Plans and preparations were in full swing at the palace of Equinaro.

In just a few weeks, a coronation celebration would take place, as Equinaro was getting a new princess.

She was born a royal lady, the daughter of a duke and duchess. But her parents' true colors were exposed this past Heartmas to the queen herself and her immediate family.

The Evermares were once the highest of the high society families in all Equinaro, being the closest relatives of the royal family. A very posh yet respected bunch. Except, no one knew just how abusive they truly were.

No one... except for the youngest daughter, Comedia Adira Evermare-Mundi, newly adopted by Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi.

From the moment she was born, Comedia was, well... different from the rest of her family.

For the longest time, there had been no silly-corns in the royal family. Reigna and her middle child Dream Heart were corazicorns, a unicorn whose magic specialized in matters of the heart, the oldest daughter Fantasia was a beauty-corn, as her magic specialized in making inner beauty visible to the eyes, and the youngest child Forsythia was a botani-corn, a unicorn who specialized in plants. It was uncertain what kind of unicorn Gentry Evermare was. The only time he ever used magic was when he picked things up. But whatver his type, his youngest daughter was not like him.

Gentry and Cordelia Evermare had not even married for love. They'd both sought a matchmaker, who matched them based on their tastes for high class and stature. And they had two daughters. One thing that was for sure, while they acted politely around Reigna and her family, they were actually very disagreeable, posh, arrogant, and quite obnoxious too. Their oldest daughter, Emeraldi, was just as mean and just as disagreeable (at least to Comedia's knowledge), and a diva at that. But their younger daughter was very different.

When Comedia was born, her parents were shocked when they saw her mane was two colors. Now, most ponies in Equinaro did have multi-colored manes, but orange and yellow were not a common combo. So, Comedia's parents did a blood test and found that Comedia was most likely to develop silly-corn magic, to their dismay.

Silly-corns were notoriously know to act pretty ridiculously. It was in their nature to make people smile and laugh. But, for a posh family like the Evermares, the last thing they wanted was somepony to make them a laughingstock or bring any humor into their home. As you might've guessed, humor was frowned upon in the Evermare home. Telling jokes was outlawed, clowns were banned from birthdays, and if you even thought to so much as giggle, you would get forty lashes.

So, Gentry and Cordelia did everything they could to prevent Comedia from ever pursuing comedy by making her afraid of it. Scary clown movies, exposing her to bleeding pranks, and basically traumatizing her on purpose when she was a small filly. But, their efforts to suppress her comedic side only sealed the deal for her becoming a big-time jokester.

Because Comedia had her humorous side suppressed for so long, the moment she got her first joy buzzer, she went on a pranking spree, starting with her sister, to whom her parents compared her all the time and humiliated her with. Comedia felt hurt that her parents and her sister didn't respect or accept her as she was, and even worse that they compared her to her sister all the time, and no one seemed to notice or even care that Comedia didn't feel safe or happy going home after school or a visit to the royal palace.

And as if that weren't bad enough, Comedia's parents tried to give her to someone else. They figured if they couldn't control her or tame her, someone else could. They gave her to any high society family they found who wanted a new pony. But, Comedia was a lot smarter than her parents ever gave her credit for. She knew her parents would not care if the riders loved her or took care of her. She knew they just wanted her "fixed." Already, she'd kept herself from having to go to finishing school by scaring the headmistress with a fake snake in her tea. And she already figured out how to get out of staying with bad riders too.

They gave her to a count from another kingdom. He put Comedia in a nice stable, but he made her get up really early every morning for riding practice and never let her break for water. Not to mention, the saddle was very uncomfortable, but the count didn't care. So, Comedia pranked him by planting a stink bomb in his bed and putting belch powder in his coffee that morning. And before the afternoon on their second day together, the count sent Comedia back.

