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// Chapter Two: Watching 
// Story: The Goddess of Winter 
// by PoneStudios 
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Princesses Celestia and Luna sat across the table from one another in the Royal Dining Room, eating their dinner. Celestia ate happily, and Luna ate slower, more distractedly. Celestia looked over at her younger sister. She swallowed her latest bite and smiled at Luna.
“So, how’s your evening been?” Luna looked up from her plate.
“I spent it carefully scanning Twilight’s last letter to me. I believe I’ve found something rather interesting embedded in her writing.” Celestia gave an interested grin.
“Oh? Do tell.”
“It’s too early to say anything in detail, sister, but I will say that it may, and I mean MAY, be a clue as to why Twilight left.” Luna took a bite.
“Oh my.” Celestia put a hoof up to her mouth.
“Indeed. I have made some progress towards deciphering the clue, but not much.”
“What have you found?” Celestia took bite.
“A few words, nothing more. I’ll have to keep looking to find something important.”
“Well, you have my approval. If there’s something that can give me a clue as to why, then I would like to see it.”
“Thank you, sister.” Luna finished up her dinner and smiled. “I will be going now. The more time spent deciphering the clue, the better.” Celestia nodded.
“Go ahead, Luna.” Luna smiled and stood up.
“I will see you tomorrow morning.” Luna left the dining room. Celestia’s smile faded away.
“Good luck, Luna…”





Princess Luna sighed. She looked up from squinting at the letter from Twilight. It had been a few hours since she’d left the dining hall and since then had been examining the letter and writing down the things she found. So far she’d only found a few more words. Luna stood up, blinked a few times, and went to the shelf full of books.
Luna could still recognize many of the books she’d collected, some she’d bought, and some that Twilight Sparkle had gifted to her. Luna smiled and took out a book. She looked down at it and sighed once more. This book was the first book Twilight had given her, right after Nightmare Night.
It was the very first book she’d gotten after returning from the moon. Because of that, Luna kept it close to her heart. When others suggested she replace it, Luna always refused, giving the reason of “this book was a gift”.
Luna bit her lip. She remembered just how much both she and her sister missed Twilight. Without the lavender mare writing letters to them, there was a hole in both their hearts. Luna nodded. It was time to get back to work.
Luna put the book back and went back to her vanity. There was a Royal Emblem on the vanity beside the letter from Twilight. The Emblem was made of gold and glinted in the moonlight. Luna picked the emblem up. Luna lightly tossed it. It was heavy for its size. Too heavy.
While gold in general was heavy, the Emblem was too heavy. Royal Emblems were always made to be exactly two pounds in weight. This one was more like three or four pounds. On top of that, the Emblem was just slightly too thick to be a true Royal Emblem.
Luna let out a quiet growl. Just as she’d suspected. This was not the real Emblem. This one was fake, likely planted by a group of bandits.
“Just another piece in the puzzle…” Luna put the Emblem down. She looked down at it. “I shall investigate you in the morning. For now, it is time to do my duties.” Luna went out onto the balcony to do her nightly duty of tending to ponies’ dreams.





“Pull him out of there.” The day so far had been troublesome. A snow storm had rolled in from west, covering the land in white. The nobles had been pressing to see her for hours now, and there were numerous bandits trying to ransack her little ponies’ homes. Ah, well. Such was the way of the Monarchy.
“Yes, your majesty.” This bandit in particular had been quite annoying. The squad of guards she brought with her pulled the bandit out of the pile of snow and ice. The bandit coughed and took in a breath. He looked up at the goddess standing before him. She looked disdainfully down at the bandit.
“Ah, Empress Winter… you’re more intimidating in person than up on that balcony of yours.” the Winter Goddess shook her head.
“Not more than you are to my beloved subjects. Take him away.” the guards nodded and cuffed the bandit. They roughly escorted the bandit away. Empress Winter sighed. That was another in a long chain of bandits who had decided to ransack her little ponies’ homes. It was becoming increasingly common for these bandits to attempt to ransack her little ponies’ homes and businesses.
“Another day, another string of bandits to subdue…” Empress Winter sighed. She opened her icey wings and took off towards her grand palace. She flew over the country she had built over the past 300 years. She smiled. She was truly proud of the achievements of her subjects.
Over the past 300 years they’d not only recovered from the Hundred Year Blizzard that had ravaged their crops, towns, and homes, but they’d built a metropolis to live in as well as other, smaller towns. It was a feat to see and Empress Winter had been there for all of it. And now, with the Winter Ball coming up, she was prouder than she’d ever been.
But now that these bandits were here? The Winter Goddess couldn’t bear to see the country she’d saved, built, and grown to love be destroyed by them.
Empress Winter landed on the balcony of her personal chambers in the highest tower and sighed. She looked out on the Capital City. from up here, on the balcony, she could see the entirety of the city that surrounded her palace home. The icey buildings and snowy rooftops glistened in the Moonlight.
The Empress smiled. Everything was as it should’ve been. The ponies below were relaxing at home after a long day at work. Empress glanced behind her when the door opened.
“Empress?” Empress Winter knew that voice. She turned around and put of her best kind smile.
“Come in, Cloudy. What is it you need?” the royal advisor, Cloudy Sky entered.
“You have a letter from Ambassador Snow.” Cloudy held out a letter.
“Ah, thank you, Cloudy. You may go.” Empress Winter took the scroll in her magic and opened it. Cloudy left. Empress Winter read the letter. It was a shorthand note:
To Great Empress:
Urgent information regarding “The Plan”. Meet in Relic Hall.
Ambassador Snow
Empress Winter gave a low growl. She’d told Ambassador Snow not to speak about the plan in letters. Empress Winter put the letter down. She strode out of her chambers and down several flights of stairs into the Relic Hall. Empress Winter closed the doors behind her and stood in the middle of the room.
Empress Winter looked up when she heard buzzing. The source of said buzzing was her horn.
“Alright, Ambassador… let’s see what you have to say.” Empress Winter lit her horn. The Ambassador appeared in a puff of magic.
“Ah, hello, Empress. You got my message, I see.”
“Indeed I did. Care to explain the content?” the Empress raised an eyebrow.
“Ah, yes. Apologies for that, but it was rather important.”
“As I can tell. What is so important as to break protocol?” the Empress tapped her hoof impatiently on the ground.
“Well, as I said briefly in the letter, I have urgent information regarding our… heh, little plan.”
“what happened?”
“We have succeeded.” With a flicker of magic, all the windows, curtains, and doors in the Hall were shut.
“She accepted it?”
“Yes, your majesty. At the moment, it is sitting in her room.”
“Good, this means she thinks we trust her. If I am correct, then Princess Celestia will move negotiations up by two weeks at least. She’ll want to move as fast as possible to build a relationship with us. It will be your job to prevent her from doing so until I can intervene.”
“Of course, Empress. Your bidding is my command.” Empress Winter smiled.
“Thank you, Ambassador Snow. Your loyalty is invaluable to me in this plan.”
“You’re welcome, Empress.” Ambassador Snow smiled.
“Before you go, Ambassador Snow, one thing: do be careful. The country we are working is built on lies.” Empress Winter hissed out the last sentence.
“Thank you for the warning. Until next time, Empress.” Ambassador Snow disappeared in a puff of magic. Empress Winter sighed and walked out of the Relic Hall. She strode down a few more flights of stairs into an unused portion of the palace. She then walked into a small room with a mirror on it. In the mirror, instead of her reflection, was Ambassador Snow going about his duties as Ambassador.
“Until next time, indeed, Ambassador Snow…”