The heat of the noonday sun beat down on Star from a cloudless sky, one so deep and bright that it threatened to swallow the whole world in its infinite expanse. Bitter, baked earth and the oily stink of sun-bleached grass filled her nostrils, while her ears twitched at the sound of crackling undergrowth, as a momentary breeze eddied about her, rich with the scents of woodsmoke and roasting spices.
If she let herself, she could easily be convinced that she was alone and free, that she could run if she wanted it with enough strength. Leap through the grass toward the invisible horizon and never return. Her tail thrashed at the thrilling thought, and her heart along with it, until the moment had passed and reality once again pierced the happy illusion, on the back of distant voices and the clatter of silverware and all-too-expensive porcelain. Instead she closed her eyes and lowered her body to the dry earth to wait. They'd come for her, soon enough.
It wasn't long before she heard the crackle and crash of a body pressing through the long grass behind her, accompanied by a steady, rumbling monologue of the old gardener, Slowpoke, to some unnamed and unspeaking companion.
Star turned her head toward the voice, just as Slowpoke's own face emerged into her little clearing amongst the ornamental grasses to which she had retreated.
"Afternoon, your ladyship," he grunted, accompanied by a perfunctory flick of a hoof to his brow. "I hope you'll forgive the intrusion."
Star nodded, frowning just a little as a young unicorn tottered up at Slowpoke's side and curtsied in her general direction. "No intrusion, Slowpoke. I was just taking a moment away from everything."
"Right you are, ma'am, only that's prob'ly why young Sunrise here was wantin' to find you."
"Oh, the new girl."
The maid curtsied again. "Yes miss. Sunrise Song, miss."
"I'm well aware of your name." Star shuffled around to get a better look at the maid, whose pale yellow coat contrasted sharply with the the charcoal grey of her uniform. "Have they sent you on any more fool's errands this week?"
"Miss?"
"You know, like the time they all had you looking for a new doorknob turner? Though I personally thought the ceiling polish was much more creative an idea."
"Oh." Sunrise Song frowned and pouted at the revelation. "His Lordship asked me to find you, miss. He seems to be of the opinion that you're hiding, miss."
"Of course I'm hiding," said Star. She stretched out, not caring how her coat was rubbing into the earth. "I would prefer not to have anything to do with the cretins that always show up to every social event we host in this place."
Sunrise Song curtsied yet again. "Yes miss, only he was very specific that you speak to him, miss. It's about the Prince."
"He ain't here," Slowpoke added.
"Really?" Star put a hoof to her chest and rolled her eyes toward the sky. Then she grinned. "Suddenly the day doesn't seem quite so terrible. Sunrise, be a dear and tell Lucent that I shall be along in a moment, and if you so much as think of curtseying again," she added, with a stern glare in the maid's direction. "I shall not be held responsible for my behaviour."
Sunrise Song's eyebrows made a valiant attempt to meet her ears. She swallowed, stuttered a half-formed response and skittered away through the grass at a respectable clip.
A frown crossed Star's face as she watched the young mare's departure. She stretched out again, sighing quietly, and shook her head. "Whatever possessed Lucent to hire that girl?
"Ain't my place to say, your ladyship," Slowpoke drawled. "'Cept as it was Miss Shortbread's idea. She seemed keen to find the young filly a place."
"Oh? Well she wouldn't be the first butler with a sordid past." Star filed that piece of gossip away just in case she had to extort a favour from Shortbread. "Speaking of which, shouldn't yours be looking after the garden today? I thought it was your day off."
"Aye, but it's not as if I have anywhere to be," Slowpoke replied, stepping back to give Star room to stand. He tugged at his cap and grinned. "Sides, there's always a chance another rich old mare'll take an interest in the potting sheds."
"Slowpoke, your optimism is admirable," said Star, with a broad grin. "Now, shall we go and see what Luci wants?"
Slowpoke hesitated and then doffed his cap. "All the same to you, ma'am, I'd better be seein' to Dal. He's been workin' all mornin' without a break. It's liable to do things to his 'ead."
"Oh. By all means," Star said, though the gardener was already flopping his hat back on his head as he turned away. She watched him leave before she turned back toward the house.
It was an excuse, of course. He probably wanted to sneak away and drag at that pipe of his again, without having to listen to all the complaining from the 'great and good', or worse: the Housekeeper. Of course, in Josephine's case, it was more likely misplaced affection than any real concern over the habit. Star sighed and looked over her shoulder to where Slowpoke had departed. The old jack certainly could draw in the mares when he wanted. It was probably his smile.
And of course, Star's own seductions were entirely the result of her good temperament...
A well-tended lawn lay beyond the ornamental grass, flat as a billiards table and nearly as brightly coloured. At the far end, beneath the grey walls of the House, a dozen or so ponies meandered between the shade of a glowing-white gazebo and a brace of tables weight down with more food than most ponies would see in several months. A few were eating already, though most seemed content to sup at the overpriced contents of Lucent's cellar and waffle to one another about the meaningless trivia of Canterlot's social stage.
A few more adventurous ponies were exploring the nearby reaches of the gardens under the careful eyes of a scattering of maids. Including, Star noted, the young Sunrise Song, who skittered back and forth between the gazebo and a knot of ponies lurking within a bower some distance to the east, beneath the boughs of a carefully tended willow. Star leaned her trot toward that group, recognising Lucent's fabulous rump amidst the throng only a few moments before she recognised the equally familiar shape of Guard armour.
Lucent's ears twitched toward her as she approached and then he turned, half smiling, seemingly at ease until she saw the sinews standing proud across his shoulders and neck. She was at his side in moments, pressing herself against him as if to weld the pair of them together.
