A human living in Canterlot castle is given to Queen Chrysalis as part of peace negotiations between Equestria and the Hive. Celestia knew she shouldn't have let Luna finish the negotiations herself.
A human living in Canterlot castle is given to Queen Chrysalis as part of peace negotiations between Equestria and the Hive. Celestia knew she shouldn't have let Luna finish the negotiations herself.
A yawn burst forth from Liam's mouth, breaking him away from his reading. He looked up from his book to check what time it was. There was no clock in the royal library, so he had to estimate how much time had passed by the amount of light coming in through the window. Considering that it was now dark out, roughly two or three hours had gone by since he had sat down in his favorite reading nook with a good book. He stretched until a satisfying pop loosened his stiff joints, then he stood and made his way to the entrance of the library. He had been through the maze of bookshelves enough times to know the shortest path to his destination.
On his way out he waved at the pony sitting behind the library's front desk. She smiled and waved back. He lifted the book he was carrying so she could see it and pointed to the door in a questioning manner. The old mare gave an affirmative nod and went back to placing books on a cart to be returned to their proper shelves. He left with the book tucked firmly under his arm to be finished later.
As he walked the halls between the library and his room for what may have been the millionth time he began to wonder if Celestia was still awake. Talking with her was always a pleasant experience, but her schedule was always so full that finding the time to talk was difficult. They might say hi to each other if they crossed paths while she was walking from one meeting to the next, but whenever she had a moment of free time it was usually taken up by some complaining noble or another. Liam usually just tried to just stay out of her way. He would hate to screw up the busy schedule of someone that ran a country.
Supposedly, it had been even worse before Luna had returned and taken some of the burden off her sister's shoulders. He saw Luna around the castle more than her older sister, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. In fact, Liam tried to avoid the dark alicorn when he could, but his tendency to stay up late meant his chances of running into her increased dramatically. They'd barely spoken a word to each other since his arrival to Equestria, but every time she saw him he got a cold glare or a snort of annoyance. He'd been asked by some of the castle staff what he did to earn such ire and he could only tell them that he truly didn't know.
The sound of clanking armor brought Liam out of his thoughts. A pair of patrolling night guards were heading down the hallway in the opposite direction he was.
"Excuse me, guys," he said as they neared. They stopped and gave him their full attention.
"Is there something we can do for you, sir?" one of them asked stiffly. The night guard had a reputation for seeming colder and less friendly than their solar counterpart, but Liam rationalized it as them getting the proverbial short end of the stick. While the lunar guard had to deal with all the late night drunks, the day guards got to be seen saving kittens from trees and the like. Not to mention the Solar Guard just naturally had more exposure to the public. Even with the more professional demeanor, night guards were certainly friendlier than their charge.
"Sorry to bother you guys while you're on patrol, but do either of you happen know if Princess Celestia is still awake?"
"It's okay sir, we're here to serve. And no, she's not up. Between the griffin ambassador a few days ago and the negotiations with the changeling hive, she hasn't gotten much sleep. She even closed day court an hour early so she could retire early today." The human nodded in understanding.
"Alright, that's all I needed to know. Thank you. You guys have a good night."
"You as well, sir," the guard said before the pair were on their way again.
He had nearly forgotten about the peace negotiations going on between Equestria and the changeling hive. He wasn't involved in them and they were surprisingly low profile, considering the Hive had invaded Equestria's capitol several months ago. He was there for the wedding, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. Okay, ‘there for the wedding’ might be the wrong way to put it. He wasn’t invited to the wedding, but he had still been living in the castle at that time. He hadn't gotten a look at the queen, but he had been closer to some of her cronies than he'd have liked.
Luckily, the invasion failed in the end, and even more surprisingly, there had been no deaths on either side. Sure, there were a few injuries that required hospital visits, but the fact nobody had died on either side still baffled Liam. He knew that Queen Chrysalis was currently staying in the castle for the duration of the peace talks, but fortunately for him he hadn't run into her in the halls yet. He'd heard from some of the maids that she was quite unpleasant to look at.
It wasn't long after that thought that he arrived at the door to the room he'd been residing in since his arrival in Equestria. There wasn't much in there other than the stuff the room had originally come with. He wasn't allowed outside the castle grounds, so he couldn't really get his hands on anything to decorate the room with. Occasionally a small pile of books would take up some desk or floor space when he found a good series to read, but other than that it was pretty bare-bones. As bare-bones as a guest room in a royal castle can be, anyway.
He turned the handle and pushed the door inward to reveal his room. He immediately noticed the mare laying on the bed. Apparently she noticed him too, as she gave him a sultry look and a sly smile before she spoke in a sing-song voice. "Hello."
Liam just stared for a second before responding. "Hi. Sorry... I must have the wrong room. I didn't mean to bother you." He slowly backed out and closed the door. He knew for a fact that it was the right room, but he supposed that it didn't really matter. It was practically indistinguishable from any other guest room in the castle. He didn't feel like causing a scene just because someone happened to pick the room he usually stayed in. Besides, the one next to it would work just fine for his purposes.
He walked to the next room over and stepped inside. He flipped the magical light switch and sat at the desk to continue the novel he had started back in the library. He had just flipped to the page he'd left off on when someone knocked at the door. That was strange. Who could be knocking at this hour? And how would they know to find him in this room instead of his usual one? Liam stood back up and approached the door. He opened it to find the mare that had been on his bed standing outside. She was frowning and looked a little ticked off.
"Can I help you?"
"What was that?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"What was that?"
"What was what?" Liam asked confusedly.
"In the other room. What stallion walks in on that and just walks away?"
"I'm... sorry? Was I supposed to do something else?"
"Yes! You were supposed to show some kind of interest, ravish me, anything but... that!"
Liam stood there for a second and absorbed the fact that some random pony he didn't know had just said that he should 'ravish' them.
"I'm sorry ma'am. You seem nice, but I'm not like that and I'm not really into ponies. I'm sure there are plenty of cool guys looking for someone like you around Canterlot. Maybe try your luck with one of them. Have a good night," he said as he slowly closed the door again.
That was definitely strange. He wondered if she was drunk. That might explain the way she was acting. He certainly hoped she didn't make a habit of asking strangers to 'ravish' her. Liam turned to go back to the desk and his book, but he didn't make it two steps before another, harsher knock rang through the door. He cracked it open just enough for his face to show through and addressed the now pissed looking mare.
"Look ma'am. Like I said earlier, I'm not interes-"
"It appears," she interrupted, "that I need to be more direct." The sing-song quality of her voice disappeared and a slight buzzing replaced it. A wall of green fire raced along her body as she transformed before the human's eyes. The changeling before him was much taller than the ones he'd run into at the royal wedding all those months ago and had a chitinous crown atop her head. "You are mine. The treaty has been finalized and you have been given to me as tribute," the changeling queen said in a menacing voice.
The door slowly closed for a third time, and the click of the lock quickly followed the click of the latch. Liam sat at the desk again and tried to get back to reading, but he noticed that his hands were trembling a bit. He tried to calm himself, but after what had just happened he wasn't sure he could. He looked back at the door just in time to see a green aura undo the lock and the door slammed inward.
"Human, you belong to m-"
She was cut off as Liam reflexively chucked the book at her face. It was a solid hit too. She crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll.
Liam sat there in stunned silence, just staring at the changeling lying on the floor. She appeared to be unconscious. Now that she wasn't yelling at him, she didn't actually look all that intimidating. He started to feel kind of bad. Sure she had scared him and busted in the door, but he hadn't meant to hurt her. Oh well, what was done was done. He walked over and picked up the book. A couple pages were wrinkled from either its meeting with the queen's face or its meeting with the floor. He smoothed them out as best he could before closing the book and placing it back on the desk. There was no sense in ruining a perfectly good book.
He went back over to Chrysalis on the floor and gave her a gentle nudge with his foot. Yep, definitely out cold.
But what to do with her, he thought.
When no other ideas struck him, he did the first thing that came to mind. He went over to the bed and pulled back the comforter. He quickly scooped her up and laid her out on the bed and adjusted her to a position that he thought looked comfortable before pulling the comforter back over her. He grabbed the book off the desk and flipped the light switch before closing the door and heading back to his usual room. Making sure the door was locked and the desk was pushed in front of the entrance for good measure, Liam once again placed the book on the desk and climbed into bed himself. He figured he'd done enough reading for one day.
The next day started earlier for Liam than it usually would have. Normally he’d stay up late reading and sleep in the next morning. It wasn't like he had much else to do around here. He wasn’t allowed to leave the castle grounds, so he couldn’t look for things to do in the city. He tried to help out the castle staff whenever he could, but there was only so much he could do before the maids start to think he's out for their jobs. With no internet or television, that mostly left him with reading and sleeping. Not that he minded either of those things. He loved to read and loved having the time to do so.
He found himself outside the castle dining room before he knew it. He pushed through the door, book under arm, and made his way inside. To his surprise, Princess Celestia was sitting at the table, munching away at a muffin. She turned to see who had entered the room and smiled warmly when her eyes landed on the resident human.
“Well, this is a rare occasion. You’re usually still asleep at this hour, Liam.”
He returned the smile and made his way to sit near the solar diarch. “Yeah, and so is ninety-nine percent of the country. Not everyone has to wake up and pull a giant fireball into the sky."
