The Night's Record

by JakeDrake

The First Court

“And that, Your Majesty is why we do need additional royal funding for the railways toward the Griffinila provinces,” A unicorn finally finished after roughly half an hour of the presentation. He was some sort of noble from the city, with the symbols of the Griffin nation proclaiming him as a sort of representive.

Amber looked up at the Princess, who was clearly deeply in thought of the matter. Amber watched her face before she finally nodded to herself and leaned toward him, causing a few nobles to whisper and the noble on the small mosaic of a full moon for speakers to the Princess. A few others were clearly whispering and wondering what they were going to actually say about this seemingly important railway.

“What do you think of this matter?” The Princess asked as Amber looked at her and shrugged. She looked at him and then spoke, “I know not of the current nature of the relationship between the Griffinila Provinces and Equestria’s government, do you think this would help our situation with us?”

Amber looked at her and blinked in surprise. He was rather surprised of the opinion of how he could influence the Princess’s choice of the funding; he was no fan of griffins though he wasn’t against them as a whole. He remembered a few had been very nice customers but a few were ruder then a pony could imagine. Of course plenty of ponies were as rude or worse.

“I think maybe…not as much as he says he wants.” Amber suggested with a shrug. “Maybe half, or so? A hundred thousand bits is a lot of money.” The Princess looked at him as if thinking over his suggestion and nodded to herself again.

“After conferring to my assistant and gaining his opinion we will be granting you a request but only fifty thousand bits from the royal treasury to fund this. We also suggest that if any other funding is needed that thee should request it from the Griffinla provinces.” The Princess said as the Unicorn smiled and bowed.

“Thank you Princess for your generosity.” He said as he walked off the ring as the nobles started to chatter. As they did the full moon rose above the glass ceiling far above the hall and the moonlight shone through as if it were a spot light on the Princess who started to stand and tap on the ground loudly to get their attention.

“We will be taking a small pause from our courtly duties for personal matters.” The Princess said to them all as she started to walk down the large staircase with Amber Shine following closer behind her until they walked out of a smaller set of doors into a small parlor just off the main room.

The Princess went toward the center of the room and sat down in front of a very gothic looking hoof carved wood table. Which itself was laid out with silverware and a few different set of foodstuffs that Amber would have considered to be a suitable lunch for most of his family, of course as the Princess most likely ate more than any of his family it would make sense why there was so much. Luckily the couches were fairly large and plush so when Amber sat down he sighed happily, much better than the thin padding of the chair he was told to sit in.

“How do you enjoy the Nobles who thought it wise to address us tonight?” Luna asked as she poured herself a small cup of tea from the pot resting on a small hotplate, quickly adding another for Amber who smiled picking it up with his magic.

“Thank you, but it is…well…” Amber started frowning and looked away. “Well…Dull. Incredibly dull, so much so I nearly fell asleep three times.”

“I see…” The Princess said taking a small sip of her tea as she put it down looking at the unicorn and leaned across the table, staring at his eyes. “That is good; I was hoping you weren’t so dull.” She laughed causing Amber to let a breath out he didn’t relies he was holding. “Though I feel you are the main attraction this court and will be until my sister’s student decides to do something interesting with her friends.”

“At least I haven’t broken anything yet…” Amber Shine said out loud before he covered his mouth with his hooves as The Princess’s head turning quickly toward him. “Oh no, I mean I haven’t cost the city any large amount of bits to replace three water towers, I mean-“ He stammered as a he felt a pastries shoved into his mouth as the Princess started to laugh loudly.

“Oh we take it as a Jest friend! A friendly jest, have no fear of reprimandation.” Princess Luna said with a wide smile, “While we do take our Sister’s student’s duties and feats impressive we do find most of her collateral damage far too costly.”

Amber smiled as he swallowed the rest of pastry and shook his head a bit, “That’s good to know,” He said as he took another small bite. “So…are all nights like this, I mean with the nobles?”

“Neigh, normally we have rather slow nights. Though when actually having court we go to visit other places around the city, while most have been addressed by some of my sister’s attendants I want you to help me decide where to go at times.” The Princess said smiling, “It should be much better now though, our courtly duties are done. We shall be attending to the rest of the nobles.”

“We were?” Amber Shine said tilting his head a bit. “I thought it would take longer to get invited for something with you.”

“Oh you were not, but I will be bringing you as my assistant.” The Princess Luna said and then saw the confused look on Amber Shine’s face. “We use something known as the Royal We, it’s…an old way of saying I.”

“That makes sense, I guess.” Amber Shine said as he took another sip of his tea and rubbed his throat lightly reaching for one of the small sandwiches. As he did he saw the Princess open one of the covered dishes and saw her levitate something out that Amber had never seen before. “What’s that?”

