Chapter 10
Starlight's smile turned as wide as she could manage. She took in a few quick breaths. "What did you have in mind, then? I'd hate for such a friendly pony to be left waiting." She tried not to let the clench in her teeth be too noticeable, her lips twitching every now and again.
At this Luna seemed to relent. "I had a vision whilst talking with you. You were not wrong, about my sister's society. It has failed too many ponies in the past." Her thoughts turned to Celestia's panicky paramour. "And propped up those who deserved it less. Those who do not fit with the mold of harmony are cast in shadow. I see it in their dreams. Haunted by their sour nature and how it turns them against the ponies they need help from the most. I saw it in a jealous and lonely showpony who turned dark magic against the town of Ponyville, in the heart of a griffon who bullied to hide the pain of her poverty. The turn of Discord proves even the most vile of enemies can have feelings...and that the scorn of Equestria is not always justified. We fear what we do not understand. The togetherness Celestia breeds is shunning to those who do not fit. It is a cruelty hidden in her mask of kindness, and one I wish to correct."
Starlight's eyes widened at this. Maybe this wasn't all a loss. Maybe she could make the lunar Princess a true friend yet. She just needed to preach it right this time. They both knew the lies of harmony. Maybe--
"But you also awakened a new idea in me. Your rejection of my world and hers proved disastrous, and I was quick to scorn your efforts. I see now that was not the only way. That there was much focus on tearing down, and not on building up. I had a thought--why not build anew? Start a new society and let Celestia have her own. She said as much to you, I could sense it in the dreams of those you claimed as followers. Not all of them were as cold as you have thought. Some wished to see your world thrive alongside hers. In that I saw that there is room to coexist."
Luna began to fly, her wings pumping her up to the roof of her shimmering cube. "Never mind my sister. She can have what oppressive worlds she wants. What I want is a sanctuary. A place for beings like us to live and thrive. I want to help the ponies Celestia's rays do not reach, the ones her society shuns. I want to be a light in their darkness. Like the moon itself I will guide them, and I want you to help me with this." Luna's smile was wide, her eyes filled with stars. It was as if the dream was shimmering in her eyes. But all Starlight could see was void.
She ignored the distraction. There was no way some place for troubled ponies would reach the Sunbursts of the world. They would walk out better ponies, but walk out all the same. No forevers in that plan, no way to reclaim what she lost. Still, she smiled along. There were some ideas in that speech. Discord, dark magic. Possible allies, possible leverage. That she could work with. So she smiled along.
"The showpony sounds like a good place to start. I mean, you want my help, right? I do magic, not chaos or griffon stuff. I don't know anything about that stuff, but I might be able to help with--what did you say their name was?" Starlight's smile was toxic, but Luna smiled back in earnest, pressing on. The ambitious unicorn had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. If she cared half as much as she claimed she'd have noticed the lie by now. Unfortunately for Luna, Starlight had already noticed her own. The sanctuary plan was a trap. Another pony using her as a pawn. She'd be discarded soon, the same as all the rest.
"Her name is Trixie Lulamoon, a travelling magician. I have saved her from the shadow of Ursas and the cruel words of my sister's sycophant several times, but she has never heeded my call. Her dreams end sharply, and I cannot reach her. Perhaps together we could." Luna looked to Starlight.
"But what about the dark magic?" Starlight stressed. "Did it corrupt her? She might be worried about that. We don't know for sure." Luna rubbed a hoof against her chin. Starlight pressed her advantage. "If she needs our help, we should protect her from that, too. She might be scared of a relapse. How did she access this dark magic anyway?"
Luna drew out a breath. "Tis true. Her dreams are at times plagued by nightmares of a dark amulet. Perhaps it would set her at ease to see it vanquished. But it is not an artifact I know. I could not find it and could not undo it--not without research, or the involvement of a rival I can scarcely stand to humor."
"Well I know magic, like I said! This is why we help her first." Starlight thrust a hoof in Luna's direction. "This amulet, describe it. Colour, shape, material. Tell me what it is. I'll show you how we'll find it..." At this she turned her back on Luna, her expression twisting into a vicious smile. "And what to do with it when we do."
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Celestia's arrival at the fundraiser provoked the standard reaction from the gathered Canterlot elite. Those who had not yet seated themselves at the circular tables that dotted the garden made low bows in her direction, while those who had set aside their silverware and champagne glasses in a hurry and lowered their heads in reverence. "Thank you one and all for the warm welcome, my little ponies." She gave them each a nod and a private smile, her long strides carrying her towards a vacant table in the middle of the garden. "But right now it is Griffonstone that needs our concern and attention. The desire to assist our neighbours in restoring their culture's knowledge and heritage to its former glory is a noble one. I for one will be listening carefully to what our presenter has to say." With a sly grin, she watched the assembled nobles and businessponies snap to attention at her words.
