Suitors

A cream coated, chocolate maned unicorn mare happily trotted to her workplace; the Royal Canterlot Kitchen. In this holy place the most delicious pastries and most exquisite dinners would be concocted to match the actually-not-so-demanding palate of the Royal Sisters. Of course, it would not be as demanding as expected if you knew your princess's preferences by heart.

Unfortunately for the deliciously colored cook she only had three weeks working in this marvelous castle. It was a privilege to had been accepted as a young adult; when it came to cooking, she was as fast as that rainbow young flier champion in learning recipes and mastering them. However, when it came to other ponies she was as dense as said rainbow flier's ego. Because of this, she probably would take longer to pick up the sisters' tastes.

No, the other cooks wouldn't really tell her. Only her mentor would have mercy on her.

But she was loyal and faithful to the sacred family code; "stay happy and things will turn shiny."

Then again, not everything that shines is gold...

Before she doubted herself any further, she quickened her pace and entered her workplace. Contrary to what one would believe, things were quite peaceful and only a handful of ponies were there. It was only breakfast anyway, and Princess Luna was not going to be present.... for the third time in a row.

"Good morning!" The bright mare said, making almost everyone in the room flinch at her voice. There was something quite unique about it... When they knew it was only their fellow cook, they went back to work. Some cleaning and some preparing today's breakfast.

"Hey! Happy Waffle!" Her mentor, Gran Jubilo, was the first to greet her. He had indigo curly mane, a goatee and light yellow coat. His eyes gave away his years and experience. "You are early today as well."

"Of course! Bright and early like the sun!" Waffle smiled brightly and the whole kitchen seemed to be suddenly bathed by sun rays instead of the artificial light while simultaneously being converted into some sort of sweet paradise with cake and frosting. It was almost painful to those not-morning-ponies. "Is there anything for me to do?"

"My lady, you would be a brilliant cook if you only remembered our Sun Princess dislikes sunflowers." Jubilo went back to supervising the only two busy cooks as Waffle followed suit. "You will be doing as always this morning, however it is wise to tell you with anticipation that we will need your help later on."

"Why is that?" Being relatively new, the cream mare was occasionally in charge of serving the food to the princesses. At first it was nerve wracking. Was she supposed to bow? Smile? Or be completely poker-faced? She was not good at the latter.

Lately however, she was thankful for being a rookie this one time in her life. She had taken peeks into the most heartwarming moments of the princesses' life. Seeing them hugging as nothing but ponies and siblings was truly something she was always going to remember. Maybe even brag about. Right now, there was definitely something going on.

"Princess Celestia requested a special dinner for today. We will need all the help we can get." Jubilo stared into Waffle's ruby eyes with a frown that quickly became a smile. "Miss Happy Waffle, your eyes are a literal cherry on top."

"Way to change the subject..." Waffle said to hide her embarrassment, a blush spread across her muzzle. She was used to her eyes receiving praise, but she never figured out how to answer these complements. "S-so..." She leaned into her mentor's ear. "Did she give a motive?" A rich laughter came in response.

"Why, ma'am. The amount of beauty in your eyes is only matched by your curiosity!" Gran Jubilo let go a rich laughter. "No, Waffle, she didn't. Who knows? It might be very rare, but perhaps... perhaps, you might get your answer sooner or later."

Suddenly, almost as if on cue, a Night guard emerged from the shadows, earning a yelp from the present ponies.

"Greetings." Said the bat winged stallion. "Mistress Luna requests Miss Happy Pancake's presence." The mare in question nervously cleared her throat and briefly glanced at her mentor. It became a glare when she noticed he was also trying not to laugh.

"H-Happy Waffle, sir. That would be me." She stepped forward to emphasize her statement.

"Follow me." He walked ahead towards the doors. Before Waffle followed suit, she looked worriedly at her companions. Her mentor smiled knowingly at her, the two cooks were looking confusedly at each other and the other two maids smiled at her as if saying "good luck."

Her gaze lingered on her mentor however, and as she turned around and left the kitchen, she realized something...

Was this all because Happy Waffle's voice had always sounded almost identical to Princess Luna's?

