Chapter 44- Last Day on the Throne
With not much time to decide, Twilight had to think fast about what she wanted to do. With the rumors of her and Sol last night having spread throughout the castle and beyond its walls, it would only be a matter of time before ponies began coming up with their own theories about what was going on between her and Sol. And right now, what Twilight didn't want was for ponies, especially those working for the newspapers, to perceive their relationship as some sort of royal scandal.
Coming to a decision over breakfast with Sol, Twilight told him that she believed that it would be better for them to come out and admit their involvement with each other, rather than allow ponies to come up with their own ideas on what's going on with them. Him agreeing with her, Twilight and Sol finished their breakfast and made their way to the throne room, where a large group of ponies had already gathered in the hallways leading from it to the room. Thanks to their escorts, though, they were able to get to the throne at the other side of the room with relative ease, but not without Twilight having considered teleporting herself and Sol there to save some time and hassle.
Once the pair were seated, Twilight raised a hoof to calm the voices so she and Sol could address them. Not surprising to either of them, when the first pony stepped forward to speak, she inquired them about the rumor that had been spreading throughout Canterlot like a mid-summer wildfire. Sharing one final look of reassurance with Sol, Twilight began addressing the mare and everypony else that had packed the throne room, telling them that she and Sol were, in fact, together, and had been for nearly two weeks now. Predictably, the entire crowd erupted, from the throne room to the line stretching outside the halls. Unfortunatly, while they had figured it might happen, Twilight and Sol still felt a little disappointed when they heard that not all ponies were glad for them. While there were plenty of ponies who were happy for the new royal couple, they could undoubtedly make out the voices of those who were voicing out against them, namely the nobles who were present, all of whom were crying in outrage.
Growing tired of the nobles and how they continued to act against him, Sol lifted a claw an inch off of the ground and slammed it back down, creating a thunderous boom that not only echoed throughout the throne room and into the halls, but also sent a small tremor throughout the entire castle, silencing everypony and inadvertently causing most of them to stumble. With the nobles now silenced, and everypony else getting back to their hooves or rubbing their ears from the boom, Twilight waited for them to get themselves together before she continued to tell the crowd of her relationship with Sol. The following next few hours were spent with Twilight and Sol answering questions. At that point, they had considered that open court had essentially been tossed out the window in exchange for this "extended interview", as they had mentally called it.
By the time lunch came around, both Twilight and Sol were exhausted from having ponies constantly asking them questions all morning with no time for a break. It was by far the busiest that either of them had seen the throne room. Even when ponies came to see them, or Celestia and Luna in open court, there would at least be a brief period of time before the next pony was sent in. With grumbling stomachs and a light thumping in their heads from their headaches, the interview had ended, and the crowd of ponies started to file out of the castle, returning to either their homes, or in the case of some undercover reporters, to write down what they had learned for their respective newspaper in hopes of getting their article out first.
Once all of the ponies were gone, leaving Twilight and Sol in the throne room with their guards and assistant, the two let out a loud sigh as they both slumped back against the throne's backrest.
"Let's never do that again," Twilight mumbled, earning her a tired nod from Sol.
"Agreed. I don't remember such things like that lasting for as long as that did, nor did ponies talk in such rapid succession from one pony to the next."
"There were a few times when I was with Princess Celestia when she did some of these, but I don't remember any of them ever being as bad as that."
"My guess," Helping began, "is that it is because you, Princess, are dating somepony who's considered an enigma amongst the Canterlot nobility."
"You're probably not far off," Sol agreed. "To the nobles, and most of the ponies in Equestria, I am just some random half-breed who showed up out of nowhere one day, and suddenly got close to not just the royal family, but the Elements of Harmony as well. That alone has raised suspicions about me already, but when you add this on top of it, ponies are going to start acting out."
"You mean like with the assassination attempt a few days ago?"
Twilight frowned. "Could you please don't remind me of that? I'm trying to forget it."
"Sorry, Princess. I was just giving an example."
"An accurate one, unfortunately," Sol grimaced. "If whoever sent those ponies after me had problems with me before, then this will only further add to their ire." Sol paused and gave Twilight a soft smile. "But you're right, Twilight. Let's not dwell on that, and instead focus on something else."
