18 — Party Girl
Once they arrived at Trafalgar Square, the Queen and the Princesses transferred to an official State Carriage — a 1902 Ascot Landau carriage with fold-down top. The plan was for them to be escorted by the Household Cavalry, with street liners coming from the Foot Guards. Union Flags and the flags of Equestria were draped on both sides of the road.
Castor had never thought the Royals would be interested in seeing the Queen's Mounted Household Cavalry. He hoped it wouldn't turn into a . . . problem.
The rest would motor on to the Palace.
Naturally, the sisters stalled that plan. Celestia and Luna made straight for the six grey-white horses hitched to the open-air carriage — the weather was cooperating, for once. The horses were well-trained, and only shuffled awkwardly in their harness as the two smaller horses with points on their heads and wings flew over to them. Twilight followed more slowly on foot, staring with wide eyes at the three postilions seated on the left-side horses — the coach had no driver.
The Queen and her entourage were all surprised to see that the three princesses were blushing as they inspected the three men. No, it wasn't the men that had attracted their attention, but their saddles, oddly enough. Twilight had turned an interesting shade of magenta. Luna peppered the horses with questions, "What's your rank? How long have you had this job?" and, with a sidelong glance back at the saddles, "Is that comfortable?" to the postilion's confusion. The horses just looked at her, their ears twitching.
Celestia, meanwhile, had noticed the ranked Horse Guard before and after the coach.
"Oh, my," she murmured. "So that really is what they're for," she said, studying the saddles of the first rank.
Twilight, looking over at the other ranks, gasped and her blush deepened. "Celestia," she said, scandalized, "Are those ponies wearing socks in public!?"
Celestia quickly redirected her gaze, then frowned. She quickly trotted over and leaned closer to one black horse who had white colouring on her rear-legs that extended to the bottom of her knees. She straightened.
"No," she said loudly, smirking, "Those are actually the colour of their coat at that spot." She gave a sly glance to the embarrassed purple pony, and headed back to the carriage. "Imagine that, Twilight. What would ponies say if they thought you always wore socks in public?" She paused a second. "With a saddle."
For a moment, Castor thought Twilight turned red all the way to the tip of her tail.
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Once more, Discord fell out of his armchair, guffawing in delight.
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Shortly, though, the Queen and the three Princesses were seated in the coach, and the procession started off at a slow walk.
Twilight slowly returned to her normal purple coat, though still tinged with a hint of red. She steadfastly refused to look at the horses in front and behind them, instead focusing on the huge crowd that stood lining the road to Buckingham Palace.
The Princesses sat much higher on their seats than did the Queen, which gave the packed throng a clear view of them. The sisters sat in the front, facing backwards, while the Queen and Twilight sat in the back.
Castor and the others headed for the Palace via a different route.
He knew that the Princesses had seen the many books about horses, but the reason for their reactions must be the difference between reading about something that seemed fantastic, and seeing it in real life, up close.
Castor and the rest of the Queen's entourage knew the moment when the Royal carriage arrived. The booming sounds of the forty-one-gun salute from the cannons in Green Park, with the simultaneous sixty-two-gun salute from the cannons in the Tower of London and City of London, welcomed the Princesses.
In a break with tradition, the Guard of Honour for the event did comprise of senior members of all five House Guard regiments. It was all a great deal of pomp and circumstance as the Queen and her guests stood on the steps of the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. To the watching public's surprise, as the Equestrian National Anthem was played, the three Princesses stood upright on their hind legs, with their wings spread wide. Twilight was in front of and centred between the other two. The storm of cameras clicking at the impressive sight was not unexpected. They returned to the ground, momentarily, as the band prepared for the next anthem.
As God Save the Queen started, they again stood upright and spread their wings. This time, though, in a move that surprised even the Queen, Celestia and Luna shifted to stand behind the Queen and her husband. Twilight moved down the steps to form a triangle around England's Royal couple without blocking them.
It made for a striking picture that graced the front page of almost every newspaper in the world. The other governments, and most people, took it as a very public statement of solidarity and friendship between the nations. No one would be surprised when a mutual-aid treaty was announced the next day.
At the end of the anthem, the three Princesses returned to their positions to the Queen's right. The commander of the Guard of Honour formation mounted the steps and said, "Your Majesties, the guard of honour, provided by the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and the Welsh Guards, is formed up, and ready for inspection."
They weren't the full regiments, of course, only a row of the most senior soldiers from each unit.
