"....Are you sure AJ can't come?"
"Yeah.... AJ is out with family in Appleloosa"
"What about Pinkie?"
"Pinkie....well, she'd like to....but you know she's about to become a mom in a couple of weeks now. The Doctor said she shouldn't be up and about too much so close to her due date....Especially with twins. It's cool though, it'll still be fun with just you and me."
"Well..."
".....Is something wrong?"
"I've got a summit up in Manehattan. We're meeting with delegates from Saddle Arabia, I have to be there"
"....But I thought you said you'd have a month in Ponyville before you'd have to leave on business again."
"I know, I know! Celestia sprang it on me, I didn't know until yesterday...I'm really sorry"
"It's fine"
"Dash...."
"It's fine, Twi. Really."
Four hooves landed on the floor with a delicate click. Lavender wings spread slightly to keep balance. Unruly strands of navy and pink hair bobbed in tangled bedhead curls.
Princess Twilight walked to the hotel bathroom.
It was extravagant, of course. No miniature amenities or sub-par showers in sight. She washed her face and rubbed it clean with a down soft towel, recalling how impressed she had been the first time she had stepped inside a hotel on Princess travel. The picture of the foyer arose in her mind, the memory having been firmly planted in her brain by her sheer astonishment. There had been a diamond chandelier, she remembered. A little impractical for a hotel maybe, but the way it had shone in the light like a mobile of captured stars made it seem worth it. It had all been so unreal, like something taken out of a filly-hood fantasy. Every little pony wanted to be a princess after all.
Now, though they hadn't yet managed to leave lines on her face, the years had eroded away all the allure and magic from the luxury she was bathed in. Twilight's horn glowed as she applied a combing spell to her mane, watching as all the little strands smoothed out obediently under her magic. The opulence just fell a little flat now.
She took her crown in her magical aura, nestling it upon her now pristine mane before stepping into the little hooflets that were so terribly uncomfortable. Twilight wondered why they were so glamorized. Back when she had been in school, every little filly wanting to look like a mare wished they had a set, and even today, they were a symbol of high fashion and luxury and wealth. Nowhere near as durable or practical as horseshoes...but beautiful. Impossible to gallop in...but glamorous.
Twilight's crown felt very heavy as she lifted her head high like she had been taught.
That was the hardest part of course, of getting ready. The hooflets, the crown, the gleaming fur, the hair, they were all trivial compared to it. You had to have the right expression. Head high, proud but not arrogant, smiling, but not too wide. Calm, cool, collected. Never flustered, certainly never panicked. Just calm, and warm, and smiling a perfect smile. Her smile had always been too wide when she had first started, too excited, too eager, too naive.
Now she had to push it the other way, struggling to lift the corners of her lips into a warmer expression.
Normal smiles were so much easier. They just were, no adjustments, no careful masks, normal smiles were never too wide...But Twilight thought about the things that made her smile, her friends, her library, Spike and the rest of her family, the little things, and realized that she probably wouldn't be able to smile a normal smile where she was anyways. So she let the practiced smile fall onto her face, and lifted her head, gazing into the mirror. She looked serene, wise, beautiful...but it wasn't quite perfect. Maybe after she had a thousand's years practice, like Celestia, she would be better at it.
As Twilight looked critically over herself to see if she had missed any details, she went over her set activities for the day in her head.
Leave the hotel room. Smile at the cameras. Meet with the delegates. Smile at the delegates. Listen to the other Princesses talk to the delegates. Nod and agree whenever Celestia looks at you. Think of a useful suggestion to make in the negotiation. Do not say that suggestion because Celestia hasn't looked at you so it's not even your turn to nod and agree, much less talk. Don't forget to never look flustered. Don't drum you hooves on the table. Smile.
Twilight sighed through her not quite perfect imitation of serenity, then lifted her head a bit higher, and walked towards the door, taking careful measures not to look out the window, through which one could see a little town off in the distance, if you peered hard enough.
She opened the door, and smiled at the blinding camera flashes. Making sure to keep her head high, and fight the mounting pressure to hunch her shoulders and duck her head against the tide of media. Never flustered. Always calm.
She successfully navigated the gauntlet of her hotel hall, making it to the hotel entrance. There were Celestia and Luna and Cadence each looking varying degrees of comfortable.
Cadence was doing quite well, her smile even a touch too wide. She always been a people pony, calmly interacting with every pony so gracefully that Twilight couldn't help feel a little pang of jealousy sometimes. While not exactly completely at ease, she looked more comfortable than Twilight could ever hope to be.
Luna was not faring quite as well. The darker alicorn ducked her head slightly to the wave of media, looking desperately awkward in front of the question-vomiting news-mare. What she lacked in front of the paparazzi though, she made up tenfold in the conference room. Luna had a knack for negotiations that even Celestia did not quite posses, always knowing the right thing to say.
Then there was the Solar Princess herself, as relaxed and calm as if she were taking a hot bath. She soaked up the media's attention like a sponge, responding politely and warmly to any inquisition posed at her. Her smile was never too wide or too small, and her always had the look of a loving mother. You wanted to please her and respect her and listen to her.
Twilight felt her knees lock and care fully relaxed them. Never frazzled. Smile. It was a lot harder to smile today. The normally challenging task becoming neigh impossible as her face refused to cooperate.
"Is something wrong, Princess?"
At the simple question, panic flooded through Twilight like a stab from a needle. She had let her serenity slip. She had failed.
The purple alicorn felt herself involuntarily backing up, wings spreading fearfully. As she looked up in agitation, she was met with everypony's eyes resting on her. She opened her mouth, only to find that her brain had seized up ......Her cheeks were wet.... how long had she been crying?
"I..." Twilight's voice shook as she finally forced her throat to make words, her eyes darting from side to side until the fell upon a window. A window through which, if you peered hard enough, you could see a little town, way off into the distance "I have to go."
Her wings didn't need telling twice, propelling her out of the building and up, away from everything.
Princess Twilight flew towards Ponyville.
It was sunset when Twilight's hooves touched down on cloud, wings hanging loosely at her sides from exhaustion. She walked up to the house rising up of the clouds before her, and rapped firmly on the door. As it opened, Twilight felt her eyes prickle with tears. She smiled much, much too wide.
"Twilight?" Dash said in surprise "But I thought you were-"
She was off with with a hug "Happy Birthday, Rainbow Dash"
Somewhere inside the house, Twilight heard the radio talking about her.
She didn't give a flying feather.