The Princess of Night in the City of Light

by Carnifaxy

Chapter 2

"Do I have to be all dressed up?" Flurry pouted as Luna made sure her niece's dress didn't constrain her too much.

"We are hosting Queen Vivienne, Flurry, so yes. I am dressed up, and Spike is as well."

For his part Spike was constantly checking himself out in the mirror. "Yeah, looking great there Spike! It's been ages since I looked so dashing."

Tiberius was sitting on the floor next to Spike with his own matching red bowtie on. The grandfather clock next to them let out a chime, the hour of the Queen’s arrival. Luna gave one last check to make sure that the other three had nothing out of place before leading them to the foyer of the house.

Fussing gently with her own dress, she waited until the oaken doors were opened, the thestral guard walking inside and holding it open.

"Presenting her royal highness, Queen Vivienne of Aquileia," rasped the bat pony.

The griffon walked in, her own guards following close behind her. The most striking feature Luna saw was the hen's eyes, a bright, teal blue that seemed to be full of amusement even as she kept a more subdued expression. The white feathering around her eyes helped draw attention to her irises, the rest of her a rich brown save for her curious blonde wig. The second striking feature was the queen's royal garb, finely tailored that even Rarity would have felt inferior to the quality of the make, and all without any of the cumbersome accessories of her role like the crown or scepter.

Luna moved to bow and she heard Vivienne's laugh, soft and rich like her accent.

"Oh no no no, I am a guest to your lovely home, Princess Luna! We are peers, and peers do not bow to one another!" the griffon queen chided lightly. "And look, you have the lovely children and..."

Luna stole a glance, Tiberius standing up proudly. "That is Tiberius, he is a dear pet of mine. He is known as an opossum, the only marsupial that exists outside of Cross Island."

"I see. Such an exotic creature, well fitting for a princess no?"

"Opossums are common throughout Equestria, barring the deserts of the southwest. They're not very exotic at all," Flurry Heart peeped up before she idly kicked a hoof against the ground. "Um, your highness."

Another laugh from the queen. "You have such a darling niece, Princess. But please, I am here for a purpose, no? Shall we get to business?"

Luna nodded and motioned for the others. "Spike, is the dining room ready?"

"Everything is all set, Princess Luna!"

"Good, please begin serving dinner."

Vivienne raised a slight brow as she smiled. "I am curious to see what a young dragon cooks for royalty."

At the dinner table Luna sat at the head with Vivienne on her right and Flurry on her left. Spike took it upon himself to serve the meals, putting the plates in front of them. Vivienne could not help but stare at what lay before her on her plate.

"I made it all from scratch! Some good ol' hayburgers and fries, like how they're made at Hay Burger! Twilight loved eating there," the dragon's voice hitched a little.

Vivienne glanced up at Spike and gave him a small, strained smile. "It looks quite interesting. The ponies of Aquileia eat similar things I am told, but I have never experienced such for myself."

Flurry and Luna began to eat their meals while Vivienne picked up hers into her hands. Her beak opened and she bit down, tearing a chunk out and then swallowing.

"So what do you think?" Spike asked with a smile.

"I am grateful for your hospitality and for making dinner," Vivienne replied carefully.

Spike beamed happily, but Luna's ear twitched and she shot a glance at the queen.

"You can tell him you don't like it," Flurry interjected.

"Flurry!" Luna snapped.

Carefully the queen dabbed a napkin across her beak. "It is not to my preference, but he had put in effort and is trusted enough to cook. It would be rude of me to push away my host's generosity after all."

"I do not often discuss business at the dinner table," Luna directed to Vivienne, "but you are here for a reason other than just a friendly visit."

Vivienne smiled at her host. "In Aquileia, business is often done at the dinner table! It is easier to compromise when one's belly is full of food and drink."

"And you have barely touched your food. Trying to out maneuver me?"

"Oh-ho, Princess! No no, I am merely trying to get used to the dish. The taste and texture are different from what I am used to."

Flurry slowly pushed her empty plate forward. "May I be excused?"

"You may," Luna replied and watched as her niece set her seat back and then walked out of the dining room.

Spike soon left the table as well, taking the dirty dishes off to the kitchen.

"I have not seen one servant, other than the guards outside."

"My sister forsook the title of Princess after we fled Manehattan. We also promised to look after Flurry Heart and Spike, and I take my oaths seriously."

"Still, no one to ensure they go to bed on time, are properly dressed, all of that?"

"My sister and I did it, and with her away I do it myself. Jet Set is governor of New Mareland, empowered by the crown, thus giving us time to actually ensure Flurry and Spike get the attention and care they need."

Vivienne raised her glass and took a long drink from it before she set it back down and snapped her fingers. One guard who had been standing just right at the entryway walked in and deposited a series of folders in front of the queen before he went back to his position.

"Let us talk business then," the queen said.

Luna assumed that Vivienne would launch right into the resources she sought and why, to try and convince her of the necessity of supporting the Aquileian military and industry. Instead the queen laid out various maps of battles that Luna was very familiar with, the alicorn shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"The battle of Tall Tale, of the Alicorn Plateau, the defense of Manehattan..."

"Oui. I wish to go over these battles you led and get a good overview of what I am to be working with."

Luna clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "I thought you would try to convince me to sell mineral rights and docking space over to you first."

The queen smiled and let out a soft, trilling laugh. "Oh, that will come later, Princess! Now, back to the task at hand?"

