//------------------------------//
// Frames 
// Story: Sol Point 
// by CoffeeBean 
//------------------------------//

Rain pattered heavily on the roof of the study, the occasional rumble of distant thunderclaps marking the minutes as they went by. The fireplace at the far wall of the study cast warmth and light into the dark room. The morning sun barely made it past the thick sheet of dark gray clouds above, leaving the estate quite dim; places such as the halls being shrouded in near total darkness. It was a lazy morning; Celestia had taken notice that the staff seemed a little more relaxed, as did Discord, who was currently reclining by the fire in a beach chair, his eyes concealed behind heavily tinted sunglasses. According to him, he didn't want the rain to ruin his 'beach day'. 

The fizzle of magic filled the room for a moment as Luna's morning documents arrived, both Discord and Celestia staring at the papers for a moment as they were lowered to the desk, the most notable thing being a manila envelope atop the stack of bills.

"What's up with the envelope?" Discord inquired from the other end of the room, his brow raised as he took off his sunglasses. 

"I don't quite know." the mentioned envelope was lifted up, Celestia popping the wax seal from its flap. "It's from Luna; it's got her seal on it."

Inside was a letter, and upon pulling the letter out, she found there to be a photograph behind it. Knowing her proper package-opening etiquette, the letter was given attention first. 

Dear Celestia
I have always been a proponent of portraits, as you know. My recent adventure to the Hooviet Union provided me with a great many examples to witness, as it seems their governing body, too, appreciates the sight of their own figure. I have learned that the best way to better relations with any culture is not to just know, but in some cases, follow their customs. To that end, I provide you with a copy of my own portrait. A modernized one; as you know, I've grown very fond of my Kommandant uniform. Of course, the final product is far larger. I do hope your estate has a proper 11x17 photograph frame somewhere. If not, I can provide one.

It would please me greatly if you could, in turn, send photos of yourself and your staff so I may adorn my study with your likelihoods. If my memory serves, I do believe you brought a camera with you. I hope you haven't eaten too much cake.
Love, Luna.

Celestia laughed as he set the letter down. "Oh, this is going to be amazing."

"What great gift has the youngling sent you?" 

She laughed harder as the photo was removed from the envelope, prompting Discord to simply teleport behind Celestia's desk so he could see for himself. Held within her yellow magic was a photograph of not Princess Luna, but Commander Luna; her crown was the only thing signifying she had any role besides a military one. She wore a finely pressed dark gray jacket with wide lapels, the left lapel near the collar having a little crescent moon pin. On the right breast was a very modest number of medals; only 2. One was a brilliantly shining silver moon with wings spreading from either side and hung from a short ribbon of blue fabric with a white stripe down its center. Beside it resigned a similarly styled pin; the moon was replaced with a sun, and the blue fabric was instead a vibrant orange. Being only a 2/3rd's portrait, and since she was sitting down, most of her lower half was concealed, but one could still see the handle and hilt of a sword hung at her side. The background was the unmistakable scene of the nighttime throne hall, and in the darkness behind Luna one could faintly make out the figures of her two personal guards, their yellow eyes glaring right at the viewer.

"Oh, such a traditionalist. She still refers to it as her 'Kommandanten' uniform." smiled Celestia, her eyes still browsing the finer details of the wonderful photo.

"Did you accidentally leave Equestria under some sort of military dictator?" 

Celestia laughed, looking over at Discord. "No, I did it intentionally!" she looked back to the picture, still chuckling. "Jokes aside, she's not a dictator. Luna has always played a bit of a larger role with the Guard than I have, especially since she formed her own wing of the Royal Guard. She attends briefings, parades, training exercises... all the sorts of things I got quite tired of years ago."

Discord grinned. "Your sister is way cooler than you."

"Oh, I agree."

Celestia looked around the study, trying to find a proper frame. "I think I might have to ask her for a frame... I don't know if I have one this size."

"How big's that picture?"

"Uh, 11 by 17."

