For copyright/disclaimer information, see Chapter One.
Version 1.0
Published 1/1/13
Chapter Thirteen: Royalty.
Princess Celestia sat on her throne. In front of her, lying on a porcelain plate with gold gilding decorating its edges, sat a vol-au-vent stuffed with whipped cream and drizzled in a pomegranate glaze. A teacup and saucer sat next to the decadent pastry, as did a stack of mail.
She sighed and poked the pastry with a silver fork.
“All I asked for was 'something desserty' to go with my tea. A piece of sheet cake would have sufficed.”
The white alicorn took a sip of tea, before she looked over to the pink male unicorn sitting several yards to her right.
“This really was a good idea, you know that.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Afternoon tea in between Day Court sessions is an excellent way to unwind before the next group of petitioners arrives.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“We should have implemented it years ago.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Solar Flare, how many times have I told you, you don't need to be so formal.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Giving up on trying to get her High Overseer to lighten up, Celestia turned her attention to the stack of mail.
“I love this part. It makes things seem so, so normal.”
She picked up the stack and began to sort through it.
“Bill, bill, bill, sock catalog, junk. Ooh, a letter from Twilight! No doubt she's having a panic attack over my inability to instantly communicate with her.” she looked at the writing on the envelope, “It's odd that she would let Spike write so sloppily. Maybe she's finally starting to lighten up. Luna knows she needs to.”
Just as she was about to tear the envelope open, the doors to the throne room burst open and a skittish grey earth pony hastily made his way in.
“This is awful, just awful! I-It's a disaster!”
Celestia raised an eyebrow.
“Minister Worry Wort, what's so important that it warrants interrupting afternoon tea?”
“It's awful, Your Majesty! That's what it is! You need to—”
“No. Minister, the last time something 'awful' happened the kitchen had spoiled milk. Whatever it is, it can wait.” she held up the envelope, “My student has been waiting a whole week for me to read this and I'm going to, before replying. Then we can address whatever 'disaster' occurred. Understand?”
Worry Wort nodded nervously.
Celestia ripped the envelope open and took out the letter. She lifted the teacup to her mouth to take a sip as she starting reading the letter. Her eyes widened and the teacup slipped from her telekinesis. A moment before it hit the unforgiving ground, Solar Flare's telekinesis grabbed it and set it down gently.
“M-Minister, please tell me this has nothing to do with Twilight Sparkle.”
He looked nervously at her.
“T-This has nothing to d-do with Twilight Sparkle.”
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good, good. I can handle this situation in private without causing a pan—”
“U-Uh, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, Minister?”
“I-I'm bound by m-my oath to you to inform you that the p-previous statement I made was a lie.”
Celestia tensed up.
“High Overseer, please wake up Princess Luna immediately.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
**********
Twilight was slammed into a stone wall. She fell limply to the ground. A black alicorn walked up behind her.
“Did you really think you could defeat me? With your precious Elements rendered inert, I will claim victory.”
The purple unicorn weakly raised her head.
“You'll never get away with this!”
The alicorn lowered her head to Twilight's.
“My dear, I already have.”
-----
Luna rolled over in her sleep, a content smile on her face. Her room was darkened and the blue alicorn was curled up under her blanket, a sleep mask covering her eyes. A ragged and stained stuffed blue alicorn was tucked between her hooves.
The door to her room burst open.
“Your Majesty! Your sister has requested your presence at once.”
Luna awoke with a start.
“Whgjt? What is it!? Why hast tho—you awoken me?”
“Your sister has summoned you.”
Luna rolled back over.
“Whatever it is, it can wait.”
Solar Flare walked over to Luna's bed.
“I'm afraid it cannot. An incident has occurred with Miss Twilight Sparkle and it requires your, and your sister's, direct attention.”
Luna sat up and took the sleep mask off.
“What has befallen Twilight?”
Flare looked at Luna.
“Article Six has.”
The dramatic statement was rendered moot by a confused Luna.
“What do you mean 'Article Six'? What have we—er I, said about vague pronouncements?”
