//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: My Breakfast With Princess Celestia // Story: The Private Scrapbook // by Cadabra //------------------------------// Chapter 8: My Breakfast With Princess Celestia Smithy followed her parents to breakfast the next morning, letting out an unladylike yawn as she trudged down the grand staircase. In her sleep deprived state of mind, she tripped on her own tail and fell forward, only to be caught by her father. "Careful now, darlin'," he said sweetly as he righted his daughter. "Don’t wanna fall off these here steps and bust yerself up in front of Princess Celestia." Sew n' Sow dreaded the thought of any missteps in front of the royal pony. "Both y'all be on yer best behavior," she snapped. "This ain't no social visit. We were invited to dine private like this mornin' with Princess Celestia. That ain’t nothin' to sas 'bout!" Even with the royal pardon and the grant of land to make up Pokey Oaks debts, Sew n' Sow still wanted to make the best impression on the princess, even at the expense of her family’s comfort. Smithy fought to suppress another yawn, but the unamused look on her mother's face proved that the attempt had failed. Her mother had awoken her before the sun rose to get everypony dressed nicely for breakfast. "How come I gotta do this?" she whined. "Prairie Tune and Happy Trails ain’t goin'." Sew n’ Sow let out an exasperated huff at her daughter’s complaints. "They weren't in their beds this mornin'," she explained for what felt like the hundredth time. "If I knew where they were, they'd be here too, gussied up like the rest of us." With a crabby groan, Smithy followed her mother's demands. It wasn't an easy thing to do since she hadn’t slept much the night before, making this breakfast meeting more of a chore than a peasantry. Her waking thoughts from last night were occupied by the consequences of making a deal with Stinking Rich, and what that deal would mean for her new friendship with Bladire. Even her dreams were infiltrated by her actions. She wasn't sure what Stinking Rich could want with her or when he would want it, but something told her it wasn't going to be a good thing. Two royal guards opened the door to the banquet hall, revealing Princess Celestia seated at the head of the dining table in a fluffy pink bathrobe, her astral hair tied up in curlers that she had obviously slept in. Sitting around her was the Rich Family and some other well dressed ponies that the Seed's had never met. Sitting on either side of the princess was Happy Trails and Fairly Rich, who decided to beat everypony to breakfast to make the best impression. They were both dressed in newly tailored business suits and looked better than anypony else in the room. They had brought with them stacks of papers with business proposals for everypony to look through, and each pony was paying close attention to the two well dressed ponies before they were interrupted by the newcomers. Celestia perked up the moment she saw the Seed Family. "Don’t you all look nice this morning!" she chimed enthusiastically, waving her bunny slipper clad hoof gracefully in the air to encourage them forward. "I feel so under dressed this morning." Sew n' Sow blushed deeply at the sudden recognition, embarrassed to be made a fool in front of what looked to be some very important ponies. "Beggin' yer pardon, yer highness," she said in a hurry to hide how she felt, her bow low enough to conceal the growing redness in her cheeks. Celestia's musical laughter could be heard from the head of the table, followed by a chorus of the same from those seated around her. "Nonsense," she explained, watching her blushing subject come up from the floor. "It’s just breakfast, dear, and I hope you all like banana pancakes. The kitchen staff should be finished cooking them soon." Sew n' Sow's blush only intensified as she looked back at Celestia. "Fergive our enthusiasm, yer majesty," she said as she and her husband and daughter looked for open seats. "We just remembered how nice last night was, and didn't know what ya had goin' on this mornin'." Celestia chuckled cheerfully at her guest. "You have nothing to be ashamed of," she explained, much to Sew n' Sow's surprise. "Besides, your son and his business partner have been discussing some very interesting financial ideas with my royal council and I, a few of which we never even thought about investing in. You have a very bright boy, Mrs. Seed." Taking a seat next to Happy Trails, Sew n’ Sow was relieved to know that her son had left a good enough impression to cover up for her shortcomings. “Thank ya kindly, yer highness," she gloated, embarrassing her middle child in the process. "He gets his brains from mah side of the family." As she looked for a seat of her own, Smithy noticed how empty the room looked compared to the party held the night before. She looked around the room for Bladire, feeling disappointed that he was no where in sight. She was hoping for a chance to talk to him about last night's argument with them and Stinking