Canterlot was in great turmoil and agitation from the early hours of the day.
There were already crowds of people walking and talking in the streets, creating a great buzz, merchants shouting behind the stalls selling food and other goods, trying to gain more visibility.
Along the streets of the capital of Equestria there were already many decorations announcing the great event that would take place in a few days.

Twilight had just arrived at the door to Celestia's rooms.
Luna had sent her to wake up her sister when they saw that neither the Sun Princess nor the Empress had shown up at the table for breakfast.

Luna had given the order in a contemptuous tone, obviously not aimed at Twilight but at something else.

The princess of friendship was very perplexed, it had never happened that Celestia was late, she was never late, for any reason in the world.
The sun goddess was always on time, she was precise just as the sun and moon set and rose every day.

Guarding the entrance to Celestia's rooms were two guards stationed at the sides of the large doors, they were decorated with golden finishes and gems that formed a wonderful colored mosaic representing the effigy of the sun goddess.

Twilight grabbed the door knocker with her magic and forcefully knocked a couple of times.

The sound was very loud and deep, impossible to miss.

Twilight waited for a few seconds and then the door slowly opened, just a little.
Princess Celestia's head emerged from the opening, but at that moment she looked anything but a princess.

Twilight gasped.
Her fur was matted, her eyes were tired, and even her mane was disheveled.

Twice that morning Twilight had to change her mind.

Celestia had always had a regal and dignified appearance, even in the most disparate and unlikely moments.

What the hell had happened?!

"Twilight?" Celestia asked and then let out a yawn as she placed a hoof in front of her muzzle.

“P-Princess Celestia, I came to see if you were okay since you didn't show up for breakfast.”

Twilight struggled to speak, she was still shocked at the state her mentor was in.

"I understand." The white alicorn spoke in a placid, almost apathetic tone.

Celestia's gaze shifted for less than a second to the inside of the room and then she turned back to her student.
Twilight couldn't understand what she had seen since the door was only half open and Celestia was occupying every possible opening.

“Did something happen?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Oh, no big deal. I just fell asleep late as I had some things to do.”
Her mentor explained quickly, her eyes moving again for a brief moment to look around the room before refocusing on her faithful student.

“Twilight, give me a few moments and then I'll join you for breakfast.”

The purple alicorn just nodded.
Celestia smiled gratefully and then stepped back to close the door.

However, that very brief moment when she stepped away from the door allowed Twilight to see what was inside her bedroom.
She could make out the large bed but was shocked to see a magenta figure lying on the mattress.

And after that the door closed completely.

Twilight stood there motionless in front of the door.

What the fuck had she just seen?!

The purple alicorn didn't even have any expression as her brain was paralyzed.

It must have been a hallucination. It certainly was!

However, the more rational part of her told her that it was entirely plausible.
It was no secret that Tempest and Celestia were in a relationship, plus Tempest hadn't shown up that morning either.

Twilight shook her head to clear the numbness of shock.
“It's okay Twilight, you can do it.” She said loudly even though the only ones who could hear her were the guards and herself.

Twilight sighed, took a step back and then turned so she could go back to the dining room and in the process try to forget what she had just seen.

Celestia closed the door after saying goodbye to her loyal student.
She turned and then headed towards the bed on which her lover was still sleeping.

Tempest lay silently on the soft mattress, she made no noise other than her deep, relaxed breathing.
The blankets were disheveled and piled up at the end of the bed because it had been too hot to sleep in them.
Celestia remained for a few moments watching as her beloved slept peacefully and remembering the wonderful and wild night they had spent.

“Tempest, it's time to get up.” Celestia said, her voice still quite rough after her rude awakening.

Tempest's eyes opened quickly, revealing her pupils shrinking to accommodate the light of day.
It was always fascinating to see the atypical eyes of the scarred alicorn.
Even if Tempest was very tired and had slept soundly she was always ready to wake up quickly so she could be immediately alert and respond to any threat.
It was a habit she had picked up over the years and she would certainly struggle to leave it behind.

