Party With the Princesses

Hey, you wanna know something Twilight couldn't stand? Paperwork.

Oh, sure, it didn't seem to bad at first. I mean, Twilight liked books, right? And paperwork wasn't too distinct from books, right? Wrong. There was nothing new or interesting to be seen, no fun characters, cool settings, or even interesting historical facts, and the only plot twists that were to be seen were ones that ended up costing you money. Also, paying bills, filing documents and anything along that line was just really boring and tedious. Kind of like reading a really awful book. Like that one about bondage or something.

And it was for this precise reason that Twilight was beginning to regret becoming a princess. Granted, it's not like she had much of a choice in the matter and it beat the alternative of having her friends trapped with the wrong Cutie Marks for the rest of their lives but it didn't seem like there was any quantifiable gain to being royalty. Okay, sure, the first time somepony puts the word 'princess' in front of your name it makes you feel important but that starts to lose any meaning it once had awfully quickly.

And in the one month since Twilight had gotten her wings, apart from a weird little escapade in an alternate universe where she was apparently a member of a different species, her life as a princess was awfully mundane. Pretty similar to her day-to-day life in Ponyville except for flying lessons with Rainbow Dash, and of course, the paperwork. And considering Twilight had never even had a real job before (well, aside from being a librarian in Ponyville, but that doesn't count,) going from that to a high position of authority within the Equestrian government, well, let's just say it certainly wasn't the smoothest transition for the purple alicorn.

Here's another thing: Twilight often wondered what exactly all the paperwork was for? I mean, she didn't rule her own kingdom (yet?) and Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were all masters of their own domain, so was Twilight's paperwork simply whatever those three weren't able to finish but was too important for royal guard leaders to handle? Well, in that case, how did all that stuff get completed before she became a princess? Was Twilight's ascension orchestrated by Celestia for the sole purpose of giving the princess of the sun more free time?

Okay, Twilight was probably jumping to conclusions here. Surely Celestia had a very good reason for guiding Twilight along to alicorn level. She hoped.

Regardless, when Twilight was sent a letter from Celestia saying that she needed to be at Canterlot Castle the next evening by 6 pm, she was skeptical to say the least. It's not as though she was dreading seeing Celestia (or Cadence, or Luna,) but she had to admit she was expecting some 'major assignment' which would most likely result in Twilight filling out a bunch of forms and nothing else. Perhaps if she was lucky she would get to read something, or even get to ask her friends for help completing whatever needed to be completed. Oh joy, wasn't she a lucky bitch.

Still though, Twilight managed to put her preemptive anger aside to get a decent night sleep, but the next morning she was restless. What if her precognitions about her assignment weren't true? she thought. What if this actually was serious business? But if it was serious business, why would Celestia say they should meet '6 pm next night' instead of 'immediately? Perhaps she was scheduled to meet somepony important? What could they be like? Maybe it was some kind of meeting between a large council of ponies, of which she was invited. What could that possibly be like? And perhaps it was... something else entirely.

Twilight decided to ask Spike about it, who seemed just as lost as she was.

"I really don't know," Spike said, "I mean, the Princess has to have a good reason for this, but I can't imagine what it would be? You sure the letter didn't specify?"

"Not only did it not specify," Twilight said, "But Princess Celestia was pretty adamant about making sure this was a secret."

"Well, I guess I can't really help you then," Spike said, "Hope you have fun anyway though."

"I do to," Twilight said.

Celestia and Luna were sitting in the Princess of the Night's chamber, calmly minding their own business, when they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Celestia said, and she wasn't surprised to see a pink alicorn trot happily through the door and pull up a seat next to Luna.

"How's the birthday girl?" Cadence asked.

"Pretty good," Luna said, "I have finally managed to reach the big one-two...three...oh."

Cadence chuckled,"Auntie, you're old as dirt, you know that?"

"If she's old as dirt, what does that make me?" Celestia asked.

"It means that you've known Faust since she was riding big wheels," Cadence snickered.

"Not too far from the truth," Celestia said, unfazed, "But you're starting to get up there in years yourself, Cadence."

Cadence grumbled, "Ugh, I'm still in the awkward early phases of immortality. Do you have any idea how awkward it is having to constantly tell everyone you're immortal? Because otherwise there's no way they'd ever believe I'm thirty-eight."

"As a matter of fact, I have, niece," Luna said, putting extra emphasis on the 'I' to show off her new 'modern speak,' "We both have."

"Well, anyway, I brought you a party had." Cadence said.

Luna rolled her eyes, "You are most kind, but I believe I would do better without it."

"Suit yourself," Cadence said, "I think it looks sexy."

She then turned her attention to Celestia, "So, when are we leaving?"

"Have patience," Celestia said, "I asked Twilight to arrive at 6 pm, and we will leave shortly after that."

"You did what!?" Cadence said.

"Oh yeah, we kinda sorta invited Twilight," Luna said, "We were going to tell you that earlier, but it slipped our minds. And by our, I mean my sister and I, not-"

"Yeah, I get that I mean you did what!? What would possibly make you think that's a good idea?" Cadence asked incredulously.

"Well, she is an alicorn now..." Celestia started.

"And I've actually been meaning to talk to you about that, but now's not the time," Cadence said, "For now... you do know where we're going, right? And you of all ponies should know exactly how Twilight reacted when she saw the letter you sent her. Honestly, I'm amazed we haven't had to send our entire fire department to Ponyville."

