Another month has gone by, and after the shock from Philomenia being sick, things calmed down quite abit as life slowed to a daily crawl. Princess Luna told me I should try having more "fun," but being stuck in Canterlot dealing with snobbish nobles all day made me reflect on Ponyville and how much more fun it was to be around Twilight and her friends. It made me even more excited as I went through my morning routine and wanted to go to Ponyville. After fixing my mane and positioning my regalia onto my body, I grabbed Philomena. I gently placed her into a cage as we headed off to a chariot with two royal guards, and then we soared off toward Ponyville. We went straight to Fluttershy's cottage, where I knocked on her door gently and asked, "Fluttershy, are you there?"
"Coming, princess!"
The yellow-coated pegasus then opened the door slowly as she peered up with a smile on her face. "Oh, princess! I didn't expect to see you so soon!?"
"Yes, well, we wrapped up court early today, and I thought it was best to give you Philomenia to care for." I opened the cage, Philomenia flew off and straight towards the pegasus, and Fluttershy hugged the phoenix. "Oh, Philomena, I'm so happy to see you again!"
The phoenix cooed as he nuzzled into Fluttershy's chest. As I came through the doorway, my heart skipped a beat seeing the heartfelt scene, and then commented, "Well, it's so great to see you together!"
"Of course! We had so much fun despite her being sick. She's looking much healthier now."
"All thanks to you and Zecora; I'm making you two the royal phoenix caretakers from henceforth!"
I then trotted through the doorway, and we settled next to each other as I unfurled my wings. I blushed as I turned my head toward her and asked, "Do you mind?"
"Of course not, princess, come here," Fluttershy whispered. She then went to work preparing them. I relaxed as she slowly dug through my feathers. I was much more accustomed and less squeamish than when we first did this. After she finished, the pegasus looked up and asked, "Princess…would you mind if you preened my wings as well?"
I paused as I was taken by surprise by the request and asked, "Are you sure? I, um...haven't preened another pony for a while."
"Well, yes…I thought it would be nice if you tried it as well. I need a good preening."
She then turned around and unfurled her wings. I couldn't help but feel abit embarrassed as I bent towards the yellow feathers. Memories of me preening my sister came into mind, and I started to gently take out the bent feathers and clean them with my mouth. I did this for a few hours as Philomena napped in Fluttershy's lap. It was so relaxing.
I yawned as I got up and stretched my wings, "Well, I have a few hours before I have to give a speech and raise the sun. Would you mind watching Phiolmenia until then?"
Fluttershy peered up with excitement in her eyes and chirped, "Of course, I would love to!"
I then bent down and whispered, "Thanks for the preening…and watching Philomenia after she got that flu. I just don't feel comfortable leaving her by herself." I threw some sheets over the two, slowly trotted out the door, and flew off into the night sky.
I went to the town Hall where Mayor Mare and Twilight hosted the big party for the summer sun celebration. Then I saw Princess Luna waiting for me as she eyed me. I gently flapped as I settled before her as she asked, "sister, why are you late? I thought we planned to be here by midnight?"
"I apologize; I had to visit Fluttershy and give her Philomena."
"Right…so do you have a speech prepared?"
"Of course I do!" I then rambled on about my speech about unity, love, and, most importantly, forgiveness."
"So what do you think?"
Luna paused and gave a nod. "I think it's fine; reinforcing that we should forgive and love each other is always good."
"I, um...have to say I still feel uncomfortable celebrating this day."
Princess Luna rolled her eyes, "Please, sister, I'm way over my Nightmare Moon Phase; I'll take this as an opportunity to see this as a time to learn and grow, then focus on the past."
I nodded in agreement, as that was what I wanted to focus on in my speech, and said, "I know it's fine. I asked my advisors, and they said It's good, but it feels so formal…I just think I should try something different."
"I understand, but I mean… it's just a speech."
"Yes, it's just that as you told me a few months ago that I should try having fun, and yet I find myself dealing with the monotony of the day in and day out of being a princess."
Princess Luna tapped a hoof to her chin, "Well if you want things to be more interesting, why don't you have Pinkie Pie help set something up for tomorrow?"
I became rather excited as she chirped, "That sounds like a great idea! I have the speech and to prepare for some other things. Can you talk to her for me?"
"Of course I can! You just focus on the formalities. I'll get something interesting set up!"
We hugged, and then I headed off to my entourage of guards as they escorted me to the balcony above the ponies. As it hit five AM, I came forward and threw my wings as everyone clapped and cheered as I started my speech…
After raising the sun again, I was coming back down. I celebrated that morning by sending my sister to the moon, which has been a sore subject, reflecting on Princess Celestia's other memories. I stood above my subjects as I did the usual boring speeches and tried to inspire the ponies of Ponyville. But it seemed so hollow I felt as if I still had this nagging feeling to try something different. I was about to fly off but then turned my attention to a pink-coated earth pony bounding towards me with this energetic smile. Pinkie Pie jumped at me and exclaimed, "Hey, Princess Celestia! Your sister Princess Luna told me you wanted to do something together!"
I smiled at her, seeing Pinkie brightening my day, and then asked, "Yes, that is correct. I was thinking of doing something together to make this celebration more interesting."
"Yes?"
"So I remember reading you love cake! And I thought we could do a cake-eating contest?"
I was somewhat surprised by what Pinkie Pie just said and squeaked, "Cupcake eating contest!?"
"Yeah! A Cupcake eating contest! You vs. Me!"
