As the bright shining sun was high in the clear blue sky Rainbow Dash was still fast asleep, as late morning was settling in at the moment. The cyan pegasus sleeping peacefully as she sighed a little and rolled over on the bed that she shared with her marefriend, however her eyes feeling a strain on them and causing her to stir as the bright rays of the sun were peeking in through the slightly open curtains, and bathing the bedroom in a dim glow.
Dash's magenta eyes blinking a few times as they tried to get used to the sudden blinding sunlight, the cyan mare just groaning slightly as she rolled back over in the bed, and snuggled up in the space where Twilight had spent the night sleeping, smiling while she pulled the covers up over her head and decided to stay in bed for just a little while longer as she didn't feel like she wanted to get up just yet.
However the sunlight not seeming to be the only one disturbing her as within about a couple of minutes the bedroom door opened slowly, Twilight walking inside as she called to Dash, greeting her cheerfully and hoping to get her marefriend up and out of bed since she had been sleeping in for quite sometime by now.
"Dash are you getting up soon?" the Princess asked as she walked over to the bed, hoping that the cyan mare would get up without much fussing, however that not seeming likely at the moment as she only gained a long groan from the pegasus in reply.
"Sure, just give me about ten more minutes," she spoke in a low, mumbled voice burying her head into the pillows and pretending to be asleep, causing Twilight to just smile and roll her eyes slightly in response, before she rested a single hoof on her marefriend's covered shoulder, shaking her a little and trying to presuade her to get up.
"Come on Dash, Princess Celestia is coming today remember," Twilight lowered her tone a little, as she caused Dash to widen her eyes and slowly lift her head up from the pillow letting the covers fall to still be wrapped around her lower body. It seeming like the pegasus was slightly more awake now as she looked back to Twilight and sighed a few moments later.
"Oh right that's happening today, I kinda forgot she was coming actually," she seemed to be thinking out loud as she strenched a little while sitting up in the bed now, Twilight looking hopeful as she thought Dash might just get up since she knew she couldn't stay in bed for much longer, however that not seeming to be the case unfortunately.
The cyan pegeasus just shrugging her shoulders a momnent later as she lay back down in the bed and pulled the covers over her head again, "She's not coming till this afternoon though so a little while longer won't hurt," she simply stated, causing Twilight to just sigh heavily and shake her head, as she chuckled slightly and guessed she should have expected this from her often sometimes lazy and stubborn marefriend, knowing that she wouldn't be all that excited about Celestia coming to the town for a visit, and so she wouldn't be in any sort of rush to get ready for her arrival at all.
Twilight resting her head against Dash's back as she climbed on to the bed, nuzzling her marefriend, and successfully getting her attention it seemed, while she tried to make the event of getting up more appealing to the pegasus, thinking for a moment, before she smiled slightly and leaned over the cyan mare now.
"I made you some pancakes,"
She whispered to Dash, seeming to have a feeling that the promise of breakfast would persuade the pegasus more. Causing Dash to widen her eyes a little, trying to show that she still wanted to sleep more as she buried her head into the pillow again, while Twilight just raised her eyebrow to her, hearing the other mare's stomach growl slightly, as she smiled a moment later and watched as Dash rolled her eyes and sat back up in the bed.
"Well I'm already awake now, and it's not like you're going to let me go back to sleep anyway,"
She stated as she pushed the covers off of her, having a look of slight defeat on her face, causing Twilight to just chuckle a little, as she leaned forward and lay a light peck on Dash's forehead, making her smile back and nuzzle her a moment later, the Princess just smiling to her before they soon both headed downstairs, meeting Spike who was sitting at the dining table happily tucking in to his own plate of freshly made pancakes right now, as Dash and Twilight joined him so they could all have their breakfast together.
....
Twilight however not staying with Dash and Spike for all that long as once she had finished her breakfast and put away her plate in to the sink to be washed later, she had left the library and headed into Ponyville to see how all the preparations were going for Princess Celestia's visit to the town later on today.
