//------------------------------//
// Best Princess? 
// Story: Best Princess? 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

A summons from Canterlot was something that Twilight took very seriously, and the moment she'd received it, she was off like a shot. She alone was required, and the message was fairly vague about what she was needed for, but even so, she was determined to get there, maybe even in record time. Through flight and by train, she managed to get there, before charging through the great streets of the city. The royal palace beckoned, and she was greeted with the usual salutes by the guards before being allowed entry within. On and on she ran, until finally, she entered the great throne room. There, to her slight surprise, she found not only Celestia and Luna, but also Cadence as well. But, while she was always glad to see her sister-in-law, her presence usually meant that something big was afoot, prompting an expected barrage of questions as soon as she got there.

"Princess Celestia! What is it? Is it another escaped ancient evil? Some crazy magical artifact that's wound up in the wrong hooves? Maybe some natural disaster that only we four can tackle?"

But Celestia merely sighed, shaking her head.

"No, it is...well...a Code Pink."

Twilight paused for a few moments, before swiftly slapping her forehead with frustration.

"Ugh! Another "Best Princess" article?!"

Celestia nodded, and the youngest Princess among them took a few steps forward.

"With respect, Celestia, I realise these things are a bother for us to read...but did you really have to ask me to come all the way from Ponyville to talk about it?"

Here, it was Luna who answered.

"I assure you, Twilight, this one...requires an additional perspective."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"...Why?"

Cadence answered next.

"Well...let's just say this one's a little bit...different to what we're used to."

Naturally, Twilight didn't know what to make of this, and so it wasn't long before Celestia deigned to answer. Her horn lit up, and within moments, the offending newspaper began to float over from her throne and towards Twilight. Using her own magic, Twilight took hold of it from her, glancing quickly at the title of the paper before properly reading it.

"The...Daily Sunny? I'm not familiar with it."

Celestia nodded.

"It's penned by Sunny Smiles, a Canterlot local. In truth, it's a very small paper, only a few neighbourhoods read it. But one of those residents serves as a butler here, so it ended up coming with him a day ago as something to read during his off-hours."

Twilight nodded back, understanding, before getting back to the tedious business she'd been brought in here for. She flipped through the pages, looking past article after article, until she'd finally found the one she was looking for. "Best Princess", written in big bold letters. Sighing, she got to work reading it, but, as time passed, her expression softened from the irritation she'd been feeling before. Slowly, she started to look, of all things, confused, and eventually looked back up to her mentor.

"...Um..."

Celestia gave another small nod.

"Yes...I know."

Again, Twilight looked down to the paper.

"But...wait...it doesn't actually pick a Princess for best?"

"No, we were rather surprised ourselves," Cadence added.

Twilight continued to read, perhaps to see if there was something she missed, only to find, to her shock, that there was no more. There was little in this article besides what amounted to endless praise for each of them. Even Flurry Heart was being talked about here, which was fairly novel as far as these articles went. Celestia, seeing the look on her former apprentice, rose from her throne.

"Just so you know, the author has been invited here so we may discuss the matter with her."

Twilight was surprised, as this wasn't the usual kind of thing the Princesses did when such a paper was circulated. But, she hadn't the chance to say anything, as the great doors of the throne room soon opened, revealing a bright pink unicorn mare with a blonde mane on the other side. Now, when most people entered this place, they would experience some degree of awe, intimidation, or perhaps even a little fear. But Sunny was, apparently, not such a person, as she happily skipped inside, bearing the widest smile Twilight had ever seen outside of Pinkie Pie. And while this mare did indeed bow to the Princesses after reaching the steps of the throne, when she looked back up, her voice practically oozed enthusiasm.

"Oh...my...gosh! I can't believe you'd invite me here! Is it about my article? Did you like it?"

The Princesses glanced to one another, then back to the younger mare.

"Yes...well...it was..." Celestia began.

"It was an unexpected read," Luna added.

"I can safely say it's the most unique Best Princess article we've read," Cadence finished.

Here, Twilight turned, pointing to the article still in her hooves as she regarded Sunny.

"I mean no offense, Miss Smiles...but I'm not entirely sure you actually get what a Best article is supposed to do."

Sunny rolled her eyes to that.

"Oh, I know what most articles say, but I'm not most!"

