The Interview
The Royal Palace in Mount Aris was a sprawling building with many rooms, almost all of them lavishly decorated and constructed with utmost care by the greatest Arisian architects to be the pinnacle of Hippogriff and Seapony architecture, a perfect blend of both styles that truly demonstrated the might and unity of the Arisian people.
Who knows, maybe they’ll bring in some Zumidian or Warzenan architects to restore the damage from the war.
These thoughts dominated Coral Ridge’s mind as he made his way through one of the palace’s hallways, passing under the banners of Aris’ noble houses. If he cared to look for it, he could probably find the House of Ridge somewhere amongst them. And perhaps he could search for it someday, but certainly not today.
He had more important matters to attend to today.
Eventually he came upon his destination; a door guarded by two members of the Royal Arisian Guard. Not unexpected, given who were inside. What was unexpected were the other two guards. They were not members of the Royal Arisian Guard; indeed they were not even Hippogriffs and Zebras, but Thestrals. Soldiers of the Night Guard, in the heart of the Royal Palace.
If only the Chiropterrans could see this now.
‘’Good afternoon,’’ Coral greeted as he approached the door. ‘’I’m here for the interview.’’
One of the Hippogriffs nodded, and then knocked on the door. ‘’Mister Coral Ridge, your Majesty!’’ he called out.
‘’Send him in!’’ came back a moment later.
The soldier pulled the door open, and motioned for Coral to go through. He gave a nod back to the soldier as he passed him by. It never hurt to be polite, after all.
Coral came into a luxurious lounge room. A fireplace stood at the far wall, before which were four chairs and a table. Three chairs were already occupied, leaving only one place for him to sit. The rest of the room was impressive, certainly, but over the years Coral had developed a sort of numbness to the luxury of the Royal Palace.
Tiamat help me, I’m turning into a noble!
‘’Coral!’’
Years of experience had given Coral some experience, so he was able to prevent himself from being tackled by the living projectile that was the Queen of the Hippogriffs and the Seaponies, also known as Skystar of Novo.
‘’Good afternoon, Skystar,’’ he greeted back as he carefully returned the crushing hug she was giving him. ‘’Can you give me space to breathe now?’’
‘’Oh, sure!’’
He was immediately let go, and took one moment to breathe in, before smiling at the ruler of his country. ‘’Thank you.’’
He took a moment to address the second person in the room too. ‘’Queen-Mother,’’ he greeted with a referential nod to Novo.
‘’Coral,’’ Novo warmly greeted back, giving him a great smile. ‘’A pleasure to see you again.’’
‘’Likewise.’’
And now, for the most important person in the room.
‘’Princess Luna.’’ Coral bowed deeply. ‘’It is my honour to meet you.’’
The Alicorn gave a single nod back, casting the large burn mark on her cheek into the afternoon light streaming through the windows. ‘’It is a pleasure to meet you too, Mr Coral Ridge. Queen Skystar and Queen-Mother Novo have told me much about you.’’
‘’I hope it was good,’’ Coral couldn’t resist quipping.
‘’Naturally,’’ Novo agreed serenely.
‘’We only told all the best stories!’’ Skystar chipped in, all but bouncing in her seat, completely unbefitting of the image a royal usually had. ‘’Like the one about your time with the 1st Marine Division, or the one about your interviews in Little Zumidia, or that you were at the Battle of Hippone-’’
‘’And much, much more, but perhaps that is for another time,’’ Novo cut in. ‘’Coral, please have a seat so we can get started.’’
‘’Of course.’’
The chair was as comfortable as any chair in the Royal Palace ever was; that was to say, it was exceedingly lovely to sit in, and Coral allowed himself a moment of relaxation as he sat down, before he focused again.
‘’Princess Luna,’’ he began, ‘’before we start, I would like to establish a few things. If at any point I am asking a question that you do not wish to answer, say so and I will not continue that line of questioning. This interview is for the purpose of telling Aris and the world your perspective on Daybreaker’s appearance, and I will ask questions about that. Nothing else. But if you have anything you wish to add, feel free to mention it. Is that alright with you?’’
