//------------------------------// // Night as a Princess // Story: Luna's Apprentice // by NoblePonyLegacy //------------------------------// A few weeks has passed without too many issues. Celestia and Luna had meetings with the griffons and found a compromise between the purposeful deceit by the griffons and the accidental death by the Royal Sisters. Luna, once again, wanted to see how far she could push Aysel. She wanted Aysel to go the meetings with her and her sister, but the griffons wouldn’t hear of it, so she was left to roam the castle while the meetings were taking place. Luna could feel her student’s bitterness and frustration boil up, and wanted to find a way to allow her student to feel like she still involved. After waking up a thought popped into her head. “Aysel,” Luna’s voice called, causing her student to come to her, “how would you like to hold court tonight?” Luna knew it was unorthodox, maybe even against some laws to allow somepony not a part of the royal family to hold court. “Without you?” Luna could see the signs of nervousness growing inside Aysel: stepping backwards, legs shaking, a quiver in her voice and Luna could tell that her heart was racing faster and faster. “I will be sitting in the back and will only intervene when I think it is completely necessary. You shouldn’t be so nervous, you’ve watch me do it plenty of times.” Luna voice was like a flood that washed away any signs of anxiety that Aysel had. Aysel gave Luna smile, not like her usual forced smile, but the one most ponies give when they are trying to appear strong in the midst of a problem. Both ponies walked toward the throne room toward the platform. The thrones have been rearranged so that Aysel’s seat was in the middle with Luna’s on the side. Resting on Aysel’s seat were the notes written by Celestia. Aysel looked for confirmation by Luna whether or not she was supposed to read them before Luna, who at the moment avoided the eye contact and gracefully sat on her throne. Aysel read the notes which were pretty ordinary, but at the bottom there was an encouraging word from Celestia. The guards brought them their coffee and went to open the doors to court. Aysel took one last glance toward her teacher, who just smiled and motioned toward the door, which already had a pony coming through it. Aysel started to get nervous again, not knowing who would come into the room or what their request would be, while Luna was acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary and had a night off. From the far end of the room, a pony that Aysel had never seen before came before her and took the custom bow. “Princess Luna’s student, Aysel, may I make a request to the Royal Sisters?” Not to her student’s knowledge, Luna asked the guard to put up a sign saying that her student would hold court tonight, so as to not confuse the ponies wanting to make a request. “You may.” Aysel was trying to keep her voice steady and did so almost successfully; thought Luna heard a small shake “I would like to request that the train from Canterlot and the Crystal Empire does so more frequently. It would be a help to all the ponies who have business and travel.” He took a bow, “The decision rests with the Royal Sisters.” “Your request has been heard and will be considered.” Aysel said, following Luna’s example word-for-word. “Thank you.” And with that, the pony left the way he came. When he was far enough away, Aysel let out a breath that she apparently was holding during the session. One after another, ponies from all different parts of Equestria, social status and views on life came, made their request, and left. The variety was the best Luna could have hoped for, though she started to notice something. The more Aysel listen and did the custom, the more her voice and countenance changed, and not with just getting used to it and being confident; no, she was starting to show the side that Luna keeps getting glimpses of. Luna didn’t want to believe it but she thought that Aysel was enjoying the authority she now has, the power, the influence, everything. Luna didn’t want to disturb the court so she kept quiet, all the while wondering if she could possible catch Aysel when she becomes the darkest side of herself. Court finished, though Luna didn’t really notice, she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts. Aysel stood in front of Luna for a few seconds, shaking her hoof in front of Luna’s face. Snapping back to reality, Luna wanted to continue to push the side of Aysel that has now vanished from her. “You did well.” Luna pondered what would bring out the side of Aysel for a long enough time that she can clearly see it and decide how much of a threat it really is. “But as a princess, you have to be able to interact the right way with all different kinds of ponies. One of those kinds is the government officials. Yes,” Luna explained as the look of bewilderment came upon her student’s face, “we must, as we say, ‘play nice’ with them. Although most ponies