The walk back was much more sedate than the impromptu race that preceded it, but despite the slower pace, they soon arrived at the castle. Not long after they had passed through the gates, they were confronted with the inevitable reality of royal duty. As they entered the courtyard, a shadow, cast by something above, fell over them. Together, they looked up to see a pegasus Guard descending out of the sky. Cadance wouldn’t know who it was, but it took Shining Armor only a moment to recognize his old friend High Road.
High Road dropped to the ground a short distance in front of them, bowing as he folded his wings. “Good afternoon, your highness,” he said. He pulled out a scroll and continued, “Princess Celestia sent me to bring you the official overseer’s checklist for the Summer Sun Celebration.”
Cadance glanced upwards again to see where the pegasus had come from, wondering if Celestia was overhead somewhere looking down upon them, but she only got the sun in her eyes for her trouble. Instead, she looked back at the Guard, who passed her the scroll. Smiling, she thanked him and unfurled it so she could start reading. “Festival booths, weather schedule, city decorations, Guard fanfare, very important ponies … this is a lot to handle, I hope I can do it all in time.”
High Road nodded. “It’s a two-pony job, at least. Princess Celestia said she would never ask anypony else to do it alone.” He gave Shining Armor a quick glance.
Shining Armor remembered what Celestia had said in the throne room. She was counting on them. “We won’t let the Princess down.”
“I’m sure she knows.” An encouraging little grin broke across High Road’s face before he spread his wings, preparing to take flight. “I’ll let you two get to work.”
They spent that afternoon preparing for the Celebration. It passed quickly, though that was less because they were having fun and more because they had so much to do. Cadance and Shining Armor were glad they had gotten a break between running to the train station and meeting High Road, because being the official overseers seemed to involve a lot of hoofwork.
Festival booth registrations were ostensibly submitted to the records office in the castle, but when Cadance and Shining Armor arrived, the harried clerk stationed there sent them away with a list of booths that had errors in their paperwork.
Thankfully, Cherry Fizzy and his pegasi caught up to them. With the corporal’s odd knowledge of mundane castle minutia, they managed to resolve most of the paperwork. What they couldn’t resolve they gave to Star Hunter and Sunburst, who ended up flying all around Canterlot to notify ponies that they needed to correct their information.
As they returned from a business that sold candy suns, Star Hunter asked, “Is that the last of them?” Sunburst shot him a surprised look.
Cadance missed it, because she was looking at the checklist. She replied, “Yes, thank you.”
“Of course, your highness.” Sunburst replied. The different, somewhat apologetic and less exasperated voice caused Cadance to look up, but she saw nothing except two completely stoic pegasi. She returned to the checklist.
The weather schedule was fairly easy. There were only two kinds of weather that were acceptable for this occasion: mildly cloudy, for the sun to shine through gloriously, or perfectly clear. This year called for the latter, so they checked that the request had been submitted to the Cloudsdale weather crew. The pegasi they spoke with didn’t even seem bothered by the fact their work was being examined by a princess. They proudly claimed that not one cloud would be in the sky come sunrise.
“Silly overconfident weatherponies …” Cherry Fizzy muttered.
“It was refreshing to be treated like a normal pony,” said Cadance. “I think we can trust them to keep the skies clear.”
The city decorations and fanfare were also simple. They were both being supervised by Lieutenant Meadow Song. With his jolly attitude and a group of enthusiastic helpers, including both Guards and volunteers, it was easy to tell that the task was in good hooves. In fact, the real challenge was in dragging themselves away from the activities so they could start the next item.
“I knew you guys were good at having fun!” Cadance exclaimed, giggling as they left. She had enjoyed working with the decorating ponies more than expected. There were still balloons tied to her mane, pulling her hair into a ponytail and making her look like a high school filly … with balloons floating over her head.
“Well, that’s just Meadow Song.” Shining Armor said. Then he paused, reconsidering. “I mean, the rest of us like having fun, too, it’s just, you know, he’s pretty good at it.” He didn’t notice a streamer that Meadow Song had stuck in his mane. Sunburst quietly removed it for him.
It turned out the first four items had taken all afternoon. As the sun dipped below the horizon, they finally proceeded down the list to the last item. To lead the Summer Sun Celebration, Princess Cadance needed to meet some very important ponies, so, after leaving her balloons with Fizzy and taking a break to clean up, Cadance walked with Shining Armor to the dining room.
As they were passing back through the foyer, Shining Armor asked, “So, who are these important ponies, anyway?”
Cadance frowned, looking back at the list. “I don’t know. Celestia didn’t actually put down any names. It just says to meet them at the dining room.”
