My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Starlight Sparkle

A Royal Welcome

It wasn't every day that you got a visit from royalty (just every other day, when you happened to be Celestia's prize student). Ponyville decided to roll out the red carpet treatment for the arrival of Princess Astra that afternoon, and there were banners and streamers and even a band standing by outside the pavilion. Virtually everypony had turned out to be there to greet her when she showed up, and for some the excitement was almost too much.

"Can you believe it?" Pinkie Pie yammered, trembling with boundless enthusiasm, "Are you excited? I'm excited. I haven't been this excited since the Grand Galloping Gala. I wonder what she's like. Do you think she's pink? Or purple? Or yellow? Or green?"

Twilight groaned. "Yes Pinkie, I think Princess Astra is a bright green pony. With pink polkadots and a fluffy yellow mane made from cotton candy."

Rarity let out a snort of disgust. "I certainly hope not! I can scarcely imagine such a garish looking sight."

"Well whatever colour she is, I just hope she gets a move on," Rainbow Dash complained, stifling a yawn, "She's ten minutes late already. That's ten minutes I could have spent napping."

Sure enough, Astra was quite late. Twilight assumed she would be flying in somehow, yet the skies remained clear. Ten minutes turned into twenty, then half an hour. When Astra was forty minutes late and still showed now sign of making her appearance, some ponies began to voice concerns that she simply wasn't coming.

"I just don't understand it," Twilight frowned, "I got a letter from Astra saying she would be arriving in Ponyville by this time. What could be keeping her?"

"Oh! A guessing game! I love guessing games!" Pinkie bounced around Twilight and began listing random ideas off the top of her head. "Maybe she fell down a well! Or maybe she forgot to reset her clock for Summer Sun Time! Or maybe she got lost!"

Applejack chuckled at that. "That wouldn't surprise me in the least. Some city ponies cant tell their flank from their withers once they set hoof in the country."

Spike had a more sinister suggestion to offer however. "Maybe ... maybe she was abducted by a UFE!"

Silence, punctuated by pointed pony stares.

"A UFE?" Twilight repeated, knowing that she would regret asking but not being able to help herself. Spike nodded, the tips of his claws tapping together nervously.

"An Unidentified Flying Equine!" he whispered loudly (a difficult yet still doable feat). His gaze darted from side to side before continuing. "They snatch unsuspecting ponies, perform horrifying experiments on them, then drop them off in the middle of a cornfield with no memory of ever being taken in the first place."

For the most part this suggestion was met with all the scepticism it rightly deserved, however Pinkie Pie treated the idea seriously and gasped in horror at the notion of such a thing. She leaned towards the little dragon and lowered her voice, as if afraid somepony might overhear.

"Really? What does a UFE look like?"

"That's just it," Spike paused for dramatic effect, prompting an eye roll from Twilight, "Nopony knows!"

"Oh please!" Twilight flicked her head in annoyance at Pinkie's ensuing overreaction, "If nopony has ever seen them and anypony that gets taken has no memory of them, then how exactly does anyone know they even exist in the first place? Where do the stories even come from?"

Whatever the reason for Astra's continued absence, it persisted well into an hour after she was supposed to show. Finally Twilight apologised to everypony, whereupon the assembled ponies departed and returned home. Twilight resolved to get back to the library and write a letter to Princess Celestia as soon as possible, in case something serious had happened to Astra. With Spike in tow, she pushed open the door to her residence and strode in.

"Spike, fetch some ink and parchment, we need to-" She stopped and stared. Her staring rapidly turned into gawking. And no wonder.

"Twilight Sparkle! So nice to finally meet you," Astra greeted her warmly from amidst a huge stack of books, "I have to say I was a little worried when you didn't show, but luckily I was able to find my way here ..."

"Princess Astra?" Twilight exclaimed, not quite believing her eyes, "When did you get here?"

Astra paused to consider for a moment before answering. "Umm, about an hour ago. I did send word I was coming. I had hoped you would meet me off the train-"

"The train?"

"Why, yes, I took the train here from Canterlot. Is something wrong? Should I have not done that?"

Twilight blinked and gawked some more. "But ... I thought ... we had a big welcoming parade ready to greet you at the town square! We waited for over an hour!"

