"I thought that her talent was in the field of empathy?"
"She is an alicorn. Though she lacks Our natural intuition, she has the power to control the heavens if she applies herself to it, and both Sister and I agree that you are correct in your assertion that others must be trained to fulfil our roles. Twilight hath already progressed to actively working with Our Sister on the dawn… Though she struggles to rise at an appropriate hour."
Heh. Of course the bookworm likes to sleep in, eh? Or just up too late studying? It seems some things don't change even when you gain phenomenal cosmic power...
I smile.
"Yeah, I heard about that."
Let me guess, a very
late dawn and many confused animals and ponies?
"And I am sure that Sunset keeps you informed of her progress."
"I'm fully confident of Sunset's ability to master any spell that interests her, so I generally don't bother to ask her about that aspect of their time together. I just ask about how she feels about Celestia, and feed back to Celestia about what to do and.. not do."
And letting Sunset vent about the latest boneheaded (to her) move Celestia made, of course? Anything to prevent a repeat of her
biggest blow-up, I suppose... Though it would be kind of tough to beat running away to another
planet, possibly in another
universe.
Luna nods.
"We thought that We had heard less shouting of late."
Ah, you never expect the serious ones to be so good at snark.
"And what about the other little ponies?"
Luna shakes her head.
They carry on as they ever do, eh?
"None who are not alicorns could hope to bear the burden. Even Twilight, who before her ascension was the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, would not have been able to perform such a feat."
"So the thing about pre-Exodus unicorns performing the raising in groups is just a story?"
I wonder if that 'burden' bit is more than a metaphor. I mean, a Sun large enough to illuminate the whole planet would have to be fairly
massive, even if not overly
large.
"We could not say. Having read your book on stellar dynamics, We have reached the view that it is not impossible that Discord is indeed to blame for the state of our geocentric system. From what Our archaeologists have discovered of those times, pony astronomy was not much advanced. T'would be natural for them to assume that the motion of the sun had it orbit around our firmament, while modern ponies would need to reach for an explanation of who moved the sun before Our Sister's ascension."
Something of a Chicken and Egg conundrum, eh? Who came first? The Alicorn or the Solar procession?
"What did Discord say?"
She wrinkles her nose as if bearing fragrant witness to a pile of dung.
Hey now, just because he's a little freaky doesn't mean you need to say he
stinks... Though you could probably post a pic of that face with the meme, "It was as if she were looking at walking excrement." On the Internet back on Earth...
"He ducked the question, then fled when We mentioned your name. Mayhap… You could consider…"
"I'm going to want to see a lot more evidence of reformation before I consider tolerating Discord."
Short of depowering him violently, anyway. I see Discord's still taking that threat of a little poke with the Sword of the Fallen seriously.
"But you will consider it?"
"I will. Don't tell him. Just let me know if he make any actual measurable progress." I frown. "Oh, and going back to Twilight's lessons, I think Celestia tried to prank me. Which is progress. I didn't think we had that sort of relationship."
...That depends on your definition of a prank, I think.

What happened?
"Our Sister does have a somewhat unique sense of humour. What did she do?"
"She said that she agreed with me about the whole 'single point of failure' argument, and wanted to know what I thought about training Twilight up for executive office as well as controlling the sun and moon."
...Uh, G-man? She
wasn't joking. That actually happens in canon, in the end...
"We do not see the prank. Twilight Sparkle is a highly capable young mare, and far better educated in such matters than either Our Sister or I were when we ascended to alicornhood."
"Last time Twilight got put in charge of the country she personally went looking for you in a forest full of magic resistant super vines, completely ignoring the actual running the country part. Look, how much administrative experience does Twilight have?"
And yes,
that actually happened too. To the point of using the Elements against them... Methinks Twilight needs lessons in
delegation.
"She has been instrumental in running several celebratory events in Ponyville."
I sigh.
"You do not consider that adequate?"
Managing a party night or a celebration festival do not a good queen make...
"Luna, you were 'running' a feudal nation of a few thousand ponies. Equestria is a lot bigger, more centralised and more complicated than that these days, and… Twilight's roles as librarian and arcane trouble shooter don't really lend themselves to allowing her to study all of the fields that she would have to master in order to run a country. And then there's the fact that… Neither her skills nor her personality really lend themselves to the role. And then there's the fact that she'd have to move back to Canterlot full time-."
In other words, It's too large a job for a single Alicorn. Unless you go the bureaucratic route and have her as the figurehead of an entire government... But that can lead to its own problems (Looking at
you, pre-twentieth-century China!)
