Chapter 7: The Battle Is Not Ours
Later that night, Esther was in her massive yet beautiful bedroom getting ready for bed. While straitening out her silk night gown, Ruth was pinning the Queen's thick hair into a bun. The other ladies in waiting were tucking and rolling back the sheets on Esther's bed, along with tidying up the room.
"There you are!" Ruth proclaimed, "All finished. What'da think?"
While admiring her hair bun in the mirror, she praised, "It's lovely. Thank you Ruth."
"Anything for you, Yerr Highness."
While Esther wrapped a soft robe over her night gown, Ruth asked, "Ummm...Yerr Majesty?"
"Yes Ruth?"
"Do you...like it here? Here at the palace, Ah mean..."
"Of course I do Ruth. Why do you ask?"
"W-We were just wondering, that's all."
"We?" Esther looked past Ruth and observed her crowd of loyal mares tidying up her room. "Oh, we. How come all of you are so curious about...well...how I feel?"
"It's not mah place to say. Forget that Ah said anything, Yerr Majesty."
"It's okay Ruth, you can tell me. I won't tell, I promise."
"Well, we were just wondering because...we've noticed that you and the King are spending an a lot of time together lately. And His Majesty seems to be alot nicer now. Ah guess what ah'm trying to say is...speaking on the girl's behalf of course is...how's it going with you two?"
Esther didn't expect this question to pop up all of the sudden. Especially from Ruth out all ponies. Usually, Ruth was content is just knowing about her business and her business alone. Usually, Ruth would never asked about personal matters, unless it was important. It made her wonder if the whole kingdom was curious about this matter. Esther hasn't really given much thought to it before, but now that Ruth mentioned it...
"The King and I...we're um...good. Very good actually."
"If you don't mind me asking, again, but...good in what way exactly?"
"Well, I guess we're...good in our...friendship. Yes, our friendship! He and I are becoming such good friends."
"Uh, that's good. It's been awhile since His Royal Highness has even had a friend."
"R-Really?" Esther had never realized it before, but...it was true. King Xerxes never was a draconequus surrounded by ponies he considered his equals, let alone friends. Despite his over-the-top personality, Xerxes was a very private individual when it came to topics outside of jokes and tricks. He had never told her of any past or even current friends in his social circle. Was she...his first friend?
"Yup, really. You must be really special for The Chaotic King to consider you as his friend."
"Ruth?"
"Yes Queen Esther?"
"Do you believe that...love...can come from friendship?"
With a soft smile on her face, Ruth answered sincerely, "I don't see why not. After all, friendship is a form of love. Just like love, it only seems natural for friendships to grow...and maybe build into something more if the time is right."
With a sly smirk on her face, she added, "Why do you ask?"
Esther responded quickly with a red blush on her face, "N-No reason."
Soon, the bed was ready, and Esther and her ladies in waiting had to parted ways for the night. With soft good nights, Ruth and the other mares left the room...and Esther drifted to sleep.
However, her slumber was quickly interrupted by a tapping on her bedroom window. She looked over and saw...Gabrielle's trunk?! She rapidly went to the window and opened it into the balcony.
She saw Gabrielle's trunk slide over the balcony railing...and gently placed a panting body in front of her.
"Cousin Moriyah!" Esther shouted. She ran up to the exhausted and frazzled unicorn, immediately noticed that her armor...it..it was gone!
Once the shy pegasus was by her cousin's side...she held Moriyah's heavy head ever so gently. Esther turned her gze towards Gabrielle's trunk and whispered, "Thank you Gabrielle."
The kind elephant gave her caretaker a shy wave before pulling her trunk back down...thus leaving the two ponies alone. Moriyah used all her strength to shift her head towards Esther and open her eyes.
Esther announced happily, "Moriyah! Oh thank Celestia you're alright! What in Equestria happened to you?!"
Moriyah whispered in a husky voice, "I've been running and...teleporting all day from the guards. Esther...she's done it. She's really done it."
"Who's she? What has she done?"
While trying to get up, Moriyah remarked, "It's H-Hamana. She found out about my faith in Celestia. I...I don't how but...she did. And now...thanks to her...I'm charged with betrayal to the King and the entire kingdom. And...I will soon be banished to the outlands."
"What?!" Esther shouted in a hushed, while supporting her cousin with her wing, "This...this can't be happening. You can't be banished! You're captain of the guard!"
"Well...not anymore thanks to her. And that's not even the worst of it. Once she captures me, the King will also banish Princess Vashti..."
"Princess Vashti?! Oh nonono, he can't! She's our princess! She hasn't done anything wrong!"
"Well apparently her crime was refusing His Majesty's request long ago, so he sentenced her to live an eternity in the Chamber of Perpetual Tickling. Hamana...somehow...found out about my friendship with her. And now she's using that against me."
"This...this all has to be some big misunderstanding. Once I talk to Xerxes in the morning, everything will be..."
"Esther...he's also going to banish our family too."
The yellow pegasus's eyes widened. She slowly backed away from Moriyah. With fear and disbelief in her voice, she uttered, "What?..."
While mustering all her energy to stand, she courageously stated, "Hamana is not going to stop until she takes everything I love away from me...she's not going to stop untill I'm wiped off completely from the face of Equestria...and she's using the King to do it. This is not a misunderstanding Esther. This is...a death sentence. And Hamana knows this. King Xerxes knows this. Every pony knows this. And...only you can stop it."