While the three Princesses walked in front of the Guards, the selected band played a slow march. Celestia stopped in the middle of the first row to ask one guard to present his weapon for her inspection. When he held it out, she took it in her magic. She popped out the magazine, checked the firing chamber, and took a look down the barrel. She removed and inspected the bayonet, before sliding everything back together in one move and handing the rifle back to the Guard. She thanked the Guard, and commended him on his crisp movements and perfect rifle, then they continued down the line. Luna did the same in the second and fourth rows. Twilight did it in the third row, and a long-distance mike picked up her murmur to the Guard, "Are you as nervous about this as I am?"
Celestia picked someone from the fifth row to conclude the inspection.
In a dramatic departure from tradition, behind the foot-troops were five rows of Mounted Horse Guards.
Celestia and Luna took great delight in inspecting the tack the horses were equipped with, and requested several Guards to demonstrate proper dismount and mounting techniques. Many of television watchers across the world marvelled at how the purple pony could change the colour of her coat to magenta, and if it meant anything.
Celestia even flew up and briefly stood on one of the saddles. Her comment that, "We have never before mounted such a large stallion," left Twilight bug-eyed, and her sister's coat, dark though it was, still managed to briefly exhibit a slight reddish tinge.
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Discord was pounding the floor with one hand while laughing so hard he was crying. Oh, the stories he planned to tell Fluttershy!
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The overheard comment also left a lot of people wondering whether or not they should be scandalized.
It was quite some time before Twilight's coat returned to its normal purple shade.
Following the formal events of their arrival, the Princesses had an informal luncheon with the Queen.
Castor had exchanged several letters with Harry Potter regarding what he would recommend as a suitable menu for the Princesses. That was, he had decided, later, one of the best ideas he had had for the visit. Harry provided a rather detailed list of things not to offer the Princesses, and a smaller list of what each Princess appeared to like, or at least, found acceptable, as a lunch item.
Castor was rather surprised at the list of bakery items each of the ponies liked best. The little unicorn had even included a few recipes for some of the things the Princesses liked, both fish and vegetable. He supplied a few recipes from his school that he said were items served there that he had found good to taste
Then it was on to view the Queen's Royal Collection of artefacts, and the tradition of exchanging gifts with the Royals.
"When Equestria was first established, there were those who felt we shouldn't be there, or that Our ponies were a tasty dinner." Celestia said.
"It took several centuries, and many lives, before Our enemies understood completely the folly of challenging Us, and left Us in peace. Although some still test Us to this day," Luna concluded.
Twilight opened one of her saddlebags and removed a sword that was longer than she was. It had a polished shine, with a plain hilt, but had clearly seen use. On closer examination, the oddly-shaped, wide, wooden hilt looked to have teeth marks in it.
Celestia took it from her and presented it, hilt first, to the Queen of the United Kingdom. "Your Majesty, We used many swords in the defence of Equestria against Our enemies two thousand years ago. This sword is one of three that have survived. It has rested in a Canterlot vault since those days, a symbol of Freedom for ponies." She paused. "Should the United Kingdom ever need the aid of Equestria, in any capacity, take this sword in your hand and call for Us. We will come."
Elizabeth gently reached out to take it. The moment she touched it the entire sword glowed brightly.
"A promise has been made, a promise will be kept," Luna and Twilight said as the sword's glow slowly faded.
After a moment's silence, the Queen said, "We shall endeavour to be worthy of such a promise, and We will stand by you as you stand by Us."
That evening was reserved for a State Dinner. Around one hundred and fifty guests were invited to the white-tie event at the ballroom in Buckingham Palace for the banquet. Besides the Equestrian, the guests included members of the extended Royal Family, British politicians, and notable figures from both countries — mostly British.
The meal featured a wide assortment of dishes featuring fish and pastries stuffed with fish meats. The Princesses seemed quite happy with the selection.
After the dessert — a variety of cakes — was served, the new defence arrangement between the two nations was announced, and the sword exhibited.
The next day they toured the stables for the House Guard, the Royal Mews. The Queen allowed that with the new "Special Technology" that the Equestrians had made available to them, the stalls for the horses would be greatly enlarged. Currently, they were barely big enough for a horse to turn around or lie down.
Then it was on to meetings to discuss how the two countries could further their ties and cooperation. They were in the 1844 Room, a room usually reserved for meeting foreign dignitaries.
Luna started with, "Thank you for your kind gift of soil from your moon. It's a quiet little thing, but happy that you've chosen to come visit, brief though that was. Are you intending to return?"
The Queen blinked in surprise, before saying, "It was Our pleasure to gift you. It seemed only proper, given your position in Equestria. As for a return?" She smiled, "I am reliably informed that several trips are already under consideration."
