(Canterlot. Present)
Prince Blueblood steadied his breath as he approached the enormous double doors leading to the throne room, where his aunt was waiting for him.
He knew- no, wait - he felt reasonably sure that it wouldn't be anything bad- anything too bad. It'll surely be something understandable, hopefully.
He strode confidently through the doorway, or so he would say if asked - he warily peeked inside the room before spotting his dear aunt (about fifty-two times removed).
She was still looking... de-saturated; gazing contemplatively at the crown - her crown - floating in front of her face. She turned to him...
And to his relief, she smiled.
He let out the breath that he would tell everypony he didn't know he was holding, and stepped in at the sight of her beckoning hoof.
"You called for me, dear aunt?" Blueblood nodded - he knew how much the princess disliked formalities when it was just the two of them.
"Hello, dear nephew." Celestia nodded. "I am in dire need of your advice; would you be willing to help me through these times?"
Blueblood blinked and, had his etiquette lessons been less ingrained into his mind, he would have shaken his head to dislodge any stray thoughts that might have caused him to misinterpret Celestia's words. As it stood, he simply patted his ear.
"Excuse me, auntie, did you say you wanted my help?" Blueblood calmly asked, to which Celestia nodded in confirmation.
"Oh." He said, blinking again. He cantered closer. "What do you need help with?"
'No, princess, it was my poor advice what resulted in this situation. That is what I will say.' A white unicorn mare with a blonde mane said. 'I may not have great magic, but I can do this for you.'
Celestia did something very un-princess-like; she conjured a small table, propped her elbow on it, and rested her head on her hoof, while the other toyed around with her crown.
"Equestria." She said, sighing. "I allowed the nobility to drift away from their functions without taking away the privileges granted by the stations they are no longer fulfilling satisfactorily. I have the beginning of a plan, but if chasing Typhon for over a decade taught me something I've actually applied, is that plans can go awry in a thousand different ways before they even leave the ground."
"I-I'm flattered." Blueblood rubbed his temple. "What kind of plans, though?"
"All of them; he was secretive of his abilities until they became relevant. I still remember that he has multiple ways to put out fire, or outright ignore its existence." Watching him laugh maniacally as he ran into the fire, chasing after the Salamander that had caused it, was unnerving - and the creepiest way to find out that his ring had power over fire. Why he hadn't used it against the ghostly mage, only he knew.
Blueblood chewed on his lip as Celestia's left ear trembled - one of her few tells while in 'business', with this one being equivalent of a shudder.
"Ah, that was... not exactly what I was referring to, auntie." He coughed into a hoof. "I meant, for Equestria."
It was Celestia's turn to blink and pause for a moment. She turned her head and coughed.
"I desire to turn around the attitude of the nobles, and, while I have ways to deal with them one by one, I was wondering if you would help me ensure they would not do something that we would all regret." She said, to which Blueblood 'oh'd and 'ah'd. "Things must get back under control - a proper one, not simply me taking in the additional workload. I am thinking of... admonishments for bad behavior, and... corrective measures."
Blueblood nodded. He knew - oh, how he knew. Celestia's reputation was squeaky-clean in part thanks to him making his... not so clean; it was something he did gladly, and his aunt always tried to talk him out of it, but he was as resolute as his father; she did her best to prevent mistakes to avoid giving him too much trouble.
As such, he was very aware of how other nobles were once the lights went out and they thought they were alone in the dark. Thankfully nothing that couldn't be stopped if it threatened to get out of hoof, and possibly nothing that Celestia herself wasn't aware of, but they had to plan things out to prevent them from throwing a very damaging tantrum.
"I intend to take control of my life, not just the country, dear nephew." Celestia said, directing her stern gaze towards the double doors. "I have 'slipped'."
"And you wish for me to help find an angle that will work?" Blueblood guessed.
"Of course. After all, it has to be fair." She turned to him.
