Chapter 4- A Bit of History
“Here.” A fresh fruit salad and a cup of vegetable juice was set in front of me. Cocoa smiled at me. “How’s that bruise?”
“It’s fine.” I assured her. “It’s just a bruise, I’ll get over it.”
“You suwe? We have doctows hewe.” Glitter still seemed concerned.
“I’ve gotten a lot worse injuries than this, seriously.” I rolled my eyes, setting down the ice pack to taste the fruit salad. It was sweet, fresh, and juicy. “Hey, this is really good.”
“I’m glad you like it. I’m not entirely used to cooking for ponies your age. To be honest, I almost made a mash for you.” She took a seat across from me, holding a bottle for Glitter in her magic.
“I’m a little curious about your Kingdom.” I looked over at Glitter. She pushed the bottle away with a hoof, wiping at her mouth.
“Yeah?” she asked. “What do you wanna know?”
“Well… I’ve been to kingdoms run by strange rulers before but…. Never a foal. No offense, it just isn’t really… normal.”
“Oh, none taken.” She giggled. “We have a wot of ponies asking dat. They nevew ask it at da end, though.”
“We can tell you more after we eat.” Cocoa slipped the bottle back into Glitter’s mouth, and I went back to my salad. “Our library is also open for you whenever you want.”
“Ah, that would be wonderful. Thank you.” I nodded. Reading had always been one of my passions, especially history books.
“Oh, we just want to make you feel at home here.” Cocoa wiped a little of the dribble away from Glitter’s mouth. “If there’s anything you need, just ask.”
“I appreciate it.” I say. “I’d like some quills and parchment. I prefer staying in contact with Princess Luna. That usually includes daily reports.” To be honest, I was interested in the kingdom. It couldn’t honestly be run by only foals, right? There had to be something deeper to it that I couldn’t see.
The rest of the meal went fine, Cocoa leading us to the library next. “Hold up, the Princess needs a change.” She said, stopping outside the doors, heading down another hall. “Just wait there.”
I took a seat outside the doors, examining them. They were made of some high-quality wood, painted with foalish designs, which ceased to surprise me at this point. The doors had to be a few times as tall as me, even Luna herself. Their library had to be massive.
A few minutes later, Cocoa returned with Glitter on her back. “Come on in, dear.” She opened the doors, allowing me to step in first. I was amazed at the huge expanse of shelves, enough to even rival Canterlot’s Central Library, even if it was all children’s books.
“Here, the grown-up section is this way.” Cocoa led me off to the corner, a much smaller collection of books, only a few shelves, holding various titles. “Now… you want to hear more about our kingdom?”
“Yes, I do.” I took a seat on one of the chairs, Cocoa setting Glitter down as she sat across from me.
“What do you want to know about, again?” she asked, watching me look over the shelves.
“Well… why foals? Do foals really run the kingdom?”
“For the most part, yes, they do. The reason why is because most adults…. Well…. They’re just mean and power-hungry.”
Glitter spoke up at this. “Ouw wast king was King Emewald. He was a big meanie, and fowced evewypony to do what he wanted. He didn’t cawe fow da kingdom at all, Emewald just wanted powew and money.”
“I see.” I frowned slightly. “And… all your adult rulers were like this?
“Yes. They were.” Cocoa answered sadly. “That’s why we have foals to run things. They’re kind and wouldn’t think of hurting anypony.”
“How old are you?” I asked Glitter. For some reason, she found this funny, and giggled for almost a full minute.
“Secwet.” She smiled at me, raising her hooves up to Cocoa. Cocoa picked her up onto her lap.
“The books here would probably be of more use to you. They date fairly far back, the history section is that shelf there. You’re free to move them back to your room to read. It’s getting late, after all.”
“Thank you.” I took a few volumes down, Cocoa waiting for me to finish before trotting back to the entrance.
“Need help with those, dear? They look a bit heavy.” She looked back at me, levitating the books in my magic.
“No, it’s fine, but thanks. My magic can handle it.” I answered, as we walked out the doors. Cocoa started to lead me back to where my room was.
“Need anything before you turn in? I find that even as an adult, a glass of warm milk helps me sleep.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.” I answered, politely lowering my head.
“All right, then. Don’t stay up too late. Good night.” She smiled gently at me as I walked in.
“I won’t.” I lied. I had not planned to get any sleep at all, there was still so much to know and research. There was no way I’d be able to sleep like that. “Good night, Cocoa, Glitter.”
“Bye!” Glitter waved, before Cocoa closed the door. I immediately went to my desk, pushing aside the quills and paper, opening the first volume.
The first Queen of the Kingdom, the one who founded it, started out fine, but became a terrible tyrant, demanding everypony serve her or be banished. Eventually, her filly daughter overthrew her by gathering support. Apparently this filly was only about seven years old when this happened. The kingdom began running with very young rulers ever since, and there was a rather interesting as well as somewhat disturbing fact that all the rulers were highly intelligent, despite their ages. Any other adult rulers, as Cocoa and Glitter told me, were like the First Queen, if not worse. There were several divisions formed, although it told me to go to Volume II for an explanation. I decided to work my way through the first volume before starting on another. It would be more organized that way.
I read for hours on end, before finding myself getting oddly tired. That was strange, normally I could go days without sleep. I shook my head, continuing to read, eventually falling asleep on the book.