//------------------------------// // If only.... // Story: If it had been this way // by Blank_Paige //------------------------------// Chapter 1 Princess Celestia was annoyed, frustrated, and worst of all bored. Unfortunately for her boredom along with the annoyance and frustration had become a daily occurrence in her Day Court as of the last couple century or so. What was originally designed to be a forma where all people, of any ranking, could come to express their concerns and problems to her, the ruler of all the lands, had descended into a political battle grounds, where piety lords and ladies attempted to get one up on the others noble houses, through any means they could. This particular day was no different, as lord Rich Mint was pleading out his case on why a farm from his home town should be force to sell its land to him. Rich Mint was a short, plum man who originally hailed from a quiet small town near the border of Equestria, to which his family owned most of the land. As of recent years though he had been spending most of his time, and his family money, here in Canterlot. Which explained his want of one of the few lands not held by his family in his home town. Celestia’s information network had already told her all of this before Lord Rich Mint had even started to talk. It had also informed her that the farm was, beside being a semi-profitable business, was also located on some very promising looking mineral samples. So it was no wonder to Celestia at all why Lord Mints wanted this land. She had also decided before he even got two sentences into his very well written, overly wordy, speech to denial his claim. His boring and long winded speech had absolutely no legal backing at all. It basically boiled down into ‘I should get it because I want it’. Celestia had to hold back a heavy sigh as the 58 minute of Lord Mints never ending speech passed by. Sometime she had to wonder if her people thought she was an idiot or a fool. For some reason they thought that if they use enough long, fancy words, and spoke an incredibly long time, that she would simply just give them what they wanted. In all the time that she had ruled, which was a very long time indeed, it has never once worked, and yet they continue to take up an enormous among of her time with it. It almost made her want for the old days, back when Equestria was still struggling to get a foothold in this world. Back then people didn’t have the time to waste on fancy speeches. They didn’t have the time to stand around all day, blowing hot air, and listening to other whine about how Lord so and so slighted them at a party, or that Lady this and that was selling gossip to a local news rag. No they had things to get done and action to take. Back then things were much more directed, and though there are certain things in modern time that Celestia wouldn’t trade for all the gold in Equestria, there was something to be said about people mindset back then. The Day Court back then was much more about solving problems, and less about keeping peace among minor houses of right, and though sometime people did come to her with a genuine problem though time were rare as a blue moon. It sometime made her wonder why she had ever even made the noble houses. At the time it had seem like such a good idea. “Erhum” A guard to Celestia left cleared his throat, Visual, she believed his name was. A tall and stacked man who had been on her royal guard for many of years now. No longer in his youth, as when he was first station at the castle, but no less of an impressive sight, with his big muscle from years of training, and stoic faces. He was by far one of the most perfect examples of how a guard should be, quiet, but alert, blending into the background, but seeing all. Which it why she was surprised that he had made any sound at all. Looking at him, a questionable look mirrored on her face, he very slightly nodded his head in the direction of her court, a movement so tiny that in less you knew the man, and were looking very closing at him you wouldn’t notices it at all. Pausing she turned back toward the group of people that were there to buy for her time. Their they all stood, quietly looking at her, waiting, a look confusion with a little concerned echoed on all of their faces. That is when Celestia realized that it was her they were waiting on. At some point during Lord Rich Mints’ speech she had drifted off into her own thought, and not even realized when he finishes talking. They all started at her expectantly, it wasn’t very often that she slipped up. The last time in recent memory, or what Celestia consider recent memory, was about 120 years ago, and it had taken a good 10 years to recover from that slip. She had to play this off just right, or it would mean many late nights for the foreseeable future to fix it, a task that she did not wish to undertake. So quickly she composed herself, playing it off as though she was deep in thought weighting all the choices before her. In reality there was only on choice, sadly enough there was usually only one choice. Most of the decision placed in front of her were never very hard, almost anyone with any kind of moral code could do this. Sometime, and only ever to herself, and never all that often, but sometime Celestia wished that something would happen, something different, some that would shake up everything, make things exciting again. No she did not wish this wish often, but as she sat there upon her throne, all the nobles of Canterlot waiting on her voice, silently inside her head, as she pretended to be deep in thought, she wish that something grand and unexpected would happen, and then her school exploded.