//------------------------------// // "Pranklestia" Strikes Again! // Story: An Interesting Day in Court // by Orion Light //------------------------------// It is another boring day in the throne room for me and Celestia. There haven't been any appointments as the royal secretary told us save for one later in the day, so we're just sitting here in silence doing nothing. That is until Celestia breaks the silence. "Justin, would you like to do something fun with me?" she asks with a smile. I look at her with a raised brow, then nod since I got nothing better to do as well. So, we were walking down the halls of the castle. Still in silence, I look at the Sun Princess who still has a smile on her face while her eyes are closed. How she does that without bumping or knocking things over I'll never know, but it is impressive for the last five minutes. "Sooo, what kind of fun do you have in mind, Tia?" I ask curiously. She opens one eye to glance at me, her smile turning into a smirk. "You'll see when we get there, my little human." And get there we did, and honestly I don't know why we're standing outside Luna's chambers. Without even knocking she opened the door quietly with her magic and walked in, yet held and wait while turning her head to look back at me. I followed as well. Normally, one would be hesitant doing so, but Luna and I are friends, so I am welcome here even without her permission. Just as long as I don't disturb her at least. It's dark in here, but at the same time I can still see clearly; the room held all the black and blue decorations that represents the night, fitting for the very princess that sleeps under the navy blue covers on her bed. Celestia crouched down in a cat-like position and approached the left side of the bed - impressively not waking the Moon Princess given how loud her hooves clad in golden horseshoes hit the floor outside - while I just walked casually on the right. Luna held a gentle smile on her muzzle, adding to the cuteness factor as she sleeps. Curiously, I watched as the white horn rose up followed by the face of Celestia, that playful smirk remaining on her muzzle as she eyed her young sibling. My eyes widen when an uncapped black marker followed suit next to her, then her smirk turned into a widest grin I've ever seen. "Tia, what are you doing?" I hissed, gradually tensing as the marker inched closer to its target. She smiled and winked at me. "Something that will make court a bit more interesting once Lulu wakes up and join us," she whispered back slyly. Amazingly, the little sister never stirred even as Celestia does her work, and when she finished, we left the room and headed back to the throne room, trying our best to contain our chuckling. Today is going to be interesting, all right... So, now we're back in the throne room once more, with me sitting lazily on the steps staring upwards at nothing in particular while Celestia sits on her throne with her eyes closed as if meditating. A minute ago, she told me that this is the time that Luna will join us, so we're playing the waiting game. We didn't wait long as the large, mahogany doors of the throne room opened wide and in walked the mare of the hour, dressed in her usual black regalia. As she approached with her usual grace befitting of a princess, Celestia raised a hoof to her mouth while I snorted in amusement the moment we looked at her face. A carefully drawn handlebar mustache adorns her snout while a perfect monocle circles around her left eye. Her right eye is also encircled just to make it look like she is wearing mascara. “Good day, Tia,” the younger sibling greets with a warm smile as she stopped before the steps near me, completely oblivious to our defilement of her face. “How are you doing?” Celestia, with a low cough, lowered her hoof and returned the smile. “I am doing well, Lulu. Did you sleep well?” It never ceases to amaze me at how well she can hide her true emotions, but I guess it's due to the many, many, many years as princess of Equestria. “Indeed. None of our subjects had any nightmares last night, so We slept peacefully.” She then turned to me and nods. “Good to see thee again, Sir Justin.” “Likewise, Princess Luna,” I replied respectfully with a straight face, looking her straight in her beautiful teal eyes and not her marked face. At that, she stride up the steps and takes her seat on the dais, on her elder sister's right. I turned my head and bit to glance at the latter, noticing her glancing sideways at Luna while chewing the inside of her cheeks, trying her best not to laugh. Her eyes immediately turned away when Luna noticed her staring with a raised brow, and I face forward again while pursing my lips. Celestia and I knew that we are losing this silent battle, and sooner or later Luna will start asking questions. Thankfully, the doors opened once more and a familiar white unicorn stallion in a fancy gray suit and monocle walked in. Looks like he is our one appointment. Fancy Pants stopped before the dais and bowed low. “Good day to you, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” he greets formally before straightening up and looked at me with a smile. “And to you as well, Mr. Justin.” “Hello, Mr. Fancy Pants,” Celestia returned with her own smile while Luna and I nods. “Is there anything I can help you with?” He opened his mouth to start whatever the appointment’s about when he finally looked at Luna, and I forced back a laugh seeing his eyes widen in shock as whatever words he was about to say hitched in his throat. “Is everything well, Sir Fancy Pants?” the Moon Princess asked with a tilt of her head. Celestia, however, remained quiet with a knowing smirk. Her words seemed to snap him out of it as he quickly shook his head and coughed in his hoof, “Er, well yes. A-anyway, I was just about to give you my report on the goings-on in estate affairs as well as a few copies of the paperwork.” His eyes kept darting from Luna to me and Celestia, but most of the time he keeps eyeing the former. He went quiet again as he could see my body shaking with contained mirth. “Y-yes?” Celestia finally speaks, though I could hear in her tone that she is starting to lose her composure as well. I thought I saw a metaphorical sweat drop going down the side of his forehead, but he finally answered, “As much as I wish to turn them in now, I fear that I may… have left them at home in my rush to make it here. If by your permission, I wish to return with them at a later time.” Before any of the princesses could say a word in response, he quickly turned around and briskly walked back towards the entrance. Once said doors closed behind him, I finally lost it and rolled around, laughing hard, while Celestia was giggling into her hoof. “Pray tell, may We ask what is so amusing?” Luna asks while exchanging glances between us with a genuinely confused expression. I managed to recover my composure a bit to sit up and look at her with a smirk. "I-I'm sorry, Princess Luna, b-but have you looked in a mirror lately?” I stuttered out, receiving an even more confused look. “We only put on Our royal attire the minute We awoke. Why?” Instead of answering, the Sun Princess summoned a hand mirror out of thin air and levitates it to her sister, which she took in her own magic… So here we are in the corridors of the castle once more, Celestia and I running for our lives while dodging the many bolts of magic sent our way by one angry Mare of the Night. “Tia. The next time you decide to start another prank war with your sister, leave me out of it,” I said calmly while ducking low to avoid a bolt to the head that smashed into a piece of armor on a stand, which crumbled into dust. Whoo boy! “I can’t make any promises, my dear human,” the princess laughed before jumping up to avoid a low-flying bolt but maintained her momentum next to me. “But you have to admit this is better than sitting around in court all day, isn’t it?” I rolled my eyes and shook my head yet could not hold back a grin, then we both picked up speed as an angry, Royal Canterlot Voice-filled scream echoed behind us. “THOU TWO WILL RUE THE DAY FOR DEFILING OUR ROYAL FACE!!! COME BACK HERE AND TAKE THINE PUNISHMENT!!!” Well, today have definitely become interesting for sure.