The next few days were somewhat strenuous for Twilight and Sol, and yet, not very much had changed. After their announcement to the public, news about them being an couple had spread across the lands, and by nightfall, everypony in Equestria knew about their involvement. Much like with the initial reaction in the throne room, while most ponies had taken the news welcomingly, there were still those who weren't too fond of the idea of Twilight dating some random pony like Sol. One such example came from a newspaper article from Las Pegasus that insinuated that Sol was, in reality, a changeling in disguise, and had put Twilight and the other Princesses under his control with his mind control magic. Unfortunatly for Twilight and Sol, while neither of them liked what was written, they unfortunately couldn't do anything about it. While gossip involving the royal family wasn't unheard of, it was one of the few times that Sol wished he could remove the Freedom of the Press that his mother had approved. At least, for topics such as this. It didn't help much either that while Twilight, Sol, and those closest to them all knew that those stories were completely false, it gave some of the nobles some incentive to try and push for Sol's removal again. Needless to say that they didn't get far at all before they were promptly escorted out of the castle.
Apart from the news articles about them, and ponies coming in to ask them more questions about their relationship, the days went by for the two just as they did before they made their announcement. That is, except for this one day, for today was the day that the quarterly guard reports from each of the towns and cities in Equestria were due.
Sitting on the throne, Sol and Twilight were going through the guard reports from the various towns and cities, both reading through them with a drink and snack sitting off to the side for them to nibble on as they worked.
"Of all the duties we have to do, this is by far the most boring," Sol mumbled out loud. "I don't know how mother was able to do all of this without dying of boredom."
"I admit, it does get a bit tedious after a while," Twilight agreed. "I've helped Princess Celestia with this a few times before, and even though I do love reading, going through guard reports isn't all that interesting to me. Especially when the reports start to become repetitive."
"..."
"... Sol?"
"Hmm? Sorry, what?"
"You okay there?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, frowning at the report he was reading. "But... it's this report."
"Is it something interesting?" she asked, looking over his shoulder at the report.
"Not the report itself, but here, look at the signature."
Skipping the report, Twilight's eyes traveled directly down to the bottom of the page where the name "Lieutenant Flathoof" was signed.
"Flathoof? I think I remember hearing about him. Isn't he that really old Lieutenant of the Las Pegasus guard?"
Sol's frown deepened as he stared at the parchment. "He is."
"Wow. I thought that he would've retired by now. Last I heard he was pushing close to sixty."
"As have I. I've also heard that he's rather stubborn about retiring, and will refuse to until either the day he dies, or mother comes and orders him to. Anyways, take a look at his signature."
"What about it?"
"It's wrong."
"'Wrong'? What do you mean?"
"It's just something that mother's told me about him. According to her, Lieutenant Flathoof is a stickler for tradition, which includes how ponies should write. And this," Sol tapped the signature with a hoof, "isn't how he normally writes. I've seen his signature before, and he is always precise when dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Here, he continued the stroke of his quill at the end of his names, and crossed it back through his name to cross his T's and dot his I's."
Twilight's eyes narrowed. "You think this may be a fake?"
"Either that, or he had somepony else sign for him, which actually wouldn't be a first he had somepony do it, but it would be the first that they botched it up. Now, we haven't heard of any alarming news coming from there, but maybe we should send somepony to Las Pegasus to meet up with him and find out what this is all about, just incase."
"Shall I send for Captain Iron Guard?" Helping Hoof asked from her spot near the base of the throne.
"Actually, give me one second." Levitating a quill and parchment, Twilight wrote out a quick letter with instructions to Iron Guard and gave it to Helping. "Here, give him this. It'll save us all time this way."
Taking the scroll from Twilight, Helping gave them a bow and went off to find Iron Guard.
"I really hope that it's nothing," Twilight said hopefully.
"Me too. It probably is nothing, but it never hurts to be safe."
"That's true."
Knowing that that was being taken care of, Twilight and Sol returned to their duties when, after an hour had passed, the throne room was lit in a bright flash of light, eliciting a startled yelp from the two, along with Helping, who all tried to shield their eyes from the blinding light, while the guards all squinted and pointed their spears in the direction of the light. A moment later after the light had died down, and their eyes re-adjusted from the brief blinding, everypony in the room sighed in relief when they saw that Celestia and Luna were standing where the light had previously been, along with their luggage. However, while Celestia appeared to be in high spirits, Luna was looking a bit purple as she stood ridged in place, with what appeared to be the outline of sunglasses on her face.
"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Welcome back!" Twilight excitingly called, running down the dais towards them with Sol close behind her.
When the two got close, they both stopped a few feet away from them and eyed Luna, who hissed in pain.
Seeing her hurting, Sol's eyes widened in worry. "Are you alright? What happened?"
"Unfortunatly," Celestia began with a small smirk, "it would seem as though my dearest sister forgot to put on her sunscreen. I told her that she would get sunburned if she didn't."
"And I told you," Luna grumbled through gritted teeth, feeling the sunburn against her skin, "that I did put on the sunscreen, but the accursed thing didn't do anything to protect me from your scorching sun!"