The Princess walking through the hustle and bustle of the town market as she smiled to herself, looking around at all of the ponies from Ponyville going about their day, and pretty much all of them being excited about Celestia coming to the town today, 'Not a lot has changed around here since the feud ended, but then again it's only been a couple of months since then...and yet somehow at the same time...this town almost seems like it's a different place,' Twilight thought as she sighed a little, looking around the town market and recognised some of the pegasi to be ones from Cloudsdale, noticing how nervous they seemed to be while being in the town along with all the other ponies.
'They all remind me of how Dash was when she first started coming into Ponyville more,' Twilight sighed a little as she knew getting both the ponies of Ponyville and the pegasi from Cloudsdale to all get along would be quite the slow and long process, but she was already just so glad to see that the pegasi from Cloudsdale could come in to the town and be welcomed and greeted by the residents just like she hoped they would be someday.
Twilight soon walking on through and past the town market, making her way to the town hall as she knew that the ponies from Ponvyille had planned to decorate it specially for Celestia's visit. The Princess approaching the town hall as she saw that the tall building was already being covered in different coloured streamers and banners, all making the town hall look even more noticedable than it already was.
Seeing the town's mayor and a few other ponies from the town all crowding around the town hall, decorating it so that it was obvious that toady was most definitely quite the special occasion that was clearly worth celebrating. Twilight looking around and smiling to the towns ponies and mayor as they soon noticed her and greeted her politely, causing their Princess to just nod her head back to them, while they quickly got back to their preparations. Twilight not noticing at first, but a few moments later she recognised Pinkie Pie in the crowd as she stood off to the side, looking like she was lost in thought as well as admiring the hard work of the other ponies right now.
"Pinkie,"
Twilight called as she came walking over to the earth pony, causing the pink mare to be dragged out of her thoughts as she looked over to where the familiar voice of the Princess had come from, and smiled when she saw Twilight walk up to her now.
"Good morning Twilight, are you excited as I am about today?" Pinkie asked in a cheerful voice, smiling brightly to Twilight, as the lavender mare just nodded back to her, smiling and greeting her as well in return.
"You bet, how are things going here?" she asked as it was clear that she was interested to see just how all the preparations were going, and hoping they would be all be finished by the time that Celestia was due to arrive.
"Everything is running smoothly, and with the way things are going right now, we should have it all ready for Princess Celestia when she gets here this afternoon," the pink mare just simply explained as Twilight nodded to her in reply, both of them soon looking to admire the towns ponies who were all working hard together to pull this all off in time.
"I'll let you get back to it then,"
Twilight replied as she was about to leave and go and see how things were going in other parts of the town, before she knew she would soon have to head back home to Spike and Dash as she didn't want them both to still just be relaxing at the library when Princess Celestia arrived. However just as Pinkie nodded and Twilight was about to turn to leave, the two mares both heard a quiet voice call out from behind them, causing them to turn round a moment later.
"Excuse me,"
The quietly tonned voice seeming to come from a nervous looking pegasus mare, who Twilight soon recognised to be the former leader of the pegasi that used to be working with Lightning Dust. Both the Princess and Pinkie Pie smiling politely to the other mare as they wondered why she had called to them both, waiting for her to speak while the pegasus just took a deep breath and nodded to herself now, as she seemed to be encouraging herself at the moment.
"I don't mean to be a bother or anything...but I was just wondering if maybe...I could help you all with decorating the town hall a little, if you need it that is," the mare suggested turning her head away from the other two, as she would keep pausing every so often between her words, it seeming like she was struggling a little, but Twilight and Pinkie just smiling all the same as they could see that the pegasus was trying to be kind and genuinely was offering her help at the moment.
To which Pinkie just smiled to Twilight, before she rested a comforting hoof on the mare's shoulder and smiled to her kindly, causing the pegasus to lift her head and look back to the earth pony with a surprised expression, her eyes widening in response.
"Of course you can silly,"
Pinkie simply replied with a bright beaming smile and a nod, causing the mare to look taken aback for a moment, before the earth pony took hold of her hoof, and started to lead her over to where all the other ponies were working to get the whole of town hall decorated.