"Luci?" She tucked her nose under his cheek. "What's the matter? Where did these guards come from? They told me Blueblood wasn't coming."
Lucent's ears flattened. He inclined his head toward another pony resting beneath the tree, who Star had managed to miss before now, thanks to the clinging shadows that drew about her like the mists over a black-deep lake in the early dawn. Star blinked, and now it was Princess Luna beneath the tree, reclining regally in the shade and conversing quietly with a guard at her side.
Star peeked up at Lucent, who looked down at her with big, sad eyes and a downturned mouth. The quiet shuff of his hoof pawing at Slowpoke's carefully tended lawn completed the wordless request: please don't start throwing things at her again.
"I'll try," Star murmured, stepping around Lucent's front to face the Princess. "But I can't promise anything."
The guard – a Lieutenant by his barding – turned to look as Star approached. There was little to hide the disdain in his stance, though whether that was for Star's presence or his general surroundings was difficult to say. His nose twitched as Star halted before the pair, tugging his mouth into a smile that was only saved from being a sneer by how briefly it appeared. Behind him, Luna's smile was genuine and warm as a summer evening in comparison.
"I bring greetings, Star Sparkle," she said, inclining her head toward Star. Her gaze lowered a fraction. "It is pleasing to see you without the accompaniment of many small scrolls."
"I have some in my study," Star replied. She glanced at the guard. "But I suppose that can wait."
"Indeed. As for my own presence, I regret that my nephew was unable to appear at this gathering. I attend in his stead and offer his most sincere apologies, for he has suffered an unanticipated duty to the crown."
Star snorted again. "That sounds familiar. Still, I suppose I should be thankful her rumpness interfered if it means I don't have to sit through another one of Blueblood's boring speeches."
"I was not aware my sister bore such a title." Luna raised an eyebrow, facing Star fully for the first time as she did. "No matter. Star Sparkle, we thank you and your herd for allowing our presence this day. Now that our formal introductions are dispensed, I may partake of the feast which you have prepared for this occasion, whatever it might be."
"Did nobody explain to you?"
"Indeed not," Luna replied as she rose to her hooves. For the first time, Star noticed the exquisitely crafted vast concealed at her side, wrought in silver filigree and holding a dozen bone-white flowers that remained firmly closed despite the bright, noonday sun. "Except that it was to be a celebration of some sort."
Star frowned. "Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure myself. Oh it's probably something to do with Twilight's wedding, I suppose. I've been so busy recently, I've quite lost track."
"Indeed?" Luna glanced toward Lucent. "Twilight is to marry, then. It would seem that such vows are quite popular in this age."
"In this family, certainly," Star muttered. "If that's everything, your Highness, I think I'll return to my—"
"It is not, Star Sparkle."
Star rolled her eyes. "It never is with you two."
With another tilt of her head, Luna dismissed her remaining guards to some distant part of the gardens. Her mane, until now draped like willow branches about her neck, sprang to life in a scintillating cloud and she stepped, slowly, from beneath the shade of the tree to stand between Lucent and Star.
"Mín æfenléoht," she murmured, nuzzling at Lucent's neck. He tensed again at her touch, but then relaxed into it. His eyes closed a moment later.
"Please don't kill each other," he murmured.
The words seemed to surprise Luna. She drew back to look Lucent' square in the face. "Worry not, we are of an accord. Is this not so, Star Sparkle?"
"What? Oh, of course, absolutely." Star made a mental note to ask about that nickname later as she ducked under Luna's neck, where Lucent turned a sceptical eye to her. "Friends forever. See?"
"You'll forgive me if I'm still wary," Lucent replied, but then he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, before dipping his nose at the roots of Luna's mane.
Peace, of a sort at any rate, settled between them, though Star soon found herself shuffling uncomfortably at Luna's closeness. The mare's dark coat was soaking up sunlight and radiating it right into Star's side, transforming the day from pleasantly warm to muggy and close.
For her part, Luna seemed annoyingly unperturbed by the heat; she wasn't even sweating.
The overbearing domesticity of it all was too much. Star grunted and stepped away, casting her head about until she found the maid, Sunrise Song, hovering nervously by the fidgeting whip-end of Luna's mane. Once Star had caught her eye she began to curtsey that ended in an awkward half crouch and a twitching, humourless grin.
"Never mind all that, Song," said Star, shaking her head. "Go and find Crinkle, or Crystal will do at a pinch. Have her come down and explain to the Princess what she's got herself into this time."
"Yes miss," Sunrise Song replied. She half turned, but then looked back with a frown. "Aren't you going to do that, miss?"
"What? Oh, certainly not, this is hardly my area of expertise. Besides," Star patted Song's shoulder and smiled. "I have an appointment with a drinks cabinet."
"Yes miss." Sunrise Song's legs quivered, but she remained upstanding, much to Star's amusement. "Is that all, miss?"
"For now." Star looked over her shoulder at Lucent, who was casually nibbling at Luna's withers while the Princess stared off into the distance with a vacant grin. "Be quick about it, though, or Lucent will ruin his appetite."
"Yes miss," Song repeated, before once again running from whatever imagined terrors Star might inflict on her, skirts flapping about her barrel as she disappeared into the bowels of the house.
Unfortunately a similar escape was not so easy for Star. She had taken only a single step when she felt the crackle of foreign magic crawling across her skin and lift her bodily into the air. It was gentle and practiced, powerful enough that she knew even she hadn't a hope of dispelling it. All Star could do was sigh and flop into its tender grasp as she was turned about and deposited unceremoniously at Luna's hooves.
"I suppose it's too much to expect royalty to take a hint," she muttered.