"I didn't tell her where we're going in the letter, merely that she should be here at 6 pm today," Celestia said, "I swear, you never give me any credit."

"So, it's a surprise? Wonderful, I get to watch my sister-in-law have a nervous breakdown." Cadence sighed, "Look, I love Twilight. I baby-sitted her as a filly, and I think she's grown up into an absolutely wonderful, kind-hearted mare, not to mention perhaps the most powerful mage of all-time. But she's also an extreme goody-two-shoes, not to mention neurotic as balls, a mare who, despite spending her entire life around royalty and having plenty of opportunity to get to know us, or more specifically you, Celestia, I mean she was your personal student for fuck sake, she still can't see anything but the infallible demi-goddess who would banish her at the slightest misstep. When she sees not only you but two other princesses as well doing what we're going to end up doing, I think it would literally drive her insane."

Luna tried to respond to her niece, but Cadence was on a roll.

"Y'know, it was hard enough getting away from Shining Armor. If I had told him it was Luna's birthday, he definitely would have insisted on being here, so I had to make up some bullshit about a business trip, and I still had to turn around every two seconds to make sure he didn't follow me here. And now, in the brief refuge I have, I'll have to deal with a mare who'll run and tell her BBBFF the moment I start flirting with some stallion who I likely have no intention of doing anything more with. And futermore I-"

"Cadence," Luna said, "Relax. Don't go all Twilight on us right now."

This actually got a small laugh out of the princess of love, "We're already going to have one Twilight on this trip, we don't need two I suppose."

"Do remember that, while she still has much to learn, she has only recently ascended to alicornhood," Luna said.

"And also remember that you had many issues yourself during your formative years as a princess," Celestia added.

"Okay, I know I was a bit of a prick-"

"A bit," Celestia said sarcastically.

"But at least I was down to have a good time. Besides, I was 15. I was a lot more mature by the time I was 23."

"Some ponies mature faster than others," Celestia said, "And I believe tonight will help Twilight on her way to maturity. Besides, what kind of leaders would we be if we excluded one of our own kind."

Cadence sighed, "I'm still skeptical but I suppose I should at least give her a chance, right?"

"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Celestia reassured her, "She may not know me very well, but I definitely know her, and I know exactly what buttons to push to open her mind up without causing her to lose control."

This caused Luna to pause momentarily, "Are you... are you going to hit on her?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow at her younger sister, which caused the princess of the night to blush and laugh apprehensively.

"It's a thought," Luna said.

Twilight was late. That's never a good thing.

She was casually spending time with Rarity and Fluttershy, when she noticed that it was almost 5 pm. Considering the train left at said time, it took 50 minutes to get to Canterlot and she had to be at Celestia's castle by 6, that was definitely cutting it short.

"I'm late!" Twilight shouted, "Sorry girls, but I really have to go now."

"Where do you have to be, again?" Rarity asked.

"At Celestia's castle? She invited me there tonight, remember?"

"Oh yes, I remember," Rarity said, "Although I wonder why she just invited you and not all of us."

"Princess stuff, I think," Fluttershy said.

Twilight merely shrugged, left the Carousel Boutique and raced towards the train station, where she thankfully made it on time. Throughout the ride, her brain continued stewing for possible reasons as to why Celestia could want her there. In the end, even though patience was not her forte, she had to settle for waiting it out and seeing when she got there.

Pretty much everyone in Canterlot Castle knew who she was. Even the ones who didn't know her while she spent her late-childhood and all of her teenage years there now knew her as the fourth Princess of Equestria, so getting in wasn't a problem. But all of the guards were being extraordinarily cryptic as to why she was here. It was always something like 'you'll see' or 'it's one of those nights again.' Even Flash Sentry, while more than happy to point Twilight to Luna's chamber as the place she needed to be, wouldn't answer any other question straightforwardly.

And furthermore, Luna's bedroom seemed like an odd place to meet. Shouldn't it be done in the main hall, or the throne room, or, well, any place that wasn't so personal? Unless they wanted it to be personal... Twilight's mind was wandering again, and she had to make sure that didn't keep happening.

Twilight knocked on Luna's door. That was something Twilight had a habit of doing even when she didn't really need to. Mostly because the last time she entered someone's room without knocking she walked in on Applejack giving head, so the act of giving the door a light tap before entering was now permanently ingrained in Twilight's, um, brain. Twilight also noticed that there were no guards there, which was a little weird considering the four most politically powerful mares in Equestria were going to be in that room.

"Twilight, is that you?" Luna asked.

"Yes, princess," Twilight responded.

"Enter," Luna said matter-of-factly. Twilight paused, took a deep breath, and entered the room... only to immediately think about racing back out due to the smell she encountered. Luna was there, as were Celestia and Cadence as expected, but that smell almost single-handedly dimmed Twilight's high hopes about tonight. It smelled a little like...

"Princess, why is there a skunk in your room?" Twilight asked.

The three princesses simply glared at her, eyes the size of the celestial body Luna controls, before Celestia threw her head in her forehooves while Cadence and Luna began laughing their head off.

"Oh that is just precious," Cadence said, "You... you seriously think that's a skunk?"

"Well, what else would it be?" Twilight asked, "I mean, it does smell a little different than an ordinary skunk, I guess..."

Celestia groaned, "Maybe this is going to take more effort than I thought."