Most ponies always thought of Princess Luna being the vocal one of the two Solar Sisters, especially when she made her rare public appearances. The Royal Canterlot Voice had once been a legend that most ponies assumed came from a spiteful rumor about their beloved Sun Princess, but had easily accepted Luna's deafening tone to be the true origin of the legend.
Those ponies had also never heard Princess Celestia shout.
At the docks in Canterlot, several ponies of various types and colors whooped and hollered as they threw crates over the sides of the wooden ship, each one thinking they would make their message to their Princess crystal clear. They wanted their coffee no matter if Princess Celestia wanted them to all drink tea. Crate after crate of tea leaves flew over the side of the boat, each one tumbling helplessly towards the murky sea below.
Several unicorns, some Royal Guards and some from the tea distributor, all stood at the base of the boat, trying to save as many crates as they could. Luckily, only a couple dozen had actually reached the water, the rest of them being teleported away into a storeroom in the castle. Behind them, a line of Royal Guards struggled to hold back a mob of mostly cranky ponies as they attempted to rush the rescue effort.
"Let them fall!" a voice from the crowd shouted.
The senseless noise was cut instantly as something this generation of ponies had never experienced happened. Their shouts died out as a low rumble began to shake the ground, making everypony quiver involuntarily. The rumbling only got worse as the ponies looked around for the source, only to see each other with the same confusion on their faces.
Back on the boat, the tremors could be felt as the ship shuddered faintly. The crates of tea had, for now, stopped falling to the watery depths at the boat's side and the unicorns at the dock heaved a sigh of relief, even though they too felt the quivering. As they scanned the water for any salvagable crates, they were bitterly disappointed as most of them had been smashed open and the seawater was turning an ominous brown color.
"THEY DID WHAT?!"
Silence reigned over the ponies as the shout of anger echoed out to sea, filling most of those on the boat with a sense of dread. Below, the Royal Guards merely froze at the sound of the voice ringing out so loudly. Most of them had never heard even Princess Luna shout that loud when she wanted to. Horror crept up onto their faces as they all turned to the castle in the distance to see a blinding white light streaking towards the docks.
It was obvious who had made the shout. At least, to the Royal Guard it was.
"CLEAR THE AREA!" the commander shouted from the dockside, racing over to the line, "GET EVERYPONY OUT OF HERE!"
A mad panic ensued as the protesters scrambled back, each trying to escape from the doom that was heading their way. Unfortunately, the only exit to the dockside was a single rotating ticket booth surrounded by a rusty metal fence that most ponies were trying to climb over. Pegasi and unicorns easily escaped, but they were only a small percentage to the earth ponies that clogged the turnstile.
On the boat, every demonstrator fled in a mad panic as well, even though the Guards below shouted for them to remain still. Pegasi darted off in all directions away from the streak of white light while the unicorns teleported away in great haste. The only four earth ponies to make it onto the boat did the only thing they could do: they scrambled into the boat and made a break for the gangway onto the dock.
Unfortunately, they failed to escape, as did most of the crowd, before the white light landed with a deafening crash on the docks. Temporarily blinded, all the ponies rubbed their eyes and blindly pleaded for mercy as their eyesight came back. It was obvious to them now where the voice had come from as Princess Celestia stood on the dock, watching the boat with a horrified look.
Gradually, she neared the dockside where her guards parted in order for her to reach the water's edge. Her magenta eyes were full of shock as she lowered them to survey the brown water that lapped against the wall. Pieces of crates floated around in the tea flavored seawater, looking like the remains of a ship lost at sea. Celestia's mouth opened and closed slightly as she tried to work out a sentence, but not a single word would come to her.
Eventually, she turned to the crowd of ponies behind that was staring at her in fear. Not a single one of them spoke as she met each of their gazes, her eyes of beautiful magenta misting over. Princess Celestia's bottom lip began to quiver and soon, she broke away from their stares and lowered her head, hiding it within her waving rainbow mane. Before her guards even approached her, however, the deep blue form of Princess Luna descended onto the docks next to Celestia.
"Sister, what was thou thinking when thy shouted like that?!" Luna hissed angrily as she immediately focused on rubbing her still ringing ears, "The poor guard had to be taken to the infirmary because he started rambling nonsense after you shouted!"
Luna waited expectantly for an answer as she pushed her hoof further into her ear, attempting to massage away the pain, but soon turned to a shocking sight. Her beloved older sister was whimpering slightly as she sat on the sun-bleached stone.
"Sister?" she asked calmly.
At that, Princess Celestia looked up at her, tears forming in the glossy orbs she called eyes. Her bottom lip was quivering uncontrollably and a sense of dread washed over Luna. Luna's own eyes widened at that, causing her to look around for the first time since she had arrived.