Blueblood's mind finally caught up with his brain, and he felt a jolt travelling through his spine, from tail to the very tip of his horn.
A good one, by the way, not one of dread.
'Wait, is she...?' His mouth tried to quirk into a smile, but he controlled himself.
He had talked with Luna and Twilight in the past days, and even Shining Armor - before he went on some mission; prince Blueblood knew what had happened to Celestia, and how the gilded cage she had stuck herself in was starting to get to her.
A tiger in display, inside a cage much too small for it.
A week before, he had thought it to be... feasible. After aski-inquiring further? He praised and cursed Celestia's ability to hide her thoughts so well (apparently even from herself).
'And now, with so many things from the past coming back, mayhaps we shall witness the return of something very interesting.' He could not stop his smirk from showing. 'And those spoiled foals shall be reminded - the laws are not a cage made to restrict the tiger... and the tiger is not them.'
Celestia's quirked eyebrow made him notice that his smirk had morphed into a grin, but could not make it go down.
"May I make a suggestion as to where to start, dear aunt?" He said, at least managing to downgrade his toothy grin into a wide smile.
"Of.. course." She said, slightly apprehensive. "I value your input, dear nephew; that was the reason I summoned you."
"There is one pony, of noble birth and high station, who is spoiled to the core. He is considered the most eligible bachelor, but his arrogance and abrasive personality drive away most mares-"
"Nephew." Princess Celestia interrupted him, raising a hoof for good measure. "Why are you talking about yourself?"
Blueblood's smile turned into a grin once more.
"Well, the others need to see that you are resolute and wish for the changes to 'stick'." He chuckled. "Plus, it will be easier for others to accept if they see somepony else enduring your 'punishment', one that also likely surpasses their own; their pride will prevent them from accepting that they could be so easily bested."
Celestia's interest was piqued; from the way he spoke, he had an idea for himself that was, simultaneously, something undesirable for the nobles yet a source of merriment and excitement for him.
"First, to make it seem that whatever I did truly displeased you, a reduction of my stipend." Blueblood had other sources of income, and enough money that he didn't know what to do with it all anyways (much like most other nobles, no matter how vehemently they denied it). "Then, to ensure that I am still capable of carrying out my functions, and that I am able to work with 'the common pony', I am to lead an expedition..."
He trailed off, tapping his chin as he tried to think of a good goal.
"I heard from aunt Luna that she once called a rock from Beyond to strike at Tiamat, a 'meteor'; could she call a small one on the lands up north for me to quest for?"
Celestia let her jaw hang.
"Nephew! While I admire your desire to help while repairing your reputation, asking my sister to call upon a meteorite for that purpose seems excessive!" She said, hoof to her chest in surprise.
"Drat." Blueblood muttered with a frown, suppressing the impulse to clack the floor with a hoof (races with fingers snapped them instead), though Celestia could hear him regardless. "Then how about an expedition to a forest- oh! How about the old castle?"
Celestia considered it for a moment.
"... I shall speak to my sister about the meteor." She sighed, and yet could not help but smile upon seeing Blueblood's expression brighten.
'Come to think of it, Blueblood earned his cutie mark after guiding the gardener's colt and the cook's filly back home after the three got lost in the forest of the Blue's estate... has he been yearning for the "Great Outdoors" all this time?'
And so, they discussed a great many things... including the best way to induce 'shock and awe'.
Celestia had no particular desire to dig out her old regalia, even if it was not aesthetically different from her current one, but she could not deny that merely standing next to her while wearing it left an impression.
*****
(Ponyville Library)
"A mandatory summons from Celestia herself." Prosperity deadpanned. "On what grounds?"
The guard opened his mouth to reply, but Prosperity simply raised a claw.
"No, forget I asked - I can't even continue this farce." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her snout. "Probably would have told me something like it was undisclosed or a matter of security."
The guard had an excellent poker face, but nopony ever thought of the ears.
