Pipp popped her head from behind a bush in Zephyr Heights, out of the Royal Castle. She yelped before she ducked down and hid beside her friends and sister since they hid behind the bush.

"Oh. My. Glitter!" Pipp said excitedly as she turned to her friends. "This is going to be the best surprise ever!" she sang the last word excited.

Suddenly, they heard rolling sounds, which meant that someone was coming. "Here she comes," Zipp whispered to her friends with a smile. Then, she turned to Team Sonic, next to a fireworks batch. "Guys! Light them up!" she said to them, raising their thumbs in approval.

"3, 2, 1!" The Mane 5 counted down in excitement, then got out of the bush and shouted "Happy Mares Day!" in unison and with a strike of pose. To be clear, 'Mares Day' is the equivalent of 'Mother's Day' in Equestria.

But then they gasped when they didn't see Queen Haven, but Fifi pulling a fruit cart and a Pegasus Stallion next to her, looking confused at the group.

The fireworks were set off behind them since Team Sonic didn't know they got the wrong pony. Fifi and her partner gave an awed expression when they saw the fireworks. "Look. You’re missing the fireworks!" Fifi said to the group with a smile.

Team Sonic popped their heads from behind the bush, and as Knuckles gave a bored expression and Tails facepalmed, Sonic frowned and sighed in defeat. "You've gotta be kidding me..."

Pipp groaned in frustration. "We thought you were the queen."

Fifi snorted a bit before replying. "Imagine that. Me. The queen," she said to her partner with a smirk.

Fifi's partner playfully bowed to her. "Well, hello, Your Majesty!" se said in a playful tone and smiled as he and Fifi walked past the Mane 5 with a chuckle at their joke.

"And now we’ve completely wasted the fireworks. Ugh. I knew this would happen," Zipp said with a frown.

"Zipp, you don't need fireworks to show the queen how much you care about her," Sunny assured her.

"Which is great, 'cause now you don't have any!" Izzy smiled but then realized it came out wrong and nervously laughed. "Yaaaay…" she said weakly with a sheepish smile.

"Izz, we talked about this. Think before you speak," Tails said as he, Sonic, and Knuckles approached the Mane 5.

"Sorry..." Izzy apologized as she scratched her neck a bit. Tails smiled and patted her back, assuring that everything was fine at the end.

"But what about the Queen, though?" Sonic said. "She didn't stop talking about how much she was looking forward to this day when she, Alphabittle, and I reunited," he pointed out.

"Maybe she's just... running late," Hitch suggested.

Zipp frowned since she knew her mother way too well. "No. I know exactly where she is," she said angrily.

"Oh no..." Knuckles whispered. "She's mad. Should I get worried?" he asked Sonic as he and Tails looked at the hedgehog.

"Yup," Sonic said with a bored expression. "Yeah, we should," he added.

Queen Haven and Zoom were in the throne room, while Haven was surrounded by paperwork she needed to do since she’d been very busy today.

"What's next on the royal to-do list, Zoom?" Haven asked her Royal Guard.

"Well, we are running a bit late, your Majesty..." Zoom said to her Queen while checking the to-do list pad she was holding. But for item eighty-one, you were supposed to—" she tried to explain.

But then Haven gasped in shock. "Meet my daughters in the royal square!" she said in panic, forgetting completely about that.

The royal gates burst with a thud, showing the Mane 6 and Team Sonic coming in, with Pipp and Zipp being very upset that their mother didn’t show up, while the rest of their friends smiled sheepishly.

Haven saw her daughters' frowns and sweated a bit. "Oh, dear..." she said while her daughters and their friends approached her. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise," she said nervously to her daughters.

"You were supposed to meet us in the square. I even made an appointment with Zoom this time!" Zipp shouted out, Zoom covered herself with the to-do list pad she held.

"Being a no-show is, like, totally harsh, Mother!" Pipp pointed out, while Haven heard them with sadness. "And on Mares Day?! Rude!" she shouted out.

Haven closed her eyes a bit with stress. "I know! I'm so sorry I've let you down! And on this special day!" she apologized to her daughters with a guilty tone, while Pipp and Zipp felt bad for their mother. "Believe me, there's nothing I'd like more than to take a break from being queen," she came up to her daughters and gave them a forgiving hug. But there's just too much to do..." she pointed out.

Sonic then ran next to them. "On her defense, and I say this as a knight appointed by a talking sword, Royalty requires a lot of responsibility and time," he pointed out. "As a Queen, it's normal for her to get some things forgotten, no matter how important they are..." he added with a compassionate look towards Haven.

Zipp thought about that for a second and then smiled with an idea. "Then why don't we give you a break?" she said to their mother as she and Pipp broke off the hug. We'll do all of your queenly duties for the rest of the day," she offered to her mom. The rest saw where Zipp was going, so they smiled and nodded in agreement.

Haven gave Zipp an amusing smile. "Really? You want to be queen?" she asked since Zipp had been trying to avoid the fact that she would be the Queen of Zephyr Heights someday.