"That is true, but that doesn't answer my implied question. Why do I have the pleasure of your company this morning? It's not often we see each other this early."
"I went to bed early last night. I felt like I'd gotten enough reading done for one day.” She giggled at that.
“You? Get enough reading? I’m not sure that’s possible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a book. You must have turned in early to get an early start on reading today.”
“You’re not wrong,” he agreed with a lighthearted chuckle. “So, what on the agenda today?”
“Meetings with a sprinkle of day court. The usual. And you?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
She just giggled again and took a bite of muffin. A waiter came and took Liam's order soon after, and it wasn’t long before he was eating a muffin of his own. It seemed that blueberry was the flavor of the day. Celestia spoke up again.
“You should drop by my chambers more often Liam. We don’t see enough of each other and I enjoy our talks. They’re simple and don’t tend to involve politics or underhooved attempts to gain power.”
“Who said I’m not looking for power?” Liam said as he took another bite of delicious muffin. “As the king of Equestria, I could make an entire holiday dedicated to reading.”
“I have no doubt my student would bend the knee and swear loyalty to you immediately, but I don’t think you’d last a day as king,” She said playfully. He was inclined to agree. It would be too much stress, and based on her schedule, he wouldn’t have time to do anything. He was about to tell her just that when the door to the dining room opened and an annoyed changeling queen wandered in. She seemed to be mumbling something under her breath, but Liam couldn’t tell what. She took a few more steps before realizing she wasn’t alone in the room. She gave Celestia a glare that could kill, and Liam a glare that could turn a sandy beach into a plane of glass.
“Good morning to you too, Queen Chrysalis.” Celestia said, unfazed by the queen's aggressive leering. The queen’s gaze lingered on the human as she approached the large banquet table. She sat directly across from him, her stare never wavering. “Have you met Liam, Chrysalis?”
“No,” she said simply. Liam said nothing to contradict her statement. If she wanted to pretend yesterday hadn’t happened, he was happy to oblige.
“How were the negotiations with my sister last night? Fruitful, I hope.”
The changeling’s gaze finally left Liam and turned to Celestia. “Yes, they were very fruitful.”
“I’m glad. I’ll have to get the details from Luna later. I apologize again for not being able to attend myself. I had some prior arrangements that needed to be dealt with.”
Chrysalis said nothing. The now nervous waiter came and took her order too before disappearing once again into the kitchen. The room descended into an awkward silence after that. I thought changelings ate emotions or something like that. What's the point in ordering food?
Now that he got a good look at her, Chrysalis wasn’t nearly as unpleasant to look at as he'd imagined she would be. She wasn’t attractive, he wouldn’t know how to gauge that in another species anyway, but if ponies were cute by fluffy cat standards, he guessed changelings would be cute in hairless cat standards. The holes in her legs were a bit unnerving, but it was easy enough to get past. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure why he'd been so scared of her the night before. He supposed it was hard to be scared of something he'd knocked out by accident.
"So," he said trying to break the silence, "the negotiations between the Hive and Equestria are done?"
The queen's eyes shot to him once again and her lips pulled back in a wicked grin, showing off her sharp fangs. "Yes, me and my hive are officially part of Equestria now. I will be living in the castle from now on."
"So, I guess I'll be seeing more of you then?" Liam asked.
"You'll be seeing much more of me, my little human. You belong to me now after all."
That seemed to pique Celestia's interest. She set down the cup of tea she had been sipping from and turned to the changeling queen. "What do you mean he belongs to you? I thought you hadn't met each other yet."
I guess the cat's out of the bag now, Liam thought. That hadn't taken long. The grin on the queen's face deflated slightly. She looked like a dog that knew its toy was going to be taken away. Considering Liam was that toy, he wasn’t sure he felt all that bad for her.
"We met last night," he admitted. Chrysalis shot another glare his way, obviously trying to shut him up.
"Oh? And how did that happen?" Celestia asked curiously.
Liam gave her a quick rundown of the events that had transpired the night before. She sat and listened intently, mirth dancing in her eyes. All the while, Chysalis was trying to kill the human with her mind.
"Chrysalis, if you were looking for someone to 'ravish' you, you couldn't have picked a worse target," Celestia teased, causing Chysalis to blush green in embarrassment. "Liam here is the biggest bibliophile I've met, barring my personal student. You'd have an easier time seducing an ursa major than going after him." Now it was Liam's turn to blush.
"But," she continued, "that only answers one of my questions. What did you mean when you said that Liam belongs to you?"
Liam was curious about that too. He remembered the changeling saying something about it last night, but he was too busy rendering her unconscious to listen to what she had been saying. Chrysalis took a second to compose herself before speaking matter-of-factly. "The human belongs to me now. It was agreed during the negotiations that the possession of the human would be passed to me."
Celestia's demeanor turned serious and she turned to give the changeling queen her full attention. "When did this happen? I never agreed to any such terms."
"It happened last night. Princess Luna saw no issue with it, so we both agreed to it." Celestia wasn't happy to hear that. She looked like she had drank sour milk. He couldn't blame her. He wasn't exactly enthralled by this confession either.
"It appears," Celestia said, "that my sister and I need to have another one of our talks about what is and what isn't acceptable in this day and age. Liam is not an object to be "possessed", Chrysalis." She turned to Liam. "I can assure you, Liam, that this will not stand."
"Um, thanks," he said simply.
Celestia stood up and looked out one of the windows briefly before shaking her head. "I will have to talk to Luna later. For now, I have meetings to attend. I hope the both of you enjoy the rest of your morning." Then she walked out of the dining room to start her day, leaving Liam alone with someone who had apparently conspired to enslave him. Good times.
He took another bite of muffin before looking down at the book he'd set on the table. He picked it up, noting the flinch from Chrysalis, and opened it to the page he had left off on. He frowned at the slightly crumpled page. Oh well, it was his own fault for using the tome as a projectile weapon in the first place. He began to read.
He could tell that Chrysalis was watching him, but it didn't bother him so long as she stayed on her side of the table. He felt bad for doming the bug queen, but she was the one that burst through the door. They sat there like that for a while, Liam reading, and her watching (glaring at) him from a safe distance.
He looked up again when the waiter came back out of the kitchen with a covered dish on his back. He found it a little odd considering his food, as well as Celestia’s, was just brought on a simple plate. Celestia liked to keep things fairly casual when she could, and he was pretty sure covered dishes were normally only used for formal events.
The waiter still looked nervous, but professionalism seemed to win out and he dutifully brought the dish over to the waiting changeling queen. As soon as the dish hit the table, the waiter hightailed it back out of the room. Liam guessed professionalism only went so far.
He made to go back to reading, but Chrysalis grabbed his attention by clearing her throat. When she saw he was watching, she grinned wickedly once again before she lifted the covering off the plate. A raw cut of meat sat there, slightly bloody. Liam had known the castle had a small store of meat for griffin visitors, and he even dipped into it when he could. She was clearly trying to make a dramatic scene out of it. He didn’t think much of it and returned to his book.
However, he wasn’t allowed to get far before Chrysalis cleared her throat again. She didn’t look very happy, but then again, he hadn’t seen her be happy yet. He sighed.
“Do you need something?”
“Does this not disturb you?” She asked, gesturing to the bloody meat.
“No. Is it supposed to?”
“How does the sight of bloody corpse flesh not disturb you? Isn’t everyone in this country supposed to be terrified by the thought of harm coming to other creatures?” She sounded offended that Liam wasn’t offended.
“Well, for many Equestrians that’s probably true, but I’m not from Equestria. If you’re worried about me judging you for what you eat, don’t be. I also eat meat on a regular basis, so that,” he gestured to the plate, “doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”
“You eat other creatures!?”
“There’s no need to sound so surprised,” Liam said. “You’re not the only one with sharp teeth. My people actually created an entire industry based on the slaughter of animals like cows and pigs raised specifically for the purpose of being eaten.”
She shot up out of her seat and backed away from the table. She looked absolutely disgusted.
“Y-you’re telling the truth. You don’t even feel any remorse for consuming other creatures!”
“Is something wrong? Weren’t you going to eat that?” He asked sincerely.
“They call us monsters for trying to survive, but they let you live with them in their own home? What are they thinking?” She asked before she too left the room.
Okay, that took a weird turn, Liam thought. He looked down at the raw cut of meat on the plate once again and sighed. She’d just left it there, and the waiter probably wouldn’t be back out anytime soon. That left cleanup to him. He sighed again. Whatever, at least I can read in peace now that she’s gone. He ate the last bite of muffin and returned to his book.
Queen Chrysalis fled from the dining hall at a calculated pace and began making her way towards one of the castle's gardens. The feeling of disgust never left her as she went.
How could Celestia and Luna allow such a beast to reside in the same building as they do? That would be like letting a griffin spend the night alone in the hive's nursery. It seemed like a tragedy in the making. Weren't they concerned that it might try to attack or eat one of their subjects? Perhaps that was why Luna was so willing to give up the human when she'd asked that its possession be passed to her.
She really should have been more wary. Up until that point, Luna had been much more frugal in her dealings than her sister, but as soon as Chrysalis had brought up the human, she was suddenly much more accommodating. She almost seemed eager to be rid of him, but the queen couldn't be sure at the time. Luna held her emotions close to her chest, out of Chrysalis' reach for the entirety of their meeting.
