Luna woke earlier than usual; making sure that she had plenty of time to get ready for the convention. She wrote a note to her sister so that she may attend. Luna also had court cancelled and purposefully planned to have no other meeting to be held tonight. After she performed her royal duties of raising the moon, she went to get ready. Taking a bath, putting on more appropriate attire for this event and doing her make-up, she left her room. As she neared the door of her students, she paused for a minute. Contemplating whether or not to go in or wait for her outside, wishing that she would know the outcome of the night before it happened. She had written a letter to a few of the ponies in the Chambers that Luna wanted to make sure that they had the opportunity to meet Aysel. While standing idle outside her student’s room, the door swung open reveling its occupant. Dressed in a deep, dark blue with a silver tiara, Aysel was fixing the last part of her mane.
“Hello Luna, are you ready?” Placing the last part of her mane behind her ear Aysel trotted out of her room, closing the door behind her.
“Yes I am. The ponies that were invited should be coming in around ten minutes, so we have a little bit of time to relax. And remember, you will be around me for the first little part, and then the Ministers and Lords will probably want to see you privately.” Aysel nodded toward her mentor.
As the pair entered the Throne Room Aysel started to move toward where the thrones were usually positioned. Finding that there wasn’t a single throne Aysel turned to Luna. “We take the thrones away for occasions like this. First, it opens up much more space. Second, we shouldn’t flaunt our power and authority around. Nor are we waiting here like royalty, we go and greet them in the entrance of the castle.” Luna moved toward the main entrance of the room while Aysel was catching up. Upon their arrival at the Entrance Room, they met up with Celestia. Used to being around her now, Aysel didn’t give her a bow but still greeted her.
“This is a big night for you, isn’t it? Are you nervous?” Celestia asked with her usual caring and soothing voice. All Aysel could do was nod in agreement before a guard came towards them.
“Princesses, the guest are ready to come in.” He reported with a low bow then left the three ponies alone again.
“Well, here they come. Don’t slouch.” Luna suggested as the first of the ponies started to pile in. There must have been several hundred ponies coming in, all dressed in tailored suits, talking about the high life in Canterlot, and some political matters. Luna started to walk about the room, stopping to say a few words to some and longer talks with others. Upon noticing that Aysel wasn’t following her around, she prematurely ended a conversation to go and look for her apprentice. The search, however, was short. Luna took no time in finding the pony in the mists of a group of Lords and Minister. Luna drew closer by getting into nearby conversations, not wanting to disrupt her student’s conversation but close enough that she could hear it and step in when needed.
As the time passed, most ponies get into groups and started to discuss a various amount of topics, though the height of most discussions was Aysel. Luna didn’t know how to respond to the amount of attention that her student was getting. On one hoof, she liked the fact that there has been an interest about her, but on the other she didn’t like everything that was said. Upon hearing some negative comments about her, Luna felt the need to jump in and try to save Aysel face from the crowd. Luna knew this would only make the negative comments worse by allowing them to think that Aysel still couldn’t defend herself, so Luna controlled her urges and continued with the discussions she was a part of.
“Princess Luna,” A voice came out of the group surrounding Aysel, “Won’t you come over?” It was coming from a colt that Luna recognized to be one of her supporters. Excusing herself from her current conversation, she walked over.
“Yes, Minister?”
“Why have you not introduced Aysel to us earlier? Such a mare like her shouldn’t be hidden away inside the castle.” Luna gave him a little laugh. She knew he wasn’t mad at all, he just had a very bubbly personality that could come off as mean to somepony who doesn’t really know him.
“Well, this is why I’m hosting this night, so I could introduce her to many of the Lords and Ministers that I work with. However,” Luna gave a quick smile towards Aysel, “it doesn’t look like she needed me to introduce her.” Aysel then gave Luna a smile back. Luna then spaced out and started to think to herself. She was quickly brought back to reality and was just able to make out the last of the Minister’s words.
“…and soon enough, she will be working with all of us.” He concluded with a proud voice. This was an odd thing for him to say, Luna thought to herself, shouldn’t she be the one to decide when Aysel would start her role as Princess? Luna found Aysel’s eyes and Aysel returned her an awkward glance. “But I must insist you meet some of the other Lords and Ministers here, Aysel, they are dying to meet you.” Before Luna could blink, her student was hurried off toward another group of ponies anxiously awaiting her. Luna, now left standing there with the ponies that didn’t follow Aysel, and started to talk about political mattes that started to come up.
