Normally, Grand Royal Station, nestled in the southern neighborhoods of Canterlot, was a busy location, bustling with its duties as the central hub for all trains in Equestria – only Manehattan’s Royal Central Station rivalled it in terms of sheer size. Thousands of ponies, griffins and other beings bustled in and out of the nexus daily, headed to and from various destinations, metaphorical ships passing on a sea of rails. Many more used the shops, restaurants and other facilities that ringed the exterior of the station, adding to the throngs of those present. To say that a typical day here teemed with life and was a hive of grand action would be an understatement.
Nearly a week ago, however, the station was even busier than normal, having served as the location for a National Security Event that had drawn members of all five branches of Equestria’s military: The EUP Guard, the Royal Army, the Royal Navy, the Mage Guild, and the Agency. At that time, Equestria had just been exposed to a moment in time that was nothing less than sheer majesty, due to the presence of the alicorns, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, various other royals and VIPs and with all the pomp and circumstance to come with it.
So it had once again, as the Friendship Express had arrived just a few minutes before with the retinues of both Princess Twilight and Princess Sunset and in thirty minutes the Crystal Express would arrive with Princess Cadance’s retinue as well, and that would be a bucephalean effort. But to add to this, the station was doing an additional duty as well: for some distance away, at Platform K, the circus had arrived. Because of their need for their own trains and the overall high level of support they would need, High-Flying Kite’s Circus Royal had to go into the industrial area. Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite, the stationmasters were all too eager to agree, especially with the problem they had on their hooves already due to the major royal arrivals.
As for the various troupemembers of the Kite Circus, they were thrilled to have been chosen to perform in town as part of the festivities post-coronation. From the newest animal handler to the most experienced clown, they were all thrilled to be here in the capital, witness to something they would be able to tell their foals and grandfoals, and to perform before crowds that even a popular circus such as theirs wouldn’t be able to draw normally, due to those in town just for the coronation.
Seated on a hogshead barrel and smoking a pipe, Kite puffed away and grinned. “Ah, this will be one for the ages! We haven’t had a chance like this since the time we did the performance for Princess Celestia’s birthday celebration last year in Bishopsgate!”
Zanthus, a former member of the guild and now a performing magician, nodded. “Well, if we should need assistance, my understanding is that my granddaughter Trixie is with Princess Twilight’s retinue.”
“Ah, so she’s retired from the performing scene? That’s rather odd. And here I thought she was destined to be a road gypsy such as we.”
“Actually, from the last letter my son sent me, she’s been performing as of late with the Four-Footed Performers, who were commissioned to put on a series of plays here in town on behalf of Princess Twilight. They’ll be arriving later in the evening.”
“Ah.” Kite grinned broadly. “The wainscoting of the world is at hoof! An ending, a beginning, and we shall perform it all for the crowds, even if we are but a sideshow to the true thing.”
“Perhaps, perhaps,” Zanthus said with a grin as he stroked his beard. “But have you seen Princess Sunset? Quite the beauty, and there’s a mare that I don’t mind being a sideshow for.”
“You’re a cad, my old friend.”
Zanthus laughed. “Ah, but to be none better!”
“Sommerset!”
At the other end of the train, a small sapphire blue pegasus ran over to her friend. “You’re leaving us? But you just joined the circus six months ago!”
Sommerset, a petite lavender unicorn with a jade mane tied in a docktail, frowned. “I have to, Essence. After this, isn’t the circus scheduled to go overseas and perform in Neighpon for a few months? I…I can’t do that. I promised my parents that I’d remain in Equestria since…my mother is ill.”
“Oh, but I was hoping that you’d stay on! I mean, I really don’t get along with any other pony and you’re really the only friend I have….”
“I know, and believe me, I really would love to,” Sommerset stated. “And you’re my bestie, so I’m going to miss you as well. But don’t worry, I’ll still be here for this week to do my performances. After all, everypony’s going to want to see Sommerset, the Astonishing Aerial Unicorn!” And that certainly was true enough. Typically for safety reasons, acrobats and trapeze artists were either pegasi or batponies, and occasionally you’d see a particularly nimble earth pony. But despite their reputation for grace and elegance, unicorns were never seen in that position and so somepony like Sommerset cultivated an incredible reputation for her talent. In fact, there hadn’t been anypony like her since Aerial Silk had retired a few decades prior.
But Sommerset had her own plans. And admittedly, leaving the Kite Circus would leave her without a good source of intelligence and alibis. And for somepony like Sapphire Essence, who was a member of the circus’ musicians and a notorious gossip, she would miss out on a lot of the bits and pieces that the pegasus naturally tended to pick up by talking with just about anypony that came across her path. But with them headed well out of the country for the next three months, that was something that Sommerset couldn’t afford.
Not when she had her revenge to accomplish.
Bouncing up and down excitedly and completely forgetting her station and propriety, Autumn Blaze, Delegate to Equestria from the Kirin Dominion, squeed. “I can stay here? Really? Really? Reallyreallyreallyreally?”
Blueblood chuckled. “Yes, Autumn. After all, you’re the one leading the delegation that’s here for the coronation, right? Besides, I’m staying at my apartment in town, and with the mansion not being used often, it may as well get some use.”
“You’re staying at your apartment?”
“Yes, I usually do. I really don’t care for living here in the mansion and besides, it would be that or living back at my parents’ mansion with them and my sister, which I’d rather not do either. Is there a problem?”
“But if you do that, then how am I supposed to provide Nightly Service?” Autumn asked.
Blueblood looked at her, having a feeling he already knew where this was going. “What?”
“Lady Autumn, you weren’t supposed to mention that!” a kirin mare to the side of Autumn stated, facehoofing. Turning to Blueblood, she added, “That…was meant to be a pleasant surprise for you, your highness.”
Blueblood sighed. “Willowbranch, I’m flattered, but…look, I’m not in the market. I take it this was Rain’s idea?”
The second mare nodded. “Yes. Her majesty Empress Rain has given all the female delegation orders to pillow you should you request it, given that she could not attend herself. She did, however, instruct us to inform you that she herself is still waiting for you to ‘make her your mare’, quote unquote, and that she would always welcome you as her prince consort for what you did for our nation.”
Blueblood groaned. So that’s where the orgy bits come from. I’ve really got to talk to Rain when I get a chance. “And how do you feel about it?”
