//------------------------------// // Night at the Palace // Story: CCC-To Find Her Place // by Fresnor //------------------------------// Dear Twilight Sparkle, Selene, and the other princesses, I think I’m starting to understand a bit about the non-alicorns feel when they meet you for the first time. While I was always conscious of the power that radiates off of you all it’s just different from the force of presence that is felt by those of the same race. Standing in front of the Lord and Lady of my people is just so different from being near you all and I really can’t fully describe it. The closest I can come to doing so is that it felt as if I was staring into something that is familiar but so out of reach that it is untouchable. Just standing in front of such power that is so like my own, yet just so many times more than mine feels like an impossibility. If I hadn’t been around all of you for as long as I was then I’m not sure if I would have been able to keep myself calm when I was in front of them. As first impressions go there is much in them that reminds me of Celestia and Luna. Lord Inari is so calm and collected that he is impossible to read and reminds me of Celestia while she holds court. The Lady Ogetsu on the other paw is more like Luna when she was dealing with foals and her thestrals. She was so warm and welcoming to me that I almost felt a kind of kinship with her that was unexplainable. At the same time their power was so overwhelming that I felt a bit of fear even though it wasn’t any worse than what I’ve felt from you. I was even shown a bit of their power on my first meeting as well as time suddenly stopped in the room. It didn’t happen for long but it was long enough for the Lady to tell me that we would talk later. I could guess what she meant as I had knowledge that isn’t all that safe to be given freely to others and wanted to clear the air as soon as I could. When time started again I could feel the dismissal from the two rulers which left me to wander the room meeting what would now be my peers. Your Friend, Flarenza I was still a bit shaken over not only meeting two being of legend but also of the display of power shown to me. I was lucky that I was able to follow the admiral around as I wasn’t sure what I would have done if he wasn’t there. He could tell that something was bothering me as he didn’t lead me right to any groups and instead led me around the outskirts of the party. “Are you okay there lassie?” I try to collect my wits about me and push my problems of until I can find time to deal with them later. “I think so, things are just a bit more overwhelming than I expected.” I straightened myself up a bit more as he escorted me around to meet the other big names I would have to deal with in the court. He explained a few things about each of them before we got to them so I wasn’t completely unprepared. He started with introducing me to the ones that were on the lower end of the court in that they either weren’t in charge of any of the major factions or were just a part of them. He left the leaders of the three major factions of the court until the end. As we moved to the first of them he explained to me what each of them were about. “Now lassie what you need to understand is that while the Lord and Lady have the final say on everything it is the nobles that decide on what issues they hear. Each faction has different priorities of what is important for them to hear and have different goals. The first group is run by Duke Feithidi and their main goal is to isolate us from the other universes to ensure our safety. They believe that we need to shut down the portals to prevent any danger from coming through them and to protect our kind.” I still wonder what he means by universes though I already could guess that this kingdom wasn’t a part of the world I was in originally. “The second leader is Duchess Bhean who leads the faction that wants to invade the other universes and create a kingdom like what we once had in the past. With all the portals we have access to they believe that we can easily take over a one of the lesser worlds and rule over them as we spread out once again.” I already can tell that this group’s ideals aren’t one I can really support as I have had enough of unnecessary conflict. “The third leader you need to be wary of is Duke Okami whose group is more of a wild card as they have no real set goal except to balance out the power of the other two. They may seem the weakest of the three but they have just enough power to make sure that anything that the other two want done needs to go through them. Even those that aren’t a part of any of the three factions, such as myself, tend to listen to what they have to say before making any decisions since they often point out all the flaws even though they never have any good ideas themselves.” I consider the three factions and while the last one sounds to be the one that sound most acceptable it still doesn’t appeal to me as they don’t seem to do anything. “My advice lassie is to try and play nice with them all but don’t commit to anything that you don’t have to. Just keep your options open until you have a chance to settle in since your presence really upsets the balance that was in place.” The admiral’s advice was pretty sound and I was starting to