She looked back down at the maps that were laid out and she pulled the overview of Tall Tale closer. Her eyes closed as she steadied her breathing.

"Tall Tale was the second major disaster of the war," Luna started, "when the changelings took Vanhoover through infiltration tactics the fleet there was also captured, thus allowing for their navy to continue to assault along the western coast. The retreat to Tall Tale was not well organized, and by the time the soldiers could even begin to entrench the changelings were on them."

"And, looking back, if there was anything you could have done?"

"Set Tall Tale as a proper fallback line in the weeks prior. The terrain was advantageous for artillery support, but we did not produce enough before the war started. We lost the first few lines of defense before we could get enough to truly make them consider their moves, but..." Luna’s voice trailed off.

Vivienne nodded as she took the Tall Tale map and handed over the Alicorn Plateau map.

"My most humiliating defeat. Trimmel outmaneuvered me badly, and we lost too many good soldiers, right under the shadow of Canterlot. He had cut off the Crystal Empire from us, allowing them to be besieged while he continued to push us back. For this battle? More air support would have been vital, but the changelings had been overwhelming us. It is only by the fact that Canterlot was heavily enforced with anti-air emplacements that let us use the air strips there for as long as we could."

"I do not mean to accuse, but after being pushed so far back why were you not replaced?"

Luna gave a strained smile. "Sunset Shimmer was given command of the southern front and she did damn well better than I. As for replacing me? Blueblood was an even worse commander. Bless him, he did his best, but he was purely in position for prestige and not skill."

She slid the map away and took the Manehattan one.

"You changed strategy after the loss of Canterlot. A measured, steady retreat to the eastern cities, with constant artillery and air support. I foresaw your victory with such a pace after another two years, as the changelings were grinding against the south and north both. But, the communists of Stalliongrad began to push."

The princess stared hard and long at the map of Manehattan. "We were there for weeks. Supplies were shipped to us, and our navies had consolidated to try and keep the Celestial Sea open..."

"Tell me about the defense of the city."

Luna shook her head to focus and pointed along marked spots on the map. "Your information on the other battles were accurate, but not here. You see, we had already blown the bridges here, here, and here, to limit changeling advance. It was risky, but I had the artillery moved close to the lines and did a saturation bombardment of the main roads. Trimmel and I both learned some valuable lessons in the defense of the city."

"And what were those, princess?"

"Tanks do not fare well in urban combat, and artillery kills tanks."

The princess looked up to the queen who gave a slight smile, teal eyes twinkling.

"I just want you to answer me this one question, princess. What is king of the battlefield?"

Luna closed her eyes to think for a moment. "The true king of the battlefield? Everyone has their role to play. There is no advancing without infantry to hold positions. Tanks are required to break through enemy lines."

"Non!" Vivienne snapped, "Artillerie! It is the king, for it is the most important piece! Infantry is the queen, for the queen must protect the king. It is like chess, Princess Luna!"

She looked at the queen in shock, as Vivienne poked her firmly in the chest as if admonishing one of her own generals.

"Every piece does have its place, but for a secure border letting the enemy be aware that they are marching to their doom that sounds with the chorus of 105 millimeter shells is vital! Equestria could have stood for longer if you had more precious artillery. I have studied Equestria's standings before and during the war before coming here, and while you could have reversed things the early war could have been easily avoided!"

"I know that!" Luna exploded, smacking Vivienne's hand away. "The moment the Dotted Line Report came out I knew! It is not as easy as having more artillery or planes in the sky! The changelings can shift form and commit all sorts of perfidy! Disguising as civilians, as dead Equestrians, committing acts of sabotage and assassination using such guises! Have you faced such a foe, Vivienne? Have you had to shoot someone you thought was a friend only because you realized they were already dead and a bug was wearing their face!?"

The queen nearly fell backwards from the ferocity the alicorn presented. Her guard had taken half a step forward when Vivienne raised her talons to make him halt. Quickly she regained her composure and ran her talons through the fine strands of her wig.

"No, I have not," she said after a moment of silence. "It beggars belief for an entire race to be so capable. Not all ponies can cast spells, nor can all griffons enchant, and yet when it comes to the bugs they can happily do this and more..." Vivienne's voice trailed off as she shook her head in disbelief. "I admit while I followed the attack on Canterlot, our understanding of it until now was that it was merely a regrettably uninteresting catastrophic miscalculation by the Equestrian command, not something to gather military insight from. Not even the Republicans were so foul a foe. Unlike the Changelings, once we revealed their plot they could not hide anymore. The mistake, I must admit, is mine. It is dangerous to be misinformed in positions such as ours." She paused for a second, fiddling with one of the maps on the table. "If what you say is indeed true, it is a miracle that you lasted as long as you did." She placed the map down and stared the alicorn in the eye. "Please forgive me Princess Luna, I did not mean to be so rude and arrogant."

Silence descended as Vivienne took the maps and put them away.

"We can discuss things another time if you would prefer, Princess."

She looked up and saw Vivienne stand up then shook her head. "Nay, stay, we have other things to discuss. You said it was to be payment for teaching me, and so I must ask; why do you wish to?"

As the queen smiled, Luna could not place the exact emotion behind it. Those teal eyes were alive with delight, but something deeper was in there that flashed for only a moment, even as the griffon kept from making such a sound, her beak curled into a little grin.

"How many can say they taught an alicorn anything?"