Heir to the Throne

Celestia got up from her bed and started to walk towards the Canterlot kitchens. As she walked, she bumped into the captain of the Solar Guard. Red Dawn was a yellow Earth pony. His mane and tail were red mixed with blue and his eyes were brown. He straightened his armor then looked at the pony he had bumped into.

"Princess Celestia! I'm sorry about that!"

The Princess of the Sun just look at him and said, "Why are you sorry? It was an accident. I'm sure you didn't mean to bump into me. If you were watching where you were going, I'm sure you would have stopped."

"Well, of course. I just-" He tried to finish his sentence, but Celestia didn't give him the chance. "There is no need to be red around me," she said. And before he realized it, he was blushing. To keep her from teasing him, he said, "I noticed last night you and Cadence flying back from the Canterlot gardens. Does this mean...?"

Celestia sighed and said, "She knows all about that night."

Red Dawn gave a serious look and said, "So this means that there are three ponies who know the secret?" The Princess of the Sun nodded her head.

Red Dawn said, "I better get back to my duties. But I think you should know that there is a new recruit aiming for my job."

He showed her the recruit folder, and Celestia said, "Shining Armor."

Red Dawn said, "Yes, and I saw him looking at Princess Cadence with dreamy eyes." Celestia rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, ponies today, I tell ya."

The captain of the Solar Guard said, "Well, I do believe the Princess of Love is waiting for you in the Canterlot kitchens?"

"Oh, right," said the the Princess of the Sun. "I guess I got lost in conversation." And with that, she started making her way to the kitchens.

Red Dawn continued his duties, but he felt guilty because of his brother. So, he tried to keep away from Celestia. He knew she had the hots for him, but he didn't want to make his brother feel like garbage. What made things worse was that he actually liked the Princess of the Sun too, but he would never tell her.

Meanwhile, at Canterlot’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Sunset and her father sat in the court wizard’s office. They were on one side of the desk and on the other was an elderly unicorn stallion with a white coat and a blue mane and tail. His face held a concerned look because they had just told him about Sunset’s nightmare.

"So, Miss Sunset, were you in the dream or were you just an observer?"

"I'm think I was the observer in that nightmare," she said, a little confused at the question.

Then her father said, "Look I'm worried about my daughter and I just want to know what is happening to her."

The court wizard said, "You're right to be worried about her dream. I think Sunset is connected to the dream dimension. It is a place that only the ponies Luna and Twilight could reach. Unfortunately, I myself have never seen this dimension, but there have been three books written about it."

The court wizard lit up his horn and POOF! Out of thin air, three books appeared. Sunset and her father looked through them all. One was titled Magical and Dream Theories by Starswirl the Bearded. The second title was The Way to Tell the Difference Between Nightmares and Prophecies by Luna Moon, and the last book that Sunset held was purple, and the title was The Effect a Dream or Nightmare Can Have on a Pony’s Psyche by Twilight Sparkle.

"Can we borrow these?" asked Sunset.

"Well, you are the personal prodigy of Celestia," said the wizard. He continued with a serious look, saying, "Yes, but under one condition. You must bring them back the way they are. That means no food on them and no ripped pages. Keep them in the condition they are in right now."

Both Sunset and Sunblast said, "Yes."

The wizard said, "Good. Now, Sunblast, you can take the books. Sunset, you better get ready for the visitors that are coming."

"Wait, what?" Sunset said. "Who is coming? Is this because I missed a week of mage study?"
The wizard did a face hoof and said, "Curse my age. Well, to put it bluntly, Canterlot is hosting the Equestria History City Tour, which means that all the other schools in our nation are going to have a field trip to Canterlot to see our museums of history and our gardens. You get to help the fillies and colts who get lost in the maze."

Up in Cloudsdale, the pegasus city of the sky, there was a light blue pegasus filly with a rainbow main and tail. She had maroon eyes and her cutie mark was a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt. Her name was Rainbow Dash.

“Come out!” said the staff pegasus. But Rainbow Dash said, Oh, come on! I don't want to go down to Canterlot to see history. I want to race! In fact, I bet I could beat this whole class if I wanted to." If she did, though, the bullies would pick on Fluttershy, the only pony friend she had in Cloudsdale.

Fluttershy was a butter yellow pegasus filly with a pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark showed three butterflies who looked shy.

"Is that everyone?" the staff pegasus asked. "All right, before we go down, we need to go over the rules. First off, we need to have a buddy system." Rainbow was quick and zoomed over by Fluttershy. The staff pony saw it and continued, saying, "Don't get separated down in Canterlot. If you want to buy a souvenir, you’ll have to bring your bits because the school will not cover you." Then she decided to let Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stay together for she knew Rainbow would help Fluttershy. "So, who will be next to buddy up?" asked the staff pony.

Down at the Canterlot train station, the Ponyville group walked out. In the group was a white filly unicorn named Rarity. She had a stylish purple mane and tail, her cutie mark showed three diamonds, and her eyes were light blue. She was looking at the great design of Canterlot’s shops and homes, and in amazement, she said, "Oh, my my, the ponies here have great heart in designing their buildings with so much decoration! I can't wait for the day when I become a designer in other towns much like Ponyville."

"You know, it's just a building. It's not like it’s made of gold or, heaven forbid, diamonds," said her buddy Applejack, an earth pony filly with an orange coat, and a yellow mane and tail. Her mane and tail were tied into ponytails and an oversized cowboy hat sat on her head.

"Yes, yes, darling, but we're here and for the time being, I just want to live in the moment," Rarity said.

"Well, if you want us to get lost, then you’re the perfect pony to make that happen," said Applejack as she dragged Rarity by the tail away from the buildings.