As the Princess made her way outside, she glanced up at the night and scowled. Forming a wreath of cobalt around her horn, the Alicorn forced a particular point of light from its place in the blackness of the sky and transited it behind the face of the Moon.
Moon Trot nodded and waited for the princess, getting into step beside her. She glanced skyward when they were outside and watched as Luna moved the star Sirius, finding a bit of humor in Luna's irritation.
"We are oft irked by Sirius, which repeatedly wanders thine night as if it were looking for something, or bored of its place in our workings. It is quite vexing; a star of its age should know better."
"Perhaps he is bored staying in one place at a time," Moon Trot said, "Or perhaps he is unhappy behind the moon, unable to shine his light upon you. If I were up there, I'd definitely try to peek around the moon to get a better look at my mistress."
The Princess considered her MInister's words. "Perhaps thou speaketh sense. Still, we all have our places, do we not? Oft, we must accept a role which brings sadness or irritation and we must do our best to endure. We hath learned this through a great difficulty and much hardship."
Returning her gaze to the sky above, Luna closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. "Thine Moon hath reached its Zenith. We are at the height of our powers."
"Come!" Luna enthused, rapidly breaking into a trot. "Let us make haste!"
Moon Trot was forced to a halt at the reply from Princess Luna. We must accept a role which brings sadness. The words echoed in her mind. Did Luna know? Did she suspect? Or were those words just chance? She did not have much time to reflect on it before Luna began her run. Height of her powers indeed Moon Trot thought, galloping to keep up.
It was important for a Princess to remain regal at all times. Maintain dignity, poise and standing so that all the ponies of Equestria could continue to look up to their kind, benign rulers. However, here in the dead of night, with only the Lunar Guard and a breathless unicorn for company - combined with the Moon reaching its zenith an utterly inappropriate, foal-like glee overcame the Princess of the Night.
Unlike the Sun, which maintained a constant relationship with Celestia the Moon waxed and Waned; as it grew to a full orb, all the mischief of the Night bore down on Luna. Tomorrow, at Blueblood's birthday, the Moon would be full but today, nearly so, the Princess still felt more than a little adventurous.
"Come!" She bellowed, her trot breaking into a full gallop as she ducked and weaved through the castle complex. "Is thou out of practice in the fine physical game of galloping? Lo, even thine guardsponies appear to struggle!"
Luna's glee was clear and infectious. Moon Trot couldn't help but giggle a bit as she tried to catch up, and the royal guards- caught off guard at the moment- fell behind. She laughed loudly when Luna taunted her and her guards, then leaned her head a little lower and really started to try in earnest. She was soon pulling up behind Luna, and she took the inside track when they came to a sharp right in the corridors, which put her right beside her.
"I'm...not....out...yet..." she said to Luna once she was neck and neck with her.
"Impressive," Luna replied, her billowing mane forced backwards by the wind and streamlining behind her features. "We shalt teach thee a great lesson of Royalty and of being a Princess ..."
Wings flaring outwards, the Goddess of the Night pushed free of the stone with her hooves and soared upwards. "Always use every advantage that thou might hath!"
Spiraling around a tower, Luna disappeared from view. Her laughter echoing on the winds.
Moon Trot hadn't had this much youthful, gleeful fun in quite some time. Years, easily. Probably not since she was still in school, prior to working for the clandestine service at all. Her gleeful laugh became a childish scowl when the princess used her wings to fly away.
Moon Trot came to a stop and pouted. Three of Luna's guards flew over her head in an attempt to catch up to Luna while the rest of the guards ran past Moon Trot, frantically searching for their princess.
"Use any advantage?" she muttered to herself. She looked up and out a window at one of the spires of the castle. This one had a balcony that she could clearly see. Moon Trot had been practicing the teleportation spell and could handle it fairly well with line-of-sight, which she had.
Squinting her eyes, she focused on the balcony as a purple glow surrounded her horn. In a flash of orange light, she was gone, appearing at the same instant on the balcony she had been planning to get to.
"Ha! Yes!" She cheered. She walked around the balcony, looking down at Canterlot, and then she saw the lights of Jet Set's party.
"I'll beat you there yet Luna," Moon Trot said with a grin, looking down at the party and focusing again. She vanished, but her focus hadn't been as great and her cockiness had taken its toll. She appeared at the party, but she appeared to feet over the punch bowl, falling into it and knocking the entire table over.
The smile quickly faded from Luna's face as she gracefully returned to the stone flagging - folding her wings neatly by her sides in time to watch her Minister spontaneously appear with a loud pop of air suddenly being forced aside. Even the reactions of an Alicorn were not sufficient and the Princess's magic latched onto the unicorn only after the table upturned and broke in half. Luna's best efforts succeeded in freezing the majority of the party food where it was thrown, mostly silently levitating mere inches above the shining marble floors.