The scarred alicorn moved into a sitting position on the bed and gave a short yawn.

“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Celestia asked in a sarcastic voice.

Tempest rolled her eyes in response.

Last night had been anything but peaceful, proof of this was the pain she felt in her private parts and her fur matted.
The room smelled of sex and she could feel that between her thighs there were traces of bodily fluids, hers and Celestia's.

That time Tempest shouldn't have proposed to Celestia to use a transfiguration spell to grow a cock, she had used it that night to destroy her until she passed out and get her revenge for spanking her.

It wasn't fair at all.

Tempest felt a cool breeze blow on her exposed fur, Celestia had opened the windows to air out the room and let out the stench that permeated it.

Tempest watched as her beloved wandered around the room while trying to tidy up the room. She picked up the pillows, tidied up the blankets and even took the time to gather up her suit and the obsidian plates to put them away. order on a table.

As always, Princess Celestia was wonderful, even with her disheveled fur and unkempt mane, for Tempest there was no one better than her.

Celestia knew that the empress was watching her so she moved swinging her hips more than necessary and when she had to pick up something from the ground she bent over obscenely raising her tail to give a good view to her lover.

It was behavior more suited to a slut than a princess but Celestia loved to tease those who dared to look at her lustfully.

Tempest had her mouth slightly open and was drooling, she wanted to dive between those succulent thighs and then have breakfast with Celestia's essence.

The scarred alicorn was interrupted from her reverie when she was suddenly thrown out of bed and onto the floor. Her reflexes allowed her to get up in an instant and she saw that the one responsible for it was the white alicorn who was now tucking the covers back into place with a smirk on her face.

Tempest was tempted to give her another full force spank so as to leave the imprint of her hoof on the sun goddess's buttocks but she held back, she knew Celestia was vengeful, very vengeful.

Tempest moved away from the bed and then stretched her front legs and then her back legs. After doing so she already felt more energetic and ready to face the day.

Meanwhile Celestia had finished tidying up the room.

“The others are waiting for us to have breakfast, we'd better wash up quickly.” Celestia said, then she walked towards the bathroom.

Tempest didn't object, it would have been inappropriate to show up at the table smelling of sperm and vaginal fluids.

When she entered the bathroom she was awed by the opulence that surrounded her.
Each countertop was made of smooth white marble with gold trim, there was a large bathtub that could have been mistaken for a small swimming pool, and there was a huge shower head on the ceiling.
She should have expected it since everything in that city seemed to have the intent to thwart wealth and prosperity.

"You come?"

Celestia had already entered the enormous bathtub waiting for Tempest to join her.
The empress entered slowly to avoid slipping and when she was inside the princess turned two valves set in the wall and immediately a stream of water came out of the shower head above them.

It was so big it looked like it was raining. Their furs were already completely wet, the water was not too hot since Celestia knew that this would not have pleased her beloved, who preferred to wash herself with cold water.

Shortly afterwards the flow of water stopped as they had to soap themselves up.
They could have done it themselves but instead Celestia handed Tempest the jar of soap and then turned to signal for her lover to soap her up.

Celestia loved acting like a helpless princess.
Tempest smiled and before you knew it she was running her paws all over Celestia's body under the guise of washing her.

They should have washed quickly but Tempest deliberately lingered as her hooves passed between her lover's thighs.
She continued scrubbing until Celestia began to pant and right before the grand finale she withdrew her hoof to continue soaping her normally.

Tempest smiled defiantly while Celestia let out a growl of dissatisfaction, she would get her revenge, again.

When Celestia was covered in soap to the last orifice she turned and grabbed the jar of soap.

"It's my turn." said the princess, her face expressing malice and vengeance.

Tempest rolled her eyes and then turned her back to her significant other.
Celestia began to soap her up like Tempest had done, her hooves moving slowly over the magenta fur always being careful not to rub too much into the scars where her fur was lighter and thinner.