"We need all the help we can get after all," Twilight heard Pinkie say while she smiled, watching the two mares walk off together as it wasn't long before the pegasus was greeted by pretty much all of the other towns ponies, and she was soon helping them all out with the preparations for this afternoon.
'Everypony sure is excited about Princess Celestia coming for a visit, even some of the pegasi from Cloudsdale want to help out with getting everything ready,' Twilight thought as she just stood for a few moments, watching the nervous pegasus from Cloudsdale begin to relax more and was soon starting to smile as she seemed happy that she was able to lend a hoof to the towns ponies with this.
'Maybe Dash and I should help out too,' Twilight wondered as she seemed to be thinking for a few minutes more, watching the pegasus from Cloudsdale work together with the ponies from the town, and soon just shrugged her shoulders, turning away from town hall and starting to make her way back to the library. Hoping that by now Dash had finished her breakfast and would maybe be up for helping out the towns ponies with getting everything ready as well.
....
However once the Princess had returned back home and walked into the kitchen, expecting to see her marefriend still sitting at the dining table chatting to Spike just like how she had left them, but being a little taken aback as when she entered the kitchen she only saw Spike busy washing the dishes in the sink, while the cyan pegasus seemed to have just vanished.
Twilight looking around for a few more moments, before she caught Spike's attention and caused him to turn round to look to her, "Hey Spike, where did Dash go, she's not gone back to bed, has she?" she asked as she looked to the young dragon with a bit of a sigh, it seeming like she would prefer it if she didn't have to wake her marefriend back up yet again, and kind of being really relieved when she saw Spike shake his head in reply.
"No, she actually only left a couple of minutes ago, said she was going off to Cloudsdale for a bit, not sure what for though," the young dragon simply explained as he shrugged his shoulders slightly, causing Twilight to look back to him with a curious expression, it seeming like she was thinking for a little while, before she soon widened her eyes and looked like she had realised something now.
Causing Spike to slightly raise an eyebrow back to her, as she smiled in response to him a moment later, "I'll just go and see what she's up to then, and maybe see if she would be willing to help out with the towns preparations," she stated, seeming to be thinking out loud, as that last part was said in a much lower voice, while Spike looked a little puzzled, wondering just what the Princess was planning right now.
However before he could say anything to question Twilight, she simply spoke again and cut him off completely, "I'll be back soon, so make sure you're ready for when Princess Celestia arrives," she instructed to the young dragon, as he just soon nodded back to her in reply, quickly turning back to get on with washing the dishes so that once he was done he would be able to to leave the library and be ready for Celestia's arrival along with the rest of the town of Ponyville.
"Got it!"
Twilight heard Spike reply as she just smiled to him slightly, before she herself turned around and headed out of the library, soon taking into the air and setting off for Cloudsdale, as it seemed like she had a feeling about just what Dash was doing up in her hometown, 'Well I did want to quickly drop by Couldsdale as well before Princess Celestia gets here,' she thought as she flew through the air, before making her way to the floating city above Ponyville at a rather fast pace.
It not taking her long to get to Cloudasdale as she was soon flying up through the entrance, beginning her search for her marefriend, and making her way through the floating city. Getting waved to by the pegasi that she passed by, as they would greet her politely and bow to her, it being obvious that they had all pretty much gotten used to seeing the Princess around the city more often, while she just smiled and nodded back to them all, although looking like she was much more focused on finding Dash right now.
Luckily it not taking her all that long to do just that, as when she came to a more secluded area of the city and took a quick rest on one of the clouds, her ears soon perked up and twitched to the unmistakeable voice of her dear marefriend, causing her to quickly turn to where she heard the voice come from, and smiled when she saw Dash hanging out with a few other pegasi near to the outskirts of the city at the moment.
Twilight letting a slight sigh leave her lips as she flew over to Dash and the other peagsi, who she soon recognised as some of the ones that used to work with Lightning Dust as she came closer to them all, however none of them really noticing the Princess at all as they all seemed to be clearly more focused on what they were doing right now.
"Come on Rainbow Dash, you can go faster than that right?"
