Tags: [Comedy] [Slice of Life]

Characters: [Queen Novo] [Twilight Sparkle] [Spike]

Written By: SuperPinkBrony12

Note: An indirect prequel to "Land and Sea", an indirect sequel to "The Princess and the Plush", and also indirectly related to "Hipotty Training".

Imagine the surprise (and anxiety) for Twilight when she received a knock on her castle doors one day, and opened them up to find none other than Queen Novo standing on the other side. Given their last encounter, Twilight felt she had good reason to be afraid of the hippogriff queen's unexpected appearance.

Yet it seemed that Novo had a smile on her face. She did not appear to be hostile at all. "Hello, Princess Twilight," She cheerfully greeted. "Sorry to drop by unannounced. I was just on my way back from the griffon kingdom after picking up a very important package for my subjects. Let's just say there've been some…" She coughed into a paw. "Issues with getting my subjects reacclimated to life on Mount Aris."

"Oh, I see," Twilight blinked, appearing to understand what the queen was saying. Of course there would be difficulties in adjusting to life on the land after living underwater for so long. And with how run down and neglected Mount Aris had appeared the last time Twilight and her friends had been there, it wasn't surprising that certain everyday fixtures taken for granted would now be hard to find and likely not in very good condition. "W-well… if there's… anything we here in Equestria can do to help with that, just let us know."

Queen Novo nodded ever so slowly. "I will keep that in mind, princess Twilight. As a matter of fact, I've already arranged a private meeting later with Princess Celestia to discuss the problem and see if she has any recommendations. However, that is not the reason for my visit here."

Twilight gulped and swallowed hard as she recalled her first encounter with the hippogriff queen. "I was afraid you'd say that," And she began to plead. "If this is about what happened in…"

But Novo laughed as she threw up a paw. "-Oh relax, princess. It's all water under the bridge now. The Storm King's gone and my subjects no longer have to live in fear. Let's just leave it at that," Then she explained. "I simply wanted to call on you because it's my understanding you were planning to open up a school of friendship right here in Ponyville, correct?"

The young alicorn nodded back. "Y-yes," She motioned for the queen to step inside. "Let's… go somewhere a bit more secluded while we talk. Maybe we could discuss this over some… refreshments."

"Now that you mention it, I am feeling the slightest bit hungry." Novo replied as she stepped inside.

Twilight smiled. "Great! Let's take care of that!" She turned and hollered down the hall! "Spike!"

Spike came rushing up a moment later. "What's going on, Twilight?" He asked, only to immediately see Queen Novo and take a step back as he bowed! "Oh! A thousand apologies, your majesty! I didn't know you were visiting us!"

"It's okay, there's no need for formalities," Queen Novo sincerely insisted. "This is just a social visit, nothing formal."

Still, the little dragon replied. "Well even so, I hope you'll allow Twilight and I to treat you to our best hospitality," Then he declared. "I'll get started on the food. What would you like to have, your majesty?"

But Twilight chuckled. "Oh Spike, there's no need for that. Just go to the hayburger and order a few meals," She then turned to Novo. "I'm sure you'll agree that the hayburger's cooking is absolutely delicious."

"I'll have to take your word for it, princess." Novo nodded in reply.

Spike then gave a salute. "Okay then, I'll go get the orders! You two just go get set up somewhere!" And he raced away to take care of the task he had assigned to himself!

Spike returned a short time later with three large paper bags containing all the food and beverages he'd ordered from the hayburger. He couldn't remember the last time he and Twilight had had it. And now they were sharing one of their favorite things with Queen Novo. And judging by her reaction, everything seemed to be working out just fine, there was no sense of lingering discomfort or hostility in her.

Much to the relief of both Twilight and Spike, Novo did indeed enjoy her meal from the hayburger. And her table manners were only marginally better than Twilight's. "You were right, princess. The hayburger truly is delicious!" She said with a smile. "I might have to look into getting something similar established on Mount Aris. Once I take care of the more…" She paused and coughed into a hoof. "Urgent problems."