Tempest expected her to use the same trick but suddenly she felt weight on her back and something turgid and now familiar pressing at the entrance to her pussy. She looked over her shoulder at them and saw Celestia above her who had an almost sadistic face.

Suffice it to say, they didn't show up for breakfast that morning.

She was very elated because in a few minutes the train from Ponyville would be arriving with her friends on board.
Initially they had not come with her because they also had to make preparations for the small town, the summer sun celebration would have been held in Canterlot but the advent was celebrated equally throughout Equestria.

That morning she had been a little disappointed by the fact that Princess Celestia hadn't come to have breakfast with the others, she would have liked to discuss a little more before getting into the full swing of work.
But instead her mentor had been busy sharing her bed with Tempest, or at least that's what Princess Luna had told her as they sat at the table.
If she hadn't known about the relationship between the empress and the princess she would have doubted but after what she had seen there were no longer any doubts.

Before then it had seemed distant and abstract to her, like when you read about some great event in the newspaper. But now that she had had a front row demonstration of it she couldn't get those thoughts out of her mind.

Actually she had a lot of thoughts on her mind, too many.

“CHOFF! CHOOP!”

The train whistle interrupted her thoughts.

Twilight got off the bench and smiled, the Friendship Express slowed down, letting out a high-pitched and annoying hiss.
When the train came to a complete stop the carriage doors opened and dozens of ponies began to exit, some carrying suitcases while others were traveling light with only saddlebags.
There were families who brought their children to visit the wonderful city of Canterlot and some dressed elegantly for work purposes.

Finally, after a few seconds, the group of friends finally appeared.
As usual, Rainbow Dash was in front of them, wanting to stay one meter off the ground, followed by the other four.
Rarity was going on and on about how glamorous Canterlot was and how she would like to open a boutique in town while Applejack just pretended to listen to her by rolling her eyes whenever the white unicorn was being overly dramatic.
Pinkie Pie was hopping around with a smile on her face and Fluttershy was at the back of the group, taciturn as always.
In the middle of the group she managed to spot her number one assistant, since he was shorter he was difficult to notice but she was happy to know that he was there too.

“TWILIGHT!”

The purple alicorn was knocked over by Pinkie who had thrown herself at her as soon as she saw her.

Soon after, the other three and the little dragon were added. Rainbow Dash continued to flutter nearby
They had a group hug and then went their separate ways.

“Welcome to Canterlot.” Twilight welcomed her best friends.

“We couldn't wait to get there.” Rarity exclaimed, brushing a strand of hair away from her muzzle.

"It is true! We absolutely need to throw a huge party!”

Pinkie Pie made her iconic party cannon appear out of nowhere and blast a shower of confetti over their heads.
The others couldn't help but roll their eyes and smile at their friend's antics.

"How is it going?" Applejack asked, Twilight realizing that she had missed hearing the orange earth pony's distinctive accent.

“Great, we have already started with the preparations for the summer sun celebration but the princess asked that you decide the most important things.”

The others exclaimed enthusiastically, it was truly an honor to be chosen as the catering staff for such an illustrious event in such a large city as Canterlot.
It wasn't the first time it had happened but it had happened in the small town of Ponyville, now they were on a completely different level.

The group of friends headed towards the castle, as they walked they were greeted by everyone since they had now become celebrities in the eyes of the people.
Their adventures were reported in newspapers and celebrated wherever they went.
Their last great feat, the defeat of Discord, had raised their prestige and fame even further.

Rainbow Dash enjoyed the praise and compliments as she darted above the crowd of cheering ponies while the other five walked close by.
Twilight had the little dragon sitting on her back but she wasn't even paying attention to the flatterers, by now she was used to all this because since she became a princess she was always surrounded by flatterers and paparazzi, on the other hand Applejack stood with her head slightly bowed so that her stetson covered her eyes, the same way Fluttershy covered herself behind her bangs.
Rarity, on the other hand, walked full of pride, she had a posture worthy of a great lady and every now and then she slowed down to show off her perfect hair or her smooth and shiny fur.
While Pinkie Pie was….Pinkie Pie, always happy and radiant like no one else.