Astra seemed genuinely astonished, then somewhat embarrassed. "Oh! Oh? Oh, but you really shouldn't have gone to all the trouble. I'm nopony special, honestly."

Spike tugged at Twilight to get her attention and then silently jabbed a finger to indicate the stacks of books and cases of luggage occupying much of the floor space. Astra noticed and bowed her head a little.

"Err yes, I didn't know what reference materials you would have on hand, so I went ahead and brought everything I thought I might need."

She had in fact brought so many books that they could easily open up a second library in Ponyville with them all. Twilight's gaze swept from one (remarkably neat) pile to another, before returning to Astra.

"I did mention you'd be staying at a library, didn't I?"

Astra considered that. "You did, yes. Oh well, you can never have too many books, right?" She pasted a forced smile on her face, while Spike struggled to locate a means to cross from one end of the room to the other. He finally gave up and turned back to Twilight.

"You can if you need a trail of breadcrumbs to find your way," he muttered sullenly.

Between the three of them they succeeded in relocating the majority of Astra's books to the basement, reclaiming the library floor in the name of space, freedom, and the ability to walk more than two steps without falling over. Twilight was finally able to get a good look at Astra, and saw that she was not bright green and covered in pink polkadots. Astra was a white unicorn with an inky black mane and wide blue eyes, and had three golden stars for a cutie mark. She also seemed to have the same knack for organising that Twilight had, and they soon had everything neatly tidied up and in an orderly fashion.

"Phew!" Twilight wiped her brow, "All done. Well Princess Astra, make yourself at home. I hope you enjoy your stay here in Ponyville."

Astra beamed happily at her. "I'm certain I will, and I'm very much looking forwards to learning from you Twilight."

"You ... are?" Twilight sounded a little dubious. Astra nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course. Celestia has told me so much about you, and I've read all about your exploits as well."

"You've read about me? Where?"

Astra opened her mouth to answer, then gestured to indicate that Twilight should wait right there. She zipped off down to the basement and then returned seconds later, levitating a slender volume over to the purple pony. She hovered the book in front of Twilight and then opened it at the relevant page.

"Unique Unicorns of the Modern Age," Astra recited the book's title as Twilight magically took a hold of the item in question, "Page 73 - Twilight Sparkle. I checked it out from the Canterlot library of magic so many times that they gave the book to me and stocked another copy on the shelves."

Twilight was flabbergasted. There was a picture of her, and two whole pages detailing her adventures. Defeating Nightmare Moon and Discord, taming an Ursa Minor ... there was even mention of her entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns!

"I ..." Twilight stammered, "I had no idea. Wow."

"Does it say anything about me in there?" Spike caught the book when Twilight released her hold over it. "One sentence! That's all? I'm Twilight's Number One Assistant, and all I get is one lousy sentence? Sheesh!"

Twilight sighed and turned her attention back to Astra with a faint smile. "I hope you don't mind Princess, but I promised to take some things over to my friend Fluttershy."

"Oh I don't mind at all, and please, just call me Astra," she insisted meekly, "'Princess' makes me sound far more important than I actually am."

"Okay Astra. Say, why don't you come along with me? I'm sure Fluttershy would love to meet you. She takes care of a lot of different animals, but you needn't worry, they don't bite." She considered for a moment before adding; "Mostly."

A look of sudden ... alarm? Panic? Uneasiness, perhaps, flashed across Astra's face. She quickly covered it up with a false smile and shook her head from side to side, backing away from Twilight a few steps. "Thank you for the offer, but ... I ... I'll just stay right here and get settled in. If that's okay."

"Of course. If you need anything just ask Spike, he'll be more than happy to help you."

Spike bowed deeply. "One dragon extraordinaire, at your service."

"Wonderful!" Astra grinned. "Oh look, is that a telescope?" And with that she shot off like a bullet, leaving a vaguely bemused Twilight and Spike standing around looking at the space she had recently occupied. Feeling somewhat uneasy herself, Twilight lowered her head and whispered to Spike.

"Keep an eye on her, will you?"

The baby dragon saluted. "You can count of me."

Astra seemed friendly enough, but there was just something about her that Twilight couldn't quite put her hoof on. It was probably nothing.

Probably.