Memories Across a Moonlit Month

by Paw Paint

Chapter 3: A Twilight Debate

        “Well that was quite eventful.” Discord mused over his checklist for the Gala, relishing his temporary power.

        “What was eventful?” Luna walked into the dining hall after him, curious in the draconequus’ thoughts.

        “Today’s committee.” He clucked in response.

        Seated at the head of the table, eyepatch visible without a magical spell to conceal it, Celestia raised a skeptical brow. “What happened at today’s committee, Discord?”

        The question was rather loaded, and reverberated around the room. Currently, four beings occupied it-- Discord, Luna, Celestia and Cadence, having come to represent the Crystal Empire at the Gala. Shining Armor was currently chatting amicably with the guards outside the door, and Twilight was spending the night out with friends. WIth the Gala on the day after tomorrow, it was fair enough to say that all rulers were on edge about the political matters that were sure to populate the fallout.

“Well, if your highness must know,” Discord nickered haughtily, “Your beloved chef received his spot on the catering team."

        “I say neigh!” Blueblood brayed angrily toward the other members of the committee. “I won’t just put a dumb earth pony in a coveted position out of pity!”

        “Oh do shut up, will you old chap?” The philanthropist Fancy Pants shot back. “Everypony’s vote is against you. And he surely deserves it-- the poor fellow is one of the most hardworking ponies I know.”

Discord swung his tail lazily as he boredly watched everypony argue against Blueblood. It was five to one on their little round table, but as a prince, the snotty unicorn held a lot of weight for the group’s decisions. It kind of made the draconequus want to inflate him until he popped-- but that would win him no brownie points with neither the sappy nobility of Canterlot, nor Celestia. Not to say that it wasn’t tempting, with the way Blueblood had argued against every option the other members went for. Discord himself had drew the line at excluding bat ponies-- that was the whole point of this creator-forsaken month-- and made a smorgasbord of changes to the arrangements that the castle brat made without consent. Even for a god of chaos the whole affair was too much-- you had to tiptoe around certain political issues so that you wouldn’t get complaints, and completely trample on others because ponies were too stubborn to listen. With Blueblood’s sheer obnoxiousness to complicate things, Discord found himself wondering how Celestia dealt with it all.

Clear Cloud, a pegasus from Cloudsdale, gave a look towards the mishmash of creatures in the meeting. “Aren’t you going to argue as well?”

Discord yawned. “No. Why bother? Blueblood’s arguments always fail when faced with any sort of logic.” He transformed the his rigid chair into a recliner, and melted into it. “I’m simply going to say that Marscapone gets the spot for his Moth Puffs and the Red Velvet he created last winter, and leave it at that.” He looked at Blueblood pointedly from behind a pair of shades. “Any objections?”

There was a chorus of no’s and Discord began to relax. “Good. We’re behind schedule, so on to the decora- Blueblood, we are not holding this event for you! Banners with your mark on it is horseapples!”

Cadence withheld a laugh. Discord whipped his head around to confront her. “And what do you find so funny?!”

She smirked up at him, spearing her asparagus with a noble delicacy. “The fact that a guy who previously tormented thousands of ponies years ago is having trouble planning a party.”

He scowled at her response and grumpily took his seat at the end of the table. “...Like you have anything important to do over in that pretty princess palace of yours…”

Cadence put to death another asparagus, this time with a little bit more fervor. “As a matter of fact I do. The Equestrian Games is going to be hosted in the Crystal Empire, and the planning is going splendidly.” Patting her snout daintily with a napkin, she got ready to start a rice grain massacre. “Why do you take so much interest in Marscapone’s problem anyway?”

“I think it’s noble.” Her opponent said simply. “Besides the fact that his relationship with the widdle bat pony would make headway in social relations.”

Luna stamped a hoof, upsetting her coffee. “How dare thee assume that the social status of bat ponies is solely thou’s responsibility! I do not recall ever saying to thee to sally forth and make decisions without me!”

Discord hissed back. “I don’t recall you acting on the opportunity either! Even after you heard the confession from Moonlight herself! And yes I do assume the status of bat ponies as my own duty-- they deserve better than being relegated to your darkness!”

“THOU CONNIVING SNAKE! MY NIGHTS ARE PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR THE BAT PONIES, AND THOU KNOWS IT! TO UPSET THE DELICATE SCALE BETWEEN TRIBES SO ABRUPTLY ‘TWOULD BE BEYOND IDIOTIC!” Luna looked ready for battle, hooves dug into the mahogany, delirious to end this particular argument once and for all. Discord acted in the same manner, baring his fangs.

“Luna. Discord.” Celestia spoke quietly, but the sound of a command hidden deep down in those simple names forced the two to sit down, as the solar princess sipped tea from a cup. “We all know you feel guilty about your past actions since your friendship lessons with Fluttershy, Discord. But I’m going to have to agree with Luna-- to suddenly give freedom beyond the certain parameters that certain town and cities set would cause an upset. Even moving things along at this rate is a big push, so we need to have patience.” She looked at them both with her one good eye. “When you two forced me to give up planning the Gala and reintroducing the bat ponies, I was hoping that you’d do it with some tact and maturity. Moonlight and Marscapone are young, they have a few years to see this relationship blossom and grow. And we have nearly forever-- don’t rush things.”

Cadence sighed. “It’s rather cute, the relationship between those two. Just the other day, I saw them-”

“I hate train rides.” Shining yawned as he and his wife arrived in Canterlot. “They take  way too long. Why couldn’t we have taken an airship?”

