Regents

by Admiral Q Ponyform

Signs of Descent

Moonbeam walked out of the house after another nice meal with her sister Twilight and headed for the Raising Houses it was time for the sun to lower; or as far as Moonbeam was concerned, it was time for the moon to once again rise. The Raising Houses, the complex made up of the Luna Memorial Observatory, and the Celestia Solarium. She reached the building early, and greeted those who were already there, then sat by a window watching the twilight sky with a smile gracing her face.

That was, until she was approached from behind, where a light cough caught her attention. Turning around, she found none other than Solar Glory, and her face dropped immediately. While she had nothing against him on a personal level, he was what is known as very Bluebloodian; the very worst of the noble breed. Rumours had also circulated that he had a personal dislike of Moonbeam and her sister, saying that they were a waste of a title (which is technically true; their lineage goes all the way back to Princess Twilight, and as such they hold titles and a place amongst the nobility). The sisters had long since stopped caring for their inherited position, choosing to live in a modest house, and never exercise their power.

“Moonbeam my dear, it is wonderful to see you again, as always. I apologise for interrupting your time of inner reflection, but I wanted to let you know I am hosting an important meeting in the Diarch hall, once the Celestial Trade is complete, and I would like you to be there to see it. A meal will be provided since all of us in the crews need a pick me up after the Trade is complete.”

Moonbeam considered it. It would be rude not to accept, and she considered that staying in touch with the local climate could prove advantageous. Her answer had nothing to do with the promise of free food. Absolutely nothing.

“Ok, I’ll come and listen in” she replied as casually as she could.

"That’s marvellous, I look forward to seeing you there. Now, I must join the rest of my team in the Solarium. Till then!”

He nodded his head, and made his way out and across the courtyard. Moonbeam swore she could actually she him smiling. She wasn’t sure what to make of that. She shook that thought away, it was time for her to do her job.

She met up with the rest of her team in the heart of the observatory building, and they positioned themselves around the casting circle. In the centre was an obelisk, covered in runes, which stood about 3 legs high. A bell rang out, and as one, the Moon Crew charged their horns, tendrils of coloured magic drawing from each, connecting with the obelisk. At first, she felt the moon, a presence in her mind like the comfort felt around an old friend. Then, as the power in the obelisk grew, the resistance became palpable, until finally they overcame it, and the moon began to slide up from the horizon. Simultaneously, the sun became lost on the opposite horizon, signalling that the team in the Solarium were just as successful.

As they released their charge, all of the team fell, either to their knees, or flat to the floor. Moving celestial objects is no mean feat, even for a group this size, and doing so has the same effect as running a marathon. As such, a team of cares and masseurs entered the room immediately, as began tending to the exhausted. Moonbeam, however, was only winded; she always recovered first, and she put it down to her youth, and exercise ethic. The team would just about be rested enough to lower it again in the early hours of the morning.

After a quick shower, she headed to the Diarch Hall, on the far side of the complex. The spread of food Solar Glory had provided was actually rather modest, it wasn’t a five star affair by any means, but it was certainly better than a school meal. And it went down well all the same. It wasn’t until most of the food had gone, that Solar decided it was time to stand up, and address those assembled.

“Thank you all for coming here, I trust everypony has had their fill?” He received a round of nods, and murmurs of assent. “Good. Now, the reason I brought you all here, is that I want your help. Our once great nation is now nothing but a shadow of its former self.” A wave of assent ran through those assembled. Even Moonbeam nodded along with the rest. “Equestria has survived since the fall of the Princesses; but that is all it has done – survive. Now it needs to remove the shackles of despair, and do away with those who hold us back. We have a Unicorn on the throne, but, IT IS NOT ENOUGH!”

Another wave ran through the crowd, cries of ‘yeah’ could be heard, along with raised hooves. Moonbeams, however, was staring at Solar Glory, as if he had just sprouted another head.

“We must stand united, a united front to secure our right and ability to rule. Here, in this very room, is the power to do just that. Without us, the sun does not rise. Without us, the day does not begin. Without, the other tribes are nothing!”

But before the cheers could start again, a loud ‘crack’ was heard. The crowd stood in bewilderment, looking towards Moonbeam who had stomped both forehooves hard enough to break the table in front of her.

“What a waste of time this has been!” Moonbeam yelled.

Solar Glory gave her an irritated scowl. “Miss Sparkle please, this is an important…”

“The buck it is. It’s the same thing over and over; ‘We’re better than the other tribes blah blah blah. That’s HORSEAPPLES. Think about where we are now – Ponyville. It became the capital so quickly after the fall because it embraced all three equally. You and others like you keep going on about they glory days of unicorn rule. Well guess what? It wasn't that great. What are the ages ponies remember? Discord, The Diarchy, The Solar Era, and finally Harmony. What's the common factor for most of these eras? Alicorns – literal incarnations of ALL THREE tribes. Ponies like you want to rebuilt Canterlot. Well that place was badly located to begin with. The Side of the mountain. Sure it looked cool but when things got tough the support failed and how many ponies died that would not have if it was built like any other city or even in the mountain rather then attached to it."