She almost skipped a beat in the ancient routine when she noted the identity of the speaker. The mare trotting out onto the stage was not dissimilar from a younger version of herself. She was lithe, white as a cloud and highlighted by a silky pink mane and tail. Were it not for the distinct lack of wings and the iconic fleur de lys cutie mark she would have been a practical doppleganger. Serendipity had smiled upon her. While Fleur De Lys cleared her throat, and Celestia cleared her mind. Though her expression had not shifted, her focus needed to be on what the mare had to say if Griffonstone's restoration project was to receive the bits it desperately needed. She would muse on her good fortune later.
"I would like to begin by thanking you all for attending." Fleur gave a quick search around the audience, making sure to meet the eyes of each pony she was speaking to. Her expression did not shift, however. She held an expression of determination that would not be out of place on Twilight. "My name is Fleur De Lys of Normanedy, and today I am here to tell you all a story about education." She again scanned the audience, finding that most were still watching her with some level of focus. With another breath she continued. "When I was little I had a very simple question with a very complex answer: 'Why do other ponies need our money, mommy?' It didn't seem to make sense to me.
"Doesn't everypony have enough? I mean, even my friends who didn't live in mansions still had lots of bits to spare. They didn't have as many toys or go on fancy trips as often, and they didn't have ponies making their beds for them, but they had things I didn't, too. They had parents that would play with them and they could do team sports. They could have dogs instead of parrots since they had time to walk them." At this Fleur took on a faux-smug voice, reliving the words with a haughty sniff. "My mommy worked too hard for all that. That's why she had more bits. Harder work, better pay. In the end we all had the bits we deserved, right?: The assembled well-to-do seemed divided on this, some of them snickering with her and others scoffing and rolling their eyes at the satire.
"But then one day I went to a library. Not the private one that we kept. One that anypony could access. I had a project for school and the teacher said we had to use a public source. I still don't know why they did that, but I'm glad they did. We had to study a disease and tell everypony what it did. I picked something called 'malaria' because it sounded like a parrot's name. My mistake, if you could call it that, had been looking for pictures. I wanted to do a poster. It changed me, seeing that world. Yellowed eyes looked at me from yellowed pages. I saw zebras so skinny they looked like they were skeletons. It didn't make sense in the world of 'deserves' I'd grown up with. How could anypony deserve that? I felt lied to. And I wanted to know more." She paced the stage at this point, her voice growing in urgency.
"My parents laughed at first. It was a phase, of course. I'd run a bake sale, give my birthday presents to the griffons and forget all about things like wondering what diseases lived in your drinking water and not knowing where your children's food was going to come from. It started out that way. I started a raffle, made some really terrible brownies and ran as many laps as I could for charity. I think I raised a thousand bits total that way. That's a lot in Griffonstone, but it doesn't travel far. I didn't know that, of course. I kept on going, lost in another happy little world. But again a book told me better. I opened up a business magazine one day and saw how much of a difference a thousand bits actually made in the world of charity." She turned to look at the ponies still paying attention. Celestia recognized the cottage cheese pony among those nodding along.
"I didn't like what I found. So I went back to the books. I researched how to start a company, started mapping out a balanced budget. Had it looked over by some family friends. My parents laughed it off again. I was still young and this was still a phase, if a bit more stubborn than they'd thought. They didn't take it well when I filed an Article of Incorporation and started looking for an advisory board. It took a lot to get my parents to sign on. It would look good on a resume, I said. Charities get you noticed by the right sorts of ponies, I said. They relented when I told them it would teach me how to save my bits. This was before they'd accepted my little brother was the one who still cared about managing the family gold mines."
"Without the education I got I would have never explored the markets that I did. Charity is now tied to the family name as much as gold is. I only got where I did through learning, and I'll bet a lot of you did, too." This sparked some mutters from the crowd, particularly amongst those she still had the ear of. The ponies who'd taken her story with stone faces continued to look unmoved. "Budget, profit, loans and interest. Trade, investment, stock and resale. These are things that you have to learn, and you can't learn if you're trapped in your own little world. Whether that's a bubble shaped around a gold empire you never wanted or a shack with no running water. Learning is the key. It gives you the traction to pull yourself up over whatever little walls you've built around your worldview." She turned on the ponies who had been tuning her out ever since her jab at the notion of work translating to bits and life being fair.
"So here's a sample of what I've learned since I hit those business books. Here's where you all start having a reason to care." She pointed out a hoof at the pony most slumped back in her seat, who widened her eyes and wrinkled her nose at the gesture. "Education means advancement. Advancement means organization. Primary resources come in, companies start to package them. Now you have goods to buy. Their resources go to you, you sell finished products. Secondary resources. You both start to profit, and now you have a new company you can buy stocks in. You know it's doing business, and you start making money from the stock exchange." The elder mare's nose ceased its crinkling, and she tilted her head to scrutinize the bleeding heart on stage with new eyes.
