“I can’t believe I’m gonna meet Princess Celestia!” Twinken was so excited, as he walked with Midnight Blaze to Sugarcube Corner.
Princess Celestia was soon to arrive for a visit and get-together at Sugarcube Corner but, as always, the Ponyville residents were going out of their way to make the princess feel welcome.
“Thanks so much for inviting me along, big brother!”
“Glad to have you along, Twink,” Midnight chuckled, seeing the happy smile on the little colt. “I just hope Twilight and the others don’t go overboard or anything.”
“But, aren’t you supposed to be all respectful and polite to royalty?”
“Oh sure, you wanna be polite an’ all, Twinken,” Midnight remarked, “But you have to remember, under that crown and all that is still another pony. I know if I had some kind of royal title, I’d get sick of ponies bowing and scraping in front of me, treating me as a royal and not as a pony like them.”
“Hmm,” Twinken considered that as they came up to the bakery when the trumpet of the royal procession announced the princess had arrived.
“Ah, we’re right on time,” Midnight commented as they went inside, “She should be here momentarily.”
“Places, everypony!”
They looked and saw Twilight looking flustered when she noticed them, “Midnight, Twinken, get ready and stand with the others!”
Midnight sighed and lowered his backside, an unspoken signal for the colt to hop on, and he did so. As the ponies lined up, they saw a pair of Royal Guards enter the establishment, stoic and silent, they were burly white pegasus stallions with blue manes and robin egg-blue eyes, clad in golden armor and galea-style helms. Truly however, all members of the Royal Guard wore armor charmed with a glamour to look the same, so as to protect their identities from enemies. Only they and certain members of Princess Celestia's court could see them for who they really are.
One of them spoke, “Announcing, the Ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia.”
And in walked the tall and graceful radiance that was Princess Celestia, and immediately, everypony bowed.
“Now, now, my dear subjects,” she said kindly. “Please, stand, for this is just a visit. There’s no need for that sort of thing on this occasion, and thank you all for receiving me.”
“Hello Princess,” Twilight greeted as she stood up, “Welcome to Ponyville, over here! We have a seat at the table reserved just for you!”
“Why thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia looked to her guards and nodded, them nodding in return as they stepped outside and stood as sentinels before the doorway.
Princess Celestia took her seat as the honored guest and everypony started to mingle. Midnight went over, bringing Twinken to sit at one end of the table and Celestia noticed them.
“Hello, Midnight Blaze, it is good to see you again. Twilight has informed me of your progress in magical study.”
“It’s nice to see you as well, Your Highness,” Midnight said with a polite nod before pulling a confident smirk.
“And yes, I like to think I’m doing pretty darn good on my magic.”
“And who is this little one with you?” Celestia asked with a smile.
Twinken looked a bit shy but Midnight nudged the little colt closer with his muzzle, whispering, “Just say hello!”
“Uh, hi, um… Princess Celestia,” Twinken greeted. “My name’s Twinken…”
“Oh! You must be Midnight’s little brother,” Celestia guessed as she looked to the older unicorn, “I recall from a letter you sent me some time ago how you volunteered for the Ponyville Sibling Revelry.”
“I did, and Twinken was there waiting for me to be his big brother,” Midnight said with a proud smile.
“Well, Twinken, I hope your brother has been treating you well,” Celestia said with a smile.
“Oh, he’s the most awesome brother ever!” Twinken gushed, “He took me to the Best Young Flyers Competition, he and Twilight are giving me magic lessons too, and he’s so cool and nice to me!”
“I am glad to hear that,” Celestia smiled.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash zoomed in and landed next to Midnight, whispering, “You wouldn’t believe how stone-faced those guards outside can be!”
“Lemme guess,” Midnight whispered back with a smirk, “You spoke to them, made funny faces, not one little reaction…”
“Exactly!”
Midnight chuckled, as it made him think of something from his old life, and an old saying he just had to whisper, “The British are coming, the British are coming!”
“What the hay does that mean?” Rainbow asked but Midnight just wandered off to mingle with the others, knowing Twinken would stick by the princess.
He then noticed Twilight looking out the door, saying, “It’s alright, sirs, she’s on the list.”
She stepped back and in walked Fluttershy sighing in relief.
“Thanks, Twilight.”
