It's a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining, the flowers alongside the roads are in full bloom, and ponies are bustling through the Canterlot streets. The sound of hooves on cobblestone roads brought peace to those that have grown used to it over their lives. The clouds in the sky were few and not threatening rain. It was a beautiful perfect day.
At least, that is how it should've been. The unfortunate reality is that it was miserable outside. The clouds were many and pouring their oppressive rain. The streets were mostly barren, with a scant few ponies running through the rain to get to important things or work. And through it, all of Canterlot was dark as most lamps have been turned off or put out by the rain. While it would be just another rainstorm for most, a pair of ponies were affected more than others.
"Sister, calm down," Celestia told Luna as a chair is thrown across the dining hall.
"NAY! We shan't be made a fool by these halfwitted 'nobles'." Luna tweaked her hooves to put the noble part into quotations. "We shan't allow this!" Luna sat back into her chair with a grumpy humph.
"I know Luna, but times have changed. It is no longer seen as ethical to execute them for pointing out an honest mistake on your part." Celestia raised her teacup to her lips and took a comically long drink from it.
"But I understand Luna. It makes me angry too, but I can't do much about it."
Luna threw her head down onto the table with an audible thunk. Celestia just stared for a moment, pondering whether to ask if she was okay before shaking her head and sighing.
"We both know that there isn't much we are able to do. It's honestly a little depressing." Luna turned her head to the side to be able to look at her sister with weary eyes.
"Truer words have never been spoken..." She remarked sadly. Celestia took a deep breath before letting it flow back out as she thought about what to say. But before she could say anything, she was interrupted by her assistant Raven.
"Princess Celestia, you have a meeting in 8 minutes in the west wing." Celestia groaned while Luna sat back up.
Celestia threw herself onto her fluffy bed and let out an undignified groan into her pillow. She lifted her head to look to her Pheonix Philomena. "Another tough day."
Philomena chirped back to Celestia. "Yes yes, the nobles."
Philomena chirped once more.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of that! Just throw them into the sun, that'll solve all my problems and not create more problems." Celestia rolled her eyes with an annoyed look.
"Though I will admit, I thought about it once or twice." She looked down sadly into her pillow before face planting into it. "I'm going to bed, goodnight." With a small glow of her horn, the room became much darker than before.
It was the dead of night when Celestia heard it, a rapping at her closet door, subtle, but still enough to rouse Celestia from her sleep. She drowsily opened her eyes, brought herself up, and turned around to look at the closet across from her bed.
'Perhaps Philomena got herself stuck in there again.' Celestia thought through the haze of sleepiness.
She was about to go back to sleep when she saw something mildly concerning. A soft and subtle glow from Philomena's perch with a light chirping of the sleeping bird. Pulling herself back up slowly and methodically, she swung herself out of bed. Approaching the closet, she could hear the unmistakable sound of rain pattering against her balcony windows. She crept, keeping her head low and shrinking where she could be struck. She crept even closer, inches away from the door of the closet sealing whatever may be in there from getting out.
With one more step forwards, she reached her hoof out to the closet door and took hold of the doorknob. Celestia's heart was racing as she kept control of her very slight shaking. Taking a deep breath, she hastily pulled open the door to find- "Oh... it's just wrapping paper... That explains the rapping I heard. I think I left this in here from Luna's Hearthswarming party..."
Celestia gave a short sigh before shutting the door and heading back to bed. However, she stopped dead in her tracks, turned back around, and ignited her almost forgotten magic. Taking hold of the door, she slowly opened it once more with a dumb expression on her face. The reason that her expression was such, was because she almost missed something during her first inspection.
In the darkness was two diminutive glowing orbs in the darkness, shining the ever so slightest silver light. In the time Celestia was staring, she heard three words that sent an odd chill down her spine, light as they were...
"Spin the wheel."
Celestia slowly closed the door on the two orbs, thought for a moment, and look back towards the ornate door to her own closet. She counted 3 knocks on the door before she opened it again with her magic to behold one of the strangest sights she had ever seen.
Standing in her closet doorway was a monster made up by myths, legends, and fiction writers. It was a skeleton, that much was known, but the arrangement of bones was concerning. The top of its odd primate skull was just barely the height of the tip of Celestia's horn. The skeleton stood on its hind legs, while it's front legs ended in smaller bony appendages. But the oddest of it all was the clothes that it wore. They were recognizable, but still oddly alien. It was an ancient Bitorian noble jabot shirt and coat along with pants to go with it.