She glanced back up to the three older Princesses with that same wide smile of hers.

"I know a whole bunch of others have one Princess they say is best, and they all have their reasons for not liking the others, and blah blah blah! But come on, picking just one and ignoring all the awesomeness of the rest? That's, like, a super bummer and stuff!""

She pointed to herself.

"Now me on the other hoof? I think all you ladies are great!"

First, she looked to Twilight.

"You, Princess Twilight? You're, like, the smartest mare in the world! You've brought people like Griffons and Yaks together for the first time in history! And you've saved us and all of Equestria a whole bunch of times with your friends! How could anyone not like you? Plus, you've got that whole adorkable bookworm thing going on, so that's some pretty major points right there!"

A blush crept onto Twilight's cheeks, but she didn't say anything as Sunny then looked to Cadence.

"Princess Cadence? You're a total icon of the Crystal Empire! Everyone I've talked to up there has nothing but good stuff to say about you! You do all the awesome usual Princess stuff, but you also do it while having a happy marriage and taking care of a super-powered alicorn baby! All that responsibility stuff and you manage to look great every day? Now that's something to respect!"

Cadence allowed herself just a brief moment of pride, only to stop when Sunny addressed her a second time.

"Oh, and how could I not talk about your baby in the article?! I mean, come on, an alicorn baby? With the most precious little giggle and big eyes I've ever seen? How could anyone not look at her and immediately want to go over and make baby-noises with her? Sure, she may have accidentally caused a snowstorm after she was born, but Flurry's still a total sweetheart and you'll never convince me otherwise!"

Cadence then leaned over to Luna, whispering to her.

"I like this mare more and more."

Luna rolled her eyes, only to then find herself being spoken to by the author.

"Princess Luna! Thanks to you, I've never slept better! All those bad dreams are totally gone for me now, and a whole bunch of other ponies too! Plus, you've always got this great "mysterious ancient mare" thing going on that's totally cool! And the kids of Equestria all say that Nightmare Nights have never been more fun since you showed up again! Oh, and...um..."

She glanced around briefly, before leaning closer and bringing her voice to a quieter tone.

"...you didn't hear this from me, but when you were Nightmare Moon? Yeah, you looked majorly badass!"

Luna paused, thinking on that, before affording herself a slight smirk.

"Yes...I did look badass, didn't I?"

Celestia chuckled, but then glanced to Sunny herself, knowing she was next. And indeed she was.

"Princess Celestia...wise...beautiful...you've been an inspiration and icon to Equestria for generations. There may be other alicorns and Princesses around now...but to a lot of us...you will always be the alicorn! The standard! You ruled all of ponykind completely alone for a thousand years, and still did it with major grace and dignity and stuff. If that's not deserving of respect and bows and stuff, I don't know what is!"

After hearing all of this, the Princesses didn't really know how to feel about it. Sunny had very clearly meant what she'd said, and continued to look at them with a wide and happy-looking smile. But, after a time, Twilight stepped forward, gradually forming into a small smile of her own, and looking genuinely touched by what she'd heard.

"Th...thank you, Sunny. We...appreciate all that."

Celestia nodded.

"Yes...I suppose...it's just been a while since we met someone who actually had that much of a liking for all of us."

"Indeed. It is most unusual...but also welcome," Luna declared.

Cadence nodded, before looking to Sunny herself.

"Oh, and if you ever want to come over to the Crystal Empire, feel free to do so. You and I can fawn over some of Flurry's baby pictures."

Sunny looked to her, stunned and awed in equal measure.

"That...would...be...amazing!"

Cadence giggled to that, turning to Celestia soon afterwards, who offered a small smile to her guest.

"Well then...I suppose that settles that then. Thank you for coming, Miss Smiles. Sorry for keeping you."

The pink unicorn gave a bow, and when she rose up, she let out a hearty chuckle.

"No need to apologise, Princess. Trust me, it was my pleasure!"

And with that, she turned and left, leaving four Princesses who seemed equally confused, amused and flattered all at once. And when the other mare finally left, doors closing behind her, Celestia glanced to all three of her fellow Princesses.

"So...what do we think?"

Twilight, gaining a warm smile, looked up to her mentor.

"I think...the Daily Sunny just earned itself four more customers."