Today was the day. Starlight was alone in her room, pacing back and forth; Tears in her eyes. Even though she could physically feel her wings and knew what they meant, it still made her nervous knowing that after today, she would officially be a princess. Another big part of her current state was that Twilight, just the week before, had confessed her feelings to Starlight. She wanted to stay behind and live with Twilight. What if Celestia didn’t know?! What if she made Starlight go and rule over a random village halfway across Equestria!?! There were so many ‘ifs’ that it made Starlight a lot more nervous that she should be. She didn’t want to be away from Twilight.
More and more thoughts entered Starlight’s mind, and she likely would have had another panic attack, had it not been for the knock at her door. “Starlight? Are you in there?” It was Twilight. “Your coronation is at noon today, we need to head over to Rarity’s to get your dress before we head to Canterlot.”
“Alright, I’ll be right out Twilight. I’ll meet you in the castle lobby, just give me another minute to freshen up.” In truth, Starlight wanted more time because she had to clean up, not freshen up. After spending the past few nights with Twilight, everything had hit her at once, and she broke down in tears. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her mane was disheveled, her coat was stained with her tears. Starlight looked like a nervous wreck. She sighed. She wouldn’t have the time to get anything, but her mane fixed before they had to leave.
She walked out into the hall, and just started looking around. Even through the tears in her eyes, she could make out the paintings and sculptures decorating the walls. As she looked around, she started to remember all the good times that she had in the halls of the castle. It made her smile slightly. Starlight wanted to stay and continue to make memories, but it was more than likely that Celestia would send her off elsewhere to rule. She was so lost in her memories that she didn’t realize she got to the lobby. The only that that told her where she was, was the loud gasp that came from Twilight.
“Oh, My Celestia! Starlight, are you okay? What happened to you?!?” Twilight was jumping around Starlight, looking at her all over with concern, trying to make sure that nothing was physically wrong with Starlight before they went out. To Twilight, Starlight looked as if she had tumbled down a mountain then promptly thrown in a river.
Starlight tried to respond, but the only sound that came out of her mouth was her choking up. Seeing how much Twilight cared about her only drove her fears further into her heart. “Starlight?? Please. Answer me. What happened?” Starlight collapsed to the floor, her emotions hitting her harder than ever before. She just couldn’t hold in the tears anymore. She cried.
Twilight stood there, unable to comprehend what was going on. Her best friend, and now Marefriend, was lying on the floor, tears in her eyes, looking like she had been in a fight. “I don’t want to leave.” Twilight wasn’t sure she had heard that correctly through the tears, but then Starlight said it again. “I don’t want to leave.” That’s what this was about? Starlight was afraid of leaving?
“Starlight, why don’t you want to leave? Please talk to me. I want to help you.” Starlight looked up into Twilights eyes. They were filled with genuine care and concern.
“I want to stay here with you. After last night, I can’t leave you. I don’t want Celestia to send me away to rule some random village!” At that, Starlight broke down in tears again. When Starlight got like this, Twilight knew that she wouldn’t get Starlight to move, so she did the one thing she could think of doing.
“Starlight, stay right here, I’ll be back soon. I just need to let Rarity know to bring the dress here, ok?” Starlight nodded lightly. Twilight kissed the top of Starlight’s forehead. “I’ll be back in about 10 minutes. Please try and relax, would you like to go to Canterlot early when I get back so that we can talk to Celestia? I’m sure she’d gladly listen to your worries.” Again, Starlight just nodded.
With what seemed like a confirmation, Twilight teleport to Rarity’s boutique so that she could be aware of the situation.
Twilight returned to find that Starlight was no longer in the lobby of the castle. ‘Now where could she have gotten to?’ Twilight thought. It wasn’t like Starlight to act the way she was, so it concerned Twilight a lot more than it normally would have. As she walked through the castle, she heard some soft sobs coming from her room. Why would Starlight go to her room instead of her own?
“Starlight are you in there?”
After a short pause, Twilight heard a soft “Yea” come from in her bedroom. She really had to calm Starlight down before her coronation in 4 hours.
