In place of the subtle decorum and witty conversational games over yesterday’s breakfast, Celestia and Luna burst in upon landing, driving roughshod over courtly protocol.
“Did you recognise the alicorn?” asked Luna, placing herself down at table.
“No, but her form looked female” replied Celestia walking round to her own place setting without waiting to be shown as was accepted etiquette.
“Do you think we would have freed her if we’d have had a little longer?
“I don’t know; it’s so difficult to tell” replied Celestia pensively “Has it always appeared for only such a short time?”
“Yes” replied Luna “But I can’t be sure it will do the same again tomorrow now we have interacted with it.”
The Maître d’, a pony who thrived on a personal code anchored in rigid adherence to self-discipline and following established order, was startled by the sudden and unannounced departure from accepted courtly protocol that had been established during his service to the Royal Princesses. His inflexibly repressed nature was screaming to protest, but with whom could he lodge a complaint? It was the Princesses whom he served that were the cause of the dissonance within his strictly self-imposed straitjacket of a moral code, and thus he had no higher authority to whom he could appeal.
Meanwhile he was acutely aware that the serving staff could see the dining room descending into chaos as the Princesses breached their own laid down protocol and began to panic inwardly at the thought of how they must be regarding him due to his own inability to stamp any authority over the situation and bring it into line. Yet, he was in no place to reprimand the Princesses. He took the bravest action he could muster under the circumstances and quietly cleared his throat in an attempt to focus the Princesses upon him and his authority in his dining room, whilst not being seen to rise noticeably as a challenge against them.
It was all frighteningly complicated and it made his head spin, wishing the meal would be over as soon as possible, but the intensity of the discussion between the two Diarchs showed no signs of abating. He wanted to take a further, even more radical step of showing his disapproval at the situation by resorting to gentle tutting or even a slight disapproving shake of his head, but lacked the courage to do it.
“I know she’s held within that bubble, but what if it’s a prison?” proposed Celestia “Have you thought that maybe she’s being locked up for society’s benefit?”
“Yes, but what if she has been imprisoned by an evil force and wishes to alert us before the same fate befalls us?” countered Luna.
Stalemate.
“Very well, but if we are to try and release her, then by what means?” pondered Celestia “Our spell earlier didn’t work.”
“Perhaps that was because we left it too late and there was not enough time for it to build to the intensity to dissipate the bubble?” countered Luna.
“There’s always tomorrow morning.”
“If it returns following our having attacked it today.”
“We should each consider the matter and meet tomorrow as we did today” concluded Celestia “We can decide then what to do, but at least we will be prepared.”
“A good decision, Sister. Let us eat; I am eager to take you up on yesterday’s offer of trying the cakes.”
Celestia blanched. She had offered, but now she was put on the spot, she would have to lose one or even two. Even if it was her sister who would be the beneficiary, it was still hard for her to want to part with any of them.
“Are you sure you really want to try them?” she asked tentatively “You may not want to rush into following through on the suggestion quite yet.”
Luna giggled. She had struck her sister’s weakness and she knew it, but still enjoyed winding her up.
“Which one do you recommend I should consider as my introduction to cakes?” she enquired mischievously.
Celestia froze, trying to suppress the look of fear that wanted to break out on her face. Which one would she be prepared to sacrifice?
At length, she levitated the plainest looking one that she felt she would miss least and passed it to her sister with the finest charade of forced bonhomie that she could muster.
“So kind, Sister” smirked Luna appreciatively, breaking the crumbly delicacy and indulging herself to the accompaniment of a cup of freshly poured tea.
Luna nibbled at the pastry and gave an exaggerated gasp of delight as Celestia watched, horror-struck.
“You know, Sister” she said, taking a sip of tea and crossing her hind legs languidly “I could quite come to enjoy this.”
***
Luna’s night duties were drawing to an end as she waited for her sister to meet her on the balcony once more. She was less happy with the display than she had been the night before. This was principally because she had been wrestling with the decision tree of options presented to her with the imminent prospect of the crackling green orb returning and what course of action would be for the best. She had turned the problem over in her mind many times during her night time watch over Equestria, and had reached the point where she could competently argue against any decision that her sister suggested, yet felt little confidence in her ability to make the right decision herself.
She looked upwards and felt distinctly dissatisfied with her work, snorting her disapproval as she pawed at the stone tiles with her forehoof and bucked her head, her ethereal mane shimmering as each glittering speck danced to an unseen choreography in the rippling sheen of her regal splendour.
Far from being rested, Celestia strode out to join her sister, feeling that a little more sleep would have served her very well. She too had been troubled by the choice that lay ahead, and the potential repercussions for Equestria had chased each other round in her head well into the night.
“Good morning, Luna” she greeted “Have you reached a decision you are comfortable with?”
“No, Sister” she replied, “I was hoping you may have been able to rationalise the problem in a way that I have not yet managed.”
“Our initial instinct was to free the pony from her prison. Had the bubble not disappeared when it did, our acting out of compassion would have doubtless released her. This was a choice we made in the heat of the moment, but nonetheless it was a joint decision. Had we succeeded, she would now be free, for better or for worse. Whilst I appreciate this could be an unwise action, have we learned anything overnight that makes us challenge our previous decision?”
Luna fell silent. Her sister had clearly thought through all the possible outcomes as had she, and presented a coherent argument that hinged on their decision to release the alicorn the day before.
Had anything changed? Well, no.
Was there any reason why they shouldn’t proceed? Yes, too many to list.
Would they ultimately act out of compassion or caution? Probably always the former – everypony deserved a chance, after all.
“We should try again to release her” she said finally.
Celestia nodded.
“Let’s get into position then, shall we?”