Me and My Daughters

Startling Visit

After an uneventful ride in the carriage, Princess Celestia, along with little Twilight and Luna, arrived at Ponyville at noon. As the carriage descended, the trio of princesses noticed the welcoming committee that, even with the short notice of their arrival, managed to do something fitting for royalty. Not that Celestia really cared about protocol.

When the white alicorn exited the vehicle, she was received with the bursts of several trumpets, courtesy of Ponyville's party pony, Pinkie Pie. Strangely enough, she was playing all six trumpets by herself.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Princess Celestia!" Ponyville's mayor welcomed her enthusiastically, albeit a little nervously, extending her hoof for a formal greeting. "I see you brought the little princesses with you, what an... unexpected surprise! I'd like to apologize beforehand for the lack of preparation for your visit. We didn't know that you were coming, and—"

"At ease, Mayor," Celestia chuckled, raising her hoof to stop the mayor's rambling. "I decided to visit my student to see how is she faring. My, er, little ones decided to come as well, as they missed Sunset at the castle," she explained, calming the distressed mare slightly.

"Oh, well... we had some things prepared for Your Highnesses, so if you could please follo—"

"That won't be an necessary, Mayor. I simply wanted a casual visit with my student and her friends, but I appreciate your plans nonetheless," Celestia said with a smile, walking towards the pink mare who was waving her hoof excitedly.

"Hiya, Princess!" Pinkie greeted, stepping in front of the dumbfounded mayor. Looking down to the fillies, she said, "Hiya, little princesses, you surely have grown!" Pinkie ruffled the little alicorns' manes as they laughed at the pink mare's cooing.

"Pinkie!" Twilight and Luna both shouted, buzzing their little wings to hug her. Celestia felt something inside her stir at the sight of the two little alicorns smiling. Nostalgia, love, and various other feelings filled the turmoil of the princess's heart, as times long past flashed before her eyes.

She cleared her head of those feelings, as she walked beside Pinkie and her daughters. "So, Miss Pinkamena, it was terribly nice of you to come and welcome us, but if I may ask, how did you know we were coming? Did the mayor tell you?" Celestia asked, curious about the young mare's antics.

Her visits, even the impromptu ones, were always notified to the authority of the city destination, standard protocol for the royal guard. Even so, there was no possible way that Pinkie had known about the visit— not even Sunset knew! So you can imagine Celestia's surprise when Pinkie Pie responded with a mere shake of her head.

"Nope, the mayor doesn't tell me anything, ever since that accident with the pop tarts and the cats. Anyways, I had a combo this morning: twitchy-tail, floppy-ears, itchy-nose, and flamey-hair, which means that the princesses are coming to town!" Pinkie explained happily, earning a confused frown from the Princess of the Sun, which in turn earned a few laughs from the pair of fillies, who found Pinkie's eccentric nature amusing.

"Auntie Pinkie, you're so random," Luna said, before Pinkie ruffled her mane once more.

"Don't worry your little filly head over it," Pinkie said, waving her hoof dismissively. "Now come on, Sunset's waiting."

As they arrived at Golden Oaks library, Pinkie finishing her exciting tale of the biggest ice cream ever, Princess Celestia was suffering from an unexpected memory assault. This would be the first time she had seen Sunset since her disappearance into the magic mirror. Sunset Shimmer, one of the most brilliant and sharper students in her school— unfortunately, one of the most disappointing students, too. And it was all Celestia's fault.