• Published 4th May 2016
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Cheer Princess - MythrilMoth



After following Sunset Shimmer through the portal and becoming stuck in the human world, Princess Celestia struggles to adapt while blocking Sunset's ambitions with her own popularity.

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Book One, Chapter 3 (Side Celestia)

On her second morning in the human world, Tia was getting an education.

Across the kitchen table from her, Celestia flinched almost imperceptibly at the sound of a crash elsewhere in the house, followed by a stream of angry shouting laced with words completely unfamiliar to Tia.

Tia raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know what she's yelling?"

Celestia peered balefully over the rim of her coffee cup at Tia. "Luna has a bit of a potty mouth this morning," she said apologetically.

"Ah. I had assumed as much," Tia said with a shake of her head. "I suppose I should look up some of those words later."

"You seem largely unaffected by my sister's tantrum," Celestia said.

Tia shrugged. "I'm three thousand years old. I've seen and heard worse. At least, I think I have." She paused, then grimaced at a particularly loud yell. "Then again, my little ponies are rather careful about what words they utter in my presence. I honestly can't remember the last time I was called an old nag to my face."

Celestia tilted her head. "Is that a serious insult where you come from?"

Tia made a 'so-so' gesture with her hand. "It certainly isn't nice," she said. "My seneschal tends to disapprove of nobles who are caught uttering it outside of my presence. They often find it hard to gain audience with me unless they're in..." Tia smiled naughtily. "Deep poo."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "I fear this world's level of vulgarity may come as a bit of a shock to you."

Tia snorted. "Moreso than having a body I'm unfamiliar with, losing my magic, and being cut off from my home for thirty moons?"

Celestia grimaced and tilted her head. "Well...there are different kinds of shock..."

Luna finally made her appearance. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was a mess, and all she had on were panties and a slightly dirty T-shirt. "Make breakfast," she grunted.

Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hope you don't mind microwave croissant sandwiches," she said. "I don't really want to cook this morning."

"I don't care what you put in front of me so long as it's loaded with fat and tastes good," Luna said, pouring herself a cup of coffee from the rapidly cooling pot on the table.

Celestia chuckled. "Okay. I'll do yours first. Last time I tried to do more than one at a time, they came out all frozen in the middle."

Luna grunted.

Two minutes later, Celestia placed a paper plate with a paper-towel wrapped breakfast sandwich in front of Luna. Tia watched Luna unwrap it; it looked quite interesting...

A few minutes later, Tia had one of her own. "Thanks," she said.

Celestia shrugged, then went back to make her own.

It didn't take long for Tia to puzzle out that bit about 'frozen in the middle'. Whatever method was involved in preparing these—and Celestia certainly wasn't doing any cooking—it was far from perfect; the edges of the croissant sandwich and its egg and sausage filling were quite warm and tasty, but most of the cheese had melted away and stuck to the paper towel, and the thin layer of processed egg was cold and soggy in the middle. Still, she finished it relatively quickly, countering the cold part of the egg with her warm coffee.

Luna seemed somewhat more personable after getting her sandwich down; she went into the kitchen and returned a minute later with another one. Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Luna...you know those have almost five hundred calories each, right?"

"Don't care," Luna grunted.

"And most of that's fat," Celestia added.

"Maybe it'll go to my tits," Luna countered.

Celestia shook her head and turned to Tia with a long-suffering expression. "Is she this insufferable where you come from?"

Tia returned her look with a pained grimace. "She tried to kill me a thousand years ago and I banished her to the moon, so..."

Celestia winced. "Sorry."

"But before that...she had her off days," Tia said with a wistful smile.

After Luna finished her second sandwich and cup of coffee, she ran her fingers through her hair. "Alright, so what is it we're doing today?"

Celestia smiled. "Today, we're spending all day teaching Tia everything she needs to know about being a human teenager. Including all the health, hygiene, and sex-ed stuff."

Luna groaned. "Wonderful," she muttered. Shaking her head, she glanced at her coffee cup. "Fuck this, I need a beer."

Celestia frowned. "Luna, it's not even eight in the morning yet."

