Author's Note

The Royal Emissary's POV

Messages Well Reseaved: 4

I had been given the most prestigious of the invitations, this year, the Princess herself. Not only that, I had her signature, letting our Queen know she would attend this year.

Some of the Ponies on the list of invitees could be fickle to handle, yet, I had managed to perform my duty, at least this year. I had managed to ascertain the one invitee we could never afford to lose. My Queen would be most pleased with me.

Knowing there always was one, or a few invitees, who for what ever reason, or poor excuse did not show up, it is something we knew, by now. Just that we can't count on them in advance. There may be a chance to make up for a refusal or two, if we could bring home a late invitee in the stead of the one lost. Though there is but the one flight per Emissary, it is the rule our gracious Queen had set up, we are to live by it.

Maybe I could have made one or two flights in a day, even brought both the signatures home, but it is a risk we couldn't take. It is the decree our Queen had set up.

I can't recall a year, when the Princess invited did not come, even though Celestia had to make countless preparations for the millennia she ruled alone, after she had been forced to exile her very own sister.

From what I heard upon returning home, most of the invitations had already been accepted, the pile of cards all signed and piled up. Just the few who had not yet returned. Maybe this would be one of these glorious years. A year when we actually filled up our VIP spots. If it is such a year, we are to have a celebration and feast, just two days before the trees are supposed to be in bloom.

Our Queen had made her best to stay out of the Ponies politics, feeling it a wise policy on her part. She had even made an effort to stay out of the general Changeling politics. That is a small feat on her part, although it may be a wise choice in her current position. Some Queens try to win her over on their side, sending more than mere invitations, but for now she is still neutral. It had kept her out of some turbulence along the way. Staying out of Zebra politics was easy as that. The Griffons wasn't really a problem at this point, they were not looking for our support, so we did not put our hooves where we were not asked.

To us, it is merely convenient, if there were a few more Alicorn Princesses, not so much for the power they represented, but because it is easier for them to spread the burden between themselves, if there are more of them. The one Princess we had been particularly jubilant about was Cadence, when we did learn of her ascension. We knew of her and who she is, well before the time she was actually up for her role as Princess of the chrystal Ponies of the Empire. It is a good business to know what is about to happen, well before it actually happens. Most of this, we had already picked up, from the Queen of the Hive we left in support of our new Queen.

It is our tradition that the Queen produce a Princess when she feels the Hive is growing out of its confines. Doing so makes for an easy means of alleviate the burden on her part, thus we are not disloyal to her, following the new Queen, which would have been a serious breach on our part. The new Queen chooses a few loyal subjects to follow her out, along with numerous other Changelings who just chose to be with us.

Hoity Toity, Fancy Pants, Photo Finish, Octavia, all important Ponies on the list of the invitees of the year. This is the list of Ponies who had actually accepted their respected invitation.

Tender Hoof, Rarity, Saphire Shore, Daring Do, Cheeze Sandwitch, Coco Pomel, Lyra, Fluer de Lis are on the list of Ponies who has not yet returned their responses.

Apparently, Lotus and her sister had just returned their response, they would be coming as well. The Wonderbolts would apparently attend as well, even if they are likely to have a short performance, true to their spirits.

Aside from the invitees who had not yet returned their responses, we are close to booked up. I fear there will be a ruckus on the gate, when Ponies realise, they may be short on space. The quilts can only hold so many Ponies. Even if there may be a few quilts booked, without full cover for one reason or the other. Including large and bulky Ponies, like Bulk Biceps. If it gets to that, we may feel forced to enquire if lots that doesn't have full coverage would accept additional Ponies to fill the space to capacity. All for the comfort of all Ponies who chose to attend the years seasonal event.

Apparently, a few more messages are coming back, one by one, this far, no Pony had chosen to decline, with or without excuses. It is promising. Having important Ponies seen on a gathering of this magnitude would be a spectacle of proportions and very important for both us and the Ponies.

To my surprise, we have booked lots for both Donkeys and Mules, aside from a few other groups. I guess now is the time to be impressed. I may be new to this, I have only been out with a few invitations before, and none as important as the Princess herself.

If next year is as popular as it seems to be this far, the new trees are going to be too late. None of the late addition of trees are going to be in bloom for a few more years. The few in bloom at all any of the three coming years will never meat our standards for the occasion. I suspect we could have a few of them up for late admittees, if they are accepting the budget alternative. It is the best we could be offering at this point.

On the other hoof, this year is a bit above expectation, we can never expect a second year on a trend to hold. As much as I appreciate the interest.