“I’m coming in Starlight, and when I do, I want you to tell me what has you so upset. This isn’t like you. Answer me Starlight, why are you so upset?”
Starlight sighed. “Why? Because I’m afraid Celestia is going to take me away from you! I don’t want to rule over some random city or village! I want to be with you! After last night I can’t simply just leave here! I love you too much for that!” It looked like Starlight had stopped her rant, but after a short pause, she continued. “I don’t think Celestia understands! I want to rule here! With you! Not a random village! I don’t want to have to make scheduled visits just to see my Marefriend! So why am I so upset? Because I’m afraid of losing you!”
Twilight stood there, speechless. Starlight really cared that much? “But, then why are you in my room?”
“Because it might be the last chance I ever get to see it. To see this castle. I’m scared Twilight. I don’t want to go.” Starlight looked like she was on the verge of another breakdown. Twilight knew that if she didn’t do something now, Starlight WOULD break down again.
“Get your coronation dress from the lobby and meet me at the train station. We’re going to see Celestia and get this fixed now. I hate seeing you upset, and the sooner we get an answer, the sooner I get to see you smile again. Now come on!”
2 Hours later
When Twilight and Starlight arrived at the Canterlot train station, they had been expecting a short, quiet walk to the castle. The reality of the situation however, had guards already posted at the station, ready and waiting for their arrival. They looked at each other quizzically, hoping one of them had the answer as to why there were so many guards posted at a train station.
“Ahem.” Twilight and Starlight looked over to their left and saw a Unicorn stallion wearing different armor than the others. His coat was an inky black, and his mane a dark purple, unlike the white and blue of the other guards, and what troubled the pair the most, was that his cutie mark was that of a single eye. “Apologies your majesties, but Princess Celestia had us posted here hours ago.” It was almost as if the guard had read their mind! “Please, follow me to the castle. We’ve had a few issues in the city as of late, hence the increased presence.” The princess hadn’t said anything about trouble during the celebration. What exactly had happened?
“Pardon me, ummm.”
“Captain Prophet.”
“Oh, Thank you.” Twilight responded. “What exactly—”
“There are some ponies in the city that seem to dislike the idea of another princess. There have been a few riots over the course of the week since the celebration. They were docile at first, just simply speaking in large crowds, but recently, they’ve gained violent tendencies. We were posted hours early to ensure your safety should you have decided to arrive early. The orders came from Celestia herself considering the tendencies of her student to arrive early for anything important.” Twilight blushed lightly at the last statement
That cemented their feelings about the guard. It was almost if he had read their minds. They were sure of it! Question was, how did he know what they were thinking?
“It’s my talent.”
“What’s your talent?” Twilight asked. Starlight decided not to speak because of the situation that she was dealing with in the form of her emotions. She had to try and keep them under control so that the guard captain wouldn’t know why they were early.
“My name almost has a literal meaning. I can read the minds of others. Sometimes intentionally, while others, not. I’ve had years with it, but I’ve never been able to master it, even though I may have gotten better with it.” Twilight stood there slack jawed. This pony could actually read minds.
“What did you say your name was again?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
“Prophet, Captain of the royal guard, daylight division.”
“Right, well. Lead on Captain.”
Thankfully, the walk from the station to the castle was relatively uneventful. There was a short incident with a noble saying that Starlight didn’t deserve her status, but that was quickly fixed by said noble getting thrown across the street by Twilight’s magic. The noble promptly ran away afterwards, not wanting to invoke the wrath of Celestia’s student again.
“We’re here your majesties. Please let any of my guards know if you need anything while you’re here. We’re here to help in any way we can.”
“Thank you, Captain, but I think we’ll be all set from here. just make sure everything is going okay for the coronation later. I would like to avoid confrontation, if at all possible.”
Prophet bowed in respect and replied with a very simply “Thy will be done.” Twilight chuckled at this display of theatrics. She looked over to Starlight who seemed oblivious to the whole conversation. She frowned.
“Starlight, come on, we need to talk with Celestia now before it’s too late.” She then turned to Prophet once more before they went inside. “Thank you again Captain. I hope the rest of your day goes well.” She said this with a smile.
