//------------------------------// // The Tourists and the Princess // Story: Random Ramblings // by PioneeringAuthor //------------------------------// Midnight Echo and Thunder Roar strolled through the main road of Ponyville, which had grown quite a bit due to tourism and growing respect for the new Princess Twilight Sparkle. In the evening sunshine both ponies could open their eyes wider, relieved that it was nearing nighttime and they wouldn’t be half-blinded anymore by the bright rays of the sun. As they surveyed the area, their eyes rested on the magnificent castle. “It really does look like crystal… like Turquoise Dreamer said,” Midnight Echo breathed as she stretched one of her multicolored wings towards it in awe. Thunder Roar nodded silently, feeling that he didn’t need to add anything. For a few moments the pair stood there admiring it from a distance. The evening breeze played with Echo’s bright blue and mane and tail, picking out the neon yellow hairs on the edges, making them look similar to sparks in the late sunlight. Standing beside her, Roar felt the wind play with his black and gold mane and tail, fluffing them up gently. Nopony bothered them as they stood there in silence, for by this time the whole town was used to tourists staring at Twilight’s castle aimlessly. “You know, it looks way cooler on the inside--just saying,” A voice interrupted their silence. The pair turned to see a cyan Pegasus hovering above them, her rainbow mane and tail gently swaying in the breeze. “Oh, hey there!” Midnight Echo called cheerfully, extending one wing in a friendly wave, revealing all her lovely blue and neon yellow alternating feathers just before she folded it back against her side. Thunder Roar nodded quietly, and waved one of his gold and black webbed wings at the Pegasus above them, who quickly landed beside them. “You know, I could show you around the castle, if you like,” the mare offered, “Twilight doesn’t mind tourists.” “You know the princess?” Echo breathed as her aqua-colored eyes grew huge in amazement. “Of course I do!” The Pegasus declared as she smoothed her rainbow bangs, “I’m on the Council of Friendship--I’m the totally awesome Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash!” At that statement Thunder Roar let out an impressed whistle. Echo, meanwhile, could barely contain herself. “YOU ARE RAINBOW DASH? NO WAY! FOR REAL?” She shouted as she flapped her wings in glee. “You bet!” Rainbow chuckled with a prideful look in her pink eyes. At this Midnight Echo squealed and whispered, “I heard about how fast you are and I seriously hope to be as fast as you one day!” Rainbow laughed, throwing back her head giddily. “Well, I’m afraid only one pony can be as fast as me--and that’s me, ha ha ha." “Right… but I bet I could beat you in a nighttime race!” Echo declared with a narrowed, playful look in her eyes. “Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash retorted as she leaned closer to Echo. “Yeah, I can beat you blindfolded!” Echo huffed with a grin. “Echo, now is not the time to challenge ponies to random races,” Roar pointed out as he cleared his throat. “Oh, right… sorry… heh heh…” Echo apologized with a blush, “My fiance` and I are here to see the castle.” “Oh, right,” Rainbow exclaimed, returning to a more friendly state, “Come on! You’ll love it!” Indeed, the castle was magnificent--the decorations, the architecture and even the floors were amazing. The whole thing appeared to be made of a magical crystal of different shades and hues, and was unlike anything anypony had seen. As Rainbow gave them a personal tour of the castle, Echo admired how professional and strong the guards looked, and how everything had a sparkle to it. Speaking of sparkles, they soon met Princess Twilight herself. She was regal, elegant, organized, and every bit a princess… yet still quite hospitable. Not just in a “yes, I’m a princess, I suppose I should be nice to you,” way, but in a genuine, friendly manner. Indeed, she was the Princess of Friendship. Unlike most royalty, she wasn’t wearing anything special at all, except for a golden necklace with an amethyst in the center. If it wasn’t for her wings and horn, one would have assumed she was just another light purple pony. Of course, Twilight was not initially waiting for or expecting anypony, so when she looked up from what she was reading and noticed the two ponies with Rainbow, she smiled and put the book away, slightly startled. “Hey Twi, I know this isn’t visiting hours, but these two ponies wanted to meet you,” Rainbow explained. Still a bit surprised, she nodded, walking closer with a friendly smile. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she spotted the Nocturnus in front of her. WOW! She couldn't recall the last time she met one! “Hello!” She said, not saying much more at the moment because she knew that if she did, she would start going on about the fact that right here in her castle, in front of her, was a Nocturnus who wanted to meet her! “Oh Princess Twilight, I am so glad to meet you!” Echo breathed, “I am Midnight Echo, and this is Thunder Roar, my fiance`.” As she spoke, she waved her wings, expressing her excitement and indicating Thunder Roar. Noticing this, Twilight nodded and smiled at them while her eyes lit up even brighter. “Nice to meet you two!” She exclaimed while thinking on it, realizing that there was near nothing about relations between Pegasi and Nocturnii written in books. This was an amazing opportunity for intercultural studies! “Turquoise Dreamer told us about you and this wonderful castle, but it’s all so much more… glorious in person, you know?” Echo admitted with an admiring look in her eyes. Twilight looked at them slightly flustered with, “Oh, it’s not really that much of a big deal… okay it might be a big deal, but it isn’t too much,” She managed to say, still processing the fact that she was finally meeting a Bat Pony. “So… is it true you used to live in a library?” Echo prompted curiously with a wave of one of her wings. Blinking back to reality, Twilight nodded. “Yes! Until Tirek came along,” She let out a soft sigh, still missing the library as it was before that awful moment. “Was it really big?” Echo probed as she leaned forward. “Well, not that big, but it was quite a pleasant library." “That must have been interesting, living in a room full of books,” Roar noted, “How did you get to live there?” “I think I’ll leave you ponies alone--I gotta get back to the Wonderbolts for a bit,” Rainbow interrupted as she hovered in the air. Echo spun around, realizing that she forgot to ask Rainbow Dash about the Wonderbolts, but the other Pegasus had already zoomed away, leaving Echo saddened, but still excited. “How much time do you have left until you have to go do princess things or whatever?” Echo questioned as she spun back around to eye Twilight Sparkle,“I’m pretty nocturnal and my fiance` is as well, but if you have to go to bed or something, just say the word and we’ll leave!” Roar nodded politely and added, “Yes, we don’t want to bother you too much, Princess Sparkle.” Did the PEGASUS just mention she was nocturnal? Now Twilight’s scientific fangirl side was REALLY riled up at this point. Carefully maintaining herself, she grinned instead of squealed. “Not at all! Actually I kind of was doing nothing today! ” She told them, eager to know more. “Fantastic! So… err… oh I honestly don’t know what to ask!” Echo exclaimed as she threw her wings into the air dramatically, “I want to know everything! Just… I dunno… start talking!” With that, she laughed, and then remembered that Twilight was royalty and calmed herself with, “I mean, I would love to hear all about you, Your Highness.” Twilight winced slightly and nodded. “Oh please, just Twilight is fine,” she told them, just as excited as Echo, even though it wasn’t as obvious. It was like this that the three began talking late into the night. Even when Flash Sentry, Twilight’s husband and captain of her guard, came into the room, they continued to talk. Eventually, however, Twilight did need to sleep, and the tourists were given a luxiourious guest bedroom for the night while Twilight went to her room and began writing notes about all she learned of Nocturnii and Pegasi relations, as well as the Nocturnii themselves. “Honey, you really need to sleep now,” Flash whispered as he nudged Twilight gently. “Oh… I guess I should, huh?” Twilight chuckled as she put away her quill. Looking up, she noticed Owlicious was nodding, as if he wanted her to sleep too. With a yawn, she left her desk and went to bed. Indeed, it had been quite a fascinating day for the tourists and the princess, and it was time to rest.