Day two: Neutrality Vs the Aristocracy (Part two)
(I apologize for this chapter taking much longer than the others and probably being of an unsatisfying length, but I have no one but myself to blame for being lazy and having been writing a one-shot fiction instead of this during that time. Sorry, I'll try to get back into my regular four-days-ish-a-chapter schedule!)
A groan escaped her mouth as she came to. What happened? The last thing she remembered was changing the songs on her music player, and then bumping into somepony...The sound of somepony coughing, not her, caused her to look around in the direction of the sound. Princess Luna smiled sheepishly at the unicorn, who was confused; why would Luna be here? She then realized that the sun was setting and casting its final glow before the night in the infirmary, where she was in, once again, for some strange reason, although she could guess at why she was here again. Her face stung a bit, so she was probably knocked out with a swift hoof to the face, or something like that. These ponies were crazy. The unicorn sighed, and frowned at the princess of the night.
"Hey, Luna, why the hay is it so dark out? Last thing I 'member is bumpin' into some pony while I was lookin' around for a song to play; maybe you saw whoever knocked me out, and for whatever the hay of a reason they have for doing so?"
"That would be me, Gydina, you startled me and I back-hoofed you quite hard. I regret doing so and I'm terribly sorry."
"I'm also terribly sorry that you wrote my story to be the disaster that it is now."
Gydina turned her gaze over from Luna to an angry looking light-blue pegasus with a silver mane walking towards them. And, damn, Vidhwansak could have been the Element of Anger if there was one. The unicorn sighed. Well, if she was in for a telling off, she probably deserved it. Probably. The pegasus, within hoof-striking distance (A fact that Gydina noted quickly), looked down at her with an glare, and raised a hoof up. Gydina instinctively closed her eyes, but instead of immediately smacking her, the pegasus rolled her eyes, sighed deeply, and sat down next to her, apparently distressed. Gydina, upon reopening her eyes, saw an extremely sad pegasus, with her wings drooping towards the ground.
"I have every reason to and should be yelling at you, Gydina, but right now, I'm just tired and can't bring myself to. What you edited in my story just happened to annoy Celestia greatly, and I was the one who got the blame for it, despite me trying to tell Celestia that you edited my story earlier this morning, which she so conveniently forgot about."
Luna rolled her eyes. "You should have changed the password to your account when you had the chance, Vidhwansak."
"Yes, Luna, I'm well aware of that, and I have taken the precautions of doing so."
The princess looked unconvinced. "I trust that it's been changed by now?"
"Yes, Luna, it has, and Gydina will not be able to log in through my account."
There was silence for awhile, and then Luna spoke up. Although she probably shouldn't be asking, she couldn't help but be curious about whatever happened.
"So, what happened?"
The response was immediate but not one that was expected, at least by the princess; Vidhwansak reached over and smacked Gydina quite hard, if the audible sound she made was any indication. Gydina winced, but said nothing; this type of thing must have been common with them both. The pegasus sighed, and looked up at Luna.
"Sorry about that. Now, here's what happened, at least, coming from Neutrality's viewpoint, and mine..."
As the small group of five ponies came over, Neutrality noticed that the ponies refused to gaze at him directly; while it didn't really bother him, it did make him a bit curious. After all, most ponies had gotten used to the idea of another Alicorn being around other than the princesses; although that was probably only for the fact that there was now another Alicorn around that could listen to them argue over about the tax over tea. There were some ponies who tried to manipulate him, thinking him untrained in politics, but with Celestia teaching him about current politic tricks and turns as well as him being cautious around anypony even mentioning a bill, he shut down the idea of him being easy to manipulate to make laws for them.
These ponies, however, seemed to...Disdain his presence. He could feel the contempt they had for him, and while many another pony would have been disturbed, Neutrality was...Interested. After all, this was something he didn't expect from the aristocracy. He would've expected them to try and get on his good side (He stopped trying to count how many gifts he had gotten from various ponies, ranging from letters to full blown diamond jewelry and even marriage proposals), so this was very interesting to him.
His curiosity was satisfied in an extremely rude way when one pony with a snow white coat (Not unlike Celestia's) with a blond mane and a broadsword on his back suddenly pointed at him with a trembling hoof. "I, Prince Radcliffe, demand that this...This abomination of nature be sent back to the depths of wherever you two summoned him, Princess Celestia, or mark my words, there will be blood shed over this matter to send this demon monster back to wherever he came from!" The group of ponies then turned to look at Neutrality and glare at him, save for one unicorn mare that awkwardly shuffled her hooves, with her eyes casted down on the floor.
Neutrality couldn't help but glance at his sister, easily disturbed by this prince at having called him an abomination; although outwardly she appeared to look unchanged, he could clearly see the shock in her eyes of having her brother being called an monster. Celestia shot him an apologetic look, and cleared her throat before speaking with the prince. Her tone of voice suggested that she clearly disliked talking with the prince, and Neutrality could completely understand her, even though it was his first encounter with the prince. Sometimes it took just one moment to dislike somepony, though.
