Chapter 79: A Joke of a Visit 3

"Really?! That's Awesome!"

In the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres sat a Treehouse. A Clubhouse for the bravest and most fearless group of Fillies this side of Equestria.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders!

"Yep!" Sitting in their treehouse, Three Fillies gathered around a bag of bits, "He's a real-life bonafide prince," Sweetie Belle said.

"Why is he visiting Rarity?" The Earth Pony of the group, Apple Bloom, asked as she closed the blinds to the clubhouse, setting a mood fit for a secret meeting.

"The letter he sent a few weeks ago said he needed to make sure everything was fine after the whole Nightmare Moon thing a few months back," Sweetie Belle explained, eliciting a wince from the two other fillies, "But really it's just boring grown-up stuff like signing papers and shaking hooves," The Unicorn rolled her eyes at the idea of how boring it must be.

Scootaloo, the Pegasus of the group, scowled at the idea of boring grown-up nonsense before a thought popped into her head.

"Why don't we spy on him? See how a real prince does his job!" She brought up the idea, which seemed to cause the Earth Pony of the group to jump in place with excitement.

"Ooh Ooh! What if our Cutie Marks are Prince Escorting?" She suddenly stood up and grabbed her hair, holding it above her nose as if it was a mustache as she put on a fake accent, "Oh, my Prince, Your four o'clock meeting is ready,"

Scootaloo stood up as well, slicking her mane back and giving off a charming smile, "Oh, why thank you, butler," She said in the haughtiest voice she could muster before laughing out with an exaggerated "Hohoho!"

Sweetie Belle smiled at the Idea and stood up, "Yeah! Let's go follow the Prince!" She moved to exit the treehouse before stopping and turning back quickly to the bag of bits the Prince gave her.

"Wait! Before we forget," She opened the bag, levitated out two stacks of Fifteen Bits, and gave each one to her two Friends, leaving Twenty Bits in the bag for herself.

Pocketing their bits, the girls nodded to each other before yelling loudly.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Princely Escorts Go!"

------------------------------

"There we go, Everything should be fine now," Twilight Sparkle said as she finished cleaning the makeup off of Rarity's face.

"Thank you Twilight, you're a lifesaver, I don't know what I would do If I had to go into that meeting looking like THAT!" Rarity thanked her Friend, Briefly shivering at the thought of meeting Prince Blueblood looking like she did ten minutes ago...

"It's Been ten minutes! I need to go, I'll thank you later Twilight! Nice to see you, Princess Celestia! Bye!" Rarity yelled before quickly turning away from the other occupants of the Library and running back to her home.

"...She seemed excited," Princess Celestia said in an effort to break the silence.

"That she did," Twilight Sparkle nodded at her teacher's words, "Now what were we talking about?"

"Squawk!" Philomena croaked from her bird cage, scratching at her skin with her feet.

Celestia ignored her bird and smiled at her Pupil "Your Friend, Pinkie Pie-"

-----------------------------------

Twelve Minutes after jumping out through the Window, Rarity entered the Carousel Boutique through the back door, acting as if nothing happened.

Quickly applying a much thinner layer of makeup, She smiled into the mirror before walking into the main room of her house.

As soon as she opened the door, she was awestruck.

There he stood, smiling slyly as he talked with- Wait a gosh darn moment!

"Princess Luna?! I didn't know you'd be coming here! I would have prepared more if I knew you were going to be here," Rarity started apologizing to the two Royals, not noticing a victorious look on Luna's face as Prince Blueblood levitated her a bag of bits with a scoff.

As soon as the money left his magic and landed in Luna's hooves, it was as if a switch was flicked in The Prince's mind as he walked toward Rarity.

"Please, Ms. Rarity- It is Ms. Rarity is it?" He asked her as he stood above her, pulling her up with a weak pull of his magic, "Please don't tell me it's Mrs. Rarity and break my heart," He winked at her to show he was merely joking.

"Oh-" Rarity's mind briefly short-circuited as she watched the Ice Blue eyes of the Prince wink at her, "-IT'S MISS! Haha!" She laughed loudly, her smile wide on her face as she kept her distance from the Prince.

"I see," Prince Blueblood smiled at her as he looked into her eyes, his Ice Blue orbs pulling her in as she- Get a Hold of yourself Rarity!

"You already know who I am, but just for necessities, I will introduce myself," Rarity nodded her head rapidly as the Prince kept talking.

"My Name is Prince Blueblood Platinum, And it is my very good pleasure to finally meet you," He smiled at her with his eyes as he gave her a courteous bow.

