Agents of Discord

by KittyrinnAiko

Chapter 47: Canterlot Tourists

“Brrr, it hasn’t warmed up one bit.” Luna groused as they set forth once more into the street. Bad enough it wasn't even her world. She couldn't help but wonder why Nova Silverwood had left this world in that she didn't know the full story, but couldn't help but think that moving to a tropical paradise was definitely better than this cold weather.

“Just keep moving, keep moving,” Aurora teased as they trotted along the lane. Fortunately, they weren’t too far to go to get to the tourist entrance of the castle. As for Ray and Hurricane, the two had hung back a bit, but intended to see them at least that far. Once they were sure the mares and filly had gotten to the castle safely they were going to round up a team of fliers that they knew and trusted and see about doing a little ghost hunting.

“Welcome to Canterlot Castle, home of Princess Celestia,” Offered a little yellow mare unicorn with a two-tone purple mane and tail as they approached. She had a heavy jacket on and a knit hat with sides that flop down. “Come on inside out of the cold.” She directed them into a large lobby that looked very much like the entrance to a large prestigious museum. There were also quite a few ponies lined up as well along with a peppering of Griffins and Zebras.

It was also quite warm inside.

“We may have a slight logistical problem,” Aerie whispered to Aurora as they waited in line.

“Whatever do you mean?” Aurora asked as the others began removing their overcoats.

“It is kind of hot in here and we’ve overcoats on hiding our wings.” She kept her voice as soft as she could while looking about to see if any pony was looking their way.

“Is it?”

“Ah, Lady Celeste, what a pleasant surprise…” Offered an old gray unicorn mare on approach.

“_{Just go with it…}” whispered Aurora.

“Um…”

“I’m Morning Dewdrop. That’s quite alright if you don’t remember me. It’s not like we see you down here with the tourists very often.”

“Oh, well, I’m here with family.”

“Oh, family, well then, how about I conduct you and your family personally?”

“That would be most appreciated, thank you,” Mrs Summers replied, and then in a whisper to Aurora, “_{You sure this is a good idea?}”

“We would be delighted, I’m Summer Sunshine, Lady Celeste is my mom. This scruffy floof-ball over here is Aerie, she’s my special-some-pony, and this is our ward, Scootaloo Shutter. Aerie’s moms are with us today as well, Mrs Flora, and Mrs Moon.”

Luna had taken off her jacket and with no thought to hide her horn was now unmistakably Princess Luna. Or at least the Princess Luna that the tour staff had last seen.

“Her moms...”

“I’ve no idea what’s going on either,” whispered a palace guard who’d come up on Morning Dewdrop’s right flank. “Be nice if some pony had warned us ahead of time. Just wing it.”

“Easy for you to say, I’m not a pegasus,” she shot back and then turned back to our little group with her smile plastered as bright as ever. And to be true the moment Celeste Summers was recognized the staff had gone into a little mini panic. “Let’s just skip the formalities and let me show you and your guests around. And I must say, I never knew you had a family.”

“I do tend to project that image, don’t I. Well, I’m going to see what I can do to remedy that.”

“And you’ve Princess Luna with you. That is a pleasant surprise, though I must confess I didn’t know that her highness had any relatives other than Princess Celestia?”

“Few are they who know,” Luna replied with a smile. “In truth, Aerie and a few members of the guards got caught up when our sister did banish us. I fear she had not the strength to free me from the nightmare, and the ponies around us simply wished to put a stop to our fight. Flora is Aerie's foster mom.”

“Well, all’s well that ends well then. That is… I’d no idea.”

“Getting knocked out to wake a thousand years later isn’t fun,” Aerie offered. “Not something the general public needed to know about either.”

“Quite understandable. Well then, if I can get you all to follow along I shall provide you with the deluxe tour.” And with that, she began walking away while looking back every so often to see if any pony was following.

The first place they went to was a large room just past the entrance that was furnished with miniatures of all the important government buildings, next to which were billboards with brief descriptions of the area known as the Capitol Mall. The crown jewel in the display was a large model of the original Keep which was the residence for Princess Celestia. Attached to that structure was an edifice that could only be described as a cathedral to the sun which was Princess Celestia’s Audience hall. Here too was pointed out the Parliament building, Royal Courts of Justice, the Treasury, the House of Lords, the Admiralty Building, the Home Office, and the Foreign Office. Morning Dewdrop spoke briefly about the different locations and then directed them to an exit marked authorized ponies only.

“Part of the extra,” she said as they went through the doors into a stairwell. “Rather than go out into the weather, I thought maybe we might just use the service access.”

“Didst though know-est of these service access?” Luna asked Aerie.