Luna glared at her. "And you want me to spend my day teaching an alien horse princess about the birds and the bees and periods and things," she said. "There's no way in hell I'm doing that sober."

Celestia sighed and shrugged. "Alright, fine. I'm not Mother, I can't stop you."

The next twelve hours were one of the most interesting days Tia had had in a very long time. Accompanied by a steady background drone of daytime television, along with occasional breaks for snacking, small meals, and something quite interesting called "video games" that Luna was exceptionally fond of, Tia learned all the messy details of how a human body worked, what general hygiene habits would be expected of her, and the surprises she could expect—one of which sounded spectacularly nasty and embarrassing. She also learned practical skills concerning using her phone and computer, basic "teenage economics", and a whole laundry list of things Tia found herself taking careful notes about lest her head spin right off her uncomfortably short neck. By the time she went to bed, Tia was mentally exhausted.

The rest of the week was spent along a similar vein: between the two of them, Celestia and Luna gave Tia a crash course in human history, politics, and culture. As fascinating as learning new things was, by the time the weekend came, Tia was beyond ready for a break.

* * * * *

On Saturday, Tia woke to a dull grey sky. The rains had long since stopped, but it would still be late into the afternoon before the clouds gave way to clear skies, if the weather forecasts were to be believed.

Just as Tia swung her legs over the side of the bed, cracking a huge yawn, her door burst open and Celestia strode in, wearing possibly the most ridiculous outfit Tia had ever seen.

"Good morning!" Celestia sang brightly, beaming. "Get up, get dressed, we've got a surprise for you!"

Tia rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What kind of surp—what are you wearing?!"

Celestia blinked and looked down at her tie-dyed T-shirt, bellbottom jeans, and sandals. "What?" she asked. Her hair was tied back with a suede headband, and she had ridiculously huge leather peace signs dangling from her earlobes.

"Is she up yet? She needs to get packed and HOLY HELL, CELESTIA, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Luna walked in, and she was dressed just as strangely as her sister, but in a completely different way: she had on ripped black jeans, steel-toed black boots, a dark mesh shirt over a gray sports bra, and a short-sleeved black leather jacket. Her hair was feathered and teased out into a huge, unruly mess, and she had studded wristbands on her arms.

Celestia stared at her, then facepalmed. "Oh, Luna..."

Tia stood up, looking between the two sisters. "Alright, I know I'm new to this world and don't really know much about fashion, but you two look...ridiculous."

Luna and Celestia sized each other up, then sighed. "I guess...maybe we went overboard," Luna groused.

"I just thought it'd be fun to...y'know," Celestia whined.

"What's going on?" Tia demanded.

Celestia smiled. "We're going on a little trip!"

"We decided it should be a surprise," Luna said.

"We so rarely get to leave town these days," Celestia explained. "And there's a music festival in Canterlittle. We thought we'd spend a few days down there."

"Take in the music festival, spend some time relaxing on the beach," Luna added. "We'll come back around Tuesday or Wednesday."

"It'll be fun!" Celestia said. "Get dressed. I'll help you pack. You did get a bathing suit, right?"

Tia blushed. "W-well...yes," she said, "but after everything you two taught me the other day, now I'm not so sure I want to be seen in public in it..."

"Oh, nonsense!" Celestia said. "At the beach, everyone wears swimsuits! Nobody's going to judge you!"

"They might ogle you, though," Luna said. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing."

Tia shook her head. "Well, I always have wanted to go to the beach," she said. "It's not exactly something I've ever made time for."

"Really? Three thousand years and you've never once been to the beach?" Celestia asked.

"Kingdom to rule, sun to control, palace staff constantly in my mane," Tia said, gesturing vaguely. "I'm lucky if I can sneak away to a day spa once in a blue moon."

"Wow, you're overdue," Luna said. "But music festival first. Then beach."

"We've got hotel reservations," Celestia said. "It'll take us a few hours to get to Canterlittle, the traffic might be bad, but we're going to go straight to the music festival so we don't miss anything."

