It was monday morning. Back to school, back to work. But for some ponies, it still felt like saturday.
"Mom.....Mom, wake up...." The alicorn groaned, but didn't wake up yet. "Mom, get up." The princess shifted and rolled on top of the little filly who was tapping her face repeatedly, making her yelp.
"Ugggghhh......noo, I don't wanna..." Rainbow mumbled.
"MOM, WAKE UP!" Rainbow's eyes flew open and started changing colors at the rude filly alarm clock before she sat up, nearly tossing Fluttershy off of her.
"HUH?! WHAT WHAT....HUH?" She looked around the room before jumping out the bed and over Scootaloo, heading towards the lounge. Upon arrival, she looked out the window. No Rainbow glow in the air. "Nope....not awake yet."
"Mom!" She looked behind her to see the little orange Pegasus walking up to her. "It's ten in the morning! You have court at eleven!" Rainbow looked in her room at the clock on the wall to see that Scootaloo was right. The first day of court was starting in an hour.
"ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" She yelled before running to the bathroom and closing the door behind her, shocking Fluttershy awake. "Thanks, Scoots!"
The filly shook her head while her other mother woke up and looked around, smiling at the little filly, walking back towards the bed. "I take it your mom overslept again. Good morning, Scootaloo. How long have you been up?"
"An hour," she responded, trying to climb back up on the soft sleeping area, failing miserably. The timid Pegasus chuckled and pull her up by her rear using her hoof. "I was watching to see how long mom was going to sleep."
"One thing to know about your mother, she can sleep through a hurricane......that she HERSELF caused. Hopefully she won't fall asleep in the shower."
"Has she done that before?"
"Plenty of times." They both turned their heads to the bathroom, hearing the water running before it stopped. "Well.....this morning was gracious. What do you want for breakfast?"
"Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!" She yelled happily before she fell off the bed again and made Fluttershy laugh.
"Alright, alright. But you're having fruits with that too." She told her before she got out of bed and walked towards the closet to get Rainbow's clothes ready. "You know, your mother would usually get up extra early to mess with Applejack when she would wake up, and then come tell me what happens when she does." She grabbed a sky blue colored dress with a Rainbow hemline before walking back out with it in her mouth and setting in on the bed.
"What would she do?" The young filly said as she watched Rainbow walk out of the bathroom with a towel in her ethereal hair.
"She would run inside her house, yell in her ear, and make her jump out of bed."
"It was better than it sounded," Rainbow corrected, putting the on the dress, hoofshoes, chestplate, and crown before brushing her hair. "She would jump up, hit her head on the roof, and then say something stupid. Like, 'My apples are sparklin' clean for your pleasure.'"
"Rainbow Dash! Don't talk about things like that around Scootaloo!" Fluttershy scolded, putting her hooves over the filly's ears.
"I don't even know what that means."
"Anyway, I have to go get some breakfast, let's go." Rainbow set the brush back down and opened the doors to the room, immediately regretting it. There was a line of ponies already waiting for a chance to state their problems to her going out the front doors of the building. That was really long, based on the fact that the way to the throne room was approximately forty hooftsteps in the hall leading there alone. Front hooves only.
"Good morning your highness," Sweetie Drops said, walking up the steps to her room. "The line is pretty long, but no ponies are inside the throne room yet."
The princess nodded before looking over her shoulder. "How much time do I have, Flutters?"
The Pegasus turned around and walked back in the room, grabbed a clipboard she almost forgot, and looked at the clock on the wall. "Twenty minutes."
"Alright." She picked up Scootaloo in her magic and placed her on her back before trotting down the stairs with the guards beside them, heading towards the dining room. Along the way, the ponies bowed to her, making sure she got the respect as a royal of Equestria. After walking down the hallway, the door for the room was opened, revealing her advisory committee, already sitting down eating.
The family walked into the room while her guards took a position by the doors, making sure to stay on alert in case of some problem.
"Good morning, Princess," Twilight greeted, smiling at the family. "You sure snore a lot." Rainbow groaned before she walked towards Scootaloo's chair and sat her down while Fluttershy made the filly some breakfast.
"Well......that means....I was hungry. What's up, Healthy Hooves?" She asked the mare as she walked out of the kitchen with some more staff.
"Good morning, Princess. The main course today is pancakes with syrup, pineapples, and eggs. There's more situated on the table."
