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A Diplomatic Visit

by Evilhumour

Chapter 6: Chapter Six

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Chapter Six

“That is a… delicate matter,” Swift-Pad began, blinking to ease the tension in his eyes. “What brings it to mind?”

“Well, honestly, you’re the first po-person I’ve ever heard use that particular phrase to refer to us,” Twilight replied carefully. “So I was wondering why.”

Swift-Pad licked his lips, wondering how to properly explain this matter to her. “To many outside of Equestria,” he began, moving closer to her so he did not have to strain his eyes. “And a few within, the alicorn tribe is viewed with great regard due to their preternatural abilities, even to the point of worship.”

“Worship? As in gods and religion?” Twilight sounded aghast. “That’s… why? I mean, I’m certainly no god, and I don’t ever want to be one. Being worshipped like that is just…” She trailed off, her eyes widening as she began to realize what she was saying and what she almost said. Her mouth opened for a moment before closing, showing that she’d almost repeated her previous error but caught herself in time. “As I am Princess Celestia’s former student, I know that she personally dislikes that notion as it drives a wedge between her and every other pony, and I happen to agree; I’m not against the idea of worship in general, but personally being the subject of it makes me feel… uncomfortable, to say the least.”

“That is your prerogative,” Swift-Pad replied. “Regardless, that is what we believe and to be honest, her Grace Celestia is not our goddess, but rather her Grand Grace of the Moon.” He bowed his head reverently as he spoke of Her.

“You mean Luna?” Twilight asked with his ear flickering in anxiety. “You worship her?”

“Yes and no; it is a bit complicated,” he told her, sitting near the door. “There are different schools of thought concerning her Grace Luna. For instance, there are those who believe that she is the flesh-and-blood embodiment of the moon itself as those who believe Celestia is that of the sun, Mi Amore Cadenza of Love, and you of… well those of that school of thought are not sure yet as they have seen so little of you.” He paused for a moment, tilting his head to the side.

“Others believe that she is the same Luna from a thousand years ago, while a divergent group say that she is the original Luna having been reborn in a new body from her Grace Nightmare Moon, and the latest in the cycle of their incarnations. There are also a number who believe that there was once a Luna but she fell during the battle between the Sun and Moon a thousand years ago and this is simply a puppet that her Grace Celestia has installed for her own reasons.” Twilight cringed at that one, and he couldn’t fault her.

“There are also those who reject that her Grace Luna was ever an alicorn as we hold more reverence for the moon than the ponies of Equestria did.” He paused again, reviewing his thoughts for other main religious views on her Grace Luna.

“Yet another group believes alicorns are merely those who were blessed by the original spirits of the sun, moon and love to be those spirits’ representatives in the world, granting them the traits they now bear and making them immortal. And these are the just the major religious views that I can recall for the Packlands alone, not taking into account the unique views held across the world. All in all, I cannot say which is right or wrong; just that many believe their own ways and tend to agree to disagree on the matter.”

Twilight looked contemplative as she considered his words. “That is… an interesting way of looking at it,” she said slowly. “How do you think they would react if they heard what I know about Luna’s past?”

“That depends on what you would have to say,” Swift-Pad replied. “Though I expect that many would not appreciate hearing anything negative against Her, and that is the only sure reaction I can predict as I mentioned before, we wolves hold the night in very high regard.”

“And…” Twilight flashed him a look of concern. “And would it be wrong of me to ask of your beliefs of Luna?”

“Yes,” he replied.

Twilight nodded. “In which case… I’ll start by saying that Luna is one of my friends, and I have a great deal of respect for her.”

“As should all; regardless of her origin, she is akin to her Grace Celestia at the very least and should be treated with the same minimum respect that her Grace Celestia receives.” Swift-Pad then gave her a lopsided smile. “Also, in the future, I would like you to keep in mind that talking of religion, along with politics and species in polite conversation, are divided topics that can easily degrade into heated and ugly arguments, and one must be very careful when discussing them.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m very much aware of the politics aspect of it. I saw more than a few debates on the matter turn ugly when I was allowed to attend certain meetings alongside Princess Celestia when I was still her student in Canterlot. Of course, at least some of those had as much to do with a clash of egos between participants as it did over their differences in political opinions.”

“That is a common problem around the world, but it does get easier with experience,” Swift-Pad agreed, pleased to see that she wasn’t completely new to all of this.

Twilight smiled. “Princess Celestia has said as much,” she said. “And since she’s had over a thousand years of experience with it, I can understand why she has as much patience with such things as she does now.” She paused for a moment. “But going back to Luna… I’ve actually read the journal she and Princess Celestia kept back then, with their permission. I’ve witnessed some of the past through the aid of a potion that my friend Zecora gave me. And I was there when Nightmare Moon escaped from her prison, and when Luna was freed soon after. And some of my friends and I were there for her to help her adjust to how things had changed so much in the thousand years that she was away.”

Swift-Pad looked at her curiously. “That is interesting to hear,” he said. “You are certainly entitled to believe she is the Luna from the past, of course.”