Discord snapped his fingers, a properly sized frame made from a shiny, lacquered cherry wood appearing in his out-stretched paw

"Well, look at that." smiled Celestia, taking the frame and placing the photo inside.

"See, I'm good for lots of things."

"Like cheering me up." 

Discord stared at her radiant, almost compassionate smile. "Like cheering you up, yes."

A card-stock leg was unfolded from the back of the fairly large frame, allowing it to be placed at the other end of Celestia's desk. She tilted her head, admiring the photo with a smile. 

After a moment, she looked to Discord. "She's imposing, isn't she?" 

"Imposing might be an understatement."

Celestia brought her hoof from her chair, placing it on the corner of the picture as she stared into Luna's eyes. "She'll do great things for our country."

Discord's fingers snapped, reappearing in the middle of the room as opposed to behind Celestia's desk, his figure now adorned in a flashy military uniform, a ceremonial sword sheathed at his hip. "Like finally conquering the Griffons!" he proclaimed, drawing his sword.

"She's not going to conquer anypony; Equestria isn't a marauding nation."

He slid his sword back into its sheath, "Under the rule of Commander Luna, it shall be!" 

"I think you're going a little over-board with this." Celestia returned, the annoyance in her voice not quite catching Discord's attention.

He hastily hovered over, taking the stack of documents Luna had sent in his hands, "The only thing going over-board will be the military's budget!" he jested, floating on his back and holding the papers up to his face, flipping through them. 

A yellow aurora surrounded the documents, ripping them from his hands. "What do you have against my sister?" 

Discord held up his paws in defense. "Nothing! I'm simply poking fun!"

"I know, but it seems that you've been quite... aggressive with the fun poking."

"Well, I've always enjoyed taunting little Lulu," he went back to his feet, snapping his fingers to rid himself of that garish uniform, "She's adorable when she's angry."

Celestia hummed, leaning her head close to Discord. "And I'm not? You haven't even tried to mess around with me yet."

"Celestia, fire comes out of your nose when you get mad enough. That's not adorable, that's frightening."

Celestia giggled as she leaned back into her previous pose. "You've only gotten me that angry once before."

"Even considering that, when you're normal mad, it's still... sort of scary." Discord held his head up, puffing out his chest and standing up straighter in a mimicking fashion. "You're like a lion or something; you get all big and huffy." he then relaxed, slouching a bit. "Lulu seems to get smaller."

"Make no mistake; my sister is far less controlling of her anger than I am. She may not exert herself as I do, but she's far more brash with her punishments. She's fast, too."

There was a little pause as the two looked at the picture of 'Commander' Luna. Discord scoffed, hovering up and sliding through the air back to his lawn chair. "Your sister is a weirdo."

"Maybe, but she's my weirdo, and I love her more than my country and my people. I'd let Canterlot crumble before I let her go."

Celestia's eyes remained on the photo for a second before she huffed out a breath, standing from her chair and crouching as she rummaged through the cabinet built into the lower part of the desk. Last night's talk may have cheered her up in the moment, but it was increasingly clear to Discord that the things troubling her mind were there to stay. There was something about the look in her eyes whenever she looked at Luna's picture that seemed to echo feelings of pain. After a little more clunking around below, Celestia rose to her hooves with quite the nice camera held in her yellow magic. She looked at the machine for a moment, holding it to her eye and looking through the viewfinder.

"Sadly, I don't have any way of developing the negatives. I'll have to send Luna the roll of film."

Discord sat up. "I didn't know you had a camera."

"Oh, I've got a camera, all right." she smiled, still admiring the brass and chrome photo-snapper. "This was the very first Maneolta to come out of their shop, and they dedicated it to me. They even engraved my name on the bottom plate."

Discord's eyes widened. "Goodness, aren't you lucky."

She hummed, walking from behind her desk after slinging the finely built camera around her neck by its lanyard. "It's not luck. It's something I've only just come to understand in my last hundred years or so. My ponies trust me with these things. I've been gifted so many incredible, sentimental things not because I'm the Princess, but because they know I will keep their gifts forever. By being immortal, I suppose I'm a living time capsule. I still own many things that date all the way back to before Luna's," she paused a second, "nightmare."