"Good, because I have to eat this fast," she sighed, taking a seat in her chair. "If it wasn't for Scoots, I would be sleeping still. Not moving at all. Twilight, tell me the agenda."
"That's Fluttershy's job," she replied blandly.
"Fluttershy, tell me the agenda." The mare took out the clipboard she grabbed earlier and looked at it. "You have two hours of court, then a recess at one for an hour. Afterwards, you have to check up with the Ponyville mayor about an appointment she scheduled with you. She will be coming here."
"Alright," she started eating her pancakes, the others doing the same with their breakfast. "Amazing work, Healthy Hooves. Your team is awesome."
"Thank you, your highness," the mare said, bowing to her.
"Now....Twilight." The mare looked over to her. "Do you know what people are really expecting from me, or is it a secret?"
"Nature business, mostly," she said, looking at the notes she brought along with her. "Just like you said at the Grand Galloping Gala."
"Good, now anything else regarding the forest?" She levitated some sliced pineapples into her mouth while they responded.
"We're trying to setup a meeting with Spitfire in regards to Pegasi patrolling the forest from the sky," Cherry Berry answered. "We're just waiting for a letter to be returned."
"Good." The rest of breakfast was quiet, which lasted for five minutes for the group of royal committee. Once they were done, Rainbow gave one last order. "Scootaloo? I need something from you."
The group all stared at her for a moment before focusing their attention on the little filly. "Uhhh.....y-yes m-mom?" The princess put down her pancake before getting up and walking over to her daughter.
"I....need.....a kiss, now come on." Rainbow grinned at the horror written on her daughter's face.
"What? No, kisses are for foals!" Rainbow grabbed her and pulled her to her face. "No! No! Mom, save me!"
Fluttershy chuckled before getting up and approaching the loving scene, staring at Rainbow. "You were going to kiss her without me?"
"What? No, you're supposed to be on my side!" The two laughed before leaning in and pecking the little filly on her cheeks, making her cringe. "EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWUUUUUAAAAH!"
The group all laughed while Rainbow put her back in the chair. "When you're done eating, you can go out and 'crusade' with the others, okay?" She said, picking up the last pancake and putting it in her mouth. "But eat your fruits, they're healthy for little fillies."
"Yes, mom," she mumbled, trying to get the syrup off her cheek. Rainbow conjured a little bit of water and splashed her face with it, getting off the sticky dressing.
The princess smiled at her before grabbing her drink and gulping it down. Once done, she leaned over and nuzzled her daughter. "I love you, Scootaloo."
"I love you too, mom." Twilight smiled in proudness just like everyone else at the mom and daughter bonding.
"Guard!" Rainbow called, making a Royal Guard guarding the entrance walk towards them. "Watch over my daughter, okay? Where are you going after this Scootaloo?"
"School it starts at eleven." Rainbow's eyes popped open, totally forgetting about the schooling.
"Right, guard make sure she gets to school safely." He saluted before Rainbow gave her daughter another nuzzle. "I would take you, but you know. Either I or Fluttershy will pick you up though, okay?" She nodded before Rainbow walked away towards the doors. "Let's go everyone, we have some ponies to listen to." The group all stood up and prepared to leave before Fluttershy leaned in and gave her daughter a warm nuzzle.
"I'll see you later Scootaloo." Scootaloo hugged fluttershy around the muzzle before Fluttershy pulled away, heading to the Throne Room with everyone else, leaving the filly with the guard.
"So.....guard guy," she said, making the pony look down at him. "Wanna eat these fruits?" The pony chuckled and shook his head.
"Sorry, Lady Scootaloo. But you heard your mother. She said you-"
"Have to eat the fruits, yada yada, I know." She sighed before doing just that, trying her hardest not to groan. What a day so far.
The group walked past the line of ponies and turned down the hall leading into the throne room, passing even more of them before stopping at the first pony waiting, which was......Rarity?!
"Rarity?!" Rainbow asked unbelievably, making Twilight and Cherry look at the fashionista.
"God morning, darling! Well, I hope it was good, you snore really loud." Rainbow gave a deadpan expression while Twilight and Cherry snickered.
"It was fine. You're here for court I take it." She waved her hoof, signalling the guards to open the doors for her.
"Yes, I got up at five and came here before everyone else." Rainbow slowly shook her head and chuckled, walking forward through the doors.