“You as well princesses.” He bowed once more before leaving to secure the castle courtyard area and to make sure nopony was lurking around.
After a short walk through the castle halls in silence, Twilight decided to finally break it as they neared their destination of the throne room. “Starlight, you’ve been awfully quiet. I know this is hard for you right now, but can you smile? For me at the very least?”
Starlight put on a small smile. “Alright, Twilight, for you.”
Twilight beamed. “Good! I’ve missed the smile of yours! Your energy, similarly to Pinkie’s, can be so contagious sometimes. Seeing you down like that has made me feel the same, and then I feel worse because I know that I’m part of why you’re upset. So, keep that smile!”
“The princess is ready for you your highnesses.”
As the pair walked into the throne room, they could feel the tense atmosphere. Starlight looked up at the thrones and saw Celestia holding a hoof to her face.
“For the last time, no I will not exile her, nor will take away her status. She has more than earned her title.” Celestia looked up and spotted the two younger princesses and smirked. “By the way, you may want to hurry this up. I have guests.” Celestia knew this would get the group of nobles in the throne room riled up.
“Guests? We don’t care! That Starlight is a lunatic! You’re supposed to be helping your subjects, not sweeping their needs under a rug! If you don’t do something, then we will!” Suddenly, they felt their blood run cold. The nobles started shivering, it felt as if the temperature had dropped dramatically. “What kind of trickery is this? Plummeting the temperature just to get us to leave? As if.”
“leave.”
The nobles looked behind them for the source of the new voice and found it in the form of Twilight Sparkle. “Why would we do that? You hold no authority here.”
“Why? Because if you don’t leave right now, you might find yourselves falling off a large mountain. As for authority, I hold plenty. I am a princess, and you would do well to listen to me the same way you would listen to Celestia. Oh, and also. I may be the princess of Friendship, but I have more than enough magic to fry your hides!” Twilight was more than just upset, she was pissed beyond belief.
“You cannot speak to us that way!”
“What makes you so special? Why are you allowed to speak in such a way to a princess, but we cannot retaliate? No, you speak and treat others one way, you get the same treatment in return, and quite frankly, I don’t like the way you were talking about one of your future rulers, and my marefriend. The way I see it, is you have two options. Either leave, still in one piece, or stay, and I make you leave, in pieces.” Twilight’s mane had become a rather dark orange at this point, almost as if it was on fire. Her horn was also aglow, indicating she was serious. “Leave. Or face the consequences.”
“We will not just simply leave you –” Whatever they were about to say was cut off by a flash of light as well as a scream, and suddenly, the nobles were gone. Starlight stood there in tears, with her horn aglow.
“Starlight where --?” Twilight began before she was cut off.
“I don’t care. They can rot for all I care.” She turned to leave and felt a wing atop her back. Looking back, she saw Celestia with a worried look on her face.
“Come Starlight, let us go to my study, you too Twilight. I can tell there is much to talk about. We can deal with the nobles when they inevitably show up again later.”
“You wish to remain with Twilight, is that it?”
“Yes! I just want to stay with her! I don’t want to be off in the far reaches of Equestria! I want to be here! With the one I love.” Starlight had waterfalls coming out of her eyes at this point. She couldn’t contain herself anymore. Everything she had felt that day, anger, guilt, doubt, sadness, it was all hitting her again, but this time, much, much harder.
Celestia sighed. “Before we talk about this matter further, I must apologize for the noble’s behavior earlier in the throne room. They are all upset with me because they all think it should have been them to ascend. They feel entitled to it because of the ‘services they provide the city with’. As for their idea of exile, as well as their anger, it was because they found out about Starlight’s deeds in the village where you found her Twilight.” Celestia wrapped a wing around Starlight. “I would never do such a thing to you Starlight, you’ve proven yourself to be a wonderful pony.” Celestia spoke in a motherly tone that seemed to soothe Starlight and ease her negative emotions.