“I’m married and with my own foals, so I was sent to make sure that none of the other delegates gets pregnant should you decide to use them,” Willowbranch explained. “Her majesty has told us that only she will carry your foals, your highness and that anykirin who thinks otherwise will have to explain it to the Court of the Winds. So, all kirin mares were fitted for contraceptive earrings and were additionally taught the backup spell as well.” She blushed and then muttered something.
“What?”
She blushed again. “That being said, should you choose me, I have already gained assurances from my husband that he understands that it is my duty and would not hold it against me as infidelity on my part.”
Blueblood groaned again.
Music played in the streets and there was a festive mood in the air as the carriages took them back to the palace. Seated alone in the front one, for reasons of formality, Sunset and Princess Twilight waved to the crowds. Accompanied by both Divine Right and Adagio as escorts, the two alicorns greeted their well-wishers.
“You don’t look happy about this, Your Highnesses,” Adagio said delicately, though she knew the answer.
“I’m not,” Princess Twilight explained. “I’ve never really been comfortable with being on a pedestal like this. Especially when my duties as Princess of Friendship preclude me from having to do things like this.”
“Yeah, well at least you’re not having to deal with the guilt from wanting this initially, like I am,” Sunset admitted.
“Sunny….” Adagio said, breaking protocol for her cousin’s sake.
The maize alicorn waved a hoof. “I’m fine, Dagi. It’s just…some things you really never get over. Others have forgiven me for my tresspasses, but that doesn’t mean I’ve entirely forgiven myself.”
“Well, Sunset, if I may,” Divine stated, “I can say that from what I’ve seen of you and from what I’ve heard of your past, you are not the same mare. Neither Auntie Celly nor Auntie Luna would be willing to come up with a reason for protecting you as they did. Plus, we are cousins and I dare say I am proud of that fact.”
“Yeah, well, Sunny collects cousins like some people collect Pokémon,” Adagio snarked.
Sunset mock-sighed. “Dagi….”
Both Princess Twilight and Divine blinked. “Poh-keh-what?” they asked in unison.
“It would take too long to explain,” Sunset assured them. “In the meanwhile, let’s just wave to the adoring crowds and survive the trip to the palace, shall we?”
Meanwhile, in the following carriages, the humans and ponies watched with awe. The coronation of Sunset Shimmer was drawing an even bigger crowd than had been present for Twilight’s own investiture, and while the ponies had no reason to be jealous of that, the humans were amazed at being part of the spectacle.
All except one.
“Pinkie, are you okay?” The teenager looked to see her counterpart looking at her with concern. “You didn’t come home last night and you only showed up to grab your bags and say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Cake.”
“I, uh, stayed with Sunny last night,” Pinkie admitted with a blush. “Nothing happened, though. I wish it would have, since we haven’t had much time to be together since all of this, but I was tired and still a bit out of it after everything yesterday and I love her for worrying enough about me to care for me during all of that.”
“Oh. Well, you two are special someponies, right? Or special somehumans, or however it’s said, so I guess that’s okay.”
“Pinkie? You didn’t answer my question: Are you okay?” This statement came from the human Fluttershy, who looked at her friend with worry as well.
“I just…I have a lot on my mind right now,” Pinkie told the chiffon-haired girl. “Just a lot to think about.”
Gingerly leaning back into the seat due to the soreness she still felt from yesterday’s battle, Applejack grinned. “Yeah, well, you go on and think all you want, Pinkie. Ah owe ya, big time.”
“AJ, you would have done the same for me,” Pinkie said with a wan smile. “You don’t owe me a thing – that’s what friends do, right?”
The blonde gave a nod. “Yeah, Ah guess.”
One could then hear the record scratch as four virtual siblings realized what Pinkie had said. “Wait – you stayed with Sunny last night?” Twilight, Octavia, Aria and Sonata said as one.
The smile on Rarity’s face was victorious. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense, dear.”
Rarity’s counterpart briefly tut-tutted. “A refined mare does not discuss her affairs, and I presume neither does a refined human.”
“I’m making an exception,” the human replied.
“Well, I’m not,” Pinkie told them. “For one, I already said nothing happened. I was too tired and I think Sunny was too worried about both me and AJ. Secondly, there are some parts of our lives that I think deserve some privacy.”
“I think Rares is joking, Pinks,” Rainbow stated.
“Maybe, but I’m not. Girls, we put too much on her shoulders, and I don’t think that’s fair. She might be a goddess, she might be a princess, but before any of that she’s a friend, a sister, and – most importantly to me – a loved one.” Pinkie looked at her friends, a fire in her eyes. “Things are changing and though things might not change between us, I think we all want what’s best for her, right?”
“Wow, Pinkie, that’s surprisingly mature of you,” Raspberry commented.
The teen shrugged. “I have my moments,” she said glibly.
Meanwhile, in another part of Canterlot, an alarm went off. Sitting up in bed, Precious Jewel raised a foreleg in triumph as she gave the morning sun a smile. Today, because of everything going on, her boss Softwing had given her the day off before tomorrow’s coronation and then the normal workday would begin again.
But for Jewel, today would be a perfect day of triumph.
“Today’s the day!” she laughed merrily. “Today I’ll finally get the chance to kiss my beloved and tell her how much we should be together! And then after we dance tonight at the ball, we can announce our engagement! And then after tomorrow, we can start planning our life together forever!”
She hopped out of bed, reaching for her brush. Running it through her coat and mane, she thought about using her favorite Everlasting Love™ brand perfume and her favorite soft black lacy ribbon for her mane, but then thought that today called for something extra special. Using her magic to draw down the shades, she looked around her room to make sure that nopony was spying on her, then she reached underneath the bed and withdrew an ensorcelled box.
Casting the correct unlocking spell, she brought out her ultimate weapons: Unattainable Mare by Rarity4U™ and a black starsilk ribbon. The former had been a prize she’d won when she was back in Ponyville a few years ago; the owner of Perfumes & Anchors was a friendly earth mare, even if she seemed a little odd. As for the starsilk ribbon, that came from a place in Rainbow Falls that specialized in clothing that was made from starspider silk; it was said to be enchanted with charms to woo that special somepony.
Tonight, with these, she would be invincible.
“Jewel, would you not cackle like the Witch of Canterlot?” a sleepy-eyed Polished Silver said as she poked her head into her friend’s bedroom.
“But today’s—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” Silver yawned. “Some of us have to get some sleep, Miss Future-Alicorn-Fillyfriend. I have to work tonight, remember?”
“Sorry!” Jewel said to her friend. “Look, if it means anything, when I’m married to Princess Sunset then you can be my personal assistant and you can have normal hours, Polly!”