Finally, after a long walk through the streets of the city, they reached the castle doors which were thrown open by the guards stationed there.
They entered, leaving behind the crowd of people who soon dispersed.

Twilight led her friends inside the castle.
Since she had spent her childhood within those walls she knew the building perfectly.
They walked along some corridors until they reached a large room used to welcome guests.
Before they could all enter Twilight told a guard in the corridor to go and warn the other princesses that her friends had arrived at the palace.
The soldier nodded and walked briskly away.

The room had a large round table in the center with enough seats for her friends and princesses.
They took their seats and before the girls started chatting amongst themselves Twilight cleared her throat, everyone's attention falling on her.

“First of all I wanted to thank you for coming to Canterlot, I know some of you have family to spend the summer sun celebration with, so I apologize on behalf of myself and all the princesses.” she said, bowing her head slightly in reverence.

“There's nothing to apologize for darling! We are more than happy to be here to give you a hoof.”
Rarity said and the others nodded in agreement with her.

“It's also an advantage for us to be here.” Applejack added.

In fact, Rainbow Dash had come because the Wonderbolts would be there, Applejack was trying to promote the products of her farm while Rarity wanted to use the opportunity to make herself known to the equestrian high society. And Fluttershy wished she had the chance to visit the royal family's grand aviary.
While Pinkie Pie would have fun throwing the biggest party ever.

But there was another reason above all: they wanted to help their friend.

“Thank you so much, this really means a lot to me.”

The six friends would have hugged each other again but it would have been awkward since they were already seated and there was a huge table between them.

Twilight would have already begun to discuss the various roles they would fill but she remembered that first of all she would have to tell her friends about the unexpected guest.

“I wanted to warn you that in these days there will be an important guest here in Canterlot.”

Twilight started the sentence but she wasn't sure what to say, so she started from the beginning.

"Do you remember the long trip I took several months ago with Princess Celestia?"

The others nodded.

“I told you that we met the ruler of the great empire that was formed in the south of the continent. Behold, today that empress is here.” She said without much ceremony.

The others murmured in amazement.

“Did she also come to see the summer sun celebration?”
Pinkie asked bouncing in her seat.

“Well…not really, or at least that wasn't her original intent.”
Twilight made a strange face which made her friends slightly worried.

“Is there something wrong with her? Is she a threat?”

Rainbow Dash was the first to jump to conclusions, as usual she would have appreciated a fight to show off her black belt martial arts skills.

"Absolutely no!" The purple alicorn quickly denied before her friends could think of apocalyptic scenarios.

The last thing she wanted was to alienate Tempest in the eyes of her friends, in fact she really hoped they could get along knowing the empress' character.
She really hoped so.

“So what is it that worries you?” Applejack asked, the others expecting an answer too.

Twilight let out a sigh, there was no other way to put it.

“You should know that Princess Celestia and Empress Tempest Shadow are currently engaged.”

The group gasped.

“Did I hear you right!? Is Princess Celestia having a love affair?!”

Rarity was in disbelief, and so were all the others.

“BOOOMM!!!!”

Twilight didn't have time to repeat herself before a deafening explosion filled the room.
This time Pinkie Pie had brought out another party cannon, much larger and loaded with much more confetti.

“WE MUST CELEBRATE!!!!”

The party mare screamed at the top of her lungs as confetti rained down from above and they heard the usual melody used at weddings.
Out of nowhere a wedding cake had appeared on the table and Pinkie was hopping around putting party hats on her friends' heads as they looked at her strangely.
After all the years they had known each other they still hadn't gotten used to the miracles she could perform.