"I haven't been to a music festival in a long time," Tia mused. "Come to think of it, I haven't really listened to much of this world's music yet. Outside of what Luna's played in her car, anyway."

Luna grinned. "Well, this weekend will be a real education for you..."

* * * * *

While Tia showered and dressed, Celestia packed two bags for her and put them in her SUV. By the time Tia was ready to go, Celestia and Luna had both changed clothes; they no longer wore the horrid, nightmarish costumes they'd sported earlier, though Celestia had retained the tie-dyed T-shirt and Luna was still dressed mostly in black. They stopped for breakfast at a drive-thru restaurant; Tia was introduced to the concept of a breakfast wrap, which wasn't too bad, if a bit greasy.

Once she'd eaten, she used her phone to search for information about the music festival they were attending. She quickly found the festival's website, along with a list of performing bands; some of the band names were frankly bewildering.

CANTERLITTLE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL

Featuring

Armadildo

Bifurcated Spork

Chihuahua Fuckblaster

Cloven Wiener

A Crown Made of Babies

Dhumi & the Butt

Eating The Afterbirth

Enemy Diarrhea Biscuit

Fondled Otter

Mall Santa Penis Breath

Oddly Rotting Johnson

Pies for the Retarded

Porpoise Fire

Toilet Horse

Turdgasm

And Many More...

"This is..." Tia shook her head. "I'm sorry, these are actual musical performers?"

Luna glanced back. "Hmm?" Tia passed her phone forward; Luna scrolled the list and snorted. "Indie bands," she said. "Well, most of them. They like to come up with ridiculous names to get attention. If they take off, they usually change their name to something more mainstream." She handed the phone back. "Of course, some of these are already big-time, like Porpoise Fire and Fondled Otter."

Celestia let out a stuck noise. "Oh God, those are real band names?"

"I'm afraid so," Luna said.

"I'm sorry, I just...I'm having difficulty with this," Tia said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I'm guessing rock music isn't even a thing in magical horse land," Luna said as she returned Tia's phone.

"No, it exists," Tia said. "I'm only vaguely familiar with it, though. It's relatively new. It's more that...well...the names."

Celestia laughed. "Yes, as music evolves and culture evolves, things happen that our ancestors could never have expected. Such as ridiculous and frankly obscene band names. When Mother was a child, the most unusual band names were along the lines of Raspberry Sundial or Wild Chicken."

"Remember when I came home wearing a Bitch Lips T-shirt and Mother grounded me for a week?" Luna asked. "And now they play them on the oldies station."

"The retro station," Celestia corrected. "We are not that old."

"Anyway, the bands we'll be hearing this weekend are mostly amateurs or lesser-known bands trying to get signed to record labels," Luna said. "There's a few really good bands playing, but, well...it's a free festival. You know what they say, you get what you pay for."

"Luna, be nice," Celestia chided. "You might be surprised."

"Well...yeah," Luna admitted. "But I'm mostly interested in a few bands I already know are good. I'm expecting a lot of these guys to suck."

"I'm not even sure I'd know the difference between good bands and bad bands," Tia said. "I honestly wouldn't know what to compare them by."

Celestia chuckled. "Alright, we've got a while yet before we're anywhere near Canterlittle. Let's start your music education. Raven? Play Nipmuc..."

* * * * *

Tia watched with interest as they drove through Canterlittle. She was aware of the existence of such a place in Equestria, though back home it was a small trade port where merchants spent more time trading goods with seaponies than actually sailing the sea. Here, it was evidently a thriving resort community, with large buildings, palm trees, and many colorful and interesting things to see. Celestia explained the town to her: that the north side of town had a country club as well as some museums and an aquarium, and that the east side of town was the beach resort area and Canterlittle's main tourist draw. "The music festival's happening in a big park that separates the east side from the south side," she further explained.

"Bet the southsiders are gonna love that," Luna muttered.

"Eh, I bet they'll be enjoying it too." Catching Tia's confused glance in the rear view mirror, Celestia explained, "The people who actually live and work in Canterlittle live on the south side. I'm sure you can understand how people who work in a resort town prefer their community to be a little...quiet."

