Cassie inhaled the warm, salty breeze and relaxed her shoulders as she exhaled and floated on her back in the warm water. It was just before six in the morning, and all of Silver Shoals seemed to yawn and stretch in unison as Starlight Glimmer, whom Twilight had left in charge of Equestria so that she could enjoy her vacation, lowered the moon and raised the sun. As always, the clear turquoise ocean was as calm as a mountain lake, and the beach was silent except for the calls of seagulls and the gentle lapping of the waves on the beach. Cassie loved this stretch of shoreline because it quite literally belonged to her; this beach was the property of the Crown, so she could swim and frolic in the sea to her heart's content and walk for miles without encountering anypony. She dipped beneath the waves, smiling at a school of small yellow and black striped fish who gathered to greet her with friendly nibbles on her muzzle.
"Well, good morning, everyone," she giggled as she surfaced and realized that the fish had followed her. "How's it going?"
"Better now that you're here, Princess!" one of the fish squeaked.
"We wish you could stay here with us forever," another chimed in.
"Could you tell the sharks not to eat us, Princess? Please?" another fish asked. "We're tired of hiding all the time."
"Oh, my dear little friends," Cassie sighed, "if I did that, I would upset the ocean's delicate balance. You see, you eat the seaweed down there, the sharks eat you--"
"--And the orcas eat the sharks. Yeah, yeah, we get it." An older fish waved her tail dismissively. "You don't need to lecture us about our ecosystem, land dweller. Do us all a favor and stick to what you know."
Though she had taken an aspirin before slipping out to the beach, Cassie groaned as a splitting headache reminded her of the events of the previous evening. Save for Celestia, all of the other royals were either still asleep or nursing their hangovers in bed. Not wanting to wait any longer to swim, Cassie had reluctantly stumbled out of bed and asked a servant to fix her a gigantic cup of coffee with specific instructions to pump said coffee full of as much sugar and espresso as possible. The light brown liquid had scalded Cassie's mouth as she downed the energizing beverage, but the pain was numbed significantly by Cassie's eagerness to commit to her morning swim, which was an essential part of her daily routine; still, even the most caffeinated drink in existence had done little to soothe her hangover. As she surfaced for air, Cassie realized that she probably still had last night's makeup on, so she magically removed it with a glamour spell, replacing it with a soft look made up of nothing but waterproof mascara and a bit of waterproof concealer that hid any evidence of her drunken escapades the night before.
As Cassie turned to swim back towards the shore, she found herself face to face with Fletcher. Startled, she forgot to tread water for a second and dipped underwater, then surfaced, coughing as she tried to catch her breath.
"You know," she huffed, "most ponies know they aren't supposed to sneak up on royalty. What's your deal?"
"Maybe I'm not most ponies," the stallion said, the left corner of his mouth turning upward in a playful smirk. "I'm sorry I scared you, Princess Cassie; well, actually, I'm only a little bit sorry. At least you know I exist now. It only took four years of high school plus what, three years of college for you? I heard you dropped out." His tone held no judgment whatsoever, Cassie noted. Her sudden exit from college had been a hot topic in the tabloids. Cassie had lost so many friends over that period.
"What are you, a stalker?" Cassie grumbled. "I have to go." She turned hastily and swam to shore, leaving Fletcher in her wake.
After her swim, Cassie felt refreshed and completely rejuvenated as she trotted back to the palace, where Celestia, Cadance, and Twilight were nibbling on some pancakes in the dining room.
"Good morning, Cassie," Celestia greeted her niece. "The guys are about to leave for the golf course, and the other ladies are still asleep."
"I had to call Starlight and remind her to raise the sun, though," Twilight giggled, rolling her eyes. "Since it's her first day filling in for me, I'm gonna cut her some slack; I am confident that she can handle all of my responsibilities for the entire summer. Spike is there to help her, so she'll be fine. I wouldn't have put her in charge if I didn't trust her completely." Twilight looked over at Celestia, seeming to want the former ruler to validate her decision.
"Twilight," Celestia said gently, "you don't need to explain yourself to me; you're doing well. Relax and enjoy this vacation, okay?" Twilight took a deep breath and nodded, trying to rein in her anxiety.