think that the Royal Sisters have nearly unlimited power, the Lords and Ministers actually have a say in what goes on. My sister and I have experience and popularity when it comes to governmental matters and could get away with doing pretty much anything. But if Cadence or Twilight tries to do something they don’t like, they probably wouldn’t be able to. When you become a princess you won’t start off with the amount of influence that you see me wield. “Tomorrow night, there will be a convention where you will meet some of them. Mainly the ones that are biased toward me as the Princess of the Night, the newer ones because they will more likely take a liking to a new princess and those who I think you will get along with. You will have to talk with them, discuss and maybe even debate. I don’t expect you to be able to convince any of them to change their views, but I want them to see you being intelligent. This is what will get you influence and power.” Luna purposefully added this last part just to watch out for the reaction and she wasn’t disappointed. As if she couldn’t control it, Aysel’s face gave a hungry look to it for a second then faded. “What topics should I know about?” Asked Aysel as she started to walk off the platform with Princess Luna, “Is there a controversial issue that they would want to know my views on? Should I change my answer for different ponies, or would they notice?” “There currently is no issue that is hugely controversial. Though, as you are training to be a princess, they might want to know what you would want to do as a princess. Most rulers will have a focus when they come into power and will be judged whether or not they do carry it out.” “What was your focus when you came into power?” “Mine? Well, my sister’s and mine were to stop Discord and bring harmony and peace to Equestria. Because of the timing we didn’t really get to choose a very political focus.” They were nearing the War Room where they went for their regular meetings. Luna stopped before going through the door. “Guard,” The closer of the pair of guards that were stationed outside the door bowed and asked what Luna wanted. “Please go inside and inform the Captain that Aysel will be heading tonight’s meeting, I wish her to have the experience. That is all.” As she finished her instructions, the guard bowed again and left his stationed area to go inside and do what was asked. Luna stood waiting in complete silence as she awaited the response. She was also wondering what was going through Aysel’s mind. Wondering what was going through other’s mind was something Luna did quite often, she could easily use her magic to read the minds of those around her, but she felt this was an invasion of privacy, but she still likes to entertain the thoughts. The guard came back and said that the Captain advised against it, but summits to the Princess’s wishes. “Thank you, well, go in first Aysel.” The guards opened the doors and allowed Aysel passage into the room. All the ponies in there started to watch Aysel and see what she would do, but Luna didn’t mind that. Luna wanted to mainly watch Aysel to see if the dark side will come out again and how she would react to being throwing into a situation she is unfamiliar with. Luna was surprised to see that Aysel didn’t show the slightest sense of uneasiness or nervousness. She walked calmly and confidently toward the table and took Luna’s usual spot. “Captain, is there anything to report tonight?” Aysel adopted the voice she used while she was getting used to hearing requests during court earlier. “There has been a rise in threats by some ponies that we suspect to be a part of a gang. There have already been several muggings in the streets of Canterlot and several unconfirmed reports from neighbor cities. I suggest that we increase the patrol arounds the lower class parts of the city.” Aysel didn’t reply straight away, and appeared to be contemplating the situation. After a few minutes of silence she lifted her head, which was facing the ground while she was thinking. “Have we caught any of the offenders?” “As of yet, we haven’t. Though, through several reports from the victims, we have a high probability of knowing who at least one of the offenders is, though because we don’t have enough evidence to have him arrested.” “If we know, then why can’t we arrest him? It seems like the responsible thing to do.” “Because that’s not how we work. We can’t go around arresting anypony we want, even if we think they’re guilty.” Aysel looked as if she was going to argue her point, but thought better of it. “I guess. Is there anything else?” “No, that’s it for tonight.” The Captain then gave her a bow, which was considerably smaller than the one he usually gives Luna. Luna and her student say good bye and leave, with Aysel leading. As the two walk out and walk down the hall, Aysel turned to her teacher. “Why didn’t you say anything?” Luna detected a hint of bitterness and annoyance in her voice. “What would you have liked