• Published 2nd Jun 2021
  • 4,027 Views, 261 Comments

Newfound Neighbors - FrostTheWolf



Having a new neighbor move in next door is one thing... that is, until you realize that neighbor is a unicorn that's too smart for her own good.

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18- A Royal Discussion

By the time that I pulled up in the driveway and all of us got out of my car, all of us probably had several thoughts going through our heads. I mean, it’s not exactly an everyday occurrence to have a figure of high stature arrive at the front door of your home. I mean, the only people that my family and I normally have knocking at our door would either be people delivering packages, door-to-door salesmen, people trying to run for public office when it’s voting season and family friends from time to time. So, by comparison, having a retired princess from another world entirely just show up at your door sounded a bit hard to believe by comparison.

“Hey Sam,” I heard Ryan speak, “I don’t want to sound like an ass or anything, but I think it would be safe if I sit this one out.”

“What-? Why?” I asked, “You just want to ditch us now?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s just… the letter was written specifically for you, so I’m just under the impression that she only wanted to speak with you,” he nervously shrugged, “That and my folks will chew me out if I’m not around to help around the house, even though I told them I would be with you.”

I could only sigh as I brought my palm up to my face, before I looked back at him. “So, you’re ditching us because of family then? Okay, fine. However, please don’t make a habit of this in the future.”

By the time that I finished what I was saying, Ryan was already gone and the three of us were left with who was waiting for me at my front door. As I unlocked the front gate, Celestia’s ears twitched and she turned to face us just as I had opened it and we all walked in. The alicorn had a warm and welcoming smile on their face as well as a look of recognition when her eyes glanced over all of us.

“Why, hello there.”

“H-hi,” I tried my best to speak up, even though my brain was having trouble focusing on everything that was happening. “P-princess Celestia.”

Celestia couldn’t help but giggle as I was still trying to obtain some manner of focus, “There’s no need to address me by old titles. Celestia’s fine,” she said, her gaze shifting a small bit to the rolled up letter that was sticking out of the pocket in my jacket, “And you must be Sam then. Luna has told me a lot about you.”

Wait, she has? But… I wasn’t with Luna for too long that day. What exactly did say about me-?

“H-hello again, Prince- I mean, C-Celestia,” Gizmo nervously said, looking just as nervous as I was. I mean, I personally couldn’t blame her for acting this way either.

“Hello there, Gizmo. I see that you and your coltfriend are adjusting to life here quite well,” the former princess replied in response, before motioning a hoof towards me. “Would it be safe to assume that your friend here helped with that?”

Okay, this… was still a bit of a surprise for me. I remember Gizmo and Brisk mentioning that they had met Celestia once before when their friend Swift had gotten into trouble. But from how they were acting now, it seemed like Gizmo and Brisk weren’t merely just acquaintances. Then again, I could possibly be overthinking this. I mean, I don’t exactly know the full story behind that-.

“Oh, yeah. Sam’s been a big help with Brisk and I!” the unicorn was quick to remark as she gestured to me.

“If you mean by big help, you mean making sure she helps you get out of trouble?” Brisk chuckled, “And don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, Gizzy. If Sam wasn’t there to help us out when we needed it, we might’ve been kicked out of a few places because of the ‘accidents’ that happened there.”

“Hey, come on Brisk! That’s not the only thing that Sam’s been helping us with. I mean, both of us would probably not know the first thing about how anything in the house would work without her showing us how.”

Uh, is now really the right time to be having this conversation? I mean, I’m pretty sure that Celestia didn’t come by my place at random just to hear the two of you bicker with each other.

“Well, it’s good to hear that the two of you are doing rather well from the sounds of it,” Celestia said. As she was speaking, I watched as the alicorn’s gaze shifted away from Gizmo and Brisk and back towards me, “However, there was another purpose for my visit aside from seeing how you are doing.”

“There was?”

At that, I finally decided to speak as I turned to Gizmo and took the letter out of my jacket, “Yeah, it was in the letter, remember?” As I turned to face the former princess, a different question began to surface instead, “Though, if I may ask, why is it that you’re so interested to learn about our story in particular? Was it because of Luna or something else?”