“Alright then, 'wings have'.”
“Wings have what?”
“Befallen Twilight, Your Majesty.”
Luna put a hoof to her forehead to sooth the throbbing vein.
“Overseer, you wake me up in the middle of the day and start babbling on about my sister and Twilight Sparkle. Now. What. Has. Happened?”
“Miss Twilight Sparkle has grown wings and become an alicorn, Your Highness.”
Luna yawned.
“Is that all? I thought something disastrous had occurred.”
She lay back down and pulled the blanket over herself.
Solar Flare stared at the Lunar Diarch wondering what he should do. A moment later, Luna's wings went rigid.
“Overseer?”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Was I correct in hearing that Twilight has grown wings and is now an alicorn?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
***********
Luna and Solar Flare ran through the hallways of Canterlot Castle towards the throne room.
He pulled the slightly bloody cotton ball out of his ear.
“I'm sorry, Your Highness, I didn't quite catch that. My hearing has yet to return to its optimal capacity.”
Luna snorted.
“Of all the mad schemes she could try to pull, this has to be the maddest. What is she thinking!? I mean, rehabilitating Discord is one thing, but this! She—she's—Overseer, what is a modern day idiom that accurately expresses my sister's insanity?”
“Uh, 'gone coo coo for Cocoa Puffs'? With respect, I don't think Pri—”
Luna smiled victoriously.
“Yes! She has gone coo coo for Cocoa Puffs. Make haste, Overseer. We must stop my sister's plan before she dooms us all.”
“But, Your Majesty, Princess Celestia doesn't have a—”
“She wants to obtain the sweet baked good and partake in it as well.” Luna looked over to Solar Flare, “I believe that is correct, isn't it?”
“Close enough, Your Majesty.”
“Excellent! Now hurry!”
The two approached the throne room.
“Your Majesty, I don't think you have the who—”
Luna burst into the throne room. Scattered around the room, two dozen ponies sat, ran, and flailed around in panic. Luna recognized them as members of the Cabinet and their aids. Luna turned her attention to the white alicorn sitting on the throne.
“Sister, what is the meaning of this?! Have you partaken in the Cocoa Puffs?”
Celestia looked up from her copy of Equestria's Constitution. She took off her reading glasses.
“What?”
“I thought we agreed that Twilight's 'next level' would be me teaching her, not this!”
Archmage Morning Star looked up from a stack of paperwork he was rummaging through and gasped.
“'Teaching her'?” he turned to Celestia, “Your Majesty told the Arcane Magic Council you were grooming her to be my successor.”
The Speaker of Parliament looked over in confusion.
“'Successor'? Your Majesty told Parliament you were preparing her to be Chancellor.”
Captain Spitfire stared in shock.
“''Chancellor'? That's preposterous! The Princess already clarified to the National Defense Council that Twilight was to be a rebel leader in the event that she was ever overthrown.”
The Minister of the Interior looked at them all.
“Really? The Ministry of the Interior was always under the impression that Miss Sparkle's ascension was Your Majesty's plan all along.”
Luna faced Celestia and raised an eyebrow.
“Well, sister?”
The white alicorn smiled apologetically.
“I wanted to keep my options open.”
Luna walked up to Celestia.
“I can't believe you did this!”
“Me? I didn't do anything. I'm just as shocked by all of this as you. I thought I had seen it all.”
Luna turned away from her sister and gazed out into the still panicked Cabinet thoughtfully.
“At least it explains those alicorn dreams she's been having.”
It was Celestia's turn to be upset.
“Wait, you knew about this?! Why on earth didn't you say something?!”
“It was a dream—well, several dreams.”
Celestia's miffed look didn't let up.
“I didn't think it was anything to be concerned about!”
The Solar Diarch tried turning Luna into a changeling by burrowing holes into her with her glare.
“Especially when she had that dream about the talking ham. Besides, do you really want to know everything our ponies dream about?”
Luna gave Celestia a skeptical look. The white alicorn sighed before putting a hoof to her temple.
