Princesses of Equestria

Chapter 40: The Last Lesson

Canterlot palace had seen better days.

Mind, it had seen worse ones. Only a week ago, there'd been practically nothing of it left. The dedication, sweat, more sweat, and yet more sweat of Canterlot's royal guards had changed that.

If Ponyville was a skeleton of its former self, then Canterlot was at least a skeleton with the skin still on, and the thinnest layer of muscle beneath. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour, who'd gotten there early to supervise Festival preparations, had likened the palace to a hospitalized starvation victim on life support; hanging by a thread, yet recovering with each passing hour as patient doctors pumped fresh nutrients into their bloodstream.

The visiting peoples of Equestria were those nutrients. Trickling along train tracks, mountain roads, and warm updrafts, they filled Canterlot with color, motion, and new life.

The liveliest of these visitors burst from the Ponyville Express at a go for broke gallop. Granny Smith had been fresh out of zap apple cider thanks to the diamond dogs, a fact which the Express's driver hadn't taken into account when he'd scheduled his departure for the palace.

Twilight and Equus had suppressed their panic, brainstormed with their friends, then conjured a real storm to supercharge the train's engine. This worked, but had the unfortunate side effect of leaving Rarity too drained to clean everypony like she had when Pinkie's rutabaga custard pie blew up. And so it was that Equus Nox, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, Discord and Intellectus found themselves sprinting into Canterlot's throne room without the benefit of a wash beforehoof.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had been doing a spot of light reading when their guests barged in. Despite working round the clock for seven days straight to get the realm shipshape, the Princesses glowed with renewed vitality. And if their manes were a little mussed, and their eyes were a bit baggy, well. That was what their Queen-sized cups of coffee were for.

Celestia and Luna drunk deep, and smiled over the letters they browsed. Equus recognized the jumble of handwriting. The morale enhancement exercises Twilight and her friends had written back in Equinox Greens.

" 'Please excuse me. I have to go punch Discord in the face', " Luna recited merrily.

"She did not! " Celestia laughed hard enough to snort coffee out her nose.

"She did indeed! Made his head whirl like a top!" Luna guffawed.

"I guess you could say she took me for a spin." Discord slapped his knee. Rainbow groaned, Applejack facehoofed and Rarity cringed, but the Princesses, Spike and Pinkie all giggled like schoolfillies.

"Think that's bad? I practically chained him up!" Intellectus said, with impeccable timing. Giggles graduated to belly laughs.

Equus didn't join in. Had hers and Twilight's letter made it through? Before Equus could recover enough from her frantic gallop to ask, Twilight beat her to the buck.

"Greetings ... your majesties," said Twilight between gasps. "My ... sincerest apologies ... for the delay."

"Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle," said Celestia, looking up with a smile. "Please, think nothing of ... Queen Eponia's star-specked plot! What in Equestria happened to you all?!"

"Diamond dogs." Rarity grimly brushed the slobber stains.

"Riding timber wolves." Spike grimly picked out the wooden fang in Applejack's horseshoe.

"With knives and throwing axes." Rainbow grimly tapped the weapons stuck in Pinkie's mane.

"And stolen zap apples." Applejack grimly indicated everypony's electrically singed dresses.