Three college age mares were walking in an isolated part of the Royal Canterlot Gardens. They went through a lot of stress to even get here. Train tickets to get to Canterlot from Trottingham, the permit to even go into the gardens and a separate permit to travel into the more isolated area. Finally, they were there. All their stress was worth it.
"There it is girls, 'An Equestrian Sacrifice'. The statue we've been searching for."
The statue depicted a pegasus mare and stallion protecting a little pegasus filly and colt. The colt seemed to be cowering with fear and the filly seemed to be trying to comfort him.
"Come on guys, let's get to work. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave."
Moon Rose said, holding up a sketchbook with her magic. The blue-grey pegasus next to her sighed in annoyance.
"Whatever you say Moon."
She said holding a notepad in her own hoof. She went over to the statue and wrote down what was carved into the pedestal. While she was doing that, Moon Rose was drawing a very detailed sketch of the statue.
Silver Tongue finished looking through her saddlebag and brought out a notepad of her own as well as a tape measure. She didn't know why she got stuck with the job of measuring the statue. She was an earth pony for Celestia's sake. Then again, she was the only one in the group that could properly measure things despite only being able to use her hooves and mouth.
She walked over to the statue and started to measure and record the required elements. When all three were done, they put their materials back into their saddlebags. The sun was starting to set as they started to leave the gardens.
The mares had to stay at a not so fancy hotel in Canterlot. It had one bedroom and it only fit two ponies in a bed. Luckily for them, they were only there for a week. Then they could go back home to Trottingham, present their project and then they would be able to go home to their families for a couple weeks.
"How many more days are we going to live in this dump?"
Rain complained.
"We just got here this morning Rain. We haven't even slept here yet!"
Silver replied to her friend.
"Which reminds me, one of us in going to have to sleep on the floor."
Moon said. Rain scoffed.
"There's a cloud not too away from here. I can move it over to the window and sleep there."
"You might get in trouble for that."
Moon cautioned.
"It's a cloud. Pegasi can do whatever they want with one."
Moon glanced at Silver. Silver smirked and gestured for Rain to get the cloud. After sometime, all three mares fell asleep.
The next day, they got up at five in the morning. It took a while to get Rain to wake up. She was a heavy sleeper and hated rude awakenings. Eventually, they were able to get her awake. Silver told her that they were going to have pancakes for breakfast. Rain was very disappointed and angry when she found out they weren't going to have pancakes. They had to have a quick breakfast of toast with butter and jam. Tasty but not very filling.
After breakfast, they headed to the library. Even though it was a group project, they all had do their own research and turn in their own notes. They would then combine all of the evidence together into one five page essay due at the end of the week.
Ok girls, this is day two and we need to find as much information as we can before Sunday when we go back to Trottingham. Let's collect our research today and then we can start writing the essay. We'll each work on a page and we can work together to finish the other two. If we have time, we can explore the city. Okay?"
Moon explained to her friends. They begrudgingly nodded and began collecting information. After nine hours of research, they had collected enough evidence to fill two pages. It was two in the afternoon and the library was two hours away from closing. They continued to search when they heard three familiar voices. They snuck over to see three regal alicorns casually sitting at a table.
Princess Celestia glanced over at them. They tried to hide but it was too late.
"It's alright. You can come over here."
They nervously walked over to the princesses and bowed. Princess Celestia tried to tell them they didn't need to. She gestured for them to stand up and they did.
"State your names and purpose for being here and ruining our peaceful afternoon."
Princess Luna said sternly.
"Your Highnesses, we are merely college students conducting research on a particular statue called "An Equestrian Sacrifice". We're actually almost done. We were preparing to write the last page when we heard you."
Moon Rose explained.
"A research project?! You three doing a research project?! This is so exciting! It's been a long time since I've met somepony so excited to learn! Let alone three!"
Princess Twilight exclaimed with excitement. Silver and Rain looked at each other and Rain said, pointing at Moon,
"She's the one that loves learning and researching."
Twilight's ears drooped a little.
"Oh. But still, it counts."
Rain and Silver shrugged.
"We would rather be back home. We miss our little siblings."
Moon was looking at her friends in shock. They were talking to royalty like they would talk to an old friend. Absolutely disrespectful. Sure they were being pleasant but certainly unprofessional. She looked over at the princesses and saw them laughing and smiling. They were enjoying talking to common ponies. Moon was so confused and upset. She couldn't handle it anymore. She started to cry.
Princess Luna looked at her with concern.
"Are you ok?"
Moon nodded and wiped away the tears which were replaced with more. Silver wrapped her foreleg around her friend. Rain followed suit. They did their best to calm her down and have her explain why she was crying in the first place. Moon stayed silent and eventually, they gave up.
The library was now an hour away from closing for the night. Moon eventually stopped crying and started talking to the princesses like they were normal ponies. They decided to stop researching for the day.
"It was nice causally meeting you your Highnesses."
Moon said.
"The same for meeting you. It seems like you were in the right place at the right time."
Princess Celestia replied with a smile. They all said their final goodbyes and went their separate ways.
"I can't believe we met the princesses! We casually met them! We talked to them like they were just normal ponies! Is that right?! Is that legal?!"
Moon asked in a combination of joy and fear.
"Of course it is. I mean, their just normal ponies. In fact, Princess Twilight used to be a normal pony. She was just a normal unicorn. A very studious and magically gifted unicorn but still normal."
Silver explained, trying to convince her friend everything was alright.
"Silver's right. If we weren't allowed to talk to them, the guards would have stopped us."
Rain said. She wasn't very good at making ponies feel better, considering she never smiled. She tried her best though. Moon took a deep breath to calm herself down. She thanked her friends for calming her down. She looked at all the evidence that they collected that day and smiled.
"We did a great job today. The only thing we don't know about is this gorgon. What's the story behind her?"
"I don't know. We'll have to figure that out. Not today though."
Rain said.
"Maybe we can ask the princesses. They were there. Maybe they can help us."
Silver suggested. The other two agreed.