really trust his opinion since he hadn’t led me wrong yet. “That sounds like a good idea, I don’t know enough about how things work here to try and change anything yet.” He nods to me and we soon come to the first of the three leaders, Duke Feithidi. His bright yellow fur makes him stand out pretty well from the other kitsune around him. As predicted he tries to get me to join up with his group though I do my best to be evasive without insulting him. He seems earnest in wanting to protect the kingdom yet the way he wants to do so just doesn’t seem like the right way to do it. After promising to at least think about his offer we then move along to the next faction leader. The first impression I have of Duchess Bhean is of complete revulsion as her fur is of the worst shade of green possible. Talking to her isn’t much better either as she is everything that I hate about nobles all in one package. I do what I can to hide my feelings about her as she pushes her thoughts on the superiority of the kitsune race and how we should rule over everything else. Granted some of her reasons for wanting to expand aren’t bad if things are as bad as she says regarding overpopulation and lack of resources but I wanted to form my own opinions on that first. I’m glad I don’t have to make any promises to her and we leave her behind soon enough. I could already tell that something was up as we approached the area where the third leader was supposed to be. It wasn’t hard telling who we were going to meet as the raven colored form came into view. He was flamboyantly entertaining those around him and it didn’t do much for my opinion of Duke Okami. While I was glad he didn’t do anything to try and get me to join his group he worked way too hard trying to impress me. He was almost as bad as Prince Blueblood was back in Equestria which really turned me off of him. I was actually thankful when we finally left his presence to mingle with the rest of the crowd. With a chance to look things over now that I didn’t have anyone else to meet I found that the party wasn’t much better than ones run by nobles that I had been to before. The clothing was really out of date but they still used it to try and show off their status and the food wasn’t all that great either. Now that the admiral had shown me around he left to speak with some of his acquaintances while I found myself heading towards a balcony that overlooked the palace gardens and the city beyond. I took in the cooling air as snowflakes floated down to cover everything in a white powder. This gave some of the nobles the chance to speak with me alone though not many took the opportunity to do so. I was glad not many came up to me while I was out there as I needed a moment to collect my thoughts as I wasn’t sure what to think about the nobles I had met. I suspected that my plans for study were going to be thrown off track for the first few months here until I learned what I needed to so as not to cause too many problems. I suspected though that no matter what I did someone would take offense. For the rest of the party I kept from making any mistakes by dancing around any questions that are brought to me. Since I don’t know what is going on here yet I want to make sure that they don’t find out much about me. I’m not sure how well I did at it but I used whatever tricks that I learned from the few nobles I respected. I kept it up until the party started winding down and I began to wonder what I was supposed to do next. Luckily on of the diamond dog guards came up to deliver a message for me to meet with Lady Ogetsu before I left. I wasn’t expecting to see her again this soon but it probably was best to get it over with as soon as possible. After informing the admiral of where I would be I was led through the palace to what appears to be a personal study. Looking around a bit I find that many of the books seem to be in languages that I am not familiar with though the ones I can read aren’t recognizable to me either. I soon hear the door open behind me and I turn to see Lady Ogetsu entering to whom I bow to. “Oh no need for that now, my dear. It hasn’t been that long since I’ve talked to one of your type to forget how much you all dislike having to bow and scrape all the time.” I’m thrown a bit off about all this though I relax a bit as she motions me to a cushion while she takes a seat behind the desk. “Now I’m sure you have all kinds of questions and I’ll do my best to answer them for you. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to help a winter kitsune what with them all being chased away by the others and their silly political games.” Thinking back to some of the things that I’ve seen and combining that with what she said is common with winter kitsune then I could understand them not wanting to stay. “Well Lady Ogetsu, there are a few things that I wanted to ask about though many of the things I’m curious about I can easily learn from a library if there is one I can use at least.” She nods at my questioning look about the library and I continue. “I think my biggest worry is about how the magic I’ve studied and learned is seen around here. I’d rather not stir up any trouble by using spells that are frowned upon if I can help it.” Lady Ogetsu looks a bit down for some reason when I mention this. “Yes, we probably