The Evermares tried giving Comedia to a princess from a very rich kingdom two world over. She was awfully spoiled, and tried to make Comedia wear her hair up really high even though she didn't like it one bit. Comedia pranked her with hair remover in her shampoo. That had that princess shrieking loudly enough to shatter all the stained glass windows in her castle. Naturally, she sent Comedia back and demanded her parents pay for the damages.

Then, they tried giving her to a rich family, whose daughter wanted a pony for her birthday. That was a pretty big disaster too. Comedia got sent back within two hours of the birthday party.

After fifteen more disastrous tries to give Comedia to a family who could fix her, they tried selling her to a circus looking for horses. But the conditions for the four-legged performers were awful. So, instead of pranking, Comedia did what any provoked horse did: bite and kick. The two-legged performers couldn't take it, and neither could the ringmaster. So, they gave her back to the Evermares.

And then one day, Comedia was out and about. Her parents couldn't care less where she went as long as she wasn't in their presence.

Just after the Jedi spoke to the Equinary...

Comedia was out in a meadow, running about chasing a butterfly, and pouncing and meowing like a cat. It didn't matter what she was doing; she always found a way to put a silly spin on it. But, sometimes she got a little carried away with her silliness.

After a while, Comedia stopped at a pond for some water, and she started making funny faces as she saw her reflection in the water.

"Having fun, Comedia?" said a voice.

And Comedia saw the owner of the voice's reflection in the water. But, she got startled and fell in.

Comedia popped out of the water and gasped for breath.

"Cousin Reigna! Hi." said Comedia.

She got out of the water and shook herself dry, her mane and coat getting all floofed up. Reigna chuckled and told Comedia she had something important to tell her. Comedia wasn't sure what to expect. It wasn't anyone's birthday or a holiday, so it couldn't be a ball that was happening. Comedia followed Reigna to the palace. There, one of the centaurs began brushing her hair back to normal. And to Comedia's surprise, there were five other ponies there too!

Everyone bowed as the queen stepped up front.

"As all of you know," Reigna began. "The Equinary has matched folks with ponies for centuries. And starting approximately three years ago, matches with Jedi have become more common. And as of this year, the Clone War is officially over, but a new one has begun. A war that requires the support of valiant steeds by the sides of various members of the Jedi Council. I've selected six Jedi Masters to start with, and each of you has been matched with one."

Queen Reigna motioned to a number of messages in bottles attached to necklaces.

"Now, as I call each of you up, you will receive your bottles, and I will show you which Jedi you've been matched with."

Reigna began calling up each horse one by one, giving him or her a bottle and showing them a page in the Equinary that showed them the name and image of their new riders.

Sunheart was matched with Shaak Tii, Zipp with Eeth Koth, Hydrangea with Saesee Tinn, Grassi with Kit Fisto, Citrus with Plo Koon, Strawberry Sundae got Mace Windu, and Comedia went last. But Comedia was hesitant at the idea of being matched with a rider. Even though the Equinary had never been wrong before, she was sure this rider would be just like any other she'd faced.

"Now, Comedia. The Equinary has never been wrong before, and I know this Jedi will be a wonderful rider for you." Reigna said. And she showed Comedia the picture. "This is Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi. He's a Cerea, and a very powerful Jedi."

Comedia looked at Master Mundi's picture and his profile. He was a kind fellow, polite, and had plenty of experience with children as well as some wild ones. Admittedly, Comedia did get a nice feeling from him, but she just wasn't sure about this.

"What if he's just like all my other riders?" Comedia said.

"Comedia, if you give Master Mundi half a chance and ease up on the pranking, maybe you'll actually bond with him."

"Hmm. Well, I trust the book's opinion more than my dad's opinion. So, I guess it couldn't hurt."

"I know Gentry can be a little more judgmental when it comes to choosing riders, but he means well."

Comedia shook her head. "You don't know him as well as you think you do."

"Hush now. Now, Comedia." Reigna gently nudged Comedia with her muzzle. "Head on home and start packing. You and the others are to meet your riders tomorrow."