Luna dipped her head in a half shrug. "Persistence is one of my few virtues, Star Sparkle, though my sister does not always consider it so."
"Just Star is fine," said Star, mustering what little enthusiasm she had left. "Or Professor, if you must insist on formality."
"Of course." Luna took a step forward and raised her head as preparing to make a grand pronouncement. "Star."
Star looked back toward the house, then over at the party, which appeared to be getting along as well as could be expected for such a dense gathering. Lucent had already wandered away to mingle with the guests, something at which he was annoyingly adept even on a bad day. Scintilla was at his side, and her useless son at hers, probably nattering away about stock options and profits and property deals. Lucent seemed to sense Star's eyes upon him; he turned to smile at Star, before continuing whatever banal conversation he had been dragged into.
She'd probably have to join in with that soon, making pleasant with the great and good, lest they take a dim view of the family. "How can he stand to be around those simpering c—"
"My Pardon?" said Luna's voice over her head.
Star froze; she hadn't heard the Princess come closer, but now she could feel that heat against her side, like the sting of dry desert stone at the height of noon, and the tickling hint of an alien, dusty scent she couldn't quite place, akin to ash and burnt rock in a zebra fire pit, that pinched at the back of the nose and made Star want to sneeze. She cleared her throat instead, and turned her gaze from the crowd.
"Talking to myself," Star said. She brushed at her nose and cautiously stepped away from Luna's side once again.
"An unfortunate habit," Luna replied, airily. "Perhaps you might find greater pleasure in mutual intercourse."
Star opened her mouth, the obvious retort itching at the back of her throat, but then she paused. Could it have been intentional? From experience, Star knew that Luna still had difficulty shaking her archaisms, but even she couldn't be that dense. Surely? No, she was obviously hoping to get a rise out of Star. Best bluff it out. "Would you care to see the gardens while we talk, Princess?"
For a moment Luna stared at Star, stock still, save for a single twitch of her ears. She glanced over at the crowd, then looked over the rolling greenery, before turning an amused eye to Star.
"Of course," she said, with a shallow nod toward the nearest path. "Lay on, my friend."
It had to be deliberate. Star glanced along the path, which led back around the main lawn to her prior hiding spot but also required walking across the sight of the entire assembly. "I have a better idea," she said, moving back to Luna's side. "And since turnabout is always fair play..."
Before Luna could reply, Star's horn flashed, briefly wrapping the pair in a glittering, glass-like bubble that distorted the world beyond to elastic streaks of colour and shade. For an eternity that felt like a mere moment, her hooves touched the world twice. Then they were standing beneath the neatly trimmed branches of a rose arch, deep in the distant marches of the gardens.
Before them, surrounded by vine-tangled trellises and hanging gardens, lay a sun-soaked oval of sweet-grasses and scattered stones. A small pond bounded the far side, punctured by a fountain that danced and shivered in the golden sunlight.
Star lingered as Luna stepped out from beneath the arch, looking this way and that, ears dancing like trees in a gale.
"An impressive feat." Luna turned her head to look Star up and down, her gaze lingering longer than seemed necessary. "Such power is rare among ponies, especially in this age. It is little surprise that Celestia sought your daughter; the greater surprise is that she did not seek you or your kin before. I must question her on this matter."
"You won't get a straight answer about that," Star muttered, but Luna had already moved away.
The Princess glanced at Star and then, nostrils flaring, took a tentative step across the enclosure and its carpet of grass. She inhaled deeply, raising her lip as she took in the scents of the garden.
"What is this place? We feel we know it in some way."
"Luci calls it his meadow. He comes here sometimes when he's trying to get away from everything." Star slowed and leaned down to crop at the grass. She could feel Luna's eyes on her as she raised her head. "Terrible habit," she mumbled around her mouthful. "But it tastes too good to just leave it lying around."
Luna raised an eyebrow, though a moment later she leaned forward to snuff experimentally at the grass. Then, humming quietly, she lifted her head and turned to look at the fountain.
"I recall that our ponies once did lay this grass at the door to our temples on Celestia's solstice," she murmured. "The aroma, when trampled, was said to please us so that Celestia might not burn up the whole earth, nor I swallow it in the darkness to come. " She leaned forward to take an experimental nibble at the meadow. When she raised her head again, she was smiling. "They would gather it on the borders of Freóganholt, on the road from Mandenu to our old palace. There they would come together from across the world to worship us as the gods we so obviously are not."
Star's chewing slowed. She swallowed her mouthful and moved through the grass in a slow circle to Luna's side. "That old earth pony talk sounds like the sort of thing Doctor Roola would be interested in. Maybe you should speak to her."
Princess Luna didn't answer. Instead she pawed at the grass, before lowering her nose to it once again to take a deep breath.
"All right, now that we're here." Star tossed her head and cleared her throat. "What is it you wanted to know?"
A wind rustled the grass, which finally drew Luna from her reverie. She looked across at Star and tilted her head. "I might have thought that would be obvious by now, Star."
"Perhaps, perhaps... I've spent too long around the so-called nobility to trust anything so obvious." Star paused to watch Luna for a reply, but received only a raised eyebrow. Of course. "Princess. Luna. He'd crawl to tartarus and back on his belly if he thought it would please your highness and grant him a sniff under your tail."
"Of this I am fully aware," Luna replied, showing more candour than her sister might. "If it must be spoke plain, then. Lucent is a fine and noble stallion. I have seen his dreams and we have spoken often of his passions, and I find his companionship most enriching. In days past, I would have bade him attend my court each night of every season."
