As Tempest and Mystic drew closer to the castle grounds, they could hear beyond the double doors the cacophony of voices from all creatures. Every pony seemed to be antsy, understandable since Mystic hadn't come down for some time. They paused at the door, both staring up at it. Tempest's expression was as hard and stoic as usual, but Mystic's brows were knit together, and her lips were pulled back with worry flickering in her eyes. She lowered her head, partially hiding her face behind one of her forelegs. As she did so, Tempest lowered her head to look at the mare.
"Nervous?" She asked lightly.
"Anxious," Mystic said behind her hoof.
"Don't be," Tempest hummed, patting the mare on the back. "I'll stick with you and escort you to uh... wherever it is your moms are. They'll help calm you down and walk you around, so you won't be by yourself at least."
"Yeah I know," Mystic sighed. She lowered her hoof back to the ground and stared at the door.
"Just try to keep your head up, Princess," Tempest said as she too looked at the door. "Unfortunate as it is, you wanna keep appearances until you can really be by yourself."
Mystic didn't say anything in response, simply passing the mare a look. She took a deep breath, forcing her head to raise high. Her horn glistened bright, and she was able to call to mind the crown she had discarded earlier. She looked up as it appeared on her head, held snugly against her mane behind her ears. It still felt weird to be wearing it, but she didn't have much choice in the matter. She might as well suck it up for now. She let go of the breath she had been holding, and her horn still shined to push open the doors. Her magic fizzled out when the doors swung open, and she blinked to adjust her eyes as the bright sunlight shone down on her.
Tempest walked out through the doorway, and began to descend the marble stairs leading to the soft dirt path below. Mystic followed her silently, and shut the doors behind her. She picked up the pace to catch up with Tempest, and tried to ignore the staring creatures around them. Many of the creatures had fallen silent seeing Mystic walking down the path, but they still had wide smiles and hope in their eyes. Even with the brief comfort their joy brought her, Mystic couldn't help feeling her anxiety very quickly reaching its peak. It was taking all her energy to keep her expression blank and her ears raised. Her hoofsteps were heavy, but with any luck that would be brushed off as natural regality.
They weaved around the crowds, and every so often Mystic would raise a hoof to wave, or raise a wing in greeting. some ponies returned her gestures, and the crowd began to swell with noise again seeing her interacting with them. It was a big change from how she was normally, that's for sure. Through the joy in the crowd, Mystic could also hear some bouts of confusion as she continued her greetings, but they were often covered up with ponies greeting her out loud. Tempest glanced back at Mystic with a smile, which only encouraged her to keep going.
When they reached the end of the path, they saw a smaller crowd of ponies standing around what made up the royal family. Twilight and Rarity stood together, and Lapis stood a pace away from them, talking to some other ponies. Princess Cadance sat on the far side of the small clearing with Shining Armour and Princess Skyla. Skyla was the only standing pony. Skyla's ear flicked, and she glanced to the side as Mystic and Tempest entered the clearing.
"Ah, there's the pony of the hour," She spoke up, flapping her wings and floating across the clearing to the two ponies, landing safely in front of them. "Glad to see you're finally back."
When Skyla approached her, the other ponies turned their heads as well, expressions brightening. They followed after her and made their own crowd around Mystic, which only made her heart beat harder.
"Y-yeah," Mystic stuttered. She cleared her throat to contain her anxiety. "Sorry for taking so long, Tempest and I were refitting my armour."
"So you chose not to wear the dress after all?" Skyla chuckled, covering her muzzle with a hoof. "I figured you wouldn't. You never were the princess type. But I can't blame you, you look better in armour than in a dress."
"Glad somepony shares the sentiment," Tempest hummed. "But whenever one of you gets the chance, I wanna see what her dress looked like at least."
"Please don't show her pictures," Mystic laughed nervously and brushed her mane with her hoof.
"No promises," Rarity hummed. "Oh! That reminds me, Mystic, Miss Flashionista wanted to get a photo of the royal family, so of course, we'll need you to join us! Dress or not, we're taking that picture!"
"Great," Mystic said with an eye roll.
"I'll leave you all to it," Tempest said, dipping her head in respect. "I've got some things that I need to take care of with the army, and I'm done escorting Mystic. Try not to kill anybody, private."
"Whatever you say, General Tempest," Mystic chuckled, raising a wing to salute the mare.
Tempest rolled her eyes, but a smile was on her face. She patted the mare on the back before she turned on her hooves and began walking back down the path once more. Mystic watched her leave for a few moments before she turned back to her family.
"Isn't it wrong to be taking a family photo without Flurry Heart being here?" She asked, remembering the conversation Rarity had begun after the crowning.
"She won't be offended," Skyla said with an eye roll. "She chose not to come, so it's not our fault if she isn't in it. If she gets upset, it's on her."
"She'll be here in spirit," Cadance said, sounding much more lighthearted than Skyla.. "And maybe we can convince the photographer to take a trip with us all to the Crystal Empire to get a proper family photo with her and the Crystal Heart."
"Honestly I'd be fine with doing that now," Mystic mumbled. "It'd get me away from the crowds for a while and I'd have some time to breathe."
"We don't have time to visit the Crystal Empire unfortunately," Twilight spoke up. "We have a lot to take care of now that this coronation is finally out of the way. We'll get an updated family picture once we aren't so swamped with work. And Mystic, since you're an official princess now, that means you have royal duties as well. We'll go over scheduling when I feel like it's necessary."
"Hooray," Mystic said blankly.
"Let's not keep the photographer waiting," Shining Armour said. "We should get this out of the way while we have the space."
