//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: Title 6 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle, Princess-Regent of the Crystal Empire 
// by Eltirions 
//------------------------------//

The ship Luna would be staying on was called the ERNS Pictor, a recently-built destroyer that was the sole thing patrolling Equestrian waters between Vanhoover and Baltimare. In practice, Luna had read, the ship kept itself in the Pegasi Gulf, and mostly dealt with any pirates or smugglers that tried to enter the country.

The full crew of the ship had posted themselves on the railing, and the captain of the ship stood at the boarding plank. ‘’Your majesty.’’ She snapped off a salute. ‘’Captain Skyheart of the ERNS Pictor reporting, ma’am!’’

Luna nodded. ‘’At ease, captain. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’’

‘’Pleasure to meet you too, your majesty,’’ the mare replied. ‘’And it’s an honour to have you aboard.’’

‘’We are sure everything will be to our liking,’’ Luna demurred. ‘’We do not require much in the way of comfort.’’

‘’Your majesty.’’

Was she making the captain uncomfortable? Of course she was. Luna inclined her head regally. ‘’Captain, won’t you show us around your ship?’’

‘’Of course, your majesty,’’ Skyheart replied. ‘’Please, follow me.’’

After a quick tour of the ship, Luna ended up on the bridge of the ship. ‘’And that’s that,’’ Skyheart concluded. ‘’Any questions, your majesty?’’

‘’None as of now,’’ Luna replied after a moment’s thought. ‘’Thank you, captain. Is it possible for us to remain here as we leave for the sea?’’

‘’I would be honoured, your majesty,’’ was Skyheart’s answer. ‘’We are ready to depart at your command, your majesty.’’

Brilliant. ‘’Then let us set sail!’’




|-x-X-x-|




The trip up the river to Griffinheim was more comfortable than Archibald had anticipated. They were travelling in a boat owned by the Chancellor of Romau’s Senate: a long, comfortable ship that had more than enough space for their delegation.

Aside from the Herald and Archibald himself, one of Romau’s senators and the Archon of Eyr, Erion XIII, were also travelling to Griffinheim. Prelate Duskfeather would arrive a day after them, the Herald had predicted, and Archibald saw no reason to doubt him. No doubt the Herald had powerful gifts, and that was one of them.

Speaking of, the Herald had been at the front of the ship the entire time, looking out over the river as they slowly went north.

Archibald, on his part, was busy sorting through his notes. The rumours that he wrote incestual relationships between princesses Celestia and Luna were true, but only partially: he wrote other things as well, and his writings never went into too much detail regarding that part.

‘’Prince Archibald?’’

He looked up to see the senator from Romau, a light brown griffoness called Emma Starmourn, standing in the doorway. ‘’Yes?’’ he asked.

‘’The Herald wants to talk to you,’’ senator Starmourn succinctly said.

Whatever for?

Archibald nodded as he stood up from his chair. ‘’Of course.’’ A moment to drop his notes on the desk, and then Archibald was walking from his room to the front of the ship.

The Herald was in conversation with Erion, and the sailors around them were busy pretending they weren’t listening in. Of course, the discussion was theological in nature.

‘’Good afternoon,’’ Archibald entered the conversation. ‘’You wished to speak with me, Herald?’’

‘’I did.’’ The Herald turned his beak to Archibald. ‘’Archon Erion and I wished to discuss the place of the faith.’’

Well.

‘’A blessed day to you, Prince Dawnfeather,’’ Erion said. The black and gray griffon cut a priestly figure in his white and red robes, simple but elegantly-dressed and soft-spoken. ‘’I have been told you and I have some differences in our faith.’’

‘’That’s one way to say it,’’ Archibald said dryly. ‘’I’ll start: I’m an Old Believer, and I grew up in Equestria. The Trinity, in my opinion, has no business being as influential as it currently is.’’

Erion inclined his head. He probably didn’t agree, but the fact that he didn’t start ranting or otherwise get angry at Archibald for simply voicing his opinion was good enough. ‘’I see,’’ he said neutrally. ‘’I agree, partially. It is, after all, the task of the temples to make sure the word of the gods is spread.’’

‘’And I’m not denying that,’’ Archibald demurred. ‘’But the preachings of a prelate should not be able to sway an election.’’

‘’And how would you regulate that?’’ Erion asked. ‘’Because anyone who can speak to a crowd can do the same. Should we ban public speaking?’’

