Full Acceleration to Canterlot
Carousel Boutique, Ponyville. Twilight Katswell and Pooky, the former being fitted for an ensemble outfit by Rarity, were passing the time before Princess Sally and the others were done with their errands.
“Hold still, dear,” said Rarity, “I’m almost done. I haven’t had much practice with a bipedal model before.”
“Okay, Rarity,” Twilight replied. “Oh, is Sweetie Belle here? I want to show her something.”
“Sorry, but no; she’s at our parents’ house, having a sleepover with her friends. Nyx should still be around, though. Poor dear looked absolutely heartbroken when she found out she couldn’t go.”
“How come?”
“Mother and father said that Sweetie was allowed to bring two friends; who better than her fellow Crusaders. I’m sure Nyx needs a friend of her own about now.”
Sugarcube Corner. Nyx was sitting at a table by her lonesome. Mrs. Cake trotted over to her, balancing a plate of cupcakes on her mane.
“What’s wrong, Nyx, dear?” asked the Earth Pony.
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders are at Sweetie’s parent’s house, and I wasn’t invited.”
“Oh, my. Well, we’re getting ready for the Royal Gathering at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns tomorrow. Carrot and I were thinking of registering Pumpkin for classes next semester.”
“Oh, yeah,” replied Nyx, her mood slightly improved, “I heard that there are going to be special guests. I’d go, but I’d need my mom’s permission. In fact, I’m gonna get it now. See you tomorrow, Mrs. Cake.”
“See you then, dearie.”
“Hey, Spike,” greeted Twilight Katswell. “Is Princess Twilight in?”
“No,” came the response, “she’s at Canterlot preparing for the Royal Gathering. She did send a letter granting Nyx permission to go, as long as she had a chaperone. Hey, Nyx, cat-Twilight’s here!”
Katswell flinched; she and Twilight Sparkle shared a given name, but preferred to be referred to as just Twilight, regardless. Like it or not, it was going to take some getting some used to.
“Hi, Cousin Twi,” greeted Nyx.
“Hi, Nyx,” the cat girl greeted back. “How are you?”
“Fine. Say, how would you like to come with me to Canterlot with me tomorrow?”
“I…but…”
There was a thud as Twilight K. fainted on the spot. The only thing she could make out was Nyx asking “was it something I said?” Spike sighed and, with Nyx’s help, carted Twilight K. off to bed
“Vinyl, I appreciate you doing this for me, but do they have to be here?”
Octavia, along with Vinyl “DJ-Pon3” Scratch, Trixie and Starlight Glimmer, were having tea and scones. Trixie, took of sip of her tea as Vinyl trotted over to the dishwasher to put her cup in.
“It’s cool, Tavi,” claimed Vinyl. “They’re just staying with us until tomorrow; Princess Celestia arranged for them to stay in Canterlot until further notice.”
“Yeah, ‘Tavi’,” said Trixie. “We’ll be out of your hair before you know it.”
“Yes, well I hope you know what you’re allowing to happen.”
The four mares soon heard a knock at the door. Octavia excused herself from the kitchen to find herself snout to snout with Derpy.
“Excuse me, but is Vinyl Scratch in?” asked the Pegasus.
“Yo.”
“I brought you a letter.”
As Derpy handed the letter to Vinyl and flew off, Nyx, Spike and Twilight K. happened to walk by.
“Hey Spike; what’s up?”
“Nothing much. Just trying to find somepony to chaperone my friends here to the Royal Gathering at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“Trixie can do it,” exclaimed Trixie, shooting up a hoof. “That is, if you would want me to.”
“Oh hey, that reminds me,” said Vinyl Scratch, opening up the letter.
Dear resident,
You plus three guests have been cordially invited to the Royal Gathering at Princess Celestia’s School of Gifted Unicorns. This momentous celebration only occurs once every fifteen years. There will be several special guests, so don’t miss it.
Princess Celestia
“So,” said Vinyl, “you still up for this, Trix?”