Embarrassed could not adequately describe how Moon Trot was feeling at the moment. She had been so foalish as to attempt a spell she was scarcely skilled at over such a long distance and into such a public venue. Not only could she have hurt somepony, but she had destroyed a table, many h'orderves, and all of the punch.
"We ..." The Princess began, acutely aware that the room's focus had shifted from Moon Trot to her Princess. "We ... Apologise for the manner of our entrances. We trust no harm hath come to anypony?"
There was sufficient force behind the words to make it clear that Luna was not-too-subtly suggesting the gathered ponies find something else to focus on. Setting Moon Trot down gently on the floor, the Princess used magic easily capable of lifting the Moon for the mundane task of cleaning the sticky punch from her Minister's flank.
Luna was quick to come to her rescue, which Moon Trot was grateful for but also ashamed of. It was her duty to serve the princess, not the other way around, and to have Luna magically removing punch from her coat was terrible.
"Guardspony!" Luna muttered, instantly summoning the bat-winged pegasus who had only now made it into the banque. "Proceed immediately to the kitchen and return with replacement punch. Post-haste!"
"I'm terribly sorry, your highness," Moon Trot muttered to Luna, her cheeks rosy red.
While protocol would never allow it, Luna knew it was her who should be offering the apologies. She had, unforgivably, allowed her control to slip and given into the Night Fever which afflicted her so outrageously whenever the Moon came close to full. Normally she would shut herself away, high in a tower with a plethora of books and a candle to read them by. Now, of course, she was not only engaging in a social function but had a state event - however tedious - to attend tomorrow. And yet, despite her best efforts to admonish herself, the Moon high above laughed and was thoroughly amused by the chaos. How embarrassing ...
"We should not have encouraged thee ..." The Princess managed evenly. "Thou art thine Minister; thy failings are our failings. Worry not; it is not worthy of further discussion."
Luna decided a change of subject was best. "Come, let us find an alternative to punch."
Moon Trot wanted to refute Luna's claim that it was her fault. As Minister, it was her own responsibility to behave and conduct herself properly. As Luna said, any mistakes made by Moon Trot were mistakes made by Luna, and for that reason Moon Trot needed to remain up to a higher standard. Luna did not wish for further discussion so Moon Trot was willing to drop the matter, if only because it was humiliating to think of.
The Element of Magic and the Element of Generosity approached when no other ponies dared to. Luna suggested they move away from the punch table and, again, Moon Trot was more than willing to oblige. "Yes, your highness," she muttered, following Luna away from the scene. Twilight Sparkle followed while Rarity vanished to speak to someone in a monocle.
"Is everypony okay?" Someone said, walking over to them. It was Twilight Sparkle, and with her was Rarity, "Hello Princess Luna," she said to Luna, giving her a courteous bow.
"Greetings Twilight Sparkle," Moon Trot said once they were well away from the accident site, "I'm sorry for not acknowledging you before. Yes, I am quite alright, and I appreciate the concern," she gave the purple unicorn a bow.
"Its fine," Twilight said, not used to being bowed to, "I don't think we've met though?"
Luna investigated the refreshments table, and found herself almost overwhelmed. There were dozens upon dozens of bottles, filled with a fantastical variety of coloured liquids. Some seemed as thick as treacle, others veritably fizzing in their containers. Orange, purple, gold, green, even black! - and all the colours in between. When last she had frequented a gathering like this, Ponies were only just mastering the complexities of brewing and the choices of fine drinking were limited to a very, very bitter wine or a very, very coarse mead.
Which was which? Some were labelled, others a mystery. Alcohol hadn't passed the lips of the Princess in over ten centuries ... Perhaps she should be more flexible, less analytical.
Resolving to take her Sister's advice under-wing, Luna randomly levitated a glass of something clear. Stalliongrad Vodka, so the label boasted. Shrugging slightly, the Alicorn deftly tipped an entire glass of it up and downed the strange concoction in one.
Oh my, was all she could manage in the battle to prevent herself heaving it all back up again. Inwardly Luna thanked her ability to appear an island of tranquillity to others, all the while struggling to breathe through the after-taste of the firewater. Perhaps it was an acquired taste?
Luna poured a second glass and downed it just as quickly.
"I beg your pardon," Moon Trot said to Twilight, "I am Moon Trot, the Minister of the Night for Princess Luna."
