Pinkamena?

Chapter 5

Meeting the Princesses

In Canterlot...

Princess Celestia had just raised the sun. The Day Court was scheduled to begin in an hour.

She strode through the corridors of Canterlot Castle. The palace was effectively a never-ending maze to those who did not know how to navigate it properly. It had been built like that as a means of defense.

Luna had lowered the moon and was now probably heading to bed. The lunar princess could not stay awake during the day like her sister, which severely restricted the time they spent together.

However, none of these thoughts were on Celestia’s mind as she focused on one thing. The letter her student had sent her.

What could it mean? she thought, Could it be who I think it is?

Upon reaching Luna’s bedchambers, Celestia knocked three times on the door, paused, and knocked twice more. It was their secret code for anything that might have to do with this particular stranger.

After a second of hesitation, Luna couldn’t restrain herself. The door to her bedroom slammed into the wall opposite it.

“You have news of them!? What is it Tia?” Luna exclaimed, mentally jumping for joy.

“I believe that my faithful student has found them. I could be wrong, but the coincidences are too unlikely. They seem to be taking the shape of one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, they possess no real memories, and they show signs of unusual abilities,” Celestia explained, “I suggest we investigate this possibility as quickly as possible.”

“How will we do this, Tia? We can’t just show up on the behalf of one pony, no matter how unusual.” Luna thought.

Celestia appeared to be deep in thought for a moment, “I will ask my student to meet her new friend as soon as possible. We’ll need some way of telling if they’re who we’re thinking of...”

Luna smiled mischievously. She leaned over and whispered a carefully thought-out plan in her sister’s ear. Celestia smiled as well, nodding her head in agreement.

I ran into Pinkie on the way back to Sugarcube Corner. She waved happily to me and bounced along with me back to her home.

Oh, right... about that. “Uh, Pinkie? I’ve been wondering... where am I going to stay? I mean, most of your friends are scared of me, I wouldn’t feel right taking up more of Twilight’s time, and your bedroom’s too small for another bed.”

“Oh, silly. I mean, you’re me, so why can’t we share a bed? It’d be like sharing a bed with a great big teddy bear. Ooh, or a gummy bear! Speaking of Gummy, you should meet him! He’s my pet alligator...” Pinkie droned on about increasingly random subjects.

“Um, Pinkie?” I said, interrupting her tangent before it could go on any longer, “We’re here.”

Before us stood the great big gingerbread house. The bakery did not look like a bakery at all, that’s for sure.

“Oh, that’s right! I still have to introduce you to the Cakes! I kinda forgot to mention that you were going to stay here, too.” Pinkie sheepishly admitted.

“Wait, but you just decided that on the way over here, didn’t you? So how would...” I facehooved. It’s Pinkie. Why am I still surprised by her?

Pinkie bounced into the bakery. A few minutes later, a tall, yellow stallion and a short, blue mare followed Pinkie back out.

Probably having seen me at Pinkie’s party, they ignored the fact that we looked exactly the same. The Cakes introduced themselves and helped make me feel more welcome. We also worked out what exactly my living arrangements were.

After about an hour of discussion, during which Pinkie fidgeted in the corner, we came to an agreement. I would help out around the bakery during the day, and in return they would provide me with meals and a small pay.

Because of our discussion, we failed to notice the chariot descending into Ponyville, pulled by several Royal Guards.

“No! She’s here now? Of all times?” the strange grey unicorn seemed to be having a bad day. Her mane was disheveled and her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, “She must be onto me. To arrive in Ponyville right between when my assistant left and when his replacement will arrive. She must be!”

The unicorn bucked the nearest object, the table sitting in the living area. The sound of smashing wood sounded through the hotel room. She flinched. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Looking around to make sure that no one was going to investigate the crash, she lifted the scraps up in a grey glow, promptly putting all the pieces together and sealing them seamlessly.

“Okay, let’s think more rationally. She has no reason to suspect me... uh... agh! I’m no good at thinking rationally...” she mumbled dejectedly.

Laying down on the bed, she yawned, “Maybe I should get some rest. A little sleep won’t hurt, will it?”

Yawning repeatedly, the unicorn found that even with her exhaustion, it still took her a few hours to get to sleep.

“Pinkie, Pinkamena!” Twilight burst in, “The princesses are here!” She looked like she had been panicking.

“So?” I said calmly.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said the princesses are here!” Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Wh-what!?” I looked around, “The princesses are here? Why?”

“I don’t know! All I know is that they want to see you!” she turned to me, “I don’t know why, but it can’t be good!”

“Silly Twilight, the princesses are nice! Why would they be mean to Pinkamena?” Pinkie asked as she bounced down the stairs.

“Good point, but I think we should see them anyways.” Twilight panted, out of breath.

“Of course Twilight, why would we ignore a summons from both of the princesses? I’m not stupid.” I grumbled, annoyed that she would think that I would ignore the princesses like that, “Well, we should go now, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, let’s just... let’s just walk back...” she requested.

“Alright, we’ll slow down for you, Twi, but you still gotta keep up!” I smirked.

