1st Person: Discord
Several years had passed since we’d all met. Lynch and I were happily serving the princesses. They treated us like friends. Sometimes, even we were served by other servants. It was as if we weren’t bought by them to be slaves, but to be their friends. Both Luna and Celestia were pranksters at heart. We would help them set up the perfect pranks, often involving grown up Stallions and Mares falling victim to buckets of water or various other fluids and feathers. Because the pranksters were the Princesses, those who fell victim just laughed it off as fillyhood. By then, my body was growing taller and I’d begun to walk on my hind legs as all Draconequus children did when they reached a certain age. Lynch was still on all fours, being a late developer.
“Hey Celestia, who do you wanna get next? Old Mrs. Crispy, the pony who does the puff pastries? Or that fat Stallion who looks like he ate a year’s supply of them in one go?” I asked, spotting both mentioned ponies within the market district. Celestia began doing ‘Eenie Meenie’ with her hoof. She paused in between them. I followed the direction she was pointing in and smiled.
“So!… Flutterbye’s out today is she?” I asked, clapping my hands together. Luna giggled, hopping up with Lynch to prepare the feathers. Celestia and I crept around to intercept the unsuspecting Pony.
“Flutterbye! What a pleasant surprise, so good to see you out and about. How’s kicks?” I asked, distracting her.
“Oh! D-d-draco. It’s g-g-good to see you too. I-I-I’ve been k-k-kinda indisposed for the past eleven months.” she replied. Celestia showed up behind me smiling to the light orange Pony.
“Hello, Flutterbye. What’s this I hear about you being indisposed?” she asked. Flutterbye gawked at Celestia and bowed with some strain.
“H-h-hello, Princess! Well I-I-I’ve had some problems with the o-o-other Ponies. Proudheart, the Stallion confessed his love for me a year ago… and the girls threatened me to break it off with them… B-b-but the night I was going to… he was so sweet to me and…” I noticed Luna and Lynch begin to creep up behind her. As I saw this, I then realised that Flutterbye’s stomach was swollen.
“Hey, Celestia,” I whispered. She reached her head towards me slightly to better hear me. “I think she’s pregnant.” I said. Celestia realised this also and looked directly at me with wide eyes.
“Call it off!” she mumbled. I realised that Lynch and Luna were just about to tip the vat of oil and feathers over her.
“Too late!” I replied, rushing behind Flutterbye. She followed me and saw the vat overhead. She cringed in surprise as I loomed over her, taking the feathers and oil myself. Lynch froze, as did Luna. The oily feel under my fur was disgusting, like having honey dropped on you, but smelly. I stood there, my eyes closed, my fur soaked in oil and feathers. Celestia had helped Flutterbye get out of the way of any oil dripping from me.
“Lynch! You’re dead!” I shouted, chasing after him.
“Hey! I just did my part. It was Celestia’s idea to prank her, not me!” he argued.
“Yeah, but Celestia’s royalty, you’re not, so I can kick your ass with a clear conscience.” I retorted, following the sound of his voice and footsteps. I could hear Celestia and Luna both laughing with Flutterbye as my anger towards Lynch provided them with much entertainment.
***
That night, the four of us sat on the roof of the Princesses’ tower. I was air drying after having bathed the oil out of my fur. The wind blew gently against us.
“Hey Draco?” Celestia asked. I looked at her, her pink mane glistening slightly under the moonlight. “I understand why I didn’t want to prank Flutterbye when you told me she was pregnant… but what was your reason for saving her?” she asked. I thought about my answer. I honestly wasn’t sure why.
“I guess… pranking a pregnant pony the way we prank others would be… morally incorrect in my book.” I replied. Celestia smiled and nodded.
“I understand completely.” she said. As another gust of wind blew by us, she shivered. Before she even said the words “It’s cold.” I’d rushed into the tower and pulled out her favourite coat; a nice woollen thing that would have dragged along the ground were she standing up. Emerging with it, she smiled as I wrapped it around her. I sat back down next to her and stared up at the Moon.
“So when do you two get to take control of these great big… orbs?” I asked. Lynch snorted in response, receiving a smack on the head from me.
“Ow!”
“I’m still pissed at you.” I told him.
“Why me?”
“Because I can’t be pissed at Celestia or Luna, so you’re my punching bag.” I replied, rubbing his head. He sighed, chuckling afterward.
“You can’t blame me anyway. How was I to know she was pregnant? I was too busy thinking how heavy that vat was.” he said. I sighed, lying back against the tiles on the tower roof.
“I guess you’re right.” Celestia yawned and chuckled.
“It’s nights like these that I love the most. The four of us hanging out, talking about our day. Nothing to do but live and enjoy the moment.” she said. I closed my eyes and did as she said, enjoying the moment. Lynch did likewise. As we both began to relax, we felt heads rest themselves on our stomachs. I tensed up, looking down to see Celestia relaxing comfortably with her head below my heart. Lynch did likewise, finding Luna on his stomach. Unlike me, Lynch relaxed afterward. Celestia, having noticed my discomfort, looked at me with uncertain eyes. I sat back up, shifting backwards a bit.
“Sorry, Princess. I can’t abide that.” I said, wrapping my arms around where her head had been. She looked at me with hurt in her eyes. Lynch chuckled, getting Celestia’s attention.
“Draco’s never been the tactile type. He gets shy whenever somebody touches him.” Luna had lifted her head to see the scene. I took that moment to boot Lynch off the tower.