should speak about that before you do or say something that will alienate you from the other nobles. It’s unfortunate that you have to study into the forbidden arts but we’ve seen that you’ve only used your skills to combat those that abuse those same skills.” My ears perk up a bit at her odd choice of words as she continues. “You should refrain from any acts of necromancy while you are here as well as not talking about it either.” I nod to her and consider what to ask next but her words just won’t leave me. “What did you mean by you seen me use my skills in combat? I don’t think I’ve used that kind of magic where word can get back to here.” I’m surprised to see Lady Ogetsu look a bit worried before she sighs. “Well I guess now is as good a time as any for you to learn about this though we try to keep from those that aren’t a Duke or Duchess. There was an old spell that me and my husband were forced to cast to protect our people after the war that forced us here. It linked all kitsune-kind to us in a way that allows us to watch over them once they reach adulthood. Unfortunately we’ve found that when a kitsune earns their fifth tail we no longer can see them so we had to resort to other measures. Using the power of names we have been able to keep the peace by removing certain memories so that forbidden magic is kept from them completely.” I’m not sure how I feel about that though I’m not prepared for what comes next. “My husband even insisted in using it on the portals to keep us safe as well though your presence shows what a mistake that was. Any that are banished or leave without permission have their names erased from the kingdoms history. Nothing about them is left here which led to us not knowing your true name so we are putting a lot of trust in you. He never expected that one of our subjects would leave while pregnant meaning that the spells on the portals never affected you but your mother was so we couldn’t see her on your birth to learn it and add it to the book of names.” I’m not sure how to feel about all this and I say something on the subject. “I’m not sure what to say about all that. I’ve seen what can happen if knowledge is lost as it always seems to come back when you aren’t prepared for it. In fact as you’ve mentioned seeing I would never have been able to fight some of the things I did without the knowledge.” Lady Ogetsu sighs before nodding. “That is true, though I wish it wasn’t so. I wonder what would have happened if our subjects actually remembered those that left the kingdom as well as why. Maybe there would be more winter kitsune around still if they knew what happened to the others.” She looks saddened as she thinks about what could have been and I do what I can to change topics to something safer. I keep things on more neutral topics such as where I am going to stay as well as how trade and stuff works here. I was surprised to find that the dress I was wearing was worth more than most have access to as the gems are actually crystalized magic in their base form. Something about the kind of magic used around them while they are growing determines the type of gem they become. In fact it’s because of this process that makes it why the enchantments work better on certain gems over others. It also explained the reaction the court had to my dress as it was a show of wealth to them and it confused them considering I was a new arrival. Eventually things wound down as we ran out of things to talk about as well as the fact that it was almost morning. As I was about to leave with an escort to my new residence I thought of one last thing to ask. “Lady Ogetsu, if you don’t mind there was one other thing I wanted to ask. What happened between you and Lord Inari and Princess Celestia and Luna? When I first met Princess Celestia she seemed to hate me just for being a kitsune.” I feel that I hit another landmine issue as she looks crestfallen. “Oh yes, that. Honestly I’m not sure what happened to cause the split between our two kingdoms. I used to be such good friends with Lady Tsukiyomi, though I guess it’s Luna now, that when she attacked me that night I was horribly confused.” She raises a paw up to the scar on her chest. “That night was so confusing that we were forced to flee for our lives until we eventually arrived here. It’s been so long since I thought about that time that I can’t remember many of the details so you might find more in the library. One thing does stick out in my mind though in that when the last of our subjects came through the portal time on the other side seemed to speed up for some reason. We had trouble getting enough food to feed everyone until we opened portals to other places.” With that information on my mind I bow my way out of the room and follow my escort to my new home. My mind was spinning over this new information especially over Princess Luna being the same being as Lady Tsukiyomi. If this is true then that might mean that Lady Amaterasu is Princess Celestia. Trying to reconcile these facts as well as the rest of what I learned tonight is hard after such a long day. Maybe it will be best if I get some sleep before thinking too hard on all this. Maybe things will be clearer after a good night’s rest. Soon enough we arrive at the front of the building that is to be my home while in New Sionnach.