Originally, she had inquired about the human as a means of sustaining herself until the new hive was established. After the failed invasion of Canterlot, her hive had been more desperate and demoralized than they had ever been. A possibility of starvation became a certainty in the minds of her subjects. It was only a matter of time. She had gambled and she had lost it all. With the ponies now knowing of their existence, collecting food for the hive in secrecy was nearly impossible. They had a small store of emotions taken in the invasion and the hive would be okay for the time being, but it wouldn’t last forever. Being violently blasted away from your main food source by a giant magical shield tended to have that effect on a population. That left Chrysalis with a choice. Either sit and watch as her hive slowly starved to death, or seek help from those she once sought to conquer and hope they would show her mercy.
The decision was stupidly easy to make.
She'd once heard a phrase that fit her current situation perfectly. If you can’t beat them, join them. If she couldn’t rule over the ponies, she would have to bow to them. To an extent at least. She still had her pride as a queen.
She had left one of her generals in charge of the hive and headed to Equestria for the second time. She came alone in hopes that they wouldn’t assume they were planning to attack again, or if they chose to seek retribution, she’d be the only one to suffer their wrath.
She'd felt exposed, walking into the nearest settlement without a disguise. The citizenry screamed and ran, and the guards came quickly. Chrysalis made them aware of her intentions and soon found herself on a heavily guarded train on its way to Canterlot.
When she'd arrived and finally got an audience with Celestia, she was surprised at how... not upset she was. She listened to the queen's plight, and talks about integrating the hive into Equestria began soon after. It was a strenuous few weeks, and Chrysalis knew it was a long shot, but she came out of it feeling like her species once again had a chance at surviving. There had been no tricks, no outrageous demands from Celestia. It was all surprisingly reasonable and straightforward.
Then, on the day that the talks were supposed to come to a close, something came up and Celestia couldn’t attend their meeting, so she'd sent her sister instead. Luna was reserving, but not greedy. By that time, most of the work had already been done, and there was no way to really screw it up from either side. Before they closed the meeting and signed the treaty, however, Chrysalis felt her stomach rumble and clench in pain for the umpteenth time just that night.
In the weeks she had spent in Equestria’s capital city, she’d barely had anything to eat. Walking into a place where everyone clearly hated her, she hadn’t expected a feast, but this was ridiculous. Even now, as she walked the halls of the castle in search of a garden, she couldn’t get a bite to eat. The guards and maids bottled up their emotions and locked them away as soon as they knew she was near.
A changeling could consume a large range of emotions, some more palatable and nutritious than others. The emotions permeated the air and the changeling could passively suck the ambient energy from the air or more actively take it from the being producing it. Love was the best thing a changeling could consume, but even fear and hate could be eaten, even if they tasted foul. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t even siphon those from the aether if the ones producing the emotions didn’t let the energy go free. That was the problem with changelings revealing themselves. Of course, she could always pod one of the ponies and take what she needed, but that's what got her into this mess to begin with.
Chrysalis had tried to disguise herself in order to get nourishment, but she was no infiltrator. She didn’t know the social structure between ponies here. She didn’t know the relationships and bonds between them, so she couldn’t exploit them. She'd managed to stumble upon conversations between acquaintances or coworkers, but nothing substantial. One would think she could siphon something from the bond between the two most well known siblings on the planet, but even they had given her nothing, as they were masters in controlling their emotions.
It was while she’d been eavesdropping on a pair or maids that she heard about a creature they called a human. The fact that it wasn't a pony, and probably didn’t know much about the Queen seemed like a jackpot to her food deprived stomach. She had looked for an opportunity to bring it up in conversation with Celestia, but other, more important things always came up. She was not about to place more importance on her stomach than on the survival of her hive.
When the treaty was about to be signed and her stomach reminded her of its needs once again she finally mentioned the human to Luna. The Princess's ears perked up and things happened from there. Somehow, she thought she had convinced Luna to give her the human, but looking back, she was willing to be rid of it the moment Chrysalis brought it up. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Luna had even informed her of where the creature's living quarters were. The treaty was signed and the Hive officially became part of Equestria. Chrysalis knew it would take time to move her changelings, and even more time to get ponies to be accepting of her kind, but it would have to do for now.
After the signing, the queen had gone for a celebratory snack, but that had turned out poorly too. She had tried subtlety at first, but the human had shown no interest. Her hunger got the better of her, and in her impatience she had stupidly revealed herself. And almost as if some deity was telling her just how stupid she was for doing that, she had been knocked out in an extremely embarrassing display that got her blood boiling just thinking about it.
In another attempt to get a strong reaction out of the human so she could feed, she had learned something horrible about the creature. It’s words still rang in her ears.
"My people actually made an entire industry based on the slaughter of animals like cows and pigs raised specifically for the purpose of being eaten."
Pigs or rabbits were one thing, but cows? Creatures that could think and talk back? If this human and its kind were willing to eat cows, what else were they willing to eat?
Not only had she been denied sustenance the night before, but this morning as well. Even worse, Chrysalis didn’t have the energy to shapeshift anymore.
She was hungry, but she wouldn’t show weakness. Now that peace talks were done, she could focus on filling her own stomach again.
Even if the human was a monster, it was still a better food source than anything else around here. The human didn’t seem to have strong emotions. Mostly, it just radiated contentment, which wasn’t very filling. However, the fact that it didn’t shield its emotions from her meant that she could feed from it. If only she could get it to show strong emotion, she could have a veritable feast! It might be risky, but her stomach demanded that it be done.
Chrysalis stepped through a pair of ornate glass doors and into one of the many gardens placed around the castle grounds. Walking past trees and statues with plaques covered in scribbles that meant... something, she eventually found an empty, secluded spot where she wouldn’t be bothered. If she couldn’t enjoy a meal, at least she could enjoy the warmth of the sun as it washed over her. She laid down and soon drifted into a nap.
The sun had been lowered and the moon raised, and Luna was busy brushing her mane in front of a mirror when a series of heavy knocks thunked through the door to her chambers.
Her ears perked up in excitement. It was probably her sister, here to talk about how the negotiations had gone the night before. Luna couldn’t wait to report her successes in dealing with the changeling queen. Of course, Celestia had done most of the work in this case, but she had entrusted Luna to tie off the treaty with the changelings in her absence, incorporating them into Equestrian society. She had even managed to get rid of a pest in the process. She could almost see her sister’s proud smile through the door. She gave her flowing mane a few last strokes with the brush before standing and answering the door.
Like she had thought, Celestia stood on the other side, however, there was no smile on her sister’s face. In fact, Luna would say she looked quite pissed.
“Good evening sister,” Luna greeted warmly. The serious look on Celestia’s face was starting to make the younger sibling nervous.
“Good evening Luna. I think we need to have a little chat. Please, follow me.”
The rest of the day had passed as uneventfully as any other. After cleaning up the mess Chrysalis had left behind, Liam wandered the halls for a while. He eventually stumbled upon some of the maids and asked if there was anything they needed help with. They found some work for him to do and they chatted as the hours whittled away.
Most of his afternoon was spent in the library. He'd finally finished the book he had chucked at chitinous royalty and had returned to scout out something else to pass the time with. The librarian was obviously upset at the book’s condition, but when he explained what had happened she was very understanding, and even seemed amused by Liam's tale.
It wasn’t long before the human found himself scanning the many shelves of the labyrinthine library in search of new reading material. He had just wandered into the fiction section when he heard the distinct sound of metal on stone coming from nearby. The sound echoed off the tall shelves. It was probably a guard sent to find him. Liam wondered what poor fool they’d sent this time.
He had apparently garnered a strange reputation in the guard over the months. Sometimes someone (usually Celestia) would need Liam for something and send a guard to come retrieve him. Since he spent so much time in the library, it was usually the first place they looked. It wouldn't be hard to find a six foot tall ape, even within the tall shelves of the royal library. Or so they thought. Most ponies had no idea how to navigate the maze of books, so they got lost in their search until Liam happened upon them. When he did, he apparently had a tendency to startle them as he came around one of the shelves unexpectedly.
This occurrence had spawned a bit of a cult following within the guard. They’d come up with an entire lore based around him having strange powers that he could only use within the confines of what they had simply dubbed "The Shelves". Within the lore, Liam was referred to as the Wanderer. There were even branching theories in the lore, depending on which guard was asked. Some would say that the Wanderer acted as a protector of the library's knowledge on the orders of Princess Celestia herself. Others would say that the Wanderer was the restless spirit of someone who had died horribly in the library, and whose body had never been found. As part of a hazing ritual, the older guard members would tell new cadets about the Wanderer and his strange powers before sending them in to find Liam. This usually resulted in the human scaring the crap out of some poor kid by accident.
Liam didn’t know all the details of the lore, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. It wasn’t uncommon for him to find guards in various states of panic and have to lead them out of his papery domain. He once found a guard freaking out in the history section, and when he saw Liam turn the corner he ran in the opposite direction screaming that he didn’t want to be turned into a book. Good times.
