//------------------------------//
// Something Borrowed 
// Story: Red Strings, White Chains 
// by Undome Tinwe 
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One of the advantages of dating Princess Celestia was that it was always socially acceptable to stare at her.

It didn't matter what else might be happening in the room, or how powerful the noble currently speaking might be, Princess Celestia was eternally the Most Important Pony Present. As such, paying attention to her instead of whatever was supposed to be the purpose of a gathering would never be frowned upon.

Which was good, because without being able to gaze upon her fiancée's lovely visage, Day Court would have been even more insufferable.

As much as Rarity enjoyed politicking, she had to admit that many of the petitions brought before the Princess were simply not interesting. While there was the occasional high-profile, high-tension case that appeared, the vast majority had been filtered out by the various courts and administrators to the point where only the requests that everyone was sure would be granted made it to the throne room.

Thus, it was mostly going through the motions of some noble or commoner explaining their situation to Celestia, who had already been given a summary of the details beforehand to base her decision. This was little more than theatre, and while Rarity always appreciated good acting, it got rather dull after the sixth hour, especially when she was expected to remain poised and proper for the entire duration as a special guest of the princess.

After their marriage, she would likely hold her own court, and she hoped it would be more interesting than this, but for now, it was important that she learn what she could from the few interesting visitors who stopped by to ask Celestia for something or other.

At least the stream of well-wishers trying to curry favour with gifts had petered out to only one or two per session. When their engagement had first been announced, Rarity had spent most of her court sessions thanking various nobles and trying to puzzle out what they might ask of her in the future, which was much less enjoyable than watching her beloved comport herself with royal grace.

"Very well, Lady Wish," Celestia said, in her usual tone of gentle authority. "You shall be afforded the funds necessary to begin the charitable initiatives you have proposed. Equestria thanks you for fulfilling your duty to her people."

Lady Golden Wish bowed. "It is my pleasure, Your Majesty." With that, she made her leave, giving the princess a moment of rest.

But only a moment, as Celestia quickly called out, "Next!"

There was the sound of commotion from outside, rumbled whispers and murmurs along with a great deal of shuffling and even a few shouts. Rarity and Celestia shared a confused look as they waited, a secret smile between them at the prospect of something interesting happening to break the monotony of this routine.

The door opened, and the herald stepped in. "Announcing Lady Fluttershy of Ponyville!"

With her centuries of experience, the only signs of surprise on Celestia's expression was a raised eyebrow. Meanwhile, Rarity had to quickly close her mouth and affect a neutral expression as her mind raced to try and figure out what her shy friend was doing at Day Court.

Unfortunately, her jaw dropped yet again when Fluttershy actually entered. She was wearing a formal gown that Rarity recognized as one she'd designed for her to wear at a ball last year, a delicate green thing with a modest amount of ruffles but an otherwise simple design. However, someone had also tastefully woven in an assortment of flowers into the gown, which paired well with the floral crown she wore that seemed to be made of tree branches. An odd choice of accessory, to be sure, but not as odd as her entourage.

A veritable menagerie of creatures surrounded the mare as she slowly trotted into the throne room. A cloud of birds of all colours of the rainbow slowly circled around her head, while a pack of badgers, raccoons, and what appeared to be a small hyena trailed in behind her. On either side of Fluttershy were too many varieties of animals to count, though Rarity managed to pick out several felines, canines, and at least one monkey.

Fluttershy glanced around the room, and the moment she saw all eyes on her, she shrunk in on herself and began backing up. A firm tug on her mane from Angel Bunny (who was riding on her back), as well as a few of the creatures pushing her forwards with their paws, seemed to be enough to get her to continue moving forwards, and eventually, she seemed to find her courage once again as her steps become more confident.

By the time she reached the throne room, she was holding her head up high and proud, even though Rarity could see that she was trembling. The birds surrounding her all fluttered down to the ground in a ring around the other animals, looking very serious about the whole matter. It was almost comical enough to make Rarity laugh.

Fluttershy curtsied politely, a fact that did not go unnoticed by anypony in the room. Rarity knew that Fluttershy was well-versed enough in court behaviour to understand that, as a citizen of Equestria, she should be bowing to the Princess. A curtsy such as hers— even if it was rather deep— was reserved for a head-of-state of another nation.

It was not like Fluttershy to try to make a statement like this, but then again, this whole situation was most unusual.

Finally, Fluttershy spoke, her voice soft and timid. "Umm, hello, Princess Celestia."

Celestia smiled warmly back. "Hello, Lady Fluttershy. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Oh, well, you see..." Fluttershy glanced around, and the animals surrounding her chittered, chirped, chattered, and a bunch of other verbs that Rarity couldn't recall but likely started with "ch." Whatever they said to her seemed to have some kind of fortifying effect, as her voice grew slightly louder and her stammer faded. "I'm here on behalf of the animals of Equestria."

"The animals of Equestria?" Again, Celestia's expression was impassive, but Rarity could sense the humour in her words. She was amused at this diversion, and Rarity couldn't really blame her, after all the tedium of the past several hours.

Fluttershy nodded. "They've made me the temporary..." She paused. "I don't think we ponies have a word for it but I speak for all the creatures in Equestria right now who do not have a voice of their own."

Celestia shot a glance at Rarity, a silent question in her eyes. Is she serious? Do we need to take this seriously?

Rarity could only stare helplessly back, giving the slightest nod. I do not know, my love, but Fluttershy is not one to exaggerate. Best not take the risk of angering all the beasts in the land.