“Glad you could make it, Fluttershy,” Twilight sighed, “It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
They looked around, seeing the shindig getting a little more energetic. Spike was helping out the Cakes with the catering, using his fire to quick-bake some small cakes, and Carrot Cake took them to be served at the ring of the bell Spike had.
“How’s everypony doing, good?” Carrot Cake asked nopony in particular and when none said otherwise, he chuckled, “Good.”
Meanwhile, Cup Cake was balancing a tray of cupcakes on her head as she asked Celestia, “Anything else we can get for you, dearie- Oh! I mean, esteemed guest!”
“Everything is fine, Mr. & Mrs. Cake,” Celestia assured them kindly, “Though I think my little pony here, Twinken would appreciate one of those cupcakes, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh not at all!” Carrot Cake quickly served Twinken a cupcake, saying, “Here ya go, little fella, enjoy!”
“I’m not little! I’m nine and a half years old!” Twinken boasted.
Celestia couldn’t help but giggle.
“Alright, then a big fella!”
“That’s better!” Twinken smiled as he took a bite of the cupcake.
“Sorry I’m late,” Fluttershy apologized as she walked with Twilight and Midnight. “I had to finish taking care of a patient first, I only made it because Angel reminded me of the time.”
“You mean that demon in rabbit’s cotton?” Midnight commented with a raised brow. “I find that surprising, considering the last time I was at your cottage he threw a carrot into my nose. Took Big Mac and Applejack both to yank it out.”
“Oh! You and your tender loving care for little animals, Fluttershy,” Twilight was clearly edging towards a panic-attack.
“I just know Princess Celestia’s gonna love that about you! I mean – I hope she will, of course she will!”
“Wow, Twilight,” Fluttershy commented, “I thought I was the one who got nervous at social gatherings.”
“What do you expect from a neurotic? “Midnight cracked, ignoring a stink-eye from Twilight.
“It’s not that!” she protested. “I just want the princess to approve of my friends!”
“But she’s met us all before,” Fluttershy reminded her.
“And read about you my letters,” Twilight confirmed. “But this is the first time she’s spent any real time with you, I want everypony to make a good impression.”
“Well, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about," Fluttershy assured, “It’s just a casual get-together, right?”
“Try telling that to her,” Midnight pointed out and they saw Rarity garbed in a gorgeous dress fit for a ball, looking apprehensive of the ponies around.
“Don’t touch me! Watch the dress. Careful! You might spill that on me.”
Rarity was then approached by Cup Cake with some treats.
“Ooh, that looks delicious! Did it stain?! Keep it away from me!!”
“Or… perhaps not that casual,” Fluttershy amended.
Applejack was at the banquet table, looking hesitant to eat but certainly wanting to.
“Eh, which is th’ salad and which is th’ appetizer again? Which am Ah s’posed t’ eat first?”
She almost took a bite out of three different things before she gave up.
“Aw, never mind Ah’m not hungry.”
“Twi, relax!” Midnight told her, “The princess said herself; this is just a get-together, a visit! You really need to stop overthinking things and mellow out. Besides, I’m confident all of our friends will make a great impression-”
But Pinkie Pie chose that particular moment to get rowdy, bouncing about, whooping and squealing in delight.
“Whoo-hoo! Cupcakes, and candies, and pie, oh my!”
She threw a pie into her face when she noticed and shuddered, “Chocolate fountain, goodness!”
She literally stuck her head in, soaking her entire head with liquid chocolate, which quickly hardened, then cracked, as Pinkie munched on the pieces she got in her mouth. She suddenly zipped up to the princess and Twinken, both about to eat more cupcakes.
“Ya gonna eat that?!”
But she chomped both up, Celestia just smiling at the party pony’s exuberance while Twinken protested, “Hey!”
Cup Cake gasped while her husband flinched at Pinkie’s conduct, the former yanking her away by the tail while the latter quickly served up another cupcake along with a cup of tea.
“A thousand pardons, Your Majesty!”
“That’s quite alright, Mr. Cake, thank you,” Celestia assured the baker as he respectfully backed away.
“Twinken, would you like to share this with me?”
“Would I?!”
“Then have first bite,” Celestia offered.
