"What makes a good ruler?"

Moon stood before the young royals of mewni, a smile on her face as she looked across all of their faces. It had been her idea to have classes for the heirs and royals. She'd thought it would be nice for them to consider how they would run things in the future alongside one another. It would help strengthen their bonds with one another, and just learn more about the way each other's kingdoms worked and viewpoints in general.

The results were… hit and miss. Moon sighed before looking across the room. "Nobody would even like to try and give an answer?" she asked. "Anyone at all?"

Most of them seemed either stumped or downright disinterested. Hody in particular made it clear he didn't want to be here. His sister at least seemed to be thinking and trying to find an answer. Slick looked like he was about to fall asleep, and Muddine seemed to have something on her mind, but was too nervous to answer.

Tor seemed to be paying attention at least, but didn't have any plans on participating. Twister was staring off into space, while Gale was staring at her for reasons she decided she preferred she did not know. Gus also looked like he had something, but seemed hesitant. And she couldn't really read Breeze's expression.

Rich Jr was looking confused, and Vera and Nia were muttering towards another, supposedly trying to come up with an answer. Or more likely talking about what they wanted to eat for lunch. While Jagur was rubbing his chin curiously.

Then there was Asterossa, who was sitting all the way in the back.

The boy hadn't exactly been eager to come along either. Partly because he knew Hody would be making jabs at him the whole time, and partly because he already knew most of what they were going over. Being here with the others heirs probably just reminded him that his status of prince didn't hold the same weight as the others.

Jagur decided to speak up and try answering first. "Is it intelligence?" he asked curiously. "I think that's a very important quality."

Moon smiled. "So it is. A ruler must have some level of education after all," she said. "But intelligence alone won't be able to solve every problem. Does anybody remember what happened with King Raphel Lucitor? He was known for his incredible intelligence and ingenuity. How did his rule end?"

Vera hesitantly raised her hand. "He uh… got assassinated." She had remembered that from her own lessons. She'd learned about a lot of the famous Luctiros kings and queens in the past.

Moon nodded. "That's right. To him intelligence was nothing but figures and facts. He didn't see the people he was supposed to be serving as people. Just numbers. So when he came up with strategies that ended up requiring large sacrifices, not taking into account how the very soldiers whose lives he was giving up felt, it was little wonder someone managed to get close enough to take his life," she explained. "Do you think it was intelligent of him to disregard people's value in such a way?"

The youths took in the explanation, and Muddine raised her hand. "Um, so if it's not intelligence… then maybe it's justice?" she asked. "Being fair and right?"

Moon hummed. "Well, a good ruler does have to be just. It's extremely important that the people feel like things are being run fairly," she said. "Mako Kelpbottom was just. I believe he was known as one of the most fair and righteous kings who ever ruled over the Waterfolk. His policies were considered quite popular. But he wasn't very just for long. Anyone know what happened?"

Hody actually decided to speak up. "He was slain by a murderous Goliath who he refused to execute on the battlefield. A foolish mistake," he said. What had his ancestor expected to happen after sparing a monster? Especially one as savage as him. "He shouldn't have shown mercy."

Maria frowned. "I don't think the lesson here is to just be merciless…" she said.

Moon nodded. "True. There needs to be a proper balance when it comes to being just. Trying to do right by everyone should always be a priority, but one mustn't let their own personal sense of justice blind them to the truth, or steer them towards a path of cruelty," she said eyeing Hody. The prince rolled his eyes.

Tor answers next, not even bothering to raise his hand. "It's strength," he said bluntly. "A king needs to be strong enough to protect their kingdom."

"Also true," Moon said, gesturing towards him. "Though strength comes in many forms, if a King, or Queen, doesn't have some sort of it then it makes it rather difficult to protect the things they consider close to them. But strength alone isn't quite enough. After all, Solaria Butterfly was strong. The most famous warrior Queen Mewni has ever seen… but she used that strength to persecute and hunt down monster kind. She created a spell so deadly that we had to go to great lengths to destroy every source to learn it."

"She was on to something if you ask me," Hody muttered.

"Nobody did," Slick said, yawning.

Hody glared towards him, but Moon quickly cut in. "Alright, let's look at what we have already. A King who paid for having valued logic and intelligence above all else, a King who lets his own sense of justice lead to his downfall, and a queen who used her strength to bully those weaker than herself. What did they all lack?"

Everyone was silent. They all seemed to be drawing a blank, having no idea just what answer she was looking for. "I don't see how this helps us come to any answer. All we've learned is what quality isn't the most important," Hody said. "It's a waste of-"

"It's wisdom," Astro said, cutting him off.

Everyone looked back towards him. Hody scoffed. He was about to speak up about just how foolish his answer was, but then Moon spoke. "Yes," the former Queen said, beaming with pride.

"Wisdom makes a great ruler," Astro confirmed.

"Yes, that's exactly right," she said before looking towards the rest of the young royals in the room. "But what exactly makes a ruler wise? Let's say a noble house who grows available resources gets into a scuffle with another noble house known for their powerful military might? How do you settle matters while keeping them beneficially mutual to all parties?"

She turned towards Nia. "Do you know anything about fertile lands, or how resources are grown, or how military matters work?" she asked.

Nia shook her head. "Uh, no…" she said, seeming embarrassed.

"Of course not. Hardly any of you do," Moon said patting her on the head. "You're all young. Inexperienced. And young inexperienced rulers should heed the counsel of both trusted advisors and the people they serve, until they're old enough to know better. And the wisest of them will heed that counsel long after."

The young royals all took in the piece of advice, and Moon looked towards Astro. He had already gone back to trying to blend into the back of the room like always.

She thought about trying to get him more involved in the lesson, but she just decided to carry on. She didn't want to force him, and… well, honestly it wasn't like he really needed it. As far as she could tell, he already had all the makings of a proper ruler.

And even if he'd never get the chance to put them to use, she was proud of him for it.

"Off to your father's again?" Moon asked, smirking.

Astro sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… Sting wanted me to broker a trade deal with one of the local Beastkin tribes. My father has a positive reputation in the monster community, but he doesn't exactly know about trade policies or costumes to individual tribes," he explained.

Moon let out an amused giggle from her table, and then grabbed a cookie from the tray in front of her. She held it out towards him. "Well, look at you. Becoming quite the future heir, aren't you?" she asked.

The prince gladly took the sweet from her, but chuckled. "Hardly. It feels more like I'm doing leg work for my father really. Sting did say he tended to be lazy when it came to matters like this, but it's honestly ridiculous," he said shaking his head.

"Well, if you ask me you very much look the part. I'm glad all of those lessons didn't go to waste," she said. "I'd hate for all of those hours to be for nothing."

Astro leaned down and gave her a hug. "Don't be ridiculous. I got to spend time with you. That could never be a waste," he said before giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I'll be back soon. I don't imagine this will take too long."

"Alright then. I'll be sure to have a fresh pie waiting when you get back."

"I can never overstate how much I love you grandmother."

He took a bite of his cookie and began making his way out. Despite his father claiming him as one, he was an heir in name only. With Typhon being immortal and strong as he was, there was pretty much no chance he'd ever take the throne. Which was honestly fine by him.

As he left, Moon continued to smile to herself. She knew that she would probably wouldn't live long enough to ever see Astro actually take his father's throne. It was a bit of a shame really. She would have liked to see it. But she could already picture what a great King he would be.

A/N: Moon being proud of her favorite grand-kid... I mean c'mon, she's never gonna say he's her favorite out loud, but c'mon...