"Yes, I can well imagine."

"Well, with this music festival in town, the south side's gonna be infested with lookie-loos, people parking all over the place illegally, and lord knows what else," Luna said. "So it'll be a bit of a trying weekend for them." She clapped her hands briskly and added in a cheerful tone, "None of which is our problem! Vacation! Woo!"

It took another hour for them to reach the park, as the traffic had grown increasingly congested. Tia understood Luna's comments about the parking situation the closer they got, as SUVs like theirs, larger, boxier vans, pickup trucks, and cars more like Luna's were parked all over the place, along with some vehicles Tia recognized as motorcycles. And there were people.

Lots of people.

Men, women, teenagers. People of all shapes and sizes. Huge, burly men in muscle shirts with heavy beards. Fat, flabby men in open suede vests and no shirts, letting their bulging guts hang out. Women in dresses, women in skirts, women in shorts or jeans. Women wearing bras without shirts—or were they bikini tops? Tia recalled that there seemed to be little practical difference between the two. People dressed the way Celestia and Luna had first dressed earlier in the day. People dressed in even more bizarre attire.

Tia swallowed. "I am an immortal alicorn princess. I have battled dragons, a unicorn king with a crystal slave army, my own sister when she attempted to usurp our kingdom, and the eternal spirit of chaos. I have met with griffons, minotaurs, diamond dogs, Anugyptian basts, and yaks. I have seen manticores, chupacabras, the Ursa Major and her cub, and the chimeras that dwell in the fire swamps. I have a pet phoenix. I have traveled to other dimensions on multiple occasions. And yet this may be the single strangest thing I have ever witnessed."

Luna snickered.

It took twenty minutes for them to find suitable parking. Once they were parked, they made the trek into the heart of the park, which was rife with noise—more crowd noise than band noise until they drew nearer to some of the stages. Tia looked around and saw tables and kiosks selling refreshments and merchandise. A short distance away from one of the larger stages, two men had set up a portable grill and were serving hamburgers. The tantalizing smell of smoked meat reached her and her stomach growled.

Celestia laughed. "I think we should get something to eat," she said.

"Works for me," Luna agreed as she marched over to the grill, the Celestias close behind. In short order, they'd each gotten a hot cheeseburger, a bag of potato chips, and a bottled drink, and had sat down at one of the numerous folding tables set up around the break area.

"This is some crowd," Tia said as she looked around the festival. "Very lively!"

"Ever see anything like this in your magical horse world?" Luna asked as she crunched a potato chip.

Tia rolled her eyes. "Not since the last Equestria Grand Rodeo," she said.

"You have rodeos?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Oh, yes," Tia said.

Luna tilted her head. "I...can't picture that," she said. "Horses riding other horses...?"

Tia laughed. "No, nothing like—no! Rodeos are...well, they're competitions with events like hurdle jumping, roping, and hay bale stacking. My little ponies come from all across Equestria to participate in the Canterlot rodeo, but there are also rodeos across Equestria, from coast to coast. There's good money in it for rodeo champions, but as I understand it, it requires dedication." She lapsed into silence then, choosing to enjoy her food.

Once they had finished eating, they began circling the festival, stopping to listen to each performing band for a bit before moving on to another stage. As they approached one stage, a horrible assault of noise that in no way, shape, or form resembled music exploded from the four people on stage. While the drummer pounded away relentlessly, the bassist had some sort of convulsion, and the guitarist thrashed aimlessly while raking an eggbeater across his strings, the "singer" emitted something that sounded like a half-dead frog stuck in a blender into the microphone. The horrible sound coming out of him went on for about thirty seconds, by Tia's estimate, before he croaked out two words: "DEATH RATTLE!"

And with that, the band just stopped.

The audience applauded. Tia blinked. She turned to Luna. "Was...was that supposed to be music?"

Luna shrugged and made a 'so-so' gesture. "Eh."

Celestia frowned. "Let's move on."

For the next four hours, they mingled with the crowd, listening to well over a dozen bands of varying quality. Most played rock; some played what Luna called "heavy metal", others played a lighter style of music.

