The Bar at the Edge of Nowhere

by Syric Philharmonica

The Beginning of the New Moon's Reign (Luna Part 3)

"'Tis this humble servant's wish that Our Highness Lunar Glow henceforth nev'r beest allowed rule without either Our Majesties or Princess Celeste Aurora to gaze ov'r Our Lady's decisions. This day shalt beest recalled for generations in infamy. Not only wast nothing productive done, but Our Highness managed to do more aside from setting fire to the countryside. Sir Stalwart Shield, Who wast tasked to beest The Young lady's minder, wast sent hence immediately ere all hell hath broken loose. At the hour Sir Stalwart wast informed of what hadst transpired in his absence, Sir Stalwart could only laugh. ere vowing to fix what hadst gone awry and chastise Our highness, much to the Young Princess' chagrin."

-Author Unknown; recovered from The Castle of the Two Sisters by Twilight Sparkle, The Day Ruled Poorly, translated and kept by Princess Celestia to hold over her Sister's head.

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When Luna first heard her sister's idea to sneak out of not only the Castle but Canterlot entirely to go see their mutual friend, she had more than a few questions and requests for her older sister. But before she could voice any of them an idea of her own flitted across her mind, and Luna knew she couldn't pass up this perfect opportunity presented to her. So here she now was, happily Trotting to the throne room with all the grace of a foal who in a candy shop. 'Ooh, this is so exciting! It hath been far too long since We hath ruled, And We do believe that We hath improved much since. Worry not Sester, I shall maketh thee proud!'

Luna nodded to the guards outside the throne room's great double doors as they slowly swung open, impatiently tapping her front left hoof at a rapid pace as she waited. Thoughts of everything she wanted to do with this responsibility granted to her caused a large grin to begin stretching across her muzzle and the guards stationed to feel a cold chill up their spines.

Luna, in her zeal, did not notice the discomfort that now surrounded her and merrily walked into the throne room, gaze set upon the throne itself. 'Hah! Take that Nightmare,' Luna shouted in her mind, reveling in the trust given to her by her sister, the love in the decision to forgive for her misdeeds and welcome her back so unconditionally, and the high of victory against Nightmare Moon. 'We now have all thee ever wanted.' Basking in the feelings that lifted her so high, Luna barely noticed Raven Inkwell, Celestia's Reanent aide, walking to her side with a list held within her telekinetic grip.

"Excuse me Your Highness, but are you ready to begin your duties?" As Raven spoke up both she and Luna made their way to the throne, The Princess frowning a bit at all the gold and scarlet; herself much preferring darker colors and tones.

"Indeed Miss Inkwell, We art most excited to get started, it hath been millennia since We last ruled over Our fair land." Luna, having said her piece, cast a quick spell over the throne, it's color becoming a dark navy and silver with a nod of content. As Luna took her seat upon the throne, another flutter of excitement lighting up her chest, She gestured with a wing to Raven who stood beside the throne. "And We wouldst like to believe that We hath grown better at it despite Our long absence. Miss Inkwell, If thou would please?"

"Of Course Your Highness." Raven lifted the scroll to her eyelevel and began to read out the duties Luna would have to preform. "Due to the low amount of visitors for the day court today, it will not be held. Instead, you will be meeting with them at the same time, so as not to have either you or the guards do nothing for an extended amount of time. Once all their requests to meet have been delt with Captain Armor has requested your appearance for his officer training, citing the reason as, "getting them used to being near royalty." After that you will need to welcome the students at your sister's school for the new year, appraise the museum's new findings legitimacy, then entertain the visiting dignitaries from the griffon empire. Once everything has been completed your schedule is mostly free to use as you see fit. As you will be using Princess Celestia's office until her return, the Administrative paperwork, written requests, and other documents needed your approval will be sent there for you to look over." Once Raven reached the end of the list she rolled it back up and stood tall, waiting to either be dismissed or explain something in more depth.

Luna had steepled her front hooves while Raven read out the list, finding herself discontent with the light workload, before shrugging off the feeling, returning to her previous levels of excitement for the day ahead. "Thank thee Miss Inkwell, it seemeth that the world wants to ease Us back into the role of ruler as well! tell Us," Luna leaned her head closer to Raven with a conspiratorial grin. "Shall we defeateth two avians with a single stone? Send the requestors and paperwork to an empty meeting room so We may complete them both at the same time. It shall be most efficient."

Raven considered the proposal for a moment before nodding. "As you wish Your Highness" With a bow Raven left the throne room, leaving Luna to her own devices. Luna was able to keep her excitement up for a few minutes after Raven had left, but the longer without something to do she sat, the more it began to wear at her, causing her to begin to slump in the throne. About forty minutes more and Luna dragged herself to her hooves, and plodded over to one of the stained glass windows, attempting to look through the patterned and colored glass for something to distract her from her growing boredom.

When Luna heard the sound of those large doors grinding open again, she quickly teleported back into the throne and did her best to look presentable again. However Luna was surprised to see Twilight Sparkle walking into throne room. Luna, masking her growing interest, beckoned her first friend forward, standing from the throne to meet her halfway. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle! To what do We oweth this pleasure?"