"He is rather pretty," said Star. She moved toward the far side of the bower, where another arch opened up to a shady copse."But I can't imagine what you'd do with him in the royal court other than have him stand around in a nice suit. Or out of one, perhaps?"
Luna's laughter was surprisingly quiet given her reputation, less hammering iron than the chime of silver coins falling on silk. She tramped about on the spot, turning to follow Star while a cloud of glittering grass-seed fell in her wake. Star could only sigh in her mind at the lack of care that seemed to be the hallmark of the alicorn; she would have been picking seed from her mane for weeks afterwards.
Perhaps revelling in the fact of her effortless perfection, Luna sighed tossed her head.
"In those former days, my sister an I did not hold courts of mere petition and audience," she said, examining each new plant they passed. "To be at court was to serve our whims and desires as we saw fit, whether that might be through conversation, or the arts, or the intimacies and pleasures of simple companionship."
Beyond the arch, Luna halted once again. Her mane was wilting as Star watched, drawn down about her neck like a curtain, as if the effort of keeping its ephemeral form was more than the Princess could bear to exert. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Truly, we have not held court since our return, for our sister feels it... unbecoming. As so much else enjoyable seems to be in this age." Luna looked askance at Star with a disconcertingly shy smile, turning away once again. "Once he would have been ours by right and we would have delighted in him as intimately as he delights in our stars. Now I must seek permission and favour merely to admire such beauty as his from afar."
She sighed and looked away to the curtain of greenery around her. "Yet he is a fine stallion," she concluded.
Star paused again, looking about. More willows faced her, surrounding a slender marble folly that, on lazy summer evenings, had once been a regular hiding spot for her, Lucent and far too much wine. She put the memories of what they'd done to the place from her mind, pleasant though they might be.
Luna, already climbing the shallow steps to the folly, turned to face Star. With one hoof raised to the last step, standing athwart the marble portico, she might have been the central figure in a classical painting, addressing the attentive crowd.
"When last we spoke, your concern with the distant past remembered to me those days when your forebears did stand as the most loyal of the cohorts that once raised and lowered the sun and moon." Luna lowered her gaze to Star, whatever emotions she had shown before now hidden behind a studiously neutral mask. "When I chanced to look upon them, I found that your family still remains on the registers even today, a proud testament to their legacy. Yet there is a curiosity. While those worthy others of your generation are marked upon it, both sisters and brothers alike, your own name appears absent, Star Sparkle."
For a moment Star was unable to speak. Details. It was always details that caught her out. She nodded, forcing her ears forward. "I hadn't really thought about it."
"An oversight, perhaps," Luna continued. "One I intend to remedy. It shall be our courting gift."
Star looked up. Luna was watching her now, no longer guarded; her whole face was alive with curiosity, so much like Twilight Velvet's had been whenever they had been uncovering some new historical secret together.
"That's rather more than a gift. If I didn't know better I'd think you were buying my loyalty for some reason." She raised her eyebrow and grinned at Luna. "Planning another coup, perhaps?"
With a flick of her ears, Luna looked away. "You jest."
"Ponies do keep leaving me the opportunity." Star trotted up the stairs to Luna's side. "It would be a waste not to."
The joke might as well have been thrown at a wall for all the response it got. Princess Luna resumed her climb, her steel-shod hooves ringing against the marble paving as she passed beneath the portico and through to the colonnade surrounding the folly.
Star followed, finding Luna just a few steps beyond the threshold. After a moment's hesitation, she leaned up against Luna's shoulder, or at least as far up it as she could reach. Now they were out of the sun, Luna's body, that had radiated like a furnace, felt cool as a shady meadow, or the inside of an ancient temple.
"You know, if you're truly intent on Lucent's heart, you don't need to bribe us with gifts."
Luna looked down at Star with empty eyes. She looked lost, as if everything she saw was unfamiliar and strange."Then how am I to gain your favour?"
"My favour? If you're going to ask a pony like me a question like that, Princess, you had better be damn sure you want to hear the answer." Star stepped away to lean against a pillar, glancing toward the entrance as she moved. "Besides, I'm not the one you'll need to convince."
Luna looked askance at Star, one eyebrow rising slowly for a moment. "Are you not Lucent's—"
"Oh he's well in harness, don't you worry about that," said Star across her back.
Luna turned to stalk the perimeter of the folly, shoes ringing soft against the stone. She paused a moment to look back at Star with a curious frown, but soon lost her attention again to the greenery beyond their little stone cage. Star likewise looked away to stare at the garden, though her thoughts were on a dusty book of names, and the inevitable results should Luna try to place hers amongst them.
"I would gain your favour even so, Star Sparkle," Luna said, quite interrupting Star's thoughts. "You and I, though we spake often, know little of one another. You avoid me, I fear for no other reason than that I am Celestia's sister. Were I to seek Lucent's companionship as I desire, then I must know you."
"I have to admit—" Star leaned against a column and looked across at Luna "—that's the oddest attempt at seduction I've ever encountered."
Luna's snort echoed about the folly. "You misunderstand my intent," she said, bowing her head. "It is acceptance and companionship that I seek from you, nothing more or less. I confess, handsome as you may be, I find myself drawn to a pony less..." for a moment, Luna chewed at her lip. She took a breath. "Less plump."
Before she could stop herself, Star's eyes flicked to her rear, drawing her whole head with them in turn. Luna's muffled giggle was not easily ignored.
"Too many dumplings," Star snorted, returning her attention to Luna. "Companionship I can certainly supply, if you don't mind me using you as an occasional short-cut to some historical mystery or other. Acceptance?"
A breeze sprang up, ruffling Star's mane across her brow, while its quiet rustling of the trees outside accentuated the yawning silence between the two of them. She turned to watch the passing wind as it tugged shimmering waves in the grass.