One of the pegasi asked in a playful manner as they all seemed to be helping out Dash with her flying, encouraging her to go faster and get out of her comfort zone a little, while a pegasus was following close behind the cyan mare just in case she became unsteady at all, and a few fluffly clouds were also below her, so that if her healing wings decided to give way and cause her to fall at any time she would have something soft to land on.
Dash just rolling her eyes to the pegasus that had called to her, before she smirked slightly, glancing back to her recovering wings, and worked on flapping them with a bit more strength so that she would fly faster, however being careful enough to know that if they started to hurt at all she would have to stop and give them a bit of a rest, before trying again.
"There you go, looks like you'll be soaring through the air and racing us all in no time,"
Another pegasus stated, as the others all hovered around the two clouds that Dash was practising her flying between, all of them cheering the cyan mare on, and encouraging her to continue and keep going, but also being mindful of Dash's energy knowing that she would need to stop and end it there today if she looked worn out at any time.
'They really have gotten quite close lately, they've been doing this pretty much everyday since Dash was able to use her wings to fly again not too long ago,' Twilight sighed with a slight smile watching her marefriend fly between the two clouds, feeling so glad that things had changed in the best way for Dash and all these pegasi that at one time seemed like they could never get along with one another.
The Princess catching the attention of the pegasi as she flew over to hover beside them all, "You all aren't tiring out Dash are you? We can't have her feeling exhausted and falling back to sleep when Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville later," she asked, causing the pegasi to all turn to her, as well as catching Dash's attention as she came to a halt and looked back to her marefriend, just smiling while the pegasi all looked a little nervous to Twilight.
"Of course not Princess Twilight,"
One pegasus said with a quick shake of her head, the others all doing the same soon afterwards, while Dash just rolled her eyes to the Princess, turning and flying over to her marefriend now as Twilight just smiled to her and raised her eyebrow to her slightly.
"Relax Twi, I know my limits,"
Dash simply stated as she nuzzled Twilight, causing the Princess to just sigh slightly and smile, as she soon nuzzled Dash back, knowing that Dash was almost always careful when it came to pushing herself, and not over-working her still healing wings that weren't yet as strong as they used to be, but was checking just to be sure.
Twilight then soon remembering why she wanted to find Dash in the first place as her eyes widened and she pulled away from the cyan mare now a little, causing her to look back to the Princess with a wondering expression, "Oh that's right, Dash I wanted to ask if you would be up for helping out with decorating the town hall. Well if you're not too busy practising your flying that is," Twilight suggested with a slight smirk as she caused Dash to just look back to her nervously, while she shrugged her shoulders a moment later.
"Sure I guess I wouldn't mind helping out a little,"
She simply replied, causing Twilight to smile back to her, before she looked round to all the other pegasi, and thought of asking them to lend a hoof as well, after all it would be nice if they could all get involved in this event along with Ponyville. However as she nodded to herself and was about to ask the other peagsi if they would like to help out too, she and Dash heard a familiar voice calling out to them both, as they turned to the sound of it.
"Princess Twilight!"
Twilight and Dash seeing a familiar pegasus mare flying over to them, both of them recognising her as the mare that had been in charge of the pegasi that were helping Lightning Dust at one time. But the last thing Twilight had seen her doing was asking Pinkie Pie if she could help out with the preparations for this afternoon, and so she was quite confused as to why she was here, and also why she seemed quite distressed at the moment.
"I thought you were helping out Pinkie and the other towns ponies with decorating the town hall?" she asked, looking a little curious, as the mare just quckily replied to her as she seemed to have a worried expression on her face right now.
"I was, but...Princess Celestia, she's here in Ponyville,"
She stated in quite the panicked tone, causing Twilight to widen her eyes and glance to Dash, while the cyan pegasus just looked back to her with also a worried expression, before the Princess turned back to the mare again as she didn't seem so calm and relaxed anymore.
"What? But she was meant to be coming this afternoon, why is she here now?" Twilight questioned in a nervous tone, looking like she was asking herself more than anyone else right now, but the pegasus mare answering her anyway a moment later.
