//------------------------------// // Noble Talk // Story: Being Royalty // by Coronet the lesser //------------------------------// A single fly made the trip from a nearby bush to an upstairs window of an open balcony of a mansion on the upper district of Canterlot. Attracted by the warmth radiating from the building in order to escape the vicious winter, it nestled itself on red curtains before buzzing off to the smell of food and the sound of early morning noise. After descending to the lower levels, its multi-panelled vision picked up on the many ponies in the area below. Chatting indiscriminately amongst each other often with papers or documents in hoof, others read books on solitary chairs near the fire while some moved around with dishes outstretched, inquiring of the seated stallions on whether they were well fed and supplied. The fly eventually settled for a large table near the back of the room occupied by six characters, five of whom looked weary as the central figure spoke with great tenacity in a language the fly could not comprehend. One of listeners had petered off and began looking over some pages of the paper on the table leaving his lovely croissant unguarded. With the swooping swiftness of a master of flight, the fly descended onto the table unnoticed but still too far to feed on his target. Shifting his body to check for any movement he moved swiftly across the table, occasionally stopping to make sure things were fine. He was nearly there, the prize was within his grasp. A few more tentative steps… A hoof smashed down onto the fly that had perched on the table. The satisfying ‘squash’ sound it made was pleasing to the owner of said hoof. A single napkin was taken and proceeded to clean the stain that had impressed itself on the finely groomed, grey coat of the stallion in question. North Star was his name, a thin, lanky sort of stallion with an ashen blue mane. He was seated in a chair on one end of the table with a glass of orange juice and the morning papers held within the dull light off his magical grip. He wasn’t alone within the room. In truth the halls were filled with a variety of stallions discussing and debating trending topics. The Gentlecolts club was a high end lobbying group that encompassed nearly half of the male nobility within Canterlot, including the majority of the Royal council and even the princesses ‘nephew’ himself. While only stallions could join there was a sister group designed for the high nobility of the female sex as well. North Star could claim to be quite the influence within the rings of Canterlot considering he owned said establishment and thus dined with some of the ‘bigwigs’ per say of the governmental elite. Across from him were Filthy Rich, a brown earth pony, Swift Charm a pastel yellow pegasus, Royal Lance a golden haired unicorn, Regal Circlet a light brown unicorn, and old Iron Cross. Each pony held enough power to build miniature empires within Equestria on their own. While each held their own agenda and ambitions it was here, within the club that Star’s family had founded centuries ago, could this group sit down and discuss prevalent issues about both the nobility’s future and past. Often it was reduced to almost tear-inducing monologues from the former army veteran Iron Cross or Regal merely spouting on about his wife’s latest fashion design. Before recent events life had been admittedly droll and lacklustre but at least the status quo had been retained. That was all that had mattered to North Star. Yet the winds of change began to flow again recently. Over the last four years a string of events which could only be described as insane had occurred. A second Princess had appeared seemingly out of nowhere shaking up the power plays of the past thousand years, a creature of pure chaos had apparently assaulted some backwater town, Canterlot had been invaded for the first time since its foundation causing a temporary collapse of government and an empire of unique magical power had ‘returned’. From where? Only the divines know. Yet all of these topics were now overshadowed by one pony in particular. Ironically this very same pony seemed to be connected to every major event over the past few years. One Twilight Sparkle. The student of Princess Celestia had always been a vague topic for the club due to Celestia’s overprotectiveness of her students, though this one appeared to be a special case. Unlike the previous students of the princess, she was an unknown, no great wealth or prestige behind her, not even the admittedly exceptional experience that Celestia’s previous student Sunset Shimmer had seemed to possess. No this student had been all and all, uninteresting and too young to be of any consequence to the nobility of ten years ago but now the world’s eyes were upon her. Her