"Prince Radcliffe, why do you think Neutrality, my own brother, no less, is a monster that we, that is to say, Luna and I, apparently, summoned from 'wherever he came from'? He's an Alicorn like Luna and me, so what reason could you possibly have for saying that Neutrality is a monster?"
The prince shook his head in pity, and drew the broadsword out with magic, causing nearby Royal Guards to quickly surround the group of ponies. The prince, however, made no offensive move; he instead pointed it at Neutrality, the intent clear in his drawn sword and eyes. He spoke with the drive of somepony thinking that he and only he knew the truth.
"I have every reason to think you summoned a demon like him from the underworld; why, everypony knows there is no such thing as a male Alicorn! However, you two, with your combined magical powers must have opened a portal to a sick, demented alternate universe and brought this...This...Thing from it, for whatever sick reasons you must have, and are now trying to pass him off as a 'brother' of yours! Why, it all makes such perfect, clear sense! I shall not have such an abomination ruin the image of us and Canterlot; we shall not stand and be led by this...This...Neutrality!" Prince Radcliffe all but spat out Neutrality's name, and the other aristocrats immediately agreed with him, adding their own little comments and such, making it impossible for Celestia to begin saying something, and this irritated Neutrality. How much he wanted to go up to that Prince and show him just how much of a monster he could be, but, unfortunately, countless years had dulled his fighting abilities, and he was still weak from the recent ritual that brought him back as an Alicorn. So he settled on glaring at the prince, who glared defiantly back.
Eventually, however, Celestia had enough of the bickering nonsense that was right in front of her; Neutrality was impressed by her restraint; there weren't many ponies who could handle such annoying ponies on a daily basis, and even he was about to do something he might have regretted later had not Celestia spoke up, loud and clear over the aristocrats with the Royal Canterlot Voice. The only thing he wished was that she could've told him she was going to use it, and sitting next to her didn't improve things.
"ENOUGH. PRINCE RADCLIFFE, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, THINGS CHANGE, AND NEUTRALITY IS THE BEGINNING OF SUCH A CHANGE IN HOW CANTERLOT AND ALL OF EQUESTRIA SHALL BE GOVERNED. LEAVE US NOW, I HAVE MUCH TO PONDER ABOUT, AND TELL THE PONIES WAITING OUTSIDE THAT I SHALL NOT BE HOLDING COURT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY."
Celestia took a deep breath, then spoke in a quiet, restrained voice, which Neutrality was thankful for.
"Now, Lady Hayley, I want to talk with you for a bit, over a nice cup of tea, once a guard goes to the kitchen to bring back another cup and some more tea." One of the Royal Guards in the audience chamber snapped a salute to Celestia, and went off to the kitchen to fulfill Celestia's desire. The princess herself looked at the rest of the ponies, who had just unplugged their ears after being unable to her Celestia's voice through covered up ears. She continued to speak in a visibly restrained and polite voice. "As for the rest of you, please leave, and remember to tell the other ponies that the audience chamber is closed for the remainder of the day!"
The group of ponies looked at each other uneasily; things probably didn't go well for them, Neutrality thought in satisfaction. Prince Radcliffe whispered to Hayley quietly, too quiet for either Neutrality or Celestia to hear him; he then shot Neutrality a dirty look, then huffed and walked out towards the door, his voice audibly heard. "This is not over yet, Celestia, mark my words. The demon will not be around for much longer, I have thrown down the challenge, and I expect you to complete it, or I shall complete it for you!"
He walked out of the audience chamber, where ponies were waiting outside for a chance for Celestia and Neutrality to listen to their requests. "If you are as to be so deaf that you could not hear the princess like the swine you are, she will not be holding anymore audiences in her chambers for the remainder of the day." The angry voices outside gave Neutrality the hint that this sort of thing was common whenever this Prince Radcliffe spoke with Celestia. Celestia sighed, and looked over at Hayley, who was seated in front of his sister. Hayley looked around nervously, and there was a quiet tension between the three ponies, only broken when the guard came back with some more tea and a few cakes, as Celestia had wanted. After thanking the guard, Celestia began pouring tea for Hayley.
"Hayley, did you know what your husband was going to do before entering the audience chamber?"
"No, your highness, I did not expect anything like this to happen, and I'm terribly sorry that this happened."
"No need to be sorry for his behavior, after all, you aren't responsible for it. By know, I expect things to happen whenever your husband enters my audience chamber...Although, I was surprised by how...Venomous he was just now."
Neutrality, unable to hold in his hunger, grabbed a few cakes with telekinesis and started to munch down ravenously on them. Hayley giggled at the sight, then coughed and began drinking her tea after a disapproving glance from Celestia.
"Neutrality, I have some matters to discuss with Lady Hayley that would most likely bore you to death, not that you already are, so you can leave this place if you wish."
Those were the words he'd been wanting to hear all along. He nodded his thanks at his sister, and quickly made a hasty departure from the audience chamber. A few ponies casted him odd looks, but he did not think about any of that. Free, away from ponies wanting to annoy him with the evil, torturous bills that made no sense! He gave a sigh of relief, and made his way towards the dining room, where he could hopefully catch up from missing lunch and make this dinner suffer the strain of his hunger when he was intercepted by a worried looking pegasus, who both looked relieved and yet slightly even more worried at finding him. Well, at least this day was rather...Unique. The pegasus spoke up softly, as if worried of what she'd find out.
