The Apple family farmhouse had not seen such a gathering in quite a while. At least, not since the last Apple Family Reunion. It had been a week since Applejack had returned from the forest, and things were almost back to normal.
The kitchen was operating at full tilt, Granny Smith directing the cooking as well as any sailor-mouthed ram as the makings of a proper feast were put together by Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Big Mac. Applejack would have helped, but Granny had insisted, and when Applejack had pressed the issue, Granny had deployed an unbeatable argument.
The newly coronated Lady Everfree rubbed her still-equine brow with a hoof where Granny had bopped her with the wooden spoon, and fidgeted with her cider as she sat with all the other ponies who had been deemed forbidden from the kitchen for the night.
"You did alright," Twilight Sparkle said, patting Applejack on the shoulder.
"I was nervous as a rattlesnake in a mongoose pen," Applejack confessed. "Can't believe I managed to get through that ceremony without makin' a mistake."
"Hah," Rainbow agreed. "That was like, ten times as complicated as Twilight's coronation! You had to recite all that Dryadese stuff, and make a tree grow... it was awesome!" Rainbow snorted. "All Twilight had to do was stand there and smile."
"I'm surprised you were paying attention to the ceremony," Twilight said, a little burned by the comparison of ceremonies. "On account of you making eyes at Lord Aspen the whole time."
"What? No!" Rainbow blew a raspberry. "Don't be ridiculous! Me? Make eyes at a Dryad Lord during a ceremony? Ha! Good one!"
"Well, why wouldn't you?" Twilight asked. "He was absolutely dreamy."
"Oh, I know, right?" Rainbow leant forward, squeezing her face between her hooves. "The way he moved, and his voice... did you see his muscles? Dude is so fit, it's crazy!"
"You know," Applejack said. "I could ask around, see if he's available..."
Rainbow went bright red, and sat back upright. "W- What? Why would you do that?" She closed her eyes defiantly, and turned her nose up. "I- It's not like I want to date him, or anything!" Rainbow opened one eye hesitantly. "Well... maybe a little."
"I reckon I'm just plum lucky I had Sessalisk on my side," Applejack said. "Without her help, I don't think the ceremony would have gone half as well."
"Speaking of," Rainbow said, "Where is that crazy naga? She's coming to tea, right?"
"Rarity took Sessalisk shopping in Canterlot," Twilight said.
There was the sound of the front door opening just as Twilight said that, and Rarity's voice rang out.
"We're back, everypony!"
"Speak of the fashionista," Rainbow said. "Sessalisk, what'd you get?"
"I got the besst sshirt," Sessalisk said. "Canterlot iss amazing. Look at this sshirt!"
The sound of Sessalisk slithering along was heard, and the naga emerged into the dining room, forelegs spread wide to show off the dark T-shirt on her torso. Upon the shirt's front, an image of the moon had been printed, and around it were three images of Princess Luna howling at it.
Rarity was not far behind and clearly forcing a smile of approval as she gestured to it. "Isn't it wonderful?" Rarity asked.
"Oh my stars, it's a three Luna moon shirt," Twilight breathed. "Why is there a three Luna moon shirt?"
"That's what I'd like to know," a familiar voice declared. "Where's my three Celestia sun shirts?"
"Princess Celestia?" Applejack blurted. "When did you get here?"
"Yes," Rarity said. "I was going to say, we've brought an extra guest for tea."
The solar princess of Equestria stepped out from around the corner, and smiled apologetically.
"I hope you don't mind," she said.
"There's always a place at our table for friends," Applejack said.
"Did somepony say Princess Celestia?" Granny Smith shouted from the kitchen.
"The princess is here for tea, Granny!" Applejack shouted back.
"Oh, good," Granny said. "I hope you've brought your appetite, Princess -- I thought Luna would be joining us as well, so there's a bit extra."
"Luna will join us a little later on," Celestia said. "She has some affairs of state to settle before she's free to join us for dinner."
* * *
"Night Court is now open, Princess Luna presiding. Send in the first petitioner!"
