//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: The Royal Slumber Party // Story: The Royal Vacation // by Colt Vulpes //------------------------------// · Chapter 20 The Royal Slumber Party · Luna barged into the wedding room. “Is everything alright? I heard shouting and—” She saw Chrysalis, now in statue form. The changeling was lying on the ground, a look of terror literally frozen on her face. “—oh, wow.” “I think we’re all okay,” responded Celestia. “No one’s obviously hurt—” she looked down at the Chrysalis statue “—well, no one except her—although I’m a little worried about Dr. Hooves.” The Doctor looked himself over. “I... think I’m fine,” he said. “I don’t look or feel injured, and I clearly haven’t been turned to stone, so...” he shrugged. “Guess the Elements only work on evil.” “Good,” said Trollestia. “I always wondered if that was the case.” Time Turner’s eyes got wide. “You mean you didn’t know if—?” “Sister!” “Oh come on Luna, I’m only joking! And did you see the look on the Doctor’s face? It was priceless!” “Sister, now is not the time for that!” “Oh, why not? Chrysalis has been defeated, and now she’s a statue! And Equestria didn’t fall apart while we were gone! Everything’s taken care of, so lighten up!” “Everything, Sister?” “Yes, everything!” Celestia looked around nervously. “Did I... forget something?” Luna raised her eyebrows. “Did... Chrysalis bring her army with her?” Luna shook her head. “Nope. The skies are clear.” “Then... what?” Luna looked at her flatly. “The Griffins are attacking tomorrow morning.” “...what.” Gosh darn it, I didn’t think they would actually do that! The others in the room gasped. This was news to them, too. “Yes, Sister. You see, we can’t celebrate just yet—we have an invasion to repel.” “But we—wait a minute. How do you know about this anyway?” Luna shrugged. “Pinkie Sense?” Pinkie Pie would have had a good laugh at that, had the situation been less grave. “This might be a bad time,” interrupted the Doctor, “but do any of you know what’s happened to Derpy?” Luna blinked. “Oh – oh! That. Yes, she’s fine. Come with me, I’ll show you.” Celestia was confused. “Luna, what is going on here? And how do you know where Derpy is?” “Pinnn-kie Sennnse!” sang Luna, trotting out the door with Time Turner close behind. Celestia sighed. “I have a bad feeling about this.” · · “I’m still worried this won’t end well,” said Zeldo. The Griffin president was fidgety. Derpy had offered her some popcorn, but she had turned it down—she didn’t feel like eating at the moment. “Oh don’t worry,” said Woona. “Everything will turn out all right.” “You think so?” “Yup! And it’s gonna be fun!” The president gave her a confused look. Fun!? “Yes, fun!” exclaimed Woona. “Fun! Fun! Fun! ...oh dear.” Woona smacked herself across the face. “My apologies, President Zeldo. I’m not sure where that came from.” · · “I must thank you for all your help,” said Luna. “According to my sister, your actions were integral to catching Chrysalis.” “Thanks.” The Doctor was flattered. Then he cocked his head. “Wait, when did you hear about—” “I’d say ‘have a cookie’ but I don’t have any cookies on me. Would muffin-flavored popcorn be okay?” “Huh?” What is up with her? thought the Doctor. She keeps switching between serious and silly. “Oh, I confused you. Don’t worry, all will be revealed shortly.” Luna and Time Turner walked down a staircase. “Just don’t tell Sister,” said the Moon Princess cryptically. And then the Doctor had an epiphany. She’s not just being silly—she’s using that attitude to deflect questions! Now what on earth is she hiding from her own sister? Luna led him down a maze of hallways and staircases. Eventually they arrived at a small, unassuming door. “Yes, fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!” “Oh no,” said Luna. “Not again.” What is that voice? thought the Doctor. It sounds like Luna, but... goofier. “Oh, and one more thing,” said the princess. “My clone is on the other side of that door. Don’t be afraid of her.” A clone? How in the heavens... “Why would I be—” “Because she’s taken the form of Nightmare Moon.” “—oh.” “Her name’s Woona. Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite.” The Doctor nodded. “Okay.” Luna opened the door. Inside, the Doctor saw Luna’s clone (he was glad Luna warned him!), two griffins he didn’t recognize, and... “Derpy!” “Timey!” He rushed forward and embraced his fiancée. “I was so worried about you!” “Ohh you didn’t need to be—Woona’s been nice to me! I was worried about you—did Chrysalis get taken care of?” “Oh, did she ever!” The Doctor went on to explain everything about what happened to the Changeling Queen. Derpy was already familiar with the first part of the story, but she was very surprised to hear what happened after Chrysalis came back. “...and then Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony—on both of us!” Derpy gasped. “It was...” the Doctor thought for a moment “...the absolute weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced. This giant rainbow attack came right at me—and it went right through me—and it turned Chrysalis to stone. I wasn’t hurt at all!” “Wow!” said Derpy. “That’s incredible!” “And now, I’m starving. And that popcorn looks very tasty.” “Be my guest.” Derpy handed the tub to her fiancé. “You’ve certainly earned it.” “Well, I’ll leave you here Doctor,” said Luna, somewhat abruptly. “I’ve gotta run.” Luna closed the door behind her and cantered down the hallway. “Now then, dear” said Time Turner, in between bites of popcorn, “can you introduce me to these three?” · · Celestia had no clue what her sister was up to—and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Besides, she had too many pressing matters to deal with. The princess put her hoof to her forehead and thought. “Okay...” she said, mostly to herself, “the Griffins are attacking tomorrow morning, we’ve got you eight over here at the castle, along with Derpy and the Doctor... Sister and I need to repel the invasion, but it would be rather... unwise to leave the castle unguarded. And so...” Celestia looked at her student. “Twilight, I’d like for you and your friends to guard the castle tonight. Is that okay with everypony?” The mane six looked at each other. “I think so,” said Applejack. “We’ve got time to stay here.” The others nodded in agreement. “Oh, good.” Celestia was relieved. “Cadance and Shining Armor, can you stay the night here as well?” “Well, uh...” Shining Armor sounded a little reluctant. “We should probably get going,” said Cadance. “We had to leave the Crystal Kingdom on short notice, and the filly we put in charge is likely waiting for us to get back.” Celestia cocked her head. “Wait, who did you put in charge?” “Some student of hers,” said Shining. “We invited her to the Crystal Palace, told her she had to run the country while we were gone, and then we ran off while singing ‘No responsibility’ over and over.” “Really?” “No, not really!” said Cadance. “Who would do something as crazy and irresponsible as that? No, we left our lieutenant governor in charge. She’ll be able to hold down the fort as long as she needs to.” Celestia looked at Twilight, wondering how much she told them. Twilight shrugged sheepishly. The princess turned back to Cadance and Shining Armor. “I’m sorry to be curt,” she said, “but now is not the time for joking around. We have another crisis on our hands!” Dang, thought Shining. She can dish it out but she sure can’t take it. Then again, I guess she’s right about this one. “Okay,” said Shining, seriously this time. “Yes, we can stay here. And we’ll help guard the castle while you’re gone.” “Thank you,” sighed Celestia, glad that ordeal was over with. “Now, to go hunt down—” “Sister!” The younger princess trotted through the door. “—Luna.” Celestia squared her shoulders and looked straight at her sister. “Okay,” she asked, “what’s going on?” “Why, whatever do you mean?” “I’m serious,” said Celestia, somewhat confrontationally. “What are you up to?” “Oh, getting Derpy and the Doctor some food, setting up plans to repel the invasion, saving Equestria’s rump in general—you know, the usual stuff.” “May I have a more detailed explanation, please?” Luna looked around. “I’ll... be right back.” And then she winked out. · · “Why I’m delighted to meet you, President Zeldo! What an honor it is to—” *POOF* “Sorry to interrupt!” *wrap arms around griffins* “Wait, what?” “Meeting with Celestia! Follow my lead!” *POOF* ... “Well that was odd!” · · Luna reappeared where she had left, bringing the two griffins with her. Celestia looked at the newcomers, wide-eyed. “President Zeldo?!” “Uh... evening, your majesty.” “Sister, I ran into these two when I was out looking for changeling troops,” said Luna. “They were the ones who warned me of the upcoming invasion.” (So it wasn’t Luna’s Pinkie Sense! Oh well.) Celestia looked at the Griffin president. “So, then...” “Yes, princess,” said Zeldo, embarrassed. “I’m afraid I’ve lost control of my own troops.” “Not to worry, though,” said Luna. “We’ve devised a plan!” “You have?” Celestia didn’t like being out of the loop. “Why haven’t I heard about this?” “Well, you were a little busy fighting Chrysalis.” “Oh.” Celestia realized her sister wasn’t deliberately deceiving her this time. “Right.” And so Luna and Zeldo told Celestia what their plan was, while the other ponies decided that now would be a good time to go find the guest rooms. The plan was actually quite simple: go out to the coast, wait until the Griffins show up, and have Zeldo try and talk some sense into them. If that doesn’t work, they go to Plan B—fly around and scare the living daylights out of the Griffins until they either surrender or flee. (Oh, and if that doesn’t work, then it’s time for Plan W. But Celestia can’t know about that just yet, now can she?) The royal sisters also decided that Derpy and the Doctor should be invited to stay the night in