“Pinkie!” Twilight exclaimed but her voice was drowned out by the loud music.

“PINKIE!!!” She tried again but was again ignored.

“PINKIE PIE!!! STOP IT!!!”

This time the scream was impossible not to hear, for the first time Twilight had used the real voice of Canterlot, Luna would have been proud of her.

Immediately the music stopped with a screeching sound.
Pinkie Pie was frozen in mid-air with her wide eyes focused on Twilight.

Twilight gave a broken smile and spoke through gritted teeth.
“Please Pinkie Pie, could you put all this away? I would be very grateful to you."
Her tone had lowered but it was clear she was holding back.

Pinkie Pie put her paws on the ground one at a time.
“Oopsie.” she exclaimed, placing a hoof in front of her mouth and blushing slightly
“I got carried away with enthusiasm, I'll fix everything.”

And then in the blink of an eye everything was back to how it was before: the cake was gone, the confetti swept away and the party hats dissolved into thin air.
After that Pinkie Pie sat back down as if nothing had happened.

Twilight took another deep breath before she could speak again.

“I wanted to warn you that Empress Tempest is not the kind of person you will normally meet.”

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

“Tempest comes from a very different environment than ours, so she didn't grow up with the ideals of peace and harmony that we are used to here in Equestria.”

“So we should expect her to be like… super violent or something?” Applejack raised an eyebrow in confusion at what Twilight was saying.

“No, that's not what I meant.” Again the purple alicorn was having trouble saying the right words.

She didn't even know how to behave when Tempest was around, what should she have said to her friends about her?!

So she said the only thing that came to her mind.

“Just…..don't ask questions about her appearance.” It was the only thing she was sure she could say.
She didn't know if Tempest would be offended but good manners dictated ignoring someone's impairments.

The other five didn't have time to ask more questions before the doors of the room opened.

Princess Luna appeared in the room together with Cadence and then Princess Celestia entered who was walking alongside another mare, also very tall.

Twilight's friends gasped as they saw the imposing figure of what they assumed was the empress. As always, her appearance showed no signs of being a friendly person, far from it.

The mane six tried in every way not to stare at her too openly but it was difficult for them. Her eyes moved between her black armor, her broken horn, and her completely unnatural eyes.
When she walked, her armored hooves made loud metallic thuds, slightly muffled by the thick rubber soles.
The princesses sat next to each other, so on one side there were Twilight and her friends while on the other the alicorns.

As usual, Celestia opened the conversation with a calm and kind voice.

“Welcome, it's a pleasure to have you here with us. We were anxiously awaiting your arrival to finalize the preparations for the summer sun celebration, we are sure we made the right choice in entrusting this task to you. ”
However, none of the five or Spike responded. Their attention was fixed on the stranger sitting next to Celestia.

Twilight patted the shoulder of the one closest to her who turned out to be Applejack.

“Oh right, the pleasure is all ours.” Applejack responded quickly as if she had barely heard what Princess Celestia had said.

“Great, so now we can move on to what to do.”

Celestia began to explain everything they still had to do and organize.
As she spoke, the elemental bearers occasionally glanced at the scarred alicorn sitting there with them.

However, they did not know that the empress was also doing the same thing to them.
Obviously it was much less obvious as she was expert at acting without being noticed.

Tempest looked at the five mares sitting in front of her one by one.

They were the famous bearers of the elements of harmony and from what Celestia had explained to her, each of them embodied an element necessary for friendship to exist.
She began analyzing the one furthest to the left and then moved to the right.

Next to Luna there was a pegasus with yellow fur and pink mane, his colors were soft just like her character. Everything about her gave signs of being a shy, indecisive and very insecure person, her posture was slightly curved and her head tilted to the side so that one eye was covered by the bangs that fell over her muzzle.

Fluttershy: the embodiment of kindness.

There wasn't much else she could say about her, she seemed weak and unable to defend herself, to Tempest it was almost unthinkable that she held a piece of a weapon powerful enough to defeat gods.

