//------------------------------// // The Princess // Story: The Princess and the Unicorn // by DisneyFanatic23 //------------------------------// The light from Celestia's sun filled the princess' bedroom as a rooster outside called for every pony to rise. The alicorn's purple eyes slowly opened to greet the sunlight. She sat up in bed and stretched her legs and wings. She turned towards her window, walked up to it and looked out at the small town she lived in. The view she had of it now was much higher up than when she had lived in the old oak, but that did not change the serenity of the sight. "Ah, good morning, Ponyville," she said with a sigh. She glanced down at the purple dragon snoring in a box at the foot of her bed. She chuckled and decided to let him sleep for a bit. She walked up to her vanity and gasped. The night had not been kind to her hair. Her dark blue mane was a tangled mess, her purple and pink highlights spread all over the place. She couldn't help but giggle. "You don't look so good, Twilight," she said as she attempted to smooth out her mane. "Well, we can fix that." After washing her mane and tail, which was just as messed up, in a quick shower, she blow dried them both and brushed out the knots. Now when she looked in the mirror, she saw a pretty lavender alicorn with purple eyes and a tidy, straight mane. She wasn't as focused on looks as her friend Rarity, but now that she was a princess, she felt it was important to maintain a good appearance. She checked the clock and saw that twenty-three minutes had passed. "Time to wake up Spike." He was just as she had left him, all snug in his little box, tucked under his blue blanket, snoring into his pillow. She had a sly look in her eye as she used her magic to pull the blanket off his body. The dragon sat up at the sudden chill. "Gah!" "Rise and shine, Number One Assistant!" Twilight chimed. "We've got a big day ahead of us! So let's get ourselves some breakfast and write out our checklist for the day!" The alicorn flew down the stairs, but the dragon just moaned and flopped his head back onto the pillow. He didn't understand how she could be so cheerful every morning, especially after staying up the previous night studying. "With a name like Twilight," he grumbled, "you'd think she'd be a night owl." But it didn't matter what time she slept, she was always up bright and early, just so she could make his mornings miserable. "Spike!" Twilight called from downstairs. He groaned as he lifted himself up. "Okay, okay, I'm coming!" She was already down in the kitchen, preparing pancakes for them both. "Twilight," he sighed, taking his place at the table, "do we have to wake up at sunrise every single morning?" "There's a lot to do in the day," she replied, keeping her attention on the stove, "and we must not waste a minute of daylight. If I remember my to-do list correctly, we have a lot of things scheduled for today." "You have a lot of things scheduled for today. Why can't you just let me sleep an extra hour or two?" "You wouldn't be so sleepy if you hadn't been up all night reading comic books." "The new issue of Power Ponies comes out in two days! I need to catch up!" She chuckled. "You sound like Rainbow Dash waiting for the next Daring Do book; only you only have to wait a month for each book." "Oh, like you never go crazy for books." "Touché." When the pancakes were done, Twilight used her magic to flip a stack of five onto each of their plates. Despite all that had changed, it was nice that her mornings with Spike had stayed the same. Not only was she a princess now, but they were living in a new tree (a castle, for that matter). After Tirek's defeat, the Tree of Harmony had made a crystal castle grow out of the place the old library once stood. While it was much bigger and had many new rooms, including a throne room, it seemed the Tree of Harmony had restored much of their belongings that had been destroyed in Tirek's blast. It was good, because practically everything Twilight and Spike owned had been in that library, including the books. Those had been restored as well and were now in the west wing of the castle, which was open to the public since the town was in need of a new library anyway. Even though she had gotten used to her new living space, things weren't exactly the same as before Tirek. Now that Twilight held the official title of the Princess of Friendship, she had a more significant role in Equestria, especially in Ponyville. Ponies now came to her for wisdom and guidance, mostly having to do with rifts in friendships. Some came from outside of Ponyville, ponies that could not make the long journey to Canterlot. In fact, dealing with the problems of her subjects was the first duty of the day. She would have two one-hour sessions each day for this task: one after breakfast and one in the afternoon. Sometimes the other members of the Friendship Council would help her, but she did not require them to come, since they had duties of their own. That morning, it was just her and Spike, who was sitting beside her on his little throne, holding the checklist they had made for the day. The first issue presented to them that morning was between a gray mare with black hair wearing a pink