“My sister’s recollection did leave me curious, yes,” the alicorn admitted, “But there is another reason as to why. However, I think it would be easier for me to explain once I have a better understanding of how you ended up meeting Gizmo and how things have been since she moved in.”


It took quite a bit of time as well as one long phone call to my parents, but once I was able to explain why a pony princess just happened to show up on the ring cameras set up on the outside of my house, we finally got around to sharing our story with Celestia. Though, given how much had happened in the time that Gizmo and Brisk were here, our explanation to her kind of centered around a few key parts. Some of the main highlights included when I met Gizmo and Brisk for the first time (even though they didn’t exactly arrive together), some of the ‘accidents’ that happened when running errands and also the ‘surprise gift’ that Gizmo put a lot of effort into for Hearth’s Warming.

Of course, Celestia found each one of these stories as… well, from what I could assume, either rather interesting or just saw this as just amusing. If I have to be completely honest, it was rather hard to tell. “Wow, getting that many pegasi to help you sounded like quite the endeavor. If I may ask, how did you manage to pull that off?”

“Well, back before we left, Misty said that she owed each of us a favor after the craziness with Swift and his family,” Gizmo was quick to respond, “So, both of us used our favors to not only round up a lot of pegasi to make the possibility of snowfall on that night even happen, but also to have Swift and Azure join us. We kind of told her that holidays like Hearth's Warming are meant to be celebrated with family and since we saw the four of us as our own family, that it technically counts.”

“Part of me thinks that Mistral said yes because she was somewhat stressed with the amount of work she had to do,” Brisk added, “Like, she didn’t quite understand the full extent of what we were doing until after we did it. Either that or she was extremely tired.”

“If I’ve learned anything from the captains of the guard that served me over the years, it was that working in that kind of field can definitely wear somepony out if you overdo it,” Celestia replied as she took a sip from a cup of tea, “Though, Mistral is… how do you put it?”

“Stubborn?” I asked, recalling previous encounters I’ve had with the bat pony in question, including when I ended up meeting Luna at the art gallery.

“Sort of. More like… persistent,” the alicorn said. “She’s a good pony and is well recognized in the Night Guard. However, if she has to get something done, she wants to make sure it's done right and not cut corners. Of course, that makes it to where she ends up making things inadvertently more complicated for herself in the attempt to ‘get it right’ the first time. Reminds me a lot of Twilight back when she was still my student.”

Oh, so Mistral’s something of a perfectionist? That… explains quite a few things. Though, Gizmo seemed to take it for something else.

“That just sounds like what Sam said, but with extra steps.”

Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle at that small remark. “Well, to be completely fair, all of you seem to know her in more of a professional capacity. Mistral’s a bit of a different pony when she isn’t on duty. Luna happens to know more about this than I do, but she’s not quite as rigid as you might think.”

As the conversation continued, I happened to notice that every once in a while, the alicorn seemed to focus her attention away from Gizmo and Brisk and briefly pay attention to me. Not like she was staring at me, but more like watching me as I engaged in the conversation. It didn’t really feel weird, but it made me wonder what she was doing and more importantly, why-?

“Is something on your mind, Sam?”

Oh crap, she’s looking right at me. Come on, say something! Don’t make this weird.

“Yeah, there’s… one thing and please don’t take this the wrong way,” As I was speaking, Celestia looked at me with a puzzled expression as she tilted her head and waited for me to continue, “We’ve been telling you our story, but what I’m trying to wrap my head around is why you wanted to know our story. I thought that it was wanting to know about how we were with Luna. Though, since we’ve been discussing more than just the gallery visit, I’m curious as to why you’ve taken an interest in us. Aside from you having met Gizmo and her friends before. Does that make sense?”

At first, I wasn’t entirely sure if I said that right because the whole room got dead quiet rather quickly. Gizmo and Brisk looked as if they were in disbelief at what I was saying. However, Celestia… just gave me a warm smile as she lowered her teacup.

“I was wondering when you were going to ask me that,” Wait a minute… she expected that? “To answer your question, there’s two reasons why. The first being curiosity after my sister spoke so highly of you, and how she mentioned that Gizmo was your neighbor.”

“And what would the second one be?”