The rest of the night went off without any problems. Though Luna didn’t get to talk with Aysel during the convention, she had multiple ponies come up to congratulate her on who she chose to be her student, and how refreshing it was to have a younger pony who has new political beliefs coming into office. The continual comments about new ideas was concerning enough to her that she sought out Celestia.
“Celestia, there you are.” Luna said, pardoning herself for interrupting the conversation. “May I talk with you for a minute?” Upon hearing this, the rest of the ponies within earshot started to disperse and find new groups to join.
“Sister, what is the matter?”
“I was just wondering if you have had a chance to talk with Aysel tonight.” Upon hearing this, Celestia’s face changed and it seemed as if she knew what Luna was really asking.
“Not one on one but in a group, yes. And I did make a mental note to ask you about some of the things she has said.”
“I thought as much. Many of the ponies here have come to me and only briefly mentioned how different her ideals are. Should this be a concern to me?”
“I’m not sure. She does express two major beliefs that I believe neither you nor I hold. But she does seem to have done her research and she is appealing to many of the ponies in this room. She believes that the government should hold more power over the lives of its citizens. She wants the Lords and Ministers to be able to make and enforce laws without the approval of the Princesses. She also believes that the wealth is too unequally divided the ponies and should be more evenly dispersed between them.
“Sister, her beliefs are not invalid. She has put time and effort in coming up with the ‘why’ to her values, and because of her background we can see where the belief of having a more evenly distributed wealth comes from. Being an orphan to living in the Royal Castle is a huge transition and she still holds some of the beliefs that most poor ponies do. But I must ask you this one thing. You are still sure she still is striving to become a Princess?”
Luna was listening and taking everything in. She didn’t respond straight away because of the fear of what she now really thinks; Aysel wants to become a Lord, not a Princess. She wants authority and power and now knows exactly how to get it. “Sister, I am not entirely sure what she desires to become in the future, though I don’t think it is what I planned for. Should I try and stop it, or just let future events unfold themselves?”
“I – ” Celestia paused for a moment, contemplating her answer, “I am not sure, either. I would like to see her become one of us, but I’m afraid that that is going to become nearly impossible. If she manages to convince enough of these ponies that they should have more power, it could untimely ruin the monarch that we have worked so hard to make.”
Luna nodded in agreement. “I know, if the monarch falls, then even the Lords and Ministers won’t be able to control Equestria. Oh, sister, what are we to do?”
Celestia didn’t answer her, but just looked down casted. Luna took the hint that she shouldn’t push the subject any further. As the night progressed, many of the ponies came toward the two Princesses and said their farewells and departed from the castle. Once everypony left, apart from the two sisters and Aysel, Celestia quickly went to her room leaving Luna and Aysel alone together.
“Did you enjoy tonight, it looked like you did?” Luna asked naturally once the two were in comfortable talking distance.
“Oh yes, I did. I learned so much from them. I never really knew how much power was divided between you and them.” Aysel then started to talk in a rushed sort of way about the different ways the power was shared. Luna tried to listen, but it started to hurt too much, knowing that her student might give the unwanted answer to the question she had.
“Aysel,” Aysel stopped talking and looked at Luna, “do you want to become a Princess or a Lord?”
The air around the two of them went completely still; the silence engulfed them, not allowing either of them to make a peep. Each stared at the other, never breaking eye contact. Aysel finally gave into the question.
“Well, you see – I just want to – I think that – it’s hard to explain.” Aysel finally managed to say. “I want to be where I can be most useful, where I can have the most impact to help the lives of the ponies in Equestria. And after meeting with the Lords and Ministers tonight, I realized how they can have far reaching effects in Equestria. Not that I don’t you and your sister don’t, of course. I think you both do amazing work, please don’t misunderstand me. But I think if I was a part of the collective body of the House, I could do more than if I became a Princess.” She said this in a very politically rushed kind of way that is used to say something so quick, that the other pony doesn’t have time to register everything said, but Luna was far too experienced for such a political moved to be played on her.
“Do you think that the Houses at as one body?” Luna didn’t want to lose her student, not when they have become so close. Maybe subtly pointing out flaws in the Houses will make Aysel not want to leave her position as Luna’s student.
“At the moment, I think they are looking for a pony to unite them all, somepony they can all stand behind. I think once that pony comes along, they will be stronger than what they are now.”