"Oh! It is my very good pleasure to meet you too, your Highness," Rarity bowed back, trying to suppress the giddy excitement she was feeling.

"I'm sure," Blueblood told her before he moved to the nearby table, "I suggest you take a seat, Ms. Rarity," He pulled out a chair for her, In her own house. Oh, what a Gentlecolt!

"Ah, Of course, Your Highness," Rarity once again gave a quick bow before seemingly teleporting onto the chair with how fast she moved.

"Great!" Blueblood once again smiled at her, causing butterflies to flutter in her chest, "Although I must apologize for bringing Princess Luna with me," He frowned to himself and shook his head, "There was a magical accident at the castle earlier today and I had to bring some assistance to help me," He turned to look at the Princess, "Luna, if you will,"

"Of course," Luna smiled gently at Rarity, before a small stack of papers levitated from the bag she was carrying over to the Table before setting in front of Rarity.

"Now," Blueblood once again stole her attention, "Before we begin going over the documents for you to sign, I need to ask you a few questions, If that is fine with you,"

"Of course Darling- I mean Your Highness! Ask away," Rarity cringed at herself for a moment before she refocused on those Deep Glaciers that stared into her very soul...

He was so dreamy~

"Wonderful," If Blueblood had any reaction to being called Darling, he didn't show it on his face as he turned to Princess Luna.

"Luna, I am sorry, but would you kindly write down Ms. Rarity's answers to my questions," He didn't wait for an answer before he turned back to the Unicorn.

"So, first of all, Let's Begin with something simple," His horn glowed as a chair appeared beneath him, letting him sit down without moving from where he stood.

"What is your full name?"

---------------------------------------------

Making her way down the road leading to Sweet Apple Acres, Starlight Glimmer took the time to think.

How long has it been since she met her current Best Friend and Employer? Three Months? Four?

Starlight had to admit to herself, as she walked down the dirt path, a bag filled with business documents and proposals lying on her back, that a lot had happened in those surprisingly long four months.

"What happened first?" She wondered aloud, "There was the Teleportation mishap that started it all, landing us in Yakyakistan, And then what happened? Moving to Canterlot Castle?" She chuckled at the idea, Who would have guessed she'd ever live in a castle?

Obviously she would have built her own castle once Our Town gained enough momentum, but there's a difference between building your own castle, and living in a thousand-year-old building, hiding secrets and riddles from untold centuries ago.

Starlight grumbled as another thought popped into her head, "It's not as if I had much of a choice though, It was either that or spending how much was it? Thirty years in prison! That's not a real option!"

However, Starlight Glimmer knew it wasn't so bad.

She wouldn't have ever met Raven Inkwell or Shining Armor if she never moved there.

"Those two are my friends..." Starlight paused for a moment, "I think?"

Was this how friendship actually worked? Starlight wasn't sure, and so she decided to simply return to what she was doing prior.

"Hey, You! What are you doing here?" Starlight Glimmer paused as a trio of Fillies stood in front of her path, blocking her way.

"Me? I'm just here to speak with the Pony in charge of Sweet Apple Acres," Starlight explained before stepping to the side, intent on walking around the trio of Fillies.

"Why?" The Earth Pony filly asked, tilting her head to the side like a puppy.

"I need to give them some papers to read," Starlight asked, resuming her walk, now with the three children following her.

"Why do you need to give her the papers?" Asked the Unicorn filly, the same one from Rarity's house if Starlight remembered correctly.

"My Boss, Prince Blueblood, wants to buy a lot of apples," Starlight told them, simplifying the act by a lot, but still getting the main point across.

"Oh! Okay, I'll go notify Granny that you're coming!" The Earth Pony filly said before she started jogging ahead of Starlight, "Meet me at the house!" She yelled to her two friends before passing a wooden fence gate and skipping up the dirt road leading to a surprisingly expensive-looking red farmhouse.

The house shows off a homely feel while undoubtedly shouting to the world 'The people living here are important, show them respect.

Or at least, that's how Starlight thinks Blueblood will try and explain it as she looked at the Farmhouse, three stories tall with a pair of large barn doors in the front, likely leading to an indoor entrance to the house itself.

"Look! Granny Smith is already waiting for us," The Pegasus filly said as she bounced ahead to join her friend at the farmhouse, leaving the two Unicorns behind.

"Umm," Starlight turned to look at the Unicorn Filly, who seemed to be trying to say something to her.

"Yes? What is it?" Starlight urged, silently cringing at how forceful she sounded.

She was trying to be nice! She promises!

"Umm, I-eh... I wanted to thank you for Helping save my sister back when... When Nightmare Moon took her..." The Filly shyly looked away from the mare, hiding her face in embarrassment.