The topics wandered for quite a while, until Celestia said, "I have been told that the air-scrubbers you have installed on your power production plants have been producing blocks of solid carbon as a by-product." She paused to take a sip of her tea. "If you haven't a use, yet, for those, We would be interested in purchasing or trading for them."
At the Queen's polite look, Celestia explained.
"You see, Equestria hasn't any large power plants such as you have here, we instead have used hydro-electric dams to supply our needs. So far, they are well-suited for Our needs.
"Pure carbon, as a result, is of limited availability."
Queen Elizabeth nodded her understanding. "Might I ask why you want these blocks?"
Celestia returned her smile. "Dragon snacks." *
Prince Phillip looked very surprised. "Dragon snacks?" he said, wonderingly.
"In Equestria, dragons eat gems. They have distinctive tastes, I've been told by Our dragon friend, Spike. Rubies tend to be spicy, for example."
"And plain carbon?" asked Elizabeth.
"Is rather pedestrian. However, it's not so much the carbon we desire, as that We can easily apply a bit of heat and pressure to make diamonds of the blocks."
Both Royals looked surprised. "The entire block? At once?" said Phillip.
Celestia nodded. "Although Spike is most interested in experimenting with adding various other elements into the carbon structure to see what tastes he can derive."
Twilight snorted. "He just wants a reason to stuff himself on diamonds as the taste-tester."
The other two Princesses laughed.
"There is that," Celestia said agreeably.
"We see nothing wrong with such an export," the Queen said. "Our understanding is that the operators of the facilities regard the carbon as a simple waste material. What sort of volume did you have in mind?"
Celestia rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "At first? Only a few tonnes. After that? Probably all of it."
In response to their incredulous looks, she said, "Most dragons are . . . large. To a fifteen-ton dragon, a hundred-weight of diamonds is the equivalent of a serving of chips for you." She took another sip of her tea. "Dragons Lair, home of the dragons, could easily consume several tonnes per day."
"It would also provide Us with a product of interest to the dragons, and induce them into more trade and friendlier relations," put in Luna.
The Queen shook her head wryly. "Diamonds. As snacks." She looked over to Celestia. "And it is easy for you . . . your ponies . . . to do?"
The alicorn nodded. "Not difficult at all. A few seconds, at most." She smiled. "If you could have one of your aides fetch us a sample of coal, I could show you."
The Queen rang a bell and told the aide who answered what was wanted. The man hurried out.
While they waited, they discussed how the efficiency of the air-scrubbers, and some of the value the power producers had discovered was in the "reclaimed" elements.
Chortling, Prince Phillip suggested, "You might be able to convince the power generating facilities to pay you to take away the carbon blocks!" Then he promised his wife that he would take the project under his "wing" until it was finalized. He promised the Princesses that he would have the first few tonnes collected and delivered within the week.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Spike is going to gain soo much weight before this is over!"
The aide finally returned, but with a large box filled with golf-ball-sized coal pieces.
"Excellent!" Celestia said, hefting the mass of raw coal out of the box in a light-gold aura. "Lulu, you handle the excess heat, Twi, you catch the impurities." She looked at the two royals, and smirked. "We wouldn't want to make a mess, now, would we?" She guided the mass of coal pieces over to a window where the sun was shining in. She carefully stood in the light, with the coal suspended in front of her.
She nodded, first to her sister, then to Twilight.
As they nodded back, a cobalt-blue aura seemed to surround the coal while a pinkish glow seemed to hover below it. The coal clump seemed to be getting smaller and smaller while a tiny rain of particles fell from it. For a brief moment, the clump didn't change size, then it began to brightly glow. As the glow faded, it left behind a hotly glowing cube that had to be nearly six-inches, fifteen centimetres, on a side — half as tall as a sheet of A4.**
"There you go," she said. "We'll have to let it cool down a bit. Currently the diamond would scorch the table if we set it on it."
Even from across the room, they could feel the heat radiating from the block.
An aide rushed out of the room.
"I think that is the perfect paperweight for your desk, your majesty!" Celestia suggested. "Or, perhaps, on the mantle?" she looked over to the fireplace.
The two Royals just stared at the impossibility they had just seen.
The three Equestrians returned to their seats and picked up their cups. Celestia kept the block floating halfway to the ceiling, and well away from anything flammable. They sat in silence for several minutes, just watching the block's glow slowly change.
The aide rushed back into the room and carefully placed a large glass plate with rubber feet down on a side-table, then placed a shiny metal trivet on top of that.
Celestia gave the arrangement a critical look. "Luna, could you cool this down a bit?" A cobalt-blue glow surrounded the diamond for several moments, and they could see the block cooling down as its glow faded from white to yellow to orange. She nodded her thanks to Luna, who cut off her magic. The Princess placed the cube on the metal trivet. "There, that should do nicely," the white alicorn said. There was a creak! as the trivet heated up under the block. "It'll take another hour or so before you'll be able to handle it safely."
