Twilight Sparkle checked over her checklist to ensure that her picnic supplies were all prepared. After the fiasco with the whole 'friendship report' thing she didn't get to actually enjoy the picnic at the time, but now she was going to let it take top priority.
"Cakes, check." She thought out loud. "Plates, check. Spoons, check. Wipes, check. Sandwiches, check."
"Enough for one more guest?" Twilight was about to respond when she realised whose voice it was speaking calmly over her shoulder. She spun round and let the checklist fall to the floor.
"Princess Celestia!" She cried out, instinctively bowing. "Please forgive the state of my quarters, I wasn't expecting you."
"No worries, Twilight. This is a surprise visit after all." Twilight stood up and looked at her quizzingly.
"To what do I owe this?" She asked.
"I just wanted some time to get away from it all." Celestia answered. "Even a Princess has to take some time off, doesn't she?"
"I suppose so." Twilight answered and then thought about what it was her mentor had said when she arrived. "Well, if you'd like to join us for a picnic, I'm sure we can accommodate one more pony."
"I'd like that very much, Twilight. What of Spike?"
"Don't mind him. He actually requested to stay and look after the library. Between you and me, I thnk it's both the lack of gemstones and he's trying to do something for Rarity's birthday, so he doesn't want to give anything away in front of her."
"These anecdotes prove my point." Twilight looked at the Princess in puzzlement again. "You don't hear much about the day-to-day lives of ordinary ponies in the palace."
"I will say this." Twilight started leading the Princess to the front door. "All my friends will be most surprised to see you."
"You don't say." Celestia didn't speak loud enough for Twilight to hear as she smiled in anticipation.
"Why Princess Celestia!" Applejack declared as she saw her come up over the small hill behind Twilight. "What brings you 'ere to our humble town?" In response to her outburst the other four turned and immediately bowed after her.
"Don't sell yourself short, Applejack." Celestia answered. "Ponyville may be a fairly small and young town but a lot more has happened here than in all the history of Canterlot. Besides all of you, as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony are de jure members of the Royal Court." Rarity's eyes bugged out.
"Princess," She declared, "You decree that *we* are now members of your court?!?"
"Like I said, 'de jure'." Came the reply. "I don't expect any of you to attend the most regular meetings nor do I expect nor desire that you should have to follow the de facto etiquette of the court; of course during the most significant of meetings I may send you notification for attendance."
"So," Applejack ventured, "What might we do for yer highness?"
"Oooh." Pinkie Pie blurted out. "I know, I know! You want to join us for the picnic, didn't you." She kept bouncing up almost right into the bridge of Celestia's muzzle.
"Indeed I do. I hope you can find room for a little one."
"We definitely have room for a little one," Pinkie replied, "But I think we can squeeze you in."
"PINKIE!!!" Rarity cried out in shock. Celestia just giggled.
"Pinkie Pie," She commented, "Do you know how long it's been since anypony made such a pun to my face?" Pinkie started mumbling and looking between her forehoofs.
"Three hundred and forty years?" She guessed.
"Nine hundred and sixty-three, actually." Everypony's mouths were agape. "But enough about me, let's just enjoy the picnic."
"Simple baking's always the best." Celestia mentioned as the dining wound down.
"Yer highness," Applejack began to ask.
"Don't stand on ceremony." She interjected. "Just 'Celestia' will do for such a time as this."
"Okay, Celestia," Applejack seemed to struggle a bit with the informality, "Yer sayin' yer can' get yer own cooks t' bake some simple recipes?"
"Don't think I haven't tried." The reply came with a look on her face that made Applejack uneasy before it softened into a disarming smile. "Every time there's a new cook or chef in the palace kitchens I request a simple down-to-earth dish but not once have they actually succeeded, always trying to add a 'royal touch' and turning it into some high-class entrée."
"You must have a lot of stories to tell." Pinkie Pie interrupted. "Think you could share any?" Rarity looked at Pinkie Pie with disdain.
"Really, Pinkie," She remarked, "Can't you even let a Princess finish her conversations before sticking your nose in?"
"It's okay, Rarity." Celestia reassured her. "What sort of thing would you like to hear?"
"How long did you tutor Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
"You mean you never asked Twilight herself?" Celestia checked. The unicorn in question became very sheepish. "She started when she was six-and-a-half and had just become an adult in the year she came to Ponyville."
"Nine years as your protegé." Rarity mused out loud.
"And the school she was entering is normally a six-year course." Celestia pointed out.
"Talk about egghead." Rainbow Dash remarked. "So, during Twilight's time with you, were there any interesting occurrences? After all with her kinda magic there must've been a few."
"Plenty." Celestia acknowledged. "Did she ever tell you about the late-night incident in Generic Magical Studies?" They shook their heads in bewilderment.
"Princess," Twilight spoke up with a dread feeling, "Not the one in the last term of my first year?" She nodded in response.
"Will you tell them or shall I?"
"Well," Twilight croaked, "If you start off I might get the courage to pick it up."
"Very well." Celestia smirked. "You see, after her first term Twilight had made great leaps in her magical skills; a rate unseen in any other unicorn. Unfortunately her abilities made her arrogant, very prideful."
"I think I ended up with hubris." Twilight added.
"And it doesn't do anypony, and I mean anypony, to become hubristic. I decided that she needed to understand the importance of humility. One evening I personally ended the school day with a demonstration of illusion magic, but tasked Twilight with fetching water manually to fill the cauldron for the following day's practical."
"It was certainly tiring," Twilight butted in, "And I couldn't fathom why I, Princess Celestia's personal protegé, should have to do menial caretaking. I had only just managed to bring in the first two bucketfuls when I paused to watch Celestia's demonstration."
