Tales From Day Court

by Blade Star

Epilogue - A Little Celebration

A few weeks later…

Putting all my papers together once again, I filed everything away neatly in my briefcase. That was the last case of the day, and it hadn’t even been that much of a challenge. Just a nice simple attempted burglary for us to sort out. The only reason it got kicked up to Day Court was due to the value of the gems that had almost been pinched. I tell you, that map thing really seems to get a bead on villains. Luna’s little band dropped them off near the castle, and it was a simple matter of parading the evidence in front of the court.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a tough case from time to time, but it is nice to end your Friday with a quick little number. After all, I’d been busy as hell with the big trial going on up in Manehatten. Well, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Chicoltgo, and Las Pegasus. Marelone had been invaluable, and with his insider information, I’d been able to pull a real ‘Five Families’ deal on Equestria’s biggest organised crime group. The fact that all the raids happened during little Flurry Heart’s Crystaling was just the icing on the cake. With the help of the Royal Guard, and a lot of local law enforcement, we’d cut off the head of the snake when it came to Cosa Nostra. In fact, now, my plate is pretty much empty.

Celestia announced that Day Court was closing for the day when the CPS boys left and the guards took their newest prisoner down. That was effectively the last bell for me. I was off the clock. When the doors closed, I turned and spoke to Celestia.

“Well, that was a good little case to finish up with, your highness,” I commented. Getting up from her throne, Celestia nodded in agreement.

“It certainly has been an easier day today, my advisor,” she replied. As ever, with the doors closed and locked, she removed her princess mask. “It’s always nice to have a quieter court. I even had a few petitioners today who just wanted to thank me for my help.” I smiled.

“Honestly, Luna ought to appreciate her Night Court. She gets what, five or six petitioners a night?”

“Perhaps the two of us should trade places sometime?” Celestia remarked, smirking for a moment before breaking into a laugh.

It was still fairly early as well. With court quiet and closed up for the day, we all had some free time to play with.

“Well, since it’s all quiet here, Tia,” I said, gesturing to the empty throne room. “How about we have a quick round of the game upstairs? It would certainly be a nice way to kick off my weekend.” Celestia thought for a moment. Like Twilight, at times she can be a bit of a workaholic.

“Hmm…I was planning on sorting out those trade agreements for Mareitania.” My look became a bit more pleading. “But, I suppose I could put that off until Monday.” I smiled at that. I’ve still got it.

As we made for the door, a bright flash of light appeared in the middle of the room as Discord appeared.

“Did I hear talk of games?” he asked excitedly.

“Only if you planted more bugs since I found those last four, Discord,” I replied jokingly. “You free for a bit are you? No important chaos like errands to run?” Discord shook his head.

“Nope. Everything’s done and dusted. Now I can just kick back and relax. Though I can’t say the same for Blueblood.”

Somewhere in the castle, we all heard a very un-stallion like scream. I decided that I didn’t even want to know what Discord had done to the imbecilic prince. Just as long as it was legal and he didn’t kill him.

“Since when do you do anything of the sort?” Another voice broke in. Standing behind Discord, smiling a little, was Luna. “I heard that the court was quiet for the moment, Sister.” Celestia nodded.

“Yes, my sister. Now I know how you feel when you hold your court.” Luna rolled her eyes. “Speaking of though, I was just talking with Roger about possibly swapping shifts from time to time.”

“What do you mean?” Luna replied curiously.

“I mean you could perhaps take a day or so each week to hold Day Court, while I catch up on other issues. You always say you want to help more ponies in the court.” The smaller princess considered for a moment.

“That may well be an interesting idea, Sister,” she agreed. “Though it will all depend upon how busy I am with my little side project.”

“Oh yes, we just finished sending down those two bozos your guys dropped off for us; nice work, princess,” I complimented. “You’ve really got a good thing going there.” At this, Luna became somewhat concerned.

“While the ‘cutie map’ as Twilight Sparkle calls it has been invaluable these past few months, it has grown silent as of late. I have not had a new number from it for quite some time,” she said, her ears splayed back in concern. “I fear the actions of Starlight Glimmer may have caused some issues it must resolve before it begins anew.”

“I’m sure it’ll start up again soon, princess,” I replied. “And if not, I’m sure Twilight will be able to jump start it.”

With all four of us already together (Shining was up north for a while, looking after his newly arrived daughter) we were ready to head off to play our usual game. However, an idea struck me.

“Say, princess,” I asked, turning back to Celestia. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to try something a little different this time.”

“Oh?” Celestia replied.

“How about you three come by my place instead. We can have a little party to celebrate everything that’s happened these past weeks.” Discord readily agreed, though both princesses took some convincing. Eventually though, I managed to persuade them to the idea and we all agreed to meet up again at my home in Ponyville later that evening.