"Well, I hope I can help you. We'll start in ten minutes."
"Okay!" The guards closed the doors back while she was waving at the princess. They all trotted up to their spots that the guards had setup for them, where there were tables on the left and right of the throne for the advisory, while Rainbow of course took the throne.
Twilight took a seat next to Cherry while the others took their own, preparing to start the day. "So.....we know Rarity's first," Rainbow commented, getting comfortable. "I swear if she asks something about gems, I am literally kicking her out of this building."
"It's not that......I hope," Twilight responded, rubbing her two hooves together.
"You did this all the time with Celestia, right?"
"I only stuck to the side, watching everything," she responded, looking up at the princess. "And since it was in Canterlot, there were a lot of nobles there. And they were ignorant. But I don't think there will be any nobles coming here. If they are, they will most likely be asking for land."
Before they could continue their conversation, a bright flash in front of Rainbow's throne cut them off, revealing Rainbow's mother. "Good morning, Rainbow," she said, gesturing to the other ponies in there that didn't know about Rainbow being her daughter. The Princess got that.
"Good morning, Celestia. You're bright eyed and bushy-tailed, why is that?" The princess of nature asked, cocking her head to the side with a smile.
"Well.....Shining Armor and Cadance have released the official wedding date. So I'm-" The purple librarian shrieked in happiness catching the two princesses off guard. "Twilight, dear, you have to calm down. The court is about to start and you cannot be off track, okay?"
"I'm calm, I'm, I am calm. You know what? I. Am. Calm." Cherry reached under the table and grabbed Twilight's hoof, giving it a squeeze and making Twilight glance at her. She was giving the mare a stern look, trying to get her message across. "Okay.....I'm calm now. Really. Just don't say wedding day, wedding band, or anything else that has to do with a wedding around me, I might freak out."
"Again," Lady Justice teased from the other side. "Freak out again."
"I know, I know," Twilight said, dismissing it with a wave of her hoof.
"Good. Now Rainbow. The ponies here can be a little obnoxious. But remember. They are your ponies too. You have to make sure they are happy.....or else they'll do something really dumb and get everypony killed. You understand?" Rainbow Dash just stared in surprise at her mother who switched moods so fast.
"Yeeeeaaaaahhhh....I got it. Thanks for letting me know." Rainbow popped off her throne and walked towards the older alicorn and gave her a hug. "Will I see you later?" She whispered.
"Of course. Keep an eye out, she could wake any time." They pulled away before Celestia disappeared in a flash again, on her way back to wherever she came from while Rainbow flew back up to her throne and settled down.
"Time?"
Special agent Sweetie Drops check her watch. "Ten fifty-nine, your highness."
"Let them in!" The guards by the doors pulled them open, allowing the first pony to walk in. Rarity. "Hello, Rarity."
"Hello, hello, your highness." Rarity bowed slightly before stating her itch. "Recently, my magic has picked up jewels and gems inside Ponyville when they would normally be outside, making it easier for me. I want to be able to dig them up but I need a permit, so I am told."
Rainbow smirked, deciding to mess with her friend a little. "And what do you plan on doing with these gems? Will you be eating them?"
"What? No, your highness," Rarity objected, looking and sounding horrified. Here we go. "Gems are priceless and should not be digested through the body of a pony, or any other creature. They are Equestria's greatest treasure, and.........you tricked me."
"I did," Rainbow chuckled before turning to one of her advisors/assistants. "Assign her, please."
The pony wrote down Rarity's name and other information while Rainbow looked back to the pony. "It will come soon." Rarity bowed again before turning around and walking out, allowing the next pony to walk in. He was a stallion with a green coat and a fuzzy muzzle.
"Hello, Princess Dash," he greeted, bowing low. "I am here concerning the trees that are popping up along the streets in Ponyville. It is very troubling to other ponies and I am hoping you can get rid of them."
"Thank you for letting me know. I will try to find the problem and snuff it out." Lady Justice who records for physical work wrote down the issue while the pony bowed and left, letting in the next pony. This was going to be a long morning.
"What's with all the trees?" Scootaloo asked the guards she was walking between on her way to school. They were just walking past the library before Scootaloo decided to question it, having seen them more than enough already.
"We are not sure, Lady Scootaloo," one of them said, his deep voice speaking louder than the average pony. "We are hoping Princess Dash has some answers for it."
