ii. 18 June - "Shiny Objects Have Special Secrets"
Trips to Canterlot are normally fun and exciting, but this time around I was a lone traveller. Of course there were other ponies on board, but it was the second train ride I’ve had to face by myself, and the first one wasn’t any better than this. I knew that all of my friends would have to be gathered in the next two days, so it’s not as if I had any real worry, yet that feeling still lingered.
I made sure to pack my party cannon, just to make sure decorating could be a breeze. While I didn’t want to disappoint the princesses, I couldn’t disappoint my friends, either. Whenever I see a pony upset, I can’t help but feel something inside me, like something happened and I just can’t think of it off the top of my head. I’m hardly ever sad, so maybe it was just empathy of those times I can remember where I felt like giving up.
After a while the train had finally entered Canterlot, and sure enough, there was Twilight waiting for me at the station. We exchanged grins as I raced off the train towards her, giving her a nice big hug.
“I’m so glad you made it, Pinkie,” Twilight began as we trotted off into town. “Everypony else was pretty caught up and explained they couldn’t be here until late today or tomorrow. It’ll be nice to get your job done early.”
There was an awkward pause between us as I gave her a simple nod. She must’ve been expecting more from me; I just felt so quiet on the outside.
“More importantly, I’m happy to see you. It’s nice revisiting Canterlot, but Ponyville is my home now, and I miss you all so much; too much to even really explain.” Twilight gave me a slight smile.
I gave her another nod. “I know the feeling.”
We continued to walk for a while before I began to ask Twilight about her stay and her role in the celebration. She had only been an alicorn for a short while, but this was really her first glimpse at her being a real princess. Twi was pretty calm while she spoke, hardly appearing stressed out or concerned about this year, or even about what she might have to do.
"It's not a lot, actually," She replied as we arrived at the castle entrance. "I am in charge of organization, but I know with it just being the six of us, we should be fine. Besides, it's not as if I have to sit on a throne and watch over a whole kingdom like Princess Celestia." She spoke clearly and without worry, but knowing Twilight, I knew she wasn't convinced.
"Hello, Twilight, Pinkie Pie."
I blinked in awe for a bit as we were welcomed inside by Princess Luna. It felt strange to be greeted by her instead of Princess Celestia. We may have reformed her from being Nightmare Moon, but with her being a princess, it wasn't too often that we saw her.
Twi and I both bowed in respect - well, Twilight jumped up upon realizing she was a princess now, too - before greeting Luna and trotting on past to our bedrooms. I didn't pay too much attention to the castle, but one thing I knew for sure was that the hallways were long; longer than I remember them being.
"I guess I'll leave you to get settled, then," Twilight finally said as we turned to go to our rooms. She had already walked inside and closed the door when her head poked back out, blushing. "Oh, and remember; we're meeting in the dining hall at 8."
"Okie dokie lokie," I gave her a mock salute as I shut my door behind me.
Not only were the hallways huge, but the bedrooms were too! Sure, I had been in the castle plenty of times before, but I had never bothered to check out the rooms. They were ginormous compared to the ones in the Crystal Empire! It made me start wondering again about why the rooms were as big as they were, and who even used them. How many other princes and princesses could be out there, and they did they use these rooms? Or were they empty all the time? What else was in the castle that we - well, except for maybe Twilight - had yet to see.
One look around couldn't be that bad. After all, I needed something to pass the time until dinner. I highly doubt preparations would start today with no news of anyone else coming; it was just me and Twilight for now.
Lazily, I tossed my bags into the corner of the room and padded out into the hallways that appeared never ending. There were tons of doors to peak through and check out, but no way to really tell them apart or tell what was inside without opening them.
"Eenie meenie miney mo, catch a dragon by his toe," I began, bounding by each door to decide which one I would enter. I stopped at a door in the middle of the hall, nudging it open gently to see if anypony was inside.
The room seemed empty, leading towards what appeared to be another hall. After bouncing down it for a few minutes, I caught a faint flicker of light up ahead. Stopping my tracks, I noticed not far ahead was a silvery blue hexagonal box, six locks on each side. I didn't have the slightest clue to what the box could be, but something about it felt vaguely familiar to me. Reaching out to touch it, I froze as a voice echoed from the other end of the room.