"Right, right!" Rarity nodded a few times. "Come along everypony, make sure you look your best!"
Rarity didn't wait for a response from the other ponies before she began trotting down the path, and weaving through the crowd. The other ponies began to trot after her, and Mystic chose to be the last pony to leave the clearing. Whether it was natural instinct or a habit from her guards training, she was always known to bring up the rear in any social situation. She had the personality of a leader, but the actions of a follower; she was a strange mix.
She glanced around the crowd as they passed by, once again feeling her heart beat. She felt so uncomfortable, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it at the moment. She just had to suck in her gut and hope for the best. Even that was difficult, but it didn't matter. Not like anyone cares about my comfort at the moment anyways, she thought bitterly.
Their miniature parade came to a close as they reached an open grassy space out by a few trees and hedges, where the path ran thin and a picnic blanket stood out against the emerald greens. Three ponies were talking on one of the grassy sides, and Mystic had seen them very little, but she could recognize them easily. The once great fashion idol Photo Finish stood with her designer husband Hoity Toity, and their daughter Flashionista gently clasping her camera and tripod. Mystic could often recognize the fashion photographer because she was a few months younger than the butterfly bush mare. It almost felt funny to her that she was about to have her picture taken by a pony that was almost the same age as her.
"Miss Flashionista!" Rarity sang out as she approached the mare.
"Rarity, Rarity!" Flashionista's voice sang out like a songbird's.
Flashionista set down her tripod and camera, and pranced to see Rarity. The mares met together at the center of the clearing, and exchanged a hug. Flashionista's classic greeting consisted of a brief hug, and a kiss on both cheeks. Mystic had never been a fan of the mare's greetings, but she was lucky to break the tradition any time they met. Maybe the mare was aware of Mystic's attitude and chose not to make her angry on purpose. Either way, she appreciated being left out, and only offering hoofshakes where she needed to.
"And the new heiress, Princess Mystic," Flashionista turned her head to address Mystic. "We've been waiting to see you. What took you so long?"
"I was having my armour refitted," Mystic explained as she was approached by the mare. "Couldn't stand wearing a dress, so here I am. Also, don't call me Princess."
"Well, either way--" The mare extended a hoof to Mystic. "--we're glad that you're here."
"Mhm." Mystic's response was flat. She shook hooves with the mare in greeting and fluttered her wings.
"It is quite the occasion, isn't it?" Cadance spoke up with a chuckle. "Equestria hasn't seen a new princess coronation since Twilight's more than... what was it, forty years ago."
"Has it already been forty years?!" Twilight said suddenly, wings flaring out on either side of her. She was lucky she didn't hit any pony. "Wow, the time has really passed by quickly... It feels like my princess coronation was only yesterday."
"This does all feel quite nostalgic to me," Rarity laughed. "Well, we did have to think of every possible variable for this coronation after yours. After all, we wouldn't want our darling Mystic to end up like you did. A stumbly, messy maned mess. Goodness, that's a mouthful to say!"
Mystic had to bite back her laughter. She could still remember how Luna had described Twilight's coronation. Messy dress, messy mane, tripping, falling, mixed drinks, mixed ceremonies... What a disaster, she thought. She swore a Pinkie Promise that she would never tell Twilight she knew about the events, and she didn't intend to break it. Though, it was quite difficult to swallow down her amusement. It would be obvious from the glimmer in her eyes that she knew something she shouldn't.
"Can we all stop talking about my coronation?" Twilight said, stomping her hoof and fluffing out her wing feathers. Her face was bright red with embarrassment, and her blush was even spreading to the tips of her ears and nose. "This is supposed to be Mystic's day, let's focus back on her instead."
"Oh no, let's keep talking about your coronation," Mystic teased. "You all keep hiding the details from me, but it sounds like it was... a mess, and I want to hear more."
"Saying it was a mess is underselling it!" Rarity seemed to cackle. "Well, I suppose I can start from the begin--"
"No no, we are not talking about it!" Twilight complained, burying her cherry red face in her hooves and wings.
"You're all so cute," Flashionista giggled. "But I do agree with Empress Twilight's earlier sentiment, we should focus on Mystic and this photograph. Everypony together now! Tallest in the back, and smallest in the front. Get comfortable!"
Everypony quelled their feelings and laughter so that they could pose for the picture on top of the picnic blanket. Cadance, Shining Armour, and Skyla each stood at the back as the tallest ponies, while Rarity and Twilight stood together in the middle. Lapis and Mystic chose to sit in front of eachother, making a small line in front of the other ponies. They all stared at Flashionista as she set up her tripod and camera, and stood on her hind legs so that she could operate it. Twilight appreciated the extra struggle, as it gave her time to calm down, but Mystic knew she'd be thinking about what they talked about all day.
"Everypony ready? Say cheese!" Flashionista finally said, leaning down and hovering over the button on the camera.
"Cheese!" Each pony said in unison
Lapis pushed a hoof forward, lightly poking Mystic on the cheek. The brief motion was enough to make Mystic smile, and have to stop herself from breaking out in laughter. Of course, because of doing that, that would end up on camera. The thought made Mystic's face flushed bright red, and her heart skipped a beat.
"H-hey, Flashionista, can we have a reshoot?" She asked through a stutter. "I uh... I don't think I'll look that good in the picture."
"No way!" The mare said happily. "This picture is absolutely perfect-o! I've never seen you smile in photos, Mystic, so I'm glad you did this time!"
"...Yaaay..." Mystic laughed nervously, her ears pinning back and pupils shrinking. Oh Celestia, help my reputation. Or at least help Lapis, cause she's gonna pay for this.