"Perhaps we have decided to take your suggestion and move the capital."
"Ponyville isn't ready to become Equestria's capital. Even if you could turn Twilight's crystal palace into a centre of government, it doesn't have the population or infrastructure. If you wanted to put the capital somewhere else, it's… Basically just Manehattan that could serve in the role, and that's on the east coast. And even worse for taking Twilight away from her friends."
Unless they want to relocate. But most of them are too invested locally. The Apple farm for example... Quite the conundrum...
I close my eyes for a moment.
"So Celestia wasn't pranking me?"
Ah, light dawns on marble-head.
"We hath not discussed it betwixt ourselves. We had thought that it would be a natural progression of Twilight's role, though We take your point concerning her character."
"Training Twilight so that she can handle things in the short term if the two of you get nobbled isn't a terrible idea, when anyone who does anything against you will get the pleasure of my company within a short span of time. But actually governing long term? I'm not so sure."
Of course, the ponies would hardly notice. 'After all, Celestia's always been there. Of course she always
will be, won't she?' Her retiring would be like Mount Canterlot vanishing, in terms of unthinkable to the people... Such is a drawback of nigh-immortal rulers.
"What would be your suggestion?"
"How about actually developing a legislature? Most places in Equestria already elect their mayors rather than bowing to feudal lords. Ponies understand voting for their leaders."
The challenge would be managing such a parliament on a large scale. If the delegates live in their precincts, they'd have to spend unreasonable time wherever the group would meet. If they live in a parlimentary city, then they'd fall out of touch with their constituents... Never mind the
election process across a country the size of Equestria.
"Excuse Us if we are surprised to hear the Alicorn of Conquest suggest sharing power."
"It's the only practical way to get things done. And I'm not Darkseid."
Especially since he's more
Acquisition than Conquest proper. He understands when to let his followers handle themselves and when to step in...
"Ah-. Your pardon, We did not-."
"No, it's-. It's fine." She looks at me and I smile. "But as far as I'm concerned, you have to involve people in their governance. Not everyone's going to care about everything that happens, but citizenship requires commitment to the institutions of the state you're a part of. If right, to keep them right, and if wrong, to set them right. Having an all-powerful goddess tyrant isn't the cause of the problems in the Equestrian state, but it's a contributory factor. Another is that Celestia's nearly good enough to pull it off."
Although not
quite perfect enough. Otherwise Nightmare Moon would never have come to pass. I get the feeling she's been in charge so long that even she feels a little reluctant to loosen the reins.
"You say that Our Sister's mere adequacy is a problem?"
"Britain effectively switched from being a constitutional monarchy to a parliamentary democracy due to Queen Victoria just not doing her job for years on end. New customs and practices evolved to work around the absence on the ruler, creating a new system for running the country. The fact that Celestia's always there means that Equestria's never done that, never needed to work around her absence. And…" I stop walking and bow my head. "It appears that I can't get through even one date without turning it into a lecture on modern Equestrian politics."
Well, you clearly feel so strongly on the matter, of course you feel the need to expound on
alternatives.
"You lasted marginally longer this eve. What hath occurred on Earth of late?"
"Ancient wizard attacked my friend Cranius's home and killed some people. Everyone's on alert, but we're probably not going to find him before he lets us." I shake my head. "This really isn't setting the tone I was going for."

What kind of tone were you
hoping to set, Casanove?
"We are both political figures of note. Tis no surprise that such matters are the subject of our discussions."
"Yes, but I got you a present, and I wanted… Something lighter. Maybe something cultural."
Methinks the present alone would have been sufficient. But as always, Grayven second-guessing himself and overthinking things when he shouldn't.
She looks me over.
"We do not see any gift."
You know that's hardly an impediment, between two power rings and Boom/Hush tubes...
"No it's not here. Mother Box."
"Ping!"
"
Finally! I thought you were going to waffle on forever!"
BOOM!
We stroll through the tube, emerging in a clearing just ahead of the Castle of the Two Sisters.
Oooh, has someone been doing some home improvement? Making a little love shack?
Luna blinks, staring at the entirely reconstructed fortress.
"Obviously I had no idea what the soft furnishings were like-."
I do hope you at least furnished the
bedroom, G-man.
Her tail flicks me in the nose as she prances forward, smiling excitedly. Then she charges for the drawbridge, and I gallop after-.
I get up and gallop after her.
Oh, don't worry. I'm sure the lady can
accommodate a clumsy oaf like you. Just do keep ruining the romantic tone of the piece...