She sighed and returned to the couch and her tea.
"Your note asked if we would like to address your Parliament, and possibly discuss the possible importance of political, economic, and cultural ties between our two countries. Did you have anything particular in mind?"
۸·_·۸
That evening, when Luna came in from watching the moon set, Celestia gently asked, "Well?"
" 'Tis as I said before. It's a timid little thing. It seemed rather startled that I could touch it. Nothing more, however."
Celestia sighed as Twilight watched interestedly.
"My endeavour was . . . just as disappointing. I can detect something there, but it is disinterested." She gazed out the window. "If we were here more permanently, I might be tempted to try harder." She turned back to the room. "But this is not my world, nor that my sun. It would be rude of me to impose. I will leave it alone and not disturb the balance of the system."
۸·_·۸
The rest of their stay was rather enjoyable. Both senior Princesses took great joy in seeing a land and culture that was so dramatically different from their own. When the three were not in meetings with the British Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, there were meetings with the Leader of the Opposition, the leaders of all parties in the House of Commons, and members of the British Cabinet.
They also toured the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, and Buckingham Palace.
They also managed a quick trip to Blackpool, and a look at the piers and Ferris wheel. They also examined the proposed site for their second portal.
Returning to Equestria, for the sisters, was a bit of let-down.
As it always is when you return home from a vacation.
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The temptation had been too great for the pegasi. After the rainstorm on another group of bigots, Harry saw the inevitable next rule posted.
o/O\o
15) No bringing or creating weather inside the castle, without a Professor's permission. Don't ask Hagrid for permission.
o/O\o
Three days after meeting with the two changelings in Equestria, James Wootton, M.I. 5's Director General's secretary, waved Castor into Sir Patrick Jeremy Walker's office.
"Captain Searle, reporting as ordered, sir!" He gave the seated man a crisp salute and clicked his heels.
The man gave him a sour look, "Oh, knock it off, Castor."
Castor grinned and sat in the chair to one side of the director's desk.
Patrick leaned forward and steepled his hands on his desk. "The Prime Minister, and Queen, have considered this matter thoroughly. Given the changelings abilities at mimicry, they would give us an incalculable advantage in the world against our enemies. And that doesn't even touch how useful one of them would be against home-grown terrorist cells, or even just criminal gangs. The problem is, of course, how do we secure their loyalty? Simply giving them sanctuary isn't enough — the other nations would fight for the privilege if they heard about it. We can't judge them based on human needs, we haven't a clue what they want. Idealism against our enemies won't work as they know nothing of our politics.
"From what little we know, they aren't covetous of material things, so money and other items won't work. The Prime Minister wants to give the changelings sanctuary, but only if we can guarantee they won't simply disappear into the population or defect to another country."
He pursed his lips. "There is a . . . method . . . our Military Special Technology experts know . . . that will compel people to keep their word in an oath. It should work with the changelings." He sighed.
Castor understood that he meant a spell of some kind worked by a muggle-born wizard, a new-magical.
"The difficulty with that is coming up with wording that will leave the fewest loopholes. Their suggestion never to work against the good of the people or government of the United Kingdom is a good start. Your suggestion that they obey any lawful orders is also well-taken. In exchange, we can promise to provide for them and not to abuse their trust in us.
"Unfortunately, we won't know if the special technology works until it fails to work. Which could have catastrophic consequences." He shook his head.
"Then there's the possibility that there might be some sort of long-term problem with them . . . 'feeding' . . . on humans. While some of our opponents wouldn't care about that, would even be happy to supply food at the cost of a few of their people, the Queen would be greatly disappointed in us if we allowed that."
"Well, sir," Castor said, "If it's a one-time exposure, based on what the Equestrians have been able to glean, there shouldn't be any ill-effects at all. I imagine rotating the . . . collector . . . between churches with frequent weddings would fit the bill. We could use the guise of an assistant reporter or wedding arranger. With literally hundreds of locations with multiple weddings per day, in a city the size of London, the odds of the same person being present during two weddings are vanishingly small.
"Or we could put her as a nurse in a hospital in the maternity wards with new mothers." He shrugged. "With the twenty-some hospitals in London, alone, exposing the regular nurses once a month, and the new families only once, ever, we shouldn't have any problems.
"Or we could restrict this to military hospitals, that way we could have regular physical and mental check-ups on the families. If we did that, we might be able to detect any changes before it becomes a problem, and adjust things accordingly. The disadvantage to that is that it might take decades to pick up on a difference from the control group."