Rich, but no such luck. She did notice Stinking Rich sitting next to his brothers at the table, and how he winked at her. Seeing the little interaction between the two, Pokey Oaks led his daughter to an open seat next to Stinking Rich. "Daddy, I don't wanna sit there," Smithy muttered under her breath, struggling as she was pushed up to the table. Pulling out the chair for his daughter, Pokey Oaks picked Smithy up by the scruff of her neck and plopped her down. "Mind yer manners," he whispered as he pushed the chair up to the table. "Don’t wanna get yer mama upset now, do ya?" Smithy held her breath as Stinking Rich said his good morning to her. "Hi," she said bitterly, her teeth clenched as she avoided looking at him. Stinking Rich noticed the cold behavior, and tried to break the ice by poking Smithy in the shoulder. "Say, ya ain’t still sore with me from last night, are ya?" he coaxed, noticing Smithy nod sourly in response. "Come on. This ain't how to treat a friend." Smithy fought to not look over at the pony next to her, focusing instead on the delicately folded napkin in front of her. "We ain’t friends," she said under her breath, ruining the neat folds with her harsh handling. Stinking Rich leaned in close to Smithy’s ear. "I reckon we're better friends than ya'd think," he whispered, egging her on. "Just remember, I gotcha outta trouble last night when ya were splashin' 'round with that ziggler. Things could've got a lot worse off iff'n I hadn’t found ya first." For the first time that morning, Smithy looked at that turd eating grin on Stinking Rich’s face. "I can handle mahself," she grunted quietly. Stinking Rich knew that she was putting up a tough front, but she was fun to heckle. Unlike many of the other ponies he was often around, Smithy didn’t make him feel inferior. He liked feeling like he was better than her, and was excited to get under her skin to show his superiority to the important ponies present. "Is that right," he replied, watching her nodding like a stubborn filly defending a lie. "Then iff'n ya know so much, tell me who these here folks are sittin' 'round the table with the family." Smithy looked at the other well dressed ponies she hadn’t meet before. "What difference does it make?" she said, defiant in her response. Stinking Rich’s expression changed from superior to stupefied, his eyes widening and his grin replaced with a confused gawk. "Yer jokin', right?" he asked, getting the same stubborn response from Smithy. "Don’t ya read the papers?" Smithy rolled her eyes at Stinking Rich’s accusation. "Sometimes I read the funny pages," she replied, watching Stinking Rich rest a hoof on his forehead and shake his head in shame. While Stinking Rich had started the conversation to make Smithy think he was smarter than her, he was completely surprised by her lack of knowledge about the world around her. "Ya at least know who Chairman Carpet Bag is, right?" he said, pointing to a yellow earth pony with a black, slicked back mane. "He's the pony who kept Equestria from war with the Griffon Kingdom durin' the union drought. That's the same drought that bankrupted yer family, remember? He ended that with creatin' better irrigation! Ya gotta know that!" Smithy looked at the handsome chairman, who winked back at her. "I ain’t ever seen him before, and I don't know what yer talkin' 'bout," she replied, waving a friendly hoof at Chairman Carpet Bag. "What’s he gotta do with me takin' care of mahself?" Stinking Rich passed his newspaper over to Smithy so that she could see what she was missing. "I guess yer slower than I took ya fer after all," he said as he opened the paper to an article about a speech scheduled for Chairman Carpet Bag for this afternoon in the royal courtyard. "As a sign of friendship, I'm gonna give ya the chance to learn fer yerself what all ya've been missin' out on." Smithy was put off by the sudden civility, and by the new information she was presented with. "We ain’t friends," she said, scanning the papers for answers. "And just 'cause he's famous don't mean I gotta care neither." Stinking Rich was disappointed that he wasn't able to accomplish his goal of winning a debate in front of the political ponies and impressing them. "There’s a lot more than Funky Winkerbean goin' on in the papers that ya outta read 'bout," he said, pointing to an article about Smithy and her family’s land grant near the Everfree Forest. "It's like mah daddy always says: Ya ain't got no right to complain iff'n ya don't know what's goin' on 'round ya. Somepony's likely to take advantage of ya." Smithy let out an offended grumble as she picked up the paper. "Yer one to talk," she muttered under her breath. Stinking Rich opened the paper so that he and Smithy could hide behind it and whisper to each other. "Yer one who outta listen'," he replied, his tone shifting to one of genuine concern. "Chairman Carpet Bag's a real important pony right here, and he knows a thing or two 'bout everythin' that's goin' on in yer life. Best ya better learn more 'bout him fer yer own sake." The