"Griffon bits go to your products, which they trust now since they see that you've been putting bits into their economy. You open up new trade, new stocks and new resources. But that door only opens to ponies who do business with the griffons, and this investment is the way to start. This gets your hoof in the door in a way every businessgriffon in Griffonstone will remember." Fleur flicked her mane, tapping her head with a hoof. "Education can make businessmares out of anypony. Even me. With the right books I turned bake sales into business. With the right books, they'll turn mountains into mines and treetops into timber. Put your bits where it matters, and make a Griffonstone that profits everyone." Fleur paused to look at the assembled ponies, then gave a nod and a smile. "Thank you." She left the stage with a quiet bow, taking dainty steps towards a table stocked with pamphlets and business cards.
The room soon buzzed with talk. What did a charity worker know of foreign trade? Did she turn a profit? Was this safe? Was it just? Celestia rose, drawing a range of stares. With the eyes of the uncertain ponies trailing, Celestia trotted up to Fleur's table, where the smaller mare was giving a bittersweet smile and looking over her papers. She raised her head at the sudden shadow, then lowered her head in deference. "Ah, your highness. Forgive me, I was just--"
"Please, pardon my intrusion." Celestia settled down in front of her. "I would like to make a donation." She looked over the sheets, calmly selecting a set of forms and a quill with practiced ease. Then she turned an eye back to her subjects, most of whom were studying her motions. Fleur noted her coy smirk and smiled along.
"I'm flattered that you chose to attend my drive. I know outreach to Griffonstone has been a popular topic for decades now, but I think the descriptions of the place that Princess Twilight gave following her court's visit really gave us a good opportunity to put our bits in the right places. If we'd known they had a public records and just how damaged it was..." She waved a hoof. "But I'm sure you'd know more about that than me."
"More than would seem, at the very least." Celestia smiled. Centuries of practice filling out similar applications meant that she had already finished with the forms. She levitated them back over to Fleur discreetly. "Once upon a time Equestria had no public schools and a nobility that wished to keep education private. I confess your push made me nostalgic."
"Really?" Fleur perked up at this, the mask of poised respect cracking to reveal curiosity. "How'd you manage to convince them?"
"I'm afraid I don't have the time to explain. You have a drive to run, and I have subjects in need who I must return to shortly." Fleur's lips twitched, her brow pinching ever so slightly. Almost at the stage where she could control her emotions, but Celestia caught the tell nonetheless. "Of course, if you truly are curious, and you have the time to spare, my evenings have recently freed themselves up." Fleur blinked at this, her head shaking ever so slightly. At last she regained composure and settled into a smile.
"I can see what I can do. I have a clear slot tomorrow, if that works with you." The two of them turned to see the cottage cheese pony arriving in line behind Celestia. He looked away from the princess with a blush, and Celestia spared him further by turning back to Fleur.
"Tomorrow would be fine. I wish you all the best in your efforts until then." She bowed her head lightly, then favored the mortified earth pony behind her with a smile. "It is nice to see some of my subjects taking my advice to heart." She nodded at Fleur. "I appreciate your taking my words to heart, my little pony." His humiliation melted into relief, and Celestia left the drive with a lighter heart and a brighter smile.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
One correspondence later, Celestia was making her way towards what Cadance had described as a hidden gem next to Restaurant Row. The Kathiawarian restaurant was little more than a hole in the wall, but to Celestia a humble appearance often promised inner value. Her dress of the evening reflected this philosophy. A simple darker orange, appropriate for the evening, accentuated by a gold chain. No regalia for this meeting. She ducked under the sign labeling the restaurant as the 'Tasty Treat' and searched for the mare that so reminded her of an outlook she'd long forgotten.
"Over here, Princess Celestia!" At this the waiter almost dropped her platter, and the head of the restaurant thrust his entire head through the window he was announcing orders from. Fleur's smile faded into a tight line along her mouth, her expression stopping just short of mortified. Celestia nodded to the starstruck staff and trotted over to the table. "Did you have any trouble finding the place?" Fleur focused her gaze away from the minor commotion her words had caused.
Celestia smiled a sly smile at this. "I am older than the bricks this street was paved with. To say I am familiar is an understatement." She turned to the waitress, who still seemed to be staring as if the sky itself had decided to make a stop to her tiny restaurant. "But this is something I have never seen before." She spoke to the waitress in Kathiawarian. "I did not know Canterlot had developed a taste for your cuisine." Fleur tilted her head at this. The waitress settled into a smile at last, the status symbol growing a little more real in her eyes.
"If only they were as understanding as you." She looked around at the near-empty locale. "Most ponies don't even give this place a second glance. No critics have ever tried our food. It is as if the ponies here have no sense of adventure!" She covered her mouth for a second. "Sorry, your highness. I don't mean to insult your subjects!"
Celestia turned to her companion at this, a bit of mirth twinkling in her eyes. "What do you think, Fleur-De-Lys? Are the ponies of Canterlot unadventurous?"
