//------------------------------// // Tea Parties and the Great Cake Capper // Story: Of Time To Remember // by The DM //------------------------------// Twilight blinked as she dropped her quill. She had since stopped trying to take notes and had just listened to the last bit of Donovan’s story. Nothing of what was being said made any sense to the young scholar. If it wasn’t for the nods and other expressions coming from both Celestia and Luna, she would have likely dismissed everything as a bad joke. “So, this fungus... thing, saved Princess Celestia from being ponynapped?” Twilight asked. Kayne nodded. “Yup. A Savage Thalid, to be precise.” Twilight turned to the solar princess for a more elaborate answer. “And your father was okay with this?” “He was. In fact, he liked the idea of having a powerful creature acting as my guardian. It never slept, never ate, and never asked questions. At first I was... more than a bit resentful to having something following me around all the time, but in the days following the incident, I understood why it was a necessity,” Celestia replied with a light shrug. “Though your mom was a lot more... apprehensive about having aggressive sentient fungus watching over her only daughter,” Donovan added with a chuckle. “But she accepted it later, right?” Twilight asked as she looked between Celestia and Kayne. “She did, though it took a bit of work,” Kayne replied with a grin ~~~<<<>>>~~~ “You want to do what?!” Queen Nocturne screamed at the two individuals sitting in a pair of chairs. Kayne was doing his best to examine every detail of the floor, while Solaris was doing his best to keep his wife from tearing off his head. “I just think it would be wise to have a... guardian, with her at all times,” the king said meekly. “It would make me feel better knowing she was safe from anypony who would want to do her harm.” The queen continued to circle the two like a shark sizing up prey. “And what happens when her ‘guardian’ feels like having a snack?” Kayne raised his index finger slowly before speaking. “To be fair, most of my fungus don’t actually eat. They photosynthesize sunlight and breakdown other organic plant material. Plus they aren’t capable of making their own decisions. They only do what I tell them to do.” Nocturne eyed the Planeswalker critically before continuing her pacing. “I’m still not comfortable leaving my daughter alone with something so... unpredictable.” Kayne sighed. “Again, it will only do what I tell it to do. How about a compromise?” The queen stopped her pacing and looked at the Planeswalker. “Oh?” “I’ll summon something smaller. Like, a normal thalid; I’ll even make it one of the adorable dog-like ones. That way she still has something guarding her at all times, while still not being powerful enough to crush every pony in it’s path,” Kayne offered with a nervous grin. “Show me first,” the queen demanded. Kayne removed his spellbook from his waist and quickly began flipping through the pages before stopping on the intended spell. Queen Nocturne peered over the edge of the book to get a better look at the picture. The small fungus creature was a quadruped that looked like a small dog than a plant. It’s body was white and green and was shaped like a clove of garlic turned on it’s side. Even Nocturne had to admit that the creature looked fairly harmless. “Satisfied?”   The queen eyed the small thalid and nodded. “I suppose this would be fine.” “I’m going to interject here,” the king said bravely. “I would request that you keep the other creature available, just in case.” This remark earned the king an immediate, and intense, glare from his wife. Being an astute and observant Planeswalker, Kayne quickly spoke up, preventing what could have become the marital argument to end the world. “Sure, I’ll keep the Savage Thalid around, but hidden in a way that no one will know it’s there.” Nocturne sighed as she looked at Kayne. “Make sure of it.” ~~~<<<>>>~~~ “So she dropped the subject? Just like that?” Twilight asked as she set down her quill. “Pretty much. She knew that a compromise like that would be the only way to get anything done. Besides, I’m pretty sure that she knew the security of her daughter was worth keeping a monstrous thalid around,” Kayne replied with a shrug. “A monstrous thalid? Shall I remind the court of the time you summoned Mycoloth so Celestia could have a tea party in the gardens?” Ziggle said with a sly grin. “Isn’t a mycoloth a type of mushroom?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. Kayne nodded. “Indeed it is. It’s also the name of my favorite summon. Mycoloth,” he said as he flipped through his spellbook before turning it so Twilight could see the page, “is a fungus that allows me to generate a near limitless and constant supply of saprolings. It’s great for when you need an army in a pinch.” “So... you summoned it... for a tea party?” Twilight deadpanned as she slowly shifted her gaze to Celestia. The princess in question was hiding her face behind a giant white wing. Luna seemed to be nudging her sister while wearing the best shit eating grin imaginable. “Yup. I’ve even got the pictures!” Ziggle exclaimed as he flipped through the back pages of his spellbook. Sure enough, there was a filly Celestia sitting at a table with a different shaped saproling at each seat. All of them were wearing a different type of hat and occasionally a shiny bead necklace. Twilight almost fell off her chair laughing as she came across a picture of Celestia pouring tea for a saproling wearing a large sun hat, much like ones her friend Rarity wore often. Noticing that Celestia seemed on the verge of dying of embarrassment, Donovan felt it was time to level the playing field. “Don’t worry, Luna. I have plenty of great stories about you. Ones I’m sure your sister would love to hear,” the Planeswalker said with a sly grin. Luna’s face instantly dropped as his words sank in, prompting a smirk from Celestia. “You do?” Twilight asked as she finally recomposed herself. “Oh yes. Like the time Luna got a few myrs and tried to stage a kitchen raid,” Donovan said as he chuckled. Now it was Luna’s turn to hide behind a wing. “She was... five years old at this point and, as most children are, was quite fond of sweets. Cake was a particular