The Pros and Cons of Being Famous

The girls and Spike gaped in awe of the young alicorn, especially looking at her wings. Lily Note felt increasingly uncomfortable as they continued to stare at her, and her smile faltered a bit. They must have realized that they were being rude, because they got to their hooves, and bowed before her, thinking she was some kind of foreign princess like all alicorns.

Lily Note felt relieved as they looked away from her, saying, "There's no need for formalities. I am not a Princess like Celestia and Luna." The girls nodded, and stood up from their bows.

"Pardon me for asking," Rarity asked, "but why were you disguised at the train station? We could have been told you were an alicorn on our way back here." Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.

Celestia replied, "My sister cast an allusion spell upon her wings so that we could spare her all of the Canterlot citizens bowing and staring at her. She had enough attention with the ponies gawking at Luna and I for being at the platform, and we didn't want to add to her discomfort. Where she comes from, she is not used to being stared at like that."

As the mares hastily apologized all at once to Lily, she shot Celestia a grateful smile for not mentioning that she was from an orphanage. As the six friends quieted down, Rainbow Dash finally spoke up.

"Hey guys, I thought we were here to hang out with her. Not, y'know, boringly stand around quietly doing absolutely nothing!"

Rarity seemed to snap out of her stupor as she suddenly whipped a tape measurer, a pencil, and a large pad of sketching paper out of nowhere. "I nearly forgot! I simply must get your measurements if I am to make you a dress for the Grand Galloping Gala! I know that royalty and high class Canterlot ponies usually get their outfits done by professionals, but---"

"Rarity," Fluttershy interjected, "you ARE a professional! You've always made such beautiful dresses. The ones you made for us for the last Gala were gorgeous! I don't know why we didn't like them in the first place." Rainbow nodded as Applejack chuckled.

"Why Ah ever thought that th' dress Ah asked you to make for me included galloshes Al'll never know!" she exclaimed in her Southern drawl. As the rest of the girls giggled at AJ's fashion mistake, Lily silently wondered what Rarity's dresses looked like. Of course her closest friends would say that they loved hem, but she would have to really look at them to get a good idea of her work.

"So, what do you say, Lily?" Rarity smiled expectantly, waiting and hoping to hear a "Yes!"

Lily gazed at the expectant and excited mare, finally caving into Rarity.

"Okay, Rarity. You can make a dress!" A second later, Luna had to cast a quick deafness spell on everypony within the soundproofed Throne Room so that they did not start bleeding out of their ears. That was how high-pitched and loud Rarity's squeal of utter and pure joy was.

As Rarity sheepishly apologized to the eight other mares and Spike (and tried not to get to annoyed with their barely concealed laughter), Lily Note watched as she hastily started to levitate the tape measurer all over Lily's body. Once the measuring was done, she jotted down some quick notes before sketching a rough idea for a dress.

"No, no, no!" Rarity cried, as Lily tried to get a peek at the drawing. "I want you to be surprised when I give it to you!" Lily joined in on the girls' giggling this time, and even Celestia and Luna cracked a humored smile at Rarity's antics.

After the girls had calmed down (courtesy of Rarity's death glares), Fluttershy decided to speak up.

"Um... pardon me for asking, but could we please visit the Royal Gardens?" Fluttershy gained more confidence as she looked at Lily's gently smiling face. "I know that the flowers won't be in bloom until the next Grand Galloping Gala, but I want to apologize to the poor critters I scared at the Gala when we came here." Rainbow giggled slightly, remembering Fluttershy's angry face as she burst into the main ballroom on that disastrous night.

The two Princesses smiled. "Of course you may go," Luna replied. "If anypony wishes to go elsewhere, you are welcome to explore the castle, or walk around Canterlot."

Twilight's face suddenly lit up. "Oh my gosh, girls! I could show you my old room from when I was just a student at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns!!"

"I actually have a few things I need to pick up for my shop," stated Rarity a tad absentmindedly, still scribbling in her sketchbook. "I need some more cloth, especially for Lily Note's dress, and I also need to buy an extra sketchbook! This one only has a few pages left."

After some discussion, it was decided that Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Rarity would go shopping; Twilight and Applejack would go tour the castle; and Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Lily Note would go visit the Gardens. Celestia needed to hold Day Court, and Luna needed to catch up on her sleep and handle foreign affairs with their neighboring kingdoms/empires. The mares would all meet up together for lunch back at the castle.

////\\

As Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Lily Note walked in the beautiful Gardens, Fluttershy timidly looked around for any of the animals. After having politely asked her two companions to be quiet, she started "aahing" a short tune to get any hummingbirds' attention (and yes, it is 'My Little Pony' just like in A Bird in the Hoof). Flutters waited patiently and hopefully, while Lily felt mesmerized by the pegasus' beautiful singing.