“And you think that you are going to be that pony?”
“After tonight, they all seemed to like me. And if they chose to stand behind me, then I’ll have no choice but to be that pony.” Luna saw her student’s face turn to the power hungry face she saw before, but it wasn’t going away this time, it just seemed to grow.
“Aysel, don’t start looking for power and authority. They might look tantalizing now, but be rest assured, they will end up destroying you. Once you start looking for power and find a little, you won’t be able to control yourself, you have to stop before it begins.”
“I’m not looking for power; I’m looking to make a positive difference in the lives of all the ponies out there. And if I need a little bit of support to make the changes possible, then I should be able to have it if enough ponies agree with the changes I want.”
“Every tyrant started out with a difference they wanted to make and a group of ponies following them. Most of them never wanted to become rulers like that, but they fell into the cycle of striving for more and more power. All I can do is ask that you be forethoughtful enough to realize that is what will happen if you continue down this path.”
“So what are you going to do about it? You’re not allowed to stop me from getting pulled into the House and working my way up to become a Lord. You’re just afraid of what will happen to you once Equestria no longer needs the monarch.”
“As acting Princess of Equestria, I have no choice but to stop any threat that could possibly destroy Equestria.” Luna was getting incredibly worried now that Aysel would continue to take this further until she would have to stay true to her word and defend Equestria.
“Oh, so are you going to banish me to the moon?” Aysel said in a mocking tone, “If you have to stop all threats then why hasn’t your sister returned you to the moon? Equestria is a lot safer without a tyrant, isn’t that right? Well, here’s what I think of your power.” Aysel’s horn started to light up, but Luna was quicker and casted a spell on her student before she could attack.
“Please, stop this nonsense. I don’t want to fight you, but I can’t allow somepony whose goal it is to gain power to be placed into a position where she could easily slip.” Luna started to walk over toward Aysel, who was recovering from being pushed into a wall.
“You were the one who attacked me. How dare you tell me to stop! I only wanted to bring a new era of peace and more equality to Equestria, but you care too much about your crown and title. You want me to not have authority? Then why don’t you give yours up and see what it feels like.” Aysel heaved herself up and glared at Luna. From the bedroom corridor, Celestia came running out, but paused when she realized what was happening, she also motioned to the guards to not interfere with what was going on. Aysel then sent a beam of magic out which hit Luna. While trying to get up, Luna realized she now had a circler burn mark upon her chest.
“It’s not too late, you can still stop this. Look at what you’re doing, and see if it would really get you where you want to go.” But Luna’s plea was not heard and her student continued to send all the magic attacks she could toward her mentor. Luna was now ready for them and was able to fly to avoid getting hit again. But the constant destructive spells that Aysel sent out was starting to damage the castle, and finally the wall leading outside broke off, revealing the starry night sky with the moon shining brightly against the black.
Luna looked toward the moon then toward her student, who was now fighting against her with all her might. Luna knew what she had to do, but didn’t want to. She gave one final try to help Aysel.
“Please, I’m begging you Aysel. If you don’t stop, I’m going to have to stop you. Not for me or my sister, but for the good of everypony in Equestria. Can’t you see what you’ve done to just the inside of the castle, imagine what would happen if you had even more power. Please, just stop.” But as expected Aysel kept on fighting and fighting. Luna took a deep breath and felt a sense of power, not unknown to her, that only came when she has forced to stop a threat. She collected all the power she had within herself, not from hate or anger, but from the love and care that she felt for each one of the ponies she has been entrusted to help. With that power she released it all and directed it at Aysel. Once the spell hit Aysel everything seemed to go into slow motion: Luna’s eyes started to form tears, Aysel’s eyes went from anger to shock to regret. They both knew what was going to happen and both would have, in that moment, given anything to change it. Aysel stretched one hoof out to make a grab for Luna, and Luna tried to lift hers but she felt the weight of the world come down upon her, stopping her from doing anything but watch. Aysel started to scream at the top of her lungs, but no noise came out. Luna was just able to mouth out ‘I’m sorry’ before Aysel was out of sight.
Once Luna could stand back up she ran toward her room, not stopping to talk to the guards or her sister. She locked her door and collapsed onto her bed. She looked toward the moon that was visible through her balcony window. The moon’s face now bore a slight resemblance of her former student, and all Luna could do was face her pillow and weep.