"Come on, Mom. How hard can it be?" Zipp asked with a smirk.

Haven put a hoof to her chin, thinking over Zipp's proposal, then smiled with sparkling eyes and zipped straight next to Zoom. "Okay then! Zoom will ensure you have everything you need!" she said quickly, then zoomed straight to the door. "Good luck!" she waved to her daughters and their friends as she closed the door.

Zoom blinked a bit before saluting her Queen with a smile. "Of course, your Majesty!" she called out before scrolling through her to-do list pad. "Ordering the royal to-do list now!" she said, then sent the royal to-do list to Zipp.

Zipp picked up her phone and saw many messages on it; all of them were part of the list. The messages kept going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, and... You get the point. There's lots of stuff to do. The rest of the Mane 5 and Team Sonic looked at Zipp’s phone, seeing more messages popping up.

Pipp smiled nervously as the messages kept going. "That's not…" she started before clearing her throat. "So bad," she finished.

But then the beeping speeded up since even more list messages popped up, which surprised the group.

"'Come on, Mom. How hard can it be?'" Sonic said, trying to imitate Zipp's voice. "Way to go, Princess," he added with a bored expression.

"Would you look at that? It just keeps going and going and going and going and going and going…" she said to the group while circling Zipp, who was having a nervous breakdown over this much work, starting to regret this idea.

"This'll be... f-fun. Right?" Pipp nervously asked her friends with a forced smile.

"Yeah... You and I have very different concepts of 'fun,' Pipp," Knuckles said sarcastically as the phone finally stopped beeping.

"This is going to be a looooong day..." Tails said as he and the rest looked at the list with worry.

A while later, Zoom led the group to a door, still helping them follow the list in order. "Item eighty-two – the newborn foal's portrait," Zoom told them as she opened the door, revealing eight young foals pegasi on a couch bench.

"Awwww!" the Mane 5 and Team Sonic cooed with sparkling eyes at the adorable foals.

The pegasi foals started to giggle as they hopped up and down. The group gasped in fear, knowing very well that hyped-up foals can be tricky to calm down or even get them to hold still, so they decided to split up and catch them.

"H-Hey! Get back here!" Zipp called out to one of the foals, trying to get it to stand still for the portrait.

Sunny jumped, trying to catch one of the foals flying, while Pipp had the same problem with another. And then, not paying attention, the two foals got between Sunny and Pipp, flying out of their path while Sunny and Pipp crashed into each other, with Sunny lying on top of Pipp. The two had bored expressions while the foals just giggled at them.

Tails was growling in frustration as he flew and tried to catch one of the foals.

Knuckles screamed as one of the foals grabbed one of his ears and tugged it. "G-Get off me!" he complained since he didn't want to hurt a little foal with his big hands.

Sonic was chasing around one of the Foals, but he didn't want to catch him with his speed since he thought it could hurt one of them.

And Hitch was being dragged by two foals from his rear legs while he pawed at the floor. "I'll be... right... behind... you!" he grunted.

The group finally got the foals under control and sat them back on the couch to take their picture. The foals giggled, and the Mane 6 stood behind them, with Hitch holding one of them with a nervous smile.

The camera took the picture, showing the Mane 5 and Team Sonic having trouble with the foals again.

The next picture showed Hitch wearing makeup from the foal he was holding, with a sad expression as the foal laughed at him.

The last picture showed Pipp taking a selfie with her Pippsqueaks followers.

A little bit later, after taking pictures with the foals, Zoom led the group to a playground where ponies took pictures of the Mane 5 and Team Sonic behind a ribbon to inaugurate the playground.

"Item ninety-seven – the grand opening of the royal playground," Zoom instructed.

Zipp laughed, actually feeling relief about this part of the list. "This'll be easy," she said to her friends with a smile. Zipp grabbed the giant scissors and tried to snip the ribbon, but it wasn’t cutting. Zipp kept trying, but somehow, it still didn't cut.

Pipp came to her sister’s side, and now they snipped the scissors together, but they still didn’t cut the ribbon.

Izzy came to them, grabbed the scissors, and started to rip the ribbon again, but it still didn't work. Sunny came to Izzy's side, and the two ponies worked together to try to cut the ribbon, but the scissors still didn't cut it.

"Uh, this is hard to watch," Flare, a white pegasus with a fire-styled mane, said to herself and the pegasus beside her.

Sunny and Izzy continued to try to cut the ribbon while they started to sweat. "Must... cut... ribbon!" Izzy said in frustration and determination.

"Just go on without us!" Sunny cried out with tears.

Team Sonic watched this in disbelief, finding it a little dumb that cutting a ribbon was hard. Tails sighed in frustration and came before the ribbon while Sunny and Izzy kept trying to cut it. "Well, this is ridiculous," he said, taking a Swiss Army Knife from one of his tails and cutting the ribbon in one shot.

The crowd cheered now that the ribbon was finally cut, as Sunny and Izzy sighed in relief.