"I would say that Canterlot is a charity case in itself on that front." Fleur looked to her new companion. "I'm sorry, I don't speak your language. Do you speak Equish?"
"Aha! Yes, ma'am. But I like it when a pony makes me feel at home."
"Je sais le sentiment." Fleur replied with a smile, making the other pony blink.
"She says, 'I know the feeling'." Celestia offered. The three of them laughed.
"What will your orders be, fillies?" She placed a pad on the table and pulled out a pencil.
"I'll take a curry." Fleur set her menu aside.
At the waitress' look, Celestia glanced the menu over and then looked back at her. "Make me your favourite. I'm sure you know it better than I." The waitress nodded to them both.
"Thank you, fillies." She gave a bow to Celestia and a nod and smile to Fleur, then made her way back towards the kitchen.
"I can't believe it." Fleur sighed. "How does she do it? I can't walk ten steps without some place or other offering me a 'genuine Fancy experience'. I swear, Cadance has a sixth sense for these places."
"It comes from trying to find places Twilight would be willing to eat at." Celestia smirked. "You may have heard that the Princess of Friendship is somewhat rigid."
"I've heard a lot about you and the Princess of Friendship, actually. Cadance likes to gush." Fleur giggled at this. "When she's not digging at me for details on my love life."
"Mi Amore is a very enthusiastic mare. This is both a blessing and a curse, and I'm sure if she's been speaking to you about relationships I have no need to explain why." At this the waitress made her way back from the kitchen, a platter of water glasses in tow.
"She's just so cheerful about it." Fleur flicked her mane with a hoof. "It's a little overwhelming. I mean, she means well, but it can be a little too much sometimes." Celestia nodded along at this, turning back to the incoming waitress in time to receive her water. Fleur took her own glass with a bow of her head. "From what Cadance tells me we're going to need these."
"Their food is very intense, but that intensity can be quite fetching. Mi Amore's cheer is much the same, I find. It can be a great boon when the relationship is working, and a great weight when the relationship is not."
Fleur looked around at this, making sure the waitress had retreated to the kitchen. "Alright...has she told you yet?"
"She told Twilight, which is, in effect, the same thing. Yes, I have heard the gossip." Celestia smiled. "I wish you both the best. A loving relationship is a wonderful thing."
"Well, yes, but...You know how sometimes she hauls you into something before you're ready?" Fleur swallowed on the air, tossing her mane about to clear her head. "She thinks Fancy is going to ask soon, and that I should be the one to beat him to it." She paused, but Celestia made no move to correct or interrupt her. She gave a little laugh, like the ringing of a bell, and looked out to the horizon. "It's not that I'm not ready. But it's a big jump and it brings out some...silly emotions." She shook her head, reaching for a glass of water to hide her nervous smile.
"Silly emotions indeed. Even in the most stable of romances, a large shift can bring nerves about in anypony." With glimmers of both pink and orange shimmering in her eyes, Celestia spoke up once Fleur had started to take a sip. "Mine is much the same." Celestia's gambit paid off. Fleur swallowed half a teaspoon of water down the wrong pipe at this, heaving and retching like a cat clawing its way out of a bathtub. When at last she had caught her breath, she looked at Celestia as if she'd just declared Daring Do to be a real pony.
"Did you say you're in a relationship?"
"Leaping over that reaction would be the next big step, yes." Celestia nodded. "It is a secret as of yet, and we both find ourselves growing nervous."
"You don't think that everypony would support you?" Fleur tilted her head. "I thought that'd be self-evident."
Celestia turned the question on its head. "Have they always supported you?"
"I'm not a ruler." Fleur stressed.
"But you hold a great deal of sway nonetheless. Tell me, has nopony below your station ever spoken ill of you?" Celestia pulled her wings back, settling herself into a seated posture.
"Well, I mean..." Fleur shrugged, then flipped her mane over one shoulder. "You're probably right. It's always the same line, too. 'What about the griffons in Griffonstone'? 'A griffon would cut off their right claw to live like you'. 'You're eating passionfruit when the griffons are eating hardtack.' I try my best, but..."
"Not everypony will be pleased with the end result." Celestia nodded. "Nopony is immune to criticism."
"But some of it's true! Not everything I do is perfect. I donate on personal whims. I set up parrot conservation centers but not monkey sanctuaries. I work with Griffonstone all the time but I've never been to Zebrica. Some of the charities I've set up have turned out dishonest and gone wrong. The hard part is deciding when the criticism's valid or not." Fleur flipped her mane back. "Admit one fault and all the critics get bolder. Some of them want to see you at your best, some of them want to see you fall apart. All those little voices build up. They can hold you back, make you doubt what needs to be done."
"It sounds like they weigh upon you." Celestia gave a sympathetic smile.
"I just try to do the best I can." Fleur sighed. "But sometimes it's hard to tell if that's good enough. I guess that's where the silly emotions come from. I already get 'trophy wife' enough without being the one to pop the question."
