Princess Preparatory

by Melody Song

Arrival

Tempest walked along a dusty path. She could see faint tire tracks from the limo, knowing only a few people ever actually used it for driving-there were more modern roads a few miles west of her. Laibah had stopped walking and was now hanging off Tempest's back, arms hooked around her neck, sleeping. Siamen was curled between her arm and her side, also asleep.

"Don't worry you two..." Tempest murmured, shifting her grip on the boy. "I'm gonna...get you safe...you deserve to know what it's like..."

"But are you doing this for them because you want them to have a good life? Or because they remind you so much of yourself you want to live through them?" the thought had crossed Tempest's mind. "Because you're not a hero. You wouldn't really do that..."

Tempest eventually sighed, stopped, and sat down off to the side of the road. Siamen and Laibah woke from the sudden shift and looked at her.

"Tempest?" Laibah asked

"Sorry kids, just had to rest for a second." Tempest grabbed her satchel-the only thing she'd had during her escape from the castle.

Tempest withdrew the apples and passed them to Laibah and Siamen, then grabbed her phone. She thought it essential to have with her at all times, mostly because King Storm would have found it otherwise. The guards had a habit of raiding each other's things, and while Tempest had earned respect from the King, some of the other guards still thought she belonged in a kitchen rather than a table of knights.

The phone seemed to be picking up a little reception, but it wasn't enough for a call. Tempest uttered a swear under her breath, Laibah and Siamen too distracted with eating to hear her. Instead, she pulled up a map and estimated how much longer they'd take to reach the castle. They were already in Alicornia, just at the border.

"Alright kids, you're walking for now." Tempest said.

"Why?" Siamen asked, and Tempest stood, her leg promptly buckling under her.

"...That's why." Tempest winced, reaching a hand to graze the cut and feel how bad it was. She drew in a pained breath as her fingers made contact. "I'm okay, but I can't carry you anymore. If you get tired we'll have to stop and rest, or I could maybe carry you a little while, but I'm not sure I want to risk that..."

"That's okay Tempest, we understand." Laibah assured her, taking Siamen by the hand.

"Thanks Lai. Now come on. We've still got a few hours of walking to go." Tempest said, starting to walk forwards. Laibah and Siamen scampered after her.

---

"So, how are the people of Canterlot?" Celestia asked

"They're doing well. Twilight's friends were very excited to see both of us-and Spike and Shining, of course." Cadence said

"That's wonderful." Celestia said

"We're sorry if we scared you coming in." Twilight added

"It's quite alright. It added to the drama of the movie." Luna said, smiling.

"So, how long do you four plan on staying?" Pharynx asked, promptly being jabbed in the ribs by Thorax.

"Well, we were thinking of heading back tomorrow morning, the weather report said it was going to snow and it's going to be dark soon-we don't want to be out in those conditions." Shining said

"Good idea. We're staying for the night too." Ember told him.

"Of course we are." Pharynx sighed, crossing his arms.

"Pharynx, if the snow's going to be bad then we can't risk it." Thorax said

"I know, I know."

"So, would you four like to do anything specifically?" Celestia asked

"Maybe watch a movie that's not as scary as the one you were watching?" Twilight suggested softly.

"I like that idea." Thorax agreed

"If you're going to watch something like that-" Pharynx began

"What about Lady and the Tramp?" Cadence suggested

Thorax looked at Pharynx, eyebrows raised as if in challenge.

"I...well, I...ugh, fine." Pharynx huffed, standing and heading into the living room.

"How...?" Spike began

"I grew up here, remember? Thorax and Pharynx visited quite often once taking over the rule of their Kingdom-though mostly to seek advice on ruling-and we introduced them to movies." Cadence replied

"Introduced them?" Twilight asked

"The Shifter Kingdom was not as technologically advanced as Alicornia, but it is now." Thorax explained.

"Exactly. Pharynx really liked Lady and the Tramp the first time they watched it. I don't know why-"

"No one does. The man is an enigma." Luna teased.

"Well, he really likes that movie. If he's going to agree to any one, it's that one." Cadence finished with a smile.

"That gives me an idea. In order to encourage the others to do their homework, we should have weekend movie nights at school." Twilight said

"Others?" Celestia asked

"Rainbow, Daring, Spitfire, Fleetfoot. Occasionally AJ, Rarity, or Pinkie."

"We'd do the same if we didn't already have weekend plans." Spike said

"Ogres and Oubliettes?" Twilight and Cadence asked as one.

"Uh...no...." Shining said

"It's cute." Cadence hugged his arm. "You're such a sweet little nerd."

"Geez, if only someone would say that to me." Spike joked.

"Are you guys coming or not?!" Pharynx called from the living room.