Starlight blinked at that, "You don't need to thank me, I barely did anything," Starlight shook her head with a quiet chuckle before she returned to the road.

"But- But you used this spell that on Nightmare Moon that allowed everypony else to fight her! Whatever it was, it had to be strong if even Nightmare Moon was unable to fight it off!" The filly jumped excitedly in place, almost dropping the bag tucked close to her hair.

"Once you're done here, Let me buy you something at Sugarcube Corner, As thanks!"

Starlight stared silently at the excited young filly, going over her thoughts as she did before a small smile spread on her face.

"You know what, that sounds nice," Starlight gave her hoof to the Filly, "My name is Starlight Glimmer, It's nice to meet you..." She raised her eyebrows expectantly as the filly stared at the hoof with widening eyes.

With a bounce of joy, the Unicorn filly grabbed the hoof and shook it, "My name is Sweetie Belle, It's nice to meet you too!"

And now with the promise of a child to eat something sweet later, Starlight Glimmer was ready for anything.

-----------------------------------------

Granny Smith strained her eyes under her reading glasses as she read the paper given to her, reading the yapping of those big city business ponies, rolling her eyes at the big words that failed to impress her.

She's not new to this, She's been in the Farming business for decades, from before this Prince Whosawhatsit was even born!

And then she read a bit lower and froze as she saw the number.

A very big number.

"Apple Bloom," Granny Smith shakily took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes, "Go get Jack, She needs to be the one to sign this..." The old Earth Pony stood up and walked away from the table, slowly walking on shaking legs towards a drawer near the entrance to the house, opening it, and grabbing a very expensive-looking pen.

"Woah..." Granny Smith felt herself smirk in satisfaction at the reaction this little object always managed to get.

It was an old dip pen, older than even her house. Lacquered Willow etched with bronze images of branches and apples, with a clean silver tip at its end.

"Granny Smith, Apple Bloom said you called so I came running and-" Granny Smith closed her eyes and smiled as her granddaughter entered the house.

"Applejack, Take this pen," Granny Smith held out the antique to the younger Mare.

"Wha- Granny what's going on?" Granny Smith chuckled to herself, Fillies these days...

"I want you to read the document the nice lady over there gave me," Granny nudged Applejack over to the table, her eyes relaxed as she took a seat on a comfortable chair and got ready for the coming reaction.

"To the owners of Sweet Apple Acres and associates-" Granny chuckled as Applejack rolled her eyes, "This document is property of the BBF, unauthorized sharing of this document could lead to legal repercussions yadda yadda yadda," Applejack huffed as she skipped over the boring legalese, before getting to the part she actually understood.

"For the span of days between February 1st and October 31st, Sweet Apple Acres will supply the Blueblood Foundation with 40 tons of Apples per month- Granny, can we even do that?" Applejack turned to ask.

Granny scoffed with a smile, "Of course we can, easily, now keep reading,"

"Okay..." Applejack returned to the document, "Apples of the species- Let's skip a bit forward... Here we are- The BBF is willing to pay..." Applejack froze as she stared at the paper, Slowly moving it to her younger sister as Granny Smith burst out laughing.

"Apple Bloom, please read these numbers for me..." Applejack said blankly as she stared at the pen in her hoof, her eyes briefly turning to see her Grandmother laughing to herself in the corner.

"Okay!" Apple Bloom stood up on a chair to see better, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looking at her expectantly from the other side of the Table.

"Emm, where are the numbers- here, Okay! The BBF is Willing to pay 125 Bits for every ton of apples, with an additional 35 bits per ton on delivery- What's 125 plus 35 again?"

"One hundred and Sixty!" Sweetie Belle piped up from her spot on the table.

"One Sixty per ton delivered, times that by forty..." Applejack whispered to herself as Apple Bloom moved the document back to her.

"That would be an overall of 6,400 Bits per month if you decide to deliver the apples that is, otherwise it's 5,000 Bits." Starlight Glimmer chimed in, her eyes glued to the reaction the two Farmer Mares were giving her boss's proposal.

"I already read the rest of the paper," Granny Smith said from her chair, "I want you to sign it Applejack,"

"What? But Granny, You're the one in charge of-" Applejack tried to speak but Granny Smith shook her head.

"None of that now, Dear. It's about time I let you take a bigger part in operating the farm," Granny Smith stood up from her chair and walked to her granddaughter.

"Granny, I don't-" Granny Smith shook her head as she sat down beside Applejack.

"I'm getting old Jacky, I want to retire while I can still feel my legs, and that requires somepony else taking control of