“Hmm?” The Princess asked as she finished her first bite and swallowed. “Oh this is Bog Shrimp, one of my favorite dishes really.” She levitated one out and offered it toward Amber Shine who took it himself and sniffed it. “Don’t eat the final part; the tail is not normally good for a pony.”

Amber Shine shrugged and took a large bite of it; he hummed nodding and took another. It was roughly the size of a donut which took at least three bites for the average pony, for Luna it took barely two though. Amber savored the taste and saw the Princess’s small smile as she covered the dish again.

“Not many ponies are willing to try Bog Shrimp, they fear that most things like it are poisoned or think that it will turn them dark.” Luna said as she got up stretching and finishing her cup of tea. “Of course they are slightly poisonous most of it is burnt out when cooked.”

“Well it tastes great,” He said as he stood up and took another bite of it hovering in front of him. “So what do you do next as part of the Night Court?”

“Now we relax, We have always taken time to simply ignore the nobles for a bit of time so their requests do not grate on our nerves.” Luna said smiling, “Though most will leave during our little break because they did not get the chance to speak first.”

“Why would they leave only half way through?”

“Because of Pride, they are like foals. If they aren’t first they do not wish to play.” The Princess explained rolling her eyes. “How my sister put up with so many for so long I will never know.”

As Amber Shine was about to laugh a loud gong was sounded outside in the main hall that made the Princess turn and tilt her head and mutter, “I wonder why they use that…what could be so important that they ring that.”

As the two hurried out they saw a few the nobles speaking in an open tone as a loud barking was heard which caused Luna to smile and hurry out with Amber Shine to follow her. He saw, sitting on the large set of steps up to the throne with Luna rubbing under its chin was a Canis Minor.

It was at least the size of two of the guard ponies, its fur shimmering as if it were pulled directly out of the night sky. Its tail wagging and looking like a shooting star as it raced back and forth. Its eyes were only half open but were shining rather brightly as its legs kicked and thumped against the ground causing a light booming sound.

“Huzzah!” The Princess said as she rubbed under the Canis’s chin who was panting. “Oh go meet Amber,” Luna said motioning toward Amber who was soon the focus of not only the large dog but also most of the nobles. “He is assured to enjoy meeting my little shooting star.”

“Oh no.” Amber said softly as the Canis Minor got up and looked at him taking a step toward him. “Oh no no…good dog…” He said stepping back before Fenrir started to bound toward him and he started to dart around one of the pillars and through the crowd of nobles. He heard them quickly scramble and shout at him as he ran. As he ran he suddenly felt himself yanked up by his tail. “Oh no!” And then tossed around and shaken and whipped around before finally hearing someone say.

“No! Bad Fenrir! Drop him! Drop him this Instant!”

“Wait wait!” Amber said as he was let go of, in midswing causing him to fly into the air and him to yell before being stopped by an aura of dark magic. Of course he still thought he was falling and had his hooves covering his eyes. After a minute of silence he moved his hoof and saw himself a few inches from the Princess’s face with a large smile on her face.

“I was wondering when you were going to open your eyes.”

The rest of the chamber erupted in laughter as a few ponies started to lead the giant canine out of the room with the use of giant illusions, a few large squeaking toys, and a large bit of bone for it to chew on. The rest of the room quieted down after he was placed back in his seat and sunk back. The Princess looked over as the room started to descend into idle chatter.

“Ah yes what fun, wouldn’t you say Amber?” The Princess asked as Amber looked away. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh? Oh nothing Princess don’t worry.” He muttered as he rubbed his side under his cloths where the bandages were. “Let’s just get the meetings done with. I’m a bit tired…”

The Princess looked at him and frowned, “Oh we are sorry, we forgot we didn’t fully heal your injuries. I’ll have someone take you to one of the apartments for some bed rest.” She said and nodded to one of the guards as Amber shine bowed his head.

“Thank you very much.” Amber Shine said as he walked down toward the attendant who started to lead him away and toward a different section of the castle. Eventually ending up with a few doors that were few and far between, stopping at one with a large crescent moon on it. As Amber Shine was about to ask the guard simply walked away. He shrugged and started to push open the door and saw a very nice room bed room.

“Thank Faust I can finally get some sleep…” He said as he wandered over and threw himself onto the bed before he heard a familiar voice from above that caused him to look up and spy a certain bat Pegasus who smiled at him.

“Oh hey if it isn’t you Hero, surprised they have you sharing a room with me.” Artemis said with a grin.

‘Oh by Faust why do you hate me?’

Comments

[Akeion98]

I'm loving this story.