//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Eclipse // by Hiver //------------------------------// I laid on my throne and tried to push away my boredom. The throneroom was empty other than me and a couple of guards as I was between appointments. Flower was doing some paperwork on her desk to the side of the room. Looking out into the roaring wall of water outside the open sides, I couldn’t help but wonder if my next audience would arrive in time or not for their appointment. And if they could swim. The weather during the rain period was not easy to brave even for locals. Everypony in Nocturnis had the sense to just stay home when the weather was like this. The door opened and Twilight poked her head inside, glancing around, “No trade envoy?” “Not yet,” I said and shrugged my wings, “But if she was unwise enough to try to get here from the hotel during the rain, she may just have drowned.” Twilight made a small thoughtful sound and turned her head to glance at the unicorn guard by the door. The guard nodded, “I’ll go make sure she didn’t wash off the city, Princess,” she said before saluting and trotting out the door. Unicorns were one of the few that could go outside fairly safely, at least if they pull of a water barrier shield to hold above themselves. As the door closed, Twilight crossed over to me, glancing towards the wall of water outside. Must be almost invisible to her with only the lights of the magic crystals lighting the throneroom up. “At least it should be over in a couple of weeks,” she said and sat down next to the throne, resting a hoof on the edge as she shifted her wings a bit. I nodded and shifted a bit closer, leaning down to touch my horn to hers, “Done for tonight?” She shook her head and raised her muzzle to give me a soft kiss, “Almost. Waiting for a potion batch for the guard to rest. It needs a couple of hours of cooling before the last steps.” Nodding again, I scooted to the side, giving her room and she clambered onto the throne next to me before getting comfortable. She fluffed her wings up a bit before turning her head to adjust a feather before she looked at me, “What about you?” I smiled and brushed my wing against hers, “Last appointment at least. But I’m fairly sure Flower has something for me after?” I said, glancing to the side where Flower Rain was sitting by a small desk, shifting through some papers. Flower looked up, before the petite batpony then smiled at me, “You know it, your majesty.” “You know,” I whispered softly into Sparks ear with a small smile, “I think she has misunderstood who is the boss and who’s the assistant.” Twilight grinned, covering her muzzle with her hoof before she nosed at my cheek, “I think she knows exactly which is which,” she murmured softly. I considered that for a minute before I shrugged my wings and slipped one across Twilight's back. I mean, she wasn’t wrong. She had a higher salary than me, that’s for sure. Especially as I didn’t have one. Really, most of my Bits came from my book sales and I had poured something like ninety percent of what I owned into the Nocturnis treasury ages ago. And so was most of whatever I made from it since then had also gone into it. Thinking about it, I wasn’t even sure if I owned more than a thousand bits anymore. Then again, maybe I did. I did leave it all my financial stuff to that company in Canterlot to handle as I had neither the time nor the effort to put into it. I glanced at Flower where she was writing something on a notepad. Fairly sure Flower would know though. Maybe I should stop by next time I’m in Canterlot to see how things are doing, if nothing else I may have more to transfer into the treasury. That sort of thing really sucked to do by post. Especially with a minimum of a two week turnaround on every message sent. Yawning softly, Twilight shifted, resting her head against my neck and I nosed at her ear, “Sleepy?” “A bit,” she admitted, “Was up late last morning. I think I may just go to bed as soon as the potion is done. Spend some time with Luna “ I nodded and smiled, “You two have been spending a lot of time together.” Twilight nodded and stretched a bit, “Talking a lot,” she said and smiled a bit. “Good,” I said and kissed her cheek. If there was somepony other than me I could see my Luna with, it would be Sparks. Both mares were brilliant, kind and all kinds of amazing. Sunset… as much as Luna and Sunset liked each other, I’m not sure they will end up more than friends. But maybe Sparks. That would be really good for both of them. There was a knock on the door and Light Shine poked her head inside, clearly soaking wet despite her ability to cast a rain shield. “I located the envoy,” she said with a smile, “Should I send her in?” “I’ll get going,” Sparks said and gave me a kiss on the cheek before slipping off the throne, “See you later unless I’m asleep first?” “If not, then tonight,” I agreed, looking after her as she left the throneroom. I sighed softly and shifted to sit up, adjusting my wings a bit, flicking my ear. We were all busy, no matter what we did. We were even all on the same schedule and not even then we all managed to spend the mornings together. I did like that she spent time with Luna though. In my opinion, anything that made my girls happy was a good thing. The doors opened and Light Shine showed in a white coated earth pony. This mare had been wearing what at once point clearly had been a classy blue dress at one time. Now she looked like she had been keelhauled, holding what once likely been a folder with documents in one hoof. She looked slightly shell shocked but visibly pulled herself together as she walked inside, still trying to get her blonde mane back into a style other than drowned rat. “Miss Retsina,” I said with a smile, “Welcome to Nocturnis. I hope you found it alright. May we offer you some refreshments? Or perhaps a towel?”