Twinken concentrated and managed to take the cupcake in his faint red aura, wobbling it a bit as he took a bite and then held it out to Celestia, who smiled at him as she took a nip of the treat and sipped up her tea, replacing the cup onto the saucer.
“Empty teacup at 4 o’clock!”
“Uh, I see it honeybun!”
Carrot Cake quickly refilled the cup with more tea, Celestia, saying, “Oh! Um, thank you.”
“Not at all, Your Highness.”
Celestia sipped her tea again, only for Cup Cake to refill it.
“Thank you again.
“But of course, Your Majesty.”
She continued to sip and each time one of the Cakes would refill the cup. Twinken stifled a laugh and whispered, “Does this happen to you a lot?”
“Everywhere I go,” Celestia confirmed but then she gave him a sneaky wink, and pretended to sip her tea.
Carrot Cake poured more and startled when he realized he’d overfilled it.
“Gotcha!” Celestia smiled, Twinken laughing, while the Cakes smiled back sheepishly.
From the right side of the table, Midnight chuckled, “I had no idea Princess Celestia had an impish side to her!”
“And it looks like Twinken’s really enjoying himself,” Fluttershy added while Twilight appeared to worry.
“And what about you, dear, Fluttershy is it?”
They startled a little when Fluttershy said, “Me? Oh yes, Your Highness.”
“I understand from Twilight Sparkle’s letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures,” Celestia brought up.
“Uh-huh! Fluttershy’s so nice!," Twinken butted in, "She takes care of all kinds of animals!”
“Twinken, it’s rude to interrupt,” Midnight chuckled warningly.
“Oh it’s alright, because it’s true!” Fluttershy spoke up. “I love nothing more than to help little animals in need.”
“As do I,” Celestia agreed. “As princess, I care about all creatures, great and small.”
But at that moment, a loud cough startled everypony, directing their attention to a stilted birdcage behind Celestia that oddly they hadn’t noticed before, as some feathers fell from it, and more coughs ensued while Celestia spoke, “Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects.”
The source of the coughing and hacking made itself known as it flew up onto a hanging perch inside the cage, revealing it to be a pale pink scraggly-looking bird, Celestia taking notice, “Ah, Philomena my pet, you’re awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts.”
The bird, Philomena, responded with more wheezing and coughing, more feathers popping off its body.
“Oh… my…” Fluttershy uttered in concern.
“What a funny looking bird!” commented Twinken.
“Twinken!” Midnight gave him a look before giving a hesitant smile towards Philomena, “I’m sure once you get past the… hacking coughs and… the mangy-feather-shedding look she’s… a very sweet bird!”
Philomena responded with a particularly loud hack that made him grimace.
“She is quite a sight, isn’t she?” Celestia giggled.
“I, uh… never seen anything quite like her,” Fluttershy admitted in a way so to not sound affront, as she looked at how the bird appeared to struggle holding her head up and coughing more.
At that moment though, one of the guards came up and whispered something to the princess.
“Really?” The guard nodded yes. “Well, if I must.”
She then announced to everypony present, “I’m sorry, everypony. I’m afraid I have to cut the party short.”
Twinken “aww”d in disappointment while Twilight almost did a spit-take with her tea, Celestia standing up as she explained, “The mayor has requested an audience, royal duty calls! Thank you for a wonderful time. It’s been a joy getting to know you all better.”
“Bye, Princess!” Twinken waved, Celestia smiling at him before she walked out, her guards in loyal tow, everypony bowing their heads respectfully as she passed them by. But Fluttershy noticed the princess had apparently forgotten to bring Philomena with her.
“Now Ah can eat sumthin’, Ah’m starved!” Applejack was about to chomp but Carrot Cake had already cleared the table, leaving her to sulk as everypony began to leave.
Twilight sighed, “Well, I don’t know for sure how things went with the princess, but at least no big disaster’s happened.”
“Oh Twilight, must I repeat myself?” Midnight sighed with a smile as he walked up to her. “Relax! It was a fine and enjoyable get-together, the princess clearly had a nice time, and was very gracious in expressing her gratitude. Now, whattya say we all head to the library? Come on Twinken!”
He was answered with silence, the three of them looking around.
“Twinken?”
They noticed the lack of Twinken but what they didn’t notice was the lack of a certain royal pet from her cage.