conversation between Stinking Rich and Smithy was cut short as Prairie Tune came pouring into the dining hall, supported by a pretty mare that he had spent the night with. "Mornin'," he said, tipping his hat to reveal bloodshot eyes and a smile of deep satisfaction spread across his stubbly face. "Sorry I'm late fer breakfast. Me and Diamond here were a lil' busy catchin' up this morning." The mare gasped, offended at Prairie Tune. "That is not my name!" she exclaimed, lowering her eyebrows in anger. Prairie Tune stared back at her, slack jawed and confused by her response. "Uh, don't tell me, Pearl?" he guessed incorrectly. "Ruby? No, that was the gal before ya. Emerald? It's Emerald, ain’t it?" Prairie Tune's date slapped him across the face. "It’s Peridot, you colossal jerk!" she huffed, nose in the air as she trotted across the room and out the door. The room fell silent as everypony glared their judgments at Prairie Tune, who couldn't care less what they thought. He just let out a deep breath as he rubbed the spot where Peridot slapped him. "Huh, women," he teased, watching his brother bury his embarrassed face in his paperwork. Princess Celestia gently cleared her throat to help break the tension in the room. "It’s good to see that I'm not the only one who slept in this morning," she started, getting an uncomfortably suggestive wink from Prairie Tune. "And my staff has excellent timing as always. Please, help yourselves to whatever you like." A slew of zebras approached the table with trays of banana pancakes and a wide variety of toppings for everypony to choose from. While it all smelled appetizing enough, Smithy was paying more attention to the staff than the food. She was looking through the stoic servers for one in particular, and was happy to finally find who she was looking for carrying a carafe of syrup in his mouth. Bladire’s eyes widened with apprehension as soon as he saw Smithy seated next to Stinking Rich. He stood back, frozen to the spot, his teeth chattering against the handle of the carafe. He watched her wave at him from across the room before slowly walking backwards into the kitchen. Smithy didn’t understand why Bladire was behaving like he was. She watched the kitchen door swing back and forth on its hinges, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was wrong. She got her chance as she watched a much older zebra push Bladire out of the kitchen, Bladire shaking his head and spilling syrup on the floor as he was pushed up to Princess Celestia. The older zebra bowed before her in apology, shooting Bladire a commanding look to do the same. "My pardons, your highness," he apologized, watching as even more syrup poured out clumsily from Bladire’s bow. "The boy is new, and is learning. I shall see that his messes be cleaned right away." Celestia smiled upon them both. "Alabaster, you really fret over me too much," she complimented the older zebra. "I’m sure with time and your supervision, he'll do just fine." Alabaster took the compliment with a rehearsed smile. "You are too kind, your grace," he said demurely, tapping Bladire in the ankle to indicate that he should behave in the same manner. "Is there anything else that you may need?" Celestia kneeled her head down towards Bladire, who cowered in the presence of the oversize pony. "I would love some syrup," she said with a playful wink. "And if I may, young man, may I ask what your name is?" Bladire gulped back his nerves as he placed the sticky, nearly empty carafe on the table. "Bladire is my name," he mumbled quickly, pressing his nose into a glob of syrup on the floor as he bowed in the way Alabaster had taught him. Celestia used her magic to pass him a napkin as soon as she saw him stand up with a glob of syrup on his face. "I hope you enjoy your stay with us," she said pleasantly, getting a cool response from Bladire. "From what I hear, your home country is sending more immigrants to Equestria by the day in search of a better life. I hope that you can find my castle a wonderful place to call home." As Bladire wiped his nose with the napkin, he noticed Smithy trying to get his attention again by her waving. He slowly shook his head with an even look on his face. "You have a fine home, your highness,” he said in a flat tone as he set the napkin down on the table before walking quickly back to the kitchen. Smithy watched Bladire flee from the banquet hall, wondering what was wrong. She began to push her seat back to check on him, but was quickly stopped by Stinking Rich. "Yer better off stayin' put,” he said in a low, commanding voice. Smithy tried pushing the chair away from the table again, only to be held back. "Ya ain’t the boss of me," she said in defiance. Stinking Rich raised the newspaper back up to shield the two of them. "I know it don't look like it, but I got our best interests in mind," he begged, much to Smithy’s surprise. “Do us both a favor and leave that ziggler be." While everything in Smithy begged to leap out of her chair to check up on her friend, she could see by the way