"Really? But the sunscreen we got for you was SPF 500. You shouldn't have gotten burned by it. Besides, we were both in disguise, so even if you got sunburned, it shouldn't have carried over."
"My sun-scorched hide begs to differ, sister. Besides, I've spent most of my life in the cool comfort of my night, and have never spent that much time outside in your direct sunlight for such an extended period of time, let alone on a sunny beach near the equator."
Feeling bad for his aunt's suffering, Sol lit his horns and began using his magic to heal her sunburn.
"Here, try to hold still and I'll heal you."
As his magic washed over her, Luna let out a quiet gasp as she felt it touching her sunburnt body, but quickly relaxed when she didn't feel any pain coming from the contact of his magic. In fact, instead of pain, she could feel the burning sensation beginning to cool and slowly subside. Even though it was only by a small bit, it was still very noticeable.
"Ahhh. That is already much better. Thank you, neph-" Luna cut herself off as she remembered the numerous guards posted around the throne room, which in turn caused her to raise a curious brow.
Helping cleared her throat. "Might I suggest that we move this conversation to a more private location?" she asked, catching Luna's slip.
"A very wise idea. Tia, if you would mind? I can't focus on teleporting us with these burns constantly stinging me."
Celestia gave a quite nod and, in a flash of light, teleported herself, Luna, Sol, Twilight, Helping, and their luggage, from the throne room to her chambers.
"Ahh. Much better." Now in the safety of her room, Celestia walked over to Twilight and Sol, and wrapped them both in a big hug. "I missed you two so much."
"We missed you too, mother," Sol replied, trying to focus on healing Luna while simultaneously returning his mother's affection.
Celestia grinned and, lighting her horn, levitated a newspaper out from her luggage.
"I'm also surprised of you two," she said, showing Twilight and Sol the headline of their announcement from a few days ago. "I was under the impression that you two were trying to keep the news of your relationship a secret from the populace. So, what happened that made you change your minds?"
Blushing in embarrassment from Celestia's semi-teasing, Twilight and Sol both adverted their gazes from Celestia until the former spoke up.
"Well... honestly, we didn't feel like we had much of a choice," Twilight began explaining, earning her curious looks from Celestia and Luna.
"How so?" Luna inquired.
"That would be somewhat my fault," Sol admitted. "When Twilight and I came back from our date-"
"You two went on a date?!" Celestia squealed. "You two have to tell me everything! How did it go? Where did you two go? Was it romantic enough-"
"Mother, please."
"Oh, alright. I'll wait for now."
"Thank you. Like I was saying, when we returned from our date, we tried to be subtle about our return, but long-story-short, somepony spotted us and news about us spread. The next morning, Miss Hoof informed us about the rumors that had begun spreading through not just the castle, but Canterlot as well, and that we had a decision to make. So, after Twilight and I talked it over breakfast, we decided that it would be better if we were to come out and admit that we were together, before any wild, false rumors began to spread."
"Didn't stop them from still spreading, unfortunately," Helping frowned.
"I would imagine not," Celestia spoke, frowning as well. "I don't doubt that the nobles had quite a bit to say in the matter."
Helping frown morphed into a smirk. "They did, and were turned right back around. Of course... that's not the worse of what's happened in your absence, Your Highness."
"Does it have something to do with the increase of guards in the throne room?" Luna asked. "It was quite easy to see that security had been increased since we left. Tell us, did something happen since our departure?"
Twilight shared a knowing look with Sol. "... yes. Something did happen," she vaguely admitted, earning her a look from Celestia, who noticed her hesitation.
"What was it?" Celestia saw Sol and Twilight sharing another look, but were once again hesitant to speak up. With warning flags going off from their silence, Celestia turned to her assistant. "Miss Hoof? Would you care to tell me what has happened?"
"Of course, Princess, but you will not like it," she replied.
"As long as nopony's started any wars, I think I can handle it."
Helping shuffled a nervous hoof over the carpet before she spoke up.
"... somepony tried to poison Sol."
Slowly and silently, Celestia blinked. However, while she may had appeared calm and collective on the outside, everypony in the room knew that this was merely the calm before the inevitable firestorm.
"... what?"
Helping nervously gulped. "Last week, three ponies infiltrated the castle and managed to poison Prince Sol's breakfast." Helping paused when she saw Celestia's eyes widen... along with her pupils bursting into flames before quickly adding, "Captain Night Wing and his guards apprehended the three culprits later that night!"
"... where are they now?"
"In the dungeons! They have been held there since their arrest."
Celestia looked down at Twilight and Sol, who she had hugged tightly and protectively against her.