Celestia opened her mouth to respond, but a commotion from the kitchen left the two of them quirking their ears and looking towards the source of the voices. The waitress and her cook seemed to be fighting. Celestia soaked in every word, her ears swiveling to absorb the entire conversation. Fleur listened in with sympathy, getting the emotions of what was being said, but not the context.
"I hope everything is alright in there." She looked at the barebones table. "Working in these conditions can't be easy on them."
"He wants to cook our food to Canterlot's specifications." Celestia noted, translating with only minor difficulties even through the muffling of the walls. "He says that we're used to being served by the best, so they should act like it. She's saying that they didn't come here to compromise their values, and that we should be served the food they know best." Celestia sighed. She could see Fleur's expression fall with every new bit of information. "I doubt the food will taste how either of them want it to. Perhaps when the waitress comes around next, we might--" At this Fleur raised her head, her eyes narrowed into a look of determination.
"I'll be right back." Fleur slid herself out of the booth, cantering towards the kitchen. Celestia looked at Fleur's departing form with a spike of guilt. When had she lost the ability to do that? As Fleur opened the doors to the kitchen, she thought back to her lessons with Missie. Lost or not, that ability was not gone forever. The opportunity was right there. She rose to follow her younger counterpart.
"Is everything alright in here?" Fleur held the door open, looking at the frozen staff with sympathy.
The elder stallion was the first to speak. "Of course, your grace! Just a bit of a disagreement on the preparations of the meal."
"Sounds like it was more than a bit of disagreement. Celestia said you were arguing over trying to make the food more like Canterlot's."
"Precisely! Exquisite guests should have exquisite food! Right, Saffron?"
"But father! They came in to eat our food! They could have gone to any place in Canterlot, but they picked us instead! They had to do that for a reason."
"Still, they deserve the best we have to offer. If we were more like the other restaurants--"
"Then I never would have visited." Fleur stressed. "I come to eat at places like yours because you do right what they do wrong. I would never want to see you lowered to their level."
The two of them blinked at this. The chubby stallion spoke up. "But they have the best ratings in the town! How can you say they're making their food wrong?! Everypony eats it!"
"I may live in Canterlot, but I'm not from here, either. I moved here just like you." She pointed to her Cutie Mark at their shocked expressions. "Canterlot cuisine is based on Fancy couture. But I come from Prance. In Prance food is an art form, and the plate is for experimenting. In Canterlot food is a status symbol, and the dishes are for showing off. They don't know what went into it or why. They copy the precision without knowing why we're precise. They focus on the minimalism without knowing why we minimize." She looked over at the two of them. "In Prance we cook and eat food as a form of expression. Every bite is savoured, because every meal is cooked with care. That's the thing I look for. Genuine cooking, made like it's made back home."
The chefs shared a look at this, uncertainty once again upon their faces. Celestia watched the proceedings with interest. The stallion seized upon her presence like a life preserver for his argument. "Well, what about the Princess?! She is used to the best in all of Canterlot! We can't just serve her whatever we like!"
Celestia gave a small smile at that. "All I ask is that my wishes be respected. I want your favourite dish that either of you have ever cooked. Nothing more or less."
"See, father? She wants our signature!" Saffron stressed, looking over at him with pleading eyes.
"Is that your favourite of your specials?" Celestia looked over to the father, who had wrapped himself up in skepticism at this point.
He sighed at this. "It is a home specialty. Something I used to make when she was little. But it is not a meal for a royal!"
"I understand." Celestia nodded. "Not even a Princess can ever compare to one's daughter. I will take whatever is your next most treasured dish."
The stallion spluttered at this. "B-but of course not! I would never slight a royal!"
"Wonderful." Celestia smiled. "I am flattered to be worthy of your best. I will await the special eagerly."
Saffron leaped at her chance. "Please, father? I know they'll like it if we let them try!"
"Well," the stallion huffed. "I suppose if the Princess wishes for it, we can make it for her. But I tell you, it will not be like the meals they serve you at the palace!"
"I would rather have a meal like the ones a father served his daughter any day." Celestia met his gaze with soft and gentle eyes. "Thank you both for being understanding of our intrusion." Celestia exited the kitchen, Fleur following after shortly.
Celestia stepped aside to allow Fleur back into the booth, settling on the floor herself. "That was hardly a trophy wife I saw back in that kitchen." Celestia settled down on the floor herself, lowering her body to stare at Fleur on an even level. "The pony I see is quite the opposite. It reminds me of some of my own experiences, truth be told."
"Right. What I wanted to ask you about." Fleur flicked her mane over one eye, suddenly becoming very interested in her water. Celestia could see the burning curiosity in the younger mare's eyes. She fought down the rush of nostalgia, her own gaze settling into her neutral smile.