"I'd have to know what that means," she murmured. Then she smiled. "We should get back. I still have that drink to find."
Luna didn't reply, save to bow her head and hold out her hoof for Star to proceed.
Their journey back was short; Star led Luna along the back paths used by the gardeners, cutting around the intricately constructed hedges, bowers and carefully tended groves that gave the gardens the illusion of depth and space. Luna seemed fascinated, peering this way and that as they walked, dipping her head into the sunlit nooks and lawns and remarking each time on how private and yet how open they appeared, before returning to their shaded course.
Those paths too were a private space, in their own way; a sanctuary for Slowpoke, his son and the miniscule staff he oversaw and he made good use of that sanctuary too, judging by the tar-black dottles littering every step of the paths, still ripe with the earthy stench of sun-aged tobacco.
After stepping squarely in the fifth such, Star decided that she must explain to Slowpoke the concept of fire safety and then find out how he'd managed to go on for so long without burning the entire place to the ground.
They emerged from the fringe of a copse, at the very border of the main lawn, mere paces from the party proper. For a moment Star slowed, watching the staff as they circled the event, plying guests with laden trays of far-too-expensive drinks and sickly, over-decorated sweets at which even Crincile might turn up her nose.
As the pair trotted toward the crowd, a trio of guards slipped from the shadow of the trees and snaked around them, though thankfully the sneering Lieutenant was not amongst their number. The nearest bobbed his head at Star whilst the others conferred in muted whispers with Luna, before departing with the same silent grace as their arrival.
"They wished merely to ensure I was safe," Luna said to Star, unprompted except perhaps by her own conscience. "Now let us feast at last!"
"By all means, your Highness," said Star as she trailed in Luna's high-headed wake.
The party had already gravitated toward the Princess, no doubt drawn by her wit and intelligence and not something so base as the need to be seen in proximity to a Princess of the realm, which left Star off by herself. She wondered if she should barge in, seat herself at luna's side. Make the claim as her old gran would have put it, but of course that old duffer had still owned a set of halters and whips, even if they were never used in anger, so any advice from that quarter was highly suspect.
It struck Star then that she was almost treating Luna as a male, a thing to be caged and protected and made her own. Maybe it was just the size of the mare. She towered over every pony around her. Even Lucent, who had belatedly found his way to her side and where he was giving a far-too-literal demonstration of rubbing shoulders with royalty, appeared small and slight in comparison to her towering, sharply defined body.
While she watched, a pony slumped down at star's side. It was Crystal, bearing a tray and two glasses on her outstretched hoof, which she set between them. She was nude, unusual for her at the best of times, but especially in such a gathering as this, and yet she still made Star feel underdressed.
"Frustrating, isn't it," said Crystal. She picked up a glass and tipped it in a mocking salute toward the crowd. "Being left out of the mob, I mean. Pushed to the edge while everypony else gets all the juicy gossip."
Star took a sip of her wine. "I wouldn't know about that."
"Of course," Crystal replied, eyeing the rim of her glass as she slowly turned it between her hooves. Then she tipped it back, swallowing the entire contents in a single motion. "But you're missing out all the same. Take that young Fleur de Lis for instance."
"Who?" Star looked around the crowd until guided to the mare in question by Crystal's subtly aimed hoof. "Oh."
"You know how she's always dragging that young stallion around with her? Well–"
"Crystal." Star held up a hoof. "If this is going to be another earful of all your latest rumour-mongering about ponies in whom I have no interest whatsoever, you can save it for someone else."
Crystal set her glass on the lawn and eyed Star a moment, narrowing her eyes. "The girls want to talk," she said. "You've been alone with the Princess from very nearly the moment she arrived. It's got us all wondering what you're planning next."
Star put her own drink to one side, unfinished. It was clear she'd need something stronger before the day was through.
"And you think that's left you pushed to the edge, do you?"
"We just want to be sure you aren't making any decisions without our input."
"You mean Scintilla's input."
Crystal pawed at the grass, tugging a not insubstantial divot from the lawn, but didn't rise to the barb. Instead she snatched up Star's drink and took half of it in a noisy gulp.
"Drawing room," she grunted. "Ten minutes."
Star waited until Crystal had returned to the crowd before letting herself breathe. She looked toward Lucent, but there was no advice to be had from him this time; his eyes were entirely on the Princess. Perhaps he was counting constellations in her mane.
It was Luna that gave Star the impetus to finally move. The Princess looked at Lucent, her eyes roving over his face and back, then turned her attention to Star, smiling with a shyness unbecoming a creature so powerful. It was a familiar smile, one Star remembered from the mirror, the day she had first found Lucent. A smile she seldom saw today.
She wanted it to be an act, a feigned innocence designed to trap her in some way, but then she recalled their earlier conversation in the folly, when Luna had appeared so utterly abandoned to a world entirely alien, and before that, when she had been so – so open, casually speaking stories of the past that would have required several crowbars and a dozen hefty stallions to lever from the grip of Celestia's gritted teeth.
The drink that had been at her hooves would have suited Star about now. It had been a rather bubbly affair. She snorted and glared about until she spotted Sunrise Song, lurking, leaf-like, at the periphery of the party. Their eyes locked. Star barged toward her, offering perfunctory greetings to the mares and stallions she passed, while Song's face stretched taut against itself and her eyes darted back and forth, seeking an escape she must surely have known would not be found.
"Song!" Star clapped a hoof across Sunrise Song's shoulder and grinned at her. "Just the mare I wanted to see."
