"Hmmph! Why do we have to do this again?" Trixie complained. "Didn't she already have a coronation a few years ago?"
"Trix, she's going to be taking over as ruler of all Equestria," Starlight explained. "There's a certain amount of pomp that comes with that, you know?"
"Oh yes, and we're all so fortunate to be subjects of Her Benevolence, I know," Trixie said as she rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her every word. "I'm just saying, it seems kind of selfish to be hogging all these coronations to herself. There are other great and powerful ponies in the world who might want to be a princess."
"Sounds to me like you're just jealous," Starlight mused.
"Envious," a third voice interjected.
"Excuse me?" Starlight asked, a bit annoyed at the sudden interruption.
"She's envious of Twilight, not jealous," Sunburst explained, not picking up on Starlight's glare. "Jealousy is when you worry someone will take what you have, envy is wanting what someone else has."
"Oh, I'm sorry Mudbriar. I didn't realize you and Sunburst had swapped bodies," Starlight coldly chided him.
"Make fun all you like Star, but you're the headmare of a prestigious educational institution now, and you need to be more mindful about the language you're using," Sunburst lectured.
"Pfft, silly stuff like that is what I hired a sexy stud of a vice-head stallion to deal with," Starlight dismissed his concerns.
"Oh!" Trixie chimed in. "Did you hire somepony new without telling me?"
"I think she was talking about me, Trixie," Sunburst stated dryly.
"Are you sure about that?" Trixie asked with a teasing lilt in her voice. "You don't exactly scream "handsome stud" to me."
"Hey, this stud was handsome enough to get you to start taking dick again," Sunburst pointed out proudly.
"Correction. Starlight was the one who got Trixie to take dick again. You just happened to be the dick she had around," Trixie returned.
"Well, somepony had to be around her to make up for what your 'great and powerful' technique lacked in bed," Sunburst countered.
"Will you two knock it off?" Starlight interrupted the verbal volleying between her mates. "I swear, with the way you two argue like a pai of newly-weds, it's enough to make me feel like the third wheel in this relationship sometimes."
"Well, you know, having three wheels is important to form a stable plain, Star," Sunburst explained. "Two wheels just end up falling over and collapsing."
"That's right. And Trixie happens to think that Starlight is the greatest and most powerful wheel of all," Trixie continued. "Besides Trixie herself, of course." she added quickly.
"Thanks you two," Starlight smiled and pulled them into a tight hug as she spoke. "Now, can we please finish getting ready?"
"Hmph. If Starlight insists that Trixie attends, then Trixie will finish her preparations," Trixie grumbled.
"I still don't get why you're so jealous of Twilight, Trix," said Starlight.
"Ah-hem," Sunburst cleared his throat.
"Ugh! Envious of Twilight. Whatever," Starlight corrected herself, rolling her eyes as she did so.
"Trixie is neither jealous nor envious of Princess Twilight Sparkle," Trixie claimed. "Trixie is just upset at how unfair it is that she gets to be a princess when other, more worthy ponies don't."
"No offense, Trixie, but I don't think you're exactly 'Princess' material," Sunburst stated.
"Well... maybe not," Trixie reluctantly admitted. "Though Trixie would make a great and powerful ruler of Equestria, if given a chance. But Trixie is not just referring to herself. There's another mare even more deserving of the title," she proclaimed.
"Who?" Starlight asked.
"You, of course," Trixie stated, booping Starlight's snout with a hoof. "You, Starlight Glimmer, should be a princess."
"Trix, I can't be a princess!" Starlight exclaimed, shocked by her marefriend's suggestion. "I was about an inch of torn parchment away from destroying the world a few years ago. I'm pretty sure that disqualifies me from ruling anything."
"Yeah, but you've helped save Equestria a bunch of times since then, so I say it all comes out to a net positive in the end. It's not like Her Highness Twilight has never made any mistakes, you know?" Trixie argued.
"I still think Twi's got me beat in the whole saving versus destroying the world ratio," Starlight countered.
"Well, perhaps," Trixie conceded, "but, do you remember what the official reason that she got those wings was?"
"Creating new magic, if I recall correctly," Sunburst answered.
"Right. But all she really did was finish one of What's-his-name's spells," Trixie continued.