bowtie and the local DJ. The two of them were roommates and not getting along very well. "Every morning," the gray mare complained, "Vinyl practically throws me out of bed with her loud, incessant wubs!" "They make very effective dishwashers!" the white unicorn in sunglasses argued. "And didn't you say you wanted me to wake you up for work?" "Most ponies just nudge sleeping ponies gently! Heck, even shaking me vigorously would've sufficed!" "You think I haven't tried that? You're a hard sleeper! At least I do the dishes for ya!" "Can't you find a quieter way to wash the dishes like every pony else?!" They were arguing so rapidly that it took a while before Twilight could get a word in: "Alright. I think I have a solution. Vinyl, keep your…wubs and wash the dishes later in the day when Octavia is out of the house. That way, you can still wash the dishes your way and Octavia won't be bothered. As for waking her up in the morning, get an alarm clock." The roommates glanced at each other. "That's actually not a bad idea," Octavia confirmed. "Sounds cool," Vinyl said with a shrug. They both bowed towards the alicorn. "Thank you so much for your wisdom, your highness," said Octavia. "Thanks a bunch, Princess!" Vinyl grinned. "No problem," Twilight beamed. "Glad I could help." As the mares left the throne room, Twilight whispered to Spike, "Still not used to all the bowing and 'your highness' thing." "They're just showing respect, Twilight," the dragon replied. "It's customary." She knew that, but it still felt strange, considering she had only been a princess for a short while and was not used to so much praise. That's why when a group of photographers started taking pictures of her the second she stepped out the door to run some errands, she covered her face with her wings. Not only was it to hide her face, but to shield her eyes from the series of flashes. The amount of paparazzi following her had increased dramatically after Tirek's defeat. They started shooting questions at her. "Princess Twilight! How did it feel to go single-hoofedly against Tirek?" "Princess! Did temporarily absorbing the other princesses' magic have permanent effects? Are you more powerful now?" "Your highness! What did you have for breakfast this morning?" Twilight had had enough and pulled Spike onto her back before taking to the skies. Many of the reporters shouted complaints while the ones with wings flew after her. "They're gaining on us!" Spike exclaimed. He covered his mouth while trying to keep his breakfast down. While Twilight had improved on her aerial coordination, the ride was still bumpy. "Oh, at this rate, we'll never be able to stay on schedule!" Twilight groaned as she looked back at the reporters in pursuit. Spike gulped as he stared ahead. "I think we've got bigger problems!" "What?" "Look out for that…" He was cut off as Twilight slammed flat into the side of a… "…mountain." The alicorn slid to the ground in pain. The reporters did nothing to help, just continued snapping pictures. She gazed up at them and groaned. "I hate flying." After lunch was the weekly meeting of the Council of Friendship. Seeing Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie was enough to brighten Twilight's day. That meeting, they were discussing the Crystal Fair, which Princess Cadence had invited them to help prepare. They were to leave in two days and were making sure they had all the materials they needed. "I've prepared the cloth for the tents," Rarity declared, "not only is it flexible and soft, but it's waterproof and will look fabulous!" "I've been brushing up on my jousting skills for the tournament," Rainbow said. Fluttershy stiffened. "Oh, please tell me you've found another partner?" "Don't worry. I've asked Derpy and she's excited to come." "Oh, that's good. I'm bringing some of my animals for the petting zoo. Well, the ones who won't mind being petted by a bunch of strangers." "I'll have a whole lot of apple baked goods ready for my stall," Applejack guaranteed. "And I've been practicing my flugelhorn all month!" Pinkie Pie piped. She demonstrated by blowing fiercely into her crystal horn, forcing everyone to cover their ears. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Also, I placed an order for a cartload of fireworks for the evening show! They will be hoof-delivered to the Crystal Empire by Mr. Cracker himself!" Twilight blinked. "Who's Mr. Cracker?" "He's the pyrotechnician who's been making all my fireworks ever since I was old enough to handle them! He lives in a small shop in Hoofington with his daughter. I've never met her, but I hear she's our age and she might come to the Crystal Empire with her dad and I'm so excited because that means we can make a new friend…" "I think we get the picture," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "Looks like we'll have everything we need," Twilight grinned. "I think we could all use a break," Rarity sighed. "What say we all go out to dinner tonight?" "Oh, that sounds lovely," Fluttershy smiled. "I'm up for that," said Applejack. "Cool," Rainbow nodded. "It'll be fun!" Pinkie squealed. "Yeah, that does sound…" Twilight started to say. "Uh, Twilight?" Spike said, tapping her shoulder. He held up their schedule and