Celestia Sleeps In

by Jenso

Chapter 2

Through the halls of the Royal Palace, there was surprising calm. No doubt the early staffers for the day would soon find out that the sun wasn’t up. If Luna could get her sister up and running at a reasonable pace, Equestria could avoid a crisis.

She burst into Celestia’s chambers, fully preparing a laser spell should there be an intruder.

What she found instead was the giant alicorn strewn across her bed sideways, the sheets and cover thrown about. Luna had never heard her sister snore before, but in this moment, she was convinced that alicorn powers (or perhaps the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice) could increase its volume.

“Sister, I cannot believe you,” she said half to herself. At least she’s just oversleeping.

Luna approached the bed and poked Celestia in the side with her hoof. Nothing. She grabbed hold of her shoulders and shook. Celestia moaned a bit and rolled over, still oblivious. It seemed Luna would need to step up her game.

Quickly darting into the royal bathroom, she grabbed a small bucket from the cabinet and began filling it with tap water. She hated that she had to do this. The maid ponies would have a fit when they saw the bed after this.

On second thought, this wouldn’t be so bad. She snickered to herself. You never stop being a younger sibling.

Luna dipped her hoof in the water to make sure it was as cold as she could make it, then stepped into the bedroom and promptly poured it all over Celestia’s head. The white alicorn shot up, eyes wide in panic. Just as soon, her eyes drooped and she laid back down.

Celestia mumbled through the pillow clutched to her face. “Luna, I am feeling sick this morning. Perhaps you could take my duties for…”

Before she could finish, she was back to snoring loudly. Luna couldn’t believe it. When’s the last time the Princess of the Sun refused to raise the sun? Was she under a curse? Enchanted? Just really, really tired?

Luna spoke up. “Sister, you must raise the sun! I don’t have the necessary skills, being imprisoned in the moon for so long. You can’t expect me to…”

As if on cue, Celestia’s snores increased in volume, drowning out any more of Luna’s protests. Luna could take it no more. She was not going to lose her hearing, especially since she was barely 1,200 years old, for crying out loud! She stepped out.

Immediately, one of the royal guards guarding the bedchamber was upon her.

“Your Highness,” he said in a deep, gruffy voice, “is everything alright? Is the princess running behind schedule?”

“It appears so,” she replied. She trotted past, the guards falling in line behind her. “I will advise the morning court that we’re running a bit behind this morning.” She turned to the one on her left. “Oh, and please do not notify the Armed Forces, the Wonderbolts, or the Elements of Harmony. This is hardly an emergency.”

As Luna prepared herself to walk in, on the other side of the doors, there was a slight buzz amongst the ponies. Understandably so, since Celestia had not been late for morning court in a couple centuries or so. The ponies with coffees in their hooves could understand how she could oversleep a bit.

Towards the back of the room, a small group of journalists from various Canterlot newspapers scurried about. This was a potential lead. Even if Celestia stepped through those doors that very moment, they could at least make a headline about her being late. Morning court was never this exciting!

As the doors opened and Princess Luna stepped in, the reporter ponies quickly got out their notepads, their tongues lolling out of their mouths like they were puppies. This would be juicier than they thought.

Luna stepped forward and cleared her throat before addressing the crowd. “My dear subjects, it appears my sister is running a little late this morning. She asked me to take care of morning court until she can take my place for the day. There is no reason to panic. It is simply an unscheduled disruption.”

By now, the journalists had somehow made it to the front row. A few piped up at once.

“Your Highness, how unusual is this?”

“Princess, can you tell us anything about why Princess Celestia is running late?”

Luna gazed at them with discomfort. “Ah, well…” She started. How do I make this sound tactful?

The reporters leaned in, ears twitching.

Finally, Luna said, “It appears Celestia has fallen ill this morning. Now, if I could get back to…”

Much to her surprise, the room descended into chaos. Reporter ponies were nearly climbing onto the stage, trying to jump over each other, shouting incoherently at her. The various folks lined up to have the princess’s ear were now behind the journalists, upset that they came all the way to Canterlot only for Celestia to not be here. Various guards stationed around the courtroom were trying to calm ponies down.

Luna simply groaned and picked out her first reporter. Here we go…

In Ponyville’s central square, Mayor Mare was addressing a large crowd. Twilight, Applejack and Spike walked towards the commotion before a pony caught Twilight’s eye.

“Latest news on the sun!” he yelled. “Get your special edition Ponyville Tribune right now!”

Twilight trotted up the highly energetic pony. “Excuse me, sir, how much for the paper?”

He answered, “It’s free, ma’am. Special editions are for the public good. We at the Ponyville Tribune wouldn’t dare charge for…”

Ignoring him, Twilight grabbed a paper from the stacks with her magic and walked away. "Thank you, sir." As she returned to Applejack, she rolled her eyes. “Salesponies these days, I tell you.”

With AJ by her side and looking over her shoulder, they read the front page.

A ROYAL SICKNESS? – Could the 1,200-year-old monarch be on her last legs?

Both ponies gasped at the headline.

“Omigosh, omigosh,” Twilight sputtered out, now furiously flipping to where the main story was.

Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. “Twi, you know how the tabloids are,” she said soothingly. “I bet the princess is just mighty tired. I wouldn’t blame her. She does more work than the whole Apple Family put together.”

Twilight wasn’t having it. “Luna said she’s sick?! Applejack, we need to find the rest of the Elements. This is an emergency!”

“Now, hold on, sugarcube…”

Twilight galloped off without a second thought, leaving a dust cloud in the farm pony’s face. Grunting, she ran after her friend.

Comments

[Gavier]

This day is going to be

M A G N I F I C E N T
the day I dreamed since I was

L I T T L E

[StarzGecko]

I’m liking this!

[FanficReader920]

*sniggers in delight*

[Fireheart 1945]

A ROYAL SICKNESS? – Could the 1,200-year-old monarch be on her last legs?

They just had to print that. On limited information...

[Zubric]

Wow fast new news , what is this Twitter