"Let's start with the most pressing issue first."
The three royals, Celestia, Luna, and Pan, were now seated comfortably in the royal council chambers. While the room still bore that name, there really wasn't a royal council anymore, and hadn't been for several generations. These days, the room was more or less an informal dining hall. When Pan had finished assembling his council of advisers, that would change. In the meantime, the plush chairs, fine antique table, and the walls adorned with majestic tapestries depicting the history of the empire all made for a more relaxed environment.
Celestia and Luna sat side by side, opposite Pan, and while Pan took a sip of tea, the two princesses did likewise, before nibbling on dainty little teacakes.
Celestia, an eyebrow raised, asked, "The most urgent being?"
Pan, his expression serious, stated, "The love poison."
Luna and Celestia, their expressions equally serious, both nodded in understanding. There were many elephants in the room today: Pan's past, the legitimacy of his rule, and more, but of all those metaphorical elephants, this one was the gigantic bull of a wooly mammoth that was tap-dancing on the table while playing the bagpipes. It would be impossible to concentrate until this one was discussed.
"I've asked Pen Stroke to devote as much time and effort as possible to the pursuit of a cure. The odds of finding a true counter-agent are small, however. The compound in the wine Luna drank was, in reality, a blend of several love poisons. While some of those ingredients have known cures, the substances needed to make those cures are extremely rare in the Crystal Empire, or even in all of Equestria. Pen did indicate that he would ask a friend of his to work on a partial counter-agent, but odds are, the only way to truly defeat the poison is to wait it out."
Celestia sighed, but nodded and said, "I expected as much. Love potions, or poisons, are extremely rare, and most are magical in nature. Such things are difficult to cure through ordinary means."
Luna, scowling, asked, "Well then, what can I expect to go through in the meantime? And for how long?" Her anger was understandable: Luna was a princess of Equestria, with power and prestige that few beings in Equestria could imagine, let alone hope to match. The idea that she no longer had full control of her heart and mind would be unbearable, even if it was only for a day.
Pan, keeping his expression carefully neutral so that he did not accidentally give offense (A smile, a scowl, ANY expression might be misinterpreted right now, and end with him splattered across the wall), stated, "Pen Stroke was able to locate a journal kept by the king responsible for the poison, and after a short examination of the contents, he located several entries detailing the intended, and observed, effects of the poison." After a brief pause, as he struggled to say all of this with a perfectly level tone and a completely blank expression, he stated, "The effects are as follows..."
-------------------------
"These shall be your quarters for the duration of your stay at the palace," Pen Stroke said to Shimmering Radiance, when they reached their destination a few minutes after parting with the emperor.
The young filly's mouth hung open in shock as she surveyed the room before her. It was clear that such opulence was beyond her wildest imaginings. Oddly enough, the chancellor felt himself smiling. The emperor had been correct, it seemed: It was strangely satisfying to lay such abundant blessings upon a child who had never had anything before.
"I understand that you are not used to such surroundings," the chancellor continued as he, the filly, and his son walked into the room. "Which will be why my son, Gold Coin, will serve as your liason with the palace staff while you are here. If there is anything you wish to see, any item that you require, or any place you wish to go, simply say so, and he will be happy to assist."
With a bow, Gold Coin stated, "I am at your service, your grace."
After a few seconds, the filly turned towards Pen Stroke, then asked, "So, just what is it that the emprah wants in exchange, guv?"
Surprised by the rather... unique method of speech that the young filly had, Pen Stroke hesitated to answer, but after a moment, he stated, "While his majesty has yet to state his specific reasons for doing so, I am able to hazard a guess. He feels beholden to you for showing him that, even with King Sombra gone, there was a serious problem present in the empire that required his attention, one which predated the dread king's reign."
"Yeah? Pull one of the others, guv," Shimmering Radiance said, her expression one of absolute disbelief, "they've all got bells on 'em."
The chancellor gave the filly a look, truly taking her in for the first time. While she might be only five years old, life on the street with nopony else to look after her had toughened the little filly considerably. In terms of the physical, she might be little more than a foal, but in terms of pure cynicism, she was older than Celestia and Luna put together and raised by a factor of a thousand.
"As I said," Pen Stroke stated, "the emperor has not given me a specific reason for his abundant generosity, and it is possible that he has another, more draconian, reason for your elevation. If such a reason exists, you should ask the emperor when you see him later today, and see how he responds."
Translation: Don't ask me, I just work here. Take it up with the bug in charge.
While she didn't seem satisfied with that answer, the filly accepted it with a nod. After a moment's consideration, she asked, "And what about the others?"
Pen Stroke, momentarily confused, asked, "Others?"
"I heard what the emprah said to you at the big to-do last night. He said that you were supposed to do something for the other urchins out on the streets."
"Oh, that's what you meant," Pen Stroke said with a nod of understanding. "I have taken steps towards the resolution of that issue. While it is unlikely that many of them will experience such a drastic elevation in status, I have taken a few steps towards fixing that particular problem."
Shimmering Radiance raised an eyebrow and asked, "And those are?"
Clearing his throat, unused to such direct questioning from one so young (Yet decorum demanded that he answer the inquiry of an archduke or archduchess, provided that the question was not regarding a classified issue), the chancellor stated, "Several noble houses lost their sole heirs during Sombra's reign, as well as their spouses, making the production of future heirs unlikely. Upon inquiry last night, the current heads of a few of those houses indicated a willingness to adopt a new heir from those less fortunate who have no home or family of their own, either through Sombra's actions, or from prior tragedies. Several craftsponies in the city are also in need of new apprentices, and were also willing to take in any youngsters who were found to have promise in their respective fields. In addition, upon Princess Celestia's suggestion, properties in the city currently without owners or occupants are being converted into 'orphanages': Boarding houses dedicated to the shelter, education, and care of orphans such as yourself, until such time as parents willing to look over them appear."
The filly seemed confused about that: It seemed that charity was a foreign concept to the young archduchess. Given that she had literally spent every moment of her life that she could remember digging through compost heaps and rubbish bins for food, without anypony extending a helping hoof, that was not surprising.
Saddening, yes, but not surprising. The emperor was right. We need to be better than that, the chancellor thought to himself.
Forestalling any further inquiries that the filly might have with a raised hoof, Pen Stroke stated, "While I would normally not mind answering your every question, your grace, I fear that I have a number of duties that require my attention, including the seeing to of the project we have just discussed. We can speak more on this later."
Translation: I like you, kid, but I've got too much on my plate today to play twenty questions with you.
After a moment, Shimmering Radiance nodded, then said, "Alright, guv."
The chancellor nodded, then said, "Splendid. Now, I should let you know, there will be a meeting this evening, a gathering of all the nobles in the empire. The emperor felt that would be the best time to present you to your new peers. My son will be happy to assist you in any preparations that you feel you need to make, but please be aware that you will be expected to attend at six this evening, so it would be best to be ready a half-hour before then."
The filly gulped visibly, then asked, "What will I be expected to do there?"
Smiling, Pen Stroke said, "For the most part, smile, give a curtsy to any pony you are introduced to, and look adorable. My son can teach you how to curtsy, and if necessary, how to smile properly." With a chuckle, the chancellor added, "I doubt you'll need any lessons on how to look adorable, though."
Pen Stroke was rewarded by a bright blush from the filly when she realized that last part was a compliment...
------------------------------
For the first five minutes of the explanation of what could be expected, Luna's and Celestia's jaws had hung open in shock. For the two minutes after that, Celestia had started grinding her teeth in anger, while Luna began visibly blushing in embarrassment. Then they switched for about two minutes, then switched back. For the remaining seventeen minutes, the two ponies traded anger and embarrassment almost like clockwork.
Finally, after a mortifying half-hour that had stretched Pan's ability to control both expression and tone to his absolute limit, he stated, "And at this moment in time, the symptoms are expected to last up to a full year."
Within five seconds of that statement, an event occurred that was practically unheard of in the history of Equestria. If the legends were true, then somewhere in Equestria, fifteen sparrows would burst into flames, a litter of kittens would abruptly die from their hearts exploding within their fuzzy little chests, and every first-born colt for the next fifteen generations would be born with cloven hooves and goat horns.
Because Princess Celestia had just cursed aloud.
"MOTHERPLUCKING SON OF A NAG!!!"
Pan was taken aback by this sudden explosion of profanity, as was Princess Luna. In all honesty, the changeling would have bet good money on the princess of the sun not even knowing that those words were curses, let alone being able to shout them aloud with such passion. But it appeared she did know those curses, and a great many more...
For the next five minutes, Celestia cursed with such intensity and with such eloquence that, by all rights, the world should have split open, and all the fiends in Tartarus should have come rushing out... then turned right back around and ran away, screaming for their mothers at the sound of Celestia's fury. The alicorn cursed in at least seven languages, only four of which Pan could identify, and of those he recognized, he didn't know what even half of those words meant... and the changeling had not led what most would consider a sheltered life.
When Celestia finally ended her tirade, Pan applauded, and said, "I echo that sentiment, your highness."
After a moment, Luna raised her hoof.
Pan asked, "Yes, Luna?"
Princess Luna, the Princess of the Moon, Diarch of Equestria, and one of the most powerful beings in the world asked, shyly, "What did you mean when you said 'Oral Sex'?"
"Ummm," Pan began, blushing brightly from embarrassment, his radiance increasing a couple of notches in response, "Do you remember the third thing we tried last night?"
Luna, blushing brightly, said, "Oh."
Celestia, her face a bright scarlet (Whether due to anger or embarrassment, or possibly both, it was hard to say), said, "Is there anything else?"
With a shake of his head, the changeling said, "Thus far, that's all we know. If there were more side effects, the old king either didn't feel they were worth mentioning, or was completely unaware of them."
Still, the ones that were known were bad enough: Luna would feel compelled to remain within one hundred hoofsteps of Pan at all times, and would become increasingly agitated the further away she was. There were other compulsions, some simple, and some complex, and not all of them could be mentioned in polite society. The worst part was, those compulsions would gain strength after the sun set... right when Luna was supposed to be performing her royal duties.
Celestia placed her hoof against her face, then very quietly said, "I know you're not to blame for this, Pan, but you must know that this will be an almost unbearable burden, for myself and for my sister both. The fact that we will have to be separate for the majority of the year means that there will be tremendous difficulty in coordinating the raising and lowering of the sun and moon..."
Luna added, "And there are at least a dozen other things that I normally tend to, which I will not be able to under these circumstances..."
Pan nodded, then said to both of them, "I do understand that, and I know that the answers to how those problems can be solved will not be easy to find. But as my father used to say, 'Problems do not get any easier by complaining about how difficult they are." He tended to say that whenever he or any of his siblings complained about a problem... typically either before or after he struck them across the face for voicing any sort of a complaint. Pan's father was not nice, even by changeling aristocrat standards...
Both Celestia and Luna nodded in agreement. "Indeed," Celestia agreed. "That is well said. And we do not have to come up with the answers today. We have the next two weeks, at least, to find the solutions." Luna echoed that sentiment. Now that they knew what they would be facing, they could start on making the problem manageable.
"Good," said Pan, smiling. "We'll discuss viable solutions tomorrow. For now, though, let's move on to a more urgent issue: This evening, there is going to be an audience, where I will be introducing Shimmering Radiance to the nobility of Equestria, and let them know that things are about to change. I would appreciate your aid in this: I have a few announcements to make, and I am certain that whoever poisoned Luna will get very upset about them..."
----------------------------
"Like this?"
Shimmering Radiance attempted the curtsey that she had been shown half an hour ago... and promptly fell on her face. A court curtsy is very difficult to perform for a quadruped. If Gold Coin had not insisted that the filly change out of her fancy new dress, she would likely have ripped it to shreds by now. As it was, her face was starting to get a little sore, even if the impact with the floor had been soft each time she'd fallen...
At least the colt wasn't laughing. If he'd so much as chuckled once at her difficulty, she would have slapped him across the face, and refused to continue. Instead, he'd kept his face blank, helped her up, then told her what she had done wrong that time, and encouraged her to try again.
It was so frustrating, though: 'Urchin', a bit-less pauper, was now the archduchess of the single largest stretch of territory in Equestria. She owned orchards, mines, mills, and more, enough that she was 'worth' more than half of the remaining nobility combined. Gold Coin had cautioned her that there would be a number of nobles who would soon be seeking to match her up with one of their sons or younger brothers, hoping to cement some sort of an alliance in the years to come. AND SHE WAS STILL ONLY FIVE YEARS OLD WITH NO MARK TO CALL HER OWN!!! She was so completely out of her depth now...