"Yes, miss, but I'm sorry miss." Sunrise Song's legs quivered as reflex fought against ancient survival instincts. "Only I couldn't find her ladyship to explain things, miss, and then you'd gone when I got back, miss, and the Princess was missing–"
"Something you'd know a lot about," Star cut in. She patted Sunrise Song's confused head and grinned. "Never mind all that, I'm sure you did your best. Go fetch Shortbread, have her buttle up something old and red to the drawing room."
"Yes miss," said Song, while her legs shivered against one another. "Right away, miss. Is it an occasion, miss?"
"Possibly," said Star. "Possibly. Run along now, there's a good girl. And don't trip over yourself."
"Yes, miss!"
Sunrise Song scuttled away, pausing briefly to curtsey to a vine-draped planter on the verandah. It was cruel to torment her so, Star knew, but she made it so very easy. Grinning despite herself, Star stalked over the verandah and into the house.
The dining room was cool when she entered, dim after the bright noonday sun, and utterly silent. Stepping light, she crossed the room and stopped by the drawing room door at the far end, ears perked for the sound of conversation. There was precious little. She could hear Twilight Velvet muttering at the edge of hearing, but who she was speaking to, or what about, was impossible to discern. After a moment to compose herself, Star opened the door.
The girls were all there, arrayed about the drawing room like a particularly louche inquisition. Star waited for the door to close behind her before moving inward. "So." She brushed a hoof against her chest. "I understand there's been some talk."
To Star's left, Scintilla snorted. She was glaring at the wall when Star turned to look at her, lounged across a couch as if she was utterly relaxed, though her back and neck fair quivered with tension. She glanced around the room before fixing her gaze on Star.
"We've been discussing our future," she said.
"So Crystal tells me." Star nodded toward the mare in question, noting the fresh drink nestled in the crook of Crystal's hoof. She must have picked it up on the way in. "Though I'm not sure what there is to discuss."
Scintilla licked her lips and looked about the room again, perhaps winding up her courage. "For starters, the fact that there's already six mares in this herd. It's hard enough getting attention as is, now you're talking about adding another."
"That's hardly fair," said Twilight, from her perch by the window. She turned from watching the party and tilted her head at Scintilla. "Lucent and Glint have been more than considerate."
"Maybe, but they're not getting any younger. Sooner or later we'll need to think about courting another stallion."
Sighes echoed around the room, which Star found herself joining without prompting. From the far corner she heard Cinnamon's plaintive mutter of "here we go". Yet if Scintilla had been put off by the reaction, she didn't show it. She hopped from her couch and faced Star square on.
"If you're so set on having her, then I think it's high time we discussed catering to the rest of this herd as well." She smirked. "Lucent can't keep it up forever and adding another mare will just wear him out all that much sooner. We need another stallion."
"And I suppose you're proposing that Prince," said Star. "I'm not making that mistake twice."
"And I'm not having that greasy, dick-waving carpet crawler anywhere near me," Twilight added, shuddering. "Besides, he's related to Luna."
"Not by blood."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "They call him their nephew! Even if he's not directly related, they act like his is. Why should we invite that kind of scandal?"
"Yeah, we've already got Star," Cinnamon added with a snicker. She returned Star's glare with a smug grin and a flap of her wing.
A knock at the door prevented Star from speaking her mind on that particular topic. She turned, stepping back as the door swung aside to admit the butler, Shortbread, and a maid with a laden tray on her back. Shortbread halted just inside the door, holding her nose high, and gave the room an ostentatious bow.
"Your wine, as you requested, m'lady," she murmured to Star. "As you specified only something old and red, I took the liberty of decanting the eleven ninety-six L'ecurie Sainte Poitevin for your consideration."
Crincile, quiet until now, rose from her seat beside Twilight. "A rather appropriate choice, I feel," she murmured as she stepped forward. "Thank you, Shortbread. Leave it on the table. We can pour for ourselves."
"M'lady." Shortbread twitched her head at the maid, who deftly shunted the a decanter and a half dozen glasses from her back to a slender table at Crincile's side. The pair bowed and retreated without a word.
Once the door had closed, Crincile tugged the heavy glass stopper from the decanter and lifted it to her nose for a moment. She poured a long measure into a glass and raised it up, inspecting the contents through narrowed eyes.
"We are in an enviable position," she said. Then she took a sip of the wine, closing her eyes a moment as she savoured the taste. "Two royals sniffing around our flanks. Any of the herds outside would sell their prime studs for just one."
"One is all that matters," Scintila replied. Crystal, behind her, remained silent. "What does Princess Luna bring except more competition for the rest of us? Can Alicorns even foal?"
"She makes Lucent happy," said Twilight, before Star could think to reply. They shared a look; Star tipped her head a fraction and got just the hint of a smile in return. "He's more attentive when he's happy."
"Foals aren't everything, especially at our age," Crincile added. She sipped at her wine, while her glittering eyes remained fixed on Scintilla. "As my mother told me on countless occasions, legacy is more than the product of your loins."
"Easy for you to say."
The words had slipped out before Star could stop them. Yet, when she looked toward Crincile, she found not anger, or resentment. Not even pity. Instead she smiled.
"It is," she said. "I don't have a choice. If I am to have any legacy at all, it must be from what I do and say, rather than who I produce. I am sure that the Princess, if she cannot foal, must feel the same way."
Crincile resumed pouring the wine, passing oversized glasses to each in turn. To a mare they received the wine with suitable courtesy, though Scintilla sniffed carefully at hers and grimaced before setting the glass aside. Crystal, for her part, down her share in two noisy swallows and slumped back into her seat.