Liam hadn’t found out about his new SCP status until weeks after he had started finding terrified recruits on a regular basis. From there, it just spiraled out of control. Once, when he had hanging out in the barracks with some friends, a guard mentioned that he was planning to write a book based on this new urban legend when he retired. In all honesty, Liam didn’t mind if they wanted to set him up as a boogeyman for new recruits, so long as nobody was hurt by it.
After honing in on the sound for a good five minutes, he rounded a corner and found himself standing next to a pony wearing golden armor. They hadn’t noticed him yet, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
“Hello,” Liam said simply. The guard jumped slightly and turned to look at him. They came face to face with his stomach before craning their neck to look up at his face.
“Um, H-hi,” she said nervously.
“Let me guess, you were sent to find me?”
“Actually, I was just told to wander around in here. They said you would find me, sir.”
Liam chuckled at that. “It would seem that they were right. What do you need?” he asked in a friendly manner. She was already nervous, no need to scare her more.
“My superior wanted me to deliver a message. Princess Celestia wanted to see you in her study at your earliest convenience, sir.”
Celestia’s study? Normally he was just called straight to her chambers. It was an odd meeting place, but who was he to refuse horse royalty?
“Alright, I guess I’ll head over there now. Do you need me to lead you out of here?”
She blushed in embarrassment. “Um, if you wouldn’t mind, sir. I’ve been lost in here for twenty minutes.” Liam chuckled again at that before starting his way back to the library entrance, guard in tow.
“No worries. You’re not the first pony I’ve had to help out of here, and you probably won’t be the last.”
It didn’t take long for him to navigate his way out of the library. After that, the guard took point and lead them to their final destination.
The door to Celestia’s study was simple and looked like just about every other door in the castle. Those that weren’t for show, anyway. The only real difference was the pair of guards standing outside. Liam's escort walked up to her fellow guards and began to speak to one of them. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, so he waited patiently for them to finish. After a few moments his escort turned to him.
“The princess isn’t here yet. She gave us orders to let you wait inside if we got here before her. I have to get back and report to my commanding officer. Have a good evening, sir.”
Liam thanked her before she wandered off to get back to work. One of the door guards opened the door and he stepped inside. The study was expensive looking, but not overly fancy. It had a well used feel to it. A large window took up a portion of wall and was currently covered by drapes. During the day, it probably let plenty of natural light into the room. A fireplace was set into another wall. It didn't have a chimney, so Liam assumed smoke was removed magically. The large wooden desk off to one side had a few stacks of paperwork waiting for Celestia’s signature to grace them. A nest of cushions laid in the corner, next to a sizable bookshelf stuffed to its limits with books in various stages of wear.
That reminded him; Liam hadn’t checked out a new book from the library before his departure. He would have to make his way back there later.
He grabbed one of the cushions from the nest and found a spot out of the way to sit down. He leaned against the wall and sat patiently, waiting for Celestia to arrive. The seconds stretched into minutes and Liam quickly found himself bored. If he'd known how long he'd be waiting, he definitely would have checked out another book before coming. Looking for something to occupy his time, his eyes inevitably rested on the stuffed bookshelf. He doubted Celestia would care if he borrowed something to read until she got here, so he made his way over and began looking over the selection of aging tomes.
Before he could decide on anything, however, the door opened again. Liam turned to see none other than the changeling Queen herself enter the room before the door closed behind her.
"Oh, it's you," she said bitterly.
Liam looked down and pretended to inspect himself. "Huh, so it is," he said jokingly before turning back to the shelf. He just grabbed a book at random and returned to his seat. It appeared to be about Equestian law. "Celestia wanted to talk to you too?"
"I was summoned, yes. Snooping through Celestia's things, are we? What would she think if she caught you in the act?" She walked over to the desk and started rifling through the paperwork there. She was going too fast to actually read anything on the pages, but she went through each one before putting them back how she found them and opening the desk drawers to search through their contents. Liam raised an eyebrow at that.
"Probably nothing compared to if she caught you going through her desk."
"She could have you punished if she found out you were going through her study looking for, say, books containing dark magic." Was she trying to blackmail him? What would even be the point in that? Liam just smiled.
"The thought of punishment doesn't seem to be stopping you."
"Oh, please. Unlike you, I would never be caught snoop-" Just then, the door opened, revealing the royal sisters in all their glory. Their eyes immediately landed on the changeling. Chrysalis froze, snout halfway in one of the desk drawers. Celestia smiled in amusement and made her way into the room.
"My my, Chrysalis. Snooping through my desk while I'm not here?" The changeling queen withdrew her snout, now green with embarrassment. "May I remind you that I am a centuries old politician. I learned not to leave sensitive documents out for prying eyes to see before Equestria was a nation. Just make sure to put everything back when you're done with it."
Chrysalis slammed the drawer closed and walked over to the nest of cushions before dropping down on top of them with a huff. Then she glared at Laim, as if her getting caught was his fault.
“Hello Liam,” Celestia said. "I see you have a different book than the one from this morning. What are you reading now?"
"I just grabbed something from the shelf over there to pass the time. I think it's something about Equestrian law."
She looked at the cover and gave a slight nod. "Ah, Golden Gavel's Guide on Governing Jurisdiction. I'm afraid that one is quite dry and uses a lot of jargon. You might find Lotus's Logbook on Legal Legislation a much easier book to start with."
"I'll keep that in mind, Celestia. If I'm going to overthrow you and become king, I'll have to know how the law works," Liam said with a joking smile. She giggled at the joke, but someone else didn't seem as amused. An angry snort jostled the pair from their reverie and Liam looked over to see Luna still standing in the doorway, glaring at him. He seemed to be getting a lot of those recently. He figured the diplomatic approach would be best here.
"Good evening, Princess Luna. I didn't mean to ignore you," he said with a slight bow of his head.
Instead of greeting him back, she looked to Celestia. "Sister, what is this about? Why have you gathered us here?"
"Yes, I suppose we should get to that," Celestia replied as she became more serious. "Come in and close the door. This should be between just the four of us."
Uh oh, that can't be good, Liam thought. There was only one thing that the four of them would have gathered to talk about. Luna closed the door, but remained stood in front of it. Celestia lit up her horn and stole a cushion from the changeling queen's horde, earning her a glare before she took a seat by her desk.
“I’ve gathered the three of you to discuss what happened last night when the treaty between Equestria and the Hive was signed.” Her horn lit up again, and a stack of papers flashed into existence next to her. “I finally had a moment to read over what was agreed to, and I had no objections to anything until I got to the end.”
She floated over a page and began to read some of the text out loud. “Possession of the human residing within Canterlot Castle will be passed to the ruler of the Hive upon the signing of this document by all relevant parties.” She put the page down and looked over the occupants of the room with a scrutinizing glance. “Would anyone like to guess one of the many problems I see with this statement?”
When no one spoke up, she pointedly looked at Luna before she continued. “Why don’t we start with the obvious and work from there? Luna, what were you thinking, trying to enslave someone?”
Luna flinched back like she had just been slapped. “E-Enslave!? Sister, I did no such thing!”
"That's not what this document says."
"That was not the intention of that statement, Celestia!"
Chrysalis perked up slightly at that. "It wasn't?" she asked. Everyone's attention shifted to her and she continued. "When I asked that I gain possession of the human, I was under the impression that I would gain ownership of it." Luna looked shocked by this revelation for some reason.
Yeah, just pretend that I'm not here. That's cool. Being referred to as "the human" and "it" isn't weird or anything, Liam thought.
Celestia spoke up again. "I have already told you that Liam is not a possession to be owned, and neither is any other sentient creature. The lawyer in me feels the need to point out that the wording of this statement would not give you possession of Liam, even if slavery was accepted here." Now it was Chrysalis' turn to look surprised.
Celestia reread part of the document. "Possession of the human will be passed to the ruler of the Hive. As per previous agreements read and signed by you, Chrysalis, the Hive is part of Equestiria. You will govern over your people, and you will retain your title as Queen of the Changelings, but you will answer to me. You agreed that I would rule over you, therefore I am the ruler of the Hive." While Chrysalis sat there letting that sink in, Celestia looked to Liam with a sly smirk. "Congratulations Liam, you are once again a free man." Now it was his turn to sit in stunned silence. That had been a roller coaster.
What many didn't realize is that while Equestria was officially a diarchy, it’s two rulers did not have equal power. Liam had asked Celestia about it once and she explained that there were multiple reasons behind it. Mostly it was to prevent repeating history. Before Luna’s banishment to the moon over a millennium ago, Equestria had been a true diarchy. When Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, it had nearly caused a civil war that Celestia just barely managed to contain. When she returned, the sisters had discussed it and came to the conclusion that one needed to have more official power than the other. Celestia was the obvious choice for this role, as she had not been gone for centuries.
Celestia looked back to Luna. "If your goal was not to enslave Liam, then what was it?”
It took Luna a moment to respond. “I was trying to be rid of him.” She said unashamedly.
“Clearly, but why, Luna?”
“He is a nuisance.”
Celestia deadpanned at that statement. “Luna, the two of you have hardly said two words to each other since Liam’s arrival to Equestria. It was clear from the beginning that you didn’t like him. Nuisance to you or not, that does not give you the right to try pawning him off on someone else through the legal system.”
“Not to me! He is a nuisance to you, sister!” Luna shouted. Celestia was clearly confused at the revelation.
