If one were to describe paradise, the image before them would probably suffice. A lush, green garden, filled with every possible piece of colourful flora the imagination could conjure, birdsong filling the air, and a sense of being far from the troubles of the world. The private, royal gardens of Canterlot were famed far and wide as being among one of the more idyllic places one could find themselves, and today they were living up to that reputation. Animals of all shapes and sizes found peace here, sleeping amidst the grass or drinking alongside one another in the great pond at its centre. But among these was, naturally, a pony. A yellow, pegasus mare, to be precise, with a look of pure joy upon her face as she walked from critter to critter. "That's it, everycreature, drink up. Don't want to go thirsty, now do we?" she said to them gently. Fluttershy was looked at by said animals with the same adoration that a child would upon their own mother, and to one, little animal, a small rabbit, there was an exceptional fondness, as it bolted from the pond's edge straight over to her, hopping up onto her shoulder in an impressive display of acrobatics, much to her delight. "And good morning to you too, Angel."
"I swear, nopony in the land is happier than you when you're out here, Flutters." Fluttershy was briefly caught off-guard by the additional voice, but her surprise soon changed to calm, complete with a smile, as she regarded a fellow pegasus, a pink one this time, as she approached. "You really did good getting this place as your duties. If ever there was a pony that suited it perfectly, it's you."
Fluttershy blushed slightly. "Oh, I wouldn't say that, Pipp."
But the other mare shook her head. "Come on, everypony knows it. Honestly, it would have been weirder if you hadn't been put in charge of the royal gardens."
Looking away from her friend, Fluttershy began to busy herself with a small bag of seeds and nuts, which she gently emptied onto her open hoof before offering it to some small, nearby animals, all of whom began to eat the treats with great enthusiasm. "What can I say? I've just always been happy around animals. And they with me. It truly is an honour to be asked to look after them."
Pipp kept her smile as she regarded her colleague, but then that smile faded slightly as she cleared her throat to gain her attention. "You know...some of the other castle staff and I are going out for the evening. Care to join us?"
Instantly, Fluttershy started to look somewhat nervous, even adjusting her mane so that half of her face was obscured to the other pony. "Oh...um...thank you for offering, but...I'm not really that good in crowds like that."
Pipp nodded, stepping forward and patting her on the shoulder. "I know, but really, you need to get out more, Flutters. It can't be good to just stay around animals all the time. Aside from me you don't really talk to anypony." When she saw Fluttershy open her mouth to speak, she knew exactly what the response was going to be, and so elected to head her off at the pass. "Anypony who isn't family, I mean." That did the trick, as Fluttershy's mouth closed again, and she looked away, down to her own reflection in the pond. After a moment of silence, Pipp sighed, looking down to her own image in the water. "It's okay. If you don't want to, that's fine." After a moment, she chuckled. "Honestly, you might be on to something. There's plenty of ponies I'd rather not mingle with myself."
"Hello there, Pipp," another voice called out to them.
Instantly, Pipp's ears drooped, and she developed a grimace. "Ugh, speak of the devil..." She turned, putting on a false smile for the new arrival. "Blueblood. How nice to see you," she replied through gritted teeth.
The white stallion, flipping his blonde mane, chuckled as he regarded her. "Yes, yes, I know. Always a pleasure to see me. But please, do hold onto your adoration, Miss Pipp. One can't be flirtateous all the time of course."
Pipp really had to hold back the understandable backtalk she was feeling the need to give right now, instead maintaining her forced smile. "So then, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
Blueblood arched an eyebrow. "We?" Seeing Pipp look to him with some incredulity, the stallion's eyes eventually drifted onto Fluttershy, and he took a step back in surprise. "Oh! Apologies, Miss. I didn't see you there!"
Fluttershy, who by this point was content to just get back to feeding the animals, simply shrugged. "It's okay, I have that effect."
Pipp cleared her throat, gaining Blueblood's attention, and he tried to recompose himself before speaking up again. "Ah, yes, of course. Dear Auntie Celestia wished for me to inform you that the Senator has arrived. She will be requiring you and the other attendants shortly."
Though not as unpleasant a piece of news as Blueblood's arrival moments earlier, Pipp still wasn't all that thrilled with hearing this. "I know I don't have to talk to them myself, but even so..."
Here, at the very least, Blueblood seemed to be on the same page as her. "Yes, quite. I've met the Republic's senators a few times myself. Bloated wastrels, the lot of them."
Pipp silently took a moment of amusement over Blueblood, of all people, making such a remark about somepony, but of course said nothing to the effect. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had her interest piqued by the conversation, and so moved over to speak to her friend. "But...isn't it a great honour to meet with such an important pony from the East?"
Both Pipp and Blueblood laughed over that, much to Fluttershy's confusion. "Flutters, I know you're used to having a leader who cares for her people, but trust me when I say those over in the Republic aren't exactly as good at their job as Celestia," Pipp explained.
