"Sister..."
Luna looked up at her sister, mouth full with a variety of fruits and custard. Celestia, with a plate of waffles before her, raised a brow.
"MmmM?" Luna queried through her throat. Celestia frowned a little in disapproval, but didn't comment on her sister's horrible table manners.
"I have a question I feel only you could answer, and I'm afraid I'm going to need you to answer truthfully."
Luna felt her heart fall into her stomach. She swallowed her food slowly and wiped her mouth with her napkin.
"Yes sister?" she asked dubiously.
"I have a report on my desk," The older Princess began calmly, "Written up this morning by Gild. According to one of his guards who was on patrol at the time, that there was a mysterious object that fell from your balcony."
Luna's heart stopped, and the blood rushed from her face as she realised where this was going.
"Gild's report says it's believed the object was a young stallion. He fell into the fountain."
Luna squirmed uncomfortably under her sister's stern gaze.
"Um... H-how bad is it?" She asked hesitantly, brushing some of her mane out of her face. Celestia huffed.
"He's nowhere to be found in the area. After landing, he took off at a run and, as of yet, hasn't been apprehended or found."
Luna couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Knowing he'd left at a run, though painful, gave her heart quite the rest. She was terrified he was dead, but knowing he was alive...
"Luna! Are you listening to me?"
Luna jumped and looked back at her sister, flushing bright red.
"Yes mother," She snarked back, only earning a darker frown from her sister.
"Luna!" Celestia scolded, "One of these days, you will mature enough for me to trust you with affairs of state, and when that day comes, there is nopony else who will be more proud of you than me. However, until then, I find myself forced to deal with you like a little girl rather than a grown mare."
Luna glared at her sister angrily, but it didn't deter the older alicorn from continuing.
"So, in this light, You will hold your tongue until such a time as I deem it fit for you to speak when I am chastising you, understand?"
Luna glared at Celestia, and Celestia glared right back. Eventually however, the tension vanished as Luna, cowed, lowered her gaze.
"Yes sister," She capitulated. Celestia's glare didn't lower.
"Now, you demanded Gild set you friend loose," She began again, "And, for a moment, I thought you were finally realizing what you have to be. But, as it turns out, I was wrong. You've abused your position as a Princess, and your actions, whatever they may have been after his release, have lead to the endangerment of a citizen of Equestria for you own selfishness."
"He jumped off the balcony sister, I tried t-"
"He did What?"
Luna cursed herself, biting her tongue almost literally.
"He jumped off the balcony, of his own accord. I tried to stop him!"
"No, I don't want to hear another word," Celestia interrupted, a look of stunned shock on her face, "Whatever you said or did to him, it was your fault he left the way he did, and you should be ashamed of yourself."
"We had a fight!" Luna argued, "All friends have-"
"Not ones that end in either of them jumping from the fifth floor of a tower into a fountain Luna!"
Again, Luna bit her tongue, and averted her eyes, cowed.
"Yes sister..." She capitulated quietly.
"I will find Septimus," Celestia told her sister firmly, "And bring him back here so you can apologise to him. After that, I'll put him back in the cells, where he can serve his sentence."
Luna jolted out of her self pity pool to look at her sister wildly.
"What? No! He doesn't belong in there! Septimu-"
"You pardoned him based on your own feelings for him Luna!" Celestia barked over her, "He will serve his sentence of two years for assault and he will be lucky he only received that! He brought this on himself, as have you!"
Celestia lifted a hand faster than Luna could open her mouth, which instantly shut the younger alicorn up.
"You are grounded until such a time as I decide you have learned a lesson from your actions. You will be allowed outside of your room to eat, and to raise the moon, though we both know you don't need to do that. Your balcony will be shielded to prevent you from leaving as well."
Luna's jaw was on the floor.
"What? That's not fair!" Luna shouted, "You're going to cut me off completely?"
"Essentially, yes," Celestia replied coldly, "You've showed me that you're not to be trusted with royal authority or making your own decisions. Now, once you've finished your breakfast, you will be escorted to your room, where you will sleep. My guard will search for Septimus, and you will stay out of it."
As Luna pouted and quietly hated her sister, Septimus winced, suppressing a yelp as his doctor touched his arm gingerly.
"Yeah... you've broken it pretty bad. I don't know how you managed to keep it in the condition it's in to be honest. It looks pretty bad."
Septimus' doctor was a younger stallion, late twenties, which in and of itself was an achievement. His rapid ascent came from his rather unique gift to bestow a form of X-ray vision to himself, allowing him to see problems firsthand. There was nopony else Septimus would trust with his life than this pony.
"How bad are we talking, and how much am I going to be in debt?" Septimus grimaced.
"Hard to say. To be honest, all it's going to cost you is the cost of a bit of plaster at the cheapest, or up to several hundred bits for the magical solution. For that though, I'd have to recommend you to another doctor."
Septimus sighed and shook his head.
"I'll take the plaster, and a doc's certificate. Need something to explain to my idiot roommates why I'm not at work till I can figure out a way to tell them I'm unemployed."
"That, is not my business of course. The cast won't take long to put on, then I'll write up your certificate, and send you on your way."
"Alright doc. Gonna hurt?"
"Probably, I won't lie. I'll have to make sure the bone is set in place and correctly, which means moving it into position. This is going to hurt Septimus, and it will keep hurting for some time. Are you ready?"
Septimus sighed and nodded his head, steeling himself for what he knew was going to be a very painful morning.