"Something smells like pancakes and regret," a cheerful voice called from the top of the stairs. Cassie reacted to her older sister's snide remark with an indignant snort as Neoma, the only pony who had been sober the night before, trotted into the dining room with a smug smile on her face, her multicolored mane falling in loose, tousled waves around her shoulders. The turquoise alicorn's smile turned genuine as her husband, Silver Shield, followed her to the table with a sleepy little Edelweiss on his back and gave Neoma a peck on her cheek before passing the filly to her mother, who took Edelweiss and positioned the foal on her lap. For the trillionth time, Cassie felt a surge of envy as she regarded Neoma's beauty and family.
"Shut up," Summer groaned from the nearby sofa in the living room where she had passed out the night before. The white alicorn's rose gold mane and tail were tangled and messy; clearly, the humidity of Silver Shoals was not doing her mane any favors. "It's too early in the morning to be so happy."
"Why are you talking so loudly?" Luna asked, holding her head as she plopped down at the dining room table. "You all woke me up. I didn't go to sleep until five-thirty because somepony challenged me to a drinking contest." She glared at Celestia, who smirked.
"You're just pissed because you lost," Celestia teased.
"Nana!" Edelweiss said loudly, giggling and reaching for Luna. The little white foal's face was sticky with syrup and pancake crumbs. Luna smiled lovingly at her granddaughter and grabbed a damp cloth to wipe Della's face.
"Somepony needs a diaper change," she cooed, kissing the filly's nose.
"Here, mom, I'll take her." Neoma stood and reached for her daughter, but Luna shook her head.
"Don't worry about it," Luna said as she rose to her hooves and shifted Edelweiss onto her back. "I never get to spend enough time with my darling Della. It is always a privilege to change her. What do you think, my little one? Would you like to go with your mommy, or do you want Nana Lulu to change your diaper?" She turned to look at her granddaughter, who giggled.
"Auntie Cassie!" Edelweiss proclaimed, eliciting chuckles from everypony in the room as she turned to look at her aunt. Cassie chuckled and lifted her niece from Luna's back, then turned towards the nursery with Neoma in tow.
"What do you want?" Cassie asked Neoma coolly as she laid Edelweiss on the changing table. She breathed through her mouth, quickly removed the foal's soiled diaper, and began to wipe her clean.
"I'm worried about you, Cass." Neoma sat down in the rocking chair. "You've been fine since we got here, but what are you going to do after we get back to Canterlot? Mom tells me everything; I know all about your partying, smoking weed, doing who-knows-what-else. I just..." she paused, sighing. "Look, you're my little sister, and I'm only trying to protect you. I'm honestly surprised that Mom is even letting you go off by yourself every morning after everything you've done. I feel partially responsible for your shitty behavior, too, considering how often I covered for you when you were sneaking out. I'm telling you, Cassie, Mom is not a fun pony to mess with."
"And how would you know that?" Cassie asked, trying to control her temper as she changed Edelweiss into a clean diaper and leaned over to tickle the foal with belly blasts, which made her niece squeal with laughter. "You never stepped out of line when we were fillies, Neoma--not once. You've always been the perfect princess, student, daughter, wife, mother. I could go on forever about how much everypony loves you. You've always been pretty and popular. You've never fought with Mom; hell, you've always idolized her, and she constantly talks about how proud she is of you. I feel like no matter what I do, I'll always stay in your shadow. All I can do is talk to sea animals. I'm useless in Canterlot." Cassie waited for some sort of response from her older sister; instead, Neoma's silence spoke volumes.
"Auntie Cassie, are you sad?" Edelweiss asked, a look of worry in her eyes. After Cassie had set her down on the floor, Edelweiss waddled over to her toy chest and grabbed her beloved stuffed frog, which she offered to Cassie.
"Mistuh Fwoggy always make me feel bedduh," the filly said. "You can hab him, but ya hafta gib him back before nap time, otay, Auntie Cassie?" Cassie's eyes began to water at the purity of her little niece's attempt to cheer her up, and she knelt down so that she was at eye level with Edelweiss.
"You are the kindest little princess in Equestria, my sweet Della," Cassie told Edelweiss, kissing the foal's cheek and taking her niece's most treasured toy. "I think I'll take you up on that offer. I promise to take really good care of Mister Froggy; thank you for letting me hold onto him for a while."