"I don't know, but the town hall hasn't finished being decorated just yet, and Pinkie Pie was wondering if you could stall the royal Princess for a bit, just until it's ready for her to see," she explained in quite the rushed tone, as Twilight just looked worried, while she seemed to be thinking for a few mere moments, before she quickly nodded to the pegasus mare and gestured for Dash to follow her, just gaining a nod from her marefriend in reply.
"Dash and I will take care of Princess Celestia, you just focus on getting the town hall finished," she instructed to the pegeasus mare, as she just nodded back to her, she then turning back to all the other pegasi a moment later as it seemed like she was going to ask them to help out too, while Twilight and Dash flew back to Ponyville together to find and distract Princess Celestia.
....
Twilight and Dash making it back to Ponyville rather quickly as they made their way in to the town, being in search of Princess Celestia, but luckily it seemed like the royal Princess was having a look around the town market at the moment, as she was being greeted and bowed to by all the towns ponies and the odd few pegasi from Cloudsdale as she passed them, greeting them back with a polite smile.
"There!"
Dash said, pointing down to the royal Princess, causing Twilight to look down and sigh with a little relief that she hadn't yet made her way to the town hall. The two quickly nodding to each other, before they flew down to go and meet Celestia, while she would stop every so often and talk happily to some of the towns ponies, it seeming like the pegasi that had come from Cloudsdale not wanting to stay to talk long though as they were quite nervous about being in the town at the moment which Celestia could clearly see.
The two mares approaching the royal Princess, and catching her attention it seemed as she smiled down to them both and greeted them politely, while they composed themselves and just smiled back to Celestia nervously, "Ah Twilight I was wondering where you were, everypony sure does look lively today," the elder Princess stated as she gestured to all the towns ponies that had been greeting and talking with her just before Twilight and Dash had shown up.
"Well they have all been quite excited about your visit,"
Twilight simply pointed out with a nod, as it seemed like her and Dash were intent on keeping the royal Princess busy for a bit, just until the town hall was done being decorated, and then they could all head over there, while Twilight and Dash both hoped it wouldn't be too long to avoid the biggest, and pretty much the most noticeable building in the small town of Ponyville.
"I know I'm early, but there's a meeting at the castle that I have to attend later, and I wasn't sure I would have enough time to leave here before then so I decided to come a little earlier. I did think of sending you a letter, but I was already running a bit late so I thought I might as well just tell you once I got here," Celestia explained as she sighed a little, it being clear to both Twilight and Dash that she had been rushing around quite a bit this morning.
However Twilight simply just shaking her head in return, "Don't worry about it, we're glad to have you here even if you are a little earlier than planned," she stated with a bit of a nervous smile back to the royal Princess, while Celestia just nodded back to her with a kind smile in reply.
"I see, so how have things been going around here?"
Celestia asked as it seemed like she was clearly egar to know how things had been improving for Twilight as she was trying to get the ponies of Ponyville and the pegasi from Cloudsdale to get along once again, while the younger Princess just smiled back to her in response as the three began to walk through the town market together.
"Actually things have been seemly going really well for everypony, I mean the pegasi from Cloudsdale are still rather nervous when being in the town, and there is still the odd issue every so often, but they are easily solved. So I don't see another feud starting anytime soon, and the ponies of this town as well as the pegasi from Cloudsdale now know to come to me if they ever have a problem at all," Twilight explained as she slowly became less nervous and more relaxed as she talked about how everything had been going since the feud had ended, Celestia clearly seeing how glad Twilight was with how things were going currently as she smiled slightly.
"I'm glad to hear that," Celestia simply replied with a smile and a nod, causing Twilight to just look back to her and smile in return. "And what about that group of pegasi who had all been helping Lightning Dust? You said you would deal with their punishment right?" she questioned causing Twilight to widen her eyes a little, before she quickly nodded her head in response to the royal Princess.