“I’ll give you tactile, you blabbermouth!” I shouted as he flew over the edge. Both Princesses watched after Lynch who had taken to the air with his wings.
“Jeez, Draco, how else were you going to explain your declining Celestia?” he asked. I sighed, standing up. As Lynch landed next to Luna again, I reached the edge. As I turned to look at them, Celestia looked at me with sad eyes.
“I’ll see you three in the morning.” I said, stepping off the edge. Unlike they’d thought, I clung to the edge to listen in on their conversation.
“Don’t worry Celestia. He’ll adapt to this sort of thing eventually. You know what he’s like, he hates change. You’ll have to ease him into this.” said Lynch. ‘Hmm, perhaps I didn’t boot him hard enough’ I thought, releasing my grip on the wall. I flew away, perching on a nearby tower top. The moon faced away from me and I spent the rest of the night touching the area of my stomach where Celestia had rested her head on, wondering what her intention was regarding the action.
***
Having had little sleep, I awoke to the sound of Flutterbye trying to wake me cautiously.
“Um… D-d-draco? Are you alright?” she asked. I yawned, sitting up. She sighed heavily.
“Oh thank goodness. I thought you’d impaled yourself on the tower pole somehow and committed suicide or accidentally fallen on it.” she said. I yawned, ignoring that comment.
“What’s up, Flutterbye?” I asked, rubbing my head.
“Well, first of all, I wanted t-t-to thank you for s-s-saving me from your own p-p-prank yesterday. S-s-secondly, Celestia asked me to tell you that she’s gone to Manehattan to help her f-f-father with organising the foundation, so she wanted you to join her as s-s-soon as p-p-possible.” she replied. I yawned again, sighing at the end.
“Sounds like a work day.” I huffed, stretching my body.
“Thank you Flutterbye. You should get home. No telling what those girls who wanted Proudheart will do if they find out about this.” I said, rubbing her belly. She smiled, nudging me with her nose.
“You’re kind, Draco. Thank you.” she replied, flying off with her seemingly tiny wings. I sat where I was, my tail wrapped around the flagpole. Very rarely did Celestia want me present when her father was around. Only four times had I actually had the displeasure of meeting him long enough to have a conversation. That stallion was a dark Alicorn, which matched his personality. Rare was his smile, more so than an eclipse. What was it that Celestia would want me there for?
I unwrapped my tail from the flagpole and took to the air, my mismatched wings working at different levels of intensity to maintain my balance. I made my way South to the newly constructed Manehattan, some of it being finished off on this day. The flight itself was less than half an hour, but the thought of being present before Celestia’s father, Night Eyes, made the trip feel like a long journey into hell. One could look into the night sky and watch a pair of closely placed stars blink at you. That’s when you knew that you were in his presence, under his watchful eye.
I arrived in Manehattan quicker than I’d have liked. I saw Celestia and the silhouette of Night Eyes standing on top of a clock tower, watching as the clock itself was lowered into place. I flew up to join them, kneeling before them both, something I wouldn’t usually have to do if I were just present before Celestia herself.
“Draco! Like the clock? Dad had me pick it myself. I thought I’d go with something that fit the tower, so I used the old North-Eastern Numerals to make it look more royal.” she said, pointing a hoof to the descending clock.
“A great choice style-wise, Princess but… Don’t we always use those numerals?” I asked. Night Eyes spoke up.
“Only within the Palace’s walls do you see North-Eastern Numerals. All other lands use a more common numerical base.” he said, his voice like that of a golem. It was deep and gravelly, no shortage of power in his words.
“Ah, I see. So what did you want me for, Princess? Other than to appreciate your clock?” I asked, getting to the point. I knew that Night Eyes hated small talk. The sooner one would get to business, the less grouchy he’d be.
“Actually, it was I who summoned you, Draco. Something came to my attention recently that I’d like clarified.” said Night Eyes. I felt singled out at that moment. Never before had a servant been summoned by Night Eyes without receiving the death penalty. Celestia knew this too by the look on her face.
“I’ll… try to answer your question as best I can, Your Highness.” I replied. An instant later, I felt a very large hoof collide with my chin. The sudden impact broke something , my top canine tooth was shoved forward by my lower teeth and I was forced off the edge of the tower. I heard Celestia scream something to me, then to Night Eyes. With what little instinct I had, I opened my eyes and corrected my balance, spreading my wings to slow my descent. As I landed, Night Eyes crashed on top of me, what I assumed was the same hoof slamming into my eye. I screamed and roared as the pain was unique and mind numbing. I felt a slight increase in weight as he went to leap off of me, then all pressure from him disappeared. He stood before me, pride clear in his stance.
“I saw Celestia getting cosy with you last night, and it makes me wonder if you’re trying to charm her? Why would my daughter cuddle up with a Draconequus? I think you’re discreetly courting her. I’ve seen that trick before. You do it so slowly that they don’t notice it’s happening, but they fall for it just the same.” he said, bringing his face up to mine. I could only see him through one eye, the other one was bloodied and stinging from the impact.
“How long were you looking?” I asked, trying to get up.
“What?” My arms wobbled and collapsed, preventing me from getting up.
“If you’d have stuck around, you’d have seen me leave her with Lynch and Princess Luna.” I declared. I saw from my peripheral vision, as bad as it was, Celestia landing a few feet from her father. She galloped toward us and stepped between me and Night Eyes. Then, like when we’d first met, I lost consciousness.