The afternoon sun was low in the sky when they returned to their SUV. "That was an...interesting experience," Tia said.

"There's still plenty more to hear and see tomorrow," Celestia said. "We'll go to the hotel for now to rest. Order whatever you want from room service for dinner. We'll get up bright and early tomorrow and come back here."

* * * * *

Saturday night was another interesting experience for Tia, as she learned about human hotels. There was something to be said for sleeping in a bed that wasn't your own—and a bit of a sobering realization that she had come to think of her bed in her counterpart's home as hers. The room service menu was varied; she ordered a selection of dishes that were delicious and intriguing, then went to bed exhausted but happy.

Sunday morning, Tia showered, dressed, and ordered breakfast in. At nine, she joined Celestia and Luna in the hotel lobby. Their hotel was a quarter mile from the beach, facing the ocean; the smell of the salty sea air was invigorating. "I guess tomorrow we'll be going to the beach, right?" Tia asked.

"We will indeed," Celestia said with a smile, stretching her arms over her head. "But for today, we should enjoy the rest of the music festival."

The park wasn't quite as crowded as it had been the previous day, but was still quite lively. Tia bumped into a number of people "her own age" and spent time enjoying the various performances with them. A few, such as the girl she'd bumped into at Blue Box and a peach-skinned boy with spiky blue hair, turned out to be attending Canterlot High School as freshmen in the fall; they exchanged numbers with her. She also sampled quite a bit of interesting, if unhealthy, "festival food" such as corn dogs and nachos—the former had given her pause until she looked them up on the Internet and realized they did not, in fact, contain actual dogs.

Monday dawned bright, sunny, and hot. Celestia stopped by Tia's room to help her get ready for their trip down to the beach. The "older" version of herself wore a modest but revealing golden bikini, a sheer sarong, a festive mauve silk shirt printed with flowers and pineapples which was open down the front and tied just over her navel, and bright yellow flip-flops. "If you're anything like me, you'll need a pretty strong sunscreen when we get to the beach or you'll fry like bacon," Celestia said.

Tia raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, I feel I should be insulted by the insinuation that the sun could harm—"

Celestia raised a hand. "I know, your magical sun in your magical world probably doesn't cause sunburn, but here? You need to be careful."

Tia frowned. "Well...now that you mention it, it's not as though I've not heard of sunburn." She sighed. "I suppose it's simply not something I think about since the rays of the sun can't harm me."

"Well, here they'll give you the mother of all sunburns, so when we get down to the beach, you'll need to put on sunscreen." She rummaged through Tia's bags. "Now, I packed a couple of swimsuits for you and some lighter beach clothes, plus a sun hat..." She blinked, then bit off a curse. "And I forgot my own sun hat."

"I have it right here," Luna said from the door. Both Celestias turned to see her wearing a black one-piece which was cut high at the hips, high-heeled black sandals, and a long dark blue shirt with palm trees printed on it. She tipped down the sunglasses she wore as she tossed a broad straw hat to Celestia, who caught it with a bit of awkward fumbling. "Come on, girls! The beach awaits!"

"Don't be in such a rush, Luna," Celestia said mildly. "We have to finish getting ready first! We need to make sure we have everything we need for a proper day of fun at the beach!"

Luna snorted irritably. "Anything we need that we're not wearing we can buy at the beach. Let's go!"

Celestia rolled her eyes. "You go on ahead then if you're in such a rush," she said. "We'll be along once we're ready."

Luna cheerfully flipped her sister the bird and sauntered out, swaying her hips. Celestia pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "That woman..."

Tia giggled. "She is quite trying, isn't she?"

A half hour later, they made their way to the beach. Tia wore a somewhat more modest two-piece than her counterpart, dark magenta in color, and a purple shirt and sarong with matching sandals. Celestia carried a large wicker basket, and Tia carried a heavy cooler full of ice and cold drinks. It took them ten minutes to find Luna; she had horned her way in on a beach volleyball game with a bunch of college kids. Celestia spread out a pair of large blankets on the beach, then sat down and began applying sunscreen. Tia shrugged off her shirt, folded it neatly into the basket, and rubbed herself down with sunscreen, mirroring her counterpart. She looked out at the sea and sighed. "This is nice," she said, tilting her face up to the warm sun.

