Chapter 4
The morning had been very interesting, in Spike's opinion. It was not more interesting than if a new villain had arrived, but its aspect that was how it would change Ponyville, and his life along with it, fascinated him. He did not wonder about the specifics of how life would be like with one of the two governing princesses living close by, but he just felt a little spurred on by the fact that, at least by a little bit, his life would change, and disrupt the pattern of monotony that was too much a bane to him.
He wondered about these things as he made his way to Zecora's hut. Suddenly, as he was about to step onto the small well-trodden path of the forest that led to Zecora's home, his train of thought was disrupted.
"Howdy, Spike! Are you also off to Zecora's?", Apple Bloom began amiably. Spike noticed that she bore a basket of apples on her back. She had grown much in the past few years, just like how he had himself.
"Oh, hi Apple Bloom! Yeah, I'm going there too. Twilight wanted me to tell Zecora about the new books that the library had gotten. She said that Zecora asked Twilight about some books that the library didn't have then, and now we have some of them with the new batch," Spike explained in his reply.
"Oh, cool! Anyway, Spike, you seen Princess Luna just now? That was crazy! I never in all my life heard 'bout royalty livin' in Ponyville! Granny Smith was mighty surprised too, when I told her!", Apple Bloom inquired and stated.
"Yeah! I'm expecting some things to really change in Ponyville. Now that I think about it, Luna didn't have any guards... I wonder if she'll be alright.", Spike commented.
Princess Luna was actually able to quite easily set her somewhat radical plan in motion because she did not have much of a role in Equestria's governance. It was not that Celestia was ardent on hogging much of all the power for herself, but that Celestia was the one that the inhabitants of Equestria better identified with. She had been alone in the governance for far too long, and, although the people tried not to harbour any misgivings about Luna's current state, they were quite unsure of her ability to rule. Celestia had been successful for so long already, and so much of the affairs that had to be directly attended to by a ruler was attended to by her. Those affairs made up the bulk of Equestria's governance, and so Luna was unwittingly granted a lot of free time, the lack of a need for as much personal protection, and the freedom of one with less, if not little, responsibility. Luna's last loud conversation with her sister had let her hit some touchy points quite accurately, and so painfully too.
"I will be alright," a voice suddenly declared. from behind Apple Bloom and Spike. It took a few moments for the two teenagers to realise that the familiar voice was that of the younger Royal Sister.
"P-Princess Luna! Sorry if we offended you! D-Did we offend you? Uh...", Apple Bloom stammered. Her lack of experience with famous ponies was, then, embarrassing her.
"Uh... Your highness... I hope that I did not offend you. I was just a little worried...", Spike carefully and also nervously spoke, as he tried to not look as bad as Apple Bloom. He could not easily understand the minds of the royal sisters, and so had decided to play safely.
"No such worry is misplaced, young dragon. I am heartened and honoured to be well in the mind of my subject," Princess Luna reassured. She was almost about to add in an 'Especially if it is from you...' on a whim but had thought better of it. She blamed her strange want less on an unreliable concept of love, and much less 'love at first sight', than on boredom and so the need to do something surprising and amusing. "Ah! Would you both like to attend a party that I hold to formalize the start of my stay here? I invite few, unfortunately, and despite how assured I am of the kindness of the locals to attend the event, I cannot bear to disrupt the work of those who do so nightly, or make those who do not tired for the day after. I regret inviting on short notice, for it is only later in the evening, at seven o' clock... If you both are will be free, feel it to attend. Invite your acquaintances, too!" Luna stated. "It will be at the villa at the far end a ways past the library, as you follow the road that leads to it. That is my residence. Ah! I have to leave already. Fare thee well!", Luna continued and bade, before teleporting away. After leaving, she wondered who the young mare was, but dismissed such a strange worry.
Spike and Apple Bloom had much to talk about for the rest of the journey to the hut, and for the whole of the journey back from it, for the princess' appearance was truly a very interesting occurence.
"I'm back!", Spike greeted as he entered the library that was often empty except for Celestia's favourite student and his close friend. That was why he had to blink a few times as he noticed the beautiful princess yet again in his company, but this time more immersed in that of her book. Spike noticed that it was more informative than interesting, as he spotted many dates in it. Finally, someone was properly using the library. It was unfortunate for Spike that he was too embarrassed to be happy about that.
The princess wondered about why the young dragon stared at her, and asked out of humility, "I apologise if I intrude upon something... Am I?"
Spike realised that he was staring and blushed. Apologetically, he stammered, "Uh... No... Heh... The library is just usually empty. That's all. You can stay here for as long as you like, your Highness!"
"Then I shall partake of your hospitality. My thanks, young dragon," the mare replied, before continuing to read from where she had left off. Princess Luna's manner of speech was noticeably more subdued than Spike's own, which left Spike with a small mixture of awe and embarrassment. Her mannerisms never allowed him to forget her status.
"Spike! As you have obviously noticed, Princess Luna had decided to use our - I mean, the - library's collection! And it's to better understand Ponyville! Isn't she just great?!", Twilight began as she appeared from somewhere behind.
"Oh, pay it no mind! It is but my duty to better understand my subjects!", Luna responded, but blushing as she attempted to be modest.
"Anyway, so Spike, you better not disturb her or something, because she is doing RESEARCH," Twilight gleefully said, very happy that someone was doing something that she also loved to do.
Spike rolled his eyes and said, "Have I ever done that, Twilight? Wait, oops, I guess I never even had the opportunity. Well, I won't anyway, so there."
Spike and Twilight realised that Princess Luna was glancing at the both and each of them, and realised that they were distracting her. Guilty and embarrassed, they left her to her work.
The time passed quickly as Twilight and Spike were engaged in an interesting set of experiments. Testing the magical properties of some interesting herbs that Zecora had provided for them was not as dull as Spike had expected it to be. The myriad of effects that the herbs provided were quite fascinating, but the only problem was how an herb's effect was usually extremely specific, and so trial and error usually resulted in the latter. The experimentation was performed in the basement, as a major mishap would endanger the town.
More time passed and, eventually, Luna left. She did not even bid goodbye for she did not see Spike nor Twilight, and did not wish to trespass into the storeys above nor below.
Even more time passed, and it passed into the beginning of the party. Unfortunately, Twilight's work was interesting only with the worst timing, and so some time had to pass before Spike finally remembered, while exclaiming, "TWILIGHT WE GOTTA GO!"
Author's comments:
beirirangu, I have taken note of the first critique of this story (Ha!) and I can somewhat agree with you. I do not think that the realistic transitions (if I may call them that) of major events was too bad, because of the spacing of the days. Also, elaboration of scenes does not really appeal to me (hypocrite?!) because I find it boring (:). Using my gut, I already try to pace it though. Thank you for the critique though!