"We've been having them all do odd jobs and helping out around the town of Ponyville, they started off being quite stubborn at first to do much work, but I think they've gotten used to tasks like going to Appejack's farm and helping out where they can there, as well as doing the same in other parts of the town, and I think it's fair to say that the town's ponies have greatly appreciated all the extra help they have been giving them. They have even been helping Dash with practising her flying as they all really did want to make it up to her in any way that they could," Twilight answered gesturing towards her marefriend, causing Celestia to look to the cyan pegasus, while Dash just nodded back to the royal Princess with a smile in agreement.
"Really? I'm quite impressed, and that reminds me, how are your wings healing Rainbow Dash?" Celestia turned her attention on to Dash now, as the cyan mare glanced to her wings, and flapped them a little to show that it no longer hurt to move them at all, before she answered her.
"They are recovering really well, I don't have to wear bandages at all anymore, and I can actually use them to fly now, but I still do have to be careful to not go too fast as they can give way sometimes," Dash stated as she smiled to Celestia, causing the royal Princess to see how happy she was that her wings were getting better now, and it hopefully wouldn't be too long until they would fully recover.
Celestia just nodding back to Dash with a returned smile, as the three just happily contined to walk through the town together, Dash and Twilight getting a bit lost in their conversation with the royal Princess, as the two of them had lost their focus on what their task had orginally been, and they seemed to not be so mindful of where they were walking to anymore.
Twilight and Dash unfortunately not taking much notice to just where they were heading at the moment, only stopping and actually starting to pay attention to their surroundings when Celestia had halted and was now looking up with quite the impressed expression on her face.
"You've decorated the town hall, it sure does look lovely," she stated as she admired how well the town hall had been decorated by the town's ponies and some of the pegasi from Cloudsdale. Her comment causing Twilight and Dash to both widen their eyes and realise that they must have all made their way to the town hall without noticing until now.
"Why thank you Princess Celestia, and it is such an honor to have you visit our little town," the towns mayor stated as she and most of the other towns ponies all bowed to the royal Princess and greeted her polietly, while she just smiled back to them all, before they all quickly went back to trying to finish decorating the town hall.
"Twilight you were meant to keep the Princess away from the town hall until we were finished, not lead her right to it," Pinkie whined a little as she came walking over to Twilight, and caused the lavender mare to just nervously smile back to her in reply.
"Sorry Pinkie, I guess we got a little lost in converstaion and weren't really paying attention to where we were going," Twilight apologised nervously, as Pinkie just sighed slightly, however the royal Princess catching the earth pony's attention a moment later as she simply shook her head and smiled.
"It's fine, I enjoy watching all of you working together like this," she stated as she watched the towns ponies and the pegasi from Cloudsdale all working together, causing Twilight to widen her eyes a little, before she glanced to Dash and just saw her shurg her shoulders and smile back to her in response.
"You know Twilight I sent you here hoping that one day you could help end this feud between Ponyville and Cloudsdale, and you've shown me that you can do just that. It's true that at times you may have thought you wouldn't be able to rule two places at once and try and get them to get along like they once did at the same time, but it's clear to see that you were always meant to be the Princess of both this little town, and the floating city above it," Celestia explained as she now looked down to Twilight and gave her an encouraging smile, as she caused Twilight to look a little surprised, before she soon just smiled back to the elder Princess in return.
"I couldn't agree with you more, Princess Celestia,"
She replied with a bright smile, as she looked back to the towns ponies and pegasi all working together, before she glanced to Dash and saw her wink back to her with a smile, as they both knew that although things were improving and getting better there was still a lot left for them to do from here.
This was only the start towards the bright future that they had planned after all, and if things ever did become troublesome once again, Twilight would now know just how to slove it before they got worse. Twilight was the Princess to both Ponyville and Cloudsdale so it was her job to keep all the ponies and pegasi safe and happy, and to not ever lose sight of the ruler she had always been to them all.
"You know I think I'd like to quickly visit Cloudsdale as well before I leave later on," Celestia stated after a short pause, causing Twilight to look back to her with widened eyes, looking a little taken aback, before she just smiled in return to the elder Princess.
"If you have enough time, I'm sure the pegasi would all love to have you as well," Twilight simply replied as Celestia just nodded back to her happily as now when they looked back to the town hall it was all finally finished being decorated, and the royal Princess's visit could continue on.