It was an incredibly beautiful day in Ponyville. The sun cast a warm, golden glow over the town, glinting off the rooftops.

The newest princess of Equestria was walking through town admiring all the decorations that were being set up in the town Square.

Even though the friendship festival only happened once a year, Twilight was busy with supervising.

When ponies saw her, they would usually stop what they were doing and bow when she walked past, today was no exception.

Twilight stopped under the banner that hung over town Square, the ponies who were in charge of hanging the lights and the banner stopped what they were doing and bowed deeply.

“Princess Twilight, we hope that you like the banner,” A cream-colored Pegasus said.

“Oh yes, the banner is absolutely beautiful, wonderful job,” Twilight replied with a smile before walking on.

The cream-colored Pegasus stallion smiled and waved as he watched her disappear around a corner, as he gleefully went back to his work.

Twilight only ever came to visit Ponyville when there was a special occasion like the friendship festival, she was always happy to see her friends. She headed towards Sugar Cube Corner to check on the preparations for the food.

As Twilight approached Sugar Cube Corner, the sweet scent of fresh pastries filled the air, mingling with a hint of vanilla and chocolate. She raised a hoof and gave the door a gentle knock, its cheerful color matching the bakery’s warm exterior. The door opened to reveal Pumpkin Cake covered in flour from head to tail.

The young baker smiled when she saw Twilight. “Well, what a nice surprise, it’s not often we get a visit from royalty,” She said, smiling as she let the princess of Equestria inside.

“What do you mean, I’ve visited you plenty of times, and your parents before that,” Twilight smiled, sitting down on the floor.

Pumpkin grinned as she wiped the flour off her face with a towel. “Well, yeah, but that was when you didn’t rule over all of Equestria, now it’s different, Mom and Dad used to tell us stories from when you came to the bakery when you first became a princess.”

“Can you show me the cupcakes that were baked for the festival?” Twilight asked.

“Sure thing, give me a moment to set them up,” Pumpkin replied, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Twilight took a deep breath, letting the warm, sweet smell of the bakery fill her senses. It had been decades since she came back to Sugarcube Corner. Everything felt very nostalgic, but different somehow.

Pumpkin returned, carefully balancing a big tray filled with an assortment of cupcakes, decorated with chocolate frosting, Twilight noticed that some of them had her cutie mark on them.

“Here they are, we even made some with your cutie mark on them,” Pumpkin smiled. “Just like you asked.”

Twilight’s eyes began to fill with tears as she remembered how often Pinkie would bake cupcakes for her and her friends.

“Are you ok?” Pumpkin asked, noticing that the princess was silently crying.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just reminiscing about when Pinkie was still here, baking cupcakes for all of us, it’s been several decades since she left for a better life in Griffith Isles,” Twilight answered.

“Yeah, that pony sure knew how to throw a good party, but now that she’s gone, her son Little Cheese has to throw the parties, and he’s doing a pretty good job of it,” Pumpkin nodded.

“And what about Rainbow Dash, is she still around?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, she’s captain of her airship, sailing the open skies beyond Equestria, she doesn’t come to Ponyville very often anymore,” Pumpkin explained. “And Applejack also got a job on the same ship.”

The princess let out a heavy side as she plopped down onto the floor. “Ok, so what about Rarity?”

“From what I heard, she lives in the Crystal Empire now because she opened a new boutique there, selling the crystals that she finds,” Pumpkin explained, grinning from ear to ear.

“And Fluttershy is with Discord, from what I know they got married just last week,” Twilight said, looking wistfully out the window.

Twilight rose from her seat, thanking Pumpkin for the cupcakes, after a quick goodbye. She made her way out of the bakery and down the street into an alley.

She looked around to make sure that no pony was watching and she pulled out a brand new cell phone from her saddlebag, she eagerly dialed Rainbow’s number and waited for it to ring.

Ever since ascending to the throne of Equestria, technology was getting more advanced, with more ponies getting cell phones, but being the newest ruler of Equestria meant that Twilight was the first to get a cell phone from Equestria’s elite engineers.

“Yeah,” Rainbow’s voice came through the other end of the phone,

“Rainbow Dash, it’s good to hear your voice again, it’s been so long, maybe we should meet up, just like old times,” Twilight suggested.

“I don’t have the time, I’m sorry who knew that running your own airship was so hard,” Rainbow shot her down, before hanging up abruptly.

Twilight let out a heavy sigh before continuing to walk down the street to Sweet Apple Acres to find Big MacIntosh and his wife.

Arriving at the farmhouse, she hesitated a while before knocking on the door.

The door creaked open and Twilight was greeted by the scent of fresh apples and cinnamon drifting from the kitchen. Big Mac stood in the doorway with a bright smile on his face.

“Well, that’s a surprise, I wasn’t expectin’ you to be so early, everythin’ alright?” He smiled.

“Yeah, just checking on the apples for the festival,” Twilight said.

Big Macintosh pointed with a hoof to the pile of apples that lay on the kitchen table. “We were just about to get them all packaged up, me and Sugar Belle, Apple Bloom’s helpin’ too.”

“Well, that’s nice, can I come in?” Twilight asked.

“Sure,” Big Mac replied, making room for the princess to enter.

Twilight stepped inside, her hooves clinking softly against the well-worn wooden floorboards. The farmhouse had a cozy, warm atmosphere to it.

The walls were lined with photographs of family reunions, harvest festivals, and weddings frozen in time. There were also hoof-curved shelves, filled with jars of apple preserves, bundles of dried herbs, and a collection of well-loved books that were passed down from generation to generation.

The kitchen, where Big Mac gestured towards the apples, was the heart of the house. An old wooden table stood in the center and on it lay almost 1000 red and green apples, along with a bunch of jars.

Twilight looked around in shock. “Wow, Big McIntosh, you’ve really outdone yourself this year.”

Big Mac shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, ever since AJ left to be with Rainbow Dash, me and Sugar Belle took over runnin’ the farm. Sometimes Apple Bloom comes over to help us out or to babysit, but since she has a job at the school of friendship, we don’t Get to see her much.”

“Well, I can see you have everything under control, let me know if you need anything,” Twilight replied, before walking out the open door.

She made her way to the school of friendship to see how Starlight and Sunburst were getting on. The school loomed high in the distance, as she got closer to it, she felt a wave of nostalgia come over her, it was one of her favorite places.

Entering the school, Twilight was greeted by Sunburst and Starlight.

“How’s everything going?” Twilight asked.

“Amazing, we have so many new students, and now with the CMC helping out with friendship lessons, it’s been even greater,” Sunburst explained, putting a hoof around Starlight.

“Great, I’m just checking on the preparations for the friendship festival,” Twilight replied, smiling.

Starlight nodded and took Twilight into the school proper, the entire school was decorated with banners that the students had made in class. Twilight almost couldn’t believe it, even if her friends weren’t here to see it. The friendship festival was coming together nicely. All she hoped now is that a war wouldn’t break out.

Author's Note

I do hope that you enjoy this new story.

Please remember that constructive criticism is not required, but always welcome.