“No, I don't. And I can't blame you either, Luna. It seems that a number of unfortunate circumstances have been brought together to lead to this.”
“How are we going to proceed?”
“We're going to talk to Twilight when she gets here. Knowing her, she's probably a semi-sane nervous wreck from all of this. Then we have to settle things down.”
Luna looked confused.
“'Settle down'? What's happened?”
Celestia sighed.
“Apparently, Twilight was using some sort of changeling illusion spell and decided that testifying before Parliament with it active was a good idea.”
Luna cringed.
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes. She was revealed before the entire Oversight and Reform Committee. And the press. And the cameras broadcasting the meeting live.”
The blue alicorn looked up, trying to find some silver lining.
“At least it's only a mild panic. It should be no worse than when I returned.”
Celestia glared at Spitfire, who shrunk under her gaze.
“Did I mention that the National Defense Council freaked out—as usual—and mobilized the entire military in preparation for a changeling invasion?”
“Oh dear. So now they think that Twilight is working with the changelings?”
Celestia nodded.
“That is most troublesome. We will have to assure our little ponies that there is nothing to worry about.”
“Agreed.”
A guard ran in.
“Your Majesties, Twilight Sparkle has arrived.”
Celestia looked to Solar Flare.
“High Overseer, clear the throne room and prepare for the joint session of the Courts.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
************
Twilight, surrounded by four guards, was led through the halls of Canterlot Castle. Pandemonium encompassed them. Panicked yelling was heard as various secretaries and assistants ran, flew, and teleported around them. Paper had been kicked into the air and drifted about. Several waste bins were on fire.
Her mane was a disheveled mess.
'You won't get sent back to Magic Kindergarten. I-It's j-j-just a misunderstanding. T-The Princesses will understand! S-Sure, it's the first joint session of the Courts since the Civil War—b-but that doesn't mean anything!'
One of the panicked secretaries ran up and bumped into Twilight. Paperwork was kicked into the air.
“Oh, I'm sorry, miss. In all this confusion I—” she looked between Twilight's face and her wings rapidly, “Aaaauuuugggggghhhhhh! The rumors are true! They're true! We're all doomed! Doomed!”
Twilight's ear and eye twitched in rapid succession.
'Yup. Doesn't mean a thing.'
The secretary took off in a different direction, still screaming. She stopped for a moment, picked up a few of the fallen papers, and took off again.
The guards and Twilight continued walking.
'You'll get everything cleared up with the Princesses. You'll see.'
They approached the throne room.
'W-Who knows, they might even have a solution.'
The guards opened the door to the throne room and Twilight was lead in.
-----
Princess Celestia sat on her throne. To her immediate right, sat Princess Luna on a folding chair, a scowl on her face.
“Nightmare Moon wouldn't be treated this way.” she mumbled.
Celestia smiled apologetically.
“Please understand, Luna, there hasn't been a joint session of the Courts in over a thousand years. There's no precedent for this sort of thing and we only have one throne.”
Luna pouted.
“They could have at least gotten me one of the dining room chairs.”
“Presenting: Miss Twilight Sparkle.”
Both princesses snapped up from their conversation.
The nervous alicorn practically crawled her way into the room.
“H-Hello, Princess Celestia.” she looked over to Luna, “P-Princess Luna.”
“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna looked at the alicorn's wings, “It appears that the reports were accurate, sister."
Celestia nodded.
“Yes it does. So tell us, Twilight, how did this happen?”
The stress, fear, and anxiety of the past week finally caught up with Twilight. The dam that was holding things back burst and she cried.
“I-I-I don't know, Princess!” she sucked in a breath as tears streamed down her face, “I j-just woke up one day w-with these stupid wings a-and panicked!”
Celestia and Luna looked at the sobbing alicorn with concern.
“I-I thought th-that I could hide them a-and find a w-way to fix it, s-so I created an illusion spell u-using changeling magic f-from one of my books.”
The white alicorn got up to comfort her crying student.