"You welcome," Edelweiss replied. "Why you cwying? Are you still sad, Auntie? It gonna be otay."
"Oh, no, Della," Cassie said, laughing through her tears. "Sometimes, ponies feel so happy that they start crying. You've just made my day, my precious little Edelweiss." She kissed her niece's cheek again, wondering how such a kind little foal could have come from a pony who acted so coldly towards her own sister.
"Come to the beach with us this afternoon," Cassie blurted. "Everypony's going. The guys are taking a break from golfing, so I wanted to find a way for all of us to spend time together." Her heart thudded against the hollow walls of her chest as she prayed that Neoma would accept her offer. The cyan alicorn's ice blue eyes widened at Cassie's suggestion.
"I mean, I was planning on watching, but since you scheduled our beach outing for during Della's nap time, I don't think it will be a problem. I can’t remember the last time I hung out with other adults, without any foals," Neoma said slowly. "Okay, I'm in." Cassie clapped her hooves excitedly.
The warm turquoise water sparkled like a massive diamond in the warm afternoon sunshine as everypony trotted out onto the beach. Edelweiss was resting peacefully in the palace under the caring eye of her nanny, so Neoma and Silver seemed much more relaxed than Cassie had seen them in a long time. Cadance flopped dramatically into her lounger and promptly ordered a mimosa while Flurry went for a walk along the beach with her boyfriend, a Pegasus named Fireblood. Celestia rolled over onto her stomach, and Twilight buried her nose into her new book. Luna and Phoebus chatted with Neoma, and Cassie headed straight out into the ocean, body surfing and diving underneath the gentle waves. Her spirits lifted as the sea embraced her like an old friend.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Cassie’s head. She swam to shore and gathered everypony together. Perplexed, the other princesses followed Cassie into the water until they were in up to their chests. Luna exchanged a knowing smile with her youngest daughter, then Cassie spoke up.
“You all have to trust me,” she announced. “Don’t freak out, okay?”
“What are you doing, Cassie?” Caution was written all over Twilight’s face. Cassie chuckled and sent a signal from her horn. A few seconds later, the water’s calm surface was broken by several towering dorsal fins, and the stillness of the afternoon came to an end with innumerable loud puffs as fifty orcas surfaced for air. Cadance’s jaw dropped.
“They’re… magnificent,” the princess of love whispered. “Are they safe? Is it okay for us to be so close to them?”
"Yeah, they're gentle," Cassie assured her.
"Cassie, are you sure this is a good idea?" Neoma asked, narrowing her eyes dubiously. "These are killer whales. Maybe we should start with some smaller dolphins?"
"Neoma," Cassie said, "the dolphins that everypony thinks are so cute, are actually assholes. An orca has never attacked a pony in the wild; these guys are incredibly docile for their size. For once, sister, can't you trust me? This is my area of expertise."
"You studied marine biology for two semesters, Cassie," Neoma snapped. "You're a fish therapist, we get it; excuse me for not fawning over you like everypony else." Wounded, Cassie huffed and turned away from her sister, who sat back down in her beach lounger and took a selfie. The pink alicorn shrugged, then turned back to the huge creatures in front of her as Hoku swam up to them.
"Hello, sweetness," Cassie softly greeted the orca, stroking her side. Cadance was the first to venture closer, asking Cassie for permission to touch Hoku with her eyes. Cassie smiled at the older princess' giddiness when she reached out to stroke the killer whale. Polaris lay on her back, receiving a belly rub from Twilight. Luna was busy cooing over naughty little Aurora, who was obviously enjoying dousing the princess of the night with mouthfuls of water.
Even as she watched her two families play and interact, Cassie couldn't shake the nagging twinge of bitterness that had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach. She knew that Polaris sensed her discomfort; the orca swam to Cassie's side and gave her a soft nuzzle, asking what was wrong.
"My sister," Cassie replied telepathically in the orca's native tongue. "You wouldn't understand. Your entire sense of self is literally owned by your family. You guys have no individuality, really. Life is so much easier for you."
Polaris replied with some empty platitudes about staying positive, and Cassie rolled her eyes. She left the sea, sending the orcas off as the sun began to set.