“Look, if you marry a royal, I’ll take you up on that offer – Celestia knows I could use the sleep!” she groaned. “I’m going back to bed. You go have fun tilting at windmills.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a Donkey Jote reference – don’t tell me you slept through reading that in school!”
“Oh, I knew that!” Jewel said in a tone that was clear that no, she didn’t know that.
As the carriages approached the palace, Softwing stood there, flanked by the other SIRENs. “Welcome back, Sunny,” Softwing told her boss. “Have a decent day off yesterday?”
“No, not really,” the alicorn stated. “I really don’t want to go into it, though. I take it shit’s hit the fan again?”
“Well, I don’t want to say that exactly….”
“She’s saying that yes, things are ugly, Princess,” Sunny Side answered. With the triplets having taken the day off and Side being the seniormost SIREN – though her new official rank had yet to be decided on – she’d been the one in charge for the day. “We had the camels demanding that they meet with you immediately since you, in their words, ‘have ignored and shunned them’.”
Sunset sighed. “Okay, you were right,” she said to Princess Twilight, who looked at her friend and fellow alicorn with sympathy.
“I did warn you,” Princess Twilight told her. “The Gamalaqi are brusque, rude and try my patience – and that’s on a good day. They’re probably complaining that you didn’t reach out to meet with them the moment you arrived in town.”
“They never scheduled anything with me!” Sunset groaned, but the other alicorn just looked at her with an I know look. Sunset groaned again and muttered, “Fuck this. Seriously, we have until tomorrow to rehearse for what I need to do and they want to meet with me now?”
Princess Twilight gave her friend a smile. “I’ll go in your place. I know how to deal with them and as long as I have a human with me, that should suffice. Though I will warn you that they’ll be rude and insulting, because that’s just how their culture is.”
“In that case, I’d better go with you,” Raspberry said. “I know how to hold my human form for about an hour, and they don’t know all of the people that came with Sunny…but those folks have to get ready for their parts in the rehearsal and so forth, right?”
“Well, from what I recall, the escort is being done by the SIRENs and they’ve been practicing the past couple of days, so there shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Twilight asked. “So, why don’t we all go?”
Raspberry and Princess Twilight looked at her with flat stares. “What?”
“Twi, Razz, she’s got a point,” Octavia pointed out. “If these Gamalaqi are going to try to bully Sunset because of their own attitudes, what makes you think they won’t try to ridicule you for being human? So if we show up in force, even if you and Twi will be ones handling the negotiation, we’ll be sending a message about human and pony unity. From what you’re saying, these camels are bullies and the only way to neutralize bullies is to stand up to them.”
“Quite an excellent idea!” pony Rarity stated, looking at all of them. “Alas, however, both myself and my lovely counterpart must decline. We need to go to my store here in Canterlot to prepare your outfits for tonight’s royal pre-coronation gala.”
Human Rainbow blinked. “Uh…didn’t you do that already Rares? Rares squared? Rares times two?”
The human fashionista laughed. “Ah, Rainbow, darling, you should know by now that since we’ve been here and we’ve gotten the lay of the lands, those designs we made the other day just won’t do! We need to look spectacular – all of us – so that we may shine and complement Sunset’s beauty.”
Sunset laughed. “Well, shine on you crazy diamond,” she said with a grin. “Softwing and I need to meet up with Kibbitz so that I can start working on my rehearsal.”
“Well,” Pinkie said, putting her hands behind her head in a casual pose, “since you all have your plans, I promised Sunny I’d stick with her today. We made plans and there are a few hours available between the rehearsal and the ball that I think we can do what we wanted.”
“Then I think I should step in.” Everyone turned to see Princess Celestia herself standing there, a smile on her face. “Miss Pie, if you will accompany me, please, I have some business to attend around town and I do not believe we’ve had a chance to speak before.”
Pinkie’s counterpart went over and tugged on her jeans. The teen bent down so she could be level with the earth mare and with that, pony Pinkie whispered in a blatantly obvious aside, “Better be nice to your future mother-in-law!”
“I’ll put it on my list of things to do,” the teen said with an awkward smile.
Having decided to take a walk around town, Lockbox wandered through the main shopping district. Currently as a guest of the Archmagus, she was afforded an escort with a mage who seemed more interested in talking about dry, boring things in regard to magic than anything else. Even though Lockbox was a unicorn, she wasn’t particularly interested in magic, so she mainly tuned out Swell Spell and her constant diatribe. She suspected that had it been a topic about locksmithing, Lockbox herself would be chatty and Spell would be tolerating the conversation because of her duties.
As she walked through the promenade, seeing the bright and gay Canterlot edifices, now even more so due to the decoration for the week’s festivities, a part of her tamped back disgust. Had this town always been like this? The Winter of Aftermath had done a number on the morale of both the country and the world and there was only so much that even the Crown could have done. Even now, there were still remote parts of the realm that were suffering the aftereffects of the Winter, as well as other nations that were dealing with the same. And yet here, in the capital, where even the alicorns had seemingly done everything they could to deal with that annus horribilis, it seemed like the majority of the nobles didn’t care. That the suffering was out of sight and so out of mind.
Just as quickly, though, she pushed it out of her mind. She knew several nobles that had done as much as they could. Even before she knew them, there were stories about the Bearers having worked themselves to the bone to do what they could for ponykind and beyond. And even in her hometown, the farmers pushed themselves far beyond the norms expected of earth ponies, reaching towards their absolute limit to make sure the almond trees gave an abundant yield that year so that starving ponies everywhere would be helped.
In retrospect, the anger, the hatred? That was Sombra’s way. Her hated ancestor – he would have reveled and luxuriated in that flare of rage she’d felt. But she was not him anymore than Raspberry was.
“You seem pensive, Lady Lockbox,” Spell stated. “I quite understand.”
“You do?” Lockbox asked, surprised.
“Indeed. Flaming Caster’s theories on utilitarian spellcasting make absolutely no sense! We’ve known that there is dark, neutral and light magic – or to use the vernacular terms, black, gray and white – but to have magic without alignment polarities? It goes against everything that we have been taught!”
Lockbox suppressed a groan and added her comment; at least she could participate in this line of thought. “But what about what Razz stated about human magic? That they have utilitarian magic and it doesn’t align with standard polarities?”
“Forgive me, since I know she is your cousin, but I completely disagree with the Learned One on this. It is clear just from the humans we’ve seen that they do not possess magic at all and so during her time on Earth, either the Archmagus misread Princess Sunset’s magic or she misunderstood the physical planarity of magic that is within the human realm.”