Celestia smiled. "Would you care to go for a swim later?"

Tia thought about that, then shook her head. "I think perhaps I should adjust to this body more...and actually learn to swim."

"Yes, that would probably be a good idea."

They watched Luna dart away from the volleyball game and dive into the ocean with a tremendous splash and a loud whoop of laughter.

"Hey, ladies! Lookin' good." The Celestias looked up to see two boys who were clearly brothers approaching them. One was older and more muscular with longer hair; the other was shorter and had less well-defined muscles. The older brother flashed them a cheeky grin. "Lookin' for some company?"

"I believe we're good, but thank you," Celestia said.

"Aww, come on! Two hot babes alone on the beach?" The older boy winked. "You know what I see? I see big sis and little sis hanging out by their lonesome, and here we are, me and my little bro, lookin' for a good time..."

Tia frowned and stood up. "I believe we said we're not interested," she said. "If you have any respect for yourself and for the women you seek to make time with, you will walk away."

The older brother leered at her. She stared at him defiantly. He clicked his tongue. "Your loss," he said. "C'mon, bro. We can do better."

As the two left, Tia sat back down and sighed. "Well, that was unpleasant," she said.

"Unfortunately, you run into guys like that on the beach," Celestia said. "Of course, you might also run into a boy you wouldn't mind spending time with."

Tia shook her head. "Not this time," she said. "I'm too new to all of this for...for socialization."

Celestia smiled. "Well, give it time." She picked up her tablet and loaded up a book. Tia watched her for a long moment, then laid back with a sigh, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth of the sun on her body.

"This is nice," she said.

A half hour later, she sat up, blinking. "Did I doze off?" she wondered.

"For a bit, yes," Celestia said.

Tia yawned and looked around. "Where's Luna?"

Celestia shrugged. "No idea."

They heard boisterous laughter from their right and turned to look. Luna walked past, the two brothers from earlier hanging on either arm. The Celestias' gazes followed them as they walked right up the beach and headed for a row of beach houses overlooking the boardwalk.

"...huh," Tia said.

"Well...good for her, I guess," Celestia said, blinking.

* * * * *

Tuesday evening, dark clouds had gathered over Canterlittle, and the weather had reported a heavy storm system forming off the coast. By the time the trio packed up the SUV for the return trip to Canterlot on Wednesday morning, a steady drizzle fell like a grey curtain. Still, their spirits were high as they got on the road.

"That was the best vacation I've had in years!" Luna declared cheerfully once they got on the main road.

"It was very relaxing," Celestia agreed.

"I enjoyed myself," Tia said. "I actually hope we get a chance to do this again." She tilted her head. "Maybe next time, I'll be relaxed enough to do more than lie on the beach."

Luna chuckled. "Yeah, you kinda missed the point of a trip to the beach," she said. "Then again, so did Celestia, so—"

Celestia coughed. "We all choose to enjoy our leisure time in different ways," she interrupted. "And that's fine, so long as we enjoy ourselves responsibly." She shot Luna a brief, pointed glance, then returned her attention to the wet road.

Luna crossed her arms and pouted. "I'm not some dumb kid," she said petulantly.

"In any event," Celestia said, "I'm certain you'll find ample time for recreation over the rest of the summer, but I'm afraid Luna and I are going to be very busy." She paused, then added, "Actually, so are you. I'm afraid you have quite a bit more learning to do before school starts, and not nearly enough time to do it."

Tia smiled. "I have long experience in studying efficiently and thoroughly," she said. "I am confident I will be more than prepared when school commences."

Luna let out a long, suffering groan. "Eeeeeeeeeegghead," she sing-songed.

Tia raised an eyebrow, fished a piece of ice out of the cooler sitting next to her in the back of the SUV, reached forward, and dropped it down the back of Luna's shirt.

Celestia laughed as Luna's squeals drowned out the rain.