“I knew about the access at the base of the Lunar Tower and the accesses behind and beneath the Keep. To be honest I normally avoid the areas where the tourists are.”

Luna laughed as they headed down the long steps where they found a large basement full of old displays including a very old cardboard mock-up of Nightmare Moon raring up menacingly.

“Oh, I do wish I had a camera,” Luna lamented.

“I do have a camera, it’s built into my phone,” Aerie offered only to have Luna trot over to the cutout. She then lay on the dusty floor and made like she was in great fear.

“Take my picture!”

“You aren’t afraid of it?” Morning Dewdrop asked in astonishment as Aerie took photos.

“Mrs Dewdrop, not after having experienced a thousand years of the real thing. No.”

“Oh, I want in, Take my picture too,” Scootaloo requested and moments later every pony was getting in on the action to include their guides, reluctantly I might add. And that included Mrs Dewdrop, an assistant docent, and two guards. From there they continued on through a long wide tunnel that brought them to another basement. This one was filled with storage rooms full of file cabinets. From there they went upstairs to find that they were now in the parliament building. Few ponies were about given that parliament was presently in recess for the winter holiday.

“Captain Hayz, is there an issue?” Princess Celestia asked as the captain approached.

“A delicate matter seems to have come up. Ma’am. It seems that Ms Mystique is touring the Capitol Mall with a group of Alicorn impersonators.”

“Mystique? Alicorn impersonators?” Celestia asked just a bit confused.

“Yes, Ma’am. A Princess Luna along with a Miss Aerie, Miss Summer Sunshine… Ma’am?”

“I think I know who they are,” Celestia offered with a big smile. “Be sure that they are invited to lunch.”

“Ma’am?”

“They are a foreign delegation that just happens to have their very own Luna it would seem.
Miss Aerie and Miss Sunshine are known to me. See that they are afforded the same courtesies we would extend to Princess Cadance.”

“Ma’am?”

“Oh, I knew Aerie and Aurora-Summer Sunshine might be in town today. It seems they’ve decided to play the part of a tourist today.”

Meanwhile… Our little party of ponies had invited themselves into the Lunar wing. Nor did it take long for Princess Luna to step out of her chambers to challenge whoever it was who’d invaded her domain.

“Princess, it is good to meet you in person.” Aerie’s mom, Luna offered with a polite bow. The others bowed in turn.

“What?” Princess Luna asked as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Truly it was like looking at her own reflection from not too long back. For the others, the two looked very much like near identical twins save that the resident Luna was a bit older and taller. “Hang on, what are you doing in my dimension? Ah, and little Nova is here.”

“You two know each other?” Scootaloo asked even as Aerie waved.

“Well of course we know each other,” Princess Luna offered. “The dream realms overlap with no discernible borders. This is a good thing my young Miss because I was quite worried about you when I couldn't find you in the dream realm anymore. Oh, I did find you, but it took me a bit. What’s it like, living in another dimension?”

“To be fair I hadn’t ventured far from the portal until recently, you’re Highness,” Scootaloo informed her.

“I seem to be mostly grown up in this world,” Aerie offered.

“No doubt the portal is defaulting you to the apparent age of your counterpart?” Princess Luna offered.

“I’m sure you’ll meet her soon enough.”

“Indeed, but what brings you all here? And…” Princess Luna looked at Mrs Summers.

“My mother,” Aurora offered.

“Ah, we’ve guests from all over, haven't we.”

“Princess Luna,” Prompted Captain Hayz as he joined them. Seeing two Princess Lunas who seemed to have no objection to the presence of the other was causing him no end of consternation.

“Which one of us did you want?” Princess Luna asked.

“How about I be Lulu? Given it’s your dimension.”

“Dimension?” Captain Hayz asked under his breath.

“A splendid idea. Now Captain, what was it you wanted?”

“Princess Celestia has extended an invitation to Mrs Summers and party to lunch.”

“We’d be delighted,” Mrs Summers offered.

“Oh, this is going to be a hoot,” Princess Luna exclaimed. Let my sister know I’ll be attending as well.”

“Ma’am,” Captain Hayz replied, turned, and hurried along to convey the news.

“Something tells me we are about to walk into Trollestia’s best prank ever,” Aerie mused.

“And I wouldn't miss it for the world,” Princess Luna remarked with a devilish grin on her face.

A short time later the group joined Princess Celestia, each now in outfits more appropriate to a luncheon.

“I get to be Lulu,” the slightly smaller of the two Lunas offered with a wide smile on her face. She also had on one of her counterpart’s tiaras and a borrowed dress that no longer fit the elder of the two.