Afterwards, Twilight and Novo spent time in the castle's library as the two discussed Twilight's planned school of friendship. As it turned out, Novo had an excellent candidate in mind to represent her kingdoms. "My niece Silverstream has barely ever known the surface world until now. She is naturally very curious," She told Twilight. "And her mother just so happens to be my sister. I'm sure I could convince her to let Silverstream attend your school, once you have it up and running of course."

The alicorn nodded quite affirmatively. "We would be honored to have her, Novo. I truly believe my school is the perfect way to help spread the magic of friendship beyond Equestria's borders. And if it helps creatures like your niece to learn more about our world, that's even better," She happily exclaimed with a dreamy sigh! "I haven't even started building the school yet, and already I have my first student! How lucky am I?"

Spike, for his part, just stood by the door and watched the two royal figures talk back and forth. He was glad to see them getting along, despite what happened in Seaquestia. "And to think, I was worried Novo would still have it out for Twilight because she tried to steal the Pearl of Transformation." He thought to himself.

At last, Queen Novo stood up. "Well, it was nice getting to talk with you, Princess Twilight. But I really have to get that important package home to my subjects on Mount Aris. You couldn't begin to imagine how much they need them right now."

But as the hippogriff queen headed towards the open door of the library, she paused and put a paw to her stomach. She groaned and seemed to be straining, struggling even, as a look of visible discomfort flashed across her face. Nervously, she turned towards Twilight and Spike as they eyed her with concern. Trying to maintain her composure, she asked them. "Er… I assume this castle has a lavatory or two, correct?"

"Oh yes, we have plenty of them." Twilight nodded. "Do you need to use one?"

Novo strained and struggled more as her look of discomfort seemed to grow more intense. "A-actually… yes. Um… if that's okay with you. I mean, I've heard that you sometimes do your… you know what outside and 'fertilize the soil' as it were. But I wouldn't want to do something so uncouth if you'd rather I didn't."

Spike quickly grabbed the hippogriff queen by the paw. "Well, can you hold it in for a little bit? Like maybe a few minutes?"

"I… think so." Novo insisted even as she grit her teeth.

The little dragon then led Novo away. "Alright, follow me. I'm pretty sure there's a bathroom just down the hall from here. And hopefully, it can accommodate you," He promptly ushered the queen out of the library, past several look-a-like doors until finally stopping right in front of one that had a symbol on it that Novo had never seen before. It loosely seemed to resemble a throne, albeit one weirdly bowl shaped. "Here we are," He pushed open the door. "Now go ahead, do what you gotta do. The toilet's right over there." As he spoke he gestured a claw to the object that resembled the one depicted on the door.

Queen Novo immediately made a beeline for it, and shut the door behind her as she did so, leaving Spike to wait on the other side. What followed was a series of splashes, then the rustling of some toilet paper.

Spike waited for a moment, before knocking on the door. "Everything okay in there, Queen Novo? Do you need any help?"

"No thank you," Novo replied. "I think I've got everything figured out. Just gotta press this here and," There then came the sound of a roar, and the sound of water swirling around, followed by a gurgling sound. "Ah, there we go. All better." The queen could then be heard walking across the bathroom floor, fiddling with a knob before the sound of running water could be heard.

Satisfied that everything was under control, the little dragon just smiled and waited until Novo had exited the bathroom. "So, you're feeling better now, right?" He asked her.

Queen Novo nodded and seemed to blush ever so faintly. "Yes indeed. Though I must say, I'm surprised. The last time I visited Equestria, toilets such as that were rare. We only just got a toilet like that installed in Mount Aris when Skystar was in potty training. She and I were basically the only hippogriffs who ever used it."

"Well, you were living underwater for hundreds of years," Spike pointed out with a nervous laugh. "A lot has changed since then. Toilets like these are everywhere nowadays, at least in Equestria. Ponies like to call them a throne because I guess they want it to seem more dignified and important than they actually are."

"I'm just glad you have them and that they work," Novo breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not sure I'll be able to upgrade the toilets on Mount Aris to match the ones you have in Equestria. For now at least, my subjects will have to make do with the old trench models. Once I get them working again, anyway."