"Moon Trot..." Twilight said, tapping her chin, "Where have I heard that...oh wait! You're the one that told my Brother where-"
"Yes!" Moon Trot said, quickly cutting Twilight Sparkle off. Lowering her voice she said "Best not to speak of that."
"Oh, right, sorry," Twilight said with a guilty smile. "Thanks though."
"It was my pleasure," Moon Trot answered. Returning to a normal speaking voice she said "It is nice to have the opportunity to meet you. The Princess speaks very well of you and of all of the Elements." Upon mentioning Luna, Moon Trot looked around for her. She saw her at the bar with a glass of vodka and watched her gulp it down. She saw her reaction to it and for a moment thought she would turn away from the strong liquor, but then she downed a second one.
"One moment," Moon Trot said, running from Twilight over to Luna. "Princess!" She said assertively but kept her voice low, "I do not think drinking so fast is very prudent. That vodka is a rather high proof."
Finishing the second glass, Luna was about to levitate another bottle - this one a deep sea green - from the table when her Minister's urgent protestations seized her attention. "We art several thousand years old ... That is to say, we are old enough to know how much ale we can imbibe 'fore retiring to thine chambers. Indeed, we concocted the most powerful drink in all of Equestria. Though we are forbidden from making it any more ..."
The Princess blinked, glancing up at the chandeliers. They were very impressive; and bright. Very bright. Were they this bright earlier? She could not remember. Still, the warmth spreading outwards from her stomach to her hooves suggested it wasn't all that important. "Come! Thou shalt drink and toast with us."
"But..." Moon Trot began. The fact of the matter was that the liquor Luna was drinking, which was all at least forty proof, could not be compared to ale, which tended to be between ten and twenty proof. Before she could argue, however, she was invited to join Moon Trot in a toast.
"Very well, your highness," She said, levitating her own glass, "A toast to you and to your glorious night." She offered.
Luna sniffed her own glass cautiously, then promptly devoured it. "Yes! To us! We art quite glorious, are we not?"
"Yes you are," Moon Trot said with a smile before drinking her drink. She glanced around the party. Naturally, Luna was attracting glances. Not due to her behavior, which thus far was still proper and becoming of a princess. It was just her presence that garnered attention.
Looking around as if to make sure nopony was close enough to hear, the Princess leaned in to Moon Trot. "If thee promises to take no further baths in punch, tomorrow at Blueblood's gathering, we shalt allow thee to be the first pony in thirteen hundred years to taste Moonshine."
"Do not mention this to anypony, our sister especially," The Alicorn warned starkly. "She ... does not approve of it." A small grin ghosted across Luna's features at the thought.
The subject of 'moonshine' intrigued Moon Trot. She nodded, blushed a bit, then said "I'll do my best to avoid the punch bowl tomorrow night." After finishing her drink she set the glass down and looked around, "Well your highness, shall we begin your socialization? This is a party after all, and you seem to be the center of attention."
The Princess glanced around, suddenly becoming acutely aware of just how many ponies were making a half-hearted effort at not intruding, but remaining sufficiently close to be ready to pounce into conversation. Quickly refilling the empty glass at hoof and downing its contents, the humour and glee in the Alicorn's expression drained away to be replaced by neutrality and poise. As befitting a Princess, of course.
"Indeed," She began. Turning on her hooves as if to announce her availability for discourse. "Let us begin this so that it might end forthwith."
Moon Trot looked around the room, observing the quickly averted glances and checking for faces she recognized. "Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, is nearby speaking with I believe his name is Hoity Toity. Over there is the Element of Generosity conversing with Jet Set, his wife Upper Crust, an entrepreneur by the name of Filthy Rich and his daughter. I believe your...nephew...is speaking with madam Photo Finish. Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis are speaking to Flank Sinatra. Beyond them I cannot be certain of the names of the other ponies present."
"We do not understand ... Is it not traditional for those seeking to engage us to seek us out firstly? How shalt we broach an introduction? We are used to being sought, rather than seeking ... Nonetheless ..."
Luna marched forwards, her hooves promptly carrying the Alicorn towards Twilight and Hoity Toity. She came to an abrupt halt and, awkwardly, interjected.
"Greetings!" She almost-shouted, just about avoiding the Royal Canterlot Voice.
Moon Trot opened her mouth to explain that in modern informal parties such as this, it was equally acceptable for anypony to come and speak with anypony, so long as they were polite of course. Before she could, though, Luna moved off towards Twilight and Hoity Toity. She winced- along with the other two ponies- when Luna greeted them in a voice just short of her Royal one.
"Hi Princess Luna," Twilight said, bowing respectfully. Hoity Toity also bowed, then fixed his glasses and held his hoof out to the princess.
