The Imperial Age of Equestria

by dEdPhErE

Chapter 2: Stone Mason and the Mane Six Attend Luna's Coronation

Chapter 2: Stone Mason and the Mane Six Attend Luna’s Coronation

Stone Mason woke up to the sound of static from his radio. He had no idea what was happening. This was to be Stone’s day off, and he wasn’t going to let a faulty radio ruin his morning of sleeping in and not giving a damn about the work he needed to do. He knew that his little brother Pebble was volunteering to work Stone’s shift. At least, that’s what Pebble said.

Stone slowly reached his hoof to the knob on his radio, but before he could, he heard a loud, non-equine voice yelling from the speakers.

“Citizens of Equestria! We are Empress Luna! The Kingdom of Equestria is now under new management! Princess Celestia has passed on peacefully and quietly in her sleep after a sudden stroke of an unidentified cause! We all mourn the loss of a valued-!” Stone clicked off the radio.

Wow, he thought with his morning confusion. What a way to start a day off! (pun intended)

He clicked the radio back on, but instead of continuing from a point after he turned it off, the voice continued after the word “valued,” after which Stone had shut the radio down. The message finished, and Stone Mason was now legitimately worried about the future of Equestria.

The first thought that came to mind was the last thing the new leader said. Nopony in Equestria had been put to death for hundreds of years, especially for such a trivial matter as failure to attend a coronation ceremony. But, to be fair, it is tradition, and a respectable one at that. Stone knew he might need to get out soon and head for Canterlot; it was already eleven thirty.

He spent the rest of the morning (albeit reluctantly getting out of bed in the first place) more energetic than his usual groggy morning air. He occupied himself wondering what new changes his new leader would make. She mentioned making it an empire, but what did that mean? Stone didn’t know.

He glanced at his cutie mark, a red brick being struck with a metal clay-shovel. This reminded him that his talent was masonry and bricklaying, not political science or military philosophy. The latter was only what came to mind when he heard “Empire.” What might she have meant? He thought this might be a sign that Equestria was going to war with nearby nations. But what would Prin--- Empress Luna want with Glascow, Gildedale, Germaneigh, the Griffins’ Territories, or Prance? One could only imagine what was going through the alicorn’s mind.

Stone finally decided that he shouldn’t be worrying too much about this since it didn’t affect him as much as it would affect the cows and griffins of neighboring kingdoms. If Equestria had an aggressive army, we would surely win. Especially against Prance.

Stone then felt like getting a malt from Sugarcube Corner. He figured if he spoke with someone who knew Princess Celestia better. Being closer to Canterlot than his old hometown of Hoofington (from which he moved to Ponyville not more than three months ago), he might meet someone with (and gain) more insight on the situation, maybe even a friend of the royal family. As he walked through the Ponyville market, most of the ponies were grieving. Some were crying, and others were simply apathetic (or just stoic enough to hide their sadness).

When Stone approached Sugarcube Corner, he noticed six colorful mares walking out. All of them were crying, but the one that seemed the saddest was a purple unicorn with indigo and pink hair, and a cutie mark in the shape of a magenta six-pointed star.

The other five mares, though sobbing quietly themselves, were trying to cheer up the purple one.

“How could something like this happen?” she cried with immense sorrow. Stone assumed this pony might have known the late, great Princess Celestia personally. He took this as an opportunity to find out more about this whole “Equestrian Empire” business.

“Excuse me!” he said to the unicorn. “Did you, by any chance, know Princess Celestia personally?”

“How’dja guess?” she replied angrily. This was understandable, as one tends to lash out when they are in grief.

“Well, you’ve been crying harder than anypony else,” Stone replied in a matter-of-fact way. “And you might be this Twilight Sparkle I’ve been hearing about. The one that saved Ponyville from both Nightmare Moon and Discord. Are you that same pony?”

“I am,” said Twilight, giving a gentle smile of pride before returning to her weeping. “But I couldn’t have done it without the prince-eh-heh-hess!”

The last word was the stereotypical crackling sob. The other five mares huddled around Twilight Sparkle and continued crying themselves, the pink one to the far right wailing with tears streaming upward and then downward like waterfalls.

“My condolences,” said Stone sympathetically. “I take it the rest of you knew the princess as well?”

“Yes,” said a white unicorn with artificial-looking purple hair “But as you know, Princess Celestia was Twilight’s personal mentor, and her death struck her with immense pain. It’s times like this where I wonder if a friend, in this case Twilight, will be able to get up tomorrow morning, or if she will need to cry herself to sleep tonight. It’s a sad thought, really, but it must cross one’s mind at some point.”

“You must be Rarity, the Element of Generosity,” said Stone. “I saw the mural in the Canterlot palace when I visited there on business.”

“Then you should know me!” said the pink mare, suddenly stopping her wailing and smiling at Stone. “What’s my name and Element of Harmony? Huh? Huh? Do you know them? Huh? Huh?”

“Ah, Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter,” said Stone. He pointed to the rest of the ponies one by one and stated their names and Elements. “And you are Applejack the Honest, Rainbow Dash the Loyal, and Fluttershy the Kind. Am I correct?”

“Um… p-pretty much,” said Fluttershy.

“Do you mares mind if I hail us all a carriage to Canterlot?” asked Stone, feeling generous. “I’ll even pay the fare! By the way, the name’s Stone Mason, but you can call me Stone!”

The mares’ faces lit up a bit, because they knew they now had a free ride to Canterlot!

……………………………………………………………………….........................................................................

In Canterlot, the coronation was about to begin. It was now one fifty in the afternoon, and Stone Mason, along with the six mares, was running to Celestia’s (now Luna’s) Palace to watch the ceremony, which was just outside the palace.

The Empress had cast a spell on all of Ponyville and Canterlot so that she could find out who attended the coronation and who did not. She did not want everypony in defiance to be killed immediately because she wanted to kill them herself once she found out who they were, and she wanted to watch it happen, and to make it as painful and humiliating as possible for the perpetrator. This was Empress Luna’s mindset now. It was now two o’clock sharp, and she sensed about seventy ponies in defiance of her rule. Oh, what a fun weekend this would be!

Stone and the Mane Six watched a white pegasus in golden armor (like the ones that guard the palace and drive the carriages) carry a crown between his teeth. The crown was the one that originally belonged to Princess Celestia, a golden-white tiara with a large, purple gem in the center. Luna magically picked up the crown with glowing horn, and placed it atop her poll.

The currently sunny sky suddenly turned black with storm clouds as lightning struck the crown, followed by the immediate sound of lightning. Luna was not hurt, nor was anyone else, but they were frightened beyond belief. The most surprising effect of the lightning, though, was on the crown.

The tiara shifted colors, from its normal shade of golden-white to a terrible jet-black. The gem turned red, like the blood of the alicorn that Empress Luna slew. The sky cleared back to its blue, sunny tone, while all of the ponies sat shocked and confused at what had just transpired. The only evidence of the mysterious event was that the crown had remained the black shade it had obtained when it was struck by the lightning.

“Well, that was strange,” said the Empress. “Go home, all that have a radio. If not, find a pony who does. We will be announcing the drafting list tonight at nine o’clock. I will know who is listening and who is not. All that are not will be put to death.”

And with that, all of the ponies did what they were told and scattered. Stone Mason and the Mane Six did not know what to think. All they could do was hope for the best.

Comments

[Dan50]

Luna means business.