he was behaving that now was not the time for action. With a sorry sigh, she decided to drop the subject for now and resume it later when she and Bladire could be alone. Chairman Carpet Bag took a sip of his coffee before starting into his breakfast. "So, Mr. Seed, I was told that you and your family will be taking the land we were looking to experiment with," he began, taking a bite of his pancakes. Pokey Oaks nodded happily, using his delicate napkin like a dish towel on his butter covered face. "We sure as sugar are!" he exclaimed, wrapping a proud arm around Smithy. "Mah kin and I are gonna make a fine livin' out there, just ya wait and see." Finding Pokey Oaks's enthusiasm endearing, Chairman Carpet Bag passed him a page of Happy Trails’s presentation. "Your son and his assistant seem to think there could be valuable resources hidden away from society in the forest," he said, watching Pokey Oaks scratch his head over the vocabulary and elaborate drawings. "The money we make off of your repayment could mean great prosperity for Equestria. It's going to be a big responsibility, but I have a feeling just by what I see in you that you are eager to tackle it." Pokey Oaks couldn’t wait to show what he was capable of. "Chairman, yer lookin' at the best seedin' pony this side of Dodge City!" he exclaimed proudly. "Princess Celestia told me how I'll be able to find y'all a whole mess of seeds that ya can be usin'." Chairman Carpet Bag was pleased to hear how eager Pokey Oaks was to get to work. "I know we can expect great things from you and your family, at least most of it anyway," he commented as he watched Prairie Tune kick his feet up on the table and belch loudly. "Should you need assistance with your endeavors, we would be happy to send some migrant workers out to your new property to assist you." Smithy perked her ears up at the possibility of her father taking the offer, and of being able to pick Bladire. She watched Pokey Oaks grinning from ear to ear at the friendly politician. "Golly, that's awful big of ya,” her father replied, "but I gotta keep up mah end of the bargain with Princess Celestia. She said it's mah job to make that land thrive, and nopony else's. I can't be puttin' somepony else out on a count of mah laziness. Wouldn't be fair to Mighty Rich or Princess Celestia." While hearing what her father had to say was a justified thing, Smithy couldn't help feeling bad for losing an opportunity to take back Bladire. Chairman Carpet Bag smiled as he took back the piece of paper from Pokey Oaks. "You seem like a man of principal, and I can greatly respect that," he said, putting the papers back in order. "Should you ever need assistance, please do not hesitate to ask. We want to see this land of yours thrive just as much as you would." Smithy was tempted to speak her mind, but Stinking Rich rested his hoof on hers to stop her. "Before ya go shootin' yer mouth off on somethin' ya ain’t got the know how on, yer better off waitin'," he whispered in her ear. “I"m gonna go to the speech this afternoon in the courtyard. Why don't ya come on with me and learn a thing or two." Smithy’s eyes widened at the possibility. If this chairman really did have some kind of effect on her life, perhaps it would be in her best interest to hear him speak. "So why the sudden interest in mah welfare?” she asked. “Last night it was all 'bout yerself." Stinking Rich smiled as he listened to Smithy’s concerns. "I always knew ya were simple," he replied casually, "but I never knew ya were this outta touch with reality. Seems like a waste of a perfectly good head-full to not help ya out. It's like mah dad always says: A head's like a field. Ya reap what ya sow, so ya better plant something worth while. I just wanna give ya a couple good seeds fer yer thinker." Watching Bladire reenter the room with an intimidated look on his face, Smithy began to wonder if there was more to this offer than meets the eye. "I might,” she replied as Bladire cowered before Alabaster for doing something incorrectly. "Might be nice to get me some answers fer a change..." --------------- Granny Smith showed her grandchildren the newspaper from that morning folded up in her scrapbook. “Ya know, he had a real good point," she said, letting Big Macintosh read the front page headline. “I should've taken his advice a long time ago and read up on what was goin' on in the world, but I was too bull headed to do that." Big Macintosh scanned the article about the speech in the royal courtyard. "Sounds like this here fella had somethin' important to say," he observed before turning to the article about his family acquiring the land that he knew today as Sweet Apple Acres. "Did ya end up goin'?" Granny Smith nodded her head as she thought about going with Stinking Rich to the speech. "I sure did, but fer the life of me, I couldn't tell ya what that chairman had to say," she replied. "Mah mind was far from wantin' to listen to a bunch of number crunchin' and big promises. I was more thinkin' 'bout what happened that mornin' with Bladire."