“And then P-Parliament wanted to s-see me and m-most of my friends found out!”
Celestia looked down at the blubbering alicorn.
“I-I-It's all m-my fault, Princess. I'm s-s-so sorry.”
The Solar Diarch extended a wing and wrapped it around Twilight to comfort her.
“It's okay, Twilight. There's nothing to be sorry for.”
Twilight sniffed and looked up.
“B-But, the panic! A-And the chaos!”
Celestia looked down at Twilight.
“Ponies have always been a skittish sort, Twilight. Why, even though they control the weather, there's still some that are terrified every time it rains. If this didn't send them into a panic, something else would have.”
“But, w-what about the constitutional crisis! There'll be anarchy.”
Luna, feeling left out, decided to join in.
“'Constitutional crisis'? Why would there be a constitutional crisis?”
Twilight looked over to the Lunar Diarch.
“I-I'm an alicorn now. The constitution isn't designed to handle another alicorn.”
Luna gave a bemused look.
“It seemed to handle Prin—er Empress Cadance just fine.”
Celestia shot Luna a look.
“Luna, you know she doesn't like that title.”
Luna smirked.
“Why do you think I use it?”
Celestia looked back to Twilight.
“You see, Twilight. No crisis. No anarchy. Where did you ever get such an idea?”
“Well, there was this book...”
The white alicorn sighed.
“What did I say about dusty old books?”
Twilight looked confused.
“But, wasn't I right then?”
Celestia waved a hoof dismissively.
“That's not important. What is, is that now you don't have to worry about this. We'll take care of everything.”
“What's going to happen, Princess?”
“I'm not going to lie, Twilight. Your life has just gotten quite a bit more complicated. The next several days are going to be very hectic.”
Twilight deflated.
“But, you'll have us and your friends to help you out.”
“My-My friends? But they're not here.”
“Unfortunately, they are being escorted to Canterlot as we speak.”
The purple alicorn was shocked.
“What?! Why?!”
“The military took your unveiling just as badly as the general populace. They wanted to ensure the Bearers were secure in the event of another changeling attack. No doubt, had your brother still been Chair of the Council, then their response would have been far more level headed.”
Twilight looked down.
'Applejack sure won't be happy.'
“What, exactly, am I going to have to do?”
“First, there's going to be a press conference to clear up any misunderstandings about you and to assail any fears of the changelings. Then, you're going to have to appear before the High Court to verify that you are, in fact, an alicorn. After that, you can get settled in—spend some time with your friends and family, while Luna and I figure out exactly where to go from here.”
Twilight looked up at Celestia hesitantly.
“Don't worry, Twilight. Everything will be just fine. Now, you have to get ready for that press conference. We can't have an alicorn appear in her formal introduction stained with tears, now can we?”
Twilight smiled.
“No, I guess not.”
Celestia and Twilight stood up.
“Have Solar Flare help.”
“Is he still as stuffy as I remember?”
“Oh no.” Celestia leaned in, “ He's gotten worse.”
Twilight and Celestia shared a laugh before the purple alicorn left.
Luna walked up next to Celestia.
“Tis good that you decided to cancel our vacation. Things will be getting far too hectic.”
Celestia looked over to Luna.
“'Cancel'? I'm not canceling anything.”
“What?! But, sister, things will become much too chaotic if we depart. Twilight's predictions of anarchy may yet come true.”
“No, Luna. If I didn't cancel things when the griffins launched their invasion fleet or when the nobility got restless then I'm not doing it now.” she nuzzled Luna, “Especially with it being your first vacation back.”
“You'd risk the stability of the country?”
“If there's one lesson Equestria always has to learn, it's that we may not be here forever.” Celestia laughed, “Who knows, maybe we're going to kick the bucket and that's why Twilight's an alicorn.”
Luna looked confused.
“Why would us kicking a bucket be the reason for Twilight's ascension?”
“I see you still haven't read that book I gave you about idioms. Die, Luna, 'kicking the bucket' means 'die'.”