favorite of both sisters, but Luna acted on her impulses a bit more frequently than Celestia. Anyway, one day, Luna enlisted the help of a few myrs that I had assigned to keep an eye on her and just be generally helpful.” “Oh, they were helpful alright. Up to the point where they stabbed me in the back...” Luna mumbled from behind her wing. Donovan chuckled. “Right, well Luna here had a craving for cake one day and went off with a few myrs to procure some. Now, she managed to get into the kitchen without being noticed. Even more incredible was how she managed to find the cake destined to be that night’s dessert. From what I was told, the myrs formed a ladder so that she could climb up to the counter and retrieve her spoils. This is where her plan fell apart. The cake was much too heavy for her to carry on her own, especially since her magic was still too uncontrollable to safely carry the cake. So she instead gave the cake to the myrs to carry,” Donovan began laughing as he recounted the tale. “Just get on with it,” Luna mumbled while Celestia nudged her younger sister. “As soon as she gave the cake to the myrs, they took off at a full sprint. Now, during all of this, I was sitting with the king and queen, enjoying some tea and just having some pleasant conversation. The next thing I know, five myrs run in through the door carrying a cake, followed by a very annoyed looking Luna. I swear, her expression went from unbridled fury to absolute horror in a nano second. She knew she had been caught red-hooved, and just froze up in the doorway.” Twilight was having an incredibly hard time keeping down her laughter. A loud thunk emanated from Luna as she dropped her forehead onto the table. “I can’t imagine Solaris was very happy.” Donovan chuckled as he reached over and began to rub Luna’s left ear. ”He wasn’t at first and was thinking of a way to punish her. Nocturne, however, figured that the mortification and lack of dessert that night was punishment enough.” It was at this time that Celestia let out a wide yawn as she looked over to a nearby wall clock. “Well, it’s late and I really should get some sleep. Good night everypony, goodnight cake bandit.” Luna groaned an incoherent response as Donovan continued to rub her ear. “I should probably do the same. It’s been a long day,” Twilight added as she picked up her scrolls and writing implements. Ziggle leaned back in his chair as he stretched his arms out. “Yeah, sleep sounds nice. Got any guest rooms we could take over for a few days?” Celestia nodded. “Certainly. Twilight, would be willing to show them the guest rooms?” “Of course,” Twilight replied with a nod. Donovan finally let go he Luna’s ear as he stood up, eliciting a groan of disappointment from the lunar princess. “C’mon, don’t you have court soon?” “Yeah, yeah. Not like anypony really shows up to it anyway,” Luna mumbled as she straightened out her crown. With all said and done, Twilight led the three Planeswalkers out of the dining hall and toward the guest rooms. The four of them walked in silence until they came to the base of the tower that held their rooms. “Twilight, I think it’s time you know exactly why we are really here,” Donovan began. “Are you sure this is the time?” Kayne asked with a raised eyebrow. The young scholar looked up at Donovan curiously. “What do you mean?” “The reason we are here is not some spontaneous visit. In fact, it has been planned for hundreds of years. Luckily for us, Celestia doesn’t seem to remember,” the Planeswalker replied. Twilight suddenly found herself feeling a bit uneasy. “Oh...kay... so then what is it?” “You must first promise me that you will not tell anyone about this, and I mean anyone. No one can know our true reason for being here until the right moment. Deal?” Kayne added, his voice taking on a very serious tone. “I... I suppose. Is it something serious?” “Very. We only have three days to prepare for an event of monumental importance. An event that modern Equestria hasn’t experienced in over a millennium,” Ziggle said. “W-what is it?” Twilight asked, trying her best to keep her rampant mind from concocting multiple doomsday scenarios. “Celestia’s birthday,” Kayne finally said. Twilight blinked as she looked at the Planeswalkers. “That’s it? Celestia’s birthday?” “Not just any birthday! But her fifteen hundredth birthday!” Ziggle nearly shouted. “All that dramatic set up for a birthday!?” Twilight said with a hint of anger. Kayne put his hands up defensively. “To be fair, she is turning fifteen hundred.” Twilight groaned as she rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “I get it that Celestia’s birthday is important, but really? Did you need to make it sound like a doomsday scenario?” Ziggle shrugged. “Eh, the dramatic emphasis was my idea. I think Kayne could have been a bit more convincing.” At this remark, the Planeswalker in question reached out and punched Ziggle in the side, knocking him against the wall. “Point is, she hasn’t celebrated her birthday in one thousand three hundred and twenty six years. We intend to break that record in three days, of which, we will need your help.” “Okay, but why wouldn’t Celestia celebrate her birthday? Especially for so long?” Twilight asked with a hint of worry. “Birthday parties get a bit... tiring, after your first two hundred. Plus it’s kinda hard to fit enough candles on a cake without lighting the whole damn thing on fire,” Ziggle replied with a chuckle. “Huh... makes sense. What do you need me to do?” “You mentioned a Princess Cadance?” Donovan asked. “Yeah, she’s my brother’s wife, and niece to Celestia and Luna. Why?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. “Great. Convince her to come to Canterlot,” Donovan said with a nod. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” Twilight replied confidently. “Well then, let’s all get some rest. We’re going to have a busy few days. And Twilight, we’ll tell you the story of Discord tomorrow. Bring some scrolls, you’re going to want to take notes. Though I don’t want to see anything published. Keep them to yourself,” Kayne announced. Twilight nodded as the Planeswalkers walked up the steps to their rooms. In all her years of studying, and all the trials she had faced with her friends, nothing had prepared her for this.