Blueblood nodded. "Agreed. I've seen a few disinterested nobles here in Canterlot from time to time, but at the very least they do something to warrant their position. The senators? All they do is complain the moment their comfy routine is disrupted." He gestured behind him. "Take our honoured guest today. He's only here to discuss the possibility that trade between our nations might be disrupted because of the bandit troubles his side of things is experiencing."
While both Fluttershy and Pipp were equally enjoying the irony of Blueblood metaphorically ripping into a lazy aristocrat, the former was justifiably worried about what he'd just said. "Goodness! I hope the bandits haven't hurt anypony."
Pipp waved her off. "Don't worry, I hear the Senate put somepony in charge of dealing with the problem. Some unicorn or other. Hear she's doing pretty well at it too."
Blueblood scoffed. "Well, maybe she'd better pick up the pace then. I'm not sure how many more of these visits I can stomach from them." He paused to rub his temples, then stopped, looking like he'd just remembered something important. "Oh, I'd nearly forgotten!" Before her could say anything else, there was a sudden, and very loud squealing of joy from just behind him, catching the two mares off-guard and leaving Blueblood himself rather exasperated. "Ah, yes, there she is."
Fluttershy and Pipp looked behind him, just in time to see, to their surprise, a young Hippogriff female, bright pink in her colouring, leaping out of the doors that led from the palace to the garden. Her eyes were wide with enthusiasm, and she flew or jumped to every conceivable flower or critter that caught her attention, looking like she was about to burst from pure excitement. "Oh...my...goodness! So many wonderful new things! Oh, you ponies must be so happy living in a place like this!"
Confusion gripped the two mares, and after they looked to Blueblood for an explanation, the latter cleared his throat before gesturing to the newcomer. "Pipp, Fluttershy, allow me to introduce Princess Silverstream, niece to Novo, the Queen of the Hippogriffs."
Upon hearing that, both of them got down to one knee, showing due deference to the unexpected royal in their midst. "Oh! Um, welcome to Canterlot, Princess!" Fluttershy spoke nervously.
"It is an honour to have you visit us," Pipp added, far calmer and more experienced in such greetings than her friend was.
As for Silverstream herself, she giggled to this display, stepping forward and looking to the two mares almost like she was embarrassed. "Oh, you don't need to kneel. I'm not really a princess princess. That's my cousin, Skystar's job. So you don't have to do all that fancy stuff with me."
Fluttershy and Pipp glanced to one another, then slowly got back into a standing position, with Pipp being the one to break the silence between them. "So what brings you to Canterlot, Princess?"
Here, Silverstream regained some of her earlier excitement. "It's amazing! Auntie Novo actually got me assigned as a cupbearer for Queen Celestia! Isn't that great?!"
Fluttershy smiled to her. "A position of great honour. You'd be right there with the Queen during all of her most important meetings."
Pipp nodded in agreement. "You'd probably be spending more time with her than anypo...er...anycreature else."
Blueblood added his own voice to the matter. "Our kingdom and the Hippogriffs of Mount Aris have always been close, and those of nobility from one have frequently served in the courts of the other as part of our efforts to maintain good relations."
"You mean like how your father, Lord Fancy, served as an advisor to Queen Novo for a time?" Fluttershy asked.
A look of pride came to Blueblood. "A definite feather in the family's cap, if I do say so myself."
Silverstream looked to him eagerly. "So, when do I start?"
"You'll need proper training of course," Blueblood told her. "One does not spend time in the court of a queen without being taught all the things they need to do, and of course, the things they shouldn't do." He then smiled to Pipp. "As a long-standing courtier, I believe Pipp here would be ideal to take you on."
"Me?!" Pipp responded with due shock.
"Well, it can't be me," Blueblood explained. "I have far too many demands on my time nowadays." He grimaced as he looked to the side. "Especially as Father has seen fit to enlist me in the Guard."
Fluttershy smiled to him. "That's nice. Maybe you'll meet my brother while you're there. He's serving too."
Blueblood scoffed. "As long as he's better company than that fool Zephyr, I'll be happy."
Fluttershy paused for a moment. "Um...sure."
Pipp, now recovered from her earlier shock, put on a smile for Silverstream's benefit. "Princess, I'd be delighted to help you in your training."
Silverstream squealed loudly again, leaping forward and embracing Pipp in a hug, much to the latter's uncertainty. Fluttershy, naturally, smiled to this display of affection, but Blueblood, finally seeing an out for himself, took the opportunity. "Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have other things that require my attention, so if you'll excuse me..."
And with that, he was off, leaving the other three to enjoy the relative silence of the garden without him. Silverstream, for her part, was once more at the task of going around the place and showering all the animals with love and joy in a way that even paled Fluttershy's efforts. And as for the animal-keeper herself, she stepped over to her long-time friend, speaking in that usual, calm way of hers. "Well, it's nice to have somecreature else who appreciates the garden."
Pipp smiled to her. "And hey, if she's going to stay for a bit, maybe this is the perfect opportunity for you to start socialising, like we discussed?"
Fluttershy dwelt on that, glancing over to the visiting princess. "No offense to Silverstream, but with a personality like hers around the palace, I don't think it would be possible for me to avoid socialising."