"Or can get rid of them," the other said as neared the school. "They pretty much appeared overnight."
Scootaloo hummed before they dropped her off in front of the school where two more fillies were approaching, obviously friends of Scootaloo who walked out and waved at the two guards.
"Thanks, guard guys.....mares.....colts....dudes...."
"It's ponies," Apple Bloom whispered. "Guard Ponies."
"Thanks, Guard Pony colts." The two fillies facehoofed while the guards smiled and bowed to her before turning around and heading back towards the castle, trying to get THAT out of their minds.
"Scootaloo....you need to up your grammar," Sweetie Belle said, patting her friend on the head. "Guard pony colts? They aren't foals."
"And ESPECIALLY not mares," Apple Bloom agreed.
"I wasn't sure!" She exclaimed, throwing her hooves out. "They wear so much armor, it's hard to tell what they have between their-"
"Oh wow, would ya' look at the time," Apple Bloom interrupted, looking down at a watch that was definitely not on her wrist. "We sure have to get this moving along and into class, come on you two."
She turned around and trotted inside before the other two followed her. Definitely trying to see her itch.
The nutzo prince walked along the streets of Canterlot, headed towards the library of magic with thoughts plaguing his mind. His aunt was hiding something, that much was obvious, no mistake. And Princess Dash was the center of it. But what? What was so important that she had to keep it held back from her nephew? It was outrageous!
He looked up, seeing that he had arrived and walked up the stairs towards the front doors. The Library of Magic is where his beloved Twilight Sparkle goes. "One day she will marry me," he muttered as he opened the doors and headed towards the counter. He rung the bell, waiting for someone to give him assistance.
Of course what he was looking for wouldn't be found in the actual library. He needed to know about a Princess that never existed before. Therefore had to dig deeper. He overheard Princess Luna say Princess Dash is from a past long forgotten, as old as the castle in the Everfree. He should probable check that out if he doesn't find anything here.
"Hi! Can I help you, sir?" The librarian greeted, walking up to the counter with a bounce in her step.
"I need access to the archives, at once," he demanded.
She nodded and walked out of the room and into the library. "Yes sir, follow me." The two walked towards the back, urgency in their steps.
Soon, they stopped at a room with a wooden door and lock on it, obviously to keep out those who could be a threat. She grabbed one of the keys from around her neck with her magic and put it into into the slot, turning and unlocking the door.
She pushed it open, revealing a room with multiple books and scrolls. Some yellow with age, others that seem like they were just put in there. "Thank you," he said, walking inside while she nodded and closed the door back, leaving him with the source of information.
After nearly an hour of searching, he had scanned through all the books, not finding a single word that revolved around the word "Rainbow". Spectrum was in there plenty of times, whatever the heck that meant. But there were a few things in there that struck him as odd.
There was a book from a seer. A very good one it would seem that wrote something on a prophecy.
"'After the Spectrum defeat, she was hidden. Of course her actions were forgiven. The weapon of terror was hidden with her foal, which had come from the Princess' rainbow. They were moved from the scene of the crime, leaving everything else behind, to be lost in time. Until after eighteen years, she would once again be mine.' Eighteen years ago.....what happened eighteen years ago?" He tapped his chin and thought deeply.
He was close to something big, he could tell. They were talking about a princess and her foal apparently from eighteen years ago, around the same time of the battle of the two pony sisters.
He gasped loudly. The battle, of course! Eighteen years ago, there was a battle in the Everfree Forest that destroyed their old castle, forcing them to move to Canterlot.
"It would seem that the scene of the crime is in the Everfree Castle," he muttered. "And that it was lost in time. I now know my next step."
He wrote some more notes and put it in his shirt before putting everything back the way he found it and left the library.
He needed to grab some guards and head to the Everfree. Time for a stop at the barracks.
By the one hundred-fortieth pony, Princess Rainbow was getting a little tired. Is this what the other princesses felt all the time? This was a mess. She could barely understand what the stallion in front of her was saying.
"And I believe the land here should be fertile enough to grow apple trees all over the town," a farmer said, throwing his hoof around the room.