Cadence rubbed her head against his neck, her pink coat enhanced by the early morning. “Because we’re still working on getting a port established. You’ll just have to be patient.”

“At least we’re here. It’ll be nice seeing the guys again. And Twily."

“Yes.” she sighed in agreement. “And we aren’t on some life-risking mission to save the world. This is perfect.” They walked down the nearly empty streets, enjoying the peace and quiet, as well as each other. Setting down at a cafe for quick breakfast before heading to the castle, the royal couple spied an odd pair at another table.

An rich brown earth pony stallion was currently trying to explain something to his bat pony companion. He looked crestfallen, even as she listened with sympathetic interest. With a sigh, the stallion looked dejectedly at the table cloth, eyes unfocused. Equally upset, the bat pony hugged him, dark purple mane spilling over both of them, whispering something in his ear. The stallion let out a small laugh as his companion beamed.

However, the sweet moment was cut short when an older mare angrily approached the two. Ripping the younger mare off her friend, she tore the stallion away by the ear, but not before shouting some unseemly things to the bat pony that Cadence would not even repeat in the privacy of her own home. Shining  and Cadence looked at each other gratefully, the lovely morning ruined by an act of what seemed to be like prejudice.

Matters around the table quieted down as Cadence’s short reminiscence was mulled over.

“...It should have happened in Ponyville-- the relationship I mean. Would make things less complicated.” There were nods of agreement to Discord’s quiet observation. Reintroducing the bat ponies in to Ponyville’s sociality had been a success-- many were happy with the arrangement, and prosperity doubled because of the nightly shifts and shopping the bat ponies could pull. It was well known among the four that while Canterlot was the head of fashion and economical trends, Ponyville was the testing grounds for any and all social divergence. The kindness and tolerance had simply tripled since Twilight became the Princess of Friendship (or Magic? It was still an issue.), and when Ponyville, the paragon of Equestria’s national mindset, accepted something, the rest of the country usually followed suit. Except for Canterlot-- because Canterlot was full of snobbish ponies that couldn’t even dig a hole for their lives.

“-What I can’t understand is why his mother would do that to him.”

“Technically, she still has legal control over him.” Celestia commented. The others at the table looked at her in silent question. “Rule #2346b states that a matriarch is allowed sovereign control over a subordinate family member that has left the familial herd, within good reason, until eighteen years of age. A little bit under Shining Armor’s age right now, but above Twilight, if I remember correctly. As of right now, Marscapone has not yet reached that age.”

“What in the world would convince you to pass that kind of law?!” Discord screeched at his end of the table.

“Adolescent violence. It increased the more ponies under eighteen were allowed to fend for themselves. Adding the law curbed a good 92% of it. This is the only instance in which it’s been abused. And legally, we can’t interfere unless she’s directly asking him to break the law.”

Feeling up to a challenge, Discord countered, “So what about those moms that have a special talent for sneaking or stealing things, and ask their precious colts and fillies to help them, hmmm?”

Celestia replied without missing a beat. “I have them recruited as spies.”

“Spies, sister?” Luna exclaimed in slight horror. “I thought thou trusted me! Why hast thou kept this from me?!”

"Spies in other countries, Luna dear.” Celestia stated matter-of-factly. “And I never kept it from you-- you simply never asked.”  Luna looked geared up for a skirmish, and if she couldn’t have it with Discord, she’d have it with her sister. She opened her mouth to shout something when an even bigger mouth bust through the door.        

“Aunt Celestia!” There was a collective groan as Blueblood entered the dining hall, oblivious to the apparent opinions of his character. “I have to speak to you of a problem which demands immediate haste!”

Concealing her eyepatch before she turned to face him, Celestia sighed, but said with an ever-loving tone, “What is it Blueblood?”

“I-”

“Stop it right there Blueblood.” Shining Armor trotted determinedly into the hall, scowl on his face. “I don’t remember you having permission to enter this room."

“It is a matter of emergency, titular cousin-in-law.” Blueblood tried to use his height to intimidate his counterpart. Shining Armor simply stood taller, despite being a couple inches shorter than the blonde.

“We all know you’ve simply called an emergency to complain about the bat ponies, and frankly, everypony’s tired of hearing it. Since you’re not authorized to enter this room, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I am a prince.” Blueblood snorted, and thrust his head forward, pressing against Shining’s horn with his own. “I won’t be ordered around by some captain.”

“ I’m not just some captain.” Shining pressed back harder. “I am Prince-Defender of the Crystal Kingdom, and if I want your snotty flank away from my wife, it can very well be made a matter of national security.”

Cadence flapped her wings excitedly over her husband’s display of dominance; Luna and Discord were equally impressed. Celestia simply continued her dinner, having seen this brand of maleness more than once over the course of a thousand years. Without looking up she declared:
        “Perhaps you should leave, Blueblood. As much as I appreciate you and what you do for Canterlot, there are other ponies in this room that think less of it. Be a dear and come back to me during tomorrow’s court, will you?”

Even if he couldn’t sense the well hidden sarcasm in the address, Blueblood knew Celestia’s word was law. Glaring at the Prince-Defender Shining Armor-- ensuring that their ensuing battle was far from over-- he left, tossing luscious waves of over saturated blonde across his shoulders. When Blueblood was well out of hearing distance, Luna brought up an important issue.

     “Sister….there is no court being held tomorrow, on account of the preparations for the Gala.”

Celestia simply spread a serene smile across her snout as her eyepatch faded back into view. “I know.”