The Courier's Journal

by RF and AG

Chapter 4

“Princess?” a voice called from beside the throne, forcing Luna to take her eyes of the new entry she was preparing to read. Here she thought she had more time, possibly enough to read two entries, but apparently she was wrong.

Standing beside the throne was a stallion that could be considered middle-aged, glory days were past, but he still had much ahead of him. The light grey coated stallion had a fading yellow mane that was well groomed and kept in line. Finally to top off the odd colouration, was a pure black beard that had most likely not been trimmed in years.

“Ah, Planner … I did not expect to see you so soon,” Luna said with a little apprehension. She was far too eager to continue her reading, but she knew in the back of her mind that the moment Structure Planner showed up, she would need to put the book down.

“Engrossed in another book, Your Highness?” Planner asked rhetorically before continuing on. “I do hate to bother your reading, but we must prepare for the court. There aren’t many petitions today, but two of them are being made by nobles hailing from Baltimare and Trottingham.”

“Ugh,” was all Luna could answer in response to that. She didn’t like dealing with those two, but apparently they knew when she was presiding over Day Court.

“Your trepidation is not without its merit, Your Highness, but we must go through with it today,” Planner spoke evenly, before pulling up a nice stack of papers with his magic and giving them to Luna.

Without hesitation, she took them in her magic and began to scan over them. She didn’t read them, instead opting to skim over the details since she would be allowed to use them for further knowledge when the time came. Despite her work ethic, she detested the proposals that nobles brought to her, and was often referred to as ‘The Bane of the Noble Houses.’ She did like the title, though.

“Duke Bit Coin is trying to test out a new currency? What is wrong with the Bit? It has lasted all of these years without a single issue among the global market …” Luna said out loud, not really talking to Planner, who just nodded at his Princess’ statement. “And Duke Royal Check is petitioning for the rights to an iron mine south of Baltimare, interesting. Perhaps that one can be allowed for now.”

“Indeed, Princess, but they will not be presenting their proposals till the end of the court session. For now, we have a few smaller matters from ponies that wish guidance and help,” Planner said, taking Luna’s interest off the noble’s issues.

“No matter is small when it can help improve the lives of my ponies, Planner, we have been over this before,” Luna said with a faint smile, prodding Planner in the side to make him lighten up a bit.

“I know Your Highness, but I was merely speaking in contrast,” Planner replied, obviously not getting the teasing.

Luna merely grumbled in response. She really wished that Planner would stop being so formal with her. It was fine when he used to be one of her sister’s scribes, but Luna didn’t need another version of the guards that went about their duties in the castle. She needed another pony that she could be rather normal around on a daily basis. Twilight and her friends were a nice change of pace but they hardly came around, while Celestia was her sister and despite their best efforts, they didn’t always find time to be around one another.

And he was gone … so that left another somewhat empty hole in her daily life.

That was neither here nor there, and Luna couldn’t afford to be thinking about him all day. She had petitioners that would start shortly, and her full attention needed to be on them. Though no matter what, she dreaded the idea of listening to those nobles rant for what would feel like hours on end. The thought caused Luna to groan out loud in annoyance.

“If we finish quick enough, you may go back to your reading, Your Highness,” Planner offered after hearing Princess Luna’s groan. To this, she visibly perked up and simply nodded her head before bringing on her well practiced serene smile.

“Send in the first citizen!” She called out to one of the guards standing at the door. They simply nodded before opening the door to let the first pony come through. A red pegasus stallion with a blue mane walked into the hall, looking a little bit nervous.

“Greetings my little pony, may I get your name?” Luna offered with a gentle voice.

“Star Flicker, Your Majesty” he said with a bow.

“So, Star Flicker, what has brought you to court today?” Luna said, coming down from her seat. She actually liked to get up close with ponies, as she felt it allowed them to feel more comfortable with talking with her.

“Well …” he started.

Luna rubbed her temples with both of her hooves. She would probably have tried to do so with all four, but then she would have just looked silly. Day Court was done, and Luna had a headache. Sure, the first few hours had been extremely easy, with the petitioners wanting things that were extremely feasible or having issues that could have been easily solved if they put the right amount of thought into it. Luna didn’t mind those types of ponies, for she was glad to have helped, and the thanks she received from them meant a lot to her.

The nobles on the other hand, were what gave her the headache … well that, and a few regular petitioners who were extremely stubborn. Either way, the hours that followed after the easy section were stretching Luna’s patience the entire time.