They had reached the top of the stairs and were walking down the hallway when they heard the distant chatter of a roomful of ponies. Shining Armor commented, “Sounds like there’s a lot of ponies there already.”
Cadance’s eyes widened. “Oh, I hope we’re not late,” she said apprehensively.
The doors to the dining room were standing open when they arrived. Inside, ponies were already seated around a long table, with places wet for a meal, but no food had been served yet. At the far end of the table was an unmistakable, tall, white-coated figure, who noticed them and motioned them over.
“I think we are,” Cadance said, disappointed.
It looked like she was right, but Shining Armor said anyway, “It’s not too late to meet them if they’re still here. Come on, let’s go in.”
They trotted down the room towards Celestia. A few ponies turned to glance at the pair. Some did a double take when they recognized the lesser-known younger Princess. Suddenly, the idle chatter shifted to a tone of murmured gossip. Shining Armor saw Cadance’s face tighten in worry.
As soon as they reached the head of the table, Cadance started to explain, “Princess Celestia! I’m sorry I got here so late, we just finished with the decorating committee -” Meanwhile, Shining Armor knelt before the Princess.
Celestia raised a hoof, stopping her. “You’re not late, Princess Cadance. I wouldn’t have started without you.” She nodded at Shining Armor, who rose and took his place alongside the Guard standing watch over Celestia. Cadance’s eyes followed him briefly before she looked back to Celestia.
She asked, “You would hold up all these ponies for me?” She didn’t want to be late, but it seemed selfish to make so many ponies wait for just one mare.
Celestia nodded, smiling gently. “Of course! Even with all these ponies’ reputations, they’re here to see you. I’m sure they don’t mind waiting a little if it means they can meet a Princess.” Celestia gestured to her, which Cadance guessed was a reminder that she was more important than she thought. “Now that you’ve arrived, the wait is over.” Cadance turned her eyes to the floor, still thinking about being the center of attention, as Celestia stood up to make the opening announcement.
“Fillies and gentlecolts,” she began, speaking out over the noise of the crowd. Quickly, everypony fell silent. “Thank you all for coming here tonight, on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. This is a time of cheer, to rejoice in the happiness and warmth that comes with a life full of friends and ponies who are important to us.” She paused. It might have been for emphasis, but the result was that the room was suddenly quiet again. If Celestia wasn’t the best public speaker Cadance knew, she might have thought the moment was awkward. Celestia continued.
“I myself cherish all my little ponies, so I take the chance to visit them, in towns all across Equestria, whenever I can. Tomorrow, I will be raising the sun from Ponyville. While I am there, I leave you with another very capable Princess. Many of you may know of her. I am proud to say my niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, will be leading the Celebration here in Canterlot. I’d like now to let her say a few words.” With that, Celestia returned to her seat.
As every head in the room turned towards her, Cadance realized, with extreme clarity, that she was supposed to say something.
Her eyes widened. Her mouth followed suit by opening up. What came out was, “Good evening, everypony.” It sounded bizarrely loud, to be talking to a room right after Celestia finished. “I’ve been a princess – your princess – for many years now. I care for everypony and want them to be happy, but I always used to work my magic in secret, from afar.”
She swallowed, trying to convince herself to keep talking. “I think it’s time now for me to step up and do my part. I am not Celestia, nor do I wish to be, but when tomorrow comes, I intend to guide Canterlot through it as well as I can. Thank you.”
Celestia spoke up again. “With that, dinner is served! Enjoy!”
Right on cue, waiters poured out from the kitchen, carrying platters laden with the finest salads and breads. As ponies’ attention turned away from her, Cadance sighed in relief and pulled out a chair to collapse in.
Celestia smiled down at her. “Well done, Princess Cadance. It can be difficult just to speak in front of so many ponies, but you did admirably.” She glanced down the table and saw ponies starting in on their food. She lifted her fork to get a bite of her cherry salad. “We have a little time before it’s polite to come talk to either of us, so … how has your day been?”
Feeling a little overwhelmed, Cadance shook herself and looked down at her own salad. She replied, “Uh, good, I guess. We finished everything on the checklist you sent us, at least.” She poked at her salad. Even though she was hungry, something felt wrong with just eating. After a moment, she checked if anypony was watching, lifted a cherry with her magic, and sent it over towards Shining Armor. For a second, it looked like he might refuse to take it, but then his mouth opened just slightly. Cadance smiled and resolved to keep feeding him throughout the meal.
