Chapter Four
"And if you look at item number two-hundred, you will see that unemployment has dropped slightly, but that is probably due to the seasonal changes gearing up and the Grand Galloping Gala. Gem and gold shipments to the Dragon Clans are proceeding apace, as you can see in chart A, subsection—"
Princess Celestia sat on her throne as the Minister of Economics, a cream-colored earth pony with the cutie mark of a closed, thick book, stood in front of her with an easel, a pile of charts, and bound papers. She propped her eyelids up with magic, and used all her self-control to clamp her mouth shut to not yawn. Various other members of the Equestrian Senate stood around in the princess's main chambers, most of them sitting on their haunches, yawning or just plain dozing off. A pair of unicorns—the Minister of the Interior and the Postmaster General—had set up a card game near a pillar, and darned if Celestia wasn't tempted to join in.
The Minister of Economics grabbed the edge of the chart on the easel with his lips and pulled it off, his tail simultaneously wrapping around another and lifting it up. "Now, we have had a slight disruption of trade near griffon territory, but that would be more the purview of the Chairpony of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. However, there's an absolutely fascinating rise in the GDP near Buffalo Lands at the town of—"
There was a sudden puff of smoke. Several members of the Royal Guard materialized around Celestia and the various officials, weapons in mouths, wings, or floating in front of their horns. “Secure the chambers!” one particularly large male pegasus shouted, dropping down from the ceiling. “Protect the princess! Bullhead, corral the ministers together for evacuation! Stomper, I want all exits in and out...” His voice trailed off as the smoke cleared and a scroll hovered in the air. “Or not.” He cleared his throat and looked up at the princess on her dais. “My apologies, your highness. I-I t-thought i-it was—”
Celestia bowed her head to the pegasus. "No problem, General Spanish Steel." She looked out over the Senate and cleared her throat, focusing on the minister standing with his charts. "Minister Busy Body, if you don't mind, I think it would be good for me to read a report on friendship from my prized pupil, Twilight Sparkle. You so deserve to rest your voice after such a long and informative report." She stretched her mouth into a rather wide grin while looking down at Busy Body, drawing herself up to her full height and squaring her shoulders and forelegs.
Busy Body stepped back. The letter unfurled while Celestia glanced to the side at a small end table with a tea kettle and cups. The tea kettle glowed and floated up, pouring some still-warm camomile tea into a similarly-floating cup. While Busy Body walked around to Celestia's side, the princess took a sip while pre-reading the letter in case of editing. The cup floated over, perfectly level and not even disturbing the tea inside up to Celestia's lips. She sipped it while her vision drifted over the word 'Megan'...
Celestia's eyes bugged out. The tea cup suddenly dropped to the ground and shattered, echoing across the chamber. She whipped her head around and spat out the tea-directly into Busy Body's face. "What the flying herd?" she shouted, wings unfurling. She backed up, stumbling across the steps leading up to her throne proper. "Impossible!"
The members of the Senate backed up as the guards huddled around Celestia. Dead silence permeated the chamber, save for Busy Body muttering to himself and wiping his muzzle. Celestia read the letter again, then twice more before telekinetically rolling it back up. She looked around the room and chuckled, wiping her forehead with a wing. "Well, my apologies for that, Busy Body," she said, focusing on him and grinning slightly. "That was rather rude of me."
Busy Body shook his head. "It's all right, Your Majesty. These things happen. Usually not from you, but they happen." He looked around. "Does anypony have a towel?"
Celestia turned back to the rest of the Senate as she floated a towel from her tea set over to him. "Well... apparently Twilight is going to be learning a very good lesson about friendship from one of the masters herself." She chuckled and her horn glowed. "Sorry, but much more urgent matters have to be attended to." There was a brief flash of yellow light, enveloping Celestia. When it faded, she and the scroll was gone.
Celestia winked back into existence and looked around, quickly orienting herself. She trotted along the dark corridors, taking some time to admire the paintings of night skies and spiraling murals lining the walls. The only sound was her hooves striking the tiled floor, laid out in various constellations.
She approached a double door with two members of the Royal Guard standing guard. The two guardponies—a pegasus and unicorn, both clad in onyx-colored armor—bowed and separated. Celestia nodded to them both and smiled as the double doors swung open. She stepped into the private quarters of her younger sister as the doors closed behind her with a thunk. "Luna?" she half-shouted. "Luuuuuuna, where are you?"