Suddenly, the trio heard a humming sound, repeating the tune that Fluttershy had sung. Her face lit up, sending out a different tune this time - the hummingbird "safety" call, which told any hummingbirds that they were safe.

A few of the birds popped out of their hiding places among the large flowers bushes, but they looked warily at the butter colored pegasus before them. They still remembered what had happened half a year ago, and the animals of the Royal Gardens were quick to tell newcomers of the small-town pegasus who had scared them so much on that faithful night.

Fluttershy, who had learned new things about animal calls and signals after the "event," waited silently and patiently. Rainbow Dash made a face and attempted to go fly off - rather quickly - before seeing the "Stare" and reluctantly sat down. Lily Note, however, was transfixed by the young animal carer, whose shy and timid nature worked for her when it came to handling animals.

Suddenly, one brave hummingbird from the small group flew cautiously towards Fluttershy. She very slowly put out her hoof as a perch for the small bird. He flitted away for a second at the movement, but seemed to come to the conclusion that this mare would do him no harm. As he sat down on Fluttershy's outstretched hoof, a few other hummingbirds gained courage to flit about her. One nestled in her hair, while two others perched on her back.

Some of the other animals, curious about the three ponies in the Garden, had also cautiously come out to see what was going on. Most of them thought that the small group of hummingbirds were crazy to trust the pegasus, and ran off. However, the few that had stayed behind tentatively walked/flew slowly over to the trio of mares. The majority of them examined Fluttershy, while a kangaroo hopped over to Rainbow Dash. A few birds - one blue jay, two swallows, and a toucan flew over to Lily, who stretched out her wings so that the smaller birds could land on them.

////\\

As Rarity walked down the streets of the Canterlot shopping district, she regretted having agreed to bring Pinkie Pie along with her. While the bubbly mare was good at finding good stores and such, she was a bit of an embarrassment to Rarity. She tried to ignore the scandalized stares of the Canterlot elite as Pinkie skipped excitedly next to her. However, Spike had been an excellent choice, seeing as how he had so graciously offered to carry all of their bags.

"So, Rarity, where are we gonna go next?!" Pinkie Pie could not keep still as she excitedly talked to Rarity. She made a particularly high bounce in her skip, and nearly crashed into a couple walking by, their noses ridiculously stuck into a straight line facing upwards, in a highly cartoonish way.

The mare was a yellow unicorn, with a lilac and white mane and tail. She was wearing a white polo shirt with a pink sweater tied around her neck, and a blue necklace. Her cutie mark was three dollar signs. The stallion was also a unicorn, with a light grey coat and a black mane and tail. He wore a pair of spectacles, and green and white polo shirt. He also had a sweater tied around his neck, but it was white instead of pink. His cutie mark was a trio of jet planes.

The unicorn couple looked positively outraged that they had narrowly avoided crashing into Pinkie Pie. Pinkie's smile slowly faded as she looked at the two angry ponies in front of her. As she started to back away, the two began their insulting.

"Why, Jet Set," the mare began, "It looks as though this... ruffian has nearly knocked us over for no reason at all! Why if she had done this to the Princess, she would be banished immediately!"

"Well said, my dear Upper Crust," said Jet Set. "Besides, she looks like she isn't even from Canterlot! The way she carries herself, you would think that she grew up on a farm!" Jet Set said the last word horribly, as if the word "farm" was so vulgar that it was simply not acceptable to say it.

As Upper Crust laughed at her husband's remark, Rarity felt enraged. She looked at poor Pinkie Pie, whose hair had deflated. Upon seeing her friend's eyes well up with tears, Rarity decided it was time to put these snooty ponies back in their place.

Before she could say anything, Jet Set noticed Spike. "Oh, look, dear, they've made friends with a dragon. I'm guessing he's a little servant or something, seeing as how he is carrying all of those dreadfully heavy bags."

As the snooty couple laughed meanly, Rarity decided that she had had enough, saying, "How dare you speak of them that way, and right in front of them, too!"

The couple stopped laughing, as they stared uncomprehendingly at the elegant and beautiful unicorn before them. Upper Crust stared at her, knowing that she had seen this mare before, but could not quite place her face among the countless important ponies that she and her husband knew.

"Have we met before, Miss...?" Upper Crust faked being polite, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at the unicorn.

Rarity was taken aback for a minute. "Have we-- have we MET?! I was only here in Canterlot a month ago! Well, if you don't remember who Pinkie or I am, then I guess you're not worth our time. Pinkie, Spike," she added quickly to her friends, "I think that we're done shopping for the day. We should head back to thePrincesses." Rarity put an emphasis on "Princesses," knowing what kind of reaction she would provoke.