I couldn't help but agree. I smiled at her and asked, "Yes, that sounds fine; how about I help baking?"
Pinkie was rather shocked, then exclaimed, "woah, you bake!?"
I scoffed at the notion and said, "Of course I bake! I baked Luna a birthday cake every year when we were little!"
"Then there's no time to waste!" Pinkie then took me by the hoof, led me through the streets, and headed to Sugarcube Corner. I blinked and was now wearing a cute pink and white apron tied around my waist and a chef's hat on my head.
Pinkie stepped back and, with a blush, smirked as she said, "You look really good in that."
I couldn't help but blush and said, "Thank you."
They then went to work together, and they went about pouring the ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, milk, and eggs. I hummed a tune as we whisked and baked together, sharing jokes and discussing how things would be formed and decorated for hours. Time seemed to flow so fast, and I was surprised to look up at the clock and see it was noon.
I yawned and then went and brewed some coffee, and then as my back was turned, I squeaked as a bunch of flour was dumped on my head. I coughed as flour bellowed around me and turned to see Pinkie Pie squeaking, "Sorry princess, that bag of flour had a hole in it.
I smirked, taking a sack of flour and tossing it at Pinkie, squeaking as she ducked.d then I blasted the bag with magic, and then it exploded, covering the entire kitchen in flour.
Pinkie bounced up, smirking, "So you want to do this?"
"Oh, you're so on!"
We then both started tossing bags of flour at each other as we ducked and ran around the kitchen. I then hid behind a counter full of pots and pans and looked over, wondering where she could have gone. Then I heard.
"Hey, Princess Celestia!"
I turned around and saw Pinkie behind me with her party cannon and the whisk with a fire ignited on the end of the wick sizzling. Then, without warning, there was an explosion, and I was suddenly hit by a sack of flour bursting into a massive cloud.
"Another point for pinkie is three to zero!"
"No fair!"
I flew up, picked up five of the bags, and had them circle around me as I started firing them, and then Pinkie Pie continued to dodge them seamlessly. It was clear she was much more agile and clever than I. She could even grab one and toss it right back, exploding me in the face. At this point, I was no match for the pink party pony, and she flew down and bowed. "Pinkie, I concede you are now the princess of cake and flour!"
Pinkie Pie started to laugh mianically and cried, "Yes, now let the party will last forever!"
Celestia then took the opportunity to slam a cake into her face. "Ha, got you!"
Pinkie wiped the cake off her face, then, with a smirk, snapped, "Oh, now you so on!"
I didn't realize how long our cake fight went. Still, when Mr. and Mrs. Cake came into the kitchen, I became self-aware and saw that their mouth had gone agape as the entire place was a complete mess with flour and cake all over, and we both liked two toddlers who had gotten ourselves into a giant mess. For the first time, I felt that I might have screwed up being the princess being caught in such an embarrassing manner.
I immediately came to the ground, then bowed and said, "I apologize for the mess things have gotten out of control."
Mrs. Cake, still looking confused, slowly nodded and mumbled to herself, "I see…"
Pinkie Pie bounced over and chirped, "Don't worry, the princess. I and I were just blowing off some steam; we'll clean up!"
Mr Cake nodded and said, "um, ok...just uh, just let us know if you need anything."
The Cakes then slowly left the room, and then I blushed and whispered, "We better get this place cleaned up."
"Way ahead of ya!"
The two mares then got to work cleaning up the kitchen, and after it was cleaned, Pinkie Pie and I took two massive platters filled with cupcakes. We then set off into the middle of Ponyville, where an enormous crowd formed. They all started whispering, and some giggled. I realized they must enjoy seeing me in the baker's outfit and apron. Princess Luna soared above them as she shouted, "Now fillies and gentle ponies, here come contestants in the summer sun cupcake eating contest!"
I was so overwhelmed by how many ponies showed up we sat across from each other.
"Now the rules are simple: you each have a platter of twenty cupcakes each, and the first to eat them all wins, but if you collapse or puke, you're out! Understood!"
"Yes, Princess Luna," Pinkie chirped.
"Of course, sister seems fair," I chimed.
"So on your marks…"
At that, I settled in on my seat and glared at my platter of cupcakes, preparing to give it my all.
"Get Set!"
I took the first cupcake within my magic, levitating it towards my face, and watched Pinkie Pie stack three together like a cupcake sandwich. Clearly, I was going to have to give it my all to keep up with her.
"Go!"
At "Go!" I started chowing down on the first cupcake and moaning at the flavor. It was so good! Being a vanilla-flavored cupcake with strawberry icing, it was delicious! I continued to chomp at the cakes individually, maybe savoring them too long. As I got to the sixth cupcake, I started to feel a bit sick, and that was when I looked across the table and saw that Pinkie Pie was smirking, chowing away on her fifteenth cupcake. It was clear she was way faster than me, and at this rate, I would most definitely lose. I tried to chow down on my platter of cupcakes even faster as I shoved them into my face and swallowed them whole. But as I got through about nineteen cupcakes, I groaned, unable to hold down everything in my stomach. It took a lot of willpower to keep myself from hurling. Then I looked up to see Pinkie was her second platter and going for forty! I honestly couldn't believe she could tackle chowing down so many cupcakes and not even look phased. The worst part was that everyone who was at first cheering me on was cheering Pinkie Pie's name, as it was clear I was going to lose. I then tried to finish the last cupcake on my platter at least, but as I took a bite, I groaned, feeling myself collapse, and raised a white flag in defeat before completely blacking out.