“But—”
“I have read the Archmagus’ treatise on dark magic and I agree with that, so I am quite aware that she is no talented amateur; one does not reach the highest level of responsibility in the Guild that way, and even her connections to the Princesses wouldn’t gain her such a position. No, she reached that herself. But she is, after all, only pony. Ponies make mistakes and it is clear that in this case, she did.” Spell gave a self-satisfied grin. “I would go so far as to say that if I ever saw a magical human – and not a pony in mufti, as Princess Sunset is so fond of spending time in her human guise – I would eat my hat and robes in an instant.”
“Well, good thing we’re here at the shopping district,” Lockbox said with a chuckle. “I’ll pay for the salt and pepper myself. My treat.”
“Huh?”
“You’ll see.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the promenade, Sonata Dusk was doing the shopping for her and her sisters. Due to the extra workload they’d taken on while the humans had been present, the Castellan had given them extra time off their regular duties, and so the siren was currently using part of that to catch up on the grocery shopping she’d had to miss out on. It wasn’t all bad, though: she got a ton of new recipes she wanted to try out, courtesy of her human counterpart.
That last one? Seafood Doria? That sounds divine! the supposed earth mare thought to herself, humming as she walked down the streets. She’d already procured most of what she needed and while Adagio was doing the dishes and Aria was sweeping their home, Sonata was planning for tonight. The three of them would enjoy their evening, and then tomorrow would attend the coronation, even though they would be doing so as part of the security detail hidden amongst the crowds lining the streets.
“Nata? Sonata Dusk?” She turned and saw two mares walking towards them, one of which she knew.
“Essie!” Sonata went over and hugged Sapphire Essence. “Hey, long time no see! What are you doing in town?”
“What am I doing in town? What are you doing in town? Last I heard, you and your sisters were still back on your parents’ apple farm back in Hoofsdale!”
Oh, that’s right – she doesn’t know. Given that the three sisters had grown up in rural Hoofsdale, those not in the know about their siren heritage tended to mostly focus on the fact that they were the daughters of Tarte Tatin, a member of the Apple family. Few in that town remembered that Tarte had briefly been in the Army and stationed at Fort Seacrest, where he had met Rumba Break, a young Hoof. In fact, anypony who lived in Hoofsdale knew Rumba to be the schoolteacher and town musician, rather than a combat-capable mare.
“Well,” Sonata stated, rubbing the back of her head, “Dad really didn’t think we were cut out for farm life. Fortunately, Mom had an old friend of hers here in Canterlot who was looking to hire some maids for the palace, and so she put in a good word for us. Addy, Ria and I have lived here for about five years now and we’re pretty happy. But enough of that – what are you doing here?”
“Oh! I’m here with the circus that I work for! I’m part of the musical ensemble, and we were hired to be part of the post-coronation entertainment this week.” Essence grinned. “Oh, and sorry, totally rude of me. This is my friend, Sommerset. Sommerset, this is Sonata Dusk. We went to school together in Hoofsdale.”
Sommerset offered a hoof to bump. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Dusk.”
Sonata bumped it. “Likewise.” The minute she did, something about Sommerset immediately set off all of Sonata’s alarm bells. She wasn’t sure why. The mare was incredibly fit for a unicorn, with even some slight muscles; unicorns typically were either on the thin side or pudgy, but unless they were in the military, they weren’t the athletic types. Maybe it was because this one was a circus worker, the siren reasoned.
But even still….
“Well, tell you what: are you two free tonight? I’m making dinner at our place, and I think Addy and Ria would love to see you again, Essie! And you’re welcome to join us as well, Miss Sommerset.”
“Well, we really don’t have to be anywhere tonight since the roustabouts are still setting up the tents and everything,” Essence noticed. “Besides, nothing beats a homecooked meal and I’ve eaten at their place – absolutely nothing beats an Apple family meal! What do you think, Sommerset?”
The unicorn flashed a dazzling smile. “Sure, sounds great!”
“Good! I just have to grab a couple more things from the market, if you don’t mind, and then we’ll be off!”
“Are you sure?”
“Quite?”
“Are you sure you’re sure?”
A sigh. “Very.”
A pause. “But I’m flexible and I can even touch my own—”
Blueblood sighed. He had never regretted the mission he’d taken that had led him to Tsujiaosho, the home of the kirin; or the fact that he’d broken the curse that had rendered them effectively mute, but in this case he was wondering if the latter would have been preferable, at least in the case of Autumn Blaze. Hell, to this date he’d never found the kirin’s supposed nemeses, the niliq, and he was seriously wondering if he’d rather spend the time with one of those supposedly diabolical creatures than the nymphomaniac that was walking next to him.
At his side, Autumn pouted. “But Your Princeness! How am I supposed to bring you the clouds and rain if you won’t let me?”
Blueblood blinked. “Clouds and rain? Isn’t that a kitsune euphemism for sex?”
“Well, who do you think they got it from? Besides, Willowbranch says it sounds more elegant than ‘I’d like to fuck you silly’, which personally I think is more direct and honest, don’t you? I mean, I’ve been assigned by the Empress as your personal plaything…okay, well, all of us have, really, but as the lead delegate it’s supposed to be my job and can we please stop here in this hotel and grab a room so we can get started?”
Blueblood wondered at that point if his aunt Luna was the Alicorn of Facehoofs, because he’d seen her do it so often and was now tempted to emulate that.
“As I said earlier, I have to decline your offer. I have duties today that I must attend to and as…ahem, ‘stimulating’ as your company is, I must be a professional first. Duties to the crown, you understand.”
“Oh, I quite understand!” Autumn agreed. “I have to go attend one of those boring meetings with Willowbranch and some representatives of the hippogriffs while we’re in town. Would you believe they find the concept of concubine diplomats weird? I mean, seriously – who doesn’t like sex?”
“I…see.” They arrived at one of the buildings where Blueblood could carry out his princely (and non-Agency) duties; it would be a good way to get rid of her. “Well, I’m afraid we must part for now. I have to overlook some documents on behalf of my dearest aunts. I’m sure you understand.”
“Absolutely! Besides, like I said, I have boring things to do, too! But don’t worry, we made sure to make sure you’re covered. Lovely Day should be here in about five minutes.”
“Lovely Day?”