"I can see that want written all over your face. That, I think, would be my largest piece of advice, both about critics and about charity work. This critic sees a passionate mare doing her best for everypony. And passion is a great boon that speaks well to your sincerity. It can strengthen your cause to skeptics and help you achieve things you would not normally. But passion can also be a curse. It can come across as too forceful, or sweep ponies up in a cause you do not support. Patience is just as important a tool in working with others. Harder to master, yes, but no less important for it."
Fleur sighed. "I know. But it's not like you can just switch patience and passion on and off based on the situations. I can't just sit by and see someone get pushed aside or put down like that poor waitress was. Especially not when it's over something everyone should have, like bits, or a right to express yourself."
Celestia chuckled at this. "Seems like you have little patience for patience. Of course, not even I have struck a perfect balance before. Marching up to the staff to let them know what we wanted was likely a good course of action, although I believe your intent may have been muddled by your haste. I know that feeling of yearning to help every creature at every turn all too well. But it is not something that needs to be done all at once." She looked at Fleur's furrowed brow and smiled. "Think of it in terms of Mi Amore's push to marry you." Fleur's eyes widened at that. "Does her enthusiasm make you want to rush in all at once?" Fleur looked down at this. "Would you maybe be more comfortable with planning out a time to propose, working up to it in steps?"
At this Fleur paused. "...I guess that's true. But how do you do it, then? Just knowing that there's so much more you could be doing! You're just sitting there and meanwhile those griffons in Griffonstone are still starving and they still need clean water and a place to learn."
"By realizing that not every victory needs to be sweeping." Celestia stressed. "Focus on the progress you make. Remember that you are doing what others are not. Victories that seem small can build into something far larger. I know the specter of a callous critic can weigh upon anypony, but the little victories you've already made are proof positive that they are wrong about you. Take those victories and savour them. It will help soothe the urge within you to plow through progress without thinking of the consequences. They will also help you sort friend from foe. A genuine critic will appreciate such achievements, while an ill-intentioned one will brush past them."
"But you can't get too set in those little victories. If I did that I'd be just like my parents, thinking I deserve the world for managing to not run my great-grandmother's hard work into the ground." Fleur blew out some air against her mane, putting her hooves against her chin.
"That is true only if you do not build upon those triumphs." Celestia answered. Before she could go further, Saffron arrived with their food. Celestia gratefully accepted a bowl of flat noddle soup.
Fleur, meanwhile, received a set of turnips drizzled with zig-zagging sauces and garnished with a with a mixture of confusion and concern. "Is this something you'd normally cook?" She raised an eyebrow at the dish, her lips pursed.
Saffron beamed. "Well, Mrs. Fleur, when you mentioned you never got to eat proper Fancy food like back home it struck a chord with us. My father had the idea to try making a Fancy-styled dish from one of our cookbooks, so we worked hard to make something that might remind you of home!"
"That's very sweet of you." She smiled back at the waitress, her gaze not meeting the dish itself. She looked like she was about to say something else, but Celestia cut her off.
"Thank you very much for the soup. This looks wonderful." Celestia took in the scent of the soup as well. "My regards to the chefs." She winked at this, and Saffron blushed at her knowing look.
"We're very flattered by your patronage, your highness." Saffron gave a quick bow. "I hope you both enjoy the food."
"I'm sure the new experience will be invigorating for us both." Celestia again cut Fleur off. The younger pony shot her a look. "Something about your food not to your specifications?"
"I told them not to try to imitate Fancy food." She sighed. "It's sweet of them to try, really. But I wanted something they made themselves."
"What I believe they heard was a fellow foreigner lamenting her inability to find authentic food tied to her culture. I believe you emphasized your country's food a little too keenly in trying to find commonality with them. As I say, passion can sweep ponies in unexpected directions." Celestia ignored Fleur's little sigh of exasperation, pressing on with a smile. "Still, I would not dismiss this as an undesired direction without at least trying it first. This dish is an expression of their earnest desire to connect with you. In the end, is that not what the spirit of Fancy food is? An expression of the self?" She concluded this by blowing upon her soup, waiting for it to cool.
"Well..." Fleur sighed, ignoring her food. "Let's hear more about how you managed to get public schools set up everywhere."
"Getting my hoof in the door was a very important aspect. Something you've done quite admirably. You already have a drive to repair the library, and ponies donating bits to do so. The rest was a matter of simply practicing what I have been preaching to you." Celestia levitated her soup spoon up to her lips.
"Was that how you got all the libraries set up?" Fleur tilted her head. "Patience?"
"Absolutely." Celestia smiled back, taking another dainty sip of her soup. "But it was not as simple as knowing how to through instinctive wisdom. Every technique I have offered was something I discovered on the way to the mare I am today. A mare who started off filled with passion and a drive to prove she deserved her crown, even amongst a sea of controversy. Three hundred years back, my pushes were fraught with setbacks. In my eager bid for education I created an inflated economy for law degrees, and many ponies lost work. I became known for my bias towards learning, and ponies were quick to take grievances against the school system to my underlings. This in turn led to education systems growing too powerful, and I had to undo my mistake. It was a slow process, and I was blamed for the situation at many turns. So I took solace in the laws I managed to pass and the progress I managed to make, learning that taking slow steps towards a single common goal was often more effective than one gigantic leap. Eventually, I managed my dream of a public school in every town and a library for every community. But it was not an easy journey, and the reward was in each step of the way there.