"Sir, you would need to have a permit to grow trees of any kind in Ponyville," the princess said before yawning. Whoo, this was tough. "And even then, the plan you're proposing would not work, considering businesses actually run on selling fruits like apples. Having apple trees show up like that in Ponyville could spell trouble for all of those businesses. Not just the famous Sweet Apple Acres. I'm sorry but that will not be allowed. Next!"
The pony bowed, seeing his time was up and that he had to leave. Rainbow watched him walk out before reaching up and rubbing her eyes.
"Tired, your highness?" The princess looked down to her left to see Tall order staring at her expectantly.
She sighed and looked forward again, watching the next pony walk towards her. "Yes, I am," she answered tiredly. "It is good this only happens once a week. Hello, Pony."
"Hello, Princess Dash," she greeted, bowing. "I am here to talk about the animals coming out of the Everfree."
That got her attention. Rainbow lost her state of drowsiness as she focused on this information. "Animals....coming OUT of the Everfree?"
"Yes, your highness."
"Is there anything else weird about it? How they behave?" Fluttershy asked. The pony looked towards Rainbow, who nodded, giving her permission.
"Well besides the fact that the Timberwolves have LEFT the forest, they were running and hiding as well," she told her.
"What other creatures ran out?"
"From what I have seen, all of them. But they strategically ran around Ponyville, not going anywhere near it. I just happened to be walking outside of Ponyville when I saw them."
"They're scared of something, obviously," Rainbow thought to herself. "Sir Pony Moore, add that as top-priority, please." The pony in question wrote that down on a separate sheet and placed the words top priority on it. "Thank you for letting me know. Next!" The pony bowed again before turning to take her leave.
"That is all your highness," one of the guards at the door said.
"Really? I thought it was two hundred ponies," she said in confusion.
"That was two hundred, your highness," Sweetie Drops said.
"Wow, I'm really stoned, okay." She jumped off her throne and faced the advisory. "Thank you, everypony. You can place the notes in my office in the designated boxes on my desk." The ponies grabbed their stuff and went to do the assigned task while Rainbow called over Fluttershy.
"You look like a mess," Fluttershy chuckled, flipping Rainbow's messed up hair.
"Yeah, yeah, the squirt is easier. Could you go find those animals and see what happened in those woods? It has me a little on edge."
Fluttershy smirked and pretended to think about it, making Rainbow sigh and smile, already seeing where this was going. She actually missed it. "I don't know...... perhaps if you bribe me."
"Okay, fine. How about I take you and Scootaloo out and we have a nice dinner." Fluttershy smiled and nodded before leaning in and pecking her marefriend.
"Sounds great. I'll go do your bidding Princess. And Rainbow?"
"Yes?"
"Don't ever use the word 'stoned' again. That is not going to catch on." Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes as her marefriend walked away.
"Fine. Get Sergeant Cloudstorm to give you some guards."
Fluttershy nodded and walked out the doors, leaving Rainbow Dash with everyone else.
After twenty minutes of searching, Fluttershy still hadn't found anything. The animals were said to have gone around Ponyville, but there were definitely some stragglers. A Timberwolf just doesn't leave. They're smarter than that and would need food. And where is to go like Ponyville which is right next door?
Fluttershy stopped in the square and looked around, four guards right behind her, as she thought on where those animals could be. "If I were an animal, where would I be?" She muttered, looking around. While she was looking, a slight whimper caught her ear, making it twitch. She stopped and listened closely, her eyes squinting in focus.
She heard it again, coming from her left in...a dark alley. She turned and walked forward, heading towards the dark area with the guards right next to her.
"Hello?" She said, her voice calm and sweet as she stopped in the middle of the passage. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm hear to find out why all the animals ran away from the Everfree Forest. Could you help me?"
The pegasus waited for a second before a whimper from her lower left caught her attention. Looking in that direction, she spotted a very large burrow going underneath a building with two glowing eyes staring back at her.
"Hi, Mr. Timberwolf," she greeted, getting down to his level. "Could you please tell me what's going on in the forest?"
The figure crawled out a little , revealing a wooden snout and started whimpering. Fluttershy listened closely, making sure she didn't miss a word.
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Timberwolf. You can return now." He crawled back into the burrow underneath the building while Fluttershy stood back up and walked back out, turning to face the Everfree in the distance.
With her good eyes, she could see what they saw. A rainbow aura surrounded the air over the woods, nearly invisible. It was very light, nearly unnoticeable. But it was still there.
Not a good sign.