me to say? And besides, I was examining you, not there to be support. You seemed to be doing fine, why should I have intervened?” Luna knew that this wasn’t the response her student wanted, but it wasn’t supposed to be. Luna wanted to continue to test Aysel. “You could have just let a pony that should be in jail go free. You don’t see something wrong with that? You could have used your authority to have him tried for what he did.” Aysel seemed to no longer care about keeping her voice professional as she did just a few minutes earlier. “No I couldn’t have. First, I was observing. It would be a pretty poor way to see how you improved if I did all the work. Second, a princess doesn’t actually have the power to imprison anypony they want. Arresting falls under the authority of the public branch of the military. I have power over the national level and with international affairs. As I said before, there are large amounts of restrictions that most ponies don’t know about.” They were now nearing the throne room and because Luna didn’t have anything else to do tonight, she allowed the argument to continue. “I think it’s wrong that you are powerless to stop criminals. The safety of the ponies down there,” Aysel pointed her hoof to a window looking down on the night covered Canterlot, “is your responsibility, yet you can’t do a simple thing to help their safety. Why wouldn’t ponies like a leader who can do something?” “At one point in time, I could. During times of crisis ponies are willing to give up certain freedoms they didn’t before. When Discord was ruling my sister and I stood up to him, but Equestria wasn’t in a good state. We then made a version of a monarchy to regain control over Equestria so that it could become harmonious again. There have been threats, yes, but they were defeated pretty easily. At the current moment there isn’t a threat big enough to take more control than what is needed. Why should we have power we don’t need?” Luna concluded with asking a question, just as Aysel did. The difference however is that Aysel didn’t have an answer, or at least an answer she thought best unsaid. “Well, onto the next part of the night. I don’t believe I have ever taken you into the dream world before, correct?” Aysel made a shaking motion with her head. “I think it’s about time that you do, it is one of the main roles of a Princess of the Night. And like most things, there are some rules you must follow. First, you cannot tell anypony, not even Celestia, what you see or do in other pony’s dreams. Dreams are uncontrollable and often times private. They have put their trust in me that I will keep it a secret. Second, we cannot seek out a certain pony just to watch their dreams, if they don’t need help, then we keep away. Lastly, remember that what happens in a dream isn’t real, it never really happened. When we help them, we weren’t really there or really said anything. If they try to hurt us, say something or do some other things that are counted as wrong or illegal, they can’t be held responsible for it. Do you understand this?” “Yes, of course.” Aysel then thought of a question, “Luna, have you been doing this. You usually have me around most of the night and I’ve never seen you do it.” Luna chuckled a little at this question, not because it was funny but because she realized how it must look from her perspective. “Yes, I have been, sometimes when I go to bed. Granted, I’m not doing it as frequently as I would like. That is one of the reasons I wanted to do it with you.” While Luna was talking several guards brought out pillows and snacks and laid them in the middle of the room. Luna walked over and lied on a few leaving a comfortable amount of room for her student. Seeing the questioning expression on her face, Luna explained what this was for. “While in the dream world, it’s good to be as comfortable as possible. The pillows are to relax on and the room makes it easy for guards to come and wake me if something is going wrong.” “What’s the food for, then?” “Oh, I just like to eat snacks. Shall we?” Luna motioned toward the pillows that were unoccupied. Aysel walked over, took part of a cake that was there and got comfortable. “Now, I’m going to cast a sleeping spell on you, you will ‘wake up’ in your dream and I will come and get you. I must warn you though: it might be a weird feeling.” Aysel nodded and then rested her head on a pillow stack she made and closed her eyes. A soft glow emerged from Luna’s horn and a tiny blue orb escaped from the tip of the horn and floated toward Aysel and once it touched her head, she went into a deep sleep. Satisfied, Luna forced herself into a sleep. Luna opened her eyes to a familiar feeling. Everything around her had a ghostly feel to it; if you didn’t look directly at something it will change or evaporate into the surroundings. Luna then used her magic to make what seemed to be a tear in the world. As she expanded it she walked into a place that seemed like it should be completely black, except