She didn’t even want to think about what happened; it had pained her enough as it was. All she knew is that at the end of the day, she wanted to send more than one pony directly into the sun. Not by magic either, perhaps a jury rigged catapult.

To that, she somewhat giggled before her head throbbed once more. The worst part was that she didn’t even get a break throughout the entire time to take a second and read more. No, she had be pressed with more petitioners than she thought. Fortunately, the day was still somewhat early, so perhaps she could take a nap in the Archives. They did have some of the nicest cushions available.

In fact, that was what she was going to do. She would go to the archives and just relax. No reading, no straining over bills, and no more annoying petitioners. Just her and one of those bean bag chairs that she had seen so many times yet never actually used. It would be a glorious afternoon.

Luna came to grinding halt almost immediately, realising that not only was she going in the opposite direction of the Archives, but she was in fact on the opposite side of the castle. For a moment, Luna wanted to curse at her carelessness in forgetting which way she had to go. Of course, that quickly gave way to her remembering what was on top of her head.

Without further thought, she immediately teleported to the Archives and right into the spot where the bean bag chairs were. Upon landing on one of the said bean bag chairs, her headache decided to double in strength, forcing a loud groan of pain from her. In hindsight, teleporting from nearly the other side of the castle was not a smart move when one had a headache. No matter how comfy the bean bag chair was, the headache overwhelmed Luna to the point of making one long continuous groan.

A faint pop sounded off behind her, but Luna was in too much pain to bother to look. Luckily for her, the voice that followed told her exactly who it was.

“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Celestia asked as she moved around to Luna’s left. Luna didn’t even open up her eyes in response, instead opting to emit another groan of pain. Celestia had only been passing by the Archives when she heard the groan of pain. She knew it was Luna’s immediately, but could also tell that it wasn’t anything pressing.

Celestia rolled her eyes, sometimes Luna could be overly dramatic in the way she acted, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a chance her headache had been bad. Celestia knew the exact schedule that Luna had to go through today, and came to the conclusion that she probably had some type of headache. Bit Coin and Royal Check were among the most annoying nobles that she had to endure, and she often tried her best to avoid such meetings.

“Did you teleport with a headache again?” Celestia asked as she pulled over a bean bag chair to sit in next to her sister. Luna nodded in response to the question, not bothering to open her eyes, to which Celestia merely let out an annoyed sigh. Sometimes Luna could be so forgetful when it came to her own health. “Here, let me help soothe that.”

Celestia touched her horn to her sister’s and sent a small wave of magic through them. While it wouldn’t fully clear the headache, it would at least help her deal with the pain until it went away. Magic had come a long way in Equestria over the years, but there was still a lot of things that couldn’t be done. In time, perhaps, her ponies would find ways, but that time would be far from now.

“Thanks, ‘Tia,” Luna grumbled before letting her hooves, that were once at her temples, drop down beside her. When her eyes finally opened, she immediately closed them at the bright light that was filtering from a nearby window. The reading area was sectioned off from the rest of the Archive, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t an annoying window and balcony that allowed way too much light in for Luna’s liking.

Thankfully, there were also curtains. Said curtains were instantly covering thanks to Luna’s magic. She waited a few seconds, allowing one of her eyes to slightly crack open to see if she was successful in closing the curtain. When it confirmed that the room was by far much darker than it had been a minute ago, Luna proceeded to reopen her eyes. Her gaze immediately went to her left, to find that her sister was smiling serenely at her, holding a certain book in her grasp.

Luna let out a small gasp at the sight. how could she have forgotten that she had been carrying the book with her the entire time? Celestia probably thought that her excessive reading was the reason for the headaches. She’d probably find out that Luna had neglected her sleep for reading instead. Gah, how could she be so careless?

“You know, I remember that day very well,” Celestia said as she scanned over the pages before looking to Luna. “The first time anyone teleports, nausea is always the result, but of course we didn’t realise how far he teleported … and I was going to berate him on making the maids clean up a mess like that.”

“Yeah … though I think the guards taught him his lesson,” Luna snickered a little. Admittedly, and despite the feelings she had for him, Luna always thought it was funny to remember how the guards jumped him from behind. The yelp that came from his mouth was always a humorous thought.

