Princess Preparatory

by Melody Song

You Want To What?!

Tempest stood at attention as she waited for her King. He entered the room with a short man beside him-Grubber.

"Ah, Tempest! You're here! Good, we can begin discussing this. It's very hush-hush, you know. Grubber, please leave us."

"Y-yes your majesty!" Grubber ran past Tempest, who pressed a coin into his hand.

"Go get yourself some cake-but be quiet about it." Tempest hissed to him as he passed her. She knew he heard her.

"Now that this riff-raff has left, I can finally tell you my genius plan."

"All of your plans are genius, King Storm." Tempest bowed to him.

"Ah, thank you Tempest. It's funny, you know, your name. 'Tempest Shadow'. It has a nice ring to it. Oftentimes I do wonder if your parents named you after the Kingdom! But you never lived her as a child so I suppose that's off the table, isn't it..."

"...Your majesty..."

"Ah, right! The plan. Now listen close..." King Storm beckoned her forward and she stepped closer. "Are you knowledgeable about...The Staff of Sacanas?"

---

"I miss Tempest." Pharynx sighed

"There's a shock." Ember muttered out of the corner of her mouth, laying a card facedown on the table.

The group had gone to Celestia and Luna's castle in the Alicornia Kingdom. The servants of the castle having been excused for the day by Luna and Celestia to both give the royals some time to themselves and ensure the servants could spend time with their families. They were seated at the dining room table, playing cards. Except Celestia, who was facetiming Cadence in the other room.

"What? Is my saccharine brother wrong to say we need to share our feelings?" Pharynx asked, shuffling his cards.

"No, but Tempest only left an hour ago." Ember replied

"I think it's sweet you care for her so much." Luna remarked

"Me too." Thorax agreed

"I-I don't! I mean, I do, but...we're just friends!"

"Sure." Luna raised an eyebrow teasingly, then turned to Ember. "Do you have any Kings?"

"Yes Luna, but I'm keeping them, because we're playing Poker, not Go Fish." Ember sighed

"She's got Kings!" Luna announced loudly, causing both Pharynx and Thorax to immediately fold.

"Dang it!" Ember slammed her cards on the table. "Why Luna?"

"Because I am the master of pranks."

"Fair enough. But if you'd let us keep playing, I'd have blown you all out of the water. There is none more deceitful than a person of the Shifter Kingdom!" Pharynx said, laughing.

"Alright, well, you kids have fun, and we'll see you in a while." Celestia said as she walked in, holding out her phone.

"Who are we seeing in a while?" Thorax asked curiously.

"Bye Auntie! Say hi to the others for me!" Cadence called from the phone, before Celestia waved and hung up.

"Cadence said that once she, Twilight, Shining, and Spike greet some old friends, they would like to see the palace where she grew up."

"So you invited them over, of course." Pharynx rolled his eyes. "Pass me the deck-Luna, no cheating this time. Clever as it was, I'd actually like to have a chance to win this round."

As Pharynx shuffled the deck, Ember and Luna turned to Celestia.

"So, Cadence and her soon-to-be siblings and husband will be arriving when exactly?" Luna asked

"Two hours, at most."

"So we have a two hours to play Poker." Pharynx dished out the cards.

"Oh come on guys! You three always want to play mind games and always drag Thorax and I into it!" Celestia cried

"Sister, I believe this is one of the only times I've ever heard you whining."

"Well, it's true." Celestia huffed, crossing her arms and trying to drop her lips in a pout.

"Leave that to Lulu, Tia. You just look silly." Ember laughed

"Anyway, if we don't play mind games how will we stay calm and focused?" Pharynx asked

"You realize you're the only one here that ever goes onto a battlefield, correct?" Celestia asked "Well...one of three, but Tempest isn't here and Ember going onto a battlefield isn't advised..."

"I meant for teaching. Teenagers are monsters."

"Get that all out now before there are four of them in this castle." Ember joked

"You are correct, there's this one big group of girls in our school that are downright brats. The classic 'spoiled too much for their own good' type. Honestly we hardly ever see girls that have been spoiled that remain humble. The only exceptions I can recall are Miss Rarity-and that's a stretch-Miss Tiara, and Miss Spoon. The only reason the last two are humble is they actually don't want to be spoiled." Luna remarked

"And you know this how?" Celestia asked as she sat down with them.

"The students trust me." Luna shrugged

"Of course." Celestia sighed "Anyway, we have time to watch a movie...?"

"No." Pharynx immediately replied.

"You're just saying that because Tempest won't be here to be your cuddle buddy." Thorax teased, and Pharynx punched him in the side. "Ow!"

"Serves you right. You may enjoy being Ember's snugglebug, but Tempest and I have no kind of relationship-despite whatever delusions you might have."

"So then was I dreaming that one time you overslept and I found you hugging your pillow and nuzzling into it and saying her name over and over again?" Thorax asked, making the three women whip their heads around, growing smiles appearing on their faces.

"Uh-I-I was obviously just putting the pillow in a chokehold! I was dreaming that it was the Empress!"

"So you definitely weren't saying: Oh Tempest, my queen, you're so soft and snuggly-" Thorax was cut off abruptly as Pharynx lunged at him, clapping a hand over his younger brother's mouth.

"Shut up!" he roared, turning red.

Ember, Celestia, and Luna were laughing and "aww"ing at him. Pharynx turned and growled at them, but the blush on his face lessened the ferocity of his glare in that moment. Thorax's shoulders were moving, showing he was laughing too, and Pharynx released him, evidently deciding the damage was already done.

"Will you guys stop? I don't tease you about your love lives."

"That's because we don't have any." Luna said, gesturing to herself and Celestia.

"Come on, let's just watch your stupid movie then." Pharynx spat, leaving the room.

They gathered in a room Luna had decorated to be a sort of living room. It had three large couches pushed up together like half of a box. In the front of the room was a TV with a gaming console by it. Celestia grabbed snacks from the kitchens and carried them up. The group of friends sat down, and Celestia grabbed the remote.

"Let's try watching The Conjuring." Luna said

"You want us to watch what?!" Thorax asked, grabbing a nearby pillow and hugging it, eyes widening.

"Come on Thorax, it's still light outside, you shouldn't get too scared." Pharynx urged.

"O-okay..." Thorax said softly, but he wrapped his arms around Ember and pulled her against him.

"Great." Luna cried eagerly as she selected it. "Let's get this horror started."

Thorax squeaked and buried himself in between Pharynx and Ember, drawing her closer and hiding his face behind his brother.

"The movie hasn't even started yet." Pharynx groaned, at which Thorax merely whimpered.

---

"You want to what?!"

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know. "King Storm" instead of "Storm King." But I'm trying to keep this set in modern times, except the land is made up of Kingdoms. In reality, monarchs would typically have their title come before their name, not the other way around-we don't even know the Storm King's real name. So he's "King Storm" here. Same character, just different name.

Credit goes to Bezier Ballad for suggesting they watch "The Conjuring" as I have no knowledge of horror movies.

~Melody Song