"Is this true?"
Sol let out a sigh. "Unfortunatly, it is, mother. Thankfully, they had sorely misjudged the dosage that they spiked my food with, so all I had was an upset stomach for a little while."
Celestia gave a curt nod and let go of them two.
"If you all will excuse me for a moment, there is somepony that I need to have a few words with."
Though she didn't say it, everypony in the room knew exactly who Celestia was referring to, and none of them had any intention of getting in her way. If anything, Luna would had joined her as well, if it weren't for her sunburns keeping her from moving.
"Tia."
Hearing her name, Celestia paused her teleportation and looked back to Luna.
"What is it?"
"Would you mind delivering a message to these would-be assassins for me?"
"And that would be?"
Luna scowl morphed into a sinister grin. "... sweet dreams."
Knowing what Luna was referring to, Celestia's face soon grew to match Luna's.
"I believe I can do that."
Lighting her horn, Celestia teleported out of the room, leaving the four of them in silence with Sol still tending to Luna's sunburns.
"... so, how do you think they'll handle it when Princess Celestia confronts-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Before Twilight could finish, the sound of what sounded like a horrified, high-pitched shriek echoed throughout the castle, causing everypony's ears to perk up in alarm.
"... what was that?"
Luna gave a dark chuckle. "That, Twilight, would be the sound of Tia's motherly wrath."
Up next, the moment you've all been waiting for.
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Yay, great update!
Looks like Someling didn't study who they were impersonating enough... and Oh shit, dat next chapter.
Oh my God. I have a feeling things are going to get REAL good now
When will people learn that you do not EVER mess with a bears cubs
Keep up the good work my good man
Uh oh...
And also, don't piss off Mama bear!
awyus.jpg
Finally! We get to find out if it was Discord or Eris that noticed him from a few chapters ago.
Las Pegasus huh
Cadence had a few hooves in it, so yes, it was romantic enough