Celestia was quiet for a little bit, not really looking at the book but also not looking at her sister. Her thoughts were indeed of the man who had given something more to their lives. Before him, too many ponies thought of them solely as their rulers. Even her former student still bowed and often used their prefix. Celestia didn’t know how Luna thought on all the formality, for they never really talked about it, but what she did know was that when The Courier came, they actually had someone who saw them as regular ponies.

“You still love him, don’t you?” Celestia asked, forcing Luna to do a triple take at her sister’s question. It caught her completely off guard and stunned her enough that she almost fell out of the bean chair.

“I … but that … what I … how …” Luna was stumbling with her words much like a foal who had been caught trying to steal cookies. On the inside it amused Celestia a little, for she was finally able to tease Luna about something on a regular basis. Sure she had guessed that Luna had developed some strong feelings for him, but now she had proof.

“I’ve figured for a bit, Luna. I’ve noticed you reading this book more often then not, even when you are trying to be sneaky,” Celestia said, blowing a raspberry to her sister, who had since developed an extremely thick blush. “You miss him more than I realised, huh? It must have been terrible to see him leave.”

“I … I have,” Luna said, her head tilting down in sadness. “I wished I had told him how I felt before he left. Maybe that would have stopped him from going and he would still be here.”

“You can’t play what ifs with the past, Luna. You and I know that there is no changing it,” Celestia said as she moved to comfort her sister. “Do not lose hope, Luna. You’ve read his journal, the Unclaimed Lands are probably under his rule now!”

Luna couldn’t help but chuckle at the mental image of him sitting on top of a throne or something in the middle of the harsh lands. Yet still, she couldn’t help but cling to the past and the lost chance she had at confessing her love. At least her sister would always be here to help her through the rough moments when she missed him the most.

“Thanks, sister,” Luna said as she started to relax. She did want to sleep, especially if it would help get rid of her headache, but at the same time, now that Celestia brought up her feelings, she wanted to continue reading the journal. Perhaps only a couple of entries this time.

“You know, you should sleep, Luna,” Celestia offered, gazing over to her sister, whose eyes were fluttering to stay awake. Luna was often the most stubborn when it came to taking suggestions, but this was one of the times that Luna was actually considering following her sister’s recommendation.

Of course that was until she remembered that the journal was still with her, per say. She wanted to finish it so badly so that she could simply reminisce instead of obsessing over the journal. Despite her love for him, she still realised that focusing all of her attention onto his journal was not exactly the healthiest thing to do.

“Can I at least finish the book?” Luna said, throwing a small pouty face towards her sister, who merely rolled her eyes in response. Despite how often she tried, her sister still was able to resist Luna’s pout. “We can read it together … besides, there are only four more entries.”

“Only if you promise that you’ll get some sleep tonight,” Celestia said. at first Luna was confused because it wasn’t her turn to rest, but then the implications set in. Truly, she had the greatest big sister in the world. Something she should remember to tell Celestia more often, perhaps by having the Pink One throw her a party!

Luna visibly shuddered though, at the thought. Not the one regarding the party, but instead the one focused on the Pink One. Sure, she knew her real name but after multiple visits to Ponyville, she was reluctant to say the name out loud.

Or the word party.

The word cake.

Sugar.

Dancing.

Streamers.

The list was pretty long, in reality and only because she had memorised it, was she able to go about her normal routine without mentioning those topics. As well, her guards were banned from saying those words as well. Word had even gotten out that it was part of the requirements to join the Night Guard. At first, it was thought to be silly, but a couple of the fresh recruits had mistakenly included all of the words in a dare. They didn’t show up at their posts the next day.

Luna shook her head to realign her thoughts, and focus once more on the fact that she was going to finish reading the journal with her sister. Celestia had apparently been watching her the whole time, and an amused look spread across her muzzle.

“Bit for your thoughts?” She asked with a light giggle.

“No … it’s better I keep them as thoughts,” Luna said before getting up to move her bean bag closer to her sister. With a simple shift, she was able to once again sit down, but was close enough to snuggle into her sister if she wanted to. If.

“I almost wish I didn’t have this journal … “ Luna muttered, instead wishing she had the real thing. Celestia just hummed in response, probably already guessing where her sister’s thoughts were going.

Author's Note:

Do you understand how tough it is to create plausible characters that bring plausible issues to the Princess? Well it's tough for me!

Also, don't get me started on how one would bring a cryptocurrency to Equestria.

Comments

[Dustchu]

Heeheehee, ruling over the Unclaimed lands...
sounds fun! :D

Nice job once more!