“I do not recall Liam ever being a nuisance to me. How did you get that idea into your head?”
“When he arrived, you let him stay in the castle and all of his needs have been met. You have been extremely accommodating, and what does he do in return? He lazes about, doing nothing but eat and read! He does not work, and I don’t think he has left the castle once since he has gotten here! I believe he is... what was that word? A mooch! He is a mooch!” Luna said, pointing at Liam accusingly.
When Luna was done ranting, the room fell silent again. Liam couldn’t believe he'd just been called a mooch by a talking horse.
“Luna,” Celestia started. “Liam is not a mooch. I keep a close watch on everything I can in this castle, and almost none of what you just said is truthful. He may not have a job, but that does not mean he lazes and does not work. I talk to the maids whenever I get a chance, and they say he helps them do their jobs on a regular basis. Just today he was helping them clean some of the spare rooms.”
It was a little weird for the human to find out that the maids liked to gossip about him to Celestia, but it was nice to find out they had good things to say.
“Captain Armor has reported to me on numerous occasions that Liam’s presence has helped improve the moods of quite a few guards. According to him, when Liam walks into the barracks, the troops gather around like foals trying to get him to teach them another card game from his world.”
Liam wasn't sure about the gather around like foals part, but they did like to pester him about card games. You teach one guy how to play Trash, and the rest swarm like locusts. It was all in good fun though. He supposed he'd be excited to learn a few games from another world too.
“And we’d be here all night if I went into what the royal librarian had to say about him.”
What? Liam was in the library all the time and he’d never seen Celestia there once. When had she spoken to the librarian? It made him wonder what she had to say about him.
“I don't know why he chooses to not leave the castle, but that is none of my business. Neither is it yours, Luna."
Wait, Celestia was the one that ordered me to not leave the castle all those months ago. Did she forget that? He'd have to ask her about it later. Now definitely wasn't the time for that.
Luna finally got a word in. "Even so, sister, he selfishly takes up the little free time you have! He is no better than those so called nobles that infest the city!"
Celestia looked baffled for a moment before her expression shifted slightly to... was that anger? Liam had never seen Celestia angry before. Despite the look on her face, she spoke with a calm and measured tone. "Luna, Liam is my friend. That is what friends do! They spend free time together when they can. Between the endless political meetings and whining nobles I have to deal with on a daily basis, it is nice to be able to speak to a friend and joke around for a few minutes. How many friends do you have, Luna?"
The question seemed to catch everyone off guard, Liam included. Luna sat stunned for a second, stumbling for a response to the biting question. She was about to speak but Celestia beat her to it.
"Let me correct myself. How many friends do you have that aren't one of the Elements of Harmony?"
That seemed to shut Luna down real quick. She didn’t try to speak, she just sat there in frustrated silence. When Celestia didn’t get a response she sighed and continued.
“Luna, you do nothing but work. You’re either handling night court or doing paperwork in your room. You’re so cooped up. I’m worried that you aren’t able to see what’s happening around you at times, and this incident only confirms my suspicions. As such, It seems I’ll have to do something similar to what I did with Twilight. I think you need to take some time off and make some friends to spend time with.”
“But sister-“
“And you can start by befriending Liam here, since you so clearly misjudged him. You will not hold night court or receive any official papers until you have become friends with Liam and at least one other pony. It will be Liam's call when he considers you a friend.”
Whoa. That's a lot of responsibility to just thrust onto my shoulders! There's no way in hell Luna will go along with this.
After contemplating for a second, Luna spoke in a near whisper. “But... how are We supposed to do that?”
Wait, what? She actually went along with it? This night was just full of weird twists. Liam felt like he was going to wake up the next day with neck pains from the whiplash.
“That is for you to figure out. Maybe if you asked nicely, Liam would be willing to help you make friends with others. He seems to be good at making friends around the castle. Befriending him is your responsibility, however. Liam will decide when he considers you a friend, and will report to me when he forgives you for what you've tried to do, intentionally or not. Do I make myself clear?”
"Yes, sister," Luna said dejectedly.
Celestia turned to the cushion hoarder in the corner. "I think it would be wise for you to do the same thing Chrysalis. While you don't have paperwork to be doing, and I won't force you to go along with this, it may be beneficial for you to seek forgiveness as well. After all, you are just as guilty of attempting to enslave Liam as Luna is, and the public's opinion on you is already tenuous at best. This may be a way for you to improve your public image. The only reason I am not being more harsh on you is because you are new to being a citizen of Equestria, and may not know the nuances of how things work here. However, should you try something like this again, your punishment shall be much more severe than Luna's, is that understood?"
"Yes, Princess Celestia," Chrysalis gritted through her teeth.
"You may still govern your people, but you answer to a higher power now. I suggest you remember that."
Seeing this side of Celestia freaked Liam out a bit. He was used to the lighthearted joking princess, not the threatening intimidator before him now. He supposed immortality wasn't the only thing that had kept her on the throne for as long as she has been.
"The two of you may return to what you were doing," Celestia said. "I would like to speak with Liam."
Luna's horn lit up, along with the door handle before it swung open. The lunar princess left without another word. Chrysalis shot each remaining party another glare for good measure before leaving as well. And then there were two. Liam began to wonder what Celestia wanted to talk to him about after that episode. He didn't have to wait long, as the door swung closed again and Celestia turned to him. She looked exhausted.
"You alright there, princess?" he asked.
"I'm fine, just tired. But that's nothing new."
"If you say so," he conceded.
"I couldn't help but notice you didn't say a single word throughout that entire conversation."
"I though you had it covered. I had nothing to add, so there wasn't much point in me joining in."
"You are a very passive person, do you know that?" she asked.
His only response was a shrug. She gave an amused snort.
"Never change, Liam. Sometimes I think more ponies should be passive actors. Too many active roles just adds to the chaos of any given situation."
They sat for a few moments, enjoying the silence before she picked back up.
"What is your opinion of Luna's punishment?"
"It was very... abrupt," Liam said.
"I would imagine so. I came up with it on the spot. I've been worried about Luna's nonexistent social life for a while now, and this conversation has only confirmed my fears. To think they would manifest in such a way. I'm sorry you were involved in this, Liam. Something like this never should have happened in the first place."
"Probably not, but you can't possibly know everything Celestia."
"Yes, that is something I've had to relearn many times throughout my life. I suppose I was due for another lesson on that matter. I'm also sorry for involving you further with Luna's punishment. It was a spur of the moment decision. I didn't think you would mind, but I still should have asked if you were okay with it. If you don't want to do it, you don't have to."
"It's fine. It'll give me another way to spend my free time, I guess. I think that was the first time I've ever seen you get angry."
"Admittedly, it doesn't happen that often, but Luna's always had a knack for pushing my buttons."
"Yeah, I get that. Siblings have ways of getting under your skin like no other." She giggled at that. It was good to see Celestia back to her fun loving self.
"That they do. Knowing you for as long as I have, I know you're the type that's quick to forgive, but I ask that you don't immediately let Luna off the hook. Make her work for it. It'll be good for her to be out and about, trying to make friends. She's very abrasive at times, but I hope you two come to enjoy each other's company in the future. If you need anything, or she gets out of hoof, come talk to me."
"Alright," he said simply.
The princess stood and stretched, flexing her wings slightly to work out the kinks. She tossed the cushion she'd been using back with the rest. "I suppose I should hit the hay. Some of us have a kingdom to run, and a giant fireball to fling into the sky every morning," she jabbed. "Feel free to stay here and read as long as you like. I trust you won't go snooping through my desk, not that I keep anything important there anyway. Those stacks of papers are mostly written complaints from nobles that I use as tinder for the fireplace." And with that confession, she was gone.
Liam had a feeling he was forgetting something, but he wasn't sure what. Assuming it wasn't that important if he'd forgotten it, he shrugged it off. He was comfy on the cushion and didn't feel like moving at the moment, so he decided to take Celestia up on her offer ro let him stay and read. He cracked open the book he'd taken from the shelf. She had been right, there was a lot of lingo in there.
Half an hour later, he gave up trying to decipher the mess of legal jargon and returned the book and cushion to their original spots before heading for the door himself. As soon as his hand touched the handle he remembered what he'd forgotten. He never asked Celestia about him not being allowed to leave the castle.
Oh, well. There'd be plenty of opportunities to inquire about it later. For now he just wanted to head back to his room with the intent of getting a good night's rest.
A good night's sleep Liam did not get. When he got back to his room Luna was sitting outside, looking impatient. Unsurprisingly, she leered at him as he approached. I should start keeping count of how many times I get glared at. Liam didn’t know if there was an official record for the most glares received in a single week, but if there was, he was well on his way to breaking it.
"Princess Luna," he said with a slight head bow.
“Human," she acknowledged. "What took you so long? Surely you and my sister weren’t talking for such a lengthy period.”
“She went to bed a few minutes after you left. She said I could stay and read in her office, so I took her up on her offer. Sorry, I didn’t realize you’d be waiting for me.”
“What else would I do, human? I am not allowed to fulfill my duties as a princess until this punishment is over with.” Luna was clearly mad about her current situation, but it didn’t show in her voice. In fact, the only way Liam could tell she wasn't serenely calm was by that glare of hers.
“I... guess you have a point. Where did Chrysalis go?”
