Twilight sighed as she levitated another petition off the stack. It never seemed to shrink. In fact, if she squinted, she swore that it was growing even as she watched. "I still do not understand how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna did this for so long."
Raven Inkwell smiled as she flipped the papers on her clipboard. "I once asked them that same question. They only smiled enigmatically."
Twilight groaned in annoyance. "One of these days, I will make them give me a straight answer. Is that so much to ask? Why do they have to be so secretive?"
Raven could only shrug. "Be that as it may, Princess Twilight. Tomorrow is the Entrance Exams at the School for Gifted Unicorns. Will you be attending? Princess Celestia always cleared her schedule so that she could, even when she never took on a new Personal Student."
Twilight sighed. She had almost forgotten about that. "I will try to. Do I have anything important going on?"
Raven shook her head. "Aside from raising the sun and moon, and the court. No." She gave the stack of papers a glare. "None of these need to be done that soon. Fancy Pants had something. But he has withdrawn it for now. He did not say why though."
Twilight smiled a bit at that. While their first meeting had noy gone all that well, the unicorn was one of the few Canterlot Elites that Twilight genuinely liked. If he ever asked for something from the Crown, it was always something important and good for all of Equestria.
Raven blinked as she looked around. "Where are your companions? They rarely ever leave your side it seems."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "They went for some fresh air. Being stuck in here all day, even with me, is driving them both crazy. It must be the bond they share because they said it together, and they do not do that often."
Raven nodded. That was true at least, even when so little else about the pair was known. "Then I will leave you to your work, Princess Twilight. I know how much you do not like interruptions."
Twilight rolled her eyes as the unicorn left, closing the door quietly behind her. Normally that was true. But right now? She could really use a distraction as she turned back to the petition before her. Another request for money for some random, non-important upgrade to their house. Again.
Honestly, how dumb did they think she was? As new to the throne as she was, Twilight was not about to give those self-entitled nitwits what they wanted even on a bad day.
Twilight slumped in her chair. She truly loved being the Princess of Equestria. She really did. There were several long-term projects of hers in the works that would benefit Equestria long after she was dead. Whenever that might be. But it was days like this that made her want to quit this instant and retire herself.
But not only would that go against everything that she was. But it would also give credence to the nitwits who said she shouldn't even be here as she was, and that Celestia and Luna never should have retired in the first place. Twilight would never give them that satisfaction. So here she was.
Grumbling, she crumpled up the petition and threw it in a wastebasket. "Nice try, Blueblood. If you want money so badly, talk to your aunts. I am sure they would be happy to give it to you."
A knocking at the window interrupted her thoughts, but Twilight paid it no mind. There was still too much to do, so whatever it was could wait. The knocking continued, however, but Twilight still paid it no mind.
Finally, somepony forced the window opened and entered the room itself, but Twilight was so engrossed in her paperwork that she paid them no mind until they stood over her, blocking out her light. "Really, Twilight? Do we not mean that much to you?"
Twilight came crashing back to reality as she looked up into the faces of two ponies she loved. Both were giving her amused looks. Ones that made her blush in return. "Why didn't you two say something?" She asked.
Pinkie Pie giggled as she booped Twilight's snout, her pink mane falling down around her eyes in a seductive way. "We did. You were ignoring us. That wasn't very nice of you, Twily."
Twilight's blush grew at the use of her petname. Pinkie used the chance to use her wing to straighten out the alicorn's mane. Twilight all but melted into the pink and butter yellow feathers at the touch.
Fluttershy used the chance to straighten out the princess's desk. Her butter-yellow coat stood out next to her pink mane, a lighter shade than Pinkie's own coat. "Is this so important you didn't see us sooner?"
Twilight sighed. "It is not that important. These never seem to be. But I want to get these done before tomorrow. I want to make a good impression at the School of Magic. This will be my first time in this capacity. I can't mess this up."
Fluttershy and Pinkie shared a knowing look. One that always drove Twilight insane. "Then you need to take a break, Twilight. You're going to crash. Didn't Spike tell you the same thing yesterday?" Pinkie asked.
Twilight didn't respond, but her pout told them all they needed to know. "Come fly with us," Fluttershy said, lifting Twilight's head with her wing. "This isn't going anywhere, and we don't spend enough time together. You need to get out more."
Pinkie's head fell, and Fluttershy crossed her neck with her companion's. "You know what they say about us. That we're freaks. Just because we're different. They're getting louder too."
Twilight's heart sank at the despair in the pair's eyes. She did know what ponies said about them. It did noy take much to know why. Fluttershy and Pinkie shared a body, split down the middle into their own coat colors. Each of them had their own wing, while their tale was a half and half mix of their mane colors.
She stood up and moved to their side, nuzzling Pinkie as she did. The size difference between the three of them made it hard, but Twilight didn't care. She enjoyed being the Small Spoon. "You are right. We do not get to spend more time together. I have been so caught up in this that I am neglecting the both of you." She shook her head. "I can't force ponies to think a certain way. That is an abuse of power I refuse to do. I know what they say. But I do not care."
