At this time of day, it was expected for Ponyville to be abuzz with activity. But with the approaching royal visit the place was even more frantic than usual. Mares and stallions alike, all rushing about trying to make their homes presentable, children on the streets excitedly speculating on what the oncoming royals might be like, it was all here. And amidst that sea of panic there was one island of calm, and that was Spike. With a home-made wicker basket in hand, he strolled through the village square, giving a smile and a nod of greeting to those neighbours with whom he had an acquaintance, but never stopping until he reached his destination. Said place was the local general store, a small wooden building that, from the looks of things, had been under a make-do-and-mend attitude, which gave the distinct impression of a locale that had been under the same family for generations. And speaking of whom, as soon as Spike entered through the open door, he was sure to give the due greeting. "Good morning, Mrs Smith. Lovely day today."

To his surprise though, the place appeared to be empty, save for all the items on display on the shelves around him. There was a sound of movement from behind the counter, and it took no time for the hidden one to reveal themselves. A mare, whose long, blonde made was tied into a single braid, and who smiled at the sight of her customer. "Well howdy, Spike. Nice to see ya."

While he might have been briefly taken aback, Spike too put on a smile. "Hey there, Applejack. You're running the shop today?"

A hearty nod from the mare preceded her response. "Yep. Granny's off visitin' kin in the next village over. So it's me at the counter today." Her gaze fell to the aforementioned basket, leading to a smirk on her part. "Come fer the usual shoppin'?"

Stepping forward, and placing the basket on the counter, Spike patted it quickly before answering. "Bingo. Got it in?"

Turning, Applejack got to work, heading to various shelves and boxes about the shop, all while Spike watched. "So, big party today, eh?"

"Yep. Everyone's pretty excited about the princesses. Plus, you know Ponyville loves a good celebration."

"Heh, I'll bet. Nice fer the high an' mighty city o' unicorns ta finally come on down and grace us little folk with their presence," she replied sarcastically. After seeing Spike look to her with slight concern, she elaborated. "Ah kid, but ah do wish they'd have visited us a bit sooner than this. Ain't nobody in these parts who even knows what the royal family looks like."

Spike shrugged. "Well, they're visiting now, and it'll be something for the history books at least."

Nodding in agreement, Applejack looked down to the basket, making sure everything was in there, and it was here that she looked to the dragon with some curiosity. "Anythin' you want today? Mac brought in a pretty good haul from the orchard earlier."

Though he smiled, Spike nevertheless shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll be catching my lunch later in the forest thanks."

Applejack smirked. "Think you'll finally catch yer nemesis?"

To that, Spike clenched his claw into a fist and held it in front of his face. "I swear to you, the white rabbit can't escape me forever. It has taunted me with its quickness for too long!"

A chuckle from the mare. "Well, good luck to ya."

Relaxing a bit, Spike cast her an appreciative look before picking up the basket. But when he turned, he noticed something odd. The door of the store was almost closed, despite him being certain that he'd left it wide open. Then, understanding came to him, leading to a sigh of resignation. "Okay...let's get this over with."

With a single push of the door, Spike stepped outside, and immediately he was rewarded for his action with a bucket of water falling onto his head, utterly drenching him from head to toe. Another long sigh from the drake was followed by the familiar sound of giggling, and after he finally removed said bucket he now found himself looking into the enthusiastic eyes of a pink pegasus mare, whose short but fluffy wings were flapping rapidly to match her excitement and joy. "Admit it, I totally got out there, Spikey!"

In spite of that, Spike couldn't help but smile to her. "Yeah, you sure did, Pinkie. Bucket atop an ajar door. Always a classic."

Unfortunately, the store's current owner did not appreciate it quite so much. "Pinkie! How many time have ah gotta tell ya not to do that?!"

But Pinkie waved her off. "Oh come on, AJ! Where's your sense of humour?"

The orange mare pointed to her most recent customer. "Ah leave it behind when mah patrons get soaked by the local comedian!"

"Good to see your mood is as sunny as ever," called a new voice. All turned in its direction, but all they got was a multicoloured blur that sped past Pinkie and started swirling around Spike, much like a tornado. Though he was momentarily disturbed by this, Spike soon found that he had been blown dry by the newcomer, much to his satisfaction. And as soon as the blur came to a halt, all saw that it was another pegasus mare, cyan in her fur and with wings far larger and more impressive than Pinkie's. She had a look of confidence about her, and she took a step closer to Spike before speaking in that same husky voice as before. "You're welcome, buddy."

Placing one hand upon his hip, Spike shook his head. "You know, Rainbow, if you want people to take you seriously as the best flier in the land, you might want to try encouraging Pinkie to not be so gung-ho about pranks."

But Rainbow merely snorted to that. "Pfft! I'm the one who suggested it to her in the first place."

Naturally, Spike facepalmed to this. "Of course you were."

Applejack, who had taken out a mop to soak up the remainder of the water that was now adorning the ground outside her shop's door, looked to her two pegasi friends with exasperation. "Honestly, y'all better keep all that in line when the princesses get here!" She then turned her gaze to Spike. "And you'd better make sure Twilight gets all the work done fer today."

Thinking on that, Spike shrugged. "Don't worry, this is Twilight we're talking about. That mare fixes stuff as easily as the rest of us breathe."

Author's Note

And with the new main cast now established, I'll be getting back to my Solaris fic next week, and then alternate between the two after that. And for those who need a better idea of what these new ponies look like, the artist who created the story's cover art also did a line-up pic for them, which can be found here