“Yeah! She’s the best one for paperwork. Oh, and she likes doing it on desks, especially if you get her started.” As if letting Blueblood in on a great secret, Autumn whispered in his ear, “She’s kinda kinky that way. Honestly, she’s a bit of a freak.”
Waving goodbye to Autumn, Blueblood had the fortune of running into Paperchase, one of the staffers assigned to his princely office. Recalling details about his subordinate, the prince suddenly remembered something about the quiet earth stallion and immediately hatched a plan. “Chase, you said that you were single, right?”
The stallion nodded. “Especially since I had to break up with my fillyfriend last year when she had to move back to Scoltland. She wasn’t happy that my duties required me to stay here. Uh, why do you ask, Your Highness?”
Blueblood gave a huge grin. “This is your lucky day.” His horn lit up and a spell was immediately cast on the stallion. “Best of luck.” With that, the prince teleported away.
Paperchase looked at where his boss had been just a second ago. “I don’t get it.”
A second later, a svelte kirin with a cream coat and blazing orange mane walked in. Fixing Paperchase with bedroom eyes, she cooed, “You. Me. Office. Now.” Not taking no for an answer, she took his tie in her teeth and dragged him off towards the nearest office, not caring whose it was. The moment they were in, she shut and locked the door.
“Oh, buttons and bodkins! Miss Rarity, it is such a pleasure to….” Sassy Saddles paused in mid-sentence and looked at her employer…and then at the human with nearly the exact same appearance. Immediately dropping to her haunches, she summoned a holding fan and started waving it to cool herself off. “Oh dear, I do believe I’ve been overworking myself….” she said to no one in particular.
Unicorn Rarity chuckled. “Oh, I assure you, Sassy, dear, you’re not seeing illusions or the like. It is me.” Gesturing to the human next to her, she explained everything and noted as a look of confusion came over her employee’s face, soon replaced by comprehension and then finally relief.
“Oh, that’s quite a burden off me,” Sassy admitted. “And here I thought I was under the vapors again!”
“Vapors?” the ivory unicorn asked.
Sassy nodded. “A store opened up next door that specializes in tinctures and nostrums, and unfortunately, they do not have the best filtration systems, so for the past couple of weeks it’s been leaking into the store. I’ve had to close a couple of times when things got too bad. Do you recall Viscountess Quiet Storm?”
Rarity nodded. “As I recall, she is one of our best customers.”
“Well, she was in the day that it got really bad and a puff of magical smoke hit her. Turned her coat into a series of flashing, random neon colors. She was looking for an outfit for a garden party she plans to attend and I’m afraid it did a number on her.”
Quiet until now, the human Rarity winced at that. “That sounds absolutely dreadful. I hope the poor dear was able to recover.”
“As do I. In any case, I received your note, and your apprentice has been setting things up since she arrived last night,” Sassy explained, turning back to her employer. “She seems quite the diligent filly.”
“She is, though never fear, your job is safe,” Rarity said with a smile. Thinking about Coco’s “condition”, she asked, “So where is Coco at the moment?”
“She was working so hard that she looked completely frazzled. I asked her to take a nap in the breakroom,” Sassy explained. “Although….”
“Although?”
“I wonder if she’s not the only one that needs one. For a moment, I thought I saw her with changeling wings, but….” Sassy sighed. “I suppose it’s the fumes from that store again.”
Both Raritys looked at each other briefly, as if sharing an unspoken message.
“I’ll go and check on Coco,” the human stated. “It’s early enough that I can take her to a café, because she sounds as though she could use a pick-me-up.”
“Thank you, Rarity dear,” Rarity replied. Turning back to Sassy, she said, “Sassy, if you’ll come with me, let us go next door and talk to our new neighbor. I’m sure no harm is meant, but fumes are bad for business if they are making you, ahem, ‘see things’, we’ll need to remedy that. Plus, having my clientele turn into garish colors just won’t do.”
Walking into the back room, Rarity knew exactly what to look for: when she was younger, her sister Sweetie Belle often hid in the swatches of fabric that Rarity had in the room. And clearly, though some particulars were different, the effect was the same.
“Coco, dear?” Rarity called out. “You can come out now.”
A hybrid changeling came out, looking both ashamed and embarrassed. “I overworked myself and lost control,” she said sadly. “My quee…er, Miss Rarity must hate me for being so useless.”
“No,” Rarity assured her, walking over and scooping the pony up in a hug. “She was worried about you and I offered to check on you. Would you like to go get some coffee? I thought I saw a café down the street.”
Feeling the affection from the teen, Coco felt herself revert back to normal. “Thank you; that would be lovely,” she said. “I just hope Miss Saddles isn’t mad at me for doing all that work.”
“No, actually, from what I gathered, she was worried about you as well. She saw your hybrid form, but fortunately thought she was hallucinating because of industrial fumes from the store next door.”
“Yes, Miss Saddles told me about that,” Coco admitted. “I hope they fix that, because it sounds really dangerous!”
“Well, thanks again, Nurse Redheart,” Applejack said, setting her hat on her head. “Ah ‘preciate ya lookin’ out fer me while Ah wus here.”
“Hey, you just take care of yourself, Applejack,” the nurse pony replied. “I don’t think we want you going through all that again.”
“Ah don’t think we’ll see one o’ them Bete Gosons anytime soon, sugarcube, so don’t fret none,” Applejack said with a grin. “Now, Ah gotta catch mah ride t’ Canterlot.” As the two waved goodbye to one another, Applejack made her way to the station. She had enough time to get there and catch the 10:30 Friendship Express, which would get her into Canterlot a couple hours later.
The trip would give her a couple of hours to think over her shame. She’d shamed herself by doubting the one individual that she should’ve treated like family: her otherworldly counterpart. She’d called her a shame, a faker and so much worse. She’d ostracized her friends because of the human that shared her name and had bickered with her own family over it. And what did that get her? She’d been injured by the Bete Goson because of it.
And then she’d been rescued by the other Applejack, who selflessly went in and fought the beast – and its mate, she later found out – to a standstill. The other Applejack turned out to be an unparalleled master of turf-fu or whatever the human version was called, and she went hoof-to-hoof (in a manner of speaking) against beasts that were significantly bigger and stronger than her.
Yes, the other Applejack wasn’t a farmer, but instead a girl still in school. Applejack had ridiculed her for that, too; she’d already been out of school at that age the human girl was. But she found out that the complexity of the human world ended up with the average person spending as much time in school as the most learned of unicorns. Earth ponies rarely had a need for advanced education, but in the human world, it was a necessity. And Applejack had spit in the other Applejack’s face for living as was the norm.