Behind them floated the ship of tea in question, but the Lunar Princess noticed the water was the same color as the hull of the boat. Shock covered her face and her pupils shrunk to an incredible size, causing her to forget the ringing in her ears.
"What in Equestria?" she mumbled.
"Down with the Tea Empire!" a dimwitted pony shouted from the crowd.
An audible gasp came from the legion of ponies gathered around the dock, each of them turning to the source of the voice. Amid the throng stood a silly looking red and black pony with an outrageously blonde mane, smiling dumbly at the clearly upset Princesses. He stood tall despite the gravity of his actions, even as Princess Luna spun slowly to him.
"What did you say?" she asked in a deadly serious tone.
"Down with the Tea Empire!" he repeated foolishly, thrusting an empty coffee cup into the air, "We want our coffee, no matter what the dumb Princess says!"
Luna's tiny pupils twitched slightly as the crowd backed away from him slowly. Every single pony, including the Royal Guards, gulped heavily as Luna pulled her rump from the stones, her legs shaking from a barely concealed emotion they knew was about to erupt out of her. The snifflings from Princess Celestia only grew louder as she turned to the pony, who grinned at her in a malicious way.
"Are thou MAD?!" she screamed at him in the loudest iteration of the Royal Canterlot Voice anypony had ever heard, "DOTH THOU HAVE NO SENSE OF SHAME?!"
The red and black pony's smirk began to falter as he regarded Luna, confusion in his eyes.
"Easy babe," he spoke nonchalantly, "I was talking about that---"
Luna roared angrily as the crowd gasped again, completely in shock at what the pony had just said. Did he really just call the Lunar Princess 'babe'? With all of her anger bubbling over, Luna lifted her forelegs into the air and slammed them down with enough force to make a massive fissure that spanned the stone and concrete dock. Her eyes began to glow bright white as she continued her verbal onslaught.
"WHAT DID THOU CALL US?!" she roared, "THOU WILL NEVER EVER REFER TO US BY THAT TITLE AGAIN! DOTH THOU UNDERSTAND?!"
The pony paled a bit under his black and red coat, but he still tried to smile innocently at her.
"Ease up, Luna baby," he spoke in a quivering tone, "You're my favorite Princess, so I'm not--"
"SHUT YOUR IMPERTENANT MOUTH, FOOL! WE DO NOT CARE HOW THOU VIEWS US, THOU WILL NOT TALK TO OUR SISTER OR US IN SUCH A DISRESPECTFUL MANNER! DOTH THOU POSSESS SOME KIND OF MENTAL DISORDER THAT ALLOWS ONE TO NOT ACT PROPERLY IN PUBLIC?!"
As Luna shouted, her mane whipped up to an invisible wind, swirling like a tornado of stars. Her glowing white eyes only got more intense and she stomped ever closer to the stallion, who began to cower in fear.
"IT IS THANKS TO PONIES LIKE THOU THAT THIS MESS EXISTS, IF ONLY TO TORTURE OUR SISTER! SHE HAS DONE NOTHING WORTHY OF YOUR REBUKE AND IS NOW GREATLY DISTRESSED AT THOU'S PATHETIC SAYINGS! HOW DARE THOU SPEAK SO ILL OF HER WHEN SHE CRAVES A CUP OF TEA! WE OURSELVES CRAVE THE MAGICAL WAKING ELIXER WHEN WE RISE IN THE MORN, BUT WE ARE NOT DESTROYING THE TEA TRADE, ARE WE?!"
Luna kept shouting, even as she towered over the now clearly shaking stallion. Her fierce demeanor had such a profound effect that the horrible black and red colors seemed to be melting from the stallion, producing a tan color that fit him much better. Unsure of what to do, most ponies made it their goal to distance themselves from the angry alicorn as she shouted ancient rebukes at the poor soul lying at her hooves.
"AND WHAT DOTH THOU HAVE TO SAY FOR THYSELF?!" she demanded, bringing her rampage to a halt.
Without a word, the stallion erupted into a fountain of tears as he bolted away from the Lunar Princess, wailing the whole way down the dock. Luna still heaved heavy breaths as her glowing eyes faded back to normal, unaware of a looming presence behind her.
"Sister," Celestia spoke gently, "I thank you for your defense of me, but I think I know of a way for all of this to end without anymore shouting."
Luna craned her tired neck around to give Celestia a sideways look before her snout scrunched up.
"And how doth thou propose to do that?" she asked pointedly.
Celestia smiled warmly, her glossy magenta eyes twinkling.
"Have some faith in me, sister. I know what to do."
From somewhere in the crowd, another pony whistled as they all watched the stallion round the corner a ways away.
"She scared the stupid out of him!" a filly exclaimed from the crowd, causing all of them to start cheering for the Lunar Princess.