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// The Queen's Visit 
// Story: A New Age 
// by James Pwyll 
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Alphabittle had been in this line of work for most of his adult life. Through his years of tending the bar of Bridlewood's most famous, and only, drinking establishment, he'd seen every unicorn this woodland of theirs had to offer, old and young alike. He knew everypony, and was more or less the only unicorn their community knew personally. For all intents and purposes, he was the Dad of their group, and as such there was little his neighbours could bring to him that ever really surprised him. That is, of course, with the exception of Bridlewood's other most notable resident, Izzy. Alphabittle had nothing against the young mare, but she did have a tendency to be far more energetic than the old stallion could really cope with, especially when she made her first arrival of the day in his place. Today was no exception, as Izzy burst through the front doors as she usually did, scaring the living daylights out of a nearby elderly mare, before announcing her presence to the rest. "Good morning, Bridlewood!"

"Good morning, Izzy," the other patrons all chimed in together, though more out of habit than any real enthusiasm to see her. 

Alphabittle, though quietly chuckling to this usual routine, still managed to get her expected drink ready for when she got to him. A tall, ice-cold chocolate milkshake, topped with an almost blasphemous amount of cream, and also the customary cherry on top. Reaching him, Izzy graciously bowed her head before taking the drink and, as usual, gulping it down in one go, much to Alphabittle's amusement. "You know, given that you usually have enough sugar in you already to keep everypony in this village going, is more chocolate at the start of your day really the best idea?"

Izzy giggled to that. "Oh, definitely! You know how much I like to go around, visiting everypony in the neighbourhood and do all my usual stuff, right? Gotta pack the fuel in somehow." Alphabittle rolled his eyes, but said nothing as Izzy clapped her hooves together. "Oh, and let's not forget needing to be ready for our super-special visitor today!"

The stallion sighed. "Izzy, I appreciate you want to do your part to get all sorts of ponies back together, but you can't really rush things like that. Besides, I'm pretty sure the Queen has far more important things to do than come down to our little..." But, before he could finish, all attention in the place was diverted to the sudden sounds of trumpets from outside, leading to an arched eyebrow on the bartender's part. "Well, I've been wrong before I guess."

As expected, the doors opened, and a pair of fully-armoured pegasi guards rolled out the literal red carpet, which the aforementioned Queen Haven confidently strode down. Behind her, following ever faithfully, was her beloved pet, Cloudpuff, whom Izzy gave an enthusiastic wave to. As for the Queen, she arrived right next to Izzy, looking to Alphabittle in her usual, overly-formal stature before finally cracking a smile. "Mr Blossomforth."

Alphabittle gave an over-the-top bow to her. "Your Majesty."

But the Queen waved him off. "Oh, none of that. I think we can afford to be a bit more relaxed around one another." In a flash, Izzy appeared right next to her, forelegs wide and ready to hug, only to be halted by a raised hoof from the older mare. "Not that I'm inviting impromptu hugs at anypony's request."

"Darn it!" Izzy grumbled.

The two elder ponies were amused by this, seeing her go off to chatter excitedly to the guards who'd arrived with Haven. And as for Haven herself, she looked around before pulling up a barstool and sitting upon it in about the least queenly-looking image one could imagine. "I don't supposed a fine chardonnay is on the menu?"

Alphabittle sighed and shook his head. "Milkshakes and coffee, I'm afraid," he replied, offering her one similar to what Izzy had been drinking not so long ago.

After eyeing it for a time, Haven took a sip, immediately wincing from it. "My, how...sweet."

Her unicorn counterpart gave a shrug. "We don't call it the sugarbomb for nothing."

Putting her glass aside for one moment, Haven glanced around, and while many of the local unicorns were giving her their full attention, many were simply back in their usual routine of looking to the latest poet on the stage, who of course gave the usual slow drumbeats after every line. "I say, were things here in Bridlewood always so...reserved?"

Leaning on the counter, Alphabittle nodded. "Usually. Aside from Izzy we were never the happiest ponies."

Haven looked back to him. "So I've heard. From what my daughters tell me this town was downright sobering before your magic returned. Afraid of your old power, unhappy every day." She tapped her chin. "We pegasi and the earth ponies all seem to have gained at least some generally happy lives for ourselves, but you? Whatever happened to all of us in that distant past, you unicorns clearly took the worst of it."

Taking a nearby empty glass, Alphabittle started cleaning it. "Maybe, but I try not to think about it too much. Doesn't do a pony's self-esteem all that much good if you start to obsess too much on how your community drew the shortest of short straws."

Realising she'd brought up a sore spot, Haven immediately backtracked, clearing her throat and tapping her hoof against the counter for a moment, creating no small amount of awkwardness for the guards behind her. But then, her mood improved a bit as she took on another smile when she looked to her host. "Well, whatever the past might have had in store for us, the present, and hopefully the future, is looking considerably brighter I'd say."

Alphabittle chortled to that. "No argument there, your Highness." He looked to the side, where Izzy was enthusiastically headbanging to every drumbeat on the stage. "And we have ponies like her to thank for it."

Haven's smile widened. "That we do. Words cannot express how proud I was of my dear daughters for having helped bring us all together. One can only imagine what else they will do when the time comes."

Making a milkshake of his own, Alphabittle raised it to his guest. "Well then, here's to a quintet of ponies who have just made our lives a heck of a lot more interesting."

Taking her own, still-too-sugary-for-her drink, Haven matched the motion. "I'll drink to that."