“I know how much you love Twilight, I may have stayed behind to make sure you were both ok after the celebration last week. I had decided this then, and my decision has not changed.” Celestia spoke with resolve and certainness in her voice. “You will rule alongside Twilight in the Friendship castle. As the princesses of Friendship, and Magic, you will compliment each other in ways that Luna and I will never be able to. Friendship is Magic, so having you rule together is only fitting.”
Starlight was just about speechless. “Really?” she asked shakily as she looked up at Celestia.
Celestia smiled at Starlight. “Really.” Starlight could hardly believe it. Celestia had planned to have them rule together all along. “Come on, lets get you ready for the coronation ceremony.”
Author's Note
Prophet was an OC of mine years back when I first got into MLP. His original name was Mind Reader, but it felt off trying to write that name into the story, so I renamed him. He might make appearances here and there. Possibly even his own story at some point!
Also, bonus points to anyone who can spot the Warcraft 3 reference I placed in this chapter.
Hope you enjoyed!
"Are you ready Starlight?" Twilight wanted to make sure everything was all set for when Starlight walked out and was introduced to the rest of Equestria. Up to this point, Only Ponyville, Canterlot nobles, and the Royal Guard knew of Starlight's ascension.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be Twilight, I just hope everything goes well." In truth, Starlight was panicking on the inside, and she had an itching feeling that nobles were going to make a fuss.
"Good, I'm going to let Celestia know that you're ready to get started, and as for Everything going well; it will be fine Starlight, Prophet and the Royal Guard have everything under control. Last I heard was that there was a guard just about every twenty feet." Twilight said all this as she walked out of the room, leaving Starlight alone with her thoughts.
She sighed and sat down. Was she truly up for this? Starlight always had an idea of what Twilight had to do as a princess, but never truly saw everything that went on behind the scenes. Twilight was busy a lot of the time, so maybe her standing in as another princess, Twilight could finally start to relax a little more. Maybe they could take a break after Starlight finally got settled in and make Twilight just enjoy time with her. It was likely never going to happen, but she could dream.
"Princess?" Starlight perked her head up at the voice that enter the room. "The other princesses are ready for you. Would you like an escort across the halls to the throne room?" Starlight knew that voice. It was Prophet, the guard captain. Great, now she had to worry about a psychic reading her ever worry and thought.
"Uh, I guess. Though, I do have one request." Prophet nodded his head as he entered the room. "Please, don't read my mind. Intentionally or not, I would appreciate it if you respected my privacy."
"I cannot make any promises that small things might slip here or there, but nothing will be said about anything that I happen to see, If I happen to see it. I place my reputation as guard captain on the line as a show of a promise that I will do my best." Starlight knew Prophet meant well, so she agreed to his promise.
"Alright, let's get this over with." Prophet opened the door for Starlight and they began their trek down the long halls of Canterlot castle. As they were walking, she couldn't help but notice that Twilight wasn't kidding about the guard presence; there was literally a guard every twenty or so feet. Her companion took notice of her wandering eyes and spoke up.
"Princess, I knew how much the incident in the throne room rattled you and Twilight, so I had extra guards posted to ease your minds. Surely she told you?"
"Yes, she did, but the way she said it seemed like she was exaggerating. I had no idea that there were literally guards posted every twenty feet. Though I don't really approve of you reading minds, I must thank you for thinking of how we felt." Starlight was off-put at first, but seeing how much Prophet really cared for their safety. Perhaps she should ask Twilight about inviting Prophet to be the first Royal guard at the castle in Ponyville. She felt unusually safe around him for some reason.
"We're here princess." That was fast. It felt like they had only been walking for a few minutes. "Are you ready?" Starlight felt more ready than ever, even though, just a few moments ago, she had been rather scared.
"Yes. Let's get this done and over with." And with that, The doors opened to the throne room. As she entered, she felt all eyes in the room immediately move to her and she almost froze up. The one thing that kept her going however, was that she could see Twilight watching her with eyes filled with pride. She had to--, no, She wanted to do this; for Twilight.