there were thousands of star-like sphere of light all around. Luna closed her eyes and focused on Aysel and within a few seconds one of the spheres floated toward her. She opened her eyes and touched the sphere with her horn. Upon the impact the light then opened before her, revealing Aysel’s dream. Luna didn’t look around at what her dream was like; it was none of her business. Luna then caused the dream to stop so the dream space was just white besides her and her student. “What? Hey, what are you doing here?” Aysel screamed at her. Luna knew this would be the response that her student would give. Ponies often forget they’re dreaming while they’re in their dream. “Aysel, I led you into the dream world so that we can help ponies. This is currently your dream.” Luna stated patiently. From her experience she knew it wasn’t smart to make somepony mad at you in their dream. “What? Oh, right, I remember. Sorry.” Aysel looked down as if she was embarrassed for making a mistake. “Don’t feel bad, I don’t think anypony was able to remember when they purposefully went into a dream. The first time I was taken here I accidentally sent magic at my father, he was the one that taught me how to do this.” Luna gave a soft smile to Aysel as her partner gave a small smile back. “Getting back to the purpose of this, follow me through the tear.” Luna walked toward the tear while Aysel started to look around. Now knowing where she is, she back very interested in what possibilities this place holds. “Are you coming, or just enjoying the sights?” Luna asked with a hint of humor. Coming back to reality, Aysel briskly walked toward Luna and into the new environment. Aysel gasped when she saw this new place. “Do you like it?” “It’s beautiful; like a cloudless night sky filled with thousands of stars.” “I guess it is. All the ‘stars’ are dreams. If the dreamer is in need of help the light will become open if we get near them.” Luna explained as she started to pass the lights with Aysel following. “Are there usually a large number of ponies?” “There usually is pattern of the number of ponies. At the moment there isn’t many. But that doesn’t mean,” Luna stood still and watched a light break open, “that there isn’t anypony who wants it.” Luna stepped into the tear with Aysel followed behind her. They waited to see the owner of the dream. The dream was pretty normal expect for the fact that everything was in black and white. The only thing standing out was the brown pony near the middle of what seemed to be a large city. He looked sad, worn and tired. He continued to walk along the street, and only slightly looked up every now and then. When he finally spotted the two other colored ponies he started to back away. “Who are you?” “I am Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night. And this is my student, Aysel. We are currently in the dream world helping ponies. What do you need help with?” Luna finished talking and waited in silence for his reply. “Well, I guess I could talk to somepony about it.” And he continued to share his problems with not feeling fulfilled with his life. As he talked, Luna noticed that a faint shade of color was coming back into everything. She offered her advice and gave him encouragement before she left. “Thank you so much Princess, it was truly an honor to get the chance to talk with you.” He bowed as she and Aysel left. “So, what do you think about what I do here?” Luna asked casually as they continued walking. “Well, it’s definitely a good thing. But does it actually help their real lives? It might make them feel better here, but does it actually transfer over?” Aysel answered. “That is a good thing to think about, and honestly I think it does. I sometimes go back to the same ponies to have a checkup and it does look like it helps. Celestia may seem like she helps a larger number of ponies everyday than me, but she often does it in groups. Just between you and me, and because we’re in the dream world I could literally get away with anything I say, I have more personal interactions with ponies.” Aysel nodded in understanding. Luna decided that it was time to leave. Although they only helped one pony, it seemed to be the only one around. Luna then casted a spell, not unlike the one she used to put Aysel into this sleep, to wake her up. Then Luna used a similar one to wake herself up. They both awoke and got up from the large group of pillows and started to stretch. Although they were asleep, doing work like that doesn’t give a pony the rest that a normal rest does. Still rubbing her eyes, Luna walked over toward the window and saw that it was nearing day. Luna got a guard to give her a quill and parchment to write the night’s highlights to place on Celestia’s seat. After writing it, Celestia walked in with her usual sleepiness and cup of coffee. After a mumbled good morning, Luna and Aysel walked back to their respective rooms, both wanting the peace of being able to relax. It had been a long day for the both of them.