·
Chapter 3
Diplomacy, Confrontation, and Luna’s Ultimate Prank
·
“Princess Twilight!” A pegasus guard came in through the door.
“Yes?”
“The ambassador from the Griffin Nation requests an audience with you.”
Oh no. Diplomacy? I don’t know anything about diplomacy! Okay, take it easy, Twilight, just make sure you don’t start a war or anything...
“Send her in."
“Erm... the ambassador is a ‘him’, your majesty.”
Really? Oh man, this isn’t helping!
“Oh. My apologies. But yes – send him in.”
The guard left, but quickly returned with the ambassador.
Oh he must’ve been in the next room over! I hope he didn’t overhear my little faux pas...
“So you’re Princess Twilight?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s me.”
The ambassador nodded his head. “’sup?”
“Eh...” Twilight wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Not... much?”
“Name’s Geldo, by the way. Say, you got some good eats around here? I’m starvin’.”
“Well, uh...” Uh-oh. What do griffins usually eat? “What sort of food are you looking for?”
“Meh, I normally go for horsemeat. Or maybe beef. Or—”
Twilight shot him a look that would have killed a griffin at 20 paces.
(Geldo, 30 paces back, was only stunned.)
“Kidding, kidding! We eat like, bugs and stuff. Geez, can’t you take a joke?”
Twilight continued to glare at him.
“Wow. Mares these days have no sense of humor! See, this is what happens when you put a woman in charge...”
Really? You went there? Twilight decided enough was enough. “Get out.”
“Say what?”
Twilight’s horn glowed. “Get. Out. NOW.”
“Okay, okay!” The ambassador skittered off.
Twilight sighed. She knew she was right to dismiss such a rude guest, but she worried about the diplomatic consequences. I hope I didn’t just make a big mistake.
·
·
“Princess Celestia!”
Celestia looked up from the now-empty cart of cake and pastries.
“Oh hi girls!”
Unfortunately, said girls did not look happy. Pinkie Pie darted in.
“Princess you have to do something! Twilight says you left the castle and put her in charge of everything and stuff but she doesn’t know how to move the sun so now it’s stuck in place and we’re all gonna fry so could you make the sun go down please? Oh and hi Luna.”
“Oh good. You noticed me.”
“What’s the big deal, anyway?” asked Celestia. “The sun’s pretty low in the sky. You’ll be fine if it stays where it is... I think.”
At this point, Rainbow Dash flew in, followed by the other three.
“But that won’t work, Princess!” said Dash.
“You sure? Seems to be holding up pretty good so far. We haven’t burned up yet, have we?”
“No, but we will if it stays there long enough! And besides, if it’s mid-afternoon here, then it’s noon somewhere, and midnight somewhere else.”
“Oh.” Celestia blinked. “Oops.”
Her horn glowed, and the sun went down. “There ya go. Run along now.”
The five ponies left Sugarcube Corner, breathing a collective sigh of relief on their way out.
“Well, Sister,” asked Celestia, “where to now?”
“Oh, I know! Let’s go visit Zecora!”
“Sounds like fun!”
Neither Celestia nor Luna had actually met Zecora before, but they’d heard plenty about her from Twilight’s letters. She seemed like a nice zebra to meet, so why not?
(Besides, no responsibility!)
They arrived at her house in the Everfree forest, and heard a conversation inside.
“Check it out, Zecora!”
“Now that there is quite a wow. All I can say is holy cow.”
“Isn’t it awesome? Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle have the same one, too!”
“I must say, it’s quite a lark – a Cutie Mark Crusaders cutie mark!”
*KNOCK KNOCK*
“It seems we have a visitor. I wonder who it could be.”
Zecora answered the door.
“Why hello, Princess Luna! It’s always an honor to greet royalty.”
...
“And yes, Celestia too. It’s also good to see you.”
Celestia looked puzzled. What the heck?
Luna smirked at her sister. “HAH!”
“Come in, come in, the two of you! Take a look here at Apple Bloom!”
Zecora was right – Apple Bloom did indeed have a rather peculiar cutie mark. The mark was of her and her friends, with the CMC insignia in the background.
Celestia looked at it, intrigued. “This is... odd. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it.”
While Celestia examined Apple Bloom’s cutie mark and quizzed her on the details, Zecora pulled Luna aside.
“Now princess, I know what you seek. But be warned, its power is not for the weak.”
“You know... but how? And you don’t think I’m weak, do—”
“Of course not, dear Luna, miss! otherwise I wouldn’t be telling you this.” Zecora leaned in closer. “And I know what you need, I can see the signs – you’re not the only one who can pry somepony’s mind. Now over the hill and around the bend, break the rock... and that’s the end.”
Luna thought for a second. “Oh! That’s where it is! Thanks!”
“No problem, dear. Now remember, no fear!”
And so, with Celestia still distracted by Apple Bloom’s meta cutie mark, Luna slipped off into the night.
Over the hill and around the bend, break the rock and that’s the end... now where’s that giant boulder again?
After some searching, she found what she was looking for.
It was a big rock.
It looked out of place, like somepony had put it there.
And it was roughly where Zecora’s cryptic instructions said it would be.
Now all I need to do is smash this open, thought Luna. You know what, screw it Rock Smash is boring. I can live with a type disadvantage.
Princess Luna used Hyper Beam!
it’s not very affective...
…
the ROCK was vaporized!
*DO DEE DOO, DO DO DEE DO DO DEE DOOOOOO*
Meh, stupid rock.
With that out of the way, our favorite princess (deal with it, Celestia) trotted down to the cavern below.
*Author’s note: I do actually think Celestia’s pretty cool too. But she is quite an attention hog sometimes.
Luna approached the bottom of the cave. There was a small pond under there, its surface as smooth as glass.
Time for some fun, thought Luna.
The newfangled word still felt strange to her ancient mind, but it she knew it was just right for this occasion.
Luna was prepared to show Celestia who was really the best trickster. Celestia may be famous for her trolling skills, but in reality she was the apprentice. Luna was the master. And it was time to remind everyone of that.
“And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared, at the prospect of being doubly mared.”
...
“The fun has been doubled!”
·
×