what he pointed to made the alicorn frown. "Oh. I'm sorry, girls, but I'm going to have to pass. The mayor's dinner party is this evening and I'm supposed to attend." "Oh," the five ponies said sadly. "We understand, Twilight," Rarity assured her. "Yeah," Applejack nodded. "Yerr responsibilities come first." Twilight's ears fell back guiltily. Other than these meetings, she never seemed to have much time for her friends anymore. Last week, she had missed Rarity's birthday party because she had to go to a Royal Summit in Canterlot. Three days ago she had to bail on a picnic they had planned because she had to cut the ribbon at the opening of the new hospital wing. Then there were the issues presented to her by her subjects. And the ones that followed that meeting did not make her feel any better: "My brother won't pay the rent!" "My tomato plants were eaten by aphids!" "She keeps stealing my dolly!" "My house is infested with rats!" "She forgot our anniversary!" shouted a yellow mare with pink and blue hair. The green unicorn mare she was pointing at scowled. "I'm sorry, okay, Bon-Bon?! It's hard to remember when we have so many anniversaries as it is!" "What do you mean by that?" "I mean there's the anniversary of our first date, the anniversary of our first kiss, the anniversary of when we moved in together… You know, it would be a lot easier to count if I had fingers!" "You and your obsession with hands!" Twilight put her hoof to her head. Great, now I've become a marriage counselor. "Enough!" she commanded. "Bon-Bon, you must forgive Lyra. Just because she's forgetful doesn't mean she doesn't love you. Lyra, to make up for the fact you forgot your anniversary, take Bon-Bon out to dinner." The two mares looked at each other. "Dinner!" the unicorn exclaimed. "Why hadn't I thought of that?!" "I'm sorry I got so angry at you," Bon-Bon smiled. "And I'm sorry I forgot our anniversary. I'll try not to do it again!" "It's okay. I forgive you." After embracing each other, they turned to the alicorn and bowed. "Thank you, your highness!" Bon-Bon said graciously. "It's Twilight," the princess grumbled. "Thank you, Princess Twilight!" Lyra exclaimed. The alicorn heaved a sigh. "You're welcome." The couple was still bowing as they backed out the door. Twilight turned to Spike. "Tell me they were the last ones today," she grumbled. "That was it," he replied. She groaned as she put her face in her hooves. "What's wrong, Twilight?" "I don't know how much more of this I can take," she confessed. "Every pony comes to me with their problems, no matter how ridiculous; I can't leave the castle without getting mobbed and I have so many duties now, I rarely have time to just hang with my friends and be normal." "You're a princess now, Twilight. No one said the job was going to be easy. And you'll have plenty of time to spend with your friends once we're finished setting up the Crystal Fair." She sighed. "I guess, but sometimes I just wish things could go back to the way they were before I became a princess, when I was just a regular old unicorn." "You know, the dinner party's not for a couple of hours. We could maybe make a quick visit to Rarity's or Fluttershy's or one of the others'." "No. I feel like what I need now is to lie down for a bit and read a book." Spike nodded, understanding that a good book always made Twilight feel better. After the long day they had had, she deserved a break. Twilight scanned the library shelves for a book that might calm her nerves. While searching in the classics section, her eyes fell upon a small red book titled The Prince and the Pauper. "Huh," she said, levitating the book with her magic. "I haven't read this one in ages." She spent the next few hours curled up in the corner with the book open in front of her. As she read the story, she couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it. The probability of two ponies of completely different families being the same in appearance was practically impossible, unless they were twins separated at birth. She also couldn't help but wonder why the pauper, Tom Canter, would want to take on the responsibilities of royalty. Terrible as his life was, at least he didn't have to deal with so much stress. She felt Prince Edward Trotter had the right idea taking a day to be like every pony else. As she read the part where the lookalikes decided to switch places, Twilight shook her head with a sigh. "If only it were that easy." She glanced out the window and saw that night had fallen and the stars were out. Soon it would be time for her to go to the dinner party. As she gazed at the beautiful night sky, she thought about what her life had been like when she was still a unicorn. While there had been busy days, they were more laidback compared to the chaos she had now. She didn't have to deal with annoying reporters or crazed fans or whining subjects. She had quality time with her friends, even more time to read, and had the pleasant fortune of being just a run-of-the-mill unicorn. As she thought this, a shooting star passed over. Now, Twilight was not superstitious, but it never hurt to make a wish. She closed her eyes and whispered: "I wish that for just one day, I could be a regular old unicorn again."