She walked down the aisle up to the podium, but as she did, she felt eyes boring holes in the back of her head. She quickly looked behind her to see the nobles from earlier were in the crowd. They looked really angry, and also wet for some reason. Where exactly had she teleported them? Starlight couldn't linger on her thoughts for too long though. She needed to focus on the situation in front of her. She continued her walk up the aisle to the podium, and as she did, the nobles started chattering amongst themselves.
"I cannot believe this! She teleports us off to Canterlot lake, at the bottom of the mountain, and she receives no punishment? They just act as if nothing happened? Our princesses are fools. Starlight is going to ruin Equestria if this ceremony continues." A noble of House Stargazer spoke up. "We need to knock her down a peg. She does not deserve to be up there."
"Agreed! Starlight will bring nothing but ruin to our beloved land. Everyone knows about her past; why are they so content with her becoming a princess? It makes no sense!" This time it was a member of House Crystal. "Anypony have any ideas?"
"I do." The nobles turned their heads to find that the head of House Stargazer had decided to speak. Normally he kept to himself. He was a rather quiet, but firm pony. "We need only to reveal her true intentions for the land. She was, and still is, a manipulative pony that thinks only of herself. Once this so called, 'ceremony' is over, we can begin our planning. She need only falter once, and then the ponies of the land will turn on her." Evil looking smiles started forming on the Ponies' face.
"The whole of Equestria will soon see the truth."
Starlight finally reached the altar, and once she did, Celestia began her speech. Starlight knew it was going to be long, so she decided to sit back and just relax until she was called up to be crowned.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the ascension of a new princess. She has more than proven herself through her deeds to Equestria as a whole. Listing them all off would have us here all day, So let me just mention her most recent achievement. After many of us were captured by the evil Queen Chrysalis, she form a rescue party that ultimately helped us escape. In the process of her rescue, Starlight Glimmer managed to reform the changelings into the lovely ponies they are now. Her friendship with Thorax, the new Changeling king, helped us both defeat our age old enemies, and even befriend them. She truly is what Equestria needs."
Off in the back of the room, The nobles spoke under their breath seemingly about how wrong Celestia was about the events that to their rescue. Celestia, not knowing what the nobles had said, or even hearing them, continued on with her speech.
"Starlight, even though she had a rough start, has shown she is a shining beacon for Friendship. At this revelation, My former pupil, now princess, Twilight Sparkle, insisted that she be rewarded for her services to Equestria as a whole. Myself and the other princess agreed wholeheartedly. Before the events of the Summer Sun Celebration, close to a week ago, We set a plan into motion. Her ascension both frightened and amazed her. It also frightened myself. I had no idea how Starlight would possibly deal with the situation, and after some bumps, unfortunately caused by myself, she grew to like her position. Anyhow, please, without further ado, please put your hooves together for Starlight Glimmer, the Princess of Magic!"
Starlight walked up to the front of the altar and waved nervously. She had no idea what to expect. She looked over to Twilight for some kind of comfort, but all she did was put a smile and wave at Starlight. That did not make her feel much better, though, at least she had Twilight there with her.
"Spike, the crown, if you would." Starlight turned her head back towards Celestia and bowed her head after hearing her words. This was it. There was no going back. She would finally be a princess.
"HOLD IT!"
Everyone turned their heads. Who would dare interrupt the Crown ceremony?!? Starlight had an idea of who the pony was, but she had no idea that the pony would bring others out with them. A pristine white Unicorn stallion with a white mane and gray highlights walked out from the crowd into the aisle. His cutie mark was that of 3 small light blue stars. He wore what looked like cuff-links and an accompanying black suit.
"I am Shine Stargazer, Head of House Stargazer, and I have some issues with the new princess, as does the rest of my Noble house." As he said this, more ponies worked their way out of the crowd. They all looked directly up at the altar and stared directly at Starlight. "You say that Starlight has done great good for Equestria, yet the only thing I have ever heard about was her life before being a student of Princess Twilight. I know who she truly is, and yet, the rest of Equestria only knows her so-called 'good deeds'. What about her time as basically a-" He was cut of as Twilight appeared directly in front of the stallion.