‘’Certainly,’’ Luna said, looking about as regal as the statue of an ancient queen. ‘’I shall endeavour to answer your questions as best I can.’’
‘’Wonderful.’’ Coral retrieved his pen and notebook from his saddlebag and flipped the latter open to the page where he’d written down his questions. ‘’Alright then. Here is my first question: how did you escape from Canterlot?’’
Luna snorted. ‘’You ask the pressing questions, I see. Well.’’ She took a breath. ‘’I conversed with my sister in the throne room. I was outnumbered, and I did not wish to risk my own life or that of my Night Guard. So, I bargained with her. It was not my proudest moment, but I had no other choice. I told her that if she let the Night Guard go, I would leave for Griffonia and not intervene in her reign. I do not know why, but she agreed. Perhaps she believed me, perhaps not.’’
‘’And then you, evidently, did not go to Griffonia.’’
‘’Indeed.’’ Luna gave a single nod. ‘’I made my way to Manehattan, and there I hid for a few days. I called upon the connections I had made during the Thestral campaign, but she found me after a few weeks and chased me away.’’ She brought up a hoof, and touched the burn mark. ‘’So I went to Tzinacatlia, and met up with my Night Guard.’’
‘’How did they know to go there?’’
Luna looked away for a moment. ‘’I had made such orders for if ever there was a situation where we needed to regroup, far away from enemy forces. The Southeast is the most impenetrable part of Equestria, perhaps only matched by the deserts of the Mild West. We met again in Ayacachtli, almost a month after my sister’s… fall.’’
Here was something for Coral to snatch on to. ‘’You think she fell?’’
‘’I know she did,’’ Luna replied. ‘’I did not recognise the same thing that had happened to myself was happening to Celestia, until it was too late. I tried to step in, but I could do nothing. A fight between us would end with me defeated or worse. As you can see, I could not even come out of a skirmish unscathed.’’ She chuckled mirthlessly. ‘’In any case, yes. She fell. The stress of fighting the war with Chrysalis got to her, and I could not get to her in time. It is, perhaps, my greatest failure.’’
‘’I see.’’ There wasn’t much he could say to alleviate that. ‘’And… do you think she can win the war?’’
Luna shrugged. ‘’I do not know. Perhaps her extreme measures will be enough to turn the tide. I hear that the Changelings have been forced back in several battles. Mayhaps this will be the wind that turns the tide, perhaps it will only accelerate our defeat. I cannot say, truly.’’
‘’And what about the resistance?’’
Luna raised an eyebrow at him. ‘’What about the resistance?’’ she asked back.
‘’For the sake of secrecy,’’ Coral began, ‘’I will not ask for details, but I must ask: what is your goal?’’
This was the penultimate question, the one that would set the tone of the interview. In the corner of his eye, Coral could see that Novo and Skystar were both listening attentively. Of course, they would be very interested in what Luna was about to say. Perhaps they had already spoken about it, before he had arrived? He would never know.
Luna took a deep breath. ‘’Our goal is the restoration of Equestria, and our victory in the war against the Changelings. I hope that I can wrestle back my sister from her fears, but if I cannot…’’ She fell silent for a moment, eyes impossibly distant, and Coral was suddenly struck with the distinct feeling that he was sitting in front of a being that operated on a completely different level than anyone he had ever met. A being that was profoundly alone.
‘’If I cannot,’’ Luna said, steel edging into her voice, ‘’then I shall do what I must, to protect Equestria and her citizens.’’
All of a sudden, it felt like a hidden tension had been released. Coral let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in, and smiled at the Princess. ‘’Thank you, ma’am,’’ he said. ‘’That answers the main questions I had. Shall we pause for a moment, and then continue with less… loaded topics?’’
Luna laughed. ‘’I think I can agree to that, Mr Ridge.’’
Coral smiled back. ‘’Call me Coral.’’