Life of a Queen

A thin ray of sunlight slipped through a crack in the curtains, causing Blue to wrinkle his muzzle in discomfort as it fell across his brow. He sat up and stretched, kicking his covers into a pile at the foot of his bed. It took a few seconds for him to recognize the bedroom as the one Twilight had offered him.

He hauled himself over to the edge and threw his legs over, setting his hooves flat on the colorful rug laid out across the floor. As he stretched, he took an account of the room itself. A queen-sized bed in the center of the room, a writing desk crammed into the corner, and a wardrobe to house a collection of clothes he didn’t own. A chamber door near the foot of his bed led into a decorative bathroom.

Massaging the ache in his neck, he forced himself up from the bed. He crossed over to the curtains, pulling them aside with a soft tug. In the world beyond the glass, no trace remained of the previous night’s storm. Ponies of every color were out. Some carried baskets of groceries, others walked with a foal in tow. Every one of them wore a smile.

With a relaxed sigh, he let the curtains fall back into place.

“Blue? Are you awake?” a voice called from the door. Too feminine for Spike. Too unfamiliar to be Twilight. That left Starlight.

“Yeah. I’m up,” he called back, scratching at the tuft of fur on his chest.

“Spike’s just about finished making breakfast, if you’d like to join us.”

Blue wrinkled his brow.

“Uhm . . . Sure. I’ll meet you there in a bit. Thanks.”

Hearing her receding footsteps set him at ease. He ducked down to the floor, reaching for the bags he stashed under his bed. Their weight told him the gift was still inside, but his nerves forced him to open them and check. Sure enough, the sealed box sat exactly where he left it.

He removed the package from the bags, which he tossed back into a heap on the floor. A hefty weight, wrapped lousily in brown paper and tied up with silver twine. He frowned. Using his fang, he cut the string, unwrapping the gift from its unflattering container. Just holding it in his hooves, he could feel the energy radiating from its cherry-red cover.

It took as much energy as he could muster to break free from the desire. With a pained groan, he stowed the book in the lower drawer of the bedside table. Luckily, that seemed to dampen its call.

As he turned to leave the room, he stopped in front of the mirror. He ran a hoof through his mane, breaking up the knots and laying it flat against his head. Satisfied with his reflection, he exited out into the hallway. After double checking his door, he made his way toward the kitchen. Four steps from his room, he realized he hadn’t bothered to ask where the kitchen was. Cursing himself under his breath, he picked a direction and started walking.

Aimless meandering brought him to the central room of the castle. With light pouring in through the windows, the gem strings hanging from the ceiling seemed duller than before. As he passed through the room, he caught a whiff of something sweet. His wings fluttered excitedly as he recognized the smell of maple syrup.

His nose led him down the opposite hallway from where he entered. While the overall structure hall mirrored its counterpart, it held far fewer doors to explore. He ignored them for now, instead tracking the sugary scent to the largest door at the end. As he approached, he could hear the others conversing on the other side, confirming what his instincts had already told him.

“Yeah, but what if he doesn’t like pancakes.”

“Everyone likes pancakes, Starlight.”

“You know for a fact that isn’t true, Spike. I’ve never seen you eat a pancake.”

The kitchen door opened with an eerie creak. Blue poked his head inside.

Spike stood on a footstool at the oven, fidgeting over a skillet. He wore a pink apron and a chef’s hat. Starlight stood and watched him work over his shoulder. She noticed Blue’s arrival and acknowledged him with a sloppy salute.

“Good morning, Blue,” Starlight said.

“You like pancakes, right?” Spike asked, sounding more than a bit worried.

Blue couldn’t help but chuckle at their sibling-esque rivalry.

“I love pancakes,” he said.

“See?” Spike crossed his arms commandingly. “I told you. Everyone likes pancakes.”

Starlight simply rolled her eyes and left him to his work. She dug through the cabinets for a mug and set about gathering the supplies to brew a pot of coffee.