"You have exactly three seconds to either leave, turn around and go back into the crowd, or have me force you to leave. This is a royal ceremony. Interrupt it again, and you, as well as your noble house, will all leave by via defenestration. Take your pick." Twilight said this and a cold chill went up Shine's spine. He was hardly intimidated by Twilight herself, however, the fact that a princess stepped in meant he should back down or face the wrath of all, now five, princesses. He grunted in frustration and turned around to leave.
"Mark my words Princess Starlight." His words dripped with venom. "You will not stay there for long. You do not deserve your position. Watch your back." Shine and the rest of House Stargazer all left the throne room with those words.
Starlight gulped in fear. What did she do to deserve that? Why were they so hostile towards her? She lowered her head in an attempt to seem smaller than she actually she was. She felt tears start rolling down her face. Starlight may not have noticed it, but Twilight did. She flew over to Starlight and draped a wing over Starlight.
As she felt the wing make contact, she looked up at the face of Twilight and it was filled with nothing but concern and love. "Starlight, it's ok, they're gone now. Hold your head high, there's still a coronation to finish." Twilight smiled down at Starlight.
She sighed. "Alright Twilight, the sooner this is done, the sooner we can go home. Once this is over I just want to spend some time with you. Please."
"Twilight smiled. "Of course, now lets get this done."
"How'd everything go after out little talk? I had to go halfway through the ceremony so I didn't get to see your amazing speech. Sorry Starlight." Twilight frowned. She was in a better mood than earlier, but something was still off about Starlight that Twilight couldn't quite place.
"It was okay, everything went smoothly after, but Twilight-" Twilight frowned and tilted her head in concern. "I'm scared. The way those nobles were looking at me, and especially their outburst during the ceremony; it was unnerving. It's not just that either; what that noble pony said before he left, I just.. I feel scared" Starlight sounded genuinely concerned, and if she was concerned about something, it was serious. " I feel like they're going to do something to me. I know I have this new Alicorn magic, but I'm not invincible."
Twilight frowned. Why would these ponies want to hurt Starlight? She's done nothing but try to better herself since she became her student. "What do you think they're going to do to you Starlight?" Twilight looked at the new princess with worry filled eyes.
"I don't know. What I do know, is that they're planning something. I feel a lot safer knowing that I'm going to be in the Friendship Castle with you, but I'm still scared." Starlight had a fearful look upon her face. This made Twilight go into protection mode. She knew she had to make Starlight feel safe in their shared castle, but at that moment, had no clue how.
"Excuse me, Princesses?" It was the guard captain, Prophet. "Would you like an escort back to the train? We haven't seen anything suspicious going on since the outburst at the coronation, but personally, it's better safe than sorry." This set off a light bulb in Twilight's head. Prophet had gone out of his way to make sure the princesses were safe and comfortable, even going as far to set up a constant guard watch through the castle with no gaps. Usually, half the guard was off duty and in the barracks resting, but with Starlight's concerns, the entirety of the guard was on duty, making sure everything was safe.
Twilight looked between Prophet and Starlight and spoke up. "Starlight, How would you feel if I finally got a guard division set up in the castle?" Starlight pondered the idea and was about to speak up before Twilight interrupted. "I was thinking about possibly enlisting Prophet here to head the guards back in Ponyville. What do you both think about that?"
Prophet's answer was swift and to the point. "I have no problems with it, as long as Princess Celestia herself approves it." He then directed a question at Starlight. "What do you think of the idea Princess?"
Starlight had gone back to pondering the idea, especially with the new information of Prophet possibly heading the Royal Guard at the Friendship Castle. "I guess that's fine, it does help a little, and as long as Celestia says it's ok, then we can do it."
Twilight frowned. "Starlight, if this isn't something that makes you feel safer, than you need to speak up, It definitely seems like those nobles spooked you, and if they really seem like a credible threat, than I want you to be and feel as safe as possible."
"It makes me feel safer, but it feels like something more is needed, not sure what, but I think something more might be needed on occasion. What do you think Prophet?" Starlight turned her head to hear Prophet's answer.