---

I headed home on my own that evening, by my usual train. Getting back to the house, I informed she who must be obeyed that Celestia, Luna, and Discord would be coming by tonight for a little get together. That got my wife into something of a tizzy. Like most ponies in Equestria, my wife does rather tend to put the princesses on something of a pedestal. I guess having been around them for so long, I’ve gotten used to treating them informally. For me, going to see Celestia is an ordinary occurrence. Whereas for most ponies, it is something mired in protocol and perfection in all aspects.

Luckily, with a bit of effort, I was able to calm her down. After all, Celestia had visited here before. My wife had thrown a sort of house warming party not long after we moved in, and asked me to invite some friends from work. On the night, much to her surprise, in addition to Buttercup and a few other guards I knew, I also brought along Discord and Celestia, the latter of whom was disguised. She and Luna would be doing the same thing tonight, just to be safe.

With my wife calmed down at last, the two of us started to make up dinner for ourselves, as well as a few snacks for when our guests turned up. Since the game was going to be the focus of the party, I invited my wife to join in as well.

The two princesses and my draconequus friend arrived just after seven in the evening. As I had told Margaret, both of the alicorns were now in disguise. Celestia was an average sized white unicorn, with a light pink mane. Luna meanwhile, had gone down the pegasus route, with her usual dark blue coat and a light blue mane similar to the one she had when she first returned. Humorously though, I noticed one major difference between the two disguised alicorns. Whilst Celestia was of fairly average size in her disguised body, Luna had gone for a more leggy form, and consequently stood around half a head taller than her ‘big’ sister.

“Now, I’m going out on a limb here,” I said jokingly. “But I’m guessing you two are my bosses in disguise?” Celestia rolled her eyes.

“Yes, my advisor. It’s us,” Celestia replied, sounding a little irked. I was surprised at that.

“Oh don’t worry about ‘Sunny Skies’ here, my friend,” Discord said, taking great pleasure in ruffling the disguised alicorn’s mane. “She’s just a bit sore about being the little sister at the moment.

“I must admit,” Luna broke in. “It is nice to be able to look down on you, sister.” She and Discord burst into giggles, with the latter scooping the princess up in his arms and giving her a noogie. The ‘unicorn’ snarled and teleported out of his grasp.

“Can you two please behave normally?” she implored desperately.

“Oh, don’t worry, Tia,” I assured her. “You can drop the disguise in the house. Just mind your head.” With that, I let the three of them inside. Turning down the hall toward the kitchen, I called out to my wife.

“Darling! Celestia and the others are here!” I heard some cutlery clatter.

“Just a minute!” her voice called back.

I lead my three friends into the living room, where the two princess settled on the sofa, whilst Discord made his own high backed armchair to sit in. My wife appeared a moment later with the customary tea and biscuits; the traditional standby in any British home when visitors are around. It might not have been some fancy chamomile leaf from far off lands, but it seemed to suit the princesses just fine, as did the digestives. Discord however, was being his usual self; amusing to me, not so to she who must be obeyed.

“Discord! Can you please drink the tea and not the mug?” she asked, sounding like she was scolding some errant foal. To be fair, Discord was pulling one of his party tricks. He was drinking the mug itself, leaving the liquid of the tea behind, which somehow held its shape despite the mug no longer being there. Rolling his eyes and sighing, the draconequus obliged. Unfortunately, that meant him regurgitating the mug back into form, something my wife didn’t approve of too much.

After that though, things settled down. The five of us happily talked amongst ourselves. Discord and I chatted about this and that, whilst Celestia talked to my wife about how her time at the elementary school was going, she also asked after Lizzie. Luna meanwhile, asked after one of her more unhinged fanatics; my son. She’d apparently not had a chance to talk with him since the Tantabus incident, and was planning to possibly drop by Sweet Apple Acres before she returned to Canterlot.

“Honestly, princess, I know he’s my son, but what on earth do you see in him? Doesn’t he come across as just a bit…off,” my wife asked. While that does sound a little harsh towards her own child, Bones’ connection with Princess Luna does border upon religious fanaticism at times. Luna set down her teacup before replying.

“On the contrary, Margaret,” she replied. “I find your son to be fine companion and a good friend to me. Believe me when I say that he is far from as devout as some of my thestral guards. There are quite a few ponies all over Equestria like him. Ponies I can visit on quiet nights, when the dreamscape is at peace, and just relax with. A bit like how we are all relaxing at this very moment.” I let that sink in. She does certainly seem to like him, though their friendship doesn’t go beyond that. ‘Best Princess’ as he puts it, or not, nopony can take his attention away from Applejack.

