“No! Absolutely not!” Rarity tromped around the ballroom that the sisters were in.
“But, Rarity-“ Twilight tried to reasoned with her.
“But no! I will not… I repeat, will not be put on display like this! I will not be some prince’s prize!”
“Same here!” Rainbow flew above them.
“I’m with them!” pointed Pinkie.
“You guys… we have to do what Mother says…” gestured Twilight.
“It is… after all, our duty…” Fluttershy said in a near whisper.
“Look, I know it’s hard…” said Applejack, “But… Twilight’s right. Our mother only wants what’s best for us, and I say we obey her and do as she wishes…”
“Since when do you back off from a fight?!” Rainbow demanded to her face.
“I don’t! But this is one fight that we’re not up for! Mother is the ruler of all! To defy her is risky business!”
Realization hit Rarity, “You… you don’t think she would disinherited us?!”
“I don’t know…” Twilight thought, “I don’t think she would, but I rather not take that chance…”
“Agreed…” motioned Fluttershy.
“Oh…” tears welled in Rarity’s eyes. If she had a true love at this point, she would gladly give up her crown for the sake of love, but since she didn’t… All she had was her role as a princess, “Oh… Very well! I will submit to this… this arranged marriage! But I won’t have to like it one bit!”
“Of course not,” AJ wrapped her hoof around her, “we all won’t…”
Rainbow looked out in the distance of the window and remembered her and Soarin’s chat from that afternoon. She would never get him back now, so might as well agree to this so-called marriage. There was no hope of getting out of it.
“I guess…” Pinkie stated, “Unless the suitors want to leave before one of us gets chosen to be a bride, then we are stuck on where we are…”
“Wait…” Rainbow looked to her energetic sister, “Go back. What did you say, Pinks?”
“Then we’re stuck on where-“
“No! Before that!”
“I guess?”
“In the middle!”
“Unless the suitors want to leave before one of us-“
“That’s it!” she twirled in the air.
“What’s it?” all of them asked.
“We make the suitors leave before one of us gets chosen!”
“Why, that’s…” Twilight pondered, then she suddenly shouted out, “A brilliant plan! Rainbow, you’re a genius!”
“I know…” she looked smug.
“Wait a minute!” AJ waved her hoof, “How exactly are we going to make these suitors leave?”
“Oh, we’ll think of something…” Rarity batted her eyelashes, “We always have…”
“We sure do…” said Fluttershy.
“Then it is agreed,” Twilight held out her hoof, “We make sure that the suitors never have a chance to pick one of us…”
“You got it!” Dash put her hoof on top of Twilight’s.
“Absolutely!” Rarity put hers next.
“Yay…” Fluttershy did next.
“Okie-dokie!” Pinkie pressed hers on.
“You know…” Applejack put her hoof down last, “This might actually work!”
“All together now!” Twilight declared as they raised their hooves in unity.
“Sisters forever!” they all said and went in a group hug.
“All right, y’all. I have to get back to the kitchen to finish those pies for dessert at dinner tonight.”
“Ooh! Does that mean…?” Pinkie leaned.
“Yes, that means gooseberry pie, as well…” She said as she left.
“Yippee!” Pinkie jumped out of the room.
“Yes, and I must find the right attire to wear to dinner. I’ll have to get Sweetie Belle to help me…” Rarity went as well.
“So, in the meantime,” Rainbow asked Twilight, “we pretend we’re past the problem?”
“Precisely. Mother can never find out we’re behind the suitors leaving… So absolute secrecy must be kept.” They both turned towards Fluttershy, who was shaking.
“Oh, dear…” she squeaked.
“Oh, relax, Flutters! You can do this! Just remember what we’re doing this for… our freedom to marry whoever we want!”
“Yes…” she stood firm, “I will. For freedom!” She gave out a small war cry when leaving the area. She’d have to remind herself to thank Discord for teaching her to give out her inner self more and for trying to convince her to have freedom in the first place. But then, she remembered what she said that afternoon. She would have to apologize to him for pushing away, but would he forgive her? She would have to find out as soon as dinner was over with for tonight.
Applejack was humming along while using the rolling pin on the dough to flatten it. The little kitchen maid, Apple Bloom, was right beside her, getting ready with apple pie fillings and she noticed the princess’s mood had improved since that afternoon.
“Everything okay, Applejack?”
“’Everything okay’? It’s better than okay!” she smiled, then put the flattened dough in the pie tin.
“That’s great! I noticed you were feeling down, but for you to be so happy now…”
“There’s nothing to feel down about not when you have a couple of good sisters by your side. It feels like you can get though anything.”
“Awesome!” Apple Bloom said as she poured the mashed apples in.
AJ folded over the next flattened piece of dough. She kept humming until a voice said.