“The second is that I think your story would be something that those from Equestria who are considering to cross over should hear. Despite the presence of my kind in your world, many of my former subjects have considered coming here… but are hesitant to do so. The Kingdom of Equestria is known for harmony and friendship. But wherever they hear something about Earth and its denizens, they hear the stories about bad and terribles things that have been done and what humans do to each other… and think that something like that is going to happen to them or they are going to change in some way.”

At this point, I’m slowly beginning to realize what she meant, but I’d rather hold off until she was done speaking as I watched her gaze shift to Gizmo and Brisk, “But after hearing about your time here and how you not only welcomed them with open arms but also helped them settle in to their new home and living in the neighborhood, I think a lot of creatures can learn a thing or two from your story. That not everyone that they meet would be likely to hurt them if you give them a chance. Otherwise, you’re just being afraid of someone for who they are.”

… Woah. Okay, that was… much deeper than I expected. Even more so because Brisk and Gizmo looked like they weren’t expecting Celestia to say that either. But, I think we have a better idea as to why she came to visit us today.

“So, you think that by learning about our time here that it can somehow change the narrative for why some equestrians are hesitant to cross over?” Brisk asked.

“In a sense,” Celestia remarked as she looked over to both him and his marefriend, “I know that I can’t speak to my subjects in an official capacity like we did before our retirement, but my sister and I still wish to help them in any little way I can. Because even though you’ve been here for a short amount of time, you’re still the same ponies I remember that stood before me when I met you and your friends for the first time. If anything, I think your presence in this neighborhood has had an impact on your neighbors and the community as a whole.”

Well, that I can definitely agree on to an extent. Despite Gizmo’s early antics when she first arrived and all the attention that she inadvertently brings to herself, she and Brisk have definitely had a rather positive impact on the neighborhood. Maybe sharing our story can leave that same kind of impact over in Equestria too. I mean, one can hope, right?

Of course, Gizmo herself seemed nervous by that. “C-Can we take some time to think about it, first? I-I think it’s good, but… I think Brisk and I want to talk to Swift and Azure. T-they’re just as important to us and we don’t want to make things harder for them back home with all the extra attention if we do this.”

Celestia didn’t respond at first, but soon nodded her head as she rose up from her seat. “Very well. In that case, take as much time as you need,” the alicorn’s horn began to glow as an object began to take form on the table. It was a silver handbell with the symbol of a sun, yet even though the bell component was missing, it still made a jingle when it moved, “When you’ve come to a decision, just ring this three times. That will let me know where you are and allow me to teleport to you.”

She then looked at me, giving me one more warm smile, “Thank you for your hospitality. I look forward to hearing from you soon.” Within a flash of light, the princess was gone as all three of us were left in the dining room to process everything.

The silence was broken though when Gizmo asked a different question, “So… where do you think she is now?”


Elsewhere…

When it comes to customers at her establishment, Smoky was no stranger to having a few oddballs visit her pizzeria. Whether it be strange humans, strange ponies or any other creatures, she would provide them with the best of service and always knew the right thing to say.

Yet, today, things were different. “Welcome to Smoky’s Woodfired Grill! How can I-?” Immediately, an audible record scratch can be heard as she looked up and found that the next customer that was right in front of her was none other than bucking Celestia herself, “O-Oh my. H-hello, y-your highness. I-”

“Please, Celestia is fine,” she said, while looking behind the counter, “Did my sister ever come here today, by chance?”

“A-actually, she’s b-been with Wildfire in the b-back for the last… two hours? N-not sure what they’ve been doing back there-”

It didn’t take long before they heard the combined cries of confusion and panic in the back of the room as they turned to see that on the television in the back, the princess and the kirin cook/oven were fighting alongside each other in a game with their characters frantically rolling out of the way of some multi-armed madman named ‘Godrick’. Neither of them realized that Celestia had stepped through the door because they were too focused on trying to stay alive.

At one point, they thought they had beaten them… and then stage two happened. “Forefathers, one and all… BEAR WITNESS!!

At that, Celestia just sighed, before she looked back over to the kirin that was at the cash register, “Do you happen to have any dessert options? I’m getting the impression that that this might take a while.”


Author's Note:

There are times where I try to balance out how serious a chapter is and how much of a chapter is just comedy. So, without trying to make everything sound too depressing, I thought the scene at the end would balance it out.

Have a great day
-Frost