She walked through the darkened living room, avoiding a couch and chair by memory and entered the bedroom, finding her sister in bed, a pillow over her head and snuggled under blankets. She walked over. "Luna, you'll—" she dodged to the side as the pillow sailed over "—never guess—" Celestia dodged back as a wind-up alarm clock nearly nailed her in the horn —what Twilight just—" her horn glowed and a dresser stopped just short of smashing into her; It floated over while Celestia continued talking "—sent me!"
Luna shrugged off the blankets and slid out of bed, her dark-purple coat almost blending into the shadows. Her horn glowed and a lamp on an end table next to the bed clicked on. She winced slightly and one of her wings came up, covering her eyes while she adjusted to the sudden brightness. "Celly, it's..." The alarm clock floated over and under the wing. "Well, okay. The alarm clock's broken." The wing lowered and she looked at her older sister. "What's the time?"
Celestia glanced over at the dresser leaning against the wall and it slammed against the wall, embedding it into the stone. "Noon," she said, grinning. "I mean, that's not too early for you to be up, is it?"
Luna's teal eyes narrowed and she snorted. "Celly..." The scroll floated over into Luna's face. She raised a hoof and batted at it, backing up and away from it and the bed. "Just a second. I'm parched." She walked out, returning a minute later with a glass of ice water. She sat down on her haunches while the scroll floated back over into her line of sight. She took a long drink from the glass as she skimmed the note, but her head whipped around and she spat out the water-directly into Celestia's face. "Megan?" she shouted, wings flaring up. She suddenly looked to Celestia and swallowed. "Heh, sorry."
The water dripped off Celestia's snout. "I suppose I deserved that," she deadpanned. "Oh well. Luna, can you believe it? Megan's back! I mean, how long has it been since we've seen her?" Celestia's gaze drifted to the ceiling and she bit her lip, hopping up and down on her hooves not unlike a certain pink earth pony. "Oh, I have to make so many plans! There's so much to do now!"
"Like taking care of that rogue dragon in the Everfree Forest?" Luna remarked, winking at her older sister.
Celestia waved her off with a hoof. "Oh, I'll contact King Spykoran the Old. He'll need to know about Megan too." She rubbed her chin. "Maybe we should also invite—"
"You're not inviting the Grundels," Luna interrupted, looking down her nose and muzzle at Celestia. "The Princess Ponies, definitely." Her eyes suddenly lost focus. "We had only a few hours to see each other when I returned from the moon, and a smattering of other visits from them. Are they still there at the Heart? We never really talked about it much."
Celestia nodded, her giddy expression gone. "As our mothers guard the Heart, the Heart guards them." The smile quickly returned. "And they missed you almost as much as I did when you were gone." She lowered her head and neck and leaning them against Luna in the pony equivalent of a hug. "We were all so glad for your return."
Luna returned the hug, smiling through misty eyes. She suddenly broke the hug and began pacing around the rather-cramped bedroom, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I miss them too, but it brings up another question." She spun around to face her older sister. "Celly, it's been fifteen-hundred years since we last saw Megan." She walked forward. "And you and I both have read about human lifespans and health from the books she brought over."
Celestia blinked and nodded, twisting her lips in thought. "I... have a theory about that, but I'd need to go to the point of entry to determine if I'm right." The smile slowly returned to her mouth and she looked back up to the ceiling. "But I've got another place to be." She suddenly flashed, disappearing from the room.
Luna blinked and groaned. She began walking to her bed, the blankets and pillows rearranging themselves as she walked over. She hopped into bed just as there was another flash of light. Celestia reappeared as suddenly as she had vanished. Her wings were tucked in close to her body and her almost-ephemeral mane and tail, normally flowing even in the calmest of weather, had settled down and were almost... drooping. "Not there?" Luna asked.
"Not there," Celestia muttered. She glanced out the door to the room beyond. "And now that I think about it, I kinda left a meeting of the Senate when I got the letter from Twilight. When Busy Body was in the middle of a presentation."
Luna's mouth opened in silent shock. "You didn't! Him? You'll be lucky if any of the Senate is conscious when you get back!" She shook her head. "Celly..."
Celestia grinned back before running back out of the room, tossing a "Goodbye!" over her crest and withers before leaving.
Luna watched her go. "Don't forget about the letter to Spykoran!" The blankets floated back over and wrapped themselves around her. She laid her head against the pillow as the alarm clock placed itself back onto the nightstand beside her bed. She looked at it and groaned.
The two guards separated and bowed as Princess Celestia left. The pegasus, a young gray-coated stallion, looked to the older unicorn. "This is the most excitement I've had all week," he whispered, waiting for Celestia to disappear from sight.