Celestia chuckled, causing Cadance’s smile to become a sheepish grin. Apparently, the other Princess had seen her little breach of protocol, but luckily she didn’t comment on it. Celestia continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. “I see. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Oh, no, none at all …”
And so the meal proceeded. Cadance gradually relaxed as she just talked with the elder princess and shared good food with her Guard. Eventually, one of the guests got up from his seat and nonchalantly approached the head of the table. He bowed before Cadance and introduced himself as a local businesspony who deeply admired her for what he felt was her unsung work. He wished her luck with the Celebration before returning to his seat.
His show of nerve appeared to be a signal that let other ponies know they could start coming up as well. Some had the daring to speak with Celestia, but many only talked to Cadance. It started to sink in that she was going to take Celestia’s place for a day.
One pony was walking towards her when Cadance realized she knew him. In fact, she knew him very well, better than she would have liked: it was her cousin by royal association, Prince Blueblood.
All the other ponies had bowed to her, as was fitting for royalty. She had felt a little awkward, but there wasn’t much she could do. It was tradition, after all. Blueblood, however, barely even treated other royalty as equals. Cadance didn’t particularly care to be equals with Blueblood, since she had seen how he treated ponies he thought were lesser than him.
Blueblood stopped beside her seat and looked down at her. Cadance found she disliked looking up at him and felt an urge to even the difference by standing up, but she told herself it wasn’t important. Instead she forced a smile on her face as Blueblood greeted her. “Ah, dear cousin of mine, I must congratulate you on a job well done!”
Cadance blinked. Was he talking about completing the preparations from the checklist? “Uh, thank you, Prince Blueblood.”
“Don’t mention it, don’t mention it. I’m only giving congratulations where it’s deserved, of course.” He chuckled to himself. Cadance halfheartedly joined in. She knew that he was being gracious, but she still hoped that he wouldn’t stay long. Blueblood’s chuckle faded as he grew serious. He asked, “But I wonder, how did you do it? How did you convince dear auntie to give you her special spot, on her special day?”
Was that what he meant? He was congratulating her, just for being given responsibility? “I didn’t convince her, Blueblood. She asked me to do it.”
“Did she?” He raised an eyebrow. Cadance braced herself as he nodded in apparent understanding. “Oh, I see, I see. Quite clever, if I say so myself, covering your own tracks, but come now, do you expect me to believe that? I mean, if she just picked anypony, there’s a certain somepony with every qualification, isn’t there?” He flicked his head, flourishing his mane, before leaning in to whisper confidentially, “Dear Cadenza, you can tell me, what’s your secret?”
Cadance caught herself leaning away involuntarily. “There’s no secret, you can ask her yourself –“ She looked over, but Celestia was busy talking to an Earth pony Guard wearing special blue armor.
Offended, Blueblood stood up straight again. “Well, that’s just unbecoming. I’m not a foal, I won’t run to auntie, besides you know she’s never straightforward with these things. I would think you’d tell your own cousin the truth, but I suppose I was wrong. Some of us have more honor than that. I’ll just have to find out myself, with my own hard work, while you enjoy your unfairly gotten spoils. Good night.” He walked away, snout in the air, before she could reply.
Cadance let her breath out exasperatedly and looked down at the remains of her salad, debating the benefits of letting herself flop face-first into it. She’d get dressing and leaves all over her face and she’d probably ruin the reputation she’d been building all night, but man, there was something about talking to Blueblood that made all of that feel unimportant. She was wondering if she could pretend she’d fainted or something when she felt a hoof on her shoulder.
It was Celestia, who was looking at her warmly. Somehow, Celestia had been paying attention to the Guard and Blueblood at the same time. “Your patience is outstanding, Princess Cadance. I know the feeling. The meal’s almost through. You can do it.”
Cadance nodded. She turned to her salad and picked up her fork to eat it instead.
Shortly after desert, a generous portion of cloud cake, was served, a pair of ponies came up to speak with Cadance. Both of them were wearing elaborately designed clothing and looked very fashionable, to the point where Cadance actually felt underdressed in her crown and matching regalia. The stallion introduced himself as Fancy Pants (“merely a pony with some influence in our Princess’s grand city”) and the mare was Fleur dis Lee (“a model of no small repute”). After the standard greetings, she expected them to wish her luck and depart, but they did not.
“Besides meeting you, I came to you tonight to make an offer.” Fancy Pants said solemnly. “You see, I happen to be in a position where I have connections with ponies all across Canterlot. It’s actually quite useful, on occasion. I’d like to make my connections available to you. If, for any reason, you need to spread a message quickly, without ponies knowing exactly where it came from, I can help you do it.”
Cadance sat quietly, digesting the information. She didn’t want to distrust these ponies, but there was something that felt dishonest about using connections like that. “That’s very impressive, and very generous. If it’s not too much trouble, may I ask why you made me such an offer? I haven’t heard anything similar from anypony else.”