deeds put even the greatest generals to shame. The rumours that had been leading up to the coronation were intense. North Star had not seen his clientele so shaken since the changeling invasion. Thanks to Celestia’s protection, the little knowledge ponies possesed about her began to warp into ludicrous stories of a great warrior general, not just in the club but on the streets and in the bars and even to the ears of the griffin king himself. Ideas of a mare that had crushed Nightmare Moon and Discord alone without the aid of the princesses were circulating as reality in the press and soon that belief was passed onto youngsters and adults alike. The other mares that aided her began fade into the background as the announcement of a new princess to Equestria was released. North Star for one wasn’t buying it. From what he saw on the coronation day all he saw was a child playing the part of a princess, another one of Celestia’s sad attempts to bring forth change in a static system. At least that’s what he presumed anyway. Snorting at the papers title which brazenly declared ‘Twilight Sparkle: the future of Equestria.’ It was titles like these that had caused commotion within the halls of his establishment. News that a commoner now sat on the throne was creating waves in the political landscape. North Star could only imagine the House of Commons bursting out in celebration about the ‘working class princess’ that had emerged right under the noses of the elite. The whole situation was contemptuous to say the least. He supped contently from his glass for a few seconds before smacking the paper down with small bit of force to garner his companion’s attentions. Each had previously been discussing the same old topics that tended to pop up when they gathered around the high end table. North Star knew in truth all of them were eager to discuss anything other than how Regal’s wife spent more money on shopping trips to Manehattan than charities earned in a year. She was cheating on him anyway. To North’s knowledge one of her many 'dalliances' was in fact standing right next to Regal. Lance to Regal’s left looked up with a raised eyebrow, Regal huffed in an annoyed tone at being interrupted, and the others shot North thankful glances of relief at being spared another monotonous monologue. “Disgraceful trash it is,” rumbled North with a relatively annoyed voice. He had straightened himself instinctively as he spoke. “The future indeed. It’d be funny if it weren’t so sad. Miserable whelp.” “I presume you speak of the recent addition to the royal family?” Lance queried in a cultured tone, though North Star was unable to answer as Regal cut across him. “Must we still prattle on about this mare? Have we not covered everything there is to say of her?” “Still doesn’t mean thing aren’t gonna change around here, Regal,” answered Filthy in his thick droll of an accent. “Precisely,” North snapped. “Another failing from the top I say. The princess has lost her mind. No pony becomes royalty overnight. This is a direct affront to us. I believe it’s an attempt to win over the commoners. Whisperings from the border towns indicate discontent.” “Yeah with us,” Iron Cross mumbled as he drank from his poorly concealed whiskey flask. “Let them be, it’s not like anyone cares for those settler folk. Been nothing but trouble for the foreign department if you ask me,” said Swift Charm. “Gentlecolts if we can get back to the matter at hoof,” sighed North. “If you want my opinion…” chimed Regal. “No one wants your opinion,” shot back Swift. Regal shot him a glare before North shook his head at Swift who proceeded to begrudgingly take a bite out of his croissant indicating Regal to continue with a nod. “As I was saying,” spiting slightly at Swift before turning his muzzle from him. “I agree with North. It’s a travesty that a commoner now walks around with our stock. To think that we are to accept such a proposal is bordering on offensive. Why is there even a need for another princess? All I see is another excuse for the diarchy to scrounge more money out of our pockets.” “Here, here,” shouted Iron Cross as he slammed a brown hoof on the table. He rose to his still considerable height as he did so. The act may have been more terrifying were not for the bushy moustache covering most of his face. His gruff voice carried through the large room long enough to temporarily put off several other nobles before equilibrium was re-established. “For once the poof speaks a margin of sense. If the system isn’t broken why try and fix it? In my day we had only one princess and ponies were happy. We didn’t have to deal with all this crap going on these days.” “Poof?” seethed Regal. “Go back to your drink and your useless old army stories old man. Pray to Celestia that liver doesn’t give out