Luna rushed over.
“Die! Are you ill, sister?”
“Of course not. I'm perfectly fine. I was joking, Luna. Do you think I'd hide something like that? That would send Equestria into anarchy. The point I'm trying to make, is that, even though neither of us have any intention of dying anytime soon, if and when it does happen, Equestria needs to be ready. Why do you think I set up these vacations in the first place?”
“I always assumed it was to take a break.”
Celestia walked over to one of the windows. Luna trailed behind.
“That's definitely a bonus, yes, but the real reason is to test Equestria. One day we won't be here and our little ponies will have to lead themselves. They won't have us to fix their problems or protect them from others. These vacations are important to help them prepare for when that day comes. Do you see why we can't postpone it?”
“Sort of.”
“When something unexpected or disastrous strikes them, they won't be able to 'postpone' it. They'll have to face it head on. They'll have to be ready.”
“But is Twilight?”
The white alicorn looked out the window.
“I hope so, Luna. I hope so.”
End of Chapter Thirteen.
The elements are inert.
media.animevice.com/uploads/0/5/1134-piccolo__dragon_ball__photo_super.jpg
You sir, win one free internet.
I like it. Twilight gets to the event of the crisis itself and is freaking out and... actually, Celestia's got it covered. For once. "Oh no, you go take a nap and a bath or something. This is really cool news. It'll be completely fine."
Nice. Loved that first part, "Tell me this does not have anything to do with Twilight Sparkle." Also, most of Luna's lines were gold.
A bit rushed and messy, aye, but not too bad. I loved the fact that Celestia was basically hedging her bets with Twilight's future role(s) in the country. Twi's little breakdown was well handled, and Celestia's point at the end about not being there is a good little tidbit. Luna's mishandling of idioms was a nice bit of humor, as well.
All in all, quite a lovely little chapter.
Well... that rules out Trollestia at least, and Twilight yet again has been fooled by books *shakes head* you'd think she'd have learned by now
this chapter had me laughing so hard i hit my head on the desk
...well, that can only end in victory...
1887655
Umm... no.
And
RotFLa2LitC
Yay! I get a shout-out in an author's comments.
What a fun chapter.
Personally, I am of the opinion that Celestia did, indeed, partake of the cocoa puffs, and has been planning the whole thing, up to and including the dreams about ham. Its all a conspiracy, I tell you! A conspiracy!
YES YES YES YES YES!~
Anybody got a clue as to what the blue text stuff was about? I don't remember reading about any evil spirit crap in the earlier chapters...
1887687
Huh guess the other posts didn't show up when I posted Will be fixed
I can't help but think this is a reference to something.
1887701
Luna was simply having a power fantasy dream. No evil spirits. No "Nightmare Moon returns". None of that.
1887715
th06.deviantart.net/fs31/PRE/f/2008/221/5/0/Come_to_the_DarkSide_by_sali666.jpg
I especially love the tid bit in this chapter where they foreshadow
1887625
It would seem you forgot to include the ticket for said internet. Thankfully I happen to have a spare.
bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/21452000/ngbbs4c3b98e058274.jpg
This may be redeemed at any participating Chuck-E-Cheese's provided that it is not in a continent that is not Antarctica.
Also, this chapter was awesome and you should feel awesome.
Think you meant "hide".
Celstia, don't toss that catalog out! It's for Luna.
Doing thing in a timely manner, not when you're princess of a nation.
I hope the dinner table does have her in a baby chair.
Things like this in the fanon is why Luna is my favorite pony/Princess/Goddess.
1887642
I must agree with you, many of Luna's lines and dreams gave me a quick case of the chuckles.
ooo aj and rd are going to be pissed, im willing to bet rainbow will have knocked a few guards out for trying to man handle her
Poor Twilight! Being dragged at spear-point before the Dual Court of the Heavens in all its glory couldn't have made her feel any better.