Celestia stared open-mouthed for so long that the monster grew concerned.
"Hello? It's a bit rude to stare you know." The accent the skeleton had was eerily similar to Canterlot nobles accents and shocked Celestia into speaking before thinking.
"My deepest apologies. I hope you may forgive me, you simply shocked me with your sudden appearance. May I offer you a cup of tea." As if on autopilot, a cup of green tea materialized in front of her as she presented it to the skeleton as if it was an offering to appease a god.
Before Celestia realized what she said, the skeleton picked up the offering in front of him. "I thank you very much, your highness, you may consider yourself forgiven in my eye sockets." Celestia was too late to stop him from bringing the steaming herbal tea to his mouth and taking a long drink of it.
Celestia just watched as the tea splashed onto the ground beneath him. With a satisfied sigh, the skeleton simply said
"it always goes right through me." before setting the cup of tea onto his other hand and looking at Celestia expectantly.
Celestia was simply too shocked about what is happening to even acknowledge the pun the skeleton just made.
The skeleton and Celestia stood there for a couple of minutes. The skeleton looking around Celestia's room and taking in the details. "So... nice room you have. It seems very you if I may say." The skeleton rapped his bony digits along the ceramic mug.
"Uh..." Celestia then was brought back to her senses. "Th-thank you." Celestia was still scared. In front of her was a personification of her inevitability, it was just standing there drinking tea and spilling onto the carpet.
"Come on, I'm not that scary am I?" The skeleton would question. "But I do understand the fear, you are not the first to have this reaction, nor will you be the last!" The skeleton somehow smiled at Celestia, who finally broke through the sleepy haze and ignited her horn, blasting a yellow beam towards the beast.
The skeleton however did not notice as it turned to walk towards a nearby table to set down his tea and sit down. "Please your highness. Let's talk for a while." The skeleton gestures to the empty seat across from him. Celestia looks at the burning hole in her closet, looks to the skeleton, then makes a decision that she would never regret in the future.
"Alright, fine. Let's talk." She sat in the chair across from him, propped her elbows on the table, and looked to the monster in front of her.
Celestia summoned a bottle of fine vintage wine, something that should be enjoyed and tasted, and immediately downed half of it in one go. "You want to talk, then let's talk. Who are you and how did you get into my closet?"
The skeleton took a small sip of tea, staining the chair he was on before replying. "I am Conrad Moody of the noble house Fullerport. As to how I got into your closet... Well... Don't we all have skeletons in our closet." Conrad somehow managed a smirk with his ridged teeth.
Celestia, now slightly tipsy and awake was able to appreciate the pun and burst out laughing. "Goodness, you're a funny one aren't you."
Conrad simply shrugged. "I know a couple of rib-ticklers." She laughed again, her voice high and sweet.
"Gonna keep making puns all night then?"
Conrad watched the rain hit the windows. "Of course, I had no-body to share them with." Celestia shook her head smiling.
"If that's the case then, might I ask what your new objective in our world maybe?"
Conrad scritched his skull for a few moments. "Well, in keeping with royal tradition, I am to offer an alliance between your kingdom and my sovereign's kingdom for the wellbeing of everyone..."
He seemed to look at Celestia and let out a cough somehow. "Err... and everypony as well."
"And then afterward?..." Celestia circled her hoof, motioning for Conrad to go on.
"Well..." Conrad scratched his neck, leaving an uneasy feeling with Celestia. "I suppose to set up and be the diplomat I am. I am to assume I cannot get back to my own kingdom, at least for now, but I will do what I can to help others."
With another sip of tea, he continued. "Well, with your permission of course. I would require a few things to settle my noble house here, but I can be mostly self-sufficient."
Celestia looked at her empty wine bottle and threw it into a nearby trash can. "Well, either you are being genuine, or I just can't read that skull of yours. But, I do like these plans of yours. I will help you because you're the only noble that hasn't demanded anything from me as if it was yours by ancestral birthright."
Celestia looked out the window to the foggy city below. "And hopefully, you can set a better example for others."
Conrad put his hand over where Celestia assumed his heart would be. "You can count on me, Princess!"
The door to Celestia's bedroom slammed open, cracking the fine wood of the hoof-crafted door. "Sister! We believe that there is dark magic in the castle!" Luna shouted as she burst through the door. She stopped dead in her tracks as she gazed upon the corpse across from Celestia.