“And so that’s where babies come from!”
The five fillies looked wide-eyes at Rainbow Dash, their jaws nearly on the ground.
“That’s disgusting!” Scootaloo yelled.
“Ew! Ew! Ew!” Sweetie said.
“Wait... so Daddy wasn’t wrestling with his receptionist?” Silver Spoon asked.
“Why would anypony want to do that?” Diamond Tiara demanded.
“Believe me, you’ll get it when you’re older,” the Pegasus said. “I know, that sounds like a cop out, but it’s true.”
Rarity, who was sitting nearby, shuddered. “I wasn’t expecting you to be quite that... blunt, Darling. And don’t you think we might have left telling Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to their parents?”
Rainbow Dash waved her hoof. “Please, it’s a perfectly natural thing that everypony finds out eventually. All this embarrassment is just ponies being prudes. If they’re old enough to ask, they’re old enough to know.”
“Wait,” Silver Spoon said. “So if that’s how a mare and a stallion show their love... how do two mares? What do you and Fluttershy do when you’re alone together?”
“...See how easy it is, Rarity? Why don’t youtakethisoneIgottagobye!”
And with that, Rainbow Dash took off down the hall, leaving Rarity alone with five expectant fillies.
“...Rainbow Dash!”
Twilight awoke the next morning to a pair of brilliant green eyes. Of course Applejack was awake first, a farmer’s lifestyle guaranteed she’d be up early, even if the night before hadn’t been the most restful.
“Mornin’, sugarcube,” Applejack said, pressing her lips onto hers.
“Mmmm... morning, Applejack.” Twilight said. “I suppose be better get up...”
“Or,” Applejack interrupted, “we can stay in bed a little while longer and snuggle!”
Twilight grinned. “Well, when you put it that way...”
A knock at the door interrupted any sort of intimate action. “Your Highness!” a female voice called from the other side of the door.
Twilight winced. “Yes, Raven?”
“I’m sorry, but you need to be down in the breakfast room immediately. I have your schedule ready, and Princess Celestia wants to go over the day’s itinerary with you.”
Twilight sighed. “Wait there a moment,” she said, summoning up her magic. The Element of Magic flew up and rested on her head as her crown, and a torque and set of slippers followed. Applejack moaned, getting up and placing her cowpony hat on.
“Okay, come in.”
Raven entered and wasted no time handing the schedule to her. “You have a full day. Several nobles want to petition you for things, and the Minotaur ambassador wants a word with you. Immediately after breakfast, you’ll be taking your first turn at...”
“Pardon me, Raven, but it says here that I have some further etiquette training after lunch?”
The black maned pony blinked. “Um, yes. You’re to learn Neighponese customs.”
“Do I have any meetings with the Neighponese in the foreseeable future?”
“No, but that could change...”
“Still, please move that lesson to a later date.”
Raven blinked. “But, Your Highness...”
“No buts, Raven. I have something important that needs immediate attention. If I end up meeting with any Neighponeese officials, I’ll simply have to beg their pardon.”
“...Very well,” the Unicorn said. “Though Princess Celestia has requested you go, so I hope you can convince her.”
“Let me worry about that,” she said. “Do excuse us, Raven. I need to have a word with my consort.”
“As you wish,” Raven said, bowing her head and leaving.
Applejack looked at Twilight. “Yer ‘consort’? What’s wrong with bein’ yer marefriend?”
“Nothing as far as I’m concerned, but you know how the Elite are. Always a stickler for things like that.”
Applejack sighed. “Yeah... so what’s the deal? We havin’ some private time or somethin’?”
“Afraid not. We’re going to have a long overdue talk with Spike, the both of us. I’ll be sure to tell him that at breakfast today.”
The cowpony nodded. “Makes sense. Okay, I’ll be there. When are ya gettin’ off so we can have some private time? You said you wanted to try that restaurant next to the palace.”
Twilight looked over the itinerary. “It looks like today’s going to be a long day. The best we can hope for is a pre-bedtime snuggling session.”
Even though Twilight said the last few words with what was meant to be a suggestive tone, Applejack looked at the floor. “I guess yer gonna be busy from now on, huh?”
Twilight quickly pressed her lips onto Applejack’s. When she pulled away, the cowpony was grinning, in spite of her mood.
“We talked about this, Applejack. We agreed no matter what Celestia had planned for me, we would work through it.”
“I know... never woulda figured she’d make ya one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria, though. Not sayin’ ya don’t deserve it, mind, but...”
“We’ll figure it out. But let’s take things one crisis at a time, and right now that crisis is Spike.”
She nodded. “Family is always priority number one. Let’s get ourselves some breakfast and we’ll start on it.”
So they walked out into the hall, their tails intertwined together.
Spike felt unusually groggy that morning, but he brushed it off. He figured it was just those crazy fillies giving him a headache. He sneezed once or twice as he got out of bed and began his morning routine.
Brushing his teeth, making his bed (Twilight had pounded that behavior into him so hard he did it even when there were servants who did it for him) and doing his morning stretches. He left his room, and was relieved to see neither Diamond Tiara or Apple Bloom waiting for him.
He was a few steps down the hallway when Silver Spoon caught up to him.
“Hey Spike,” she said.
“Hey. I wasn’t expecting any of you up so early.”
“Daddy told me to be. He said I needed to talk to you in order to ‘schmooze my way into a good future,’ whatever that means.”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Silver... I think you better spend some time talking to Twilight. It would do you good.”
“Thanks... so are you mad at Diamond and Apple Bloom?”
