A Royal Problem

by Wearin Hat

Pain in the Grass

“Why can’t you read books one at a time like a normal pony?”

“Forget about it Spike, just get back to helping me clean all of this up.” The purple unicorn ran around the library levitating books as she spoke in an authoritative tone. Normally she would be far more cordial with her assistant, but she had gone and overdone it with the research she did late last night and passed out half-way through a book. Never one to be at a lack of a plan or schedule, the unicorn was working quickly to make up for the fact she had not been able to put away her books before falling asleep like she had planned.

Contrary to the rushed nature of the frenzied cleaning, this act was a common routine for Princess Celestia’s most beloved student. Her current thoughts matched up perfectly with those of her assistant and close friend Spike. The baby dragon busied himself with putting rather heavy books onto the top of the book shelves as he pondered whether or not his friend should take a break for all of the studying.

Things had been this way for almost a month in the library they called home. The Princess had assigned her student with some sort of project to do some reading about. No book was left unturned since that day. As chaotic as things often turned out during these ‘study sprees’ as Spike had come to call them. Ever studious and inquisitive, the act of heavy research for her mentor was always appealing.

Squinted eyes peered out from the baby dragon’s face as he eyed the spine of a particularly large book. “Blades of Insignificant Beauty: The Structure and Growth Habits of Equestria’s Flora: Volume 1?” Confused, the dragon turned his head carefully to stare down at the quickly moving form of his friend. “What exactly did the Princess tell you to research?”

A pained sigh left the unicorn as she turned an aggravated glare to Spike. “Stop goofing off Spike! You know the Princess asked me specifically to look up information on several species of grass for her new garden! Now finish up, I’ve got a relaxing walk through the park planned for this morning.” Before even seconds could pass, a comical crash reverberated across the library as the giant book forced the purple dragon to collapse from atop the ladder.

Though offering a worried glance, the purple unicorn dismissed the incident as she continued to catalogue the rest of the large books she had used as reference guides. Of course Spike would forget the Princess’ request; he never pays attention when it doesn’t have to do with Rarity. A wince passed by her brow as the mean thought raced through her mind. She’d never voice her opinion on that matter, she was painfully aware of how dejected Spike would feel if she accused him of letting his crush of getting in the way of important studies. So, rather than risk hurting his feelings, she decided to simply re-explain the assignment.

“Alright, listen this time Spike I don’t want to have to repeat myself again. The Princess is putting in a new garden in honor of Luna’s return and she wants this garden to be perfect. What she wanted was plants and flowers that would look great at night. So, disregarding the obvious choices of florescent flowers, I’ve been tasked with looking for the perfect additions to the garden. All I have left to do is decide which breed of Equestrian grass will be best.”

Mumbling could be heard as a response as the baby dragon struggled to free himself of the massive book. Sensing his distress, the unicorn used her magic to simply levitate the tome up to its original spot. Finally freed of his burden, the dragon furrowed his brow in annoyance. “You’ve spent two days straight reading these dusty old books for GRASS?!”

“It’s not that simple Spike. Did you know that there are over forty different species of grass in Ponyville and Canterlot? I have to choose the absolute most perfect breed. That means the blades have to be soft, must grow at an acceptable speed, be easily visible in the moonlight so Luna can see it, and be easily maintained.” The unicorn spoke matter-of-factly about the matter. She hated having to lecture him about this. What made it worse for her was that she had only just gone over this with him two days ago when she started looking into the grass situation.

Silence stretched on as Spike continued to sort books out and generally clean up the mess the unicorn was talented in leaving after a study session. Tension casually built up within the air as the two made little progress in their efforts to neatly fit every book back to its home. A smirk passed over the purple unicorn as she began to toy with thoughts of how to repay her faithful assistant for his continued tolerance of her study habits. “I know it must be difficult to watch me be so preoccupied with things, but there’s only one more thing on my agenda for this project. Once I sketch out the overlay of the garden I’ll take you over to Rarity’s to see if she has any extra gems lying around for you. How does that sound?” Silence once more occupied the library as the unicorn divided her attention between her friend and the titles of the texts.

Things had to be sorted to the best of her ability. If ponies were to show up looking for books to read then she had to be able to instantly search the tome out for the customer. This would allow her to maintain an aura of positivity with all of her friends. Plus, the purple pony could never concentrate entirely on her work if the books weren’t catalogued properly.

Casually the violet eyes of the librarian read the spine of the next book to be put away. Warm memories flooded into her busy mind as she observed the book that had contained the Elements of Harmony when Discord had escaped his statue form. She always felt a sense of safety whenever she looked at it. Though she had encountered it in less than optimal circumstances, the book reminded the unicorn of her dear friends that she so dearly loved. Where would she be without them? Probably up in the dusty Canterlot library with Spike begging her to make friends. Aware that she couldn’t afford to waste time with fond memories with such an important task still looming, the studious pony put the volume into its proper place.

The sound of the book sliding into the shelf made her realize just how quiet the library had become. Along with this realization came the knowledge that Spike had yet to respond to her offer. Curious, the unicorn turned her gaze to her number one assistant. He stood atop the ladder once more to put away another book, but his face betrayed his thoughts. The baby dragon’s eyebrows were turned down in happiness with his jaw slightly bobbing up and down to match the dialogue of the fantasy that was assuredly about his not-so-secret crush on Rarity.

Giggling came forth from the purple unicorn as she decided to see if her friend was going to respond to her proposal. “Spike,” more giggles fought their way out as his green eyes focused in surprise at being brought out of his thoughts, “should I take that as meaning you’re up to that idea?”