Once she finished her setup, she pointed to the table in the center of the room, motioning for Blue to sit.

“Sleep well last night?” she asked.

“Yeah. Thanks for asking.”

“Hey, Blue,” Spike interrupted. “Last night, you wanted to know where Twilight’s office was, right? Did you end up going to talk with her?”

“I did. Why?”

The dragon flipped the contents of his skillet.

“She never came to bed. Was she okay when you left?”

Blue leaned back in his chair.

“No. She wasn’t.” From the corner of his eye, he saw the dragon and unicorn share a concerned glance. “She told me that Celestia’s letter had some bad news.”

“Of course it did,” Starlight scoffed. “It’s never anything good.”

Spike shoveled the fluffy golden discs onto a platter and poured a second course of batter in their place. Once they were cooking, he turned to face the rest of the room, revealing the phrase “Kiss the Chef” written across the chest of his apron.

“Did she tell you what happened?” he inquired.

The hesitant thestral lowered his gaze to the floor.

“I think it might be best for her to tell you that herself.”

The other two returned to their business in implicit agreement. Starlight finally finished and poured herself a mug of coffee. A spoonful of sugar turned the bitter brown liquid a tepid cream color.

“You want a cup?” she asked, holding her mug up toward Blue.

“If you don’t mind.”

Another mug hovered down from the shelf.

“Anything in it?”

“Nope.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow but made no further comment. Her magic carried the mug over to the table and into Blue’s waiting hooves. He sipped the brew contentedly. Starlight sat beside him and nursed her own drink.

The kitchen door creaked open to reveal Twilight’s unkempt mane, sour expression, and enthusiastic trot. She had seen better days.

“Yikes,” Starlight muttered under her breath. She went to work crafting a third mug.

“Tell me about it,” Twilight growled. “I fell asleep on a tax bill. I woke up with legal print inked into my fur. Took me half an hour to scrub it out.”

Spike hopped down off his footstool and charged toward Twilight. He collided with her foreleg in a wild hug. Twilight used her free hoof to pat him on the head.

“Hey, Spike,” she said.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” he asked.

“It’s nice of you to worry about me Spike, but—”

“He’s not the only one worried, Twilight,” Starlight interjected. She passed off the third mug of coffee to Twilight, who accepted it gratefully. The unicorn allowed Twilight a moment of respite before continuing. “What happened to Celestia’s letter?”

Twilight scowled. Something in Blue told him it had nothing to do with the bitter coffee.

“She made the announcement earlier this morning. She put out a bounty for the capture of Chrysalis.” Twilight frowned. “A really big bounty, too.”

“Oh. That’s all? I don’t see what sounds so bad about that. It’s about time we took care of a criminal like her.” Starlight cast a dodgy glance toward Blue.

“You don’t have to pretend around me. I heard the story,” Blue explained.

Starlight’s expression flipped like a switch.

“You did?” Starlight cleared her throat. “Then what was Celestia thinking? A bounty? Like, a criminal bounty? After everything Chrysalis did for her?”

“Why would she do that?” Spike wondered aloud.

“I don’t know.” Twilight shook her head. “I really don’t want to think about it right now.”

Starlight drew a deep breath.

“Right. Sorry.”

“Let’s just all sit down and enjoy a nice breakfast,” Twilight sighed.

Spike responded with a salute and returned to his station at the stove. Twilight, meanwhile, seated herself between the two ponies already waiting at the table. Starlight reached out a comforting hoof, which she took with a bittersweet smile.

“Alright. A happier topic.” Starlight nodded. “Do you have any plans for today, Twilight?”

“A few. Need to go pick up some things at the market today.”

“You sure? Spike and I can handle that on our own.”

“That’s kind of you to offer, Starlight, but I think I’d rather take care of it. Get out of the castle and see some friends. You know?”

Starlight withdrew her hoof and downed another swallow from her mug.

“That’s fair.”