"Starswirl," added Sunburst.
"Whatever," Trixie waved him off with a dismissive hoof. "The point is, all Twilight really did for those fancy wings and that extra height was fix a spell that she recklessly cast on her friends in the first place." Trixie continued on. "And it was a cutie mark spell at that, something I think we can all agree that Starlight has quite some experience with."
"Heh heh heh, yeah..." Starlight nervously laughed, trying to hide her discomfort with the current subject.
"Meanwhile, you took one of his spells too, and you managed to perfect time travel with it," Trixie explained. "That seems like the more impressive feat to me."
"You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but she does kind of have a point," Sunburst admitted, sounding rather astonished at the revelation.
"Of course Trixie has a point! Trixie is full of great and powerful points," Trixie went on. "Plus, it's not as if your magic isn't up to snuff in other areas, either. I mean, you're at least as powerful as Princess Cadance, if not the other three as well."
"You've got the experience leading other ponies too," Sunburst added, caught up in Trixie's arguments. "And I don't just mean that town that we don't talk about. You've shown you can lead a diverse team of creatures to save Equestria, you can administrate a school, you were the only one right about that whole Pony of Shadows thing, and you've even repeatedly advised the actual Princesses. Maybe Trixie's right. Maybe you do deserve to be an alicorn."
"Okay, enough!" Starlight interrupted, wishing to put an end to this conversation before her partners started planning a full blown coup. "Look, even if I didn't believe that my past should disqualify me from becoming a princess, I honestly have no desire to be one, okay? Can we just drop this conversation, please?" she asked.
"Fine," Trixie relented, huffing a bit as she did so.
"Sorry, Star," Sunburst apologized. "I guess we got a little carried away there."
"Trixie's still right, though," Trixie grumbled. Starlight sighed.
"Listen," Starlight began, "I know you mean well, Trix, but I'm serious. I simply have no interest in being a Princess. I have everything I could ever want right here, and none of the extra burdens that come with ruling a country. Look around us. Thanks to Twilight, I have a prestigious school to run and a fancy castle to live in, plus I have something that even she might never have."
"A decent personality?" Trixie asked petulantly.
"No, Trix," Starlight chuckled despite herself."I mean that I have the two best partners a mare could ever ask for, and I get to have you both right here by my side."
"Aww. That's pretty cheesy, Star, but I'm still happy to hear you say it," Sunburst said with a loving smile. Trixie nodded happily in agreement.
"Besides," Starlight muttered under her breath, "if I ever change my mind, I could always just control Celestia's mind and make her give me wings."
"What was that, Starlight?" Sunburst asked.
"Nothing," she responded quickly. "Let's just finish getting ready."
"Oh, by the way," Trixie chimed in as she fixed her mane, "weren't you supposed to deliver that memory book or whatever to Twilight before she left? Cause she's probably on her way to catch her train by now."
"What!?" Starlight shouted in panic, glancing hurriedly at the clock hanging from the wall. "Oh shoot. I've got to go. See you two later."
A flash of magic illuminated the room, and she was gone. Sunburst and Trixie were left staring at the empty spot in the room where she had stood before teleporting away.
"Well, I guess we're on our own to get to Canterlot," Sunburst observed.
"Yep," Trixie agreed.
"No way we'll make it to the station in time to catch the one Twilight's going to be on," he continued.
"Nope," Trixie responded.
"And how long until the next one leaves?" Sunburst questioned.
"Another couple of hours from now," she answered.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked, moving slightly closer to Trixie.
"Quickie before we leave?" Trixie asked hopefully.
"Still think that I'm not a 'handsome stud'?" Sunburst slyly asked as he rubbed up against the mare.
"Nope," Trixie bluntly answered. "But Trixie does think that you're a pretty great and powerful lay, and that's good enough for her. Just watch Trixie's mane, okay?"
"Whatever you say, Princess," Sunburst teased before kissing her.
The two ponies laughed as they moved onto Starlight's bed. As Starlight, Twilight, and their friends hurried off to Canterlot in a panic, Trixie reflected on what Starlight had said. And as she felt Sunburst mount on top of her, she conceded that maybe some things in life were better than getting to be a Princess.
Two coronations were still a bit much, though.