“Now what’s going on here?” Spike was by the door, “I thought you would still be upset?”
“There’s no reason for me to be upset anymore…” Then, she moved him closer so Apple Bloom wouldn’t hear them or the rest of the kitchen staff, “Not when we got a plan to getting those suitors to leave on their own before one of us is chosen.”
“Really?!” he nearly shouted out until she shushed him. He noticed a very interesting thing as he was standing close to her. He could smell apples off of her and how her emerald eyes were shining and her soft blond mane was touching his scales; it felt good. He had the urge to run his claws through that soft mane. But why would he think that when he was interested in Rarity?
AJ was having troubles with her own feelings of Spike being so close to her. She had to fight off the fact she wanted to wrap her hooves around him and give a great big hug just to see how he would feel against her body. His green eyes looked like they were staring straight into her soul. His scales looked smooth and rough, but she bet that with one touch, they would be soft and even.
When Fancy Pants walked in, both of them were brought back to reality and they heard what he was saying to the staff, “I trust the main course is ready?”
“Yes, Sir.” replied a cook named Golden Harvest.
“Good. We have an important guest coming: Princess Luna, the Queen’s sister, so everything must be perfect.”
“It shall be ze finest meal in all the land!” The Head Chef, a griffin named Gustave Le Grand, pronounced.
“Uh, yes…” Fancy Pants turned to see Applejack, “You best get ready, Your Majesty. It’s almost time.”
“Shoot, I’ve got plenty of time. Don’t worry about me, and it’s Applejack, Fancy. No need to get fancy about it…” she sniggered.
“Very amusing, Princess.” he smirked, “Pray tell, how are you and your sisters holding up in all this… this recent predicament?”
The cooks stopped what they were doing as they wanted to hear the answer to that, too.
AJ, knowing she couldn’t have the staff spread rumors around for her mother to pick up anything that can give her a clue in the future, answered truthfully without giving away too much information.
“We had a talk and we decided to accept the fact we would have to meet suitors.”
This surprised Fancy. He was so sure that they would put up more of a fight than that; especially Rarity after their chat in her suite. “You… you have?”
“Yup, we knew then that we couldn’t go against our mother and went with it.”
“Uh…” he cleared his throat, “Yes, quite right. One certainly can’t disobey the Queen. You’re making the right choice.”
“Oh, we are…” she said under her breath, and then felt a touch on her shoulder, surprised to see Spike’s claw there.
“Maybe you should get going now. We’ve got everything covered here and you need to be there for the arrival of your aunt.”
“I suppose so… I’ll… see you around.” she slowly moved away from him and gave a quick wave goodbye to him and the staff before going.
Spike gave a small smile and waved her off.
“I saw that.” said Apple Bloom.
“Saw what?” he turned to her, facing her at eye level.
“You like her, don’t you?” she gave him a sly grin.
“What?! That’s insane! She’s a princess! I’m a dragon!”
“That never stopped you from crushing on Rarity.”
He blushed furiously, “How… how did you know?”
“It was obvious, and Applejack has told me at one point.”
“Oh, she did, did she?” he crossed his arms and frowned.
“Yeah, and it’s weird, but the way she kept talking about it, it was almost as if she was jealous…”
This intrigued him, “Jealous? Do you think she… she…?”
“I’m not sure, but it seems like it. Of course, I could be wrong.”
“Sure, maybe…”
“Well, it’s best I get back to finishing those desserts. You know how Princess Pinkie loves her cupcakes.”
“Totally,” he nodded and saw her going back to the counter while he pondered on what Apple Bloom told him of Applejack possibly being jealous of Rarity having his attention. Well, in order to see if the theory was right, he might as well start doing favors for her. He went back to dinner preparations while figuring out his plan.
The girls gathered in front of the dining hall’s great doors.
Twilight instructed to them in hushed whispers, “Remember, act like we’re still upset, but cool enough to understand the importance of what must be done.”
They nodded and faced the doors and two guards swung open the doors for them. Celestia could see the girls from her seat that was next to her sister, Luna, who she had come over sooner since the girls gave out their reactions. Now, they noticed that girls were unusually calm.
She softly greeted them, knowing perfectly well she was not going to the same happy response she had from lunch, “Hello… my daughters…”
“Hello, Mother…” they said, bowing their heads to her, much to her surprise.
“Am I to understand that you are willing to go through with it?”
“Yes, Mother…” they repeated, keeping their heads down.
“I know I do not deserve your forgiveness, but I hope that you’ll see I’m doing this out of love… for your safety and welfare…”
“We may not understand completely, but we are willing to learn…” Twilight spoke on their behalf.
“Thank you… Have a seat and I promise to find suitable matches for all of you…”
They lifted their heads and took their usual spots at the table.