A slight tilt of Celestia's head let Rarity know her message was acknowledged as the princess returned her attention to the newly-minted Queen of Beasts. "Very well, then. What business do you have with us, Lady Fluttershy?" she asked with all the proper respect of a princess to the queen of another nation.

Fluttershy motioned to Angel, who pulled a scroll out and handed it over to her. "I'm here to convey the..." A blush formed on her cheeks as she stopped speaking again until Angel tugged on her hair again. "Okay, so can I start by saying that this is my best attempt at translating from a lot of different types of animal speech, so some of the wording might be... odd? Sorry about that."

"We are no strangers to language barriers here," Celestia said kindly.

Fluttershy nodded and then returned her attention to the scroll. "The, uhh, beasts of Equestria would like to express their happiness that you have finally found a mate, and hope that you have... that you have many offspring who survive the winter!" She said the last few words in a rush before blushing and trying to hide behind her long pink mane.

There was a moment of silence as everypony struggled to process those words. Finally, Rarity stepped forward, taking advantage of the fact that since Fluttershy's statement was also addressed to her, she had the right to speak. "Please extend our gratitude to the creatures of Equestria who sent you for their well-wishes, and our appreciation for all that they do in maintaining the ecosystems of our land."

Angel patted Fluttershy's back and squeaked something into her ear. Fluttershy perked up at that again. "Oh, right, we also wanted to present to you a gift for the mating ceremony— err, wedding!" She turned her head back and called out, "Harry, can you bring the wedding gift, please?"

There was wore shouting and screaming from the outside, and then a familiar bear walked into the room, standing on his back legs and towering over all the ponies present. The nobles all backed away in fear, a couple of them tripping over and falling to the ground as they stared wide-eyed at the large predator.

Meanwhile, Celestia and Rarity simply smiled at the sight of the bear that they'd both shared tea with before in Fluttershy's company. Neither of them flinched as he approached the throne, and Celestia motioned to the guards to lower their weapons. A plain wooden chest was held in his claws, which Rarity recognized as being from Fluttershy's bedroom. She supposed that the beasts of Equestria didn't quite have the means to purchase something more ostentatious.

"Thank you, Harry," Celestia said as he placed the chest on the floor. Using her magic, she opened it up to reveal a small pillow— also from Fluttershy's bedroom— and what appeared to be a garter resting atop it.

Rarity bit back a wince at the sight of it. The craftsmanship of the piece was... shoddy, at best. Ambers and pearls of different shapes and sizes were woven haphazardly into a strangely-patterned cloth band that didn't seem to match any style Rarity was familiar with. The quality of the cloth seemed incredibly smooth and high-quality, even if it was in a rather dull off-white colour and Rarity couldn't identify the material it was made from, but the edges were lumpy and uneven.

And then she looked into Fluttershy's eyes, and saw pride in them. "This was created by the creatures of Equestria, from the bounties of Nature. Pearls given up gladly by clams who are very happy at your union, amber containing the smallest creatures who passed before their time, and silk woven by spiders who understand the beauty of the wild."

"It's wonderful," Celestia said, and Rarity could hear the raw sincerity in her words. "This is truly a unique and precious gift we have been blessed with."

"You've done so much to create a land where creatures of all kind can live in Harmony," Fluttershy said. "And it's more than just the speaking creatures who are grateful for it. This is a token of thanks from my animal friends for all your preservation efforts. And it's also a reminder."

At those words, her gaze hardened, the steel that was hidden within her soul coming out as she spoke in a firm voice. "Equestria was founded on land that did not originally belong to ponies. A pact was made when you tamed the beasts of Equestria. Remember your duty to them, now and always."

"We will," Celestia promised. "Equestria is a land of Harmony for all living creatures, and we hold that principle in highest regard."

Fluttershy nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you, princess." It was at that point that she glanced around the room, and seemed to realize that she was the center of attention, all the nobles gawking at her in open shock. "I'm... just going to leave now, if it pleases you," she squeaked out, shrinking in on herself again.

"That's fine, Lady Fluttershy," Celestia said kindly. "Thank you for bringing us this gift, and for acting as a voice for those who cannot speak to us."

With that, Fluttershy quickly backed out of the room, followed by her unusual entourage. Harry gave a quick bow before making his exit and leaving the room occupied solely by ponies once again.

The nobles all let out the collective breath they had been holding, and even Rarity felt some of the tension leave her own body. Still, a lingering sadness tugged at her heart as Celestia announced the end of Day Court and followed behind her fiancée as they made their own exit through the back of the throne room.

"Do you think she could be a threat?" Celestia asked, skipping over all preamble.

Rarity appreciated the candor, even if the question hurt to think about. "I think," she said slowly, "that taking any action against dear Fluttershy would be a very stupid idea, for a number of reasons." The implied warning hung in her tone like a dagger between them.

"I wasn't considering that," Celestia replied smoothly. "But she's introduced a new player into the political game, one that is possibly more unpredictable than Discord himself. If Fluttershy comes to us with demands from her new constituents, how seriously should I take them?"

"Fluttershy would never make a demand for herself," Rarity said. "If she comes to us again, it will be as a mediator. She's not a threat. On the contrary, this is an opportunity to learn about possible tiffs between us and the natural world before we stick our hoof into a problem."

"Very well." They had made their way to Celestia's personal sitting room by now, and Celestia poured out a glass of water for each of them. "This wedding is going to change more than I realized, it seems."

"Not to worry," Rarity replied as she took a sip of water. "You have me to help see you through this storm."

Celestia smiled. "That I do." She raised her glass. "To living on borrowed land."

Rarity clinked her glass against hers. "To a new age of Harmony, for all creatures."