Back on Duty

Celestia was in good spirits as she left the Grand Hall after court. It hadn't been too bad - a couple of pleas for shipments of grain to impoverished villages, several applications for her School for Gifted Unicorns and a rather strange request that she officiate a wedding ceremony in Cloudsdale in a month's time. The grain she approved, even in the cases where the shortage was the fault of poor planning or corrupt civic leaders. In those cases she had made a mental note to visit the towns at the earliest opportunity and have a word with their mayors. She would consider the applications for her School another day, and the wedding thing she would think about later in the day. She wanted to do it, but at the same time didn't like the idea of setting a precedent like that.

There would probably be cake, though.

Perhaps Gregory would be able to help her decide when he was back. Celestia spared the man a thought. Hopefully he wasn't having too much trouble with recalcitrant military leaders who tended to look down on all civilians. She didn't doubt the lawyer's ability, though. He would undoubtedly bring back something useful. In the meantime she could check up on Fluttershy and Blossom to see if they had made any further progress. Any new information would come in useful. The mere thought made her scrunch up her muzzle in distaste. Slavery right there in her Equestria! Celestia didn't like the thought at all.

On the whole, she ultimately decided, influence from Earth hadn't been too bad. Morning Breeze was living proof. That was exactly the point - the young mare was still alive, mainly thanks to human medicine. All Celestia had to do, really, was keep a hoof on these negative 'gifts' and ideas. Her ponies weren't bad, but some of them could be all too easily influenced when motivated by profit. Not unlike some of the humans she'd seen on Earth TV, actually.

Musing about the similarities and differences between their species distracted Celestia enough so that she nearly walked past the door to Cadence's suite. She stopped just in time and raised a hoof to knock when she realized there were no guards. Her blood ran cold and the mare froze for a single, terrifying instant. Surely not all of her staff was involved in the conspiracy?!

The Princess threw the door open with a burst of magic, making it slam against the wall and nearly tearing it from its hinges. She ran inside, hoping against hope that Fluttershy and Blossom were alright.

There was nopony in the antechamber, so Celestia galloped to the inner door. The bedroom was just as empty. A glint of white caught her eye and she plucked the piece of paper from the pillow. As she read, Celestia let her rump hit the carpet. Her legs were shaking and she scanned the lines rapidly, afraid of what they'll say.

'Dear Princess Celestia. It is such a nice day outside that we decided to go in the gardens. Please join us, if you have time. Fluttershy'

Her magic faded away and the message floated to the carpet while Celestia breathed a deep sigh of relief. Nothing sinister, they'd just gone out to spend some time in the warm, spring sun. The guards must have gone with them, which was exactly what Celestia would have expected them to do. She shook her head and tried to calm down her hammering heartbeat. Jumping at the slightest shadow, now? It was imperative that she got to the bottom of this subterfuge as soon as possible. Letting paranoia take hold of the Canterlot Castle and, more importantly, of her own mind, would be disastrous.

Celestia shuddered, brushed her muzzle with a fetlock and stood up. The gardens, then. As she left the suite she closed the door gently behind her.

It was indeed a beautiful day outside and it would have been a shame to miss it. Celestia was smiling again by the time she was treading the gravel path to the hedge maze. She saw the group of ponies sitting at one of the stone picnic tables and hurried their way. Fluttershy's shade of yellow was unmistakable.

"Hello, my little ponies!"

The guards only now noticed her arrival and jumped upright in their panic. One of them tripped over the stone bench and landed in the dirt with a faint 'oof'. The other one immediately began apologizing: "Princess! We were j-just, uhm..." He didn't find any excuse and looked down at his hooves in contrition.

"It's my fault, Princess," Fluttershy admitted with her ears completely lowered. "I invited them to join us for tea."

Celestia quickly understood their trepidation. They were supposed to be on guard against anything happening to Blossom or Fluttershy, but they had let their focus slip and indulged in a little tea party.

"Glory Tail, Vanilla Pop, please stand," Celestia instructed.

They did so, even if they glanced at each other uneasily. "Princes, we're sorry," Glory Tail said. "We'll r-report to Fire Fly for our p-punishment right away!"

Celestia watched them seriously for a few seconds, but then allowed a small smile to grace her muzzle. "There will be no need for that, Sargeant. I do not mind my ponies taking well-deserved breaks, but do make sure at least one of you is on the watch at all times, okay?"

Both guards slumped a little with relief, then hurriedly saluted. "Of course, Princess! It won't happen again, Princess!" Glory Tail assured her.

She wasn't too disappointed, though. An invitation to tea from Fluttershy was almost impossible to decline. It would have taken some sort of special training to resist that, especially since the mare had been kind enough to get croissants.

Now that the little crisis was averted, Blossom let go of Fluttershy's leg which she'd been clutching out of fear, and relaxed a little.

"Will you join us for tea, Princess?" Fluttershy asked, smiling a little and indicating the bounty. "There's plenty of food left."

Her stomach reminded Celestia that she hadn't eaten since breakfast. She came to speak with these ponies anyway, so having a bite of pastry at the same time sounded delightful.

"I would be happy to, Fluttershy."

Blossom watched her for a few seconds, then magnanimously pushed a plate, laden with the croissants, toward her.

"Thank you, Blossom," Celestia said.

The mare looked down at her hooves, but Fluttershy brought her muzzle closer and whispered something, which made Blossom look up again. "Y'w-welcome," she murmured.

Celestia bit into the pastry and closed her eyes in pleasure while Fluttershy slid over a tea cup and filled it.

"H-Hope you like it," came another murmur from Blossom.

Before Celestia could answer Fluttershy clarified: "Blossom picked out the flavor of tea, Princess."

It was strawberry and the sweet aroma filled the air. Celestia took a sip to wash down the croissant and gave Blossom another smile. "It is very nice."

This made Blossom blush a little with pride and there was a hint of a smile on her muzzle. It was a pleasure to see and Celestia decided not to push the two for more answers. Not now. It was a nice picnic out in the sun and it was obviously doing Blossom a world of good. She could get the news from Fluttershy later, when Gregory was back too. That way the pegasus wouldn't have to repeat herself.

The rest of her problems - the subterfuge and the slavery and dissent against her and Gregory - could also wait until later. It wasn't as if the trouble would diminish if the Princess took a short break.

In fact, she might get some fresh ideas on a full stomach.