Teatime - A Novel Of Twilight & Celestia

by bigbear

Chapter 10 - Princess of the Day

The private dining room of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna was in the Central Tower, below the level of the Grand Balcony. Its furnishings were surprisingly simple given it was the private preserve of the co-rulers of Equestria. The room included a cozy fireplace, broad low tables, many large sitting cushions, and simple cabinets full of sturdy cups and utensils. It was the private nature of the room that allowed it to be simple. It was not a room for entertaining foreign guests or impressing recalcitrant politicians. It was a space where the royal ponies could bring friends and family and act like sisters.

By the time Luna and Twilight arrived, the room had been stocked by the royal chefs with an alicorn sized breakfast buffet, along with carafes of coffee, tea, mountain spring water, and a variety of juices. Closing the deceptively simple doors triggered privacy wards equal to the ones on the chambers of the royal sisters.

“Eat well.” Luna levitated a large platter and filled it with a variety of foods from the various trays. “Communing with celestial objects has a deceptively high drain on our magic. Without a good meal, it’s not unusual to ‘crash’ part way through a busy day.”

Often as not, breakfast for Twilight was a cup of coffee and toast. But it seemed silly to ignore the voice of experience. She added a couple of extra items to her sparse plate. “You don’t seem worried by Celestia’s absence.”

“Given your loyalty to my sister, if she was in any distress you wouldn’t be calmly standing at the buffet. As you are, I accept your words that Celestia had a challenging night and is resting.” Luna sat on a cushion and put her plate on the table. “What transpired between you two was a private matter. I shan't pry.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said. “I don’t think it’s my story to tell.”

“I spoke to the composers and to the leaders of the Canterlot Symphony,” Luna continued. “They suspended further performances of the new piece until the impact of re-introducing such music is reviewed.” Luna cut off a large slice of nutty bread and buttered it. “I made it clear nopony had done anything wrong and the crown had no wish to engage in censorship.”

Twilight nodded in relief. She hadn’t considered what bringing back such magical music might do to Equestria and was glad Luna had taken appropriate steps. Twilight sat on a cushion across from Luna and speared a piece of sliced apple with a fork. She held it in her field but didn’t put it in her mouth. “Celestia had a late night, but given her normal habit of rising before the dawn, I’m not sure when she’ll wake up.”

“As the pressure of raising the sun has been removed, I wouldn’t be surprised if she slept for a considerable period.” Luna ate heartily. “We must determine how you will discharge the responsibilities of the day.”

“I thought that as the member of the diarchy who was still awake, you might…”

“No, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna put her food down and looked stern. “Night has given way to the day, and you’ve accepted dominion. Everypony in the castle knows what transpired on the Grand Balcony. The only thing faster than teleportation is gossip in Canterlot.” Luna picked her food back up and ate a mouthful. “Equestria is yours until sunset.”

The weight of Canterlot Castle seemed to crash down on Twilight’s shoulders. A million “what if’s” started marching through her mind, each more disastrous than the last. She slumped on her cushion.

Luna extended her wing, and the two alicorns touched feathers. “Twilight, it will be alright. You’ve held the fate of Equestria in your hooves before, and the land has come out better for it. I’m sure that Raven is right now clearing as much off your docket as she can. Anypony who was waiting to see my sister specifically will likely be willing to reschedule.”

“That will help,” Twilight said. “Who do you think will be left?”

“Anypony who needs a decision from a Princess, and it doesn’t matter to them which one provides it.” Luna poured berry syrup on a stack of pancakes and attacked them vigorously. “Some of those ponies may be rescheduled onto my calendar but I’m sure some will still be on yours. There are an infinite number of demands on the time of a princess in modern Equestria. Court. Meetings. And paperwork, always paperwork.”

“I actually kind of like paperwork,” Twilight said, smiling weakly.

“Then you may be especially well suited to be a modern princess,” Luna replied, deadpan.

There was a long pause. Then a small giggle escaped Twilight. And finally, the two alicorns shared a hearty guffaw. The heaviness of the moment was broken, and now it was just a meal between friends.

Twilight dumped the rest of her apple slices into a big steaming bowl of oatmeal and started in on it with a large spoon. Even though she’d been nibbling all night, she was surprisingly hungry. Luna was probably right about the energy demands of raising the sun. “Any tips for me?” she asked between bites.

“Dismiss, Delegate, Defer, and Decide.” Luna started in on a second platter of food. “Some items can be dismissed out of hoof. Others delegated to the appropriate agency of our sprawling government. Some can be deferred until a later date when more information is available.”

Luna wiped her muzzle with a white cloth napkin. “But, some you must decide. There may be time pressure. Or there may be no new information to gather that would change the decision. Then you must listen to the options, weigh what’s best for Equestria, and earn your crown for the day.”

