a princess and her sheriff

why not sure I'll marry you part 5

It was the morning after the wedding and things were quiet in Zephyr Heights castle. The royal guards and staff were in low spirits, for they were nothing short of sympathetic for Pipp. They tried to hide it whenever Haven and Zipp passed by, but deep down their queen and oldest princess knew what was on their minds. It didn't help that Pipp hadn't left her room since the night before.

Haven was in the throne room going through towers of paperwork. Cloudpuff napped next to her, cuddled up in a ball while Zoom stood in front of the throne, organizing the queen's schedule on her phone. The staff was taking down decorations as their queen worked. Haven hoped focusing on her duties would keep her mind off of the wedding, but her heart still ached for her beloved daughter.

Suddenly, Zoom's phone rang, and she answered. She listened to the other pony on the phone and grew uneasy before turning to Haven.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but the guards stationed at the elevator to the castle grounds have just informed me that Presto Tetrachord is there," Zoom said.

Haven froze in the middle of signing a form, and she clenched her teeth, looking daggers at the paper as if it was Presto himself. Zoom cleared her throat and continued.

"They said he's crying and begging the guards to let him in. He claims he just needs five minutes to talk to Princess Pipp."

"Oh, he does. Does he?" Haven snarled. Her eyes were still on the paper. "Well then, tell the guards he has five seconds to leave the premises and continue gathering his things before I have him dragged out of my kingdom in chains with all of his things left behind."

"With pleasure, Your Highness," Zoom said, smirking.

The guard went back to her phone and relayed the order below hanging up. Haven lifted her hoof to continue signing paperwork but sighed and hung her head, for Presto wanting to see Pipp made the queen think of holding Pipp when she broke down. Haven pinched the bridge of her nose and put the paper she was working on back on top of its pile. Going to see Pipp would put Haven drastically behind schedule, but she'd rather deal with that than not going to check on her daughter. She poked Cloudpuff's side, waking him up, and the little dog yawned before looking up at his owner.

"Come, Sweetie. Let's go see Pipp," Haven said.

Cloudpuff sprung to his feet and barked happily. With that, Haven and Cloudpuff exited the throne room, leaving Zoom to look after the paperwork until the queen returned. They took an elevator to the floor to Pipp's room and walked to the front door just in time to see Zipp walking over from the other side. Haven and Zipp smiled for having the same idea before Zipp put her hoof on the datapad, and the doors opened.

When they went in, the room was still a mess. Pipp's breakfast that Haven had sent to her was untouched, and Pipp herself was out of her wedding dress and sitting in front of her keyboard. She rested the side of her head against the top of the keyboard, staring at the figurines of her and Presto as she played a glum tune with one hoof. Cloudpuff barked as he jumped onto Pipp's chair and then onto the keyboard to stand between Pipp and the figurines. Pipp raised her head and the edge of her lips curled slightly as she petted the dog.

"Hi, Fluffy Pie," Pipp said softly.

Cloudpuff wagged his tail and proceeded to lick Pipp's face. Pipp giggled and picked Cloudpuff up before noticing that Haven and Zipp were in her room.

"Oh, hey, Mom, Zipp," Pipp said.

"Hi, darling. How are you feeling?" Haven asked.

Pipp's glum demeanor returned and she looked away while still petting Cloudpuff.

"Not great," she answered.

Haven frowned and walked over to rub Pipp's back. Zipp hesitated before she stepped forward with a small smile.