“Oh, my? Luna?” Celestia asked with a grin on her face.

“They were in my chambers, and I’m not missing out on whatever it is you’ve planned.”

“Yes, of course, heavens forbid.”

“Luna, do you stay up all night? I’ve been going to bed around two in the morning. There really isn’t a lot for me to do past that hour. Even the ponies who love our night have all but gone to sleep by then.”

“But, what about the nightmares?” Luna asked.

“Ponies went a thousand years without us chasing off the Night Terrors, and they typically strike in the dead of night between the eleventh hour and the second hour of the morning. And if we are to be honest with ourselves, we can’t possibly hope to deal with all of them. True proper dreaming may occur at any time in the night but most occur between two in the morning and the hours of waking. Of those, there are few external Night Terrors causing the nightmares but the individual’s own anxieties. And then there are a lot of ponies who work nights these days and sleep during the daylight hours. I can’t be a counselor for every pony in Equestria, and I want to be able to spend time with my family and friends. You need your time, just as much as I need my time. We must do what’s right for ourselves first, and then do what we can for Equestria.”

“I…” Princess Luna began. “I must admit that not much happens after two in the morning. But what about lowering the moon?”

“In my case, I can only manage to raise the moon at this point. I haven't fully recovered.”

“And your sister didn’t pressure you into doing more?” Princess Luna asked while giving a sideways glance at Celestia.

“No, she’s just happy to have me doing so well.”

“Things were kind of rough at first,” Aerie offered. “When she was first freed from the Nightmare, it took a while for her to recover.”

“The selfishness of others destroyed my whole world. But enough of that, is it time to go into lunch yet?” Lulu asked.

“Nearly, I’d imagine,” Princess Celestia offered. “Luna, I wouldn't mind having you around more often, and I fear we may very well be traveling down the same road that caused us to be parted in the first place. I have you back, but I see so little of you. And as Lulu mentioned, it is about time for us to join the others.”

“You wouldn't mind lowering the moon?” Princess Luna asked as they began to make their way to the corridor that would take them down the grand stairs.

“You would be alright with me doing that?”

“If it means I get to spend more time with you and all our ponies, yes, I’d welcome it.”

It had taken them very little time to traverse the stairs, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia leading the procession. Down below in an area marked off with red velvet cords a tour group stood slack-jawed at the site of not just Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together, but a second Luna, plus what looked to be a young Solar alicorn and her partner with a foal and what many assumed to be a nanny had caused quite a few to just shut down mentally. They watched with rapt attention as the group came to the base of the stairs, and rounded to head down a hall where select guests had been gathering.

All talking ceased as the party entered the room where every pony was gathering. A moment later a foot colt announced Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia, Her Royal Highness Princess Luna, Her Royal Highness Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Her Royal Highness Princess Lulu, Her Royal Highness Princess Aurora Summers, Her Royal Highness Princess Nova, House of Athelas, Priestess of Akkadia, The Lady Celeste Summers, Lady Flora Finch-Fletchley, and Miss Scootaloo Shutter. All according to a list given to them.

An old stallion separated from the other ponies, his coat white with gray, his mane once blond mostly gray. He approached with a haughty swagger about him. “Princess Celestia. Could it be you’ve elevated more of the common rab-bab-babble…

Aerie had caught his gaze, her eyes drilling right into his soul. Which in of itself was a surprising thing given that so many attested that he had no such thing. His bravado left him. He stepped back even as Aerie planted a singular image into his mind. The image of a statue in Princess Celestia’s garden. Lord Duke Blueblood knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was that statue.

“You were saying?” Princess Celestia asked even as Aerie smiled a most alarming smile. She was, after all, a predator. Lord Blueblood could imagine himself being overpowered right then and there.

“I – I, I’m pleased to be pr-present, in the presence, of such aug-august company.” His bravado had abandoned him and left him a stuttering mess.

“Indeed,” Princess Celestia replied with a smile.

“Um, excuse me, if you’ll pardon my inquiry,” Requested an elderly earth pony stallion. He’d a dark tweedy suit on, an eye patch over his right eye, his mane gray, and his coat looked like he’d been brown at one point in time. “I was of the impression that the Priestesses of Akkadia were long gone?”

“Akkadia is long gone,” Aerie offered. “The title is mostly academic these days.”

“Aerie is presently employed as a curse breaker,” Princess Celestia offered even as the butler entered the room. A moment later he’d announced that the luncheon was served.