The empress turned her gaze further to the right.
Sitting with her elbows resting on the table and her head supported by her paws was Rainbow Dash, she had a bored expression and seemed to want to fly away at any moment.
She recognized her immediately as she was the one who caught her attention the most when Celestia described her.
It wasn't every day that you saw a pegasus with a rainbow mane that could fly so fast it broke the sound barrier.
They had told her that she was a hothead, ready to defend in any way what she cared about, she was not for nothing the embodiment of loyalty, something that Tempest greatly appreciated.

However, she was also described as terribly self-centered, bold and presumptuous, contemptuous of danger and incapable of understanding when to stop. She was often seen lazing around when she was supposed to be working but was always pardoned as she managed to complete her tasks in record time.

Tempest immediately understood that that behavior was only partly what she really was, most likely she was desperately trying to demonstrate that she lived up to expectations, expectations that had probably been imposed on her or that she had set herself.

This was not very good, a good soldier and leader had to put aside his pride and think of the good of others, especially for someone who was supposed to be the embodiment of loyalty.

Further to the right was a white unicorn.
As soon as she saw her she had to keep from making a face of contempt.
Her perky hairstyle and immaculate fur were clues to what kind of person she was: arrogant, vain, frivolous, superficial, snobbish, eccentric, exhibitionist…

Tempest could have gone on forever but the concept was clear.
Rarity represents much of what she hated: haughty unicorns.

The scarred alicorn knew that her judgment was not impartial, multiple interactions with people of that kind had forever made it impossible for her to see them as anything other than parasites.

Element of generosity.

Tempest hoped that underneath all that makeup, perfect hair and shiny fur there was someone completely different who truly reflected the element she was supposed to embody, otherwise Tempest could have been the princess of love instead of Cadence.

“AHHHCHOO!” Cadence sneezed loudly. “Sorry.” and then she proceeded to blow her nose with a handkerchief that Pinkie Pie had conjured up out of nowhere.

Celestia spoke again while Tempest continued his analysis of her.

Indeed, the next to fall under her watchful gaze was the party pony.

For some reason Tempest had difficulty forming an opinion about her.
The pink mare seemed like a concentration of unstoppable energy, she kept moving on the chair, her gaze was never still and she was constantly smiling even if there was no reason to.
Tempest moved on to the next pony.

A peasant, it was clear that she was a peasant.
Some clues were the large Stetson she wore on her head, her hair was tied in a single braid so it wouldn't get in the way too much when she worked.
Her body was quite muscular due to the heavy and tiring work, the fur on the neck and withers was ruined due to rubbing with the yoke to pull the plow.
Her hooves were also worn out from constantly pulling and pushing weights.

Of all of them, she was the least noticeable, even less than Fluttershy.
She seemed like a very normal person, she was mild and balanced, there was almost nothing noteworthy apart from the hat that she also wore indoors.

Finally she saw that there was also someone else that she hadn't even noticed before.
Sitting between the orange pony and the purple alicorn was a small dragon.
It wasn't the first time Tempest had seen a dragon, but the one in front of her was the smallest she had ever seen, plus the little dragon's eyes were constantly focused on her, as if he was looking for something.
The little guy didn't move, he remained completely still and immobile as if he were petrified with his eyes wide open.

“That's all, I hope you have fun while Tempest helps you with your tasks.”

Tempest was pulled out of the staring game as soon as Celestia said her name.
She looked at her girlfriend with a grimace as if to say “What the hell are you thinking!?”.

“What is it Tempest? In this way you will be able to make friends with the bearers of the elements of harmony, aren't you happy?."
She responded by smirking playfully.

Tempest couldn't help but sigh in resignation, she wanted to spend all her time with her beloved.

Damn Celestia!

Author's Note

As usual I remind you that there may have been grammatical or syntax errors, if you find them please report them in the comments section.
Thanks for reading.