Twilight wiped her muzzle with a napkin. “I can do this,” she whispered to herself.

Luna stood. “Of course you can, you’re a princess of Equestria.” Luna came around the table and put her wing on Twilight’s shoulder. “That doesn’t mean you need to do everything yourself. Use your staff. Let Raven show you the ropes.”

“I will.” Twilight stood and gave Luna a comrade’s hug. “Thank you, Luna.”

“I will see you again when it’s time for the day to give way to the night.” Luna opened the door, and the two princesses stepped out. Two guards and Raven were waiting outside. “I understand you’re the keeper of my schedule,” Twilight said to her.

“Yes, your Highness,” Raven said. She bowed her head for a moment to show respect and then went on. “As this is your first day with these responsibilities, I’ve shuffled a few things around to streamline the schedule. First, the daily security briefing. Then…” Twilight, Raven and a guard disappeared down the corridor, headed toward the “working” section of the castle.

---

When Twilight exited the briefing room, her head was spinning. “That was a lot to take in all at once. The Royal Guard Colonel went over the status of every one of our neighbors, even internal ones like the Diamond Dogs. The Night Guard commander covered the continuing search for Chrysalis and their watch on the Gates Of Tartarus. And I didn’t even know we had a Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria.”

“It is supposed to be a secret,” Raven replied with a smile.

“I can’t believe Celestia gets a briefing like that every day!” Twilight said. “I’ve had to worry about relations with other countries or monster attacks at one time or another, but never all of them at the same time.”

“Oh, Princess Celestia doesn’t get that briefing every day.“ Raven shook her head.

“That’s a relief,” said Twilight.

“Only on days when she’s short of time.” Raven talked while she scanned her schedule book for details of Twilight’s next appointment. “Normally she interrogates the presenters and goes into much more detail then we covered today. Many threats to Equestria have ancient roots or are driven by historical patterns. With Princess Celestia’s unique historical experiences, her questions often provide critical clues that guide the guard’s investigations.” Raven looked up from her book. “I had them give you the short presentation, to reassure you there were no issues likely to come up in the next day or so.”

Twilight shook her head. The meeting hadn’t seemed very short to her. On the other hoof, though the briefing had been extensive it had been reassuring. There didn’t seem to be any monsters or neighbors that were an immediate threat to Equestria; at least none that the guards knew about. Equestria seemed to be in good hooves and she could shift her focus to the next task without worry. Twilight addressed Raven. “Our next stop is?”

“Morning Court; first court prep and then court itself.” During their walk, Raven brought out a thick stack of papers.

“And those are?” Twilight asked.

“Background for the cases scheduled to be heard today.”

“Oh, homework!” Twilight said with a grin. “May I?”

“Of course, your Highness,” Raven said.

Twilight took the thick stack in her magenta field. She looked left and right and then spotted an open meeting room. Peering inside, she confirmed no one was in at the moment. “This looks available.” Twilight sat down on a chair at an oval table, and ruffled the papers twice, like a dealer getting ready to shuffle cards.

Raven pulled a pocket watch from her saddlebag. “I’m not sure we have time for…” She stopped, eyes wide.

Twilight held the thick stack of pages aloft in her magenta field. The pages streamed, one after another, off the top of the starting stack, across Twilight’s line of sight, and into a new stack on the other side. Faster and faster they flew. Twilight’s horn was aglow, her eyes were white, and her grin could be described as maniacal.

As fast as it started, the arcane display was done. Twilight shook her head; her eyes returned to normal and her grin became less scary. “Thank you,” Twilight said. She levitated the stack toward Raven, who bobbed her head and reached her field to pick it up.

Suddenly Twilight snatched the thick stack of papers back with her magic. “Sorry,” she said. “The page order got reversed.” Her field expanded until there was a gap between each of the hundreds of pages in the stack, then she flipped over all the pages simultaneously. Twilight collapsed the reordered stack back together and presented it to Raven. “It would have been rude to mess up your order.”

“Thank you, your Highness.” Raven’s eyes were still wide. She knew intellectually that Princess Twilight was an alicorn and a magical prodigy. But Twilight was unassuming enough, that it was easy to think of her as an ordinary unicorn that happened to have wings and wore a crown. Displays like this reminded Raven that Princess Twilight had formidable magic. There was a reason she was a Princess, heroine, and multi-time savior of Equestria.

“How are we doing for time?” Twilight asked as they exited the meeting room.

Raven checked her watch and schedule book again. “We’re doing... OK. Court preparation took less time than I had allotted.” Raven picked up her pace to keep up with the longer legged alicorn. “Do you have any questions about… any of this?” She bobbed the thick stack in her field.

“Not right now,” Twilight said. “It’ll take me a bit of time to make sense of it all. Once I do, I’ll ask any questions.” Twilight gave her wings a happy little fluff. “I didn’t think I would have the pleasure of getting to study today.”

