//------------------------------// // Chapter One: A Bow and a Quiver full of Arrows // Story: Being The Princess of Love for a Day // by Foal Star //------------------------------// It was Hearts and Hooves Day, and Princess Celestia was trotting back from raising the sun; she was somewhat satisfied with her duties and seeing everypony the holiday; she, of course, had the day off, but unlike many other ponies, her love was far away in another dimension. She just sat by her window and watched two ponies kissing down from her window at two of her pegasi royal guards. The princess couldn't help but look down with a solemn smile and a heavy heart. She wanted to think of anything else at the moment. Still, there wasn't much else to think of the matter as she made her choice long ago, seeing that if she had continued to pursue that lost love, she would've ended her world and her love's; there was nothing she could do now. Then it struck her rather suddenly, seeing she was alone with nothing to do. Most of the time, during this holiday she would sulk in her room and cry, wishing to be with Sombra, her love from a different dimension. But she should try something different this year instead to keep her mind off things. Then an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning. Princess Cadance was out on a date with her husband. What if she snuck into her room and saw what it was like? She pondered the notion and decided it would be fun to sneak a peek. Princess Celestia quickly left her room and snuck into her niece's room. As she went inside, the princess of the sun looked around and saw that overall, it seemed relatively normal with a beautiful bed with a fluffy pink blanket; around the room were pictures of herself and Shining Armor together, and some with her and a younger Twilight Sparkle. There wasn't anything interesting; she seemed much more grounded than her nephew Prince Blueblood. She then looked inside her niece's closet, and then she noticed something weird. There was a quiver full of arrows along with a bow. The question she would ask herself what were these doing in Princess Cadance's room? She looked at the tips of the arrows and noticed they were in the shapes of hearts. She chuckled to herself, finding the weapon amusing; maybe it was a sex toy she used on Shining Armor? The alicorn couldn't help but chuckle to herself at the thought Princess Cadance was the princess of love after all. Princess Celestia, however curious, decided to put the quiver around her back and then took the bow; she then felt a strange warmth from the weapon as it glowed with power. She then saw an odd piece of clothing and slid it over her body. It was a soft white fabric, and it looked like a blanket. The alicorn then levitated the cloth and trailed it over her body, seeing a gold oak leaf clip going over her right shoulder. She peered around her body and how the fabric followed her like a dress, but it didn't feel uncomfortable or stiff; the cloth felt rather loose around her. The alicorn princess then trotted over toward a mirror. She stood on her hind legs to see the fabric fall around her tall body. Still, it seemed to adjust itself to accommodate her body. Seeing how the dress-like outfit was on her, that was when she recognized it as a toga. She's seen ponies wear this clothing for hundreds of years by the pegasi, but it went out of fashion long ago. The mare then pondered for a second why her niece would have these artifacts. She paused, then something came into her mind. A long time ago, there was a story from the pegasi that the title "princess of love" used to be passed down through a bow and a quiver of arrows. If she can recall, the bow and arrow were used to quell disputes by making ponies fall in love with each other. But she always thought this was only legends!? She didn't think these artifacts actually existed! And her niece had them the entire time. Princess Celestia then decided to try it out, but not on ponies…she snuck out of Princess Cadance's room and headed back to her own. There she found her pet phoenix Philomena on her perch staring outside at a rather handsome-looking hawk. With a smirk, Celestia stood up, nocked an arrow, and aimed the bow at her pet. It's been a few centuries since she shot a bow. Still, despite being out of practice, her muscle memory seemed to kick in as she hoisted the bow up to her face with her hooves and pulled the string back. Then with careful aim, she shot the arrow at her phoenix. The magical arrow flew across the room, and it didn't pierce her body; it seemed to fuse into Philomena's body. Celestia then aimed her bow at the hawk outside. When the arrow pierced its body, the hawk immediately turned its attention to her pet phoenix. The two locked eyes; the hawk swooped into her room and nuzzled beside Philomena. The princess was somewhat surprised at how fast they went for each other and was more surprised that the magic was real! She always thought the legend of the pegasi of love was just that, a legend! The alicorn was starting to feel giddy as the wave of power came over her, and she wanted to see what else she could do with it. Princess Celestia flew off through the castle's hidden passageways to avoid being spotted by guards or castle staff as she looked for her sister Luna. The princess always figured she had a crush on a batpony soldier that guards her, but she never dared to ask him out. But as Celestia rounded a corner, she was lucky to find her sister talking to the stoic batpony royal guard she had a crush on. Seeing the two in the same place was a relief; she watched and waited as they continued their conversation. "So, Princess Luna, you're not doing anything for Hearts and Hooves Day?" The princess of the night gave a long-winded sigh and shook her head, "no, I don't really plan on doing anything today. It's just not something I do considering me being Nightmare Moon. I doubt anypony would want me to be their special somepony." The batpony soldier shook his head "no," then responded, "princess, I must disagree; your sister and almost