"Oh! Princess Luna!" Twilight gave a hasty bow, visibly thrown off her game from the unforeseen variable the Princess herself posed. "Uh, Hi! It's so good to see you again, Princess. Have you seen Princess Celestia? I wanted to say goodbye before teleporting home, and thank her for listening to me ramble about my theories about ley lines and magical hotspots." Luna let out a noise of understanding at Twilight's request, looking at the small Eleancana mare with an apologetic expression.

"We are sorry Twilight, but Our sister has just left for personal reasons and will not returneth for a couple of days. " Upon seeing Twilight's disheartened expression Luna turned to stand side by side with her, nudging the smaller mare with a wing. "Do not despair, We shall be sure to let Our sister, thy mother, know of thy adorable tendencies." At that statement Twilight blushed in embarrassment before raising her voice in a half-shout.

"Wha- HEY!" Twilight attempted to escape Luna's wing, thrashing in her indignation. "The Princess isn't- I'm not- Luna!"
Hearing Twilight sound so indignant that she would forget Luna's title, said Princess emulated her sister and threw her head back to laugh, keeping the struggling Eleancana mare pinned to her side until Twilight's struggles died down and she hung limply from Luan's wing. Giving Twilight another quick squeeze with her wing, Luna set her down and walked back over to the throne as Twilight spoke up. "Why does everyone say that? Even my friends tease me about my relationship with The Princess." Twilight shook her head before grinning bashfully at the Lunar Diarch. "I guess my closeness with Princess Celestia isn't very conventional is it?"

"Indeed it is not Twilight Sparkle." Luna gestures with a hoof toward twilight. "I mayeth hath not been here for a millennia, but We remember when Our Sester would taketh students in the Old Kingdom. Believe Us, none before were as close as two are, and I do not believe any will after. Thou share quite the special bond. But it is not a bad thing. As her Sester, I am able to see how much she needeth somepony like you. Somepony to share meals and gossip with, to spend the daylight hours just conversing, Believe Us Twilight Sparkle, Thou art most important to her. It bringeth Us incredible joy to see how much she not only enjoys thy visits, but also how much she looks forward to them. If thou do not believe me, and We understand if thou do not, We shalt summon thee when Our Sester returns. Thou may believe it more from her"

"Princess..." Twilight began to scuff her hoof against the ground, the familiar feeling of bashfulness flaring up again. Twilight knew that The Princess held her in high regard, how could Twilight not notice with how the two of them and the familiarity they shared made both of their days brighter.

"Take heart Our friend, and know that what Thou share is nothing to be ashamed of." Luna then grew a devilish smirk as she watched Twilight, deciding to leave the mare with one last tease. "Although, We art quite sure that Our Sester would not mind if thou were to call her mother one of these days. As thy aunt Ourself, thou can trust Us."

Twilight for her part, didn't notice what Luna had said at first, focusing instead on what the Lunar Princess had said before. But soon enough her mind caught up and Twilight went deathly still, staring into the middle distance as she seemed to both go pale and gain a full body flush. Luna waited patiently for the climax, calmy summoning a magical cloud to catch Twilight when she inevitably fainted. After at least a minute Luna was starting to get worried, as Twilight still hadn't moved and Luna wondered if she was even breathing. Luna did not have to wait much longer however as she saw Twilight blink rapidly as her mind came back from wherever it had gone.

Twilight however pleasantly surprised The Princess, not fainting as she had expected, but managing to contain the emotional outburst via a breathing exercise Luna had seen both her Sister and actual niece preform many times. Luna had to grin at that small revelation as she dispelled the cloud. 'Yet another point in Our favor Twilight. But We shalt keep this one to Ourselves' Once Twilight had calmed down to an acceptable degree, there was still a healthy flush on her cheeks and the tips of her ears. "I'm just going to push that down until I get back and can have break down in my bunker." Luna giggled a bit at Twilight's statement, happy to see that Twilight was still capable of humor in her dazed state. Taking a deep breath once again, the last of the embarrassment left her system and she gave Luna a warm smile. "Thank you Luna, as Pinkie would say, "You need to laugh at yourself to have fun with yourself." I need to get going, It was nice to see you Princess. We should hang out some more soon, Preferably without the teasing please?"

"We shalt see Twilight. But We make no such promises. Farewell!" With that last parting word, Twilight slipped back out of the throne room as Raven entered, Raven giving the smaller mare a friendly smile and nod as they passed each other. "Miss Inkwell, what news do thee bring?" Luna asked as she leaned forward, her eyes alight with an eagerness to get started.

Raven cleared her throat and lifted her clipboard to read off of it, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth from the childlike behavior being expressed by the Princess. "Well Your Highness, Your subjects are in agreement with your suggestion, so if you would please follow me." At that Raven left the throne room followed by The Princess, who after that lovely converstaion, had a good feeling about today.

Author's Note:

Hey all,
The reason this chapter is a day late is that I felt dissatisfied with the chapter during my final check, and decided to rewrite a large chunk of it. Mainly the conversation between Luna and Twilight. The version before the rewrite felt stilted and lifeless, like two people who had never met playing at being close. I hope you all like the new conversation better.

See you all next time.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Something makes me think Raven decided to put the requested action in a room she believes is in far too urgent a need of extensive redecoration.

Maybe even The Extremely Offensively Decorated Room.

[Syric Philharmonica]

11613062
Well that depends on the requests themselves. The room could use a fresh red coat.

[midnight arrow]

i really want to see what Discord does in the bar

[midnight arrow]

also great story