"I'm actually a little impressed." She added, placing some glasses on her muzzle so that she could look like a satisfied teacher. "Since I cannot be held accountable for the actions of another, I could not be arrested; since I am a dragon, in the middle of town, you are allowed to act at your discretion so long as you follow the law; since I am a dragon, in the middle of town, the treaty indicates I have to at least listen to envoys of the princesses, which include officers of the royal guard; since I am a dragon in the middle of a town, the highest-ranked guard can issue a few commands in the name of their authority - the mayor for the town guards, the name of the princess for the royal guards - which includes a summons. Problem number one being that 'irrefusable requests' can actually be refused if the grounds are considered inadequate or inappropriate - like they would most surely be if left a secret - and 'matters of security' to one not directly involved are also invalid reasons for a mandatory summons of that nature (and me being a dragon doesn't justify it, either). Only 'strongly polite' requests can be made - though there are other channels and resources that would have applied had I been a pony."
"Huh?" Dash quietly muttered, turning to Twilight. "Mandatory summons can be turned down?"
"The princess placed those rules to avoid abuses." She whispered back. "Since she was the one that placed them, she always keeps them in mind, so they never come up, and as such not many ponies know that without reading the disclaimer in the document itse- when did you get in here?"
"Even though I would prefer for Celestia to have sent me an actual summons herself, likely through Spike here present, and even though she's actually aware of my presence and relation to him and thus if she wanted to see me, she would have sent said summons... I don't actually mind going with you." Prosperity continued. "But! It has to be on my terms."
"I wanted to talk to you a little." Dash whispered.
"That's the why, not the when."
"First point! I am allowed to transport part of my hoard and demand protection for it." Prosperity leaned forward and grinned, letting her very sharp, very strong teeth show. "I want every royal guard stationed in town."
Silver Shine, eavesdropping under the excuse that everypony else was doing it, nearly slapped a hoof to his forehead - good thing he didn't, for he'd likely have done it hard enough to knock himself unconscious.
"I was already here, waiting for you." Dash whispered. "Had to use the restroom, though."
"And just so that you don't accuse me of anything." Prosperity slid a claw inside of the neck of her dress, into the puff of it, pulling out a brown wallet from it.
Pulling out cards from it, she flicked them to the floor of the library, where each of them turned into a chest. Twenty large wooden chests.
"Gems, for the road." She stated, grinning smugly at the guard's strained expression. "Now, I consider knowledge and friends part of my hoard, and I can ask for guards to leave and/or have them guard the remainder of the hoard. For my second point; I appoint Twilight Sparkle."
Prosperity snorted and sniggered a little, sticking out her tongue as her face scrunched up in an effort not to burst out laughing at the guard's face.
"She-" Prosperity made a strange, throaty sound as she almost laughed. "She has some authority thanks to her position as Celestia's pupil, other accolades, and I like her."
"For my third point, I want to travel first-class - now, I'm not a heartless monster, so you can use one of the chests to pay for everypony's tickets." She said, nodding 'sagely'. "And I simply can't be too hard to those with rose eyes. They remind me of Whistler."
The guard shook his head in surprise.
"Don't bother asking; it's a trade secret, I traded for it." She waved a claw. "Now, shall we?"
It took some maneuvering, but the chests were out and hauled in the direction of the train station.
"See you girls soon! Bye Spike!" Prosperity waved at them as she closed the door.
Ditzy giggled like Pinkie did when she was in on something nopony else got. The mailmare turned to the kitchen.
"Are you done?" She called.
"That has to be one of the greatest spells ever." Prosperity said, walking out of the kitchen. Twilight didn't even waste time having her mind boggled, unlike Dash or Spike, merely asking:
"A spell; that's the how. The motivation, I can almost understand because you're a dragon and all... but when and why did you cast that?"
"What? Do the words 'raised by Typhon' even mean anything to any of you?" She grumbled, crossing her arms. "I'm still going to make his life hell, though."