So, Comedia began packing her bag, got fitted into her new horseshoes, and boarded the ship that would take them to Coruscant. This being a special Ride of Love event, Reigna personally was bringing the horses, especially on account of one of them being a relative and wanting to ensure she settled in well. But, Comedia still thought her rider needed to be tested. So, she dug into her bag when Reigna wasn't looking, and put a joy buzzer on her hoof for when she met her rider.

And then came the official meeting of the ponies and their riders. The other five ponies approached their riders and sniffed them to get to know their scents. Comedia did the same. Her rider seemed okay. And then, she said hello and reached her hoof out to shake hand to hoof with him.

Ki-Adi took her hand and then yelped in surprise when he felt a jolt, which made Comedia laugh.

"I see... you are a jokester." said Ki-Adi.

In her head, Comedia was surprised. Instead of running away or making a huge fuss when she played a prank, he just shook it off. But that response was a little different when she started pranking everyone else in the Temple. That landed her a timeout and then getting clavatized, which led to her pranking at least half the city and having to clean up a huge mess afterwards.

However, to Comedia's great surprise, instead of staying mad at her and sending her away like her previous riders, Ki-Adi came and talked to Comedia. He could see that Comedia was unhappy and was pulling all those pranks out of a cry for help. And he showed her love and compassion that her parents never had.

Comedia felt that she couldn't be happier to have a new parental figure in her life who behaved as a loving parent should. Ki-Adi, on the other hand, had a second chance at being a father. He'd had seven daughters, though he'd desperately wanted to have a son. In truth, he'd partially hoped he would get a young stallion, which would probably be the closest thing to having a son he would ever have. But then he met Comedia, and he didn't care that she was a girl. He only cared about her well-being and being able to raise her and love her. And royal or not, Comedia was his princess.

Now, Comedia was going to become an actual princess, as she'd uncovered a dark secret none of the other royals could or even might have realized with it right under their noses. She'd exposed her parents' true colors during a Heartmas party at the royal palace. As much as she would've liked her parents to feel remorse for how they treated her and to make amends with them as a holiday miracle, they still did not accept her as she was, nor did they cease comparing her to Emeraldi. But Comedia had been expecting this, and she decided it was time Reigna learned the truth about her older cousin before he somehow convinced her to give the throne to him and Emeraldi and potentially place Equinaro under a terrible rule. The entire royal family was in utter disappointment when they learned what the Evermares really thought about them, thanks to a recording device Comedia hid in her propeller hat.

Reigna also felt awful that she didn't see her cousin's true colors sooner and left Comedia in an abusive home without realizing it. As queen, she saw fit to strip her cousin and his wife of their titles as punishment for how they treated their children, as well as intent for crimes against the kingdom. But, she let Comedia keep hers because she showed she had the heart of a true royal. In fact, she believed she showed the qualities of a true princess. She might not have been the best at proper etiquette, but she had guts to stand up for what was right, and that made her fit to be a princess among her cousins. Although Fantasia would likely be the new queen someday after Reigna's reign was over, she would need other leaders to rule alongside her. A truly good leader never worked alone.

Emeraldi was allowed to keep her title as well, and Reigna even told her she could move into the palace if she wished. But instead, Emeraldi went back with her parents, which worried Reigna deeply.

You can imagine Comedia was shocked when Reigna told her she'd like to make her a princess if she would accept. And, Comedia never thought this kind of thing possible. But, not wanting to offend Reigna both as her relative and as her queen, Comedia accepted.

"Nope!" Comedia shook her head.

Roya turned a page in her sketchbook and showed Comedia a picture of a gown that looked like Cinderella's dress.

"How about this one?" Roya asked.

"Nuh uh."

Roya then showed Comedia a picture of a gown that looked like Merida's dress.

"How about this?"

"No way!"