There was a faker named Applejack, surely enough…but it wasn’t the human girl.
Tugging her hat over her head to cover her guilt-stricken eyes, she silently continued on to the train station. She had to make it right, whatever it took.
As she arrived at the station, she bypassed the line of passengers waiting for train boarding and went to the special VIP section. Each of the Bearers had been issued a special priority pass as part of their duties to the Crown, and during the Winter of Aftermath, they’d been used extensively. Of course, as she walked into the station and waved at Switch Track, the stationmaster on duty, she didn’t even need to break hers out; he already knew who she was.
Switch scratched at his beard. “Top o’ the mornin’ t’ ye, Miss Applejack,” he said in his soft Scoltish brogue.
“Mornin’ Switch. Almost time t’ head out?”
He nodded. “Aye, an’ yer escort’s already aboard, waitin’ fer ye.”
Applejack blinked. What?
He tipped his hat at her. “Have a lovely trip, lass. Train leaves in five minutes, surety.”
Nodding, she immediately went to the car that had been reserved for exclusive use by the Bearers. In the past, they’d enjoyed riding in the normal cars and talking to their fellow Equestrians, but the Winter of Aftermath – and especially after the rescue mission to Our Town that had turned out very badly – she now understood why the Bearers needed their own car, with dedicated supply space and various other necessities. The fight against that unicorn and her army of bandits had proven that.
Wonder whatever happened to her anyway? Applejack mused. Last she recalled, Starlight Gumball – or whatever her name was – fell to her death off the nearby cliffsides after her attempt to control the town via that brainwashing/cutie mark-stealing spell had been exposed. Applejack made a mental note to read the follow-up report when she got back to town; she’d been given a copy, but it still sat on her bedroom nightstand, untouched.
“Heya, Jackie.”
She turned and knew that voice. There was, after all, only one stallion who ever called her that.
She looked at the earth stallion slightly taller than her, standing there in his guard dress uniform. Beige coated, he had a short maroon-and-charcoal mane and eyes the color of seafoam – Applejack had to admit, he was easy on the eyes. But it was the bright orange multipointed star that was his cutie mark that was his stock in trade.
She felt the ground shift underneath her and she wasn’t sure if that was due to the train moving…or something else.
“Heya, Cpl. Boomer,” she said with a soft smile.
“Sergeant, now,” he said, showing her the new stripe on his uniform. “Her Highness gave me a promotion after what I did to try to save your little sister.”
“Well, Ah reckon that makes you a hero, sugarcube. So, whatcha all gussied up for?”
He walked over to her and flashed another smile. “Let’s just say that Lady Rarity decided it wasn’t a very good idea for the Bearers to be without gallant escorts, and so she called in some favors. While she couldn’t do anything for the humans, sadly, she could do something for her friends.” He chuckled. “I heard Lt. Cmdr. Soarin’ dropped everything for tonight just to spend some time with Lt. Dash.”
She blushed. “An’ so Ah guess, Rarity talked ya into comin’ fer li’l ol’ me?”
“Nope – she didn’t have to talk me into anything,” he said, flashing another smile her way.
This time she was sure the weakness in her knees wasn’t due to the rumble of the rails.
And at that, it made her wonder if the other Applejack had a coltfriend – or whatever humans called the equivalent – as well. And as the guilt kicked in once more, she had to give Boomer her best plastic smile as the two settled down for the trip to Canterlot.
“And I think that’s enough,” Princess Luna stated as she looked at those present for the rehearsal. “Please, take a break. You’re all making a wonderful effort.” With that, she walked over to Sunset, who stood on the dais with a pensive look. “You look tired, dear niece. Is everything okay?”
“Just…tomorrow it finally happens,” the younger alicorn said softly. “The thing that when I was younger I would have done anything for…and now that it’s about to happen, I realize how unworthy I am of it.” She shook her head and ruffled her wings. “I know I earned these. And I understand that Mother and I are working out our issues, and I have a family – well, technically three, I guess – that I’m blessed to have. But that just makes me a very lucky mare, or girl, or whatever I am. But it doesn’t make me worthy of being a princess.”
The night alicorn smiled. “And those words right there are why you are qualified. You need to learn to forgive yourself, dear. I won’t pretend it’s easy – I still retain a lot of my own personal issues from what I did – but you are worthy to stand as a princess of Equestria.” Luna wrapped a wing around her niece. “And I think I can speak for both my sister and I when I say we’re proud of what you’ve become and what you’ve done. All of us alicorns have at one time or another saved ponydom and other species here on Equus from malevolent forces, whether it’s warmongering changeling queens or alicorns gone mad from grief and spite. But you risked your life for another dimension’s worth of beings that you have no real tie to. You did that – nopony else. And that is something to be very proud of.”
“That just makes me human, Aunt Luna. In a manner of speaking, of course. But…why me? I know I’m powerful, but surely there are others more qualified? I mean, Twilight became an alicorn and she’s roughly on the same level as I am, and I’m sure that others out there are as well. Why me?”
“Because it’s you. Not because you’re the daughter of the ruling princess, but because you’re a mare that’s understands what it’s like to be at your worst and at your best. The you that left Equestria wasn’t worth being a princess at all, nor were you worthy of your own powers – that’s partially why Cellie sealed them. But after your change of heart, you found a way to overcome that and continued to improve yourself and the others around you. Your adopted mother stated that you’ve helped countless in need without wishing for anything in return and you even tried to refuse your doppelganger’s wealth when she declared you as her twin sister. You’ve helped the needy, protected the defenseless and have done so at considerable personal cost.” Luna smiled. “That is a princess.” Luna wrapped her wings around her niece in a hug. “You have earned this. I would even argue that you, out of all alicorns, deserve this right now.”
“You really think so?”
The elder alicorn giggled. “If not, I’ll just give anypony who disagrees nightmares.”
Sunset gasped. “Aunt Luna!”
That just made Luna laugh all the harder.
A tan paw slammed the table. “In my country,” a voice spoke in a thick, accented snarl, “a cow would respect a bull! I don’t know about you Equestrians – and certainly you humans – but as far as I am concerned, you’re rude and uncouth!”
Twilight Sparkle – the human one – leaned forward, fixing cold purple eyes on the Gamalaqi representative. “And yet remind me, Ambassador, who is the one banging his paw on the table and throwing a temper tantrum like a child? You’ve heard the legends about us, and yet here we are, calm as water…and you are the blaring, blowing scirocco that seeks to do harm.”