“I believe she has retired for the night,” she said dismissively. ”What did my sister have to say?"
“She was just telling me that I didn’t have to take part in your punishment if I didn’t want to.” She looked a little surprised at that. She studied Liam for a moment, looking for signs of deceit. “What?”
“I was not expecting you to be so... forthcoming about your conversation with my sister.”
“What reason would I have to not tell you?” Instead of answering she asked her own question.
“And I assume you took her offer?”
“Nope.” She looked surprised at that too.
“Why would you refuse?” she asked.
“Weren’t you the one complaining that I did nothing but read? This gives me another way to fill out my time. Shouldn’t you be happy that I’m doing something?” Her eyes hardened further and Liam thought better of what he was saying. He was playing with fire here, and they both knew it. “Though she did kind of imply that I could back out later if I want to.”
“So you’re saying that if I get you to back out of this arrangement, I can return to my duties.”
“I... don’t think that’s how that works, princess. If you run me off, I’m sure Celestia will stick you with someone else. It’s going to happen either way.” That brought a sour taste to Luna's mouth.
“Yes, I thought that would be too convenient.” Before more could be said, she stood and started walking down the hallway.
“Come,” She commanded.
“Why? Where are we going?”
“If my sister thinks that the two of us need become friends, then we shall become friends. Come,” she commanded again.
“Princess, can’t this wait? I understand that you just woke up, but I haven’t.” She paused and turned back to look at me.
“And what, pray tell, would you suggest I do with my entire night, since I cannot get any work done?”
“I don’t know... take a day off? Relax and read a book? I can suggest a few good ones if you’re interested.” She didn’t look very amused by his suggestion.
“The sooner we finish this punishment, the sooner I can return to fulfilling my duties as a princess. Now come,” she said as she continued down the hall.
Liam glanced at his room, then at the departing princess. He sighed. He supposed one missed night of sleep wouldn’t kill him. He'd stayed up all night reading or doing homework many times in the past. Sure, it might have messed with his sleep schedule, but said sleep schedule wasn’t exactly stable to begin with. He turned from the room and followed after Luna. They walked in silence as she lead Liam through the many halls of the castle until they arrived in front of the familiar doors to the dining hall.
Right, she did just wake up. I guess it makes sense that she’d be hungry. They went inside and took seats opposite each other. It wasn’t long before one of the waiting staff came to take Luna’s order.
“What can I get for you this evening, you highness?”
“I am in the mood to try something new. Human, what would you suggest?” Oh, well, that hadn't been something Liam was expecting. What did a Princess of the Night even eat when she woke up at nine in the evening?
“This will probably sound stupid, but what kind of food do you usually eat when you get up?”
“Breakfast foods.”
“Right, good to know.” Liam thought for a moment. Celestia liked simple things, and he didn’t exactly know what breakfast food would count as fancy, so he went with something basic. “Have you ever had peanut butter toast?”
“I have not. What is it?”
“It’s... peanut butter. On toast. I... thought that was self explanatory.” Luna's glare returned with a vengeance.
“Need We remind thee that We were gone for a very, very long time?” She nearly growled, starting to slip into her old way of speaking. The waiter flinched back slightly at her tone. Seeing the reaction she’d caused in the waiter, Luna calmed herself. “I know what toast is, human. However, I have not heard of peanut butter. It was likely invented while I was... away. I have been making it a point to try foods that have come about after my banishment.”
Well, now Liam just felt like an ass. “I’m sorry, princess. I wasn’t trying to insult you. I’ll try and be more considerate in the future. I’m not great at describing flavor, but peanut butter toast is quick, cheap, and tastes good. It’s gotten me through plenty of mornings back in high school when I’d overslept.”
“Very well, I shall take the human’s suggestion.” She told the waiter.
“And to drink?” Luna looked to me again.
“Milk is good to wash it down.” The waiter nodded and wrote down the order before looking to me as well.
“And what can I get for you, sir?”
“I’ll take the same, but coffee instead of milk.”
“Would you like the coffee any particular way?”
“Caffeinated. And bring out the whole pot, please.” Liam didn’t even like coffee, but something told him he’d need it. He could already feel the sandman trying to sneak up on him, and he doubted Luna would appreciate him dozing off on her.
The waiter disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving the pair alone once again. It only took a few minutes for the food to be prepared and brought out on simple plates. As Liam happily dug in, Luna took a moment to inspect what was on her plate. She lifted a piece of toast in her magic and took a bite, clearly savoring the taste. She swallowed and took a swig of the milk she'd also received before speaking.
"This peanut butter is quite good, human. Your suggestion was not ill advised." With that she continued to eat, seemingly ignoring Liam's existence in favor of enjoying her meal. Honestly, that was probably the nicest thing she'd said to him up to that point. Knowing it would just ruin the moment, Liam said nothing and just enjoyed the almost compliment. When they'd both finished, their dishes were taken away, but Liam asked the waiter to leave the pot of coffee.
"So, what now?" he asked.
"I... am unsure. My sister wishes for me to make friends. Seeing as you are apparently good at doing just that, what would you suggest we do?"
He hummed in thought. If the goal was to make friends, they'd better go where there were people for her to befriend. That limited their options greatly just based on the fact that Luna had a nocturnal sleep schedule. Most ponies would be going to bed around now, and he highly doubted the Princess of the Night would be willing to switch to a diurnal lifestyle for this. Until Liam spoke with Celestia about his current house arrest status, leaving the castle grounds was out of the question. The only place he could think of that fit his criteria was the night guard barracks, but he didn't think they'd be comfortable having their boss, especially one like Luna, just hanging around all the time. That really didn't leave much for them to do, so Liam tried to improvise.
"Princess, do you happen to know any card games?"
Okay, admittedly it was a weak attempt, and Liam would totally blame tiredness if asked, but he really couldn't think of anything to do on such short notice. Luna's brow raised slightly.
"No. Playing cards are another invention that came about after my banishment. Though I am aware of their existence, I have no experience with them."
Liam nodded in acknowledgement, pulling the deck of cards he'd started carrying with him out of his pocket. In his near constant boredom within the castle, he'd found playing cards to be a surprisingly versatile way to kill time, whether it be by playing solitaire, practicing slight of hand tricks, or just flicking cards at fruit. He was getting especially good at that last one. In a pinch, they also made good bookmarks.
"Then perhaps you'd be interested in learning?"
Liam trudged in the direction of his room. Looking out the window revealed that the sun had risen over the horizon some time ago. He groaned in exhaustion.
The playing cards had gone over surprisingly well with Luna. She was interested enough to at least tolerate his presence for a few hours. Eventually, their limited conversation had changed to the subject of board games. Apparently, chess was an old game in both of their worlds, as Luna had played it before her banishment to the moon. Naturally, the pair found a board and played a few games, in which the night princess had destroyed Liam over and over again. He'd mentioned some of the games he used to play on Earth, and it seemed to pique her interest. At least we found some common ground, Liam thought.
He figured that if he ever got out of the castle, he could try and find a game shop in the city below. If those existed here anyway. If not, he could always just recreate some game boards with sufficiently sized sheets of paper.
Eventually, Luna decided that she'd had enough and would be retiring soon, so she dismissed Liam to do as he pleased. He was relieved that she did, because he had gone through the coffee fairly quickly. He'd been up for over twenty four hours, and to say he was running on fumes would be an understatement. He wanted nothing more than to collapse in a bed and sleep the day away. So it was with great dismay that he rounded the corner to see Queen Chrysalis waiting outside his room, looking much the same way Luna had the night before.
"And where have you been?" she asked in annoyance. "Hasn't anyling ever told you it's not smart to keep a queen waiting?"
"I was hanging out with Luna, and I wasn't aware that you'd be waiting for me."
"Well, I was." They descended into an awkward silence, just looking at each other for a few moments before Liam's sleep deprived mind came up with something to say.
"Not to be rude, but why were you waiting for me?"
"Were you not paying attention last night when Celestia was going on about my public image?"
"Yeah, invading a country will do that to a person," Liam said without thinking. And there was the glare.
Through gritted teeth, she continued. "Though I hate to admit it, she was right. If I'm going to be staying here, I will need to improve my standing in the eyes of others. Apparently you have a good reputation around the castle, so if I stay near you, my image may improve by proxy."
"So you're just going to follow me around everywhere I go?"
"Do you have an issue with that?"
"Not particularly, but following me around won't exactly be exciting."
"That is irrelevant."
"If you say so." Thinking the conversation was over, Liam tried to enter his room. Chrysalis put herself between him and the door before he could reach it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Chrysalis asked.
"I was planning on going to sleep."
"The sun just came up, and you are going to sleep? Foolishness."
"I was up all night talking to Luna."
"I do not see how that is my problem."
Instead of pushing the issue, the exhausted human moved to the next room over. Seeing what he was doing, Chrysalis placed herself between him and the door for a second time. They did this several more times before Liam sighed.
"I get that you want to follow me around, but can't we start that tomorrow? I'm running on exactly zero sleep here."
“What, pray tell, am I supposed to do while you sleep, human? The negotiations are finished and my hive won’t be here for some time.”
“Have you tried taking up reading?” Liam asked almost desperately.
“Nonsense.”