“Well,” Fancy Pants said, becoming contemplative. “Sometimes, I just think ponies take the Princesses for granted, so I’d like to do something for you, for a change. There’s not really much I can do for Celestia, but I do hope I can help you get started.”
“There is another reason.” Fleur spoke up before Cadance could think of a response. Fancy Pants winced at the interruption, but Fleur continued anyway. “Your Highness, you’re already doing a very good job. You don’t need to worry about meeting expectations.”
Cadance’s eyes widened. “Uh, what makes you think I’m worrying about … meeting … ah.” She could see that, by failing to deny it, she had just admitted the truth. Her shoulders slumped slightly. “Is it that obvious?”
“No, of course not,” Fancy Pants reassured her. He shot a look at Fleur. “But you would have to be very confident to not be at least slightly nervous. Frankly, this is the first time you’ve been in the spotlight since your coronation.”
“So, you figured it out.” Cadance sighed. It was disappointing to think she had successfully conquered her anxiety, only for complete strangers to see through her act. “I guess I couldn’t fool you.”
Fancy Pants shook his head. “No, like Fleur said, you’re doing well. I’d say most, maybe even all of the ponies here tonight believe in you.” He brought a hoof to his chest and bowed, causing Fleur to bow as well. “We believe in you, Princess, and we’d like to show our support in any way we can.”
Cadance looked down at them, feeling humbled. It would just be ungrateful to hold onto any suspicions she had. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such dedication, but I thank you. You’ve been very thoughtful. If I need help tomorrow, I know who to ask.”
The two unicorns rose from their bows. “It’s our pleasure, Princess.”
As they walked away, Cadance heard Fleur say, “I told you she’d understand …”
“Yes, yes, you were right, dear …”
Cadance glanced after them curiously and saw that Fleur was walking unusually close to Fancy. With a smile, she realized they were probably a couple. She turned back to her plate and sent the last forkful of cake to Shining Armor.
Not long afterwards, Celestia stood up to make an announcement. As the room turned towards her, she said, “It’s been a wonderful evening with you all. I hope everypony had just as good a time as I did.” There were nods among the ponies seated before her. “Dinner is over, but the night is still young.” Celestia turned away from the table to look out the window. Ponies followed her gaze, but they didn’t know what she could be looking at. “The ballroom is now open for the Celebration. Tomorrow, the sun rises – but before then, I hope you all enjoy this night with friends and loved ones. Good night, everypony.”
There was applause all around as ponies rose to their hooves. Afterwards, talk resumed and the crowd began to trot out of the dining room.
With the room mostly empty, Cadance got up and turned to Celestia. “Er, Princess, should we join them?”
Celestia’s expression shifted from distantly warm to coy. “Only if you want to, Princess Cadance. I’m sure there’s a lucky stallion who would be available for a dance.” She smiled outright as Cadance blushed and nodded meekly.
Celestia turned back to the window. “I won’t be joining them, myself. Any other year, I’d be happy to, but I have preparations to make for tomorrow.” She gave Cadance an encouraging look. “The next time I raise the sun, you will be leading all those ponies, Princess Cadance.”
She stood up straight and looked her aunt in the eye. “I won’t let you down, Princess Celestia.”
Celestia nodded. “I know you’ll do your best, but this is for you. Make it a celebration to remember. Good luck.”
“Thank you, Princess.” Cadance watched as Celestia made her way down the room and departed.
Alone for the moment, Cadance stood still, taking in the fact that Celestia had left her in charge of the entire city. She couldn’t remember a time when Celestia had ever done such a thing before, but now Cadance was responsible for everything …
The soft clanking of metal plates reminded her that there were still Guards in the room. She turned around to find Shining Armor standing there, taking off his helmet.
“How’d you like dinner?” she asked, reaching up to smooth his messy mane.
Shining Armor chuckled. “It was good, thanks. Usually my shift is over at sundown.”
Cadance frowned in concern. “We should get you something real to eat, then. Maybe the kitchens have something left.”
“Probably.” Shining Armor nodded. “I was thinking about going home for dinner, I haven’t been there for awhile.”
Cadance heart sank slightly. “Oh. I see.”
Shining Armor noticed and leaned closer. “You’re welcome to come. Mom and Dad would be happy to see you.”
“Oh.” Cadance felt a little embarrassed that she hadn’t assumed that. “Alright.”
Shining Armor leaned in the rest of the way and nuzzled her, just above her shoulder. Cadance let out a breath, feeling relief at the familiar touch, and brushed her own snout against Shining Armor’s neck. Quietly, they turned together to leave the room.