Luna slumped against the arm of her chair, face sour. Curse her sister for making her attend to night court first! She was going to have to arrive late, and that would be awkward, and no doubt her sister would eat all the good pastries before she got there…
"Presenting his lordship, Prince Blueblood!" the Night Guard nearest the door said, his face betraying his sympathy for the princess, who was now grinding her teeth and headbutting the arm of her chair.
She was never going to make it to the dinner on time.
* * *
"Oh, well, I'll make sure to set aside a plate for her, then," Granny said. "Carry on!"
"What brings you all the way out here, Princess?" Twilight asked.
"It's not every day one of my little ponies becomes a ruler," Celestia said. "I came to congratulate you, and advise you of your new tax responsibilities as the ruler of of a nation within Equestria."
"What?!" Twilight and Applejack exclaimed simultaneously.
"Kidding!" Celestia said, smiling as she sat down at the end of the table. "Here, I brought a gift."
Celestia reached into empty space with a hoof; it disappeared as if going inside an invisible hole, and she withdrew a box made out of beautifully carved and treated wood, with a leaf and vine motif covering the sides.
"What is it, what is it?" Rainbow asked eagerly, all but interposing herself between the intended recipient and Celestia.
"Hold y' horses," Applejack said as she elbowed Rainbow aside, taking the box from Celestia and nodding. "Lemme open it."
The box opened with a click of a latch; as it did, an earthy smell wafted out, and inside, sitting on a lining of rich silk, was a tiara that seemed to pulse with life, made from wood and vines that were still green and vibrant like they had been picked only moments ago.
"It's a tiara," Applejack said, looking up at Celestia. "Thank you, Princess. But why?"
"Well, every princess needs a tiara," Celestia said. "What's a head of state without a fancy piece of headdress? But you deserve this tiara more than most, I feel." She pointed to it. "I found this, many years ago in the Everfree forest, hidden in the fork of a tree. Someone put it there."
Applejack blinked. "How long ago, exactly?"
"Hmm… how old are you?" Celestia asked. "I was holding onto it, waiting for the heir to emerge. It is now with the rightful owner, I can feel it."
Applejack picked up the tiara; it was a sturdy piece of work, and a firm attempt at flexing it revealed it was solid as any metal tiara. Most notably, the scent was familiar.
"Ivy vines," Twilight said. "The box… the tiara."
"They caused a fearsome rash to anypony who dared touch the tiara," Celestia said. "But I suspect that they would not -- could not -- harm the true heir."
Applejack turned the headpiece around, and set it upon her own head. It pulsed with energy, and Applejack felt the vines extend a little, twisting into her mane to hold the crown in place when she removed her hooves.
"Looking good, AJ," Rainbow said, nodding approvingly.
Applejack looked up, sighed, and lifted the tiara off her head again, the vines relinquishing her mane automatically.
"I think I'll save this for important occasions," she said.
"A good idea," Celestia said. "Heavy is a head that wears a crown all the time."
"But don't you wear yours all the time?" Twilight asked. "I've never seen you without it."
"So, Sessalisk," Celestia said, turning to face the naga. "How was Canterlot? To your liking?"
"It iss amazing," Sessalisk declared. "I sssecured a garment ssstating that "I loveheart Cantertlot", and "My powersss were ssstolen by Tirek and all I got wass thiss loussy T-Sshirt"!"
"Ah, ha ha," Celestia said, forcing a laugh. "Ah, they still make those, why?"
"What, the Tirek shirts?" Twilight asked, tilting her head.
"No, the I-Heart-Canterlot shirts," Celestia said. "They're so very… 90's."
"Alsso, Canterlot poniess are sso… sso... athletic," Sessalisk went on. "All the time, running and flying!"
"Uh," Rarity said. "I think maybe they were running aw-"
"Running for their health, yes," Celestia intervened, cutting Rarity off. "Good cardio, long life. Did you know we have a quad-annual event called the Equestria games? I think you would like it."
"You musst tell me more," Sessalisk declared.