“Shall we?” Princess Celestia prompted rhetorically. Not like there was anyone there who was going to suddenly decide they wanted nothing more to do with the present company. Granted that a fair number of the guests just knew it had to be one of her famous pranks. Granted that even if it was a prank, there was still the question concerning whether or not the alicorns who’d been introduced to them were in fact alicorns. Not like the Nobility had any difficulty dismissing ponies that took on the appearance of alicorns. After all, there was only one Princess Celestia who ruled over Both the Heavens as well as Equestria.

“Doctor Indigo, The Akkadian Empire was ruled not by one but many alicorns,” Aerie offered a short time after they’d all been seated. He’d been the one who’d the most pointed questions concerning her supposed title. He is a noted archaeologist it’d be quite the feather in his cap if he could locate and dig the city of the ancients. “Long ago there were not three but four primary pony types.”

“Four?” questioned one of the unicorns close by.

“Born among the first three are those chosen for ascension. They are typically slow to mature, slow to flight, slow to gain their special talent, and given that they hailed from the three tribes, the fourth represented all three.”

“Tell me, what’s your take on Hearth’s Warming?” Lord Blueblood asked having regained his bravado, and perhaps hoping to entrap her.

To truly understand Hearth’s Warming we must first look back at the fall of the Akkadian Empire. This was brought about by a researcher named Grogar who never bothered with the all-important question, but should I? Sure, he was good at Can I, but never once gave a thought to just how wise or unwise his actions might be. It was he who gave us the races of monsters, and he who was singularly responsible for the creation of Discord. One of his own colleagues I might add. Pony kind was forced to flee the lands of Everfree, yes, the Everfree. Deep in the most inhospitable depths where the very woods will attempt to kill all trespassers is where we will find the Citadel of the ancients. Many migrated north to the Chrystal principality, but when King Sombra abandoned reason for dark magics the ponies of Equestria fled once more only to find themselves fighting among themselves for the meager resources they had. And to be honest, the tentative peace that they managed to establish was nearly undone by the selfishness of Princess Platinum.”

“But then she rose to the occasion to lead all ponies?” Lord Blueblood asked.

“Never had the chance, to be honest. By this point, Discord had located the remaining three tribes and set about making them his play toy.”

“it would seem that Hearth’s Warming is as much about the elements of Harmony as it is about that famous moment in time,” Princess Celestia offered. “I remember the Akkadian Empire and considered a princess long before I came into my special talents. Luna and I were also in one of the groups of ponies that never ventured into the north. And if I were to hazard a guess I’d say that we hadn’t roamed too far from our old homes. We’d still our elders, and we’d the Pillars of Equestria themselves. Discord nearly undid everything ponies had gained up to that point. Who’s to say where we would be today if my sister and I had not located the Elements of Harmony and used them to imprison Discord.”

“And banishing King Sombra came not long after,” Princess Luna offered. She let out a sigh. “He was a good stallion. It was his own ambition and lack of caution that was his undoing.”

“He delved too deep into lost arts that were best left lost,” Princess Celestia explained.

“Speaking of lost arts, Ponyville has a Timber Wolf problem.” Aerie offered up.

“Ponyville?” Scoffed a noble further down the table.

“Ponyville is a place near and dear to my heart,” Princess Celestia replied, and in so doing shut down the ponies who were snickering about the backwater town.

“Afraid the local Guard force simply do not have the resources and have had to make do with untrained townsfolk. Brightstar mentioned that she often used grappling hooks. It seems I need to ask if it was pegasi guards or unicorns from airships.”

“You mean as in dropping a rope with a hook, snagging one, and then what?” Lord Blueblood asked. Aye, he was well aware that post-transgressions had him on thin ice with Princess Celestia thanks to his own father, but perhaps he could have a little sport and get back into her good graces.

“Hauling it off to someplace it can’t do any harm. Such as the Ghastly Gorge.” Aerie informed him. “They are depended on deadwood, after all.”

“What about just setting up a warding spell?” Aurora asked.

“I’d imagine that could be done. If we knew how, but doesn’t deal with the immediate threat.”

“True, and there’s certainly little fun in simply setting up a warding spell,” Lulu offered with a smirk.

“Fun?” Princess Celestia asked, and she did sound like the very idea of fun and Timber Wolf being combined just didn’t fit somehow.

“She hunts them for sport.”

“She hunts them? For sport!?”

“It seems to be a unique ability of fox ponies. She’s able to counter the dark magic that makes those things tick.”

“I’ll just have to see about getting some pony to look into the matter,” Princess Celestia offered in a resigned tone. From there the conversation moved to safer topics for the table.

Comments

[Da Fennec]

Thank you for another interesting chapter Discord is probably reviling in the chaos they are causing

[harts fire]

awesome chapter.

“She hunts them for sport.”
that is about all they are good for is sport.