Majesty: Queen of the Castle

by Paradise Oasis

Changing of the Seasons

The girls were up all night at the festival; trying different kinds of food, playing games, and dancing with cute stallions at the bandstand. As the dawn approached, all of the ponies at the fall festival began to congregate at the Shrine of B'zekre, at the very center of the town. As they all found their seats, several ponies with flowing rainbow manes made their way through the crowds, and up onto the raised platform. Then, one of them addressed the crowd.

"Ladies and gentleman... mares and stallions... honored guests... it is now time for the ceremony to begin!"

Several mares, stallions and foal were gathered in front of the great shrine, their eyes focused on the nine rainbow-maned mares who now trotted out in front of the altar. Eight of them turned toward the great mosaic of the goddess B'zekre, while the remaining rainbow pony, Parasol, turned to face the crowd.

"Honored Guests, we are here to celebrate the end of fall, and the dawn of Winter." The the pink mare explained, looking over the crowd. "This time of the year always comes with a sense of melancholy in Ponyland, as the days get shorter, and the nights get longer. The weather grows cold, and the land is buried beneath a blanket of ice and snow." The earth pony with the umbrella cutie mark raised her hoof to the crowd. "The year has grown old, and is preparing to hand this world over to the coming year. But now as we enter the holiday season, we hold a great celebration of color, to say goodbye to this passing year, and remember all that it has given us."

From where Majesty and her friends sat in the crowd, the rainbow ponies and the altar were both barely visible. Squinting and craning her neck to see what was going on, the princess bumped into another white unicorn mare, who was standing in the crowd beside her.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" Majesty apologized. "I didn't meant to run into you like that!"

"Oh, no worries! It's fine!" The brown haired pony with the yellow star cutie mark replied. "It's always crowded here every year for the rainbow ceremony."

"I'm just scared we're going to miss something." Majesty replied, squinting again. "I can't believe how far we are from the shrine back here!"

"Oh, don't worry! It's not the shrine you'll be wanting to keep your eyes on!" The other unicorn giggled. "See all those trees around us? That's where you'll want to be looking!"

Majesty looked at the trees in confusion for a few minutes, just as the rainbow ponies on stage began their incantations and prayer. Suddenly, one of the nearby trees exploded into a bright display of color, followed by another, then another, then another. It was like watching a fireworks display put on my nature, as the leaves into into a beautiful sea of red, blue, green, and yellow.

"Oh my gosh!" Wind Whistler whistled excitedly, flapping around over Majesty's head. "Look at all the pretty colors!"

Then, the next part of the show began, as a great gust of wind blew up through the trees, and blew all of the colorful leaves into a swirling vortex of colors all around the gather ponies. A shower of colors reigned down upon the gathered ponies for several minutes, before they finally settled into a colorful carpet that covered all of the ground.

"Heh, this might've been impressive and all," Applejack smirked. "But just wait until you see the finale!"

The rainbow ponies ceased their chanting, and ended their prayers. To finish off the performance, a gentle snow began to fall on the assembled crowd, and beautiful white snowflakes fell all around them.

"We thanks the goddess for answering our prayers, and blessing us with this glorious display of nature's beauty!" Parasol announced, as all of the rainbow monks ponies turned to bow to the assembled ponies, who applauded the mystics respectfully. "Fall is officially over. And we, the rainbow ponies, officially declare the Christmas season has begun!"

The gathered ponies began to disperse, and Majesty and the others met up near the altar again.

"Wheee, that was fun!" Wind Whistler exclaimed, bouncing around excitedly. "I'm sooo glad we stayed awake for that all night party! And the ceremony at the end- SO AWESOME!!"

"Yeah, but now I'm really tired." Hollywood yawned, stretching out her hooves. "I really think we should hit the hay for a few hours or so!"

"Hit the hay, but I'm not even hungry." Applejack replied, causing everybody to glare at her. "Sorry... I know we Ponylanders don't eat hay... horse humor."

"Anyway, I don't know if we can find a place to stay here at rainbow falls, the inn's probably booked up for the festival." Majesty finally replied, getting them back on track. "And I don't want to use my princess influence to get us a room, so..."

I believe I can remedy that problem for you, Prinzessin Majesty." Nachlicht announced, appearing out of nowhere again. "We rainbow ponies still have an extra room for you and your friends at the shrine, and we would be honored to have the princess of Dream Valley stay with us for the duration of the festival."

"Thank ya kindly, Nach!" Applejack replied, yawning as she and the others followed the rainbow mare to the shrine. "We really needed a place ta stay, seeing how her royal laziness here didn't do any planning, and reserve us some rooms ahead of time!"

"Geez, you're even grouchy when you're tired." Windy yawned, as the mares were shown to a room with four beds on the shrine's second floor. "Don't pick on Majesty, she brought us to a really fun party!"

"The princess couldn't have planned ahead, our decision to come here was spur of the moment!" Holly added groggily, before trotting into one of the beds and crashing. "Any, let's get some sleep. I don't want to miss this evening lighting of the Christmas tree, that'll take us into the second night of the festival's events."

"Good night girls, sweet dreams!" Majesty called into the room, before turning back to face the rainbow pony. "Thank you so much for your help, sister Nachlicht. Please, let me know if there is anything I can do to repay you and t\your sisters in the rainbow order for your hospitality."

"Actually, Prinzessin, there is a way you can assist us." Nachlicht replied, shaking her flowing rainbow mane. "There is a somebody who we rainbow ponies sense could use you and your friend's aid, and request that you assist them."

"Really?" Majesty asked, her ears perking up. "Of course, we'd be happy to help! Who is this pony?"

"Well... it's not exactly a pony..." Nachlicht replied, shaking her head again. "There is one who dwells in the forests surrounding rainbow falls, who is in much need of the holiday spirit, and has not known friendship and family in a very, very long time...." The rainbow pony closed her eyes "She is the oldest living creature in Ponyland, older that the ancients themselves, and she needs your help." She opened her eyes again, and looked over at Majesty. "But you probably already knew that, for I sense the one in your group called Wind Whistler is already trying to seek her out...."

Comments

[FleetlordAvatar]

"But you probably already knew that, for I sense the one in your group called Wind Whistler is already trying to seek her out...."

Ooh, mysteries abound!

[Vanilla Mocha]

Thanks for adding my cameo! I almost didn't see that! >D< Very well written, for a while I didn't realize my OC was even in there! I really liked this chapter regardless ^D^

[Leave a Whisper]

Well that's convenient