How could this be happening to her? Was it even a bad thing? For all the things she now knew, the princess could have her head if something slipped from her mouth. If the secret leaked, she would be one of the main suspects, and maybe even the main focus of attention. But at least she had her answers, just like Jubilo had told her... but...

Did the Night Princess really trust her this much to lay such heavy secret and task upon her weak unicorn shoulders? Was it all only because of her inborn voice? Happy Waffle began thinking it was the latter; the "Last Minute Princess Luna Lessons" had been quite hard to pick up on and she swore at times Princess Luna would lose her temper and send her to the moon. With the illusion princess costume perhaps, for old times sake.

There was something Happy Waffle was sure about and that was that those had been the most confusing and awkward nine hours of her entire life.

Her cream coat had been dyed indigo blue, her chocolate mane matched the Moon Ruler's ethereal colors, and when she looked at her reflection in the mirror she would find teal eyes staring back at her instead of her own ruby orbs. She would look like an idiotic filly trying to make a fool of herself if Princess Luna hadn't cast those powerful illusion spells. Happy Waffle had become the identical clone of the Co-ruler of Equestria and all because of her voice.

And now she knew the whole story also because of her voice. A reporter would kill to know what she did. It was simple, really. Princess Celestia had a suspicious suitor, Princess Luna had picked up on his behavior. She wanted to protect her sister no matter what and she had a plan. Happy Waffle was one of her most important pieces in this game of chess.

Also, that there was a slim possibility that Princess Luna's forbidden feelings would rescue Equestria from ultimate chaos.

Oh, and the most important thing, Princess Luna had a crush on her sister, Princess Celest-OMCdidPrincessLunajustofferWafflehercrown?!

"I, Princess Luna, Mistress of the Night, Co-ruler of Equestria, hereby decree you shall carry the weight of my crown for the next... three hours." The dark crown, being held by the powerful alicorn's magical grip, slowly descended upon Happy- Princess Luna's head. "I shall be known as Dusty Scroll in the mean time and I..." Dusty wrapped a coat around herself. "would be immensely grateful if you manage to buy me and Twilight more time."

All of this was overwhelming. It was... impossible to explain for Happy Waffle. She was only a cook trainee, not a Twilight Sparkle! The authentic royal crown was supported by her head that was now at the real Luna's own height, everything felt natural, even the wings and long legs. She was starting to get vertigo from the sudden new height.

She was now expected to mirror the Princess' behavior for three hours straight... in a date no less.

"U-um... P-prin-"

"Do not fret." Dusty Scroll placed a comforting hoof on Luna's shoulder accompanied by a warm smile. "I am truly grateful for agreeing to this and being understanding. This all must be hard to assimilate, but all of you agreed to something vital before coming to work here. I know you are a pony I can trust and I hope you trust me as well." Princess Luna firmly nodded. "However, you can always back away if you are not feeling comfortable."

"Uhm, N-no! I-I mean..." Princess Luna cleared her throat and corrected her posture. "Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm." Dusty giggled gracefully.

"The staff know who you are and will help you with the best of their abilities." A knock at the door made Luna's internal organs go into a frenzy only matched by the one that usually took place in the kitchen when the Grand Galloping Gala was around. It was calmed down considerably when Dusty gave her another one of her regal smiles. "My guards will be always there in case that... stallion attempts to do something questionable." Dusty Scroll began to retreat into the dark corners of Princess Luna's chambers. "I wish you the best of luck. Remember, you have the choice to end the meeting earlier if you deem it necessary. And remember what we rehearsed. Also, I am very sorry for discharging my anger on you two days ago."

"I-it doesn't matter, but, wait!" Luna spoke up before Dusty disappeared. "Good luck to you too... with everything. Including your sister. I'm glad to help."

Dusty smiled warmly again, but there was something in her eyes that caught Luna off guard... Before she could analyze it further, Dusty merged into the shadows.

The knock came again, making poor Luna's nerves go haywire for the umpteenth time.

Princess for three hours... Luna wondered if she was allowed to boss everyone around.

Easy, Waffle. Stay happy and everything will go shiny.