I believe the saying goes "No rest for the wicked"
I've got the popcorn, who's got the butter?
Aww, I thought that with the title "last day on the throne", someone would have taken over canterlot...
8878435
Considering who we're waiting for we should munch on pickles and teacups instead of popcorn and butter.
I wonder if Celestia will ever be pushed to the point of turning into Daybreaker. We've already seen what happened when Blueblood and the assassins tried to kill Sol, so I'm kinda curious.
Well hey there Discord,
Buddy old pal...
T̶̞̑́̋̃̐͑̆͜ͅr̷̡͙͚̼̙̺͖̥͊̓̈́y̷̨̲͙͉̮̭͕̖̳̓͛̑̀͋̋́̈́̓̆̽̐̉̔̑̈́̿̓̈͌̓̍́̉̏̕̚ͅ ̶̧̨̧̛̛̮̟̮̟͇͚͚̙̻̭̲̟̤͖̠̖͖̭͉̻̲̠͖͔̦̜̣̠͔̱̖̐̾̀͌͒͂͒͌̾͜ņ̷̡̢̛͕͓͚̮̳̟͚̪̱͓̙̟̻͛̐̈́̑̐͌̀͗̌̀̌̃̅̃̄̍̓̇̓̚͠ŏ̸̢̧̨̜̙̭̫̦͙̬͓̹̲̩̙̥͖͙͉̞͕̯̮͎̳͈̝̘̃́̒̑̾̑̄̐͂̊̇͊͑̌̄̇͗̋̅͘͜͜t̸̢̨͉͙̘̩̪̭̲̪̤̯̠̦͕̱̝̮̋̾̐͂́̔̏̔̍̄̊̕͜͜͠ ̷̛̛̛̛̼͐̉̔̉̓͆̓̆͒͂͑̆̊͑̃́̉̏͌́̌̉̌̓̍̚̕͝͝ţ̵̨̧̜̺̮͉̣̤͕̝̠͔͍̩͚͈̭͚̝̤̤̞̤͕̳̻͇̗͉̥͊̈́̑̊̅́̅̋͒͂̾̌̽͐͛̓͑͌̐͝͠ͅͅơ̷̧͙͍̞̩͎̱̬̬͙͙̮̦̠͍͖̬̙̥̗̮̲̼̾̊̎́͘͜ ̵̢͓̲̭͔̬͇͕͉̥̐͗̓̀́́̌̇̅͒̕͝͝ģ̴̛̞̳̰̺͇̟͈̹̝̫̥̼͓͇͂̎̒̍̿̐̓͂̏̇̃̕̕̚̚e̸̟̘͑̀͒̈̆́̐̾͆̿͑̌͆͒̓̀̒́͒̀̒̈̈̀̇̂͠͝t̷̨̛̼͍̘̲̦̝́̉̊̀̈́̋̌͋͊̆̃͌͒̈̐̈́̾̿̌͐̓̊̆̒͘͘͜͝͠ ̴̧̧̧̹̯̤̥̼͓̝̫̭̜̩͕̯̾͂̿̄͂̓͝m̸̧̧͖͈͍͖̹͔̹͇͓͕̜̥͖̠̭̐̃͊̿̑̋͛̍̏͊̂̏͋͒̈́͒̇̇̐̄͘̚͘͜͠͠u̶̡̨̢̧͇͍̪̮̹̹͇̤̘̰͈͔̥̖͔͑̀̄͆̊͑̔̄̈́͊̃̕ͅr̵̪̭̍̆̈̅͐̂̇ḑ̸̛̛̺͉̙̗̗͓̱̑́̾̒̈́̐͒̂̑͊̌̊̄́̃̓̅̋͂̈́͘͘è̴̢̛̝̞̺̰͈̱̲͈̗̜͖̹̗̟̩͇͙̳͈̩̗͙̰̼̙͙̞̺̈́͊̇͆̓̄̇̒̐̈̉̉̂̈́̄̑̑̉̽͑̓͜͝͝͝͝ͅȓ̴̛̛̪̦̠͎͈̹̬̣̝̦̃̏̌̀̎͋̾͑̿̈́̆̈́͋̃̃͂̕̚̚͠͝ͅe̶̢̨̛̳̤̖͍̣̹̜̦̪̬̩̤̫̤̙͈̳̭͍͓̹̟͚̺̺̿̓̎̂́̄̈́̿̂̉̐͠͝͝ͅͅd̷̲͙̝̗̱̞̥͍̳̭͍̬͖̆̈́̓̓̉̃̊̿̉͒͋͌̐̂̄̾̿̋̉͋̍̋̚ ̵̢̡̳̖̲͇͎̟̪̩͓̲̹̣̦̫̘͈̲͈̰̬̯̀͗͑͑̌͗̓͊͆̍̍̾̐͂̿̍͌͑̾͊̍͊̇̄̃̈́͜͜͝͝͝ͅͅͅà̴̢̮̪̬̻̮̥̝̺̠̦̬͖̜̙͙̥̗͖̋͆͐̔̆́͐̃̽̍̑̈́̑̍̃̂͐̂̽̀̈̈́͋͊͘̕͜͠͝ǧ̶̡̢͉̪̜̣͈̠̳̬͎̥̠̮͓̘̺͉̾̽̒͋̃̀̏̄͛̀̈́̎̇̕̚͘͘͜͠ą̴̧̨̧̦͉̞͕̞̱̹̼͔̘̟̲͈̙̘͖̈́̔͊̑̊̈́̑̈̑̄̈̀͋̃̀̄̀̕̕ͅį̷̢̨̧̠̗͎̪̮͉͎̠̘͍̬̙̗̖̙̻̦̞̪͖̟̥̻̯̟̗͕̞̟̪̍̈́̌̿͊͝ͅn̷͙̖̰͓̗̪̯̦̲̳̬̬̻̳̥̫͍̖̲̲̮͈͆̀̃̒̈́̑̃̋͆̌̽̏͒͛͆͒̒̈́͗̏͐͛̈́̈̈͐̇̕̕͠͠͠,̴̢̢̘̮̬̼̠̲̙̞̪̟̂̓̀͆͌͘͜ ̶̢̛̥̠͔͇͕͍͚̘̖͗̉̑͒̐͗̅̈́̎̉͗̀̉̈́̾̄̅̀͗̓͂̄̀̕̕̕͝͝͝͝Ơ̷̢̱̳̹̮̣͉̪̱̮̼̳̙͍̻̬̗̹̍̏̌͒̾͊̀͛̽̈͌̆̃̂̋̿̌̂̇̿̊͋̓̈́̀̔͊̚͝͝͝k̴̼͙̫̼̹̖̩͇̭̓͛̅́̂͘ͅͅā̵͖̉̉́̃́͛͋͛͑̈̕y̶̨̧̭̻̠̰̞̬̝͒͌̍̈́̓͆͗͊͒̇͛̓̈́̀̿̏̈̍͗͋̕͝?̸̢̢̡͇̝̟̭͙̙̦̬̜͎̜̔̔̔̽̃̍̓̋̏͛̾̄̽̽͒̈́̍̀͆͆͑͂͌͒͗̃͠͠͝
Excellent
My Trolluna Detection System has gone off.
Love ya, Luna. That was awesome.
Heh... hehehehehehehehe..... I like this version of Luna
Ask Cadance
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