"Neutrality, have...Erm, that is to say, is this day going well for you? I mean, is it, in any way, unusual...?"
"Well, Vidhwansak, I suppose if getting told that I was a monster and that I should be sent back to wherever I came from is normal, then I honestly don't know what's unusual anymore."
The pegasus cursed under her breath, then fluttered next to his right side. "I see. Well, you should probably hurry on over to the dining room, if you've been in the audience chamber all day. You were there the whole day, right?"
Neutrality nodded. "That is correct, I've been there for about six hours, and they were the most uncomfortable six hours of my life. I find it hard to believe that my sister can sit through all of that, but enough of that, my stomach wails to me!" The Alicorn sped off towards the dining room, and the pegasus couldn't help but smile. Her smile soured, however, when a Royal Guard came up to her.
"Are you miss Vidhwansak?"
"Yes, that would be me."
"You are to report to the audience chamber, as ordered by Celestia."
Vidhwansak sighed explosively. Was she going to be in for a treat. She walked off towards the audience chamber, accompanied by the guard. She considered making small talk, but after a few attempts of light conversation, to which the guard ignored, she gave up. Apparently, the rumor that Royal Guards were exactly like stone statues was true. Upon reaching the steps up to the audience chamber, she took a moment to compose herself and make sure she didn't look as distressed as she did now; but before she could open the door, a light green unicorn with a blue mane opened it for her, and her eyes registered some surprise.
"Hello. My name is Hayley. The audience chamber is closed for the day, I'm afraid, if you didn't hear about it earlier."
"My name is Vidhwansak; I was told by a Royal Guard to meet Celestia here, as per her orders."
"Oh. Well, in that case, go right on ahead. I must say, you're the first pegasus I've seen in awhile."
The pegasus gave the unicorn a smile, which was hesitantly returned.
"Well, Hayley, it is true, there aren't many pegasai in Canterlot. But, please, forgive me, I must see the princess."
"Oh, but of course! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
The unicorn curtsied to the pegasus, and walked away. The pegasus stared after her for awhile, and shook her head, wondering why Gydina couldn't be like her. Sighing, Vidhwansak walked on through the doors to the audience chamber, her stomach churning at the various thoughts of what Celestia would do to her. She was thinking of some rather creative sentences indeed when she finally caught sight of Celestia, patiently waiting for the pegasus. Vidhwansak gulped; her throat was suddenly extremely dry. She approached the princess, who nodded in her direction, but no more than that. The pegasus sat down in a chair facing the princess, and wondered what was going to happen next. Seconds, then minutes ticked on by, making the pegasus growing evermore uncomfortable. Finally, Celestia spoke.
"So. Prince Radcliffe has more or less declared that Neutrality is a monster that Luna and I have apparently summoned; he told me that if I did not banish Neutrality back to 'where he came from', then Radcliffe would personally take matters into his own hooves...And that's not a good thing. This is all because he doesn't believe there are male alicorns. That's the only discernible reason I've gotten from him, and frankly, I find that sexist. Prince Radcliffe is...Dangerous. Not only does he carry a broadsword, he knows how to use it, and he does have financial backing and many supporters. I do not wish to make an enemy of him, and I hope you're writing a peaceful end to this matter."
"W-Well, you see, princess..."
"No, Vidhwansak, I don't want anything else other than peace. I'm extremely disappointed in you; I would've thought that you would have more consideration and rationality in writing this. While I want you to write to your heart's content, I simply cannot allow it if such writing leads to a bloody ending, and since this story is attuned to your writing, I must keep your writing in check now, as it seems. Now I-" Princess Celestia was interrupted by one of Luna's guards; the pegasus knew this from the armor that he was wearing, and he came bearing a message.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna wishes to have a word with a pegasus named Vidhwansak."
"Very well then. Vidhwansak, you may go, but remember, you are to keep your writing in check."
"Yes, princess Celestia, I won't forget."
The unicorn whistled slowly. "So it all came true, then?! Awesome, how'd you think of my writing?!"
The pegasus looked at her irritatedly. "Yes, Gydina, it's true, I will admit, your writing isn't all that bad, but, I swear, if I EVER catch you writing in my story again..."
"Hey, you have to admit, things were getting tense and ready for a kick-plot action scene, made by yours truly!"
"Gydina, I wanted this to be a simple fiction, and now it's a near disaster of what it originally was!"
"Oh, sure, blame me for the boring path you were taking the story on, I just wanted to spice things up!"
Princess Luna coughed, and both ponies turned around to glare at her. Luna pointedly glared back, staring them down. She then rolled her eyes, and began to make her way out of the infirmary.
"Well, I just wanted you to know that Gydina's in here because I accidently back-hoofed her too hard, Vidhwansak; you can settle your differences between each other, I must make my way to the audience chamber now. Good night."
The princess of the moon left, and the pegasus frowned.
"This can't get any worse, it just can't."
"Don't count your feathers 'till you've preened them all, Viddy."