everypony has forgiven you. Come now, you surely can enjoy yourself?" "Oh, I would…but at the moment, i'm not feeling good. Last night I had to deal with many anxious ponies who have either forgotten about the holiday or are planning to confess their love to their special someponies." The night guard bowed his head and said, "I guess it seems that didn't help you with your anxieties." Princess Luna shook her head and said, "Of course not; it just made them worse. All I can think about is how hard it is to be rejected by somepony you think loves you." The nightguards looked downward with a worried look on his face and replied, "yes, I can understand that feeling." Celestia let out a groan seeing that, at this point, the two were going to be nervous to say anything; if she didn't act fast, Luna would go to her room and eat ice cream until she collapsed in her bed and her poor night guard will just stand outside hating himself for not asking her to go out with him! That was when she decided to use her enchanted bow and arrows to have Luna and her royal guard fall in love with each other! The princess of the sun then snuck out of the passage as quietly as possible with only the swishing of her toga. She then stood up on her hind legs and took out her bow, knocked one of the arrows, and aimed it at her sister's flank first (mostly because she likes teasing her about her fat flank); once she had her bow aimed, then took a shot and struck her sister in the butt right into the middle of the crescent moon. Luna then started to look rather sleepy, as if she was in a trance. Celestia then aimed her bow and quickly shot it at the royal bat pony guard aiming right at his heart. Once the arrow struck the stallion, he looked at her with a romantic smile and asked, "well, um, Princess Luna?" "Yes, Moonbow, what is it?" the princess asked, seeming to flash him a smile. The stallion gulped and said, "Princess Luna would…would you like me to take you out?" The princess was somewhat taken aback by the proposal and asked, "are you certain?" The batpony threw his wings out and then chirped, "Of course! Since you returned from your exile, I couldn't stop thinking about asking you out!" Princess Luna placed a hoof on her chest and replied, "I'm touched. Where should we go? I know of a lovely bakery that bakes the most excellent fruit tarts." The soldier took the princess of the night by the hoof and responded, "that sounds wonderful." The two started to make out, then trotted off onto a date as the white-coated alicorn almost squealed in delight, seeing she successfully helped her sister fall in love! It was so easy too! Celestia pondered what if she did this to other ponies. She knew who needed a push personally; she felt that Prince Blueblood needed inspiration in the right direction, and her favorite student, Twilight, was making progress in making friends. Still, the poor filly had no love life; maybe she could use a push to find a cute coltfriend! Then, Princess Celestia decided she'll play matchmaker for the day! And her next target was her nephew, Prince Blueblood! Meanwhile, Princess Celestia set off to play the princess of love for a day. Princess Cadance and her fiancé Shining Armor were returning from a Hearts and Hooves Day brunch. The stallion nuzzled his fiancé and asked, "So you want to lie down for a bit? I think I drank way too much mimosa." "Oh, you would like that wouldn't you," Cadance purred as she nuzzled into her fiancé's mane as she felt the same way. The two continued to trot into her room, and the princess of love already felt something was off. Somepony had come in here and saw white fur and feathers on the ground. The coat she would've assumed was her fiancé's, but her future husband didn't have wings, so that didn't explain the feathers. She continued to search the room seeing strands of light rainbow-colored mane that led to her closet. The pink-coated alicorn opened it and started looking around, crying out, "oh no! Somepony took my quiver and arrows!" "You're what!?" Shining Armor asked, needing some clarification. Princess Cadance groaned as she started to explain, "ok, so long story short, when I officially became the princess of love, and before we met, I was taken to Cloudsdale. There I was told about some legend that pegasi would award one of theirs with the bow and arrows of love. They can basically make any two ponies fall in love with each other. This relic was used to resolve conflicts and help pegasi mate when they were reluctant to do so," Princess Cadance shivered at the thought, "I found the entire concept a bit creepy and decided to hide them. Most ponies don't know about this relic, and I forgot about them too. But somepony came into my room and stole my stuff, and I think I know who." Shining Armor pondered for a few moments tapping a hoof to his chin Princess Cadance rolled her eyes and replied, "do you know of any other pony with a light rainbow mane and white feathers?!" Shining Armor took a moment to scratch his mane and then responded with a sheepish grin, "Oh right, Princess Celestia," The stallion then collapsed onto his fiancé's bed and whined, "come on, she's just bored and probably having some fun she'll put it back after she gets bored." Princess Cadance was getting frustrated with her husband as she pulled at her mane and shouted, "that's not the point! My aunt probably thinks she's having fun or helping ponies find their true love. But she's messing with ponies' hearts, and I can't let her do something she'll regret! I must find my aunt and stop her before things get out of hoof!" "Can you find her later?" Shining whined with a smile. "I think you might be overreacting." The princess of love put a hoof to his mouth and whispered, "wait, ok? You're obviously drunk; rest up and wait for me, ok?" "Fine," Shining groaned rather drunkenly as he pulled the covers over himself. Princess Cadance gave a snicker at her drunk husband. She then flew out the door and into the halls as she searched for Princess Celestia before she caused too much chaos with her bow and arrows.