Comedia was looking at some sketches of dress designs Roya put together. But, so far Comedia rejected all of them. That should've been expected. Comedia was not a big fan of dresses. That was another thing that made her different from most princesses, and girls in general.

"There's gotta be something you like." Boba said.

"Maybe if we look at what Comedia has in her wardrobe now," said Gabby. "We'll have a better idea of something to design."

"Good idea." said Carmine. "My grandmother always used to say the best way to create new inspiration was making do with what you have."

"Well, I don't have a ton of stuff." said Comedia with her front half in a chest. "This may come as a shock to you, but my parents did not buy me a lot of outfits. Most of them were hand-me-downs Emeraldi threw outside my door, or stuff I learned to put together myself. Ooh! Here's my favorite outfit!"

Comedia jumped into the chest completely, and the chest bounced around for a bit as she was getting changed. And then she popped out dressed like the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.

"What do you think?" Comedia said.

The others started laughing seeing how cute and funny Comedia looked.

"You look so cute." Carmine laughed. "but I'm not sure that's appropriate for a coronation."

"They do have a point, Dear." said Ki-Adi. "You are becoming a princess. You will need to dress the part."

Comedia rolled her eyes.

"You're starting to sound like a friendlier version of my parents." Comedia said. "And just because it's friendlier doesn't mean it's any less annoying."

"This is not gonna be easy." Roya scratched her head.

Boba kissed his girlfriend's cheek and told her he had faith in her. She always came up with a great design for various outfits.

"The coronation isn't for three weeks," said Carmine. "You've got plenty of time to come up with something."

"Can it at least be purple? Or have gummy bears on it?" Comedia asked. "Those are things I like. Ooh! Or something with balloons or streamers!"

"Sounds tricky, but I'll see what I can do." Roya promised, writing down everything Comedia said she liked. "I'd better started if I'm gonna have something good to make."

Comedia was nervous about this whole thing. A coronation was never a small occasion. She'd been in attendance with her parents at Qui-Gon's coronation, but she kept her head down most of the time. It was the only way she knew to get through occasions like that and live to see the next day.

But, nevertheless, she intended to remain her funny self and pursue her dream of being a stand-up comedian someday.

One day, Ahsoka was walking down the halls of the Temple, when someone started tickling her with a big green feather. Ahsoka laughed as the feather tickled her, and she quickly saw who it was.

"Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" sang Comedia.

"Comedia, knock it off!" Ahsoka laughed, swatting the feather away as Comedia laughed.

Later that day, she was practicing her comedy by telling some jokes at an open mic in town.

"Oh, here's a good one! My boss told me yesterday, 'You shouldn't dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want.' But when I turned up today in Ghostbusters clothes, he said I was fired."

The audience was laughing really hard at some of the jokes Comedia told.

"You know," said Comedia, taking a sip of iced tea that sat on a stool beside her. "Telling jokes makes me thirsty. And being a future princess, it's probably gonna be tea parties for me. Now, I'm a fan of sweet teas, but not green tea so much. But the worst kind of tea I've ever had to swallow was harsh reali-tea."

That had more people really laughing. Comedia was just a natural-born comedian. People started to call her the queen of comedy.

"It's really great to see I'm making people laugh so much. When I started out, my parents used to say I should do something more serious like math or chemistry. And chemistry, that's pretty mixed up, and no one really laughs at that. And sometimes, people don't laugh at first when I joke about it. So, I'll just keep trying 'til i get a reaction."

And people kept on laughing and laughing as Comedia continued on with her jokes. But then Comedia looked at the time and said,

"Looks like that's all I have time for tonight. Time sure flies when we're having fun. Even if no one's thrown the clock from the wall."

Everyone laughed and applauded as Comedia concluded her show.

Comedia walked out of the cafe and was immediately spotted by paparazzi who started flashing pictures of her and asking all sorts of questions.

"Lady Comedia! Over here!"

"Any comments on your upcoming coronation ceremony?"

"Are the rumors true that your own family won't be in attendance?"