He glanced at the room he'd been trying to enter, then at the irritated matriarch before him. He sighed again.
"Fine," he said in defeat, walking back towards the dining hall. He'd need more coffee.
As he entered the dining hall, Liam's stomach decided that it wanted more than just coffee. He also didn't want to sit down and wait for someone to make food for him, as he was sure he'd start dozing if he sat still for any length of time. Instead, he continued through the hall to the side door to the kitchen. Inside, a small crew of castle staff were doing various tasks related to their work. One of the chefs spotted the human and came over.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"Yeah, do you have an open stove I could use?"
The door opened behind Liam as Chrysalis entered the room. The other occupants of the kitchen took notice immediately. They made their way out of the kitchen even quicker. One actually teleported. In mere moments Liam was once again alone with the bug queen. Even in his tired haze, he managed to find their speed impressive.
"I'll take that as a yes," he said. He looked at Chrysalis. "You certainly know how to clear a room."
Her eye twitched in annoyance. "It seems to be a talent of mine. What are we doing here?"
"I'm hungry, so I'm making something to eat."
"Aren't we all?" Chrysalis asked under her breath.
"Did you say something?"
"Nothing of importance."
He just shrugged and began rummaging around for ingredients. It was at that point that he realized he had no idea how to make coffee from scratch. With no one around to ask, he had the unfortunate thought that he'd have to go without. Maybe he could find something sugary to substitute it. It took a few minutes to find everything he needed, and one of the chefs was kind enough to already have a pan preheated for him on the stove. Chrysalis watched curiously as Liam began cooking.
"What? You act like you've never seen anyone cook before."
"Because I haven't seen anyling cook before."
"Really? Huh. I guess people are having lots of firsts today." He supposed it wasn't implausible for a queen to have never seen something like cooking. For her it was probably something that just happened in the background, out of sight and out of mind. They lapsed back into silence for a time.
Soon, the smell must have reached her, because Chrysalis began to sniff the air.
"What are you making?" she asked as he flipped the first sandwich onto a plate.
"Grilled cheese sandwiches. Here," he said as he slid the plate over the counter to her. She eyed it skeptically. "What, is something wrong with it? I figured you could eat solid food, since you ordered meat yesterday. Though, I guess you didn't end up eating it. If you don't want it, I'll eat it."
The thought of their conversation yesterday sent shivers down Chrysalis' spine. "Changelings can eat physical food, it just isn't nourishing for us."
"Can you still taste things?"
"Yes, we still have a sense of taste."
"Well, there you go," he said. "They're better with tomato soup, but they're still good on their own." He turned and began to prepare one for himself as well.
Chrysalis eyed the sandwich some more. To her, it may be as useless as a starving pony filling their stomach with dirt, but she supposed it would be nice to have a full stomach again. She lifted it in her hooves and took a bite. She'd heard that pony food tasted good from the infiltrators, but she'd never actually tried it before. Even after she'd become an infiltrator herself for the wedding, she was too focused on the objective to try the food. It hadn't mattered to her disguise that she be seen eating after she'd brainwashed the prince-to-be. Now she was regretting that she'd missed out for so long.
She let out a moan of pleasure and the sandwich was gone in mere seconds. Liam smirked at the display.
"That good, eh?"
"Make me another one," Chrysalis commanded.
"Another one?"
"Did I stutter human?"
Liam shrugged and flipped the second sandwich onto her plate, going to make a third one for himself. The second sandwich was gone even quicker than the first.
"Make me another one," she demanded.
Liam's brow raised slightly. "I'm hungry too, you know. This one's mine. I'll make you another one after that."
"Are you disobeying your queen?" Chrysalis growled.
"I'm disobeying a queen."
"I command you to make me another sandwich."
"And I will. Be patient."
Chrysalis could feel the slight frustration in that last comment, and an idea popped into her head. As Liam flipped the newest sandwich onto his own plate, Chrysalis grinned wickedly. Her horn lit up and the sandwich swiftly disappeared into her mouth. She could feel his frustration growing.
"Another," Chrysalis demanded.
Liam gave her a sidelong glance before going back to cooking. "Bite me, queenie."
The queen's grin grew even wider. It seemed that the combination of exhaustion and hunger made the human more confrontational. She could work with that. When she responded, she threw in a sultry voice for the fun of it. "That can be arranged."
Liam sighed and looked at her. "Please stop," he said. "I'm tired and I'm hungry, and I'm really not in the mood to put up with this shit right now."
Welcome to the club, Chrysalis thought, though she had no intention of stopping.
As the next sandwich hit the plate her horn lit up, then swiftly went out again as she was swatted on the nose with the spatula Liam had been using.
"None of that," he chastised.
"Did you just hit me!?" Chrysalis reached up and rubbed her now sore muzzle. He had! This creature had just struck her!
"Yup," the human said unapologetically, "and I'll do it again if you don't behave."
"I am not some child for you to lecture!"
Liam's blood was simmering. He really was not in the mood for this after being kept awake for so long. "And I'm not a servant you can just order around! Be polite, ask nicely and wait your turn, or you'll get swatted again." He picked up his sandwich and went to take a bite, spatula in the other hand just in case Chrysalis tried anything funny. She bared her sharp teeth and leered at him. He expected her to try and take the food with her magic again, but he was not prepared for her tongue to shoot out of her mouth and wrap around the sandwich. His eyes widened in surprise as it was yanked out of his hand and into her waiting mouth.
She sat there, pleased with herself. She made sure not to bite down, letting the sandwich sit there in plain view of the human. She could feel the surprise radiating from Liam and soaked it in. The taste of surprise mixed with the taste of grilled cheese in a not too pleasant way, but food was food, even if it wasn't much.
Her satisfaction only lasted a few seconds as that surprise started to shift to anger. For some reason, she started to feel like she shouldn't have done that. She'd been trying to get a reaction like this out of him, so why did she feel like she'd made a mistake? Then she remembered the first time they'd met, the pain of hardcover book meeting face. Then there was their conversation from the day before. This creature had not only admitted to eating other sapient creatures, he'd already rendered her unconscious once. As Liam raised the spatula, Chrysalis swallowed nervously.
She'd fucked up.
Celestia sat in the dining hall. She'd been there for a few minutes already, and no waiter had come out to take her order. She was starting to get worried that something was wrong when the door to the kitchen violently burst open. Celestia was dumbfounded to see Chrysalis shoot out of the kitchen, a sandwich hanging out of her mouth, with Liam hot on her heels. His long legs letting him keep pace with the changeling, he lifted what looked like a spatula in his hand and swiftly brought it down on the queen's backside. She yelped in pain. He brought it up again, but before Liam could hit her, Chrysalis ran out into the hallway and out of Celestia's view. That didn't stop the next three yelps from reaching her ears though.
Liam stumbled as he headed towards his room for the third time since he'd been awake. Who knew that chasing thieving bug queens through the palace halls could be so tiring? In the end, he'd lost her and he didn't get to eat any of the food he'd made. On the bright side, by the time he'd returned to the dining hall, so had the chefs. He also had enough adrenaline coursing through his system to keep him awake while he waited for them to prepare breakfast for him. He'd even got his coffee.
Chrysalis eventually made her way back to him, sans sandwich and tail tucked. Any time they'd make eye contact, she would look away. Good, he'd thought. Maybe that'll teach her to have some manners. She was clearly fuming over what had happened, but said nothing as she followed him to find something to do. They'd come across some maids cleaning more of the spare rooms. All of them seemed nervous about Chrysalis' presence, but they continued their work with Liam's help.
While he worked Chrysalis had hopped onto the bed and settled in for a nap. Liam wasn't having that. If he wasn't allowed to sleep, neither was she. He'd suggested that she help as well, but she'd said something along the lines of "This is drone work." He promptly reminded her that he still had the spatula from earlier. She didn't have to help, but she wasn't just going to sleep the whole time. The rest of the day had consisted of Liam doing various things around the castle as Chrysalis watched in boredom.
Back in the present, Liam was finally approaching his destination. As he got closer, a feeling of dread began to overtake him. Heeding his sense of self preservation, Liam peaked around the corner to find Luna sitting outside his room once again. His brain promptly said 'fuck that' and he turned to go somewhere no one would bother him, regardless of the consequences. There was no way in hell he could stand to be awake another twelve hours. A tired smile graced his face as he entered the library. The librarian was nowhere in sight, but he knew she wouldn't mind him being there.
Liam traversed the labyrinthine shelves until he came across his favorite reading nook. It wasn't the best place to sleep, but it would have to do.
Liam yawned as he followed a day guard down the hall toward Celestia's office. The guard had been sent to find him in what was increasingly becoming a safe haven for the human, the library. Between the antics of both Luna and Chrysalis, it was the only place he could reliably find any rest. If he was roped into staying up for an ungodly amount of time, which had become a routine thing over the past few days, he'd simply disappear into the shelves for a few hours until he was rested.
This action came with both pros and cons. The pros were that he could sleep uninterrupted without royalty of one kind or another barging in and waking him, or just barring the way to his room entirely. The cons were that said royalty was not exactly happy that he disappeared on them.
