Twilight dropped the photograph, shocked into uncharacteristic clumsiness.
Twilight dropped her notes, shocked into uncharacteristic clumsiness.
“I’m sorry, would you mind repeating that Princess?”
The heralding member of Equestria’s new diarchy regarded Twilight with an arch look. If Twilight ran into something she didn’t quite understand, or was taken aback by, during her lessons with Celestia, then the sun princess would be doting, maternal, guiding her student to the right answer with a caring hoof and an astute remark.
One thousand years on the moon wouldn’t make for amazing social training for anyone. This interview had meant to be a look into the past, speaking to the pony most intimately acquainted with the Equestria of a millenia ago currently walking the earth.
It had been revealing, but in a way Twilight wasn’t entirely sure she was comfortable with.
The sovereign of the moon didn’t have to be prostrate with thanks for the fact Twilight had saved her, of course not… but still. Luna hadn’t expressed a note of thanks throughout the entire conversation, referring to Twilight exclusively as ‘under-arch-mage’, a title the unicorn had never even heard before. Her answers had been curt, and she hadn’t reacted well to being questioned just now.
This was a conversation between ruler and subject.
The two didn’t say anything, Twilight out of shock for what the princess had said, and her current look of blatant outrage. Luna, presumably for having been spoken back to in some form.
The room got warmer, and Twilight knew without looking that Celestia had entered behind her. Luna looked past Twilight. A curl of her lip betrayed clear fury, before presumably some look from her elder sister quelled her, enough to say.
“What about what we said was unclear?”
“My apologies princess, I didn’t mean to imply you were unclear. I was simply surprised by your answer.”
“You wanted to know about original translations, correct?”
“I did, yes Princ-”
“Allow me to educate you, under-arch-mage. These books you have referred to were written before Olde Equish had developed. Language was different back then and for this, among others…” Luna’s eyes flicked behind Twilight, “Reasons, translations of texts from that time are now imperfect at best.”
Twilight bit her tongue, if only for the sake of getting an accurate answer. If the princess had reacted as she had for being politely questioned, Twilight could scarcely imagine what she’d say were Twilight to interrupt her and tell her she was more than familiar with every topic she was currently being lectured on.
“So, with that in mind, these passages you’re asking about can originally have different meanings, subtly so or otherwise.”
“My question had been on what the original translation of the term ‘the eternal night’ was…” Twilight said. The twinge of irritation she felt for having been spoken to like that was becoming less and less characteristic. She was no longer the young mare she had been, brusque and bookish to the point of rudeness.
But ponies don’t change overnight. That takes work.
She let the question hang there, continuing to levelly meet the princess' increasingly furious gaze.
Should she?
Well, once again.
If only for the sake of getting an accurate answer.
“...Princess.”
Luna took her time to answer. Cold, white fire danced in her eyes for a moment, before it was suddenly, suspiciously, snuffed out.
“And, as I have already told you, Twilight Sparkle. The original term had been ‘The Eternal Madness’.”