To her side, Princess Twilight said nothing. She wondered what her counterpart was doing and yet the actions seemed, well, so Sunset-like. Taking a chance, she decided to let the teen continue on, though she would probably have to step in later to mend bruised egos.
“And I said in my country—”
With that, the teenager leapt to her feet, her chair clattering behind her. Using her size, she leaned over the camel, glaring at him. “We are not in your country,” she hissed at him dangerously, “we’re in Equestria. And if you want to bring up country comparisons, in my country, ambassadors and delegates from other lands are the soul of grace and civility, not pushy, crude cretins like you’re proving yourself to be!”
He backed off slightly, then realized his own delegates were staring at him, then looked her right in the face. “تقبيل مؤخرتي ، أنت العاهرة!” he snarled at her.
Twilight didn’t back off. “¡Mira qué cabrón, puto!” she snarled back.
Both Rainbows looked at the girl with shock. “Wow, Twily, usually insulting people is my department,” the human one said with a wide grin.
“I should demand that you be executed for talking to me like that!” the camel threatened.
“And I don’t give a damn. I am a part of the Court of Earth – of Princess Sunset’s court – and as such I am her representative,” Twilight told him. “Furthermore, Her Highness is quite literally my sister. I wouldn’t make such threats if I were you, especially not on the soil of a third country and indirectly threatening its newest princess. So why don’t you go back to your country and have them send an individual that understands civility!”
The camel reached for a sword at his side, only to be met with a stronger voice calling out, “Al-Cadiz, that’s enough.” Said admonishment came from the back as another camel entered. Slightly older than the first, he seemed much calmer and bowed before her. “I am impressed, Lady Twilight,” he told her. “I have studied the legends ponies have of your kind and how ferocious you are in battle. Apparently you are that way even in diplomacy as well and do not give an inch of the oasis. I am impressed with your Bactrian courage. Would that my little brother would learn the same thing.”
The original camel turned his attention from the human to his fellow bull. “But Al-Andaluz, she insulted me!”
“And I have been watching – and you deserved it. Every word this humaness has said is true – this is the ponies’ country, and you are being an embarrassment to all camelkind.” Al-Andaluz bowed before Twilight and Princess Twilight. “As the ranking prince of my country, Princess Twilight, I hereby apologize to you and yours. I had thought to leave the negotiations to my younger brother in the hopes he would earn himself some credibility amongst the diplomatic circles, but I was mistaken.”
“I can still salvage this!”
“No. you can’t. And therefore you will never gain your third bride, brother – you do not know how to treat ladies with respect.” Before the others could ask, “Back in Gamal, the royalty always have three wives. We are engaged to the first at birth, and the second upon our tenth birthday. But the third one – the one that marks you as an adult – you must earn yourself. My brother is…old enough that he should have earned her by now, but who would want to be married to such an impudent boor?”
“How dare you!”
“I dare because I am the senior prince, brother. Do not test my patience or our hosts’ hospitality. Get out of my sight.” Irate, the younger one left and the older took his place.
“Three wives? I wasn’t aware of that in your culture,” Princess Twilight told Al-Andaluz.
Al-Andaluz laughed. “Yours is not the only species with a paucity of males, your highness,” he told her affably. “It’s just that mine has made herding formal, while I understand it is merely just frowned upon in pony culture. And likewise, same-sex pairings are taboo in my culture but acceptable in yours. It is, to use one of your language’s phrases, ‘different strokes for different folks’, is it not?” Seating down at the table, he added, “And now that the unpleasantries are done, I would like to get down to actual business and see how we can strengthen the ties between our two nations, shall we?”
“That’s it, I quit!” Deep Thrum threw down his drumstick and stormed away from his timpani. “I’m done dealing with that idiot, do you hear me?” He turned and shook an angry hoof at Octavia Melody. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Octy, but I would rather make new drumskins out of my own hide than work one more minute with you!”
“Hey hey hey, calm down dude, calm down!” Lyra Heartstrings immediately rushed over to the (justifiably) high-strung stallion. “Look, I know we’re all on edge right now, Thrummie. But this is the world we’re playing for! Literally every species on our planet is going to be here and every nation is sending representatives! This is even bigger than when Princess Twilight was coronated, so we have to look our best! I know Octy’s been out of sorts on that, but she’s trying to make this the best for all of us. So give her a break, okay? You know she doesn’t mean any of it.”
Thrum took a deep breath. “Yes, I know. But we are professionals and we understand the stakes as well. It is rather ironic that you, not a professional—”
“I’m a professional as well; I just don’t play with this orchestra normally,” Lyra reminded him.
He nodded at the soft rebuke. “In any case, what I mean is that we understand what is at stake here. We know that one error in our performance could mar Equestria’s sterling image around the world.”
“Between you and me, I don’t think we really have one, right now,” a second pony chimed in. Both unicorns turned to look at Firebird Ballet, the xylophone player. A pegasus who was the daughter of an Equestrian diplomat, she’d grown up in a lot of other countries. “Think about it: how many global crises around the world have been our fault? Tirek’s rampage, Nightmare Moon, the resurgence of the changelings, and let’s not forget the Winter of Aftermath, which was directly the fault of our princess!”
“That’s treasonous talk, Firebird,” Thrum told her.
“It’s only treasonous if I were in the military and doing something about it – read up on the law sometime,” she replied glibly. “Besides, I’m only expressing my opinion, which last time I checked is still perfectly legal. Besides, let’s be honest: if I weren’t an Equestrian, I’d be worried, too. I bet even some non-pony Equestrians are afraid of the current geopolitical climate right now.”
He sat and crossed his forelegs. “How so?”
“Think about it: when other mothers freak out about their children dying, they cry, gnash their teeth and go into hysterics. When our princess did it, however, she literally blew up a mountain and then proceeded to put the world into a miniature ice age. What other rulers have those abilities? The kitsunes? Maybe. The centaurs and gargoyles? Stretching it. Sure as hell not the other nations! Furthermore, what do we have on our side besides the alicorns? Humans – monstrous demonic war machines from our nastiest folklore and myth.”
“They’re not what the myths show them as,” Lyra told her. “You should meet them.”
“I know. I had a chance to meet one of them at the music store downtown and she’s as normal as you or me. But do you think the average griffin in that wreck of a country, afraid that he and his family won’t see the next day because one of the alicorns from the land across the sea is throwing a temper tantrum, is really going to believe that? Hell, did you read the Equestria Daily this morning? The headline was even after them being here for a whole week, half of all ponies still don’t believe that humans aren’t what the myths say they are!”