Luckily for Liam, dealing with Chrysalis was fairly easy after the grilled cheese incident. Word had gotten around about their little chase in the halls. It had happened in broad daylight and there were plenty of castle staff around to see it happen, so it didn't surprise Liam that gossip had spread so quickly. What did surprise him however was that the castle staff had started coming to him when the changeling was up to no good. Apparently, he was now seen as Chrysalis' unofficial handler by the ponies. While surprising to the human initially, Liam adapted to his new role quickly. He'd obtained a spray bottle from one of the maids, and started using it whenever Chrysalis got too out of line. She absolutely hated it, but if she wanted to follow him around all day, she could at least have some manners. Naughty changelings get the bottle.
While spraying her did little to actually instill manners in the changeling, it amused Liam greatly and the show seemed to give ponies a higher tolerance for her presence. Castle staff were less likely to flee at the sight of Chrysalis when Liam was around as well. She wanted to improve her public image, and this was the best way they had of doing that right now. Though she may not be happy about it, in a strange, roundabout way Chrysalis had gotten exactly what she wanted from Liam.
On the other hand, his nights spent with Luna were quickly going south. He'd managed to keep her busy with games so far, but he could tell that she was tiring of doing the same things every night. It had occurred to Liam that he could have just asked others to get things for him outside the castle. It also occurred to Liam that he still had no money to pay them back for their services, rendering his first idea moot. He just couldn't come up with anything to do inside the castle to keep the night princess occupied, and that's what led him to where he was now. Celestia's office.
He needed to ask about his house arrest status. He'd been trying to find a time when Celestia wasn't swamped with work to approach her about it, but it had still taken him several days to worm a few minutes into her busy schedule. Liam waited as his escort talked with the door guards and he was let in with little fanfare.
It seemed Celestia's punishment for her sister had turned into a double edged sword when the piles of paperwork Luna had been doing caught up with her. The Princess jotted down her signature one more time before setting her quill down with a sigh and looking up to her guest.
"It is good to see you, Liam. I heard you've been trying to get an audience with me for some time. I'm sorry it took so long to arrange this little meeting, I've just been so busy."
"It's alright Celestia, I understand. I don't want to waste your time, so I'll try and make this quick."
Celestia frowned at the human. "Liam, please don't say things like that. You are not wasting my time. Besides, I could use the break from work." Like a switch had been flipped, her frown was replaced with a playful smile and one of the many cushions from her pile flew at Liam. He gracefully caught it with his face. "Take a seat. I shall have a servant bring us something to drink."
Liam smiled as he removed the cushion. A slight tickle on his tongue caused him to reach into his mouth and remove the offending object, which happened to be a single white hair. He looked to the now snickering Princess with a raised eyebrow.
"You know, I think I know why Chrysalis doesn't like having things thrown at her. It's decidedly less fun to be on the receiving end of this exchange."
"Just be glad I didn't throw something harder."
"Like a book?"
"Like a book."
They both had a good laugh while Liam took his newly obtained seat next to Celestia. They chatted amiably for a few minutes until a servant arrived with some tea. After the servant left, Celestia figured it was time to get down to business.
"So, what brings you here Liam?" she asked. "Is my sister giving you trouble?"
"A bit, but I'm managing for now. She's tolerating me, but I'm not sure how long that will last." He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what he wanted to say. "I've got a... problem. A couple, actually."
"Well, what seems to be the issue?" Celestia asked, giving her whole attention to the human.
Liam began to explain the issue of keeping Luna occupied. How he'd come up with the idea of playing board games on the fly and Luna's mild interest in them, as well as how his attempts to win a game of chess were futile. Celestia got a kick out of it.
"The point is that I can't keep using the same games, so I need something else to occupy her time. Since you're her sister, do you know what she enjoys doing? Any hobbies, perhaps?" Celestia hummed in thought for a moment before responding.
"Regrettably," she said, ears drooping, "I haven't spent much time with my sister since her return. I don't know if she has taken up any hobbies in that time, but there is one thing she used to love before she was... sent away. She loved painting. In fact, that piece there is one of hers."
She pointed to a large canvas hanging from the wall, obviously old, but well maintained. It depicted a pony in blue-grey steel armor, sword in mouth, posing for all to see. Liam could clearly see the painstaking detail that was put into it, and its good condition after so many years said something about Celestia's love for it as well.
"I have a few of her other pieces hanging around the castle as well. I can have a few servants gather supplies for you if you'd like."
"That would be great, thank you," Liam said. Something she'd said bothered him though. "Feel free to tell me I'm out of line here, but you said you haven't spent much time together since Luna got back. Not to poke at old wounds or anything, but isn't that a big part of why what happened a thousand years ago happened? That means the most prominent memory between you two since she returned was you chewing her out in front of others for not having friends. I can't help but feel like history is repeating itself here."
Celestia was a bit surprised at his forwardness, but nodded at the truth of his statement. "You are not out of line, Liam. In fact, your assessment is spot on. That does seem to be the unfortunate reality of what's happening." She frowned and sipped at her tea. "It cannot stand, but I am always so busy, and up until recently so was Luna. I will have to come up with ways of spending more time with my sister. Especially after the unpleasant business from the other night." Then she looked at the mountain of paper on her desk and frowned even deeper. "Perhaps after I'm finished with today's paperwork." She sighed. "And today's meetings."
Liam didn't say anything, but he knew that was unlikely to happen anytime soon. Celestia was the definition of a workaholic and as long as more pressing things were presenting themselves, there was a good chance she'd put it off. He thought about offering help, but ultimately decided against it. His hands were already full with the problems of two royals and adding a third one to the list didn't seem like a productive use of time. Celestia was a big mare, she could handle herself. She was aware there was a problem, and that's what mattered.
"That brings me to my other issue," the human said. "The other night, when you confronted Luna, I remember you saying you didn't know why I never left the castle. That confused me a bit, because I was under the impression you didn't want me going anywhere. I distinctly remember you telling me not to leave the castle grounds under threat of imprisonment in the Canterlot dungeons when I first got here." Celestia had been much more professional towards him right after his unexpected arrival in this world. Luckily, she'd warmed up to him fairly quickly. Not so luckily, she had never lifted the order for him to stay put.
Liam always though he'd gotten off easy considering he'd literally fallen on top of her in the middle of day court. The yelling and spear pointing from the guards hadn't been fun, but once he'd explained how he wasn't some kind of spy and that he had no idea how he'd gotten there, the alicorn had been surprisingly forgiving. Considering Chrysalis was walking around the castle, Celestia was just the type to forgive, if not forget, and Liam was thankful for that.
His train of thought was derailed by the confused look his conversation partner was giving him. "Liam," she said almost cautiously, "I lifted that order months ago. You didn't know?" The surprise on his face told her that he hadn't.
"That's news to me," Liam confirmed.
The Solar Diarch cast a concerned glance into her tea, clearly displeased at this revelation. "I will look into it," she said. "I'm so sorry, Liam. These things keep happening to you and I am somehow left unaware as to why. You are free to come and go as you please."
Liam was relieved to have his confusion cleared up so quickly. This opened up his options considerably, and the thought of finally getting to explore the alien city outside was exciting. He'd have to venture out soon.
The pair conversed for a while longer before Celestia stared off into space for a moment, presumably checking the time based on the position of the sun. "I apologize for cutting this short Liam, but I have to meet with someone else soon."
Liam stood and stretched. "No problem. It was great getting to talk to you again. If I understand the trend, we'll be able to do it again in a thousand years or so," he said with a smirk.
"Is that a jab at me being swamped with work or the fact that my biggest problems have a tendency to resurface after a millennium?"
"It was meant as a jab at your age, old lady, but those other two sound smarter so let's go with that."
Celestia shook her head in amusement. "Bold of you to go looking for a prison sentence before you've even left the castle."
"Ouch," he conceded. He went to leave, but a thought caused him to pause in the doorway. "Hey, Celestia. You said you had Luna's paintings scattered around the castle, right? Could you tell me which ones?"
Liam stood in a side hallway, admiring the painting on the wall. It was a landscape of a large full moon overlooking a single hill. The small silhouette of a single pony from behind sat on the hill, admiring the very detailed moon, much like Liam was.
Celestia had jotted down a list of where Luna's paintings were, and of the handful he had found, this was his favorite so far. The vast majority of the paintings were military related. Maybe that explained why Luna was such a hard ass, she had been a military mare. Or she just really liked the aesthetic. He might have to rethink taking her to hang out in the guard barracks.
The few exceptions seemed like they were events from the past that Luna had seen and decided to memorialize on a canvas. Celestia bestowing a medal to a knight, a large number of trading ships unloading cargo at a port, an old moss covered wizard's tower laying halfway in ruins. This one stood out to him, though. It was much more relaxed than her other paintings. If he were an art critic, Liam might even say it was a more contemplative piece. He decided that when they met up that night, he would ask Luna about it.
"There you are," came a relieved voice, breaking Liam out of his thoughts. He looked over to find a servant heading his way. "Please, come quick. That changeling of yours keeps demanding we make her a grilled cheese."
"Okay," Liam said, confused. "Why is that a problem? Just make her a grilled cheese."
"We did! Over and over! Now we're out of cheese and she just keeps demanding more. All the other staff ran when she came into the kitchen, but she backed one of the earth ponies into a pantry."
"Lead the way," Liam sighed as he felt a headache coming on. It was time for naughty changelings to get the bottle.