the castle as well, considering what they’d been through. After all, it’s a big castle! There should be enough guest rooms for all of the mane six, plus Cadance, Shining Armor, Zeldo, Galdo, Derpy, and the Doctor. (Oh, and Woona too. But shhhhhh.) “Can you take care of all this?” asked Celestia. “It’s getting a bit late for me.” Luna nodded. “Of course, Sister. Get some rest.” With that the Moon Princess vanished, taking Zeldo and Galdo with her. She’d find them rooms, but first she needed to make sure every part of her plan was in place. Celestia was now alone in the wedding room. “Well, I guess it’s time for me to get some shut-eye,” she said to herself. She then looked down at a certain changeling statue. “Oh, right. You.” · · “Okay, there should be some guest rooms over this way.” Twilight was leading her friends through the castle, since she knew it much better than they did. “Finally, we can get some rest!” said Rarity. “Today has been absolutely dreadful!” “Oh calm down Rarity,” retorted Applejack. “We haven’t been through that much today, not compared to Twilight anyway... and besides, it’s the invasion I’m worried about.” The six ponies doubted that they themselves would get caught up in the attack—Canterlot was far from the coast, after all—but the mere idea of Equestria being invaded stressed them out quite a bit. “Well I for one am glad the day’s finally over,” said Twilight. “Man, I wonder what Spike will say when he hears about everything.” Twilight stopped in her tracks. “What a minute, where is Spike? I haven’t seen him since I got up this morning!” At that very moment, they heard galloping. A white unicorn stallion came into view. He was ragged, his mane was absolutely destroyed, and he had a look of sheer panic on his face. Blueblood?! Yes, Blueblood indeed. He charged in their direction, and swerved past them. “Aaaah!” the duke shouted. “I swear, he’s gonna kill me! Helllllp!” A small green-and-purple dragon chased after him. “Come back, I almost had it!” Twilight glared at her assistant as he ran past. “Oh-hi-everypony-nice-day-we’re-having-isn’t-it-bye-now!” And with that, Spike ran off after his victim. Twilight shook her head. “I don’t even wanna know.” They had arrived at their guest rooms, and she walked into her own. “Goodnight everypony!” She closed the door. · · Illumination spell? Check! Castle guards? Check! Wheelbarrow? Check! Celestia was out in the garden with a couple guards. The were pulling Chrysalis along in a rusty old wheelbarrow. “Okay, keep going this way... right there! Stop, perfect! Now, set her down gently... or not-gently, if you prefer... there!” Celestia admired the guards’ handiwork. They’d put the Chrysalis statue exactly where she wanted it. It was right next to the Discord statue. The princess laughed. “Hah, look at those two! It’s almost like—” She stopped mid sentence. Her eyes got wide. “—NO!” *ZAP* Celestia reflexively fired a bolt of magic at the Crysalis statue, knocking it over. The guards jumped back. “Your majesty!” “Oh my, I’m sorry about that,” said Celestia. She stood Chrysalis back up with her magic. “Your majesty, are you alright?” “I’m... fine,” she managed. “Just... let’s bring Discord inside the castle, okay?” The guards nodded, and loaded it into the wheelbarrow. “I... I’ve got an idea,” said the princess. “It’s probably really, really stupid, but it at least needs to be given a try.” The guards looked at each other. Neither dared ask. “Also, remind me tomorrow to give you both a bonus for tonight’s work.” With that, she flew off. The two guards brought Discord back inside the castle, while Celestia made her way to one of the building’s upper landings. Once inside, she walked straight to her bedchamber. Should I really... yes, I guess so. Celestia tossed and turned in her bed, and eventually fell into a restless sleep. · · Luna, on the other hoof, had some anxieties of her own. Will this really work? Did I tell Sister too much? She had just found guest rooms for Derpy, the Doctor, and the griffins, and so far nearly every part of her grand scheme had fallen into place. But still, she worried. Can this really be done without collateral damage? Woona, the only other one still up, looked at her sympathetically. Don’t worry, Luna. It’ll work. Luna nodded. Thanks. With that, she proceeded to walk to her own bedchamber. This had been one big day for both of them, but at least Woona had gotten a decent day’s sleep. Luna had been rudely awakened at around 2PM, which is several hours earlier than normal. It had been ages since she’d slept during the night, but she knew she should get at least a little rest before tomorrow. Sleep well, original me, thought Woona. I’ll guard the night for you. Luna nodded lazily, and slowly drifted off to sleep... · · Everypony goes to bed! Well that was kinda slow-paced. And you know, it also... sorta... *yawn* Woona, you can stay up as late as you want, but Imma go sleep now. Nighty-night. · ×