"It's certainly a cool responsibility; you get all sorts of free stuff!"

Celestia laughed as she looked down at the camera. "That, I do."

As she walked towards the stairs leading down to the third floor, Discord hovered up from his chair, snapping his fingers to disappear it from existence. 

"So, what do you need a camera for?" he inquired, hovering at her side as she trotted down the steps.

She lifted up the camera, humming. "Don't quite know... what exactly does a camera do again?" she returned with a cheeky grin.

Discord's paw slapped to his face, groaning. "Let me rephrase that. What are you taking pictures of?"

Celestia giggled as she began down the spiral stairs to the second-floor. "Luna wanted some pictures of the family and of myself. This'll also prove to be an interesting way of telling her you're here."

Discord gave an insulted scoff, crossing his arms over his chest as he floated on his back. "You haven't told her yet?" I'm truly hurt."

"You'll be fine, I'm sure. It just hasn't been imperative for me to write about it."

He held the back of his paw to his forehead. "Oh! I'm not important enough to make it on the list with all of the other incredibly interesting things that happen around here!" 

He could almost hear her eyes roll as she hopped from the two final steps of the stairs onto the hardwood floors of the first floor's entry hall. As the two came into the main room, they found it to be oddly placid; besides the sounds of the rain and the warm fire tickling the dark room with light and heat, there were no sounds of speech. Every couch sat unoccupied, as did every chair at the dining table. Curiously, Celestia walked over to the kitchen's entrance, peering in to finally find some of the staff. Around the big island in the kitchen stood the three chefs, their attention totally devoted to a game of poker. 

Celestia brought up her camera, looking into the viewfinder as she adjusted the aperture, exposure, and shutter speed to compensate for the dim lighting. The wonderfully smooth, mechanical snap of the camera capturing the moment caused Flip to look over her shoulder, her expression one of slight confusion. After a moment, Tea too looked up from her cards upon noticing Flip's change in attention.

"I didn't know you had a camera." commented Tea, her words bringing Pan Sear's attention up, as well.

"Had it for some time now. Don't know why I haven't taken more pictures of everypony with it."

"And, uh, why did you take our picture?" Flip asked with a raised brow.

Celestia smiled as she trotted away from the entrance. "A better question is why haven't I before?"

As she came back into the main room, Discord joined back with her as they continued back down the hall into the entry hall. Celestia stood idly for a time, looking up in the high space and humming. 

"Now we have to find everypony else." she explained more to herself than to Discord. 

"Well, I found two of them."

Celestia turned around to find him looking out the big window beside the tall main doors; beyond the home in the expansive, stormy garden were Mint and Vesper, going about their work despite the heavy rains. Celestia smiled, watching for a moment before quickly making her way up the stairs to the second floor balcony within the hall where she was able to get a wonderful angle on the couple. She twisted the lens, zooming in to where only the two were visible in the shot, and quickly adjusted the light sensitivity settings for the brighter outdoors shot. She took a moment to ensure the focus was perfect before snapping the picture of the rain-soaked gardeners standing side-by-side before their plants. 

"Everypony decided to be photogenic today, I guess." Celestia joked as she reduced the zoom and preemptively prepared the camera for another indoor shot.

Discord clapped his paws together, gasping in excitement. "Oh, and I have the perfect picture for you to take of me!" 

"And that would be?"

A flash of light followed Discord's teleportation to her where he now lay across her back, his elbow resting on the top of her head, and his head resting in his open paw. She giggled, holding the camera out in her magic and aiming it at them as she made sure they were both within frame. She closed her eyes, the glow around her horn increasing in brightness for a moment as she magically threw her sight to the viewfinder, adjusting a few more setting before ceasing the spell.

"Smile." she said, looking up at Discord through her brow.

"Don't I always?"

Again, she giggled as she snapped the photo.