Twilight shook her head. “I know she’s the Luna from the past,” she said. “The same Luna who ruled alongside Princess Celestia even before they got their Cutie Marks, who helped defeat Discord and King Sombra, and who later fell under the sway of evil and was changed into Nightmare Moon… and then turned back when my friends and I used the Elements of Harmony to purify her and rid her of the dark magic that had held her under its sway for so long. We saw her turn back into her original self, and how Princess Celestia forgave her for everything.” She swallowed. “There has always been just one Princess Luna,” she said. “And I will never forget how happy Princess Celestia was to finally have her sister back after a thousand years.”

“And once again, you are entitled to believe that her Grace Celestia did not manipulate anything to help ensure that the individual you met seemed to be her Grand Grace of old,” Swift-Pad said a bit more firmly with Twilight pursing her lips together before she tipped her head slightly downwards.

“I suppose we will need to agree to disagree on this matter until we meet with her tomorrow?” Twilight finally said with Swift-Pad smiling at her choice of words.

“Indeed,” Swift-Pad said as he placed a paw on the handle, opening the door. “Shall we rejoin your friend and this facilities’ treatment?”

“That sounds good,” Twilight smiled as the two left the office, with Swift-Pad’s eyes widening as he noticed Rarity near his runes, holding up a few as she was seemingly studying them. The attendant near her coughed loudly, with Rarity dropping the rune as a blush ran across her face.

“I am terribly sorry for prying, but with my own work with gems and minerals, especially for decoration on the outfits I create, I couldn’t resist taking a look to see what kind you used to make your runes,” she admitted. “I would have asked you personally, but I am afraid my own impatience got the better of me.”

“I accept your apology,” he said, flicking an ear as he sat down, examining his runes with a quick glance while the attendant went back to work on his coat. “You work with gems and minerals on a regular basis?”

Rarity nodded as he applied the string of runes that helped his eyesight, the pain around his eyes easing away. “My magic led me to a large supply of gemstones when I was but a filly and I used them to decorate some costumes I was working on, earning my Cutie Mark for it. I’ve been fascinated by them and their different properties ever since, and I use them in my work all the time - the same spell I unconsciously used back then helps me to find more when my supplies run low.”

“In the Packlands’ mines, that would be an invaluable asset to have,” he told her. “It takes a great deal to find these special materials for our runes and anything to ease the burden would help greatly.”

Rarity beamed. “I know of a few special kinds myself; I am not sure if we can make it across our two different fields of magic, but I am sure Twilight would be willing to aid you. Especially as you have been so much more polite and understanding about things; I once met a group of miners who were utterly rude, demanding my help without so much as a ‘please’ and making some rather unpleasant threats if I did not aid them. But, as I said, you are nothing like them.”

“Thank you for those kind words,” he flicked his eyes at Twilight who seemed to be thinking of how to achieve such a feat and weighed an idea in his head. “And…” he looked up at the attendant. “I do not mean to be a bother but I need to get my packs.” Standing upright, he walked over to where his packs were being stored and retrieved the gift prepared for Twilight. Walking back over to his host, he placed the gift down in front her. “I was supposed to give you this later on but I see no issue in doing so right now.”

Twilight took a look at the book in front of her and placed a hoof on it. “There is no title…”

“To the untrained eye, perhaps,” Swift-Pad replied. “If you look carefully, you will find it written in my language. Besides that, our rune instructors tend to trust us to understand that this book is meant to teach young rune wolves how to craft runes and use our magic, not to look impressive or waste ink on needless flourishes. You will not find another book like it in Equestria as we had kept it restricted from leaving our lands. We trust that you will keep its secrets safe.”

“Of course,” Twilight nodded. “I will keep this book safe and ensure that no other copies are made from it. I thank you for such a precious gift and...” Her eyes went wide and what was described as her panic face began to appear. “I don’t have anything for you, I-”

“Need not worry about as it has been taken care of by those in Canterlot,” he said, causing her to take a few deep breaths as she calmed down.

“Right…” She took another deep breath and looked at him. “I’m glad to know Princess Celestia thought about such things ahead of time. Though I still wish she’d told me about it, and your arrival, before just this morning.”

“As do we all but we do not always get the chance to properly prepare, so it is good to get practice in these easily controlled situations.” Swift-Pad said.

Twilight shook her head, with a smile on her face. “That is almost exactly what Celestia told me this morning.”

“It makes sense; she did establish most of the foundation of diplomatic interactions after all,” Swift-Pad said. “It also makes sense that her Grace would act as she did; she is well known for her love of teaching, and I believe that even if you are now an alicorn, she still remembers your time as her student with great fondness and is desiring to teach you more, albeit in more subtle ways now.”

Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment. “I can certainly believe that,” she said. “She’s always seemed happiest when she was helping a student, no matter where she was.”

Swift-Pad gave her a curious look; he could sense she was holding back some detail there, but he chose not to ask just yet. Perhaps she would offer the information in time. Looking to one side, he could tell Rarity also seemed somewhat confused by her friend’s remark, but like him, she was choosing not to ask about it then. For now, all he could do was sit back and experience this spa treatment.

Next Chapter: Chapter Seven Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 4 Minutes
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