Celestia, Luna, Thorax, and Ember laughed, leading the way into the living room. As they entered the room, Luna and Ember went to turn off the lights and close the blinds. This time, however, it was not to make it scary but to make sure the screen would illuminate the whole room. As Luna drew the curtains closed, the first snowflakes of the holidays began to fall.

---

They had had to rearrange their seating a little to make room for the kids. Cadence and Shining curled up together beside Spike and Twilight, the former lying with his head on his sister's side, watching with tired eyes. They were on one of the side couches. Shining and Cadence seemed to like cuddling, and were taking up half the space.

Thorax was back to being trapped between Pharynx and Ember, but it was a nice kind of trapped. Ember was snuggled against his side like before, but she had no need to wrap her arms snugly around his waist this time. Pharynx had settled near Thorax and gradually shifted little by little during the movie to come to rest beside him, head lying on his younger brother's shoulder. Celestia and Luna were cuddled up together next to Thorax, Ember, and Pharynx. Luna was resting by her sister's side, and Celestia had an arm over her. They occupied the center couch.

At the end of the movie, the group all stood up, yawning and stretching.

"I think we'd better head to bed." Celestia advised

"Indeed." Luna yawned

"Cadence, please show the boys the guest room they are welcome to use-Twilight can share a room with you."

"Like sisters!" Twilight hugged Cadence, who hugged back.

"I assume that means we're heading to our usual rooms?" Pharynx asked as the kids left the room.

"Of course." Celestia nodded

The adults and kids all headed to bed, and slept peacefully for most of the night. Thorax and Pharynx shared a room, and Ember slept in her own guest room. Pharynx got up later that night, restless. He slipped on his boots, disregarding the socks nearby, he wouldn't need them. Pharynx picked up the cyan jacket he'd discarded at the end of his bed. Pulling it on, he headed for the door.

"Mmm...Phar?" Thorax mumbled from the bed on the other side of the room, sitting up slightly. "Where're you going...?"

"I'm just gonna talk a lap 'round the castle, I can't sleep." Pharynx replied, noting that while Thorax was awake, he was clearly half-asleep, meaning he wouldn't ask to join him. "Go back to sleep bro."

"Mm-kay...g'night." Thorax burrowed under the sheets again, and the room was silent as Pharynx left.

"Now that I think about it I kinda would like Thorax here...or maybe Luna, she mentioned liking nighttime walks...but she always starts going on about how beautiful the night is..." Pharynx chuckled at the thought. "Anyway, too late now. And I wouldn't want to wake Thorax up either, he wouldn't like that...Temp would come with me..." He sighed as he thought of this.

As Pharynx walked, he glanced out the windows. He may be off-duty while not in his Kingdom, but as Head Knight, he felt it his duty to make some sort of "rounds" around the castle. Though the staff had all been sent home there were still some guards patrolling the outside of the castle, simply for protection. As he passed by the front of the castle he looked outside and saw something moving.

"Who could that be...? The guards are positioned by the gates." Pharynx muttered, reaching for the door handle, then looking up at the staircase he'd come down and thinking better of it. "That cold air'd wake them up...and Tia mentioned an alarm system."

Pharynx let go of the handle and turned away, leaning against the wall.

"What am I supposed to do? Wait for them to knock?" he muttered

"Pharynx?" Thorax was walking down the stairs, wrapped in a blanket that covered his lime green shirt and purple sweatpants, wearing only some slip-on shoes to protect his feet from the cold floors. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing'? I told you I was talking a walk!" he hissed

"I know but I woke up and it'd been forty minutes and you weren't back yet..."

"Yeah well, it's a big castle. Just go back to bed, I'll join you later."

"Can't I stay with you?"

"You're wearing a blanket like a shawl, clearly you're cold." Pharynx retorted

"Well...I still want to walk with you."

"It's late. Go to bed Thorax, I'm not a child."

"...Remember when we were little and I followed you everywhere?"

"You're pushing your luck here."

"What? How?"

"You're being that same clingy little boy right now."

"Sorry...so why were you just hanging around here?"

"I thought I saw something outside. I was about to check it out but I remembered what Tia said about alarms."

"The guards will probably deal with it."

"Uh-huh." Pharynx scuffed his feet. "Are you going to leave?"

"Nope."

"Perfect." Pharynx sighed, walking towards him. "Come on then. I'll take you to bed myse-"

Pharynx was cut off by a loud thud from behind them. The doors. Pharynx spun around and headed for them. Footsteps could be heard and Celestia and Luna came running down.

"The alarm went off!" Celestia told them

"I didn't hear anything." Thorax said

"It's rigged to go straight to our rooms." Luna replied. Pharynx reached the doors and grabbed them. With a forceful tug they opened.

"Tempest?!" they all exclaimed when they saw who it was.

Comments

[Queen Goodfay]

Tempy!!!

[Melody Song]

10644766
Yep!