"Uh, Tails... Why do you have a Swiss Knife with you?" Sonic questioned.

"You always have to be prepared," Tails replied with a little smile.

A picture shows Zipp giving a public speech with reporters' microphones in front of her. Zipp looks nervous about the whole thing while Pipp is photographing it behind her.

Another picture showed Zipp and Pipp helping with the construction plans for the construction ponies, but mostly Zipp since Pipp was taking selfies of the whole thing.

The next picture showed Hitch leading the ponies in a fashion order while keeping them in line for something.

A while later, Zipp and Pipp were in Zephyr Heights Hospital to pay a visit to an injured pegasus stallion, who was all bandaged up from head to hooves as the cameras were taking pictures of the three ponies.

Pipp gently placed a comforting hoof on the stallion to avoid hurting him. But Pipp dropped her phone when she tried to take a selfie, which landed on one of the stallion’s legs. The pegasus stallion patient screamed in pain while the pictures were taken, and Pipp felt guilty about it while Zipp tried to calm the patient down.

Later, Zipp was digging a hole to plant a new plant on the ground. The cameras took pictures of her as Zipp smiled, but then Pipp cleared her throat. Once Zipp turned around, she saw Pipp had dirt on her head from shoveling while she held the plant.

The picture showed Pipp throwing dirt on Zipp playfully, and Zipp laughed at Pipp’s payback.

Later, In the throne room, Pipp and Zipp were doing the paperwork their mother had to do at a fast paste as they sweated to get the papers done.

Knuckles placed the papers they’d finished on a wagon that Sunny and Hitch brought.

But then, Izzy showed up with another load of papers through the door, about to hit Sunny and Hitch and take the papers out.

"Whoa!" Hitch cried out as he and Sunny stopped.

"Look out!" Sunny cried out.

Izzy realized that she was going to crash into them. "Yikes!" she cried out. She then crashed into her friends, scattering all the papers and leaving the three ponies dazed on impact.

Pipp and Zipp saw this with wide and tired eyes, and Pipp groaned in frustration.

Tails and Knuckles poked their heads out of one of the piles while Sonic looked around and picked some papers. One had a seal and was signed by Pipp, another was signed by Zipp, and the last one didn't have either the seal or a sign. He looked at the pile of papers and nodded with a determined face.

In less than 6 seconds, all the papers were organized again: the already signed ones were on Sunny and Hitch's wagons, while the blank ones were again at Zipp and Pipp's sides. Sonic then stopped and looked at his work with a proud smile.

"Before you ask, the signed papers are on the wagons; the ones you have with you are blank," Sonic said before Zipp or Pipp could complain about doing the thing so fast. "Just because I consider myself the fastest thing alive doesn't mean I don't like things organized," he said with a smirk.

Haven was alone in the dining room, feeling lonely and wondering how her daughters and their friends were doing. "I do hope everything's okay," she said to herself.

The door opened, and Haven turned to see that the Mane 5 and Team Sonic had arrived, looking really tired from their duties.

"We did it!" Zipp called out with an exhausting smile. "We're late for dinner, but we made it!" she added.

"And how did it go?" Haven asked them with a smile.

"A newborn foal gave me a shiner!" Hitch said in a panic, pointing to the shiner in his left eye.

"My legs hurt from chasing foals!" Knuckles complained.

"Being queen is much harder than it looks!" Sunny groaned.

"I've never been this stressed in my entire life..." Tails confessed with an exhausted expression.

"Look at all this dirt in my mane!" Pipp cried out, pointing to the dirt on her mane.

"I have to get rid of my knight title!" Sonic cried out in panic.

"I'll never use scissors again!" Izzy yelled with frustration.

Haven held a hoove over her mouth, seeing them tired and overworked.

"The truth is there were eight of us. We didn't even come close to finishing the royal to-do list," Zipp admitted, and then she came next to her mother. I can't believe you do that every day," she added, now better understanding the responsibility of a Queen.

Pipp came up next to Haven on the other side. "Yeah, I think we were the ones being harsh earlier. Sonic was right about the big responsibility of being a Queen. You are super amazing," she added, hugging her mother.

Haven smiled and placed a hoof on Pipp's shoulder. "That means a lot, Pipp. Thank you," she thanked her daughters, then clapped her hooves together.

After the clap, the doors suddenly opened, and Zoom and Thunder came with a cart of food and placed it on the dinner table.

The Mane 5 and Teams Sonic gasped in amazement at the feast before them.

Zipp turned to her mom with a smile and sparkling eyes. "You think of everything," she said in amazement, while Haven nodded her head with a smile.

"Now, everypony, dig in!" Haven announced it to the group with a smile.

Now, the Mane 5, Team Sonic, and Queen Haven are digging in on their food as they chat while enjoying their well-deserved feast.

Zoom smiled as she placed the failed picture with the foals on the wall. Then, she took out her pad and checked off the last thing on the to-do list, ending the royal duties for the day.

THE END

Author's Note

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter!