Dear Twilight Sparkle, Selene, and the other princesses,
Things have really changed a lot since my last letter and I’m not really sure where to start. I guess things probably really started changing the most when the kitsune I told you about last time started taking me to some of the portals to help with my studies of them. At first it was simple things such as just peering through them to see what the worlds were like, but eventually he escorted me to some of the outposts we had set up in some of those worlds. Each world has been so different from what I am used to so describing them in words just won’t do them justice. Needless to say that each one was an adventure of their own that would be hard to repeat. Oddly enough many of them actually led to worlds that had little to no magical field on them. Some of the ones that had been visited the longest by my kind were starting to develop a rudimentary field though due to the use of magic by those visiting those worlds. I’m not sure what it will do to the inhabitants of those worlds, but they are in for a surprise in the future especially as almost no contact with any inhabitants is permitted. Even the few exceptions to that rule still aren’t permitted too close to the portals to New Sionnach.
I got a bit off topic there, but it’s an issue that I really could have used advice from Cadance for. You see the one I mentioned before, Duke Okami? Well I’m now married to him. It took many years to get to that point, but eventually I found myself falling in love with him, though him proposing to me was such a shock that I really wasn’t prepared for. From that point until the actual wedding I was in a sort of a daze of self-doubt and confusion. In fact I may have stayed like that through the wedding as well if something didn’t happen to shock me out of it. I guess a wedding without any problems cropping up would have been asking too much as my track record there is still a big zero. You see Okami forgot to mention a rather big issue during the entire time we were going out together and preparing for the wedding, and that being the identity of his parents. Turns out he is the son of Lord Inari and Lady Ogitsu making him the prince of the kingdom, with me now being a princess because of the marriage. Yes, you heard me right, after all my efforts to avoid politics and nobles as much as I possibly could has just been dragged not only into the spotlight of politics but nearly all the way to the top. Let’s just say that he earned a good many extra bruises during our next spar for that stunt, though not enough to curtail any activities later that night.
I’m still not going to just roll over without a fight though when it comes to my views on nobility and politics. To the disgust of many of the nobles I pretty much have to be forced to attend any major events they have planned and even then I still don’t act as they expect. Not to say that I’m rude or anything, I’ve learned better than that from Rarity, but I refuse to be the stuck-up variety of noble. In fact most of my time is spent with the non-nobles around the kingdom doing what I can to improve things with them, especially when it comes to the schools. Being able to more directly improve the quality of the schools and farms without needing to check with the Lord and Lady for everything is kind of a nice perk. Lord Inari was a bit unsure of me at first, and still is a bit, but he’s backed down quite a bit since some of the changes I put out nearly doubled the output of the rice farms that make his favorite wine. He always was wary of me for some reason that was never explained to me, but he always tolerated me due to pressure from his wife and lately has asked me for my thoughts on a couple issues lately. He might not take the advice, but at least he looked as if he seriously considered what I had to say instead of just ignoring me like before.
Your Friend,
Flarenza
Waking up next to someone else was something that took some getting used to, but now it eventually felt odd not to have that happen and today was no exception. As the morning sun shines over my closed eyes I let out a yawn and snuggle back into the warm body behind me. To think that I had lived a few centuries without knowing the comfort of sleeping next to someone like this. I always was a bit curious about what my friends saw in a deep relationship but I never knew even a small portion of the perks of being in one. I sigh as I feel Okami start to shift around, knowing that I’d have to get up soon for the day. I smile as I feel him shift enough to press a kiss to the top of my head.
“Morning Tiny.” I roll my eyes at his little pet name for me that he started using just because I was a decent amount shorter than him. Just because he’s a bit older than me and his magical power inflated his size so much more doesn’t mean he should rub it in. It’s kind of annoying that even here I’m shorter than most of my peers. At least with the ponies I could blame it on the species difference but here it’s mostly the age. Granted I’ve caught up to most of them in height due to my magical strength, but all the other six tails are still a good amount taller than me.
“Morning. Think we can maybe just sleep in today?” I try to snuggle back into him for more warmth as he just chuckles and rolls out of the bed. “Sorry, but you know that there is a lot to do today. You’ve been talking about that event you were planning on going to all week, though the other nobles might not be overly happy about you missing that party.” My eyes widen at this as my mood drops a bit. “Oh yeah, that was today wasn’t it.”
Prince Okami nuzzles me as I crawl out of the bed and move towards my mirror to get ready. I use my magic to take down the regalia that had been made for me after the coronation that went with the wedding. As was becoming my theme they were made of the same type of rosewood that I had been using and was designed in a way similar to what Princess Luna and Celestia wore, but instead of the triple peaks in the center it was instead a single rounded area with a rose shaped ruby in the center. With it came a set of wooden bracers for my ankles that covered the front of them while also each having a red gem on them as well. The gems each carried a few protective enchantments, as well as a cosmetic on to change the color of them to blue during the winter time. After examining them to make sure they were in a pristine condition I put them on while brushing my fur out before turning towards my husband.
“I may complain about being roped into this princess thing all the time, but I will say that I don’t mind not having to worry about constantly getting a new dress for every event. All I need to do most of the time is just put all this on and go.” I look over at him as he places his ebony-wood crown atop his head and catch him rolling his eyes. I swat him with a tail as I pass him by towards the exit of the room and signal to one of the servants to bring up some breakfast as I look out a nearby window.
I still missed having my own place to stay, but after our marriage we both moved into some of the fancier suites of the tree palace at the request of his parents. I was allowed to keep the other place I was given, but as I didn’t live there I used it mostly to house the personal servants that I chose. Along with the three I already had I had chosen a dozen others, three kitsune and the rest diamond dogs. I was expected to have many more but I was very picky about those I allowed to serve me. In fact I required any that served me to go through the same training that the best squad of the guard did under the watch of the leader of the guard, whom I had taken to calling the General in lieu of her actual name. That along with the requirements to fill some other position at the same time cut down the number that wanted the job by a good amount and made it where only the most dedicated were chosen.
Breakfast soon arrived at the same time as Prince Okami exited the bedroom while reading a scroll one of his own servants had brought. “So what things are the nobles complaining about now that you’ll probably have to deal with today?” I lift up a bagel while saying this before taking a bite into it as he sighs. “There’s nothing new really; just more complaints about you coddling the lower classes as well as the usual things from the expansionist and isolationist factions. It might be time for you to show up to another meeting tonight after your little thing today to make it look like you care.”
I roll my eyes at this but I know that it has been a while. “Yeah I guess I can show up tonight. At the very least I can distract them with a few other ideas that I don’t care too much about to distract them away from the more important things I’ve been doing.” My husband just chuckles at this as he comes over to stand by me as I lean into him. “And you always say how much you hate politics, but you seem to be doing just fine whenever you get into it.”
I lightly jab a paw into his side causing him to grunt. “Just because I hate politics doesn’t mean I don’t know how to play them. Really what passes for politics here is nothing that went on in Equestria and I learned a few tricks just from watching how it worked there. At least here the nobles generally have to earn their place instead of it just being given to them.” He chuckles as he sets the scroll down and grabs up a pastry from the tray. “True, while the advancements you talk about out there sound rather nice, that area is one that sounds to have changed in the wrong direction.”
At that moment one of his servants entered the room and quickly moved over to whisper in his ear. I sigh as I can guess what is probably about to happen. “Looks like I may have to head out early today. It sounds like some of the factions have been getting a bit out of hand this morning. I’ll see you tonight at the meeting then.” He leans over to give me a peck on the cheek as he heads out while I sigh and clean up the remains of breakfast. Seeing as there is nothing keeping me here I levitate my whip from the bedroom and wrap it up in my tails before heading out early myself.
As I exit the room my guards take up positions just behind me in their simple outfits. I take a moment to consider the two, the two named Butch and Cassidy after their great-grandparents who served me until they grew too old to do so and having died many years back. While positions aren’t inherited the two families had started a tradition of naming one of their children after the one that started their line and they then joined my guard. The loyalty passed down from them through their family and they each excelled at the job earning the position of their predecessor.
I knew that I would outlive them so it wasn’t that much of a shock when I was informed of their funeral, but my lack of knowledge once again caused me some pain as I made my way to the city funeral grounds. The area set aside for this function wasn’t all that large, just enough for a small shrine and about a hundred visitors, as cremation of the body was the tradition here. I walked up to the back of the crowd that had already gathered and tried to stay unnoticed so as not to interrupt anything while I thought one the one the ceremony was for.
He was only a two-tailed kitsune and he hadn’t even seen a century of life yet. It wasn’t even that his death was unnatural, as he died from old age, but because he never gained his third tail. His being one of the students I taught brought the knowledge forward to me that the number of tails you had also influenced how long you lived. You had to have three tails to actually match the average life expectancy of a pony and having more or less than that drastically changed the number of years drastically. I now knew that I could expect to outlive many of those that I knew as six-tails could live for millennia, and if I earned another tail that could extend to near indefinitely.
The ceremony passed by pretty quickly as the main portion was done in private with the direct family. What was done here was the observance of the body being cremated along with magically enforced silence for the one that was lost. I was one of the last to arrive so nobody noticed my arrival, though there were only about a dozen there anyways. The ceremony went quickly and it was only as they were leaving that the family noticed my presence, causing a few eyes to widen. I shocked them even more as when they bowed to me I returned it to the one carrying the urn.
I stayed behind after they left to think about what the future may hold for me and those around me. I never thought that there was such a disparity between the kitsune based around their tails though it helped explain some of the attitudes the nobles had. I had some idea of how a new tail was earned, seeming to be pretty similar to pony cutie marks, but there always were some exceptions. I wondered if there was a way to help them with that though with the place being isolated from so many things.
As I was leaving I felt a feeling of compassion flow down the link between me and Okami. Ever since the wedding we had been experimenting with the link used to bind us together, though we haven’t made much progress. All that we had been able to figure out is that we could feel and communicate our emotions to each other through it, as well as our magical power if needed. While we hadn’t used it much, it was always nice to feel the other when we felt sad or annoyed about something.
As there was little else for me to do until the meeting later I decided to wander around the city seeing how things were with my own eyes. I occasionally stopped to talk with someone who managed to catch my eye in some way though I had no real goal other than to get a feel for the state of things. I found that many nobles were going out of their way to avoid me though, while the non-nobles actually looked excited to see me, some actually coming up to greet me or ask for advice.
Eventually it was time for me to show up at the meeting with the other nobles so I made my way to the usual place for it. My assistant was already there waiting for me though she was surprised to see me as I failed to let her know that I would be there tonight. She took it in stride though as I took my position next to my husband who leaned over for a quick peck on the cheek which I returned. The other nobles were just starting to arrive so I considered how much things had changed since the wedding.
The meetings went on like they always did, but there were a few major changes in how things were done. For one much of the voting power on what to pass onto the Lord and Lady shifted away from the nobles to the prince and me. While we often refrained from voting on anything we did hold the power to deny anything that was voted through if we both agreed, as well as letting us bring things we felt needed there attention even if a vote didn’t pass. We didn’t really use this power as there wasn’t much that we agreed on that needed such an action but it did help when we spotted something that wasn’t obvious to the other nobles. Of course with us out of the normal voting it did give more power back to the factions but they really couldn’t abuse it.
Soon enough it came time for the meeting to begin as all the nobles had gathered with an exception of one of the newer ones who had recently joined. His aide was there in his place with apologies from him as issues with the territory he was given to watch over had come up. Like usual things went as they usually did at these meetings, which was why I rarely bothered to show, just with a bit more needling at my actions as of late.
“We could have come to a decision on these issues months ago if certain parties weren’t consorting with the peasants all the time.” My ears perk up at this as I calmly turn towards where the voice came from but don’t see who made the comment. My husband must have though as his gaze didn’t waver, though he felt a bit confused at the humor I was feeling at the comment. I decided to speak up myself on this though I had to choose my words in a way to mollify the other party.
“Well since I am less knowledgeable about certain matters I’ve taken it upon myself to deal with areas that Prince Okami doesn’t have the time to. Wouldn’t it be a shame if something happened if the peasants started having issues and you were forced to spend your time dealing with them instead of more important matters? I’m just doing what I can to keep them from hurting themselves and taking time away from you.” I feel a bit dirty saying it like I did, but in a way what I said is true, though more in that the so-called peasants are more important in my eyes than most of the nobles. Whoever made the original comment stayed silent so my words must have had some effect, though Okami was amused at the route I took.
The meeting was about to continue back to more important topics when the doors were suddenly thrown open and a bloody diamond dog guard rushed in. He immediately went to the lone aide and spoke quickly to him as we all watched in shock at the interruption. As someone was about to speak up the aide looked at all of us in shock before he started to speak. “I just received word from Duke Leine Dhearg’s personal guard that there has been a terrible tragedy. The Duke has been murdered by some kind of strange shadow creature along with a majority of his staff. These creatures appear to be from a portal that recently opened in the area which was the source of the issue keeping him from appearing today.”
The entire room was silent from the shock of this news, though me and my husband just turned to each other and nodded before breaking the silence. “In light of this news this meeting is hereby ended and this information shall be brought to the Lord and Lady immediately.” I wasn’t sure what was causing it, but I had a feeling that this was only the beginning of the horrors to come.