Twilight and Spike wandered through the streets of Canterlot. Everypony they saw had a black armband on their shoulder. It still barely felt real. He was the king. Canterlot was his city. What would they be without him? Of course, she knew Celestia would be a great ruler, but deep down that just gave her more to worry about. Would Celestia still have time to teach her once she was queen? Would Twilight be able to continue her studies at all? Would she still be allowed to live in the palace, or would she suddenly find herself moving back in with her parents, lost, confused, and with no direction in life after the path she'd chosen had been pulled out from under her hooves? For now, though, she had bigger, more immediate concerns.

"Unbelievable. Not one, not one apothecary, herbalist, or chemist in all of Canterlot has powdered shimmerstone?" She buried her face in her palms. "The one ingredient I'm missing for my improved stamina potion..."

"Supposedly improved," Spike corrected. "You still haven't been able to test it. Anyway, since we're still out, and you need a dress for Celestia's coronation..." Spike trailed off, grinning.

"Ugh. Clothes shopping." Twilight slumped as she walked. "Fine. Keep a look out for some kind of...dress...shop." She said, trudging along beside the perky little dragon.

"Fancy dresses, fancy dresses..." Spike looked up and down the street. "How about that place?" He pointed across the street at a store with scantily clad mannequins posing in the window.

"Spike, that's a lingerie shop," Twilight informed him flatly.

"...What's lingerie?" His big, innocent eyes stared up at her, and she felt herself blushing.

"It's...Underwear and pajamas. For mares. When they want...fancy underwear." She explained, avoiding eye contact, nervously fiddling with her hands.

"Huh. Weird."

There were times when Twilight had to remind herself that Spike was just a baby dragon. Those times were becoming more frequent than she cared to admit. Their search continued, until they finally found what they were looking for.

"Oh, here we go. 'The Carousel Boutique.' This place should have a nice dress or two." Twilight pulled the door open, holding it for Spike and following him inside. A unicorn mare in all black greeted them, a veil over her face and gloves on her hands.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique. I am Rarity, the owner of this establishment. How may I help you this afternoon?"

Twilight nearly asked her about the outfit, then realized it was probably for King Aegis. But she was dressed like a grieving widow. Why wasn't she just wearing an armband like everypony else? She wasn't his widow, Twilight was sure of that much. The queen had died shortly after Luna's birth, after all. Deep in the back of Twilight's mind, she began to wonder if the king didn't have a secret love life. If he did, Twilight certainly wouldn't be surprised if this mare was a former partner of his. She was the epitome of unicorn elegance, a long, slender neck accentuated by an ornate necklace covered in sapphires, a thin waist, understated curves, long legs, curled mane and tail... Twilight realized she was staring, and the mare seemed a little uncomfortable under her scrutiny. 'Great, now she thinks I'm a pervert,' thought Twilight.

"Well, um..." Twilight awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "I need a new dress. A gown. A formal one. Very formal. 'Attending a coronation' formal."

Rarity gasped and quickly curtsied with all of her might. "I had no idea you were a member of the nobility! That isn't to say you don't present yourself as such, just--"

"Woah, woah, wait, um, I'm not a noble, I just study magic under Princess Celestia." Twilight watched as Rarity's eyes widened behind the veil.

"You know the princess personally? And, I assume, you see her every day?" She asked, moving uncomfortably close to twilight.

"Well, most days, yeah..." Twilight took a cautious step back.

"ON THE HOUSE!" Rarity shouted.

Twilight stared, baffled. "What are you--"

"Your gown is on the house. I insist. It's the least I can do." Rarity told her, grabbing both of Twilight's hands and staring into her eyes.

This pony was trying to use her. That's what her instincts said. It wasn't the first time somepony tried to get closer to Celestia by being nice to Twilight. "I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that. I'd really prefer to pay." She told her, trying to shut this down without making some huge confrontation.

"Then at least accept a large discount. Nopony's purse is bottomless, and I can't have you in front of all of those ponies, on Princess Celestia's coronation, in any less than the best I can offer."