“Well, trust me, we’re not going back to the era of Warring States anytime soon. A pony civil war is completely unthinkable!” Thrum told her.
“Yes, I’m sure that’s what the populace thought just before the rise of Nightmare Moon, too,” was Firebird’s response.
“Yes yes yes, fine – whatever! Now I’m busy!” The owner of the tincture shop, a disheveled unicorn wearing slightly musty robes and with a mane that looked like it hadn’t seen a brush in forever looked at them through oil-stained glasses. “I’ll order a new filtration system when I get around to it. Now, I have work to do and you two mares are holding things up! Science waits for nopony, do you understand?”
Standing in the somewhat quaint store, Rarity was somewhat surprised to find that it was far more organized than its owner was: various liquids and gases in various types of bottles lined the walls, and crystal balls of different types sat on well-tended tables. By the cash register sat a firecat, a rare type of animal usually seen on the other side of the world; where this unicorn got and tamed one was probably an interesting story that the fashionpony would have loved to have heard…had not said unicorn in question been such a rude son of a mule.
Taking a breath, she said, “So, Mr. Simple Science—”
“That’s Magus Science to you!” he argued. “Only my wife and my mother call me by my first name!”
Rarity took another breath. “I see. Well, Magus Science, I should inform you that the civic ordinances require us to have filters whenever our shops are working with potentially hazardous materials and that they need to be up to date—”
“Unless you’re from City Hall and here to give me a fine for not updating my filtration systems and spells, then I will give you the same answer I gave her,” Science said, thrusting a hoof at Sassy. “I will do it when I have time!”
“But we—”
“Listen. I realize that your pretty little head is typically filled with the gossip columns from Mare’s Monthly and the fashion pages in Cosmarepolitan, but I already told you my final answer! You could be one of the Bearers and my answer would be the same!”
Rarity looked at him as if he were insane. “Sir…I am one of the Bearers!”
“You are?”
She curtsied. “Rarity, Bearer of the Element of Generosity, member of the Court of Friendship, one of Equestria’s knights in Princess Twilight’s service, and a noblemare in good standing.”
He narrowed his eyes, inspecting her, then rubbed his chin. “I see. And are you a representative of City Hall?”
“Well, no, but I hardly see what—”
“Then my answer is the same,” he told her curtly, cutting her off. “And you are wasting my time! Leave! Shoo!” He started waving his hooves towards the door, indicating the direction they had to take.
“Fine,” Rarity huffed, “but I will be back!”
Meanwhile, Sassy went over and looked at glass jar on a shelf. Inside it was an iridescent butterfly, whose wings seemed to flicker with a spectrum of pastel lights, as if it were made of magic itself. “What is this?” she asked him.
In turn, his eyes widened briefly. “Are you mad? Get away from that!” he told her.
Rarity did not like the sound of that. “Sir, I would insist that you treat my employee with respect. She asked you a question.”
Science ignored her. “Get away from that, you numbskull, before you expose us all!”
“Expose us to what?” Sassy asked, looking at the beautiful winged creature as if it were suddenly dangerous.
“Do you know what that is?” he demanded of her. “That is an Allucinor Wing!”
“A what?” both Rarity and Sassy said at the same time.
“A very rare and very expensive butterfly that that comes from the Dragon Lands! It feeds off your deepest desires and the deeper it is, the stronger its effect is while its feeding! I ordered it for a client at great cost and he is supposed to come here this week to retrieve it! Now get away from it before you break its containment—”
KRASH
In an effort to push Sassy away from the shelf holding the apparently dangerous butterfly, Science accidentally jostled the shelf himself. Rarity would have found the whole situation amusing, had it not been for the end result: the glass bell plummeted to the floor, shattering into a thousand crystal pieces. Now untethered from its glass, the dainty creature flitted towards the air, circling the ceiling as if looking for a meal.
Science dropped to the ground. “Quickly!” he ordered. “Cover the back of your neck – that’s where it feeds from!” He did so immediately and seeing the panicked manner in which he performed the action, both Rarity and Sassy copied him, without even giving it a second thought. The butterfly, seeing no chance to feed at all, instead fluttered out through a window and into the open air.
“What have you done?” Science shrieked at Sassy, who cringed under his withering glare. Enraged, the irate stallion took a step forward…
…only to find himself in a bubble of blue magic. “You’re under arrest, sir,” Rarity told him.
“On what charge? You and your bimbo of an assistant barging into my store and breaking my merchandise?” he hissed.
“No, actually, you’re under arrest, because I distinctly recall Princess Twilight signing a ‘no-animal importation’ treaty with Dragon Lord Ember last month,” Rarity responded coolly. “And since you mentioned that this creature comes from the Dragon Lands, then that means you smuggled it here, especially since you pointed out how expensive it is.” She looked at Sassy. “Sassy, dear, please find a nearby guard and let them know to meet me here.”
“But what about the butterfly?” Sassy asked nervously.
“I wouldn’t worry much about it. In a place like Canterlot, even with there being a lot of secrets, they’re likely harmless ones. Besides, dear, it’s a butterfly. When it’s at that stage, it’s typically at the last stage of its life, so sadly it probably won’t live for much longer.”
Seated at her desk in her office, Black Cherry looked over the reports for tomorrow’s coronation. “This…is not looking good,” she said softly to nopony in particular.
“I’m sorry, Your Grace?” her secretary spoke up.
“I’m looking at the attendance figures. These are much larger than expected. Canterlot was already bursting at the seams at the expectation of Princess Sunset’s coronation, but these newest figures from the city gates are three times what we had estimated, and we still have beings coming in?”
The assistant nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so. We can’t exactly turn away folks at the entry points, can we?”
“No, I’m afraid not.” She sighed; this was not going to be easy to do. “Contact Lord Kibbitz and tell him I need to speak to him urgently. Tell him…we may have to switch to Plan B.”
“Plan B? Are you certain?”
“Very. It’s that or we’ll have streets too clogged for processions and the like. And that will be very bad for Equestria’s image. Now more than ever, we must get this right.” Her attendant nodded and departed.
As soon as she was alone, Cherry put her head on her desk and rubbed her ears; she could feel a headache coming on. She was not going to like telling her mentor and Princess Celestia’s seneschal that there were so many guests and attendees that the whole thing would have to be pushed back a day in order to accommodate them all.
Never before had success looked so much like failure.