//------------------------------// // Nightmarish Nobility // Story: Angels in Equestria // by ArguingPizza //------------------------------// Bored, bored bored bored bored bored bored. SOOOOOO BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORED. I flopped around on the soft, plush bed as I desperately tried to entertain myself. I fluffed my wings, ignored an annoying twinge in the feathers, and rolled over again. A few moments of stillness when I sat up and huffed. Luna had left me in this room for some odd reason, and Celestia was off doing......something. Wait. What was she doing exactly? I looked out the window and saw it was still light out, so she was probably doing damage control with the annoying squabbling bunch that called themselves nobles. With nothing else to do, I stood up and started walking. After a few minutes of random walking, I was forced to ask for directions from a pair of guards. They pointed me towards the throne room without question, which I thought was strange since I was almost twice as tall as them and of a completely unknown species. Apparently gossip in the castle traveled fast enough to warn them about me. I was impressed. Directions in hand, I headed through the corridors until I came to the magically repaired throne room doors. The door guards glanced at me, blushed, and looked away. I raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question them, or their refusal to so much as glance at each other. The heavy oak doors gave way with very slight groans, as if they remembered me and wished to provide as little challenge as possible. The throne room was packed to the rafters with ponies shouting. Quite literally, as more than a few finely dressed Pegasi were hovering above the crowd. Celestia sat on her throne as she attempted to calm the mob, but looked at me when she noticed my entrance. A few moments passed before the ponies grew curious as to what she was looking at and turned their heads. The room gradually grew quieter as more and more nobles glanced at me and were struck with silence. It didn't take long for the room to grow dead silent. For approximately four seconds. Then an uproar engulfed the room like a hurricane. A third of the room began yelling in fear-fueled anger, another third screamed in terror, and the final third were overcome by their fear and stampeded past me, leaving behind a swath of tears and.....other liquids. God have mercy on the cleaning staff. Celestia face-hoofed and attempted to pretend that her entire nobility hadn't just been reduced to a mindless, peeing mob of fear and shouting. I stood in the middle of all the chaos and struggled to reign in my laughter. When Celestia peeked at me from behind her hoof, I gave her my best Cheshire cat grin. I stretched my wings out and casually flew over the crowd to the top of the dais and sat down. I leaned back casually against the side of her throne and watched the guards try to corral the nobles out of the room. She sighed in exasperation. “Is there something you wanted, Uncle?” she asked, clearly with extra effort to avoid taking an angry tone. I shrugged. “Not really. I was bored,” I said innocently as I watched a countess buck a guard in the chest. “......Luna left you alone, didn't she,” she commented flatly. I leaned back far enough to see her upside down and nodded. “Of course she did. I'm sure she's somewhere nearby, watching right now.” “She always did love it when I did this. Noble Riot was our favorite game.” I paused to watch a stallion who had lost his helm in the melee wrestle a Duke to the ground after the noble in question had tried to fling him with magic; magic that turned out to be much weaker than necessary for such a feat. “Though I'm not happy about the way you made your entrance, I am glad you're here.” “Well I would hope so. Do you have any idea how long the trip here is? Or how painful the landings?” I questioned in mock hurt. Celestia rolled her eyes. “We both know you always play up how much those hurt. Mother did them all the time and she never complained.” I pouted. “They hurt,” I insisted childishly. “I'm sure,” Celestia replied sarcastically. “But I have convened a meeting of the Council of Species tomorrow at noon and I want you to speak.” I raised my eyebrow. “Yes, I know, you've expressed your opinion of the Council, and I'm afraid it hasn't improved much in your absence, but the other sentient species of this world need to know what signs to watch for of Discord's presence.” Her logic was infallible, but that didn't mean I had to like it. “Fine, but in exchange, I want you to take the rest of the week off. Luna too.” Celestia blanched. “What!? We can't do that! We've got an entire country to run Uncle! We can't just, just take a week off!” I turned back around to watch the riot subside as the guards finally managed to control the rowdy aristocrats. “Sorry, those are my terms.” My niece huffed indignantly. “Uncle, I'm telling you, we cannot just-” I placed a finger on her lips to silence her mid sentence. “Celestia,” I said seriously, “I'm not sure what Discord's game plan is, but whatever it is I need both you and Luna in top shape, which you won't be if you have to waste eight or ten hours a day doing paperwork and stressing out over tax codes.” Celestia opened her mouth to protest, but it appeared to die on her lips. “Come now, dear niece, I'm sure there are at least a few ponies who you can leave the keys to, at least for a little while. It's only a week,” I reminded her. She paused and bit her lip in contemplation; a fillyhood habit I was happy to see had lasted the test of time. Eventually, she sighed in defeat and nodded. “Alright. One week.” “What could possibly go wrong?” I asked, intentionally tempting fate to spice up the week. Here it is, and I have to say this chapter was tough to write. This is actually the fourth version. Once again, please remember the Three R's of Fanfics: Read, Review, and Rhinos