"The very idea that I should look down on my own sister, just because she was born with wings instead of a horn just makes me sick, and I will have no further part in this. If anypony else in here has two brain cells to rub together, they’ll follow my example.” With that, she stormed off, leaving a flabbergasted Solar Glory, who stood opening and closing his mouth, somewhat reminiscent of a fish.

The foul mood followed Moonbeam home, to the point she didn’t even acknowledge anypony on the way. Her mind was on her sister, thinking about how to broach the new to her, until she remembered she should be asleep right now. Finding the house dark, she used a spell to muffle her movement, and went to check on her.

When Moonbeam opened the door, the sight before her brought a smile to her face. Twilight was fast asleep, curled up on her bed, snuggling with ‘the best plushie in the world ever’, as Twi called it. The plushie in question was that of a large cake; Moonbeam couldn’t quite see the appeal herself, but it always helped bring a smile to Twi’s face. Sneaking up to her, she left a light kiss upon her forehead.

“Sleep well dear sister.” Retreating from the room, Moonbeam headed to her study/gallery. She couldn’t help but think over Solar Glory’s words again. Just thinking about it caused her coat to bristle, and rage attempt to take over. She could never look down on other just because of what they are, especially her sister, a known pillar in the local community. Realising her temper was getting the better of her, she moved her almost complete ‘Mare in the Moon’ painting to the side, and mounted a blank canvas on the easel. She would take her anger and channel it through her paint brushes.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Twilight awoke with a start, surprised. What had caused her to wake so suddenly wasn’t a surprise in the traditional sense, but more of a surprise at the lack of a surprise. Her sister, for the first time in living memory, wasn’t trying to wake her up. Scrap that, wasn’t even in the room. That was … odd. Twilight looked out the window. The sun wasn’t too far from the horizon, indicating that it was roughly 7am. Moonie should’ve been home since about 5:30am.

Twilight rolled out of bed and stretched, before setting out on a marehunt. She wasn’t in the kitchen, the living room or even in the bathroom. When she finally checked the study, she was rewarded with the sight of her sister. But then she stopped. Her sister was focusing on her work harder than usual, and she could swear she seemed…off? Her coat looked a few shades darker than usual.

“Moonie?” She squeaked out in concern. Her sister whipped her head round and glared at her, startling Twilight. Her eyes were turquoise, and her pupils slitted like a cats. Twi blinked, and rubbed her eyes. Looking at her sister again, she was now normal, except covered in splatterings of paint. Dismissing it as her sleep addled mind seeing things, she quickly forgot about it as her sister tackled her with a hug, the joy in her eyes unrivalled. They both nuzzled each other, twilight secretly happy that she hadn’t showered yet, she was now getting covered in paint.

“Twilight, my dear sister. I love you.”

“Okay, what’s wrong? You aren’t annoying me, and I was woken up by the sun. Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?”

“Wait, the sun?” Moonie looked out the window, and her eyes went as wide as sauces. Oh no no no no no, by the moon, I missed the trade!”

“YOU WHAT?!” Twilight yelled. But before either of them had the chance to say anything else, there was a loud banging on the front door. The girls raced each other there, Moonie winning by a horn. Pulling the door open revealed Starlight Shimmer, a.k.a Moonbeam’s boss.

Moonbeam sat on her haunches and lowered her head, ears flopping down it defeated. “I’m sorry Miss Shimmer, I didn’t mean to miss the trade… I just seem to have been zoned out all night.”

Starlight placed a hoof on Moonies shoulder. “Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself there. Several members came to my office today and explained what Solar Glory did last night. I’m not surprised that after that you couldn’t keep your head straight. That being said, you better be present at sundown, your absence forced everyone else to work harder. It seems your input is far greater than most, so it wore everypony else out, so expect some short tempers later.

“Yes ma’am, thank you ma’am, I will ma’am.
It wasn’t until then that Moonbeams state became obvious to Starlight. She looked her up and down, noticing the paint, and the generally dishevelled look. She looked over to Twilight: “Make sure she gets to bed soon please.”

Twilight grinned manically. “Don’t worry, I’d never pass up the chance to take care of my big sister.” Moonbeam squawked at that and Starlight left them in peace, and Twilight turned to Moonie “Now, you sit yourself down and explained to me what’s got your riled up this bad.

* * * * * * * * * * *

An hour later, Moonbeam had been fed, and put to bed, and Twilight was getting ready for work. As she passed by the study, her attention was caught by the painting on the easel. It wasn’t the Mare in the Moon; that lay discarded to the side of the room.

The new painting depicted a dark alicorn, wearing steel blue armour. She had a mane and tail of the richest purple, both blowing in a non-existent breeze, set against the moonlight. But the most disturbing thing about the image was the face. Staring at her with slitted turquoise eyes, the face was set in a deep hatred. For some reason, this image filled her with fear, regret and guilt.

“Why would you paint something like this Moonie?” Twilight left, and went about her day. But nothing she did could take that image out of her head.