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// Chapter 7--Family Dinner 
// Story: The Forgotten Sisters 
// by Flaming Pulsar 
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Chapter 7--Family Dinner

“Calling all members of the Royal Family of Equestria and guests. The time has come to begin the monthly Royal Family Dinner. Please report to the Royal Dining Hall in 10 minutes.”
The announcement rang out from the tallest tower of the castle where a hautcolt was positioned with a very large hollowed-out horn. Each dinner attendee began to walk toward the dining hall, each with their respective happenings in tow. They each sat around the long table with King Temporus at the head and each royal in descending order of importance from him with his wife Queen Galaxis at his right hoof. Once the ten attendees were seated, Chef Le Grande brought out the meal. “One large veggie turkey with bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, croissants, and my special gravy. And to drink we have my finest homemade Huckleberry Wine with huckleberries straight from Idahoof. Bon Apetit!”
Temporus began carving the veggie turkey and said, “It would seem as though you all have had quite interesting things happen to you recently. Why don’t we share starting with Clover and working our way up to Celestia?”
“Very well, uncle,” Clover said. “I haven’t much to share but I have been working on enhancing my mental acuity with the help of Spud.”
“Ah yes, how is Spud? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“His farm is as productive as ever. He’s been working on a new flavor for his home-baked potato chips and he promised that we would be the first to try them when they’re done.”
“Excellent. What about you, Starswirl? I see you’ve brought a mare to dine with us. Care to explain?”
“Of course,” Starswirl said. “Everyone, this is Sapphire Silver, my fiancee.”
“Fiancee? I was unaware that you were even dating anyone.”
“We’ve been dating for almost a year, you’re majesty,” Sapphire said. “And Sunday night Swirly proposed to me at Pino’s.”
“I see. And there’s no need for titles, my dear. Have you set a date for the wedding yet?”
“Well, we want to have it before the foal arrives--”
“Foal? Are you saying that you are not only engaged to my nephew, but you are pregnant as well?”
“That is correct.”
“Am I correct to assume that Starswirl is the father?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. When is the child due?”
“It’s due around Hearth’s Warming.”
“Then we shall have an Autumnal Wedding. Do you have a preference for which month?”
“I would prefer to have it in November so as to not be too close to Nightmare Night.”
“Very well. I will see to it that a Grand Royal Wedding is prepared for November. Until then, I congratulate you on your marriage and you pregnancy.”
“Thank you.”
“Next would be Animia. What have you done recently?”
“Well Father,” the young princess began, “I’ve completed my studies of animal control magic and as a reward, Wild Beast let me keep this phoenix. Her name is Albus Ignis.”
“A white phoenix. That is quite the rarity, darling,” Galaxis said.
“Floriana, what do you have to share?” Temporus asked.
“Well,” Floriana said, “as you may have noticed from my chair, I’ve completed my studies of plant control magic and Wild Flower gave me this oak as a reward. I can make it do anything I want so long as I plant it thrice daily and water it once daily.”
“That’s wonderful! All my little girls are growing up. Luna, you’re next. You’ve brought your guard captain to dinner, is there a threat in security?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Luna said. “To be honest, I was certain our announcement would be the only one of its kind but it seems cousin Starswirl beat us to the punch. Solar Flare and I are also engaged though not with the added bonus of pregnancy.”
“Hmm, I am unsure how to go about this. I am pleased that you have found love but it is rather unheard of for a Princess to marry her guard captain. I will allow it but don’t let your love interrupt your duties. When would you like your wedding to be?”
“Of course, Father. We decided that we would like a Nightmare Night Wedding because most people would be awake anyways.”
“Very well. We shall have it planned. And finally Celestia, how go your preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration?”
“Quite well, though I learned that I need to knock before entering a private area,” Celestia said. “I walked into a couple of awkward moments in my search for some people to cover the necessary preparations.”
“Yes, I’ve done that a few times myself. Knocking is a very important thing to do. Well, now that you’ve all shared your experiences, your mother and I have a few things we need to tell you.”
“That’s right,” Galaxis said. “First of all, Celestia, we are pleased to announce your betrothal to White Feather, Prince of Gryphonia.”
“Betrothal?” Celestia asked.
“Oh come now,” Temporus said. “You knew that as the eldest, you were destined to be betrothed unless you found a mate by age 1000. As you are now almost 1050, this betrothal is overdue.”
“But why White Feather? Griffins only live to be 1000 and he’s already 525. I will long outlive him.”
“Celestia, you should know that betrothed marriages are mostly made to conjoin kingdoms. And our kingdom needs the alliance of the griffins to help us in our times of need.”
“Very well. When is the wedding set to be?”
“In approximately a year, directly following your birthday. That should be plenty of time for you to get to know him better. He and his father King Silver beak will be attending the Summer Sun Celebration so you can meet him then. Now, for bigger news. As you all know, the Discordian War caused a great amount of destruction and Discord’s influence has yet to be extinguished. Many people were corrupted by his evil. We have done our best to quarantine them in an island in the south that we have called Tartaros but some have escaped our grasp. The most notable entity is a being known as Tirek. He lives by eating the magical power of others. Now, you know that after the Discordian War, magic was limited to the spells that only unicorns and alicorns are able to use. This makes it much harder to be used for evil. However, that is not to say that it is only unicorns and alicorns that have magic. Magic is innate within all creatures but most don’t utilize their magic knowingly. Tirek is able to eat the magic that resides in even the smallest, most insignificant creature. This is why you must use extreme caution if you ever encounter him. He may be using a disguised name so be sure to watch out for anything that might be an anagram; villains always like to use anagrams. Furthermore, I have set our top researchers to looking for a way to stop him and any other threats that may come in time. Once something is found, I will need volunteers to obtain the necessary protection. Until then, be wary of anyone you don’t know. Dinner is now adjourned.”
They all left to carry out their respective duties as they thought hard about whether or not to volunteer for the task ahead.