"Who goes there?!"
Shocked, I gazed around frantically to catch a glimpse for any door to get me out of there, darting towards the first one I saw. There was no light leading down the path as I felt myself beginning to tumble into complete darkness.
"Pinkie Pie?"
Still in a bit of daze, I lifted my head up to see a very blurry sight of what seemed to be Princess Luna. Shaking my head to clear my vision, the princess became clear and all of my senses came back to me. I felt my back hoof steadied on top of what felt like a step behind me, and turning around I realized I was right.
"That was quite a fall you had there," Luna commented, reaching out her hoof to help me up. I took it and bowed my head in respect. No use in giving up my manners now. "How did you get here anyway? Other than falling, of course."
The princess' expression was gentle and kind, but there was a sense of distrust in her voice. Did she know about the box and where I was? Was I in trouble because I left my room and found that box?
Looking down at my hooves, I replied softly to her. "I was exploring around the castle and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and ended up here."
"That's right. You haven't seen much of the castle before, have you?" Luna gave a reassuring smile. "Here, I'll give you a tour, if you'd like."
I nodded, bouncing along at her side as we ventured on down each hall, which I learned wasn't as many as I thought there would be. The castle was still huge, and still a lot bigger on the inside than how it appeared on the outside. Luna showed me each of the throne rooms, the different living quarters (which were a lot considering how underpopulated the castle was), the studies, the archives; every last bit. At least we finished in time to get to the dining hall. I felt like that trip would never end, but it was still nice to actually talk to the princess I had hardly spent any time at all with.
Inside the dining room already was Twilight, accompanied by Princess Celestia, and to my surprise, two other friendly faces.
"Rainbow, Fluttershy!" I greeted the two with a wide grin.
Fluttershy gave a slight wave with her wing, beside her sat Rainbow with a smile. "Hey, Pink."
Princess Luna and I took our seats then, but the table still felt empty with chairs still open for the rest of my friends. I hoped they would make it soon, with it getting late and all. The train ride did take a while, so I would understand if somepony came over night. Still, I wished Applejack and Rarity were there, especially Rarity. Nopony should be alone on their birthday, especially with a workload to finish up.
Our meals weren't due for another twenty minutes, so we all sat around, catching up with one another. It felt odd conversing with the princesses - even though I had just talked to Luna - but this was an entirely casual chat. Well, maybe not entirely. It did feel normal in a sense, though. Every time we saw the princesses, Equestria or Ponyville was always at risk of attack, destruction, anything but normal.
Luna was the only one out of us who didn't really comment much. Dashie told us about her time at the Academy, not being able to help flying around the room to demonstrate some tricks she learned. I thought for sure Princess Celestia would find it unacceptable, but she joined in laughing and cheering with the rest of us, which felt nice for a change. Fluttershy explained that the critter sickness had died out and all of her friends were fine and healthy back at home. Twilight told us about a routine that Celestia and Luna were planning out where she would be the grand finale. It sounded really interesting, especially to Rainbow, who wanted to help her right away. Celestia had began to talk about how excited she was for this year's celebration when the doors opened. My stomach let out a growl at that moment; I couldn't help but hope it was food, and a lot of it, too! I had only had a small breakfast and a snack on the train. Too bad I don't have a cake cannon. I should get one, though.
No, it wasn't dinner; it was Rarity!
"Hello, everypony. Sorry I'm a tad late." She apologized, about to sit down with the rest of us when I stood up and blew into the noisemaker I had stuffed in my mane.
"Happy birthday!' Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy joined in with me as we all leaped up to give her a big birthday hug. If only Applejack were here, too. I wondered what was keeping her so long.
After sitting Rarity down with her telling us about her line and the orders, it seemed like we all lost track of time, deep into our conversation. Dinner still hadn't arrived for some reason, leaving my stomach agitated with me. I just couldn't help but feel hungry. Hopefully it was a big feast coming to make us wait this long. The clock read 8:17; almost twenty minutes late.
But what was worse than our dinner not coming was the horrifying screech that sounded from directly outside the dining room doors.