"Wait, in front of...?" Twilight furrowed her brow.

"I don't know the Princess's actual plans for the ceremony, of course, after all, who understands the minds of royalty? But it's customary for a prince or princess to have the ponies closest to them to stand beside them. It's an old Canterlot custom, it goes back to the days before Sombra's rule, back when unity and the bonds of friendship were the pride of old Equestria." Rarity explained as she walked over to the clothing racks, looking from dress to dress.

"Right, the Principem Amicorum," Twilight noted, considering the idea of herself being up there with the princess on her big day in a less than perfect dress, and realizing how mortified she'd be if she broke protocol. "You...Sure seem to know a lot about this stuff. I don't know if I'll actually be up there with her, but...I do appreciate this."

Rarity shot her a sheepish grin from behind her veil. "Yes, well, I suppose I had a bit of an unhealthy obsession with royalty in my youth...Even now, I have some dreams of being swept off my hooves by some dashing prince, or a knight in shining armor..."

"I think he's already involved with that pink pegasus," Twilight muttered, thinking back to the funeral and rubbing her chin.

"What?" Rarity asked, confused.

"Hm?...Anyway, we--..." It was then that Twilight realized just how quiet Spike had been. Now, she was no mother, but she had been with him his whole life, and knew what every mother knows about small children. When they're quiet, something is usually getting destroyed. "Spike?" She asked, turning toward him, and sighing in relief as she saw him hugging his tail to his chest, blushing, and smiling like an idiot. "Why are you so quiet?"

"I-I'm not being quiet! I'm...uh...Stoic!" he replied, straightening up like a soldier at attention. Twilight stared at him for a long moment, only shaken out of her confused gaze when a dress was held up in front of her. She took it in her hands and examined it.

It was a long, golden, shimmery garment. She wasn't sure she could really pull it off. "I don't know if I can--" Rarity put a finger to Twilight's lips, earning a confused stare.

"Try it on. Look in the mirror. Then tell me if you still think it's too much." The mare gently put her hands on Twilight's shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her toward a dressing room. "I'll watch your dragon for you." Spike giggled like a little goofball as he continued to stare at her. "He's very charming."

Twilight sighed and walked into the dressing room, changing out of her simple dark blue dress, and into the shimmering golden gown. It was a bit more complex than she was used to, and she wound up having to use her magic as an extra pair of hands. It was awkward, and she felt like a clown, and she froze when she saw herself in the mirror. She stared, eyes wide. She blushed as she reached out to touch the surface of the glass. If she didn't know better, she'd think she was a princess herself.

"Come now, darling. Don't keep us waiting. Let's have a look." Rarity called.

Twilight stepped out, blushing and looking down at the floor.

"Holy road apples!"

"SPIKE! Language!" Twilight snapped. She turned towards Rarity and began apologizing.

Rarity blushed at the vulgarity and gently coughed into her fist. "A bit crude, perhaps...But not an entirely unreasonable response. You look stunning."

Twilight's blush intensified. "It almost makes me feel like a princess..." She admitted. Rarity stepped forward with tears glistening behind her veil and placed her hands on Twilight's shoulders, and stared deep into her eyes.

"That's all I want for any of my customers." Suddenly, her tone switched to one that was all business. "Now, I will clearly need to make some adjustments, but if you come back tomorrow afternoon it will be ready for you. For the moment, let me just mark the adjustments." She levitated a pin cushion over and began putting pins through the dress, to keep track of what she needed to do.

After a few moments, Twilight returned to the dressing room and changed back, Rarity tried to charge her a scant 80 bits for the dress, and Twilight proceeded to haggle her up to a more realistic price of 760. Once the transaction was completed, the unicorn wizard forcefully dragged her love-struck dragon out the door. She paused, still holding the door open with one hand, as she looked back inside, and said just loud enough for Rarity to hear, "I'm definitely coming back here again."

Author's Note

and with that, we have our principal cast.