“And later today, I’m planning on going back out to the Castle of the Twin Sisters. With the storm yesterday, I couldn’t get as much done as I wanted. I’ve still got to finish some of the preliminary sketches.”

Starlight tilted her head.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Twilight?”

“Yeah. The sooner I’m done with this, the sooner I can move on to the next part of the project. And the sooner I move on to the next part, the sooner the whole thing is finished.”

Spike emptied the second round of pancakes onto the platter. After getting the third round started, he carried the platter to the table. Starlight used her magic to float plates and cutlery from their respective places to set the table. Twilight retrieved the bottle of syrup from where it sat on the counter.

“Who wants pancakes?” Spike announced gleefully.

“I say the princess gets first pick,” Starlight said.

“And the princess says that our guest eats first,” Twilight responded.

Suddenly, Blue was aware of every eye in the room on him. He threw up his hooves in surrender.

“If you’re sure you’ve got enough. I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re not imposing,” Spike chuckled, “This is a special occasion. We’ve got plenty for everyone.”

Urged on by the others’ protests, Blue built a stack of three and transferred them to his plate. Twilight and Starlight split the remainder between them.

“Now, what were we talking about?” Starlight asked, drowning her breakfast in syrup.

“I believe you were lecturing me on how my plans for today were a bad idea,” Twilight reminded her.

“Right. I think you should take someone with you when you go out to the castle today.”

“She’s got me,” Spike argued.

“And we saw how well that worked last night. I’m not going traipsing through the Everfree at midnight again to drag the two of you back by your tails.”

Twilight shrugged.

“You don’t have to wait for us if we’re late, Starlight.”

“Maybe. But I’ll be a nervous wreck about it. Last time I left you alone for an extended period of time, you got kidnapped by changelings.”

Blue choked on a bit of his breakfast. He recovered quickly, waving off the sympathetic looks from the rest of the crew.

“I’m not a filly, Starlight. I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“I know,” the unicorn relented. “I just worry about you sometimes, Twilight.”

“And I appreciate that. Look, if you’re really worried about it, why don’t you come with me. If you help me, we can get the job done even quicker.”

Starlight poked listlessly at one of her pancakes.

“I wish I could. I promised Trixie that I’d help her set up and practice for her shows this week. She’s got a few new tricks she wants to try out. I know I worry about you, but she’s even worse. I’m terrified she’s going to try something even more stupid than that manticore trick.”

“You know, you’ve been spending a lot of time with Trixie lately.”

“What can I say?” Starlight tried to hide the red tint to her cheeks. “She needs help.”

Twilight gagged silently, causing Starlight to shove her playfully.

“Fine,” Twilight continued. “If it would make you feel better, I’ll see if one of the girls is free to help me. I can’t guarantee anything, though.”

“Thank you.”

“I could go with you,” Blue interjected, drawing the other ponies’ attention to him. “I mean, otherwise I’ll just be sitting around here all day. Might as well help out.”

“You sure?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah.” Blue swallowed a bite. “Besides, I’m interested in this project you keep mentioning. Some kind of research or something?”

“I’ve been working on architectural research. I’m trying to figure out how to incorporate old Equestrian design along with a more modern interpretation. I’m hoping to do a bit of traveling before I finish. I would love to add different facets from the different races of Equestria—”

“She’s planning on building a school,” Starlight interrupted.

“Yeah.” Twilight sank in her chair. “I’m planning on building a school.”

“A school?” Blue asked.

Twilight nodded.

“A school where every race can come together to learn about friendship. It would really help us get to know our neighbors and make new friends. I got the idea from a friend.”

“That’s quite an ambitious goal, Princess.”

“It is.”

“I don’t have much in the way of skills, but I’m happy to help however I can. It seems like the right thing to do after you offered to help me.”

“That’s fantastic. I could use all the help I can get.”

“Another round, coming up,” Spike announced, adding another stack to the breakfast pile.

The rest of their meal played out in satisfied silence. Once they finished the clean-up, the group split, each pony heading out to attend to their day’s work.