Later that evening at Canterlot. Princesses Celestia, Cadance, Twilight and Sally, along with several teachers and Shining Armor, were busy preparing for the Gathering.
“Wow, there sure a lot of Royal Guards present,” commented Princess Sally.
“After the fiasco with wedding,” replied Cadance, “security had to be extra tight.”
“Speaking of which,” said Sally, “I haven’t heard the whole story about that. Care to fill me in?”
“Yeah,” added Cadance, “what did happen while I was out?”
Twilight, Shining Armor and Celestia all looked at each other, worry and shame written on their faces. They had tried to put that day behind them as long as they could, but now it was time to own up to the truth.
“You see,” began Shining Armor, “Canterlot was under lockdown because of the threat, you went to use the little fillies’ room and….”
As Shining Armor explained what happened with the Changeling Queen that Cadance missed due to being in the caves, a mixture of horror and disbelief were plastered on Sally and Cadence’s faces.
“Shining Armor,” cried Cadence. “I cannot believe you would do such a thing to your own sister like that!”
“But that was before we knew the fake you was the Changeling Queen,” claimed Twilight. “She fooled everypony, you know that.”
“But that didn’t make it right. Speaking of Chrysalis, it was lucky she just happened to send Twilight to an adjacent cave, or else we might have never made it out.”
“I, for one agree,” added Sally, “but--”
“Excuse me, but I’m not done. I heard what Applejack said during the invasion, but was she truly sorry for walking out on Twilight, or was she just covering her and everypony else’s flanks because she knew she was wrong?”
“Cadance…” Celestia whispered.
“Hey everypony, the DJ has arrived,” Vinyl Scratch announced.
“Vinyl, you made it,” greeted Princess Twilight. “It’s a day early, but you made it.”
“Course I did. Also brought a couple of friends with me.”
Vinyl motioned to Trixie, Starlight Glimmer, Twilight Katswell and Nyx, who all walked to the Royal Family.
“Uncle Shining! Auntie Cadence!”
“Nyxie!”
Shining Armor gave Nyx a warm hug, then shot a look at Twilight Katswell.
“Hey, Twiley, you never told me about her.”
“Oh! Silly me; Cadance, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, this is Twilight Katswell. Young Katswell, I’d like to introduce you to my mentor, Princess Celestia, my brother Shining Armor and my sister-in-law Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
“But you can call me Cadence.”
“H-hello,” stammered Twilight Katswell, before she fainted for the second time that day.
“Is this going to be a regular occurrence?” Celestia asked.
“I hope not.”
Later that night, while Nyx and the others slept, Twilight Katswell was wide awake, being too excited about being in Canterlot.
This is too much, the cat girl thought. I’ve heard all about Canterlot from Rarity, but I’ve never been until today. I hope I didn’t embarrass myself too bad by fainting in front of royalty.
“Who dares remain awake at this hour?” demanded a voice from the darkness.
“T-Twilight Katswell. Please don’t hurt me.”
“Hm? I mean no harm, this I assure you, fair Katswell. My name is Princess Luna, guardian of dreams and Princess of the Night. If I have frightened you too greatly, my most sincere of apologies.”
"Tell that to my heart," replied Twilight. "If it'll stop pounding so hard, that is."
"So, I take it this is your first time in Canterlot?" Luna queried.
"Yes, Your Highness. Truth is, this is the first time I've been away from home. I know Princess Sally and Miss Valentine are here if anything goes wrong, but I miss my mom and dad so much. You ever have that feeling?"
"Yes, I have," replied Luna, "many times." The lunar Alicorn remembered her time as Nightmare Moon as if it were yesterday. Her millennium-long banishment in the moon not spent plotting revenge was spent missing Celestia, wishing to apologize. Now, she was a fully accepted member of Equestria again, and she couldn't be happier.
As the two continued their conversation, they gained some insight towards their respective problems, hopes and dreams. Appreciative of the insight she gained from the Alicorn, Twilight went off to bed for the next morning would an eventful one, indeed.
つづく