Patrick nodded. "That's what the Prime Minister reasoned, too." He sighed. "The biggest problem, as I have said, is securing the loyalty of the changelings." He opened a folder on his desk and slid a paper to Castor. "Here's what we've come up with for the oath. If they refuse, then we have to say no." He frowned. "Of course, we won't insist they take the oath until after the Equestrians allow them to pass through the portal." He paused. "Assuming they do." He stared intently at Castor. "Do you really think you can convince Princess Twilight to agree? And that she can convince the other Princesses?"
Castor nodded slowly, looking over the written oath. "If you add a line here that they forsake returning to Equestria unless forced or deliberately invited by one of the Princesses, I think so."
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Hermione's birthday on September nineteenth was a success — and a total surprise to her. In a move somewhat reminiscent of Pinkie Pie, the twins had arranged an outrageous party in the Great Hall. It was the first party of the year, the Weasley twins declared, and they wanted to start off with a bang!
That it was on a Saturday and they didn't have to wait for the end of classes made their preparations a bit more difficult. Harry and the others in the herd managed to keep the birthday-filly distracted during the day as the twins spent the afternoon setting up the Great Hall. Then they hid their efforts behind a few don't-notice-this spells until it was time for the unveiling.
It was easy to distract her, as all they had to do was keep her in the library until it was time for the evening meal. With all six of them together working and reading ahead on their assignments, she never thought for a moment that anything was amiss. That all five were so agreeable to her suggestion to spend the day inside studying did not raise any suspicion.
"I should have known," she said later, shaking her head.
She didn't even get suspicious that the Great Hall was as crowded as it was for dinner — tonight, there were no late arrivals. Word had circulated earlier in the day that there was to be a party in the Great Hall put on by the twins, and nobody wanted to miss that! Even the Slytherins were unable to muster the will to resist the temptation — the twins' parties had that good of a reputation.
Her expression when the twins started casting their finites when it was time for desserts, and banners with balloons and fireworks appeared, was priceless. The long and innuendo-laden birthday song that followed had her blushing almost beet red. That the Equestrians had joined in the singing at the third stanza and started dancing on the tables and in the aisles as music filled the room had left the witches and wizards stunned, at first. Then they had been dragged into the dancing and singing by the ponies, who wanted to share the joy.
When the song finally faded, everyone in the Great Hall, professors included, were winded and red-faced. That Harmony songs might become a steady fixture at Hogwarts was slowly dawning on those students who had participated in one, or more, last year.
A giant cake appeared on their table directly in front of her moments after the song ended. It was a rectangular monster that built up in steps to tower over the partiers.
She had to climb on the table to get high enough to blow out the candles on the top layer. Which, naturally, flared right back up as soon as she thought she had put them out. After the second try, she waved her wand and sent the lit thirteen candles chasing after the twins.
۸·_·۸
Elly sat at the Hufflepuff table beside her three "cousins." The Hufflepuff table was beside the Gryffindor table, and her current seat as a Second Year placed her right across from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who sat with their backs to the Great Hall wall. Naturally, she and her siblings sat with their backs to Harry's herd as they didn't dare draw the ponies' attention. That her three cousins sat with her was not remarked upon because everyone knew they were related and she was doing her duty to family by sitting with them.
Although, based on how many ponies had come to Hogwarts this year, her three siblings might be better off closer to the middle of the rest of the Firsties. She was starting to have second thoughts about not having one of them in Ravenclaw and the other in Slytherin. She would keep Earl close in the event he needed help — he was an unpredictable male, after all.
She was more than pleased at the feelings she was absorbing from the crowd. The party was as much a surprise to her as it was to most of the people in the Hall. She had missed the girl's first party, last year, which had been more of an in-house thing, she guessed. Watching, listening, and feeling the reactions of the seven Second Year animagi had clued her in to what was about to happen. Listening closely as they bragged about what they had done told the actual mechanics of preventing the "party girl" from discovering it too early. Although it was odd to hear Harry keep referring to the human girls in his herd as fillies.
She happily applauded with others at the unveiling, cheered as the giant cake appeared, and laughed as the candles chased the twins around the Hall. She didn't have to glance at her three Lings to know they were surprised at just how raucous the witches and wizards were. Especially as the twins' prank candies, cookies, and gums circulated, causing unusual and sudden, but brief, transformations.
۸·_·۸
Author's Notes: * Thanks to Peter for this suggestion.
** 6x"6"x6": the diamond weighs about 12.44kg, 27.42lbs, 62,190.87 carats.
Rule 15: Spiritus Arcane, from FIMfiction, of course.