"You've almost got it," Gold Coin said, encouragingly. "If you keep all of your weight on your back left hoof, you shouldn't lose your balance this time. And you don't need to go quite so low: You're an archduchess, so you outrank everypony present, save for the princesses and the emperor. Just a short dip to each noble you're introduced to is enough. The emperor shouldn't be asking you to genuflect tonight, nor will the princesses, but if they do, you can do the same for them: It's your first night as nobility, so you're not expected to have it all down yet."
Shimmering Radiance nodded, then did as instructed. Incredibly enough, it worked.
"Perfect," Gold Coin said, smiling. "Now do it again."
Shimmering Radiance complied... and promptly fell on her face.
With a chuckle, the colt admitted, "Would you believe me if I told you that I did the same thing when I was learning how to perform a court bow? Keep working on it, though, and you'll have it. We've got a couple of hours left before you need to get ready. I'm certain you'll have it down perfectly by then."
Blushing, Shimmering Radiance nodded, and tried to curtsey... and got it right again.
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Some ponies, after experiencing torture, humiliation, and brutalization, will undergo a radical change in behavior. The cruel become kind, the kind become cruel. Sometimes, that radical change would instead be in the intensity of their previous actions: The kind become kinder still, and the cruel, even more so than ever before.
...For Scarlet Wake, however, there had been no change in his behavior whatsoever: He remained a cruel, calculating, amoral sadist. Nopony often wondered what would truly happen if the red unicorn ever rose above the title of baron. Nothing good, that was certain.
The gray unicorn closed the door behind him, then steeled himself for his lord's 'playroom'. Were it not for the 'soundlock' enchantments upon the hallway, the screams within would be heard throughout the empire. Instead, so long as one of the doors was shut, nothing within the playroom (Torture chamber, nopony admitted to himself) escaped to the outside...
There are spells that can inflict agony unlike anything the body can normally experience, and can do so for hours on end. It's not difficult: Just by increasing the sensitivity of the skin sufficiently can turn even the feeling of open air into an agony beyond comparison. Scarlet Wake would spend days with a pony, listening to their screams as they lay tied to a bed, unable to do anything but suffer from the noble's magic... and would occasionally poke his victims, increasing their pain a trillion-fold.
Nopony opened the door, then waited a moment while his liege lord reduced the volume of his latest plaything's screams. Once the aide could speak without being drowned out, Nopony announced, "Two messages for you, milord. One from the emperor, the other one from your cousin, Golden Grace."
Scarlet Wake looked down at the latest in a long line of victims with an almost tender expression, then asked, "And?"
"The emperor has asked that all of the nobility assemble at the palace for a meeting tonight. He has endowed the title of Archduchess of the Golden Groves to a pony, and wishes to present her to her peers. He also intends to make several announcements regarding the future of his reign."
Scarlet Wake used a spell to adjust the level of pain his latest victim felt, causing the bound mare to shiver violently as her torture went from agonizing to excruciating, then asked, "And my cousin?"
"Golden Grace will be here in two hours, with a carriage to take you both to the palace," Nopony stated, trying very hard to ignore the mare's pleas for mercy. The only mercy here would be when she finally died from dehydration or malnutrition, and that was still days away...
Scarlet Wake gently caressed his victim's cheek, eliciting a wail of agony, then said, "Ah, my cousin, always thinking of me. Very well. You may go now. Close the door behind you when you leave."
As always, Nopony was just a little too slow, and the mare's tormented screams began just before the soundlock engaged. As always, Nopony wished that his grandfather had sworn allegiance to another pony. Any other pony. Even Sombra would have been an improvement over this...
A thousand years from now, a pony in Nopony's position could have turned in his master and would have hat nothing to fear. However, this was not that time. As a landless, commonborn unicorn, the aide had many things to fear: The laws were all on the noble's side, and if Nopony turned in his master, the commoner would face terrible consequences for violating the oath of fealty that his grandfather had sworn to Scarlet Wake's grandfather. Imprisonment would await him in the royal dungeons, and even if he escaped that fate, nopony would be willing to hire a known oathbreaker. His wife and three daughters would be without support, either way, and would be left begging in the streets, or worse, in order to survive. Even worse than that, however, there was a strong possibility that Scarlet Wake would face no punishment whatsoever afterwards, and would continue on as before, starting with Nopony's wife and daughters.
Nopony wished that he had not proven so competent, not only at seeing to his master's needs, but also at manipulating others with just his words alone. Twenty young ponies, practically still fillies and colts, were about to become pawns in Scarlet Wake's dirty little game, and there was nothing that he could do to stop it...