“Not really, just annoyed,” he said. “They mean well, but my business with Twilight is my business. And it looks like Twilight isn’t dropping it. I know before the end of the day she’ll corner me, probably with Applejack, and she’ll make me talk with her.”
“Huh, that’s good,” Silver Spoon said. When Spike gave her a glare, she shrunk back, but her words remained defensive. “What? Just because I don’t say it much doesn’t mean I don’t agree with Diamond and Apple Bloom.”
“Does everypony feel this way?”
“Pretty much.”
Spike growled. “Let’s just go to breakfast.”
Twilight had always had the seat closest to Princess Celestia at any event, always. Growing up, many foreign dignitaries mistook her for the heir apparent. Twilight preferred that to what the local nobles did, namely look at her with contempt that some small child had managed to get in a position they wished they had. Twilight never understood why they were mad. It wasn’t her fault she was smarter and cuter than them.
Even once Luna returned her seat didn’t change. While her sister sat at her other side, Twilight kept her position as the Princess of the Sun’s favored student. It seemed her wings only removed any pretense that she wasn’t wielding any power.
And now, there was a pony at Twilight’s side.
Applejack ate her meal, consisting of deep fried oats, eggs, and a glass of milk. After taking a bite, she looked up to speak to Twilight.
She was turning back to take another bite when she saw two other ponies at the far end of the table. One was pointing at her and the other was giggling, as if she had done something amusing.
Applejack stopped. She looked at her plate. Had she committed some sort of social faux pas? She didn’t exactly know the rules for dining in a high class environment. The only other time she had really eaten fancy was at Cadance’s wedding, and she hadn’t had much of an appetite at that time.
She looked around, trying to follow the other nobles, but many were Unicorns, and she couldn’t imitate. How were Earth Ponies supposed to eat fancy? The only ones she could see were the fillies at the end of the table, and none of them were particularly interested in eating cleanly.
Then she remembered back to the wedding. So many ponies who laughed at her because of her accent. What if they were just laughing at her because she wasn’t dressed fancy? Was she just embarrassing herself, and Twilight, just by sitting there?
Suddenly she didn’t feel very hungry.
“Applejack?”
The cowpony perked up and turned to Twilight. “Yeah?”
“You alright?”
“Sure am, Twi, never better!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Applejack knew they weren’t believed. She was a terrible liar in the best of time, and Twilight seemed to already have the ability to see right through her better than anypony except Granny Smith.
She knew then their pre-bedtime snuggles would be preempted by some serious discussion.
She returned to eating, trying to do so as neatly as possible. If she was doing something wrong, there was no way to correct herself now. She would have to make do. Perhaps she could look up etiquette in the royal library later.
“Are you going to be alright around the castle while I’m working?” Twilight asked. “The others are going back to Ponyville today, so you won’t have a whole lot of ponies to talk to.”
“Relax, Twi. I think I can keep myself busy fer a day. It ain’t so bad.”
“Perhaps you can begin learning your duties as consort,” Luna suggested. “I can at least schedule etiquette lessons for you today.”
Applejack looked at the Princess of the Night and realized that she was getting an opening, and Luna was knowingly providing it.
“I suppose that’s a good idea,” Applejack said. “I don’t wanna be just lounging around the castle all day.”
“I think it’s an excellent idea,” Celestia said. “Since Twilight’s requested her lessons for today be cancelled, I’ll simply ask the ponies in charge to move the lesson up an hour and teach you then.”
“I... thank ya kindly, Princess.”
“And we can get started on some other duties tomorrow,” Celestia said. “What you are to do if someone comes by looking for Twilight when she’s not around, what you’ll need to know in case of an emergency, how to spot a Changeling...”
Applejack blinked. “How to spot a what now?” she asked.
“Ever since the wedding, we have studied the enemy and have made changes to our security to help detect them. Everypony living in the palace is required to learn the warning signs, you included.” Celestia finished her sentence with a reassuring smile. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Applejack. It’s a few simple safety precautions, and since they’ve been followed, no Changeling has managed to hide out here for more than a day. Chrysalis lost so much more than a battle that day at the wedding.”
“Ah, that’s good...”
Celestia listed off more thing Applejack would need to learn, but she was only half listening now. She returned to her meal, eating her bites slowly as the new duties piled up. At least she would be able to get back to Sweet Apple Acres in a few days. She’d always have that.
“Whaddya mean ya hired some new farmhooves?”
Big Macintosh shrunk back from his sister’s angry look. “Come on, AJ, I thought it was pretty clear it needed doin’. Yer gonna be up here a lot more often now...”
“I still intended to work the farm and you know it!” the little sister said. Her glower continued to intimidate a pony twice her size. “I managed to get all my work on the farm done while still doin’ all my duties as a Bearer!”
“Well, yeah... but just barely. And what with all these new duties yer gettin’, we thought it’d be best to start hiring some additional workers.”
“But... but...”
“AJ, please,” Big Mac said. “Please, we did it fer your sake, too. If we didn’t have anypony, you’d be frettin’ and worryin’ the whole time you were here. Both the farm and yer relationship with Twilight would suffer.”
Applejack opened her mouth to protest. But nothing came out. She simply didn’t have a counter to it.
“...I guess yer right,” she said.
Big Macintosh pulled her into a hug. “The farm’s always going to be yer home. But you have Twilight now, and you knew you would have to make sacrifices to be with her. Don’t you fret none, little sister, you’ll do just fine.”
Applejack hugged her brother. “I know I will.”
She wished she believed herself.