Esther, with her knees and wings shaking violently, backed away even furthur from her cousin. She whispered, as if she was facing the gates of Taratus itself, "M-Me? Why...why me?"
"Because you're the queen Esther. You have to use your power as queen to over rule the King's edict."
"B-B-But I can't! Don't you know what happens when somepony defies him?!"
"Essie, he'll listen to you! Just like you said! Once you talk to His Majesty in the morning, he'll..."
"N-No! He won't! He won't listen to me! There's one thing that Xerxes hates above all else and that's Celestia! If he knew that...I believe in her...he'll banish me too! And my efforts would have been for nothing! Don't you see? No matter what we do, we lose!"
"Esther, there is no other way. You have to go to the King and tell him the truth!"
"NO! I...I can't..."
Esther hung her head low and tried to stop the small droplets of tears streaming down from her eyes.
Moriyah, with a soft sympathetic look on her face, gently inched closer to the young queen. She softly explained, when face to face with Esther, "Esther, I know that you're scared. I don't blame you. I never wanted something like this to be on your shoulders. Believe me. But I want you know that you're not alone in this."
Esther looked up into Moriyah's eyes, her cousin continued in the same soft tone, "No matter what happens...Celestia will be by your side. No matter what happens...I will always be on your side."
With loving yet sad smiles, they gave each other one last tight hug...before departing into their separate worlds. Gabrielle helped Moriyah back to the ground, and Esther saw her cousin disappear into the shadows of the garden.
With a heavy heart, Esther brought her eyes towards Celestia's moon and sings...
Tell me why
I don't understand
Tell me why
Or show me where you stand
Tell me why
Cause I can't see my way through
What now
Should I do?
For the rest of the night, Esther paced back and forth on the grand and expansive balcony. She didn't care if it was cold. She didn't even care that she was tired. She just had to put these thoughts to rest.
Would His Majesty listen to her? Would he truly? Or will he take Hamana's word over hers? Were Moriyah's words true? Does she, Esther, have the power to over rule the King's word? But the more important questions were...will Moriyah be safe tonight? Will Celestia answer her cousin's prayers? Will Celestia even answer Esther's own prayers?
Can a Sun Goddess like her exist in times like these?
Esther then began to remember the bed time stories that Moriyah and her parents would tell about Celestia and her extraordinary believers. Stories like a young foal conquering a giant in the name of Celestia, and an old stallion surviving the night in a pit of lions because he prayed to the great Sun Goddess. There was even one about a stallion parting the Equestrian Sea thanks to Her will alone.
However...the difference between her and these extraordinary believers was that they proved to be worthy. Worthy of Her Grace. Is she, Esther, worthy of such a blessing? After all, she hasn't proven herself to be anything special to any pony. She couldn't even tell her friend Keshet that stealing an apple was wrong. How was she suppose to confront the King about his own mistakes?!
If she didn't have the strength to do was right then...maybe Celestia shouldn't help her out after all.
Esther looked up into the sky and saw all the little stars that accompanied Celestia's lonely moon. Ever since she was a filly, she would kneel down by her window at night and imagine her prayers floating up to the stars...so that the stars can bring her prayers to Celestia. Now that Esther thought about it...she still liked to pray in the same fashion. Every night...even as a full grown mare...she still kept this tradition...even though she knew that her prayers were nothing special or new. Maybe not as much as she use to...but,...she was still a faithful believer of Celestia.
And the old pony tales go...Celestia is always there for her faithful believers.
The more Esther pondered about this, the more she realized that Celestia has always been there when she needed Her. She might have not answered her sung nightly prayers, but She did answered Esther's unspoken prayers. When her parents past away, Celestia sent Moriyah to be with her...and become her new family. When Moriyah became a guard for the King, Celestia kept her cousin safe and even blessed her with the gift of becoming captain. Celestia has been keeping her safe here in the palace, despite the tyrannical rule of the King. It seems like...Celestia really does cares for her. It seems like...Celestia even loves her. She wouldn't have done all those things if She didn't.
And if Celestia was always keeping her safe...and always helping her...then...Esther should have the courage to stand up for her Goddess. Esther should have the courage to stand up for the cousin, the one pony she cares for the most.
Yes...she will be brave for them because...she loves them. And they love her. She would do anything for Celestia and Moriyah...even if it meant her own demise. Her cousin and Celestia would sacrifice themselves for Esther, if they could.
With a determined look, Esther went back into her bedroom. She opened her giant closet doors and decided to wear a a pink flowing skirt with a draped yet sheer pink top, a sheer pink veil over her muzzle, and golden slippers on her hooves. She released her long thick mane from her bun, and placed glittering rose quartzes all over her tail and mane.
She slowly walked back out to the balcony, and faced Celestia's rising sun in the horizon. The sunrise truly highlighted the beautiful shade of pink in Esther's outfit, and the fire in her teal eyes.
While placing the tiara on top of her head, Esther proudly sings to Celestia's sun...
The battle is not ours
We look to Celestia above
For She will guide us safely through
And guard us with Her love
Esther then flew gracefully into the sky, letting the desert breeze blow through her mane and her flowing skirt. She continued to sing...
I will not be afraid
I will not run and hide
For there is nothing I can't face
When Celestia is on my side
For there is nothing I can't face
When Celestia is on my side
Esther softly flew back to the balcony, and sweetly sang...
The battle is not ours
We look to Celestia above
For She will guide us safely through
And guard us with Her Love...
"Today...I will confront the King." Esther proclaimed to herself, while still staring towards the horizon.