"Still, in my learning of patience I feel I may have lost something in the process. Soon my marefriend and I will be announcing our relationship. It is an immense leap for the both of us. For years the nobility and I have coexisted impersonally. It has been a great boon for a gradual pony such as myself. But this announcement is nothing but personal, and I do not have the knowledge to appeal to the nobility personally. I do not have your passion, and I am reminded now that at times I need it." Celestia gave a small smile, continuing to work at her soup. "Just as you were hoping to learn from me, I am hoping I might learn from you."
Fleur paused, tilting her head. Then, gradually and uncertainly, she carved up one of the turnips, placing it in her mouth. She chewed it slowly, considering. Saffron trotted back over at this. "How is everything?" Although she looked at Celestia with interest, it was clear her eyes were all for Fleur and her 'Fancy' dish.
"I'm very flattered by the care you put into what you served me." Fleur said to Saffron earnestly. "It's clear that you both know how to cook for a Fancy lady, and the flavours are wonderful." She nodded over to Celestia's meal. "But I was wondering if maybe next time you might show me some of the things you like to eat. I know Princess Celestia enjoyed her meal greatly, and while it can be nice to be reminded of my own culture sometimes, what I came to Canterlot for was the chance to experience those of others."
Celestia chimed in at this. "What an experience it was. I'll be sure to pass your location along to any nobles I meet who have a taste for such things." She looked back to Fleur. "Once I get a chance to properly know some, of course."
"A thousand thanks to the both of you." She gave a quick bow to the both of them. "I will leave you to it, then." She backed herself towards the kitchen, the double doors parting to let her slip through. Once they had closed, the words "Father! Father! They liked the food! I told you!" echoed back to them. The two mares chuckled, and then Celestia looked back at Fleur with interest.
"Did you mean what you said about their cooking for a Fancy lady?"
Fleur gave a sly smile at this. "It's more Fancy than anything their neighbours are cooking, that much is for sure. Every bite is certainly a good one, but maybe not exactly what they were trying to imitate. I'll call it a 'little victory' for the spirit of Fancy cooking. Maybe with some practice, they might just find the right taste, too." She swallowed down another bite of turnip. "What about you? Do you really not know any nobles well enough to know what kinds of food they like?"
Celestia gave a small smile at this. "I've decided to take a leap towards getting to know them better. I am hopeful my drive to learn pays off."
"Alright, well," Fleur flicked her mane again, "I can tell you a bit about them. But first I need you to give Cadance a message for me: I'm proposing to Fancy on my own time. If he goes first, he goes first. I want to get it right, and that means taking the time I need to set it up."
"Gladly." Celestia gave a wry smile. "And if she resists, I will say I gave you the idea, and she can sulk about it with me and not you.
"Well, how can I help but repay a sacrifice as noble as that?" Celestia smiled at this. Below the table, a gem began to form upon her peytral with a soft yellow glow. Fleur launched into an explanation in between bites of her food, her eyes wide and expressive. Celestia sat back and listened, enjoying her soup all the while. "Well, for example I know that Price Tag--that's the one with the gold mane and the brown coat--has a deep respect for..."
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
"...family, first in the form of my returned sister and my beloved niece, and now in the form of our latest Princess. I would gladly call her family in any context, but with the change in her position has come a change in our relation. This past year has been a great shift in the status quo for many of us," she held the gaze of an architect named Tightly Wound, "and with this shift comes a fear of instability. But I assure all of you that this era will be one of even greater order and harmony. Like pillars to a foundation, my fellow Princesses have helped support our country and our citizens. Communication has been key to keeping us together, and our sense of union has been key to that communication. Of late, my connection to Twilight Sparkle has grown even closer.
"I love her, and the two of us have romanced in private for a month now. Today that changes. I can only hope that she and I hold as close as her brother and my niece, who are taken with each other for many of the same reasons. She shares many of the traits that Captain Armor brought to Equestria." She stopped to speak next to a pair of pegasus nobles with a daughter in the royal guard. "Her bravery and dedication to Equestria have been key to the defense of its citizens. In the face of the attacks by Tirek, King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis, she has never wavered, and in each case her actions were crucial to protecting all of our subjects. Her attentiveness has resulted in changes to our policy that have made Equestria more stable and harmonious, and her inspirational outlook has motivated others to grow into wonderful ponies in their own right on personal and federal levels." Here she stopped before an empty blue throne that should have held a fellow Princess.