“As long as you promise not to get buried I your research again after this. You know I can’t stand to see you like that.”

“You have my word, Spike. I won’t get too carried away with my studies anymore. Finish putting away these books and you can go.”

The baby dragon began to quickly sort the books out with a renewed vigor. Sure, there were plenty of tasty gems here at the library, but by going to Rarity’s he’d get the added treat of being near his beloved.

Happy that her bribe worked to get the dragon in high gear, the unicorn returned the brunt of her attention to the books lying in a neat stack. This would be an easy pile. Each book had come from the very same shelf and thus would only require some sorting to get in the right order. However, as the pony used her magic to carefully place the first of the texts back there was a mighty crash that was preceded by what sounded like a gasp of surprise.

Sighing in annoyance, the purple unicorn whipped her head to face the now floored dragon. “How many times do I have to tell you to be more careful when you’re using the ladder?” Anger prevailed through her voice until she noticed a scroll lying across the face of the baby dragon obscuring his pained expression. “A letter from the Princess, but what would…” Suddenly aware how long she had spent making sure everything was as perfect as possible; the purple unicorn came to quick conclusion that the message was one of anticipation or anger in regards to her incomplete plan for the garden. “Oh no, How could I have been so careless?! Oh Spike, she’s probably furious that I haven’t given her my ideas about the garden yet!”

Though overwhelmed with fear at what kind of punishment she should be expecting for taking too long, the purple pony levitated the letter in front of her and began to read it to get this over with as quickly as possible:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Please forgive me for this intrusion as I am sure that you are in the middle of something of importance, but I feel I have no one else to turn to with my concerns.

As you are aware, my sister is having troubles with adjusting back into the swing of things after being gone for so long. Only now do I realize just how deep her issues delved. You see, I have recently scheduled some free time that should allow me to reconnect with my beloved sister. The problem is that she still seems to harbor some form of resentment or hard feelings following everything that has happened between us. She won’t even eat with me whenever I request she do so. I am worried that a rift has formed between us that will only continue to drive us apart.

My expertise in this area is inadequate to safely deal with this issue and I’m deathly afraid that I could lose Luna forever should I make a mistake in handling any of this. That is why I am turning to you, the greatest student I have ever had, to see if you could hopefully discover a solution to my problem.

I eagerly await your findings. Please waste no time in getting started as time may only worsen the issue.
Love,
Your Mentor,
Princess Celestia

Thoughts ran through Twilight’s mind at a mile a minute. How could she best approach this? Is there even anything that can be done? Knowing the seriousness of the issue, the unicorn decided to post-pone working on her garden project until things improved between the royal sisters.

“What did the Princess want? Please tell me she’s abandoning this whole garden thing.” The exasperated dragon walked slowly over to his friend as she stood in stupefied silence. Curious, he looked to the letter for his answer.

“Oh no…this could be very bad Spike…”

Having only just finished making his way through the letter, the baby dragon eyed his friend suspiciously. “Why is that? It isn’t like you can’t solve this problem for her…is it?”

Worry creased Twilight’s brow as she set the letter down on her desk. Though not stated outright by the Princess, the studious unicorn could feel the subtext explaining it to her plainly. “This is really a big deal Spike. If the princesses can’t reconcile then Luna could rebel again like she did one thousand years ago. Spike, this could start a war!”

Understanding the severity of the issue, Spike put a consoling claw upon Twilight’s cheek. “It’s ok Twi, if there’s anyone who knows about sibling issues it’s you.” Hope lifted the words to the unicorn’s ears as she considered the dragon’s hopeful words.

“I would…if this was something less sizable. Shining and I weren’t separated from each other for that long and we certainly never hated each other. I wouldn’t know where to start with all of this.”

“Could the girls help? Pinkie, AJ, and Rarity have siblings, so maybe one of them knows what to do.” The fear in the baby dragon’s voice lifted as he began to see the situation from Twilight’s perspective.

“I don’t know. Pinkie doesn’t have a negative relationship with anypony and you know how close knit the Apples are, so I doubt they would know how deal with a problem this huge.” A moment of hesitation followed as she considered the final choice. “Rarity! She and Sweetie Belle are always having arguments!” Excited that a possible avenue of success had presented itself, the purple unicorn jogged hurriedly to the door. This had to be assessed as soon as possible.

“Are you sure Twi? I mean, yeah, they have their spats sometimes, but do you really think that they might be able to relate to Celestia’s problem?” Nervously the dragon waddled after his best friend and followed her as she led the way out of the still cluttered library.

“I hope they can Spike, for the sake of Equestria I hope they can.”

Comments

[Crystal Secret]

Well, this looks rather interesting. Since you've just posted this up your probably eager for feedback.
And since no one ever gives me feedback, I sometimes forget, but since this is a new story you`ll probably notice this.

What I do like:

The plot.
The Characters.
Where this might be going.

What I don't like:
Nothing.

How can this Improve?
By trying your absolute hardest and taking your time. Don't worry about getting it out there, worry about the grammar and sentence structure.

In Conclusion:
I absolutely love this story, I can see where this is headed and if you need any advice or help don't hesitate to ask me.

Good luck with the next chapter!

Keep Moving Foward

[Longshot]

This story seems to be out of character for Luna. If you look at the first episode, you can see that Luna does not harbor any resentment and instead wants to reconcile and be with her sister.

However...

Your idea seems much more realistic. It would be much more realistic for Luna to harbor some resentment towards Celesta.

Also, what happened to the grass? Are they not going to plant any?

Other than that nice story.

[LeilaSkies017]

It's so funny how this is called A Royal Problem and one of the newer mlp episodes is called that XD.