‘’Of course not.’’ Admittedly, it had been some time since Archibald had held an actual debate about this with someone. ‘’Let me rephrase: the line between state and religion, and I mean all religions, should be more properly defined.’’

Erion hummed. ‘’How do you propose to do that?’’

‘’Well, for starters,’’ Archibald began, ‘’a prelate should not be able to hold any other offices, like mayor or aldergriff. Laws that are based on rules laid down by the temples should be repealed or amended.’’

Erion hummed again. ‘’Very well. And what do the temples get in exchange?’’

‘’Exchange?’’ Archibald asked, eyebrow rising. ‘’I don’t follow.’’

‘’What the Archon means,’’ the Herald spoke up, ‘’is this: if the temples agreed to this limitation to their power, what would the state offer them in compensation?’’

That was something Archibald hadn’t thought about, because the question had never really come up. Greifenmarschen was primarily Old Believer, in which the positions of Archon simply didn’t exist. ‘’I… don’t know,’’ he finally offered.

‘’Well, something to think about then,’’ Erion remarked with a sympathetic smile. ‘’We have a couple of days until we arrive in Griffinheim, so plenty of time.’’

‘’Indeed,’’ the Herald agreed. ‘’While the Archon and I both agree with your principles, Archibald, you must be able to defend and explain them for those who are opposed to them, if our task is to succeed.’’

‘’I understand.’’ In hindsight, that was rather logical, and definitely something Archibald would get to doing as soon as possible. 




|-x-X-x-|




Of course, when Twilight and Sunset left for their strictly-business lunch date (dinner, sadly, hadn’t fit into their schedules), Twilight left it to Spike to care for Flurry.

Not that the dragon minded. He loved his niece, and spending time with Flurry was one of his favourite things to do. Likewise, Flurry loved taking a ride on Spike’s back. By now, he was tall and strong enough to carry an adult mare like Twilight on his back, nevermind a little filly.

A group of foals, on the other claw…

‘’I’m not sure I can carry all of you,’’ Spike told the seven foals in front of him. With the exception of Flurry, they were all crystal ponies, looking up at him both figuratively and literally. Disappointing wasn’t something Spike wanted to do, but he wasn’t some all-powerful god either.

Spike wasn’t sure if the foals and Flurry were friends yet, but if he could help her with that, he was happy to do so. So when Flurry had asked if the other foals and she could ride on his back, he was more than willing to oblige.

‘’I can fly,’’ Flurry offered. ‘’I don’t have to ride on your back, uncle.’’

Well, it was the only option. ‘’That’s very kind of you, Flurry.’’ Spike smiled at his niece, who gave a bright smile back. Spike then turned to the other foals. ‘’Climb on my back then, but watch out for the spikes, and be careful you don’t fall off.’’

‘’Okay, Great Spike/Prince Spike,’’ the foals all said, before climbing on his back one by one. When they had all climbed on, Spike took a few hesitant steps, The extra weight was noticeable, but he could still walk easily.

‘’Right,’’ he said, turning his neck to look at the foals. ‘’Everyone hanging on?’’

‘’Yeah, we can go!’’ Flurry replied, hovering besides him.

‘’Then let’s go,’’ Spike said, and he began to walk away from the playground. Flurry constantly zipped between flying next to his face and next to his back, talking with him or the other foals depending on where she was.

Of course, they were bound to attract attention. Many people stopped to stare at Spike and Flurry, and Spike made sure to smile and sometimes even wave to them. Public relations, morale and all that. Twilight had included a set of diagrams and statistics during her explanation, but the main thing Spike had remembered was that seeing him, or Twilight or Flurry, reassured people and made them feel safe.

And if he enjoyed the attention just a little, well then that was just a nice bonus, wasn’t it?

‘’Uncle Spike?’’ Flurry flew back into his sight again. ‘’Can we get ice cream? There’s a store there.’’ She pointed down the street to a sign that read, ‘’Crystal Cream: best ice cream in town!’’

Spike questioned how an ice cream store could function when it was too cold for ice cream from October to March, but it seemingly worked. And he never said no to a nice scoop of ice cream, no matter the weather. Even if it was not even April.

‘’Who else wants ice cream?’’ Spike asked the foals.

‘’Me!’’ they chorused back.

Spike chuckled. ‘’And the vote has passed, eight to none!’’

Now, how to fit himself into the store.