“You mean we will find suitable matches. I won’t so easily be swayed by a pompous prince or uptight regent.” Luna winked to the girls, to which they gave reassuring smiles to her.
“Before we have dinner, and I am sorry if this will spoil your appetites, but we must discuss this since we didn’t have a chance at lunch time. When the suitors do arrive, I would feel more at ease knowing you were sleeping in the same bedchamber you all slept in when you were younger.”
“But we haven’t been in that room in a long time!” gestured Twilight.
“I always thought it got remodeled after we moved out.” said Pinkie.
“Just please tell me that it’s been kept clean after all these years,” pointed Rarity, “because I refuse to move back in if there’s… ugh, dirt… and what if my allergies start kicking up?!”
“It is alright. I inspected the room just this morning and had the maids look into it if there’s anything that needed cleaning, so you’ll be fine, my darling Rarity.”
The unicorn sighed in ease.
“When do you want us to move back in, Mother?” Fluttershy asked.
“When the first of the suitors arrives. So, in the meantime, it would be best to look for things in your rooms to bring with you.”
They gave random agreements. Then, Fancy Pants trotted in, carrying a silver tray and giving a quick glance to Rarity, who turned her head away from him since she was still upset at him. He frowned and then turned his attention back to the queen, saying, “Dinner is ready whenever you are, Your Majesty.”
“Very good, Fancy Pants. You may serve it in.”
He put his hoof to his chest and bowed, “At once, Your Highness.” He did another glance towards Rarity, but she didn’t notice. However, a dark blue alicorn did.
After the meal was done and the desserts demolished by Pinkie, the girls bowed their heads once more to their mother and walked out the hall. Once the royal sisters were out of sight and earshot, Applejack asked Twilight.
“Think we did good?”
“I think so. She was grateful we were going along with it, but she also saw the pain in our eyes all the same.”
“Does us moving back into our old room change anything?” Rainbow questioned.
“No. In fact, I think Mother just made it easier for us to get together to concoct plans to get rid of the suitors. So, does anyone want to come with me to see the room again?”
The other sisters gave yeses, but Fluttershy said, “I’ll meet you there. I have to do something first.” She turned to go.
“Do what?” Dash eyed her.
“Just… something…”
“Fluttershy, since we’re going to be swarmed with suitors,” motioned Twilight, “we can’t keep secrets from each other since it’s going to take all of us to get these colts out of here. Now, please tell us of what you’re going to do…”
She sighed and explained, “I need to go talk to Discord…”
“What?!” Dash flapped, “Not that troublemaker!”
“You know he’s my friend…”
“We know…” Rarity admitted, “It’s just we can’t help but worry for you when you’re around him. He is, after all, a past criminal.”
“Exactly; it was in the past. Now, he is doing much better by helping with problems that would be too big for Mother to handle. I am very proud of him.” Her eyes sparkled when she said that last part and the sisters gave her a look, “What? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?”
“No, it’s just…” Twilight shook her head, “never mind…”
Rainbow whispered to AJ, “Sheesh, for a second there, I thought she was crushing on the guy…”
“Me, too…”
Something within Fluttershy struck then, and said, “Wait… he can help us!”
The girls gave her confused looks and said, “Huh?”
“With his magic, we should be able to shoo off those suitors before you know it!”
“That’s…” Rainbow was about object until she said, “…actually not a bad idea…”
“Yes…” Rarity agreed, “As uncouth as he is, he could serve a purpose for us, wouldn’t you think so, Twilight?”
“I hate to admit it… but yes. Fluttershy, can you convince him to help us out?”
“I’m sure he will…” Then she said under her breath, “That is, if he’s still talking to me…” She went back to telling her sisters, “I’ll be right back. Just go on ahead. And I’ll see you there.” She opened her wings to flutter off to the outside.
Celestia and Luna were in the throne room going over today’s events and the girls’ earlier reactions of having suitors.
“Make no mistake, sister. They are planning something behind your back.” said Luna.
“I am aware that they are. After all, they wouldn’t be my daughters if they didn’t. They were very good at hiding it using pain and acceptance, but they have a plan and I intend to help them out with my own plan.”
“Is that the real reason why you wanted them back in their old room together?”
“It is. And that’s where you’ll come in…”
“I knew it had to be more than just choosing phony husbands for my clever nieces. Which, of course, I was upset at first that you would do that to your daughters, but then remembering…” She went to a glass stain window of Celestia and Sombra with their horns touching in love, with six fillies resembling the princesses below them being happy. “I feel so bad for them… They could’ve had everything you and your husband had…”
“I agree. We made a vow one night long ago that our daughters would find love just as we had… But now, I must break that vow before it is too late…”
“Indeed, time grows short… And already, one of your daughters has fallen in love…”
“I would like to say that is wonderful, but that means danger will soon be upon us…” She lowered her head in somber.