Finally there came Star. Crincile held out a glass, but hesitated a moment. Their eyes met, Crincile's gaze as bright and hard as the glass she bore, and though her smile seemed warm there was an edge to it that Star had rarely seen before.
She snatched the glass from Crincile's magic and took a swig, whilst glaring around the room. Twilight and Cinnamon were staring into their drinks, though while Cinnamon seemed enraptured by the glittering surface, Twilight appeared to be lost entirely, bearing the same expression Luna had worn in the folly.
"She makes him happy," Star echoed. She turned on Scintilla, rolling her glass back and forth. The wine had lost her interest. It was too dry and bitter for her taste anyway. "If he's as set on Luna as she appears to be on him, then it's foolish to get in their way. Do you want him to look down on you as the mare that broke his heart?"
For a moment, Scintilla seemed to back down as she refused to return Star's gaze, or Crincile's for that matter. Instead she stared at her wine, murmuring under her breath until her ears abruptly rolled back against her head.
"I'm trying to negotiate," she snarled, raising her gaze to Star. "If we have Luna, then we should have Blueblood to make things easier on Lucent. We can figure out more detailed arrangements later. I don't see why you're all being so unreasonable about this."
"There's nothing unreasonable about respecting Lucent's wishes to be as far away from Blueblood as physically possible," said Star. She glanced at Twilight again, then closed her eyes and took a breath. "It was bad enough when I left him alone with Blueblood for just a few hours. I'm not going to compound that mistake by forcing them to live together."
"Then we have a problem."
Scintilla looked over her shoulder at Crystal, who after a moment slid from her seat to stand at Scintilla's side. They conferred in harsh whispers that Star couldn't quite hear no matter how she strained. Then Crystal nodded and resumed her seat, though not before refilling her glass from the nearly depleted decanter.
"If we can't have Blueblood and Lucent in the same herd," said Scintilla, "then I shall simply have to choose between them."
Twilight's ears rose "You'd do that? After all this time?"
"I'm afraid Scintilla is quite set on the Prince," Crystal replied. She swirled her glass and took a long draught. The corners of her mouth turned down as she spoke. "I'd rather not lose Lucent."
"It's a small loss if we can have Blueblood," said Scintilla. She rolled her eyes Star's amused snort. "Lucent would have made it easier for us to court him, but we can still pursue him on our own terms."
"What terms?" Star shook her head as she tried to hold back a cold laugh. "There's more stallions in his herd than mares at this point. What makes you think he'd be interested in you?"
"Oh he won't be interested in me." Scintilla narrowed her eyes and grinned at Star. "He'll be interested in Glint. Crystal and I would simply go along for the ride."
"Absolutely not," Twilight and Star replied in unison. They looked at one another, Star as unable to hide her surprise as Twilight. They shared a brief, awkward smile.
"You can't expect Lucent to just let you take Glint from him," said Star, returning her attention to Scintilla. "They're closer than brothers."
"Brothers who fuck," Cinnamon murmured. It was a moment before she realised the others were glaring at her. She blushed and tried to hide behind her wings.
"Perversions aside..." Crystal set her glass down on the table at her side, though she hesitated to lift her hooves from it for just a moment. "They may be close, but that doesn't change the fact that we brought Glint into this herd. We have every right to take him out of it again."
"Oh so now you own him, do you?" Star pressed a hoof to her forehead and closed her eyes. "I would have thought you of all ponies would be beyond that sort of thing, Crystal."
Silence followed the remark, then Crystal let out a quiet gasp and a sniffle, and turned her head away, as if that would hide the flattening of her ears. None of Crystal's usual acidic retorts and knowing smiles. Evidently the jibe had cut deeper than Star expected.
"Taking Glint from this herd is out of the question," she repeated.
"There's nothing to stop us," Scintilla said, ignoring how Crystal flinched at her words. "And I'm sure we could convince the Prince to provide some sort of compensation."
Twilight stepped to Star's side. "I wouldn't care if he offers the entirety of Platinum's harem, you are not having Glint as some sort of bargaining chip in whatever half-baked plan you've concocted for yourself. Lucent won't stand for it. Neither would the rest of us."
"You may say that now while Star is here to yank his halter, but once Lucent realises that Glint is the price for having Luna then I'm sure he'll see things my way. It's a nice, simple exchange." Scintilla smirked at Star. And then she gave the room a bubbly little grin and bounced twice on her hooves. It was all Star could do to restrain herself from turning around to kick Scintilla in her giddy little head.
Before she could think of a suitably acerbic response, Crincile stepped forward again with the decanter, offering the remaining wine first to Scintilla, then to Star once Scintilla had refused.
"It seems to me that Star would be unlikely to allow any such thing to happen, regardless of where in the world she might be," Crincile said as she refilled Star's glass. "I'm sure you recall Lucent's reaction the last time you suggested such a split. And Star's, when she returned."
"She'd been gone for years! What was I supposed to do, just sit around and wait until somepony took up the reins?"
"Show a little loyalty, perhaps," Crincile replied. "And understand that there are other, more important things to consider than your own personal advantage before making such a disruptive decision."
Scintilla's eyes darted from Crincile, to Star and Twilight, to Crincile again. "You're saying I have no choice."
"No, she's saying that the choice you want isn't the choice you have." Star paused to chuckle and shake her head. "It's a pain I understand far too well, my dear."
"Now, Twilight is about to embark on a new chapter of her life. It would behoove us to stand united behind her as a family, to demonstrate to her that she has all of our support." Crincile tucked a hoof under Scintilla's chin and ran it gently along the length of her jaw. " I shouldn't have to point out to you that we are an influential family, possibly one of the most influential in Canterlot at this point. We have the ear of the Princesses, we have royals courting us left and right. We have kept all of this because we've stayed together for so long, but it's only because of Twilight that we had that close relationship with the royal family in the first place."