---

After tea and biscuits, we all turned our attention to the large coffee table in the centre of the room. On it sat the usual map of the London Underground and all the relevant paraphernalia. We each chose our playing pieces and quickly set everything up. Discord would be the umpire tonight for a change, it was decided. I also found myself, for the first time, playing in teams. We ended up splitting into three teams; one being Celestia and Luna, the other my wife, the newcomer to the game, and myself, and finally Discord, who promptly produced a clone of himself to even things out.

The game ran long as each of our pairs attempted to outfox the others. I must say, Margaret acquitted herself rather well as my team’s senior conductor. In the end, with the hour growing late and Princess Luna needing to return to her Night Court, we called a draw between the lot of us.

As the five (though technically six) of us sat around talking for a little while longer, I reflected on the strange turn our lives had taken. Here I was, playing a nonsense game, not only with my loving wife of almost thirty years, but with two magical, talking pony princess, who I happen to work for, along with the near omnipotent physical embodiment of chaos, who happens to be my best mate. At times…it just seems so ludicrous; I have to pinch myself to convince myself that I’m awake.

Still, as strange a road as I am now walking, I think that I’m certainly on the right path. I have a good job, an nice house, friends and family all a stone’s throw away. I’ve even made peace with the darker parts of my past. It’s fair to say I’ve gone up in the world. In this one year, I’ve met ambassadors, generals, princes and princesses, monsters, tyrants, despots, fugitives, and one very crazy draconequus.

As the two of us saw the princesses and Discord, now back to just the one of him, off, Charlie came scampering in from the kitchen, his tail wagging. The three of us curled up on the sofa to watch a film before bed.

All in all, I think it’s safe to say that, by the time I’m done and called off to glory, I’ll have quite a few tales to tell from my time in Celestia’s Day Court.

Author's Note:

Proofread by EnderHooves.

As so we reach the end of the first spin-off. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm already working on the next story in the series and it will hopefully be published soon. However, with my new job, this may take a bit more time. I'll post a blog about it in any case, tagging 'My Family and Other Equestrians'. So as long as you've faved or watched that, or follow me, you should get a heads up.

Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments below. I'm always looking for tips to improve my next story. Thanks for reading.

Comments

[soulknight13]

I have to say the way you blended canon with your world was great i always wondered what happens beheind the scenes an you truly gave a great veiw if it so who is next mum or liz i hope liz

[harts fire]

bravo I vary good collection of short story's.

[Kichi]

liked it... Too bad it finished already.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

You did an amazing job with this spin off, and I salute you for it!

[Seeking Dusk]

Can't think of anything profound to say... Great end to another good story, not only for the characters, but for the world as well. You've wrapped things up smoothly. Looking forward to the next instalment.

[Blade Star]

7474284 Sorry, Lizzie's going to be the third story. But I'm already tinkering with ideas and open to suggestions. I plan to set 'Adventures in Ponyville Weather Patrol' (working title) in the latter half of season 5, and the early half of season 6.

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7474305 Thanks, guys. Glad you all enjoyed it. Two more to go.

[Kichi]

7474741 And after those two?

[Blade Star]

7474813 I've been toying with a few non-HiE ideas. I might try doing a sort of autobiography of Sombra perhaps (I actually have a rough draft of a couple chapters). Or, another idea I've got is to take the map system described in Chapter 7, and make a sort of ponified 'Person of Interest' story.

[damnaion]

[Blade Star]

7490731 Glad someone finally caught onto this. I used to listen to Rumpole stories on Radio 4.

[Rathorc Lemenger]

7492134 Is there going to be a sequel to this? Maybe one that continues the story of Bladestar an AJ, along with their relationship/romance??

[Blade Star]

7572871 I'm working on the next in the spin off trilogy at the moment. The next story entitled 'Lessons from Ponyville Elementary', will focus on Blade Star's mother and her time at the local schoolhouse. Insha’Allah, it will be in the publishing queue in a fortnight. After that one, there will be a final story for Lizzie, which is still in the planning stage. As for Bones and AJ, I'm not planning too much, though they will feature in the next two stories as they do in this one, as side characters.

[Ellington]

Are you going to write one with the wife at the school.

[Blade Star]

7785588 I've written 10 chapters for that so far, and it's currently in the process of being proofread. Expect to see 'Lessons From Ponyville Elementary' published either later this month or in the new year. And after that, I'll do one for Lizzie as well.

[Ellington]

7786507 Cool. Just no shipping please.

[Blade Star]

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Yes, a cover-up is probably in everypony's best interests at this point.

You might very will think that. But, of course, I couldn't possibly comment.

[Jahbraz]

New Chapters coming soon...

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

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It occurs to me that Too Much Occurs To You