"Hmmm, well, we do have an honor guard division, we could assign proven guards to keep watch on your quarters at all hours of the day, similarly to what we do with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Would that help?"
Starlight pondered Prophet's words. She didn't like the idea entirely. She liked her personal space and having guards outside her doors every day felt like an invasion of said privacy. Unfortunately though, unless they could get Discord to patrol the castle 24/7, than it was the best option they had, and quite frankly, Discord was likely an ever bigger invasion of privacy. "I'm not the biggest fan of having guards outside my room both night and day, but it's best idea we have."
"Alright Starlight, let's all go ask Celestia if she's willing to part with Prophet and some honor guard." Twilight spoke up. She knew that would be the hard part. Surely having a change of pace would be welcome by most of, if not all of the guards.
"You aren't wrong princess." Prophet said in a matter of fact tone.
"What do you.. oh wait. That's right, mind reader. Nevermind." Twilight lowered her head in defeat and spoke in deadpan tone. That was going to take some getting used to, but it meant that ponies wouldn't be able to lie about visiting or reasons for their royal court back in Ponyville. They would be that much safer.
"Once we finish this, lets head home Twilight. I know said it earlier, but I just want to spend some time with you now." This earned a giggle from Twilight.
"I know Starlight. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can cuddle." Normally, Twilight wasn't one for quips like that, but she knew it would get a rise out of Starlight and she trusted Prophet.
"I-I-you" Starlight blushed and started sputtering random nonsense. Twilight giggled once more which was the signal that made her realize that Twilight was teasing her. "You tease! That's not funny!" She jumped on Twilight trying to get her back by tickling her. This made Twilight burst into full on laughter.
"Might I ask what is so funny?" A familiar voice interrupted the back and forth banter between the two young Princesses. "And might I also ask why you two and wrestling each other in the halls of the castle?
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight got up with Starlight following shortly afterwards and turned towards the solar princess. "Why are you here? I thought you still had Day Court to attend."
"Not today Twilight." Celestia simply smiled and waved with her wing for Starlight and Twilight to follow. "After the coronation I canceled court because I knew those insufferable nobles from the coronation would come back with more demands. In fact, I've canceled court for the foreseeable future until nobles can learn to not whine and complain about every little thing." Celestia stopped at a window at the end of the hall and looked out on the castle courtyard. "Anyhow, I hear that you two want to speak with me."
The two young princesses looked at each other in surprise. How had she known? "I already know your first question. I know because my guard captain informed me of your wish to speak with me."
Twilight looked around and found that Prophet was nowhere in sight. How had they missed the fact that he had disappeared from their area? Twilight cleared her throat and spoke up with their many questions for the princess. "Well, I was thinking about setting up a division of the guard back in Ponyville, could we possibly do that? Also, I was hoping we could make take Prophet along with us, he's been a huge help to us and we were hoping he could head the royal guard back at my castle. Finally, can we take a few of your Honor guard with us? After the noble's, for lack of a better word, meltdown, in the throne room, we would feel safer with some highly trained guards outside our quarters like you and Luna have."
After Twilight finished speaking, Celestia remained Silent for some time before finally speaking up. "I have no qualms with anything you just brought up, however, before we send any guards over, I need a castle layout from you so that Prophet can properly brief the guard before they head over and set up everything. I also need you to set up a floor or building nearby to act as a guard barracks, otherwise they would be traveling to and from Ponyville every day. Can you do that?"
"Of course! It will be finished within a few days." Twilight responded to Celestia's terms quickly and enthusiastically.
"Good! Anyhow, you two should head back to Ponyville and get some much deserved rest after this past weeks amount of events. Prophet should be waiting for you at the castle entrance. Also, make sure to send a letter when everything is all set." Twilight and Starlight turned to leave, but not before Celestia said one last thing. "Have a safe trip home you two!"
Author's Note
I want to end this chapter by apologizing for how long it too me to get to releasing it. As much as I love technology, sometimes it upsets me. I must apologize for how the noble houses are introduced because they were an idea introduced via the rewrite I had to do after my computer problems.