Celestia was waiting in the library when we finally arrived. Twilight was just so slow.

“Sorry, we’re late princess... es? Umm, Princess, where’s Luna?” Twilight asked, confused.

All of a sudden, we heard a incredibly loud voice yell, “YAH!” from above us. The others were stunned, but I reacted fast enough to: look up, see Luna falling towards us, and dodge out of her way before she hit the ground.

After the dust cleared, it was revealed that putting a Princess on top of a dogpile does not decrease their regal presence.

Somehow, she managed to not only land upright, but on all four hooves, without a speck of dust on her.

Twilight and Pinkie managed none of those things, and were in a small pile with dazed expressions.

Luna turned to me and began to advance.

She spoke, “So the legends are true...”

“Legends?” I asked. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Celestia was covering her muzzle, trying her best not to laugh.

“The legends of Skyrim!” Luna continued, “You, my dear, are the Dragonborn!”

“What? Do you really expect me to believe that? I don’t know what this ‘Skyrim’ is, nor do I know what a ‘Dragonborn’ is, but this just sounds too ridiculous. That, and I can see Princess Celestia giggling like a schoolfilly.” I smirked. Celestia decided that trying not to laugh was too difficult and began rolling on the floor.

“I-it really is you. I didn’t believe it at first, but now I cannot doubt it.” Luna stuttered, wide-eyed. I didn’t get it. Did she know me before I lost my memory?

“My old friend, today we are finally reunited!” Luna hugged me with rib-cracking force.

Spike decided at that moment to investigate the loud noises. The sight he had been greeted with must have been strange. Celestia rolling all over the place, laughing all the time, me being hugged by Princess Luna while looking like I was going to suffocate, and Twilight and Pinkie just now getting up from their princess-induced nap.

Being an intelligent little fellow, he did the rational thing and walked back up the stairs to go back to sleep.

“Wh-what are y-you talking ab-bout, P-princess?” I managed to force out of my slowly shrinking respiratory system.

“Oh, sorry...” she blushed, “It’s just that, you’re one of my oldest friends, and I forgot that you lost your memory, and... umm... sorry.”

“So you know who I was? You know what I was like?” I asked, excited.

“Yes, and yes, but... I-it’s not safe to talk about it here. Come by Canterlot Castle in a few days and we’ll be able to discuss it in private.” she looked around, blushing when she noticed that Twilight and Pinkie were staring at her.

“Luna, I think our visit is over.” Celestia suggested softly, having recovered from her laughing fit, “You can catch up with each other later.”

“Yes, sister...” Luna mumbled. She looked to me, “I’ll see you later.”

Looking around, I caught sight of a grey shape in one of the windows. After doing a double take, I decided that it was just my tired mind playing tricks on me.

“Alright Pinkie, let’s go home. I’m tired.”

“Woah, you know the princesses!? That’s so cool!” Pinkie exclaimed after the aforementioned princesses had left, “Why didn’t you tell me you knew the princesses!?”

“Pinkie, I’ve already told you four times. I don’t remember anything before I met you!” I explained, exasperated.

“Hmph!” Pinkie pouted, trying to overcome me with cuteness.

“That’s not going to work, Pinkie.” I deadpanned.

“Bah! You don’t respond to cuteness! How is that even possible?” she decided to attempt to resolve this dilemma by climbing all over me and examining every inch of my body. I just sighed and accepted that I couldn’t do anything to stop her.

“That’s strange...” she thought out loud.

“What’s strange?” I asked, curious as to what she had found.

“Nothing! There is absolutely nothing strange about you! Absolutely nothing!” she lied, sweating nervously.

“If you didn’t want to tell me, then just tell me that you don’t want to tell me.” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh. Okay. Sorry...” she mumbled.

“Argh! Why does everypony keep apologizing!? Apologies are unnecessary!” I almost yelled. Seriously, the only thing they seem to accomplish is annoying me.

“Oh... um... oh, look, we’re here!” Pinkie bounced, excited that she would be showing me my new room.

“Okay, Pinkie.” I chuckled. It had been a long day, and I was eager for rest. We entered Sugarcube Corner.

Getting into bed, I thought about my stay in Ponyville so far. It had been, well, strange, to say the least. But, if half of what Pinkie says is true, then strange is normal for this place. I can only hope that it gets better from now on.

“Goodnight, Pinkie.” I muttered, moving to one side of the bed.

“Goodnight, Pinkamena.” she murmured back, getting in on the other side.

Yawning, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

“Shoot, it almost caught me! Why did I do that anyway? All it did was reveal that the princesses don’t know I’m here, and even if they did, it wouldn’t make a difference. They wouldn’t be able to stop me.” the grey unicorn paced in her hotel room.

“Well then. Since the princess of the night is planning on telling it what it is, I’ll have to accelerate my plans. It will begin tomorrow!” she chuckled evilly.

Author's Note

I feel sad. I finally get this chapter done, and what am I greeted by? Four likes and seven dislikes. And not one of them is telling me why their opinion is so. IT'S SO FRUSTRATING!