"Would you like to tell them what it was?"
"Difficult to forget that day." Twilight pointed out. "You were projecting an image of a huge butterfly over your head."
"Oooh," Fluttershy suddenly started, "I'd've liked to have seen that."
"All in good time, my little pony."
"I had just managed to empty the buckets when Celestia finished with a dramatic flash of light."
"This was actually after nightfall, so I had already set the Sun and raised the Moon. With that I dismissed the class and made to turn in; of course Twilight was still meant to fill the cauldron. The thing is I seemed to have left a spellbook lying open on the desk."
"When Celestia had gone up to her bedchamber," Twilight continued, "I saw an opportunity to demonstrate that I was ready to move all the way up to the advanced studies." Her words were strained by her emotions. "I looked through that spellbook and found a come-to-life spell that would make any chosen inanimate object into a mindless servant. I found the perfect subject in the form of a broom; it took about three ties before it worked, although I still had to conjure it a couple of limbs to carry the buckets. Once that was done I demonstrated what it had to do and, once I saw it performing the task with great effeciency I felt really proud, so I took a rest on a teacher's chair and, when I say rest, I actually fell fast asleep." There was a long pause.
"Twilight," Celestia asked, "Is there something else you'd like to add before we get to..."
"Pri... Celestia." Twilight yapped. "This is something I've never shared with anyone, not even Spike. I had a dream that night. A dream that, in hindsight, showed just how far the hubris had gone. I dreamt that I stood on a cliffside by the sea, I manipulated the stars! I dreamt that I could make them twinkle on cue, that I could direct meteors and comets all the way into the ocean. Furthermore I also controlled the waves, making them splash right up to my level. I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I also dreamt of being able to move the clouds and make it thunder and lightning on cue." Twilight covered her hoofs in horror at the memory and in dread at retribution for having such a blasphemous dream.
"Twilight," Celestia reassured her, "What happens in your dreams is never a crime. What's important is that the attitudes and actions of such dreams should never be made real. Can you carry on?"
"I suppose so. Maybe what happened when I woke up could be considered a suitable repayment." Twilight recounted again. "I woke up suddenly when I actually felt a splash on my face. There was a half-inch deep pool of water all over the floor; bewildered I looked around until I saw that the broom just kept pouring more and more water into the now overflowing cauldron. I panicked and attempted to magically control it but it walked right over me. I tried to hold the buckets down but it was actually stronger than I was. I got positively soaked. In desperation I took a fire axe in my teeth and charged the broom, chopping it up into dozens of little pieces."
"And that stopped it in its tracks, right?" Rainbow asked.
"Wrong." Twilight groaned at the memory." I had closed the door on it and was taking a breather when I could hear something on the other side. I took a glance and, to my utter horror, there were now dozens of water-carrying brooms! I tried to keep the door shut with all my weight but they just wouldn't stop. I was now facing who knows how much water being brought in at one time. I first tried bailing out the window but one bucket out against dozens of buckets in just wouldn't work. Before long I was literally struggling to keep my head above water as those brooms just carried on bringing in more and more. I tried to find a spell in the book to make it stop but I had to use it as a floatation device as well."
"What did you find?" Rarity asked, gripped by the tale.
"That a torrent of water can force you into a whirlpool." Twilight answered. "I had floated right under where it was being poured in. I was just about ready to cry out for my mum when..."
"I was roused by a series of loud splashes." Celestia picked up the thread of the story again. "I went to check on the source and, after only six steps down the stair to the classroom, I was greeted by a churning lake. Fortunately I knew exactly how to dispell it. Once everything calmed down I saw, in the middle of the floor, a normal sweeping broom, the spellbook I had left open and a very sorry-looking filly."
"I was both relieved that everything was back to normal," Twilight stated, "And horrified that the Princess of Equestria had seen what a tempest I had unleashed. I felt sure that was enough to be... expelled!"
"But this was just one of two possible outcomes." Celestia pointed out. "The whole thing with carrying the water and leaving the spellbook was a test of character. If Twilight carried on doing the chore manually that would've told me that she was willing to try anything no matter how low and menial it was; the path she chose not only made it clear that she was so prideful but also showed her what can happen when we think we're such high horses. A few chosen words and a spot of supper were all that she needed."
"Must you go now, Celestia?" Pinkie asked. "There's still a few cakes left."
"It's been very refreshing," She answered, "But I still have my duties to attend to. I hope you won't mind me spending some more time with you, though. I'd love to let my hair down more than once a year."
"No worries!" Pinkie answered. "You're the best!"
"I don't think I could miss out on an anecdote from a Princess." Rainbow Dash remarked.
"You really did make our day." Twilight added. "I thought that royalty in a public setting required total perfection, but even a Princess can be as much of a friend as any pony from even the lowest of stations."
"On the nosie, Twilight." Pinkie butted in. "Friendship doesn't care what your station is. A bustling terminus or a run-down halt, the great complex of Canterlot station or the remote stop in Dodge Junction."
"Well, my little ponies," Celestia concluded, "I'll know where to come whenever palace life gets dull and stuffy, won't I. Goodbye for now." With that she began to trot away before taking to the skies and vanishing before their eyes.
"Don't sweat what yer did, sugarcube." Applejack set a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "We all make mistakes at some point in our lives."
"I just hope the Princess didn't waste her best material on the picnic." Rainbow stated.
"Don't worry, Dash." Pinkie chimed. "She's got thousands of years of stories to tell. I'm sure of it."
Maybe, one day, Princess Celestia will add in something more than a story when she hangs out with the heroines of Equestria.