That got a smile out of the pair, and that made Twilight smile as well. "Do you have a place in mind? Or do you just want to fly?"
Pinkie whispered something to Fluttershy, who only nodded as they walked back to the window, forcing Twilight to catch up. Spreading their wings, Fluttershy smirked down at the alicorn. "You'll see," before the pair took off in a bound, quickly gaining altitude.
Twilight's smile grew as she lifted the crown off of her head and placed it on her desk. One rule above applied when it was just the three of them alone together. Leave Princess Twilight Sparkle behind, and just be herself. And as she spread her wings and took off after them, that was what Twilight planned to do.
Pinkie shot her a cheeky look as Twilight came up next to them. Before she and Fluttershy sped off, forcing Twilight to play catch up, with a smile on her face.
"I miss this," Twilight sighed happily as she soared alongside Fluttershy and Pinkie. "It feels like forever since I last did this with the girls."
"Didn't you do it all the time with Rainbow and Pearl?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight nodded. "We did. But with Rainbow getting more and more involved with the Wonderbolts, it has gotten harder. And good luck getting Pearl to get her head removed from all the stuff I brought back from the Human World."
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "How did she ever become the Element of Kindness again?"
Twilight giggled. "Because despite what she says, Pearl has a kind heart. She just acts tough. I think it is why Princess Celestia thought her reforming Discord would work. It did not, thankfully. But Pearl tried."
Fluttershy couldn't see it herself, but she kept the thought to herself. For some reason, however, she felt like it should have been her in that role. But that didn't make any sense. Neither she nor Pinkie had been in Equestria at the time. Strange.
Pinkie, though, gave Twilight a curious look. "So why did we move back to Canterlot again? I was just starting to like Ponyville and the School of Friendship. They at least didn't treat us like freaks."
Twilight sighed as she landed on a cloud, the pair landing beside her with worried looks as she sat down with a grump. "Everypony has asked me that. I wanted to stay in Ponyville. Goddess above, I wanted to. I was well within my power too. Nopony could stop me. But I could not. Canterlot is the capital. It has been for over a thousand years. What would that do to Equestria? Especially after what the Legion of Doom did."
Pinkie and Fluttershy both rolled their eyes as Pinkie draped a wing over Twilight. "Sounds like excuses to us. Or you've been listening to those sticks in the mud Elites that nopony in their right mind listens to. Why Rarity does I'll never understand."
"Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy chided her mate, glaring at the earth pony. Pinkie wanted to argue, but as Fluttershy's Underwing, and being the younger of the two, she was bound to listen to her elder, and bowed her head in deference.
Twilight saw this but held back her thoughts on it. She had never understood how their relationship could work like this. Perhaps one day she would. "Maybe. But it's the truth. Princess Celestia once told me how difficult it was to move the capital away from the Everfree to Canterlot, and she'd had more time on the throne than I have," she sighed as she lay her head on Pinkie's shoulder.
Pinkie kissed her forehead. "Come on, Twily. You know the ponies that really matter have your back. I seriously doubt Celestia or Luna would care. And you know Ponyville has your back."
Fluttershy nodded, resting her head on Twilights. "I talked to Rarity and Pumpkin earlier. The town misses you. Badly. Starlight and Sunburst can't fill up the castle by themselves. Trixie isn't around long enough usually to really have a room. They won't touch either yours or Spike's."
Twilight's ears fell. She had been afraid of that. And she would be lying if she said if she hadn't thought about moving back to Ponyville, and moving her throne to the Castle of Friendship, using Canterlot as a Summer Residence most likely. "You know? You two are too darn good at this."
Fluttershy and Pinkie giggled, as Fluttershy placed a kiss on the alicorn's lips, while Pinkie nibbled on her ears, earning a moan of delight from the smaller mare. "We know," they said together.
Twilight wanted to argue, she really did. But she just couldn't, as she happily returned the kiss. Darn it. She missed this. Just the three of them together, no cares in the world. Just happy to be together. She wished this could last forever.
But it couldn't. She would soon have to get back to the seemingly endless stack of paperwork needing her attention. Ponies would need her help. Or some disaster would strike that would need her to save the day. It was Tuesday after all. And if there was one thing that she had learned, it was that disasters usually happened on a Tuesday.
Right now though? Princess Twilight could not have cared less about all of that, as she leaned into her lover's embrace, letting Pinkie groom her mane back into a presentable state, as the wing around her pulled her even closer.
Yes, Twilight thought with a contented sigh. Everything was just fine.
Author's Note
Just a silly little idea I had that I just had to get out. The current cover art is done by Dizzyspot. Hopefully, I'll have one by BeautifulHorse during January. Even though I do love the current cover art. It's just so damn cute.
As for some of the things talked about? In the future, I'll probably come back to this universe and fill in the details of those events and what's changed from Hasbro's canon. Quite a lot has changed from the show. Obviously.