"Do you know where the former duke and duchess are now?"

"What of your sister Emeraldi?"

Those were the kind of questions that made Comedia uncomfortable. She didn't know what happened to her family after they were stripped of their titles, other than her parents getting divorced and Emeraldi getting clavatized. But, she sincerely wished them the best. Biologically, they were her family. But often, Comedia did question a lot. Why did her parents see her as such a burden other than her being a silly-corn? Why did they have such a problem with humor? Did they have really goofy laughs they were embarrassed about? Did her father go too far with pranks when he was younger, and he feared Comedia would get in worse trouble than he did?

But, Comedia learned of her father's youthful days from Reigna. According to her, he'd never been humorous at all. In fact, he took his studies very seriously. Sometimes, maybe a little too seriously. And when he inherited his father's manor, he'd grown more distant from the rest of the family, especially when he married Cordelia Hoofworth, daughter of one of the richest stallions in Equinaro.

Comedia managed to fly away from the paparazzi and find a moment to herself. She looked and saw an ad for another event coming up. The Pretty Pony Pageant, a big competition which Comedia recalled Emeraldi winning twelve times in a row, not that she really cared. She never cared for pageants or any of that stuff. Her parents always got a temporary rider for Emeraldi, as the rules stated that every pony in the contest must had a biped rider to enter.

There were also a lot of reporters who questioned Comedia being fit for a royal promotion. Comedia never dressed like a princess, she often made a mess on her face when she ate, she always covered her crumpets with peanut butter and jelly instead of traditional butter, she blew bubbles in her drinks through a crazy straw, and she still pulled off silly pranks from time to time. But, Comedia knew other princesses who were different than the traditional storybook princesses. And some princes too.

Comedia walked into the Temple as she thought about some of the royals who were different from the typical princes and princesses most would expect to see in tales as old as time.

Omega was one. Her hair was shorter than most princesses had it, she also wore pants more often than dresses, and she liked engineering better than cheerleading. And Boba, being a prince, was a cheerleader, which was commonly directed at girls. Gabby, she was definitely a different princess. She still played Tigger Tag, she loved pop music, did stunt horseback riding, and she knew how to fix a droid too. Lamenta... she was closest to a traditional princess. Calm, collected, graceful in ballet, and a lover of tea parties and pretty dresses. But even she was different from traditional princesses because she faced the dark more than anyone else, and she wasn't afraid either because she knew that even the darkest spots could be defeated by even the smallest speck of light.

Anakin and Carmine were pretty different from the usual princes too. Even though they were twins, they were very different too. Anakin was very charming, and quite popular with the ladies. A little too popular for Padme's liking. But, he was also still a bit reckless, as well as very playful when it came to his kids especially. He was also a messy eater. Carmine, on the other hand, was a bit more childish sometimes, and more of a pop and rock fan than classical music.

And Kara... she was a lot speedier than most other princesses were. She could literally run a marathon without breaking a bead of sweat.

There was also Princess Dracona, a half-dragon princess who was a fierce fighter and wielder of fire. Princess Vivian, the wild animal princess who growled at threats and could literally chew through leather and leave a mark on someone if she wanted. And almost every queen Comedia knew was a princess at some point, and they were all different too.

Even King Qui-Gon was different from most royals. Being King did not stop him from being a wonderful father and grandfather for his family. He didn't even object when Remix turned his coronation ball into a pop dance party, which the other Evermares called an abomination on royal tradition.

So... why couldn't Comedia be the princess who liked comedy?

Comedia was snapped out of her train of thought when she heard Master Mundi calling her for supper. And as she dug into her spaghetti squash, she started to feel more hopeful that her coronation would go well.

"You know, Comedia. Crown or none, you will always be my princess." Ki-Adi said.

"Thanks, Daddy. I really appreciate that." Comedia said.

Except, they might soon have to deal with a bigger problem than Comedia's coronation gown.