someday.” “He has a point,” said North’s in an even tone. He swirled his glass before regarding each of his companions. “The status quo has always been maintained by our kin. Because of it, Equestria has endured the longest golden age that any nation ever has. It is most odd and disturbing that Celestia would decide to change things so soon after her darling sister has returned in suspicious circumstances. One can only speculate.” A rush of answers came from the group. North was unable to discern who was talking and who wasn’t. “Perhaps Celestia is dying?” “Maybe this mare is secretly her daughter?” “I once heard that the two are in a relationship.” “Yeah, Celestia taking breaks in court over the years to teach this foal ‘lessons’. It has always struck me as odd.” “Yeah well there is also a rumour that Twilight Sparkle has secretly brainwashed the entire palace with the aid of the changelings to make a grab for a power. You read too much of the Enquirer.” “Who’s to say? Bar the announcement, this girl hasn’t spoken to any of the nobility and her movements are secret to us.” “What if it’s the end?” eventually perked up Lance through the chaos of discussion, though he donned a smile similar to an actor playing a part. “A movement by the masses can only be expected to follow. The collapse of everything we built over the years. The end of bourgeoisie rule as we know it then the collapse into the anarchy of democratic elected governments or Celestia help us the establishment of a socialist state." “Would you shut up with your fear mongering? You know that kind of stuff unnerves me,” shivered Regal. Lance merely took a swig of his glass knowing that he’d played his part towards the discussion. “He’s not far off you know,” boomed Iron. “Order has been slipping. These fools in the House of Commons dare question the right of the crown. Bullhonky I say it is. It’s only a matter of time before the worker lays down his tools and takes up arms against us and her majesty. This Twilight Sparkle will be the catalyst of our downfall.” “I for one believe this is an excellent chance to forward our respective political agendas,” commented Swift. “I mean she’s a young, naïve, nopony that has no idea how the court runs. I sense that somepony will be out of their depth for a while. Ample opportunity to manipulate the system Celestia and her sister have in place.” He flashed a toothy grin after his speech before adding. “Plus I wouldn’t mind seeing another pretty face around court.” “Have you not one shred of decency?” barked Regal. “You’re married.” “Never stopped your wife before.” “You piece of -.” “Swift,” remarked North in a warning tone. “You are not within one of your ‘taverns’ in the lower district. You’ll maintain a sense of respect within this establishment. Are we clear?” “Transparently,” mocked Swift in an overtly apologetic tone. North just shook his head before turning to Filthy who besides the occasional comment had not spoken a great deal since the discussion began. “What do you make of it Rich?” asked North who was well aware of the stallion’s sensitivity to his first name. In response said stallion shrugged before speaking. “You know I don’t care much all the fancy political games you guys get up to,” he spoke in a slow deliberate tone. “As long as I can make a bit out of this whole thing, I’ll be happy. I’d imagine this be a great time for merchandising. You know all the little teens going off buying Twilight Sparkle related products. I mean what young girl doesn’t want to be a princess? You couldn’t sell Celestia. Too old and wise to be marketable. The other one ain’t popular enough and I missed the boat on that pink one but this…” He grinned sharply. “This I can work with.” “Always a bit with you eh?” Lance huffed. “Son, I didn’t get to own half of Equestria’s consumable and retail goods by sitting around pondering fancy meanings and political infrastructure.” “It seems we are divided then,” declared North. They all nodded in agreement. “Hmmm I suppose all we can do is wait. See how this plays out. Sink or swim this Twilight Sparkle will be an important part of our futures for the present.” He then lifted his glass to the group. “What’s not to say that she will not already bring us greater glory?” The others proceeded to raise their glasses as well. “If not, then it may be wise to consider a different course of action towards our newest royal.” The group seemed puzzled but North cut them off with to a shout. “To Equestria and her new leader!” “To Equestria and her new leader,” replied a chorus of voices. All that was hear after was the soft clink of glasses and the movements of plates as well as a maid placed a newspaper with Twilight Sparkle’s face on the cover into the fireplace, as the sounds of fire consumed it’s pages and it turned to ash.