Sure enough, Jet Set and Upper Crust nearly dropped their jaws in astonishment. However, they knew their status as Canterlot citizens, and refrained from doing such a rude thing.

Pinkie Pie got back on her hooves, shooting the couple a glare. She suddenly smiled again, before her hair poofed back into place. It was a shame that she turned to follow Rarity at that moment. Had she lingered her gaze for a while longer, she would have seen the prestigious couple's jaws drop.

////\\

"Golly, Twi, that was such a good tour! Ah'm glad Ah came here with you guys!"

Applejack and Twilight walked down the halls of the castle leisurely, having completed a tour of the grounds. They had also gone to Twilight's old room, where said mare would be sleeping that night. The rest of the girls would have the guest bedrooms on that wing as well, close to Twilight's room. All six of the bedrooms were decorated simply, but beautifully. They were on the large size, but were still practically small enough like their own rooms at home. AJ had already unpacked and shifted around some of the items to her liking, before having gone into Twilight's room to see what it was like.

Even though Twilight had left the school over a year ago, Celestia had always saved it for her if she ever wanted to visit. It had been left in the same condition as it had been when Twi had left, but a bit cleaner. The large masses of books she had out those many months ago had been piled up neatly, but not replaced on their shelves. Of course, all of the Canterlot Library books had been returned in due course, but that was only a fraction of the books that Twilight owned. Her bookshelves were still painted with the faded purple paint that she had used as a filly when she first moved into this room.

The ceiling was also painted, though it was of the night sky. If a pony walked into Twilight's room, and looked up at the cieling 45° away from them, they would see a large, full moon depicted with the Mare in the Moon.  the night sky was a swirling pattern of deep purples and blues, with hints of pink and lilac. There were images of other galaxies painted from the mindset of a young and talented filly, streaking across the room. As the ceiling art met the slightly curved walls, they faded to the cheery lavender paint on the walls. It truly was a sight to behold.

Twilight's bed was neatly made, as it had always been before Twi left for the day. A pillow filled with fluffy clouds was covered in a simple lavender pillowcase, with a purple star resembling her cutie mark in the middle. The blanket was a soft and cozy rounded rectangle made out of finely-washed wool. It was also lavender, but had Twilight's full cutie mark stitched on instead of a plain star.

The entire room had a cozy, cramped-yet-spacey, library feel to it. It was quiet, but not in a creepy and mysterious way. Instead, the silence amplified everyday noises from outside, such as the gently waving of a tree's branches in the light wind, to the enchanting call of a prettily colored bird perched on a rooftop. The room felt safe. It felt peaceful. It felt...

Homey.

Twilight giggled at her friend's exclamation.

"I'm glad that you had fun. Honestly, I've always wondered what it was like to give a tour of this castle, rather than receiving one.  I hope that my information was substantial."

Applejack blinked twice in confusion. "What in Equestria does 'substantial' mean?"

Twilight mentally rolled her eyes, before once again explaining to AJ what her 'fancy city folk word' meant, just as she had done with renaissance and other such words.

////\\

As Celestia signed yet another letter to Lord White Wings of the Gryphon Empire, she grumbled silently to herself. As soon as it had been made clear how many letters were to be sent and answered to that day, luna had instantly started yawning and complaining about sleep deprivation, which left Celestia to all of the work needed to be done.

"Some sister and princess," she mumbled to herself. She looked at the pile of answered mail, and thought with great pride and satisfaction that it was almost done. She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow, and went back to work on the letters. Any guards who were standing by her side that day would clearly hear her whisper,

"I'll get you back for this, Luna."

////\\

As Lily Note walked back to the castle with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, she attempted to fix her hair, which had been blown back by the velocity of Rainbow Dash's flight.

"I'm really sorry, you guys!" Rainbow had been apologizing to Fluttershy and Lily ever since she had accidentally blown their hair back stick straight. "I was just trying to show off how awesome I am to a new friend."

New friend.

Lily felt special as Rainbow Dash slowly flew alongside her and Fluttershy, Rainbow smiling pridefully. Fluttershy smiled her gentle smile, looking towards Lily.

"I must admit, it's always a pleasure to meet somepony who isn't very loud." SHe giggled while shooting Rainbow a teasing look. She immediately stopped smiling, and dramatically pretended to cry.

"Oh, you've really hurt my feelings, Flutters! You shouldn't be the Element of Kindness!!" She began to laugh hysterically, while Fluttershy giggled. The three girls giggled and chatted as they trotted to the dining hall.