"Uh, how about later?" Twilight asked. "Dinner should be out any moment now, and I don't know about you girls, but I am starving."
"Eh?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"There was no food at the coronation!" Rainbow exclaimed. "And I didn't wanna go grazing, because A, it's a coronation," she said, counting off on one hoof, "And B, I didn't wanna risk like, eating some foreign dignitary!"
"Ah, right," Applejack blushed. "Sorry girls, my bad. Shoulda made sure there was some catering going on."
"Well, there might not have been actual food," Twilight said, giving Rainbow a sly look, "but at least there was a feast for the eyes, eh, Rainbow?"
Everypony at the table sniggered, and Rainbow choked on her own cider, mid-swig, and thumped her hoof on the table as she tried to regulate her breathing again.
"Gentle ribbing," Celestia remarked, decanting some cider into a martini glass she'd managed to procure from somewhere. "Well done, Twilight -- you've really grown."
"Soup's on, everypony!" Spike hailed from the kitchen doorway, the head of a conga line of dishes and platters and carrying a platter larger than he was into the dining area. There was a minute of logistical planning as this and the other platters were jammed onto the table, but eventually all the dishes were set and everypony was seated.
"Who would like to say grace?" Applejack asked.
"If you don't mind," Celestia said, "Today, I will say grace."
Celestia closed her eyes and cleared her throat, and everypony else followed suit. There was the clink of a knife on a platter, and everypony opened their eyes to see a large section of the quiche in the middle of the table was already gone, and Celestia poking the rear end of the slice into her already-full mouth.
She stopped, and barely managed to close her lips around the slice. "Grace," she mumbled.
* * *
The ivory moon lit the top of the farmhouse like a spotlight.
"You up here, Applejack?" Twilight's voice called out.
"Over here, Twilight," Applejack called, waving from her seat not far from the smokestack.
Twilight clambered up onto the roof, wobbling a little as a brisk wind pushed past her. She looked at Applejack and pointed at the wall she'd just climbed.
"Those creepers are surprisingly strong," she remarked.
"Yeah," Applejack said, staring back out over the orchard.
"Luna saw you come up here as she was flying in," Twilight said. "Said you looked a little glum."
"I'm alright," Applejack reassured.
"She just found out that Celestia deliberately ate all her favorite foods," Twilight said invitingly. "She cast Sleep on Celestia, and she's going to put a permanency spell on a moustache spell.…"
"I'm good," Applejack said.
"You don't sound good," Twilight said, walking over to Applejack.
Applejack sighed. "I suppose I'm not."
"Well, you trusted me with a hole in your side," Twilight said. "Can you trust me with what's on your mind?"
"It's just… all this dryad stuff," Applejack said. "Growing bark, ruling people I didn't even know existed a week ago… I'm changing, Twi."
"There, there," Twilight said, patting Applejack on the shoulder. "You're still you -- you can do this."
"But what if I can't?" Applejack said. "At the end of the day… I'm just a half-pony, half-dryad apple-farming know-nothing."
"Hey now," Twilight said. "You're not just a half-pony half-dryad. You're the first half-pony half-dryad." Twilight snorted. "Probably not the last if Rainbow talks to Aspen. You're going to bring fresh leadership to a society that honestly seems a little stagnant, and you're going to cultivate it just as well as one of your blue-ribbon apples." Twilight gestured at space. "And if you need help, you've got your friends -- Sessalisk, me, the girls… I reckon even Celestia and Luna would have advice for you if you asked for it."
"I suppose you're right," Applejack said. "But…"
"But nothing," Twilight said. "By all accounts, Ivy was a fantastic leader, and you are her daughter -- I'm sure you have what it takes to make her proud."
Applejack nodded, and got up, trying to hide the tears and doing a terrible job of it. "Thanks, Twi."
"Princess of friendship," Twilight said. "Practically my job. Don't mention it."
Applejack sniffed, and dabbed at the corner of her eye with a fetlock. "Did y'all say somethin' about a moustache and a permanency spell?"
"At least."
"Well, I'm in."