"But Twilight Sparkle has supported me as more than a mere Princess." She walked past Luna's empty seat, looking instead at a noble named Fervent Dream. Dismissed by rivals as a trophy husband marrying into old blood, he did not meet her gaze. "She has supported me as a pony, a talent that cannot be overstated in its value." At this he looked up, and she gave a soft smile before turning back to her crowd. "In turn I have supported her, and the joy of this connection has let us see our wonderful home of Equestria," this said with a nod to famous patriot Cloister Belle, "with newfound optimism and delight."
She cast her gaze back to her mane, and then to Twilight's own new style. "In this bold new era we have felt more confident to express ourselves. Whether that be through exploring Equestria's growing fashion industry or reawakening passions for art and gardening, we have since become more receptive to a wide array of talents that many of you hold dear. Perhaps most importantly, in this new era I have gained the chance to branch out to my subjects on a personal level not known since the building of Canterlot Castle. With Twilight Sparkle by my side, I hope to know all of you better and treat all of you with more care and compassion than I ever could have done alone. I know you all deserve it, and I hope today to share the kindness she has evoked in me with all the rest of you. Thank you for your time."
The crowd did not cheer. The crowd did not coo. Instead, the ponies of Canterlot began to explode into a sea of questions, each of which Twilight was quick to answer as best she could. Ponies swarmed up around them, and the two found themselves closed in on either side. Celestia, for her part, sat back and corrected Twilight periodically, her smile thinning to become the one reserved for strenuous days at court. It was only then that Princess Cadance chimed in with a rush of Royal Canterlot Voice. "If I could have everypony's attention!" The crowd was loathe to be silent, but at the look Cadance was giving they fell back into order and allowed her to speak. "I also have an announcement in regards to the spread of the magic of love amongst the royal family. Shining Armor and I have made an addition of our own, and the Crystal Empire will soon have an heir. Citizens of Equestria, Captain Shining Armor and I are having a baby." The crowd had been boiling before, but this next announcement left it raging like a set of rapids. Questions were drowned out in the uproar, and the sea of noise became overwhelming.
But it was not a sound that shocked Celestia out of her trance, but a touch. Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Celestia, losing herself in Celestia's eyes the way she had in front of Cadance and Shining. Celestia gave a nervous glance at the assembled crowd, but with a nuzzle from Twilight, the pair lowered their horns together to share in the moment of comfort. A moment became a lasting pause, and the nobles soon were faced with the two alicorns expressing their love before them. The crowd started to whisper at the sight, the myriad questions dying on their lips as it became increasingly clear the pair would not be answering. The couple's eyes snapped open, staring out at the crowd with trepidation. Most ponies were still too busy talking to notice. But it was alright, because the ones who had were smiling, and that was a step in the right direction. Fear turned to peace, and they closed their eyes together, shutting out the wider world and letting in each other. Surrounded by their subjects and relatives both, they let their horns stay locked in bliss, soaking in their little victory.
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I don't like Luna in this.
Where did half of her Brain go?
*slow clap* Good job, Luna. Pointing crazy!Glim-Glam at the Alicorn Amulet and letting her go. ‘Cause the girl definitely needs the help at being a mind-controlling psychopath. (I love you to death, Glimmy, but you crazy. You’ve just learned to direct your crazy in the vague direction of good lately.)
8804528
We're only reading Starlight's perspective. Luna might very well be more perceptive than she seems to Starlight.
8805314
Aside from Luna being a jealous self centered spoiled little filly, she is AT LEAST a bad judge of character on top of that.
A.) Twilight Sparkle saved her, yet she calls her her sisters sycophant.
B.) She failed once already with trying to take over and now wants to basically split equestria and make her own country but with moonshine and hookers instead . .
You're probably really tired of hearing this by now. But I really hate the Luna you're portraying here right now. Not that you're doing it right or wrong or should change anything, I just don't like her.
8804528
She has severe issues that she is intentionally avoiding dealing with, leaving her a self-damaged hypocrite who hates Twilight Sparkle for being close to Celestia and an alicorn. In her angst to return to stability, she has destabilized everything and continues to make it worse. At this point she should not even have a crown or any semblance of authority and should be declared legally mad. Equestria is not perfect, but the only way to bring about a perfect society is for calm, logical planning over many thousands of years by a benevolent and immortal 'tyrant' who is invested in seeing a utopia rise where all can be happy and prosperous. In other words, if she wants this 'perfect society' she should not be screwing over Celestia - and should instead be supporting her.
On top of that she's giving away state secrets to another madmare who is a traitor to Equestria. Luna is literally committing treason to spite Celestia... again.
Getting her to accept help and move towards wellness is going to be a difficult journey that I feel is the main subplot of this series.
Gag me. Luna, you want a place for spoiled anti-social brats who created their own misery. Trixie wasn't "shunned"-she chose to behave like a jerk!
(This story is really good, btw!)
"couture" is fashion - the word literally means "sewing" in French. So it doesn't make sense to say that Canterlot cuisine is based on Prench fashion!
I thought the choice of breed worked well. And it's something the comics do. Did like this chapter. I love seeing Celestia interact with the common pony