A metallic crash sounded around a corner down the hall, and a deep voice called, “Out of my way, lowborn!” A moment later, Prince Blueblood strutted around the corner. He was a tall, powerfully built unicorn with a long pointed horn, pristine white coat, blond mane and tail, blue socks, and a gold compass rose for a mark. He wore a black starched collar with a red rose in his lapel, two button white cravat, and blue bow tie. He spotted Twilight and her entourage.

“Twilight Sparkle,” he called, “I demand…”

Raven stepped between the Prince and Princess. She bobbed her head to show deference but interrupted him nonetheless. “Prince Blueblood, one does not speak to the Princess Of The Day in such fashion.”

“Step aside, scribe. I care not what role-play this pretender is engaged in.” He turned. “Twilight Sparkle, I demand you…”

“Here it comes,” Twilight thought.

“...tell me what’s going on with my Auntie Celestia? She’s never once failed to raise the sun, except in cases of dire emergency.”

Twilight was taken aback. Despite his bluster, she could see in Blueblood’s eyes he was deeply concerned. “Perhaps the only way he knows how to communicate is threat and bluster,“ she thought. “Just like somepony who only knew how to communicate by lectures and snark,” her inner voice said. “Maybe he needs good friends to teach him a different way too,” Twilight thought. “Worked for you,” her inner voice replied.

“Prince Blueblood,” Twilight said. “For the last several months, Princess Celestia has been instructing me so I can better perform my duties to Equestria. Last night’s… lessons… went very late and left her... fatigued. Because of what I’ve learned at her side, I had the opportunity to let her sleep in and recover. Before dawn, I met Princess Luna on the Grand Balcony, raised the sun, and accepted dominion for the day.”

“For reasons I’ve never understood, my Auntie cares for you, and has favored you beyond reason.” Blueblood looked Twilight over like she was a prized object up for auction. His voice softened. “I think you care for her as well. Tell me truly, is she alright?”

“On my honor as a Princess of Equestria,” Twilight said, “when I left her, Celestia was sleeping peacefully.”

Prince Blueblood stood stock still for several moments. It looked like he started to speak several times, then stopped himself. Finally, he said, “I choose to believe you.” His voice hardened. “Do not give me reason to regret it.”

“Thank you for your trust,” Twilight replied. “Please spread the word that Princess Celestia is resting after a long night, that the sun rose on time, and that the day will proceed as expected.”

Prince Blueblood put his nose in the air. He didn’t like being told what to do. “I will take my leave and give council as I see fit,” he said and strutted off down the hall.

Once Prince Blueblood rounded the corner, Twilight sighed. “I don’t know how he and the other nobles keep from running into things, with their noses in the air like that.”

“Long practice,” Raven replied. She checked her pocket watch. “We’ve used up our buffer.”

Twilight, Raven and the guards strode toward the Throne Room. Raven noticed Twilight looked thoughtful. “Do you have any questions before we begin, your Highness?”

“I’ve attended court with Princess Celestia before. I know the routine,” Twilight replied. “Just thinking I’ll need a better answer when ponies at court ask the same question Blueblood did.”

Twilight and Raven got to the Throne Room, as the hand on Raven’s pocket watch reached the top of the hour. It was time for Morning Court to begin.

Comments

[njits23]

It'll be interesting to see Twilight handle Celestia's regular duties. This wasn't something I expected when I started reading, but it's certainly not unwelcome.

[Da Fennec]

Darn it Twilight you missed a chance to exile Blueblood for at least the day. Lets hope Blueblood tells the council what Twilight told him and not some made up story

[Hazel Mee]

Hello. I'm enjoying your story, thank you for writing it.

I have a minor edit suggestion, if you're interested in receiving them:

On the other hand, though the briefing had been extensive it had been reassuring.

On the other hoof, though the briefing had been extensive it had been reassuring.

I'm not sure if you're using this kind of ponyism or not...

[bigbear]

8136094 Thank you for the catch. It has been corrected. I try to get my ponyisms correct, but they sometimes slip through.

I appreciate any and all help and suggestions.

[Hazel Mee]

8136242
You're welcome.

[DivinePanzer]

And I’d didn’t even know

underlined part extra.

[bigbear]

8452675
Thanks for the catch. Fixed

[Ice Star]

A stuffy, somewhat annoying, shallow Blueblood is understandable but it felt like his entrance was a bit too on the nose with how spoiled he was being. I can see this being understandable if he becomes relevant again later, but for a quick hi/bye it seems unusual.

[Venlinelle]

Aw, I love stuck-up but sincere Blueblood <3

[DarkSnowGaming]

Maybe Celestia should let Twilight deal with all the paperwork and day court.