The unicorn, a mare with a solid-red coat, snorted. "Just be grateful you're not on border duty near the Griffon Empire. Things can get... nasty out here." She looked straight ahead, showing off the scars on her face almost covered by the helmet she wore. "Besides, Princess Luna's the easy one. Stand here for eight hours while she sleeps and—"
The door suddenly opened and Luna peeked her head out. "Hey, are you two gonna be on guard duty at five?" At their nods, she grinned. "Great! Come in and wake me up then, all right? My alarm clock... fell off the desk."
The unicorn blinked. "I-I see, your majesty. We'll wake you up, then."
Luna threw her forelegs around the unicorn and pegasus, pulling both in for a hug. "Great, thanks! See you then!" She turned back to the door, but paused. "Just make sure to wake me gently, all right? I'm not exactly what you'd call a morning pony!" And with that, she disappeared back into her quarters.
A pregnant silence hung in the air between the two members of the Royal Guard. Finally, the pegasus spoke up. "Isn't five actually early-"
"Just let it go," the unicorn responded. "Just... just let it go." She looked to him and cocked her head to the side. "That's the immortal Goddess of the Night in there. Do you really wanna question her about being a morning pony or do you wanna pack your saddlebags for the northern frontier?"
"Morning pony it is, then!"
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Interesting. pretty good thus far, (I wonder how you will incorporate Discord.)
Cool (Wonder how Megan will react to Zecora, sense the last zebra she saw was Arabus lackey Zeb or at the very least the CMC.)
Spanish Steel? Well I wonder where they got Spanish from but I don't question it more then that.
1500 years?! Wow, Megan realy have an excuse now to be shocked. Much have changed on one and a half milenium.
i wonder where celly went to after that bit in luna's room before she went to the senate
"Winked". Brilliant.
Might want to rework that sentence. Also, Economics is not boring!
THIS.
So yeah, another great chapter; I love Celestia's hamminess, even in spite of the increasing feeling of missing something; that's my own issue.
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...ah, crud. I missed that. ...no, really, I can't find it. Where should I start looking? //dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Luna_lolface.png
Spyke needs to meet Spike ASAP!
Spit-takes... spit-takes everywhere!
Good start! What does the ruler of Equestria do when facing the imminent arrival of a foreign dignitary quite possibly older than she is?
Onward to find out!
444443 I have a theory.
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"...Might want to rework that sentence. Also, Economics is not boring!..."
It can be deadly boring when explained in minute detail by someone who is incredibly boring and quite passionate about it. Heck, any topic can be deadly boring when explained by such a person. Career Government work seems a magnet for that type.
Morning pony it is!
Woo! Six hundredth like!
And this story is worth every one of them!
I really liked Celestia and Luna here. Doing all the spit takes!
I could do a paragraph on the gaurds, or talk about how this "King Spykoran the Old"sheds more info on the whole Spike thing earlier, buuuut:
SPIT TAKES, SPIT TAKES EVERYWHERE!
The meme "Luna isn't a morning pony." did never take off.
Yeah, looks like the old Spike being the forest pony is wrong. Dangit. Lol.
I love this chapter
Find myself reading this more often than the others.
Well, the princess are happy... And I'm detecting a distinct bit of Narnia Time...
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This is why I always have a bottle of Gatorae near me whenever I live read. Spit takes
I'm gonna call him General Toledo instead. I hope you don't mind.
Recurring theme. Nice. This had better keep happening because it's great.
This sentence is just as guarded as what's actually being guarded by the guards.
I love Luna's introduction. Exceedingly funny. Brilliant imagery.
Oboi oboi, speculation time!
Okay, I estimate Megan at about 45 years of age. I also estimate her at about 15 years of age in Generation One. So, by my speculative thoughts, that means... one human year equals fifty pony years. Now, how long were Twilight, Rainbow, and Spike gone? About ten minutes... so, about eight hours and twenty minutes in pony time. Huh. Yeah, I guess that would be time enough for worry to set in and for AJ to be missing.
Well, that's enough from me on that issue.
Nice touches with the Princesses. Also I found it amusing that there was an advert for "Cadence" watches. "Awesome style for less money."
I'm seeing where things are both falling into place, and new situations and questions are arising. Very keen to continue, but I must prepare for work now.
And thanks again for reading my story.
lol sundance and twilight I presume?
...When it concerns your student and her friends, this word should never be used, Celestia. You'll learn that in time.
PICK UP THAT LI-- whoops wrong generation
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I was thinking more along the lines of
"Close all shops in the mall, Cancel the three ring circus and sequre all animals in the zoo-"