"Pleasure to meet you your highness," he said, "I'm Hoity Toity, a major figure in the fashion world, and might I be so bold as to say that your evening attire is quite superb!"
Luna balked at the outstretched hoof, first glancing up at Hoity Toity, then across to Moon Trot and finally, back down at the hoof. Admittedly she was out of practice in social situations but ... When did touching become so widespread, so common? Did everypony seek any opportunity to make physical contact with one another? Luna could remember a time when merely touching a Princess of Equestria would bring the sharpened blade of a Royal Guard to the offender's throat ...
She shook her head slightly. Those times were gone. Clearly this was the expected standard.
Hesitantly, Luna reached out with her own hoof and made contact. It took the remainder of the Princess's effort to carefully modulate her words, forcing herself to adopt as modern a lexicon as possible.
Moon Trot turned her head a bit and lifted her hoof to cover her amused chuckle at Luna's expression when Hoity Toity held out his hoof. But Luna caught on quick and shook the fashion leader's hoof.
"We thank you; though we ... That is, I, have not gone to any unusual or mentionable trouble this eve ..."
"Yes, it is elegant in its simplicity!" Hoity continued, "Why, I daresay every mare in Equestria would love to own such fine attire." He would have continued but he seemed to have lost the princess's attention in favor of Twilight Sparkle.
Luna turned her gaze towards the purple unicorn. "Twilight Sparkle; how does your study of the arcane progress? We ... I have been ... Impressed with the reports our - my - sister has provided regarding your talents in all things magical."
"Oh, my studies are going magnificently Princess Luna," Twilight said, always happy to talk about what she's been learning. "Materialization, summoning and teleportation, alteration, restoration, I've been trying a little bit of everything recently. Spike keeps telling me to try focusing on one subject and get better at them one at a time, but there's just so much magic in the world I don't know how I can choose just one!"
"Magic comes forth from a common point," The Princess replied with a nod. "There is no reason thou - you - cannot tread the paths between them. As is the nature of all things, some things ... You ... Will be better at performing than others. For example, we - I - have always had a greater skill at Battle Magic than our - my - sister. Yet, she has a mastery of healing and regeneration that eclipses mine. You are young, though, and there is much time left to you to seek your talents. For now, we - I - think it is best that you wander where your mind takes thee - you."
Twilight Sparkle smiled brightly. "Thank you princess! I will! But, um, now that you mention it, what's battle magic? I've never seen it in the library or in the archives."
"Battle Magic was outlawed centuries ago," Moon Trot interjected, rather abruptly, "The use of it is forbidden after the Windego Massacre."
"But why?" Twilight asked, "I mean, we have unicorns in the Royal Army and in the Royal Guard. If anything happened wouldn't we need such magic to help-"
"The battle magic practiced by some unicorns turned out to be too much for society to handle," Moon Trot said, "You should read more history and you would know why it was outlawed."
Luna raised an eyebrow at her Minister's sudden, forceful interruption. "The threats faced by Equestria were ... More extreme in those times," She continued, her displeasure at the tone of Moon Trot still obvious as her gaze returned to Twilight. "Greater offensive magic was thus required to safeguard our - my - lands."
Battle Magic was an admittedly dark form of the arcane art; but equally necessary in order to face great threats and triumph. Since her return, the Princess had not taken a particular interest in the training regimens of the Royal Army beyond her own Lunar Guard - she had simply assumed the ways of old survived in some form or another to modernity. Seemingly, this was not the case. Could it be, somehow, that Battle Magic in any form was now dead; forgotten or deliberately suppressed? Suddenly a truth seemed to dawn. The rise of Discord again, the Changeling Invasion - could these threats have been all the worse for the lack of powerful magic to wield against them? Luna had, regretfully been absent for both and so she could not say for sure ... Still ...
Any form of magic taken from a particularly pure emotion was dangerous. In the wrong hands - as demonstrated by the Changeling Queen - Cadance's magic of love was a potent tool of manipulation. Battle Magic was directly spawned from aggression and violence and thus, required a strong and disciplined mind to control effectively. Was this the heart of the matter? Was this another consequence of The Nightmare? That her near-unsurpassed mastery of Battle Magic was such that Celestia might move to strike it from the textbooks and pages of history?
The Princess forced herself to return to the matter at hand. "There are forms of magic so old that only those who are ageless can practice them. Celestia and ... I ... Know a great many spells which are no longer appropriate or commonplace."
Still, the frown would not leave the Goddess of the Moon's features. She had mastered Battle Magic ... How could something as powerful and impressive be allowed to wither and die in ignorance?