Scintilla's head leaned into Crincile's touch, until she abruptly tore herself away. "He would have noticed me anyway," she muttered.
"The wedding is just a few months away," Crincile replied. She was smiling again as she returned to her seat. "We can wait that long to discuss our future together."
"As long as Lucent is there," Star added. "And Luna, if she joins us."
"I certainly think that every member of this herd should be present for such an important decision." Crincile's ears twitched at a knock on the door. She turned and seated herself. "Anything else would be improper. Enter!"
The door cracked open just wide enough to admit the short, yellow nose of Sunrise Song. "Begging your pardons, misses." She nosed into the room and curtseyed to a bookshelf, then trotted toward Star, shoulders hunched as if walking against a strong wind. "His Lordship asked for you all in the gardens, miss. Says there's an announcement needs to be made."
"Is there, now?" Star glanced at Twilight by her side, then at Scintilla, and smiled without humour at the mare's obvious discomfort. "Thank you, Song. Go tell Lucent we'll be out in a moment."
"Miss," Sunrise Song mumbled as she scampered back to the door.
"I suppose that settles that," Twilight murmured once the door had closed. She sighed and dropped her head. "Happy as it makes me to see him so high-spirited, I have no idea what he sees in that mare."
"Oh I know exactly what he sees in her," said Star. She stood a moment, revelling in warmth of Twilight's unexpected closeness, but soon had to tear herself away to face Scintilla.
The mare was glaring at her, jaw working viciously, as if stuffed with a particularly chewy knot of grass. "I suppose you think it's funny," she grunted.
Star shrugged. "A little. To be honest, I'd be happy to see the back of you, but then we're all part of this herd for reasons that go beyond any requirement to actually like one another and I'd really rather it stick together for now. Besides, Lucent would be upset if you left. I think he's rather fond of you"
A frown crossed Scintilla's face and she opened her mouth, but then closed it again without speaking. She backed away from Star a step and then turned, awkwardly, to trot for the door, pausing only to beckon Crystal with a jerk of her head.
One leg at a time, Crystal slid from her seat and shuffled across the room. She halted in front of Star and looked at her, but if she had anything to say, she too was keeping it hidden. After gazing into Star's eyes, Crystal lowered her head and, ears crushed against her skull, sloped after Scintilla and out of the door.
In the silence, Star found herself looking back at Twilight, at her face that had once borne nothing but love for her, then nothing but contempt for so many years. Now? Star looked, but couldn't see.
Twilight looked up, noticed Star's attention. A shy smile tugged at her lips and she looked away, giving Star the opportunity to inch closer to her erstwhile lover.
The years had been kind to Twilight, far kinder than to Star, whose mane was lank and silvered, and coat warn and salted in comparison. Twilight's body was sleek, her perfectly brushed coat highlighting every curve and cleft of her. Perfection, or near as made no difference, wrought in spun glass. It was a wonder Lucent and Glint didn't take her to bed every night.
"I was listening, you know."
Star's head jerked back. She twisted to look Twilight in the eye. "Oh?"
"What you said about Lucent. About not leaving him with Blueblood again." Twilight tipped her head a fraction. "It was very kind."
"Never let it be said I don't admit my mistakes," said Star. She looked over her shoulder at the door, just as Cinnamon was skipping through it. She sighed. "Scintilla might be one of them."
Twilight shook her head and leaned, briefly, against Star's shoulder. "She brought us Glint. That was enough."
There was more that could be said to that, but for once Star was disinclined to argue. Instead she lowered her head to Twilight's withers and nibbled at the roots of her mane.
"I'm still mad at you," said Twilight, though she sighed and leaned into Star's touch.
"I know." Star snuffed and breathed in the scent of Twilight's mane. Jasmine and fresh-cut grass. It was glorious. "I'll probably give you more reason before the day is over."
She sighed, waiting for life to do the inevitable and ruin her day, but for once it seemed to want to leave her alone. How novel. Star closed her eyes and tore herself from Twilight's side with an overblown groan of effort. For a moment it seemed that Twilight wanted to move with her, to maintain their touch, but it had to be an illusion.
"Come on," she said to the room at large, twitching her ears toward Crincile and taking a step toward the door. "We should go and see what new anarchy this family is loosing upon the world."
Silence followed Star, the room echoing with only her own hoofsteps. When she looked back she saw Twilight joined by Crincile, the two conferring in near silence. Then Crincile looked toward Star, expressionless, so that even her ears were still. She set her lips against Twilight's forehead, at the very root of her horn, before walking past Star and out of the room.
Twilight's gaze followed her, before falling on Star. She took a step, then another, but the third broke with her leg raised and her body quivering, ready for flight.
Star moved back to Twilight, unable to keep the frown from her face. "Twilight–"
"Don't leave," Twilight breathed. Then, before Star could answer, she pushed past her and clattered from the room.
Star waited, breathing in the silence, while her magic sought the drink she had abandoned and pulled it close to her head. She didn't drink from it though, not yet. Instead she sauntered to the door and peered out into the dining room.
Crincile was there, by the verandah, staring out at the crowded lawn, still holding her own glass of wine in both hooves. She looked over her shoulder at Star and raised the glass in a sort of salute and smiled one of those private little smiles that hide so much more than they convey.
Star swigged at her wine and joined Crincile by the window, and together the pair sat until they had finished their drinks, while the rest of their herd gathered around Lucent, and Luna and the vase she had seen earlier, and watched as the Princess's magic shaded her gift from the sun until each flower opened to reveal petals as black as midnight.