So, it was all a horrible series of misunderstanding and errors. Well, the biggest things do tend to turn out to be like that. Now, I wonder precisely how Luna and Celestia are going to handle this and how far the ripples of chaos will spread. By the way, why does that statue of a draconequus in the garden look like it's laughing?
Ya the ponies do seem to panic when a pin is dropped hun?
Well, the fanbase thinks that it's Trollestia's fault for the same reason everypony in your fic does: It's Trollestia.
I really like this story! Can't wait for next chapter
1887655 TWILIGHT LEARN WHO DO YOU THINK SHE IS! i mean shes only the princesses private student element of magic and town librarian who in equestria would think she will ever learn ^^.*shakes head furiously* im sorry Twi we still love you :D
Yeah, that's my headcanon Tia.
It's heavily implied in the show that Celestia is either extremly good at predicting when who will do what - or is watching at least twilight pretty much all the time.
And since there's no canon info about how an alicorn comes to be, it's not too unreasonable that another alicorn would know the process and be able to apply it.
Ah! Now everything makes sense and Celestia is portrayed excellently! ... Crap Twilight needs some help.
For some reason everytime I hear Yes, your majesty. I read: (the first part)
YES FINALLY! A story where Celestia and Luna confront the situation in a calm, sensable and reasonable idea.
You sir are awesome.
1888010
(\ I whole heartedly concur! She is best princess hooves down.
Aww shit it's getting better and better.
Tommorow i go back to school,
this has updates,
THANK YOU
Nice Celestia is best Celestia. Not gonna lie, I want more Celly taking care of Twi. Wing hugs FTW.
1887766
They just sent Soarin' to go get her. All he has to do is ask nicely.
Well, this chapter is pure, unfiltered essence of win.
Have one of these, i've not given out one in a while.
i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/ultra1437/Memes/spidermangivesfuck-1.jpg
I really really really really hope Celestia's joke about kicking the bucket wasn't foreshadowing.
I also hope that vacation isn't for a couple of weeks at LEAST, and that they don't leave Twilight as the sole monarch during their vacation. At least give her the people who were going to rule in the princess's place as personal aids. (or, y'know, just let those guys rule for this particular vacation, since that's probably what'd happen anyway if Celestia and Luna up and died)
i was giggling madly throughout most of the chapter, that was absolutely awesome. i had thought that there would be more chaos and confusion from celestia, luna and twilight; but all three of them took it quite well, sure twilight broke down in a heap of despair, but she was also calmed down quickly by celestia.
on another note: what were the dream about? the one luna was having, seemed like she had a not-so-nightmarish dream where she was kicking twilight's plot as NMM.
1888225
It wasn't foreshadowing. It was actually a reference to those "Celestia dies and Twilight becomes an alicorn" stories (Ascension, and Cry For Eternity). Celestia is perfectly fine and won't be dieing during Ascend or any of its related stories. Luna on the other hand...is also fine.
1888226
Luna was simply having a power fantasy dream.
Anticlimactic.
No, that's too harsh. Everything in this chapter was epic except the meeting with Twilight. It wasn't anticlimactic, just sorta mundane in contrast.
I hope the testing at least involves something silly or dangerous.
Wow... and just before I go and do the tiring work of registration...
You one Internet with a dash of Fallout 3 awesome.
Yay update!!!
juuuust like blue wings :D blue wings includes: ,,,,U FORGOT ME!!!-->
Next up: The rest of the Mane Six's reactions! Pinkie will definitely follow her status quo.
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/32766497.jpg
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/32766531.jpg
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/32766431.jpg
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/32766716.jpg
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/32766810.jpg
You know, in case she hasn't thrown a secret party already.
1887670
But for whom? I'm bettin on Link.
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz8xnevPKR1qj2d8z.gif
Still lovin' this shit
1888539 Link is always victorious.
1888626 Exactly.
I mean, just look at what he is capable of.
25.media.tumblr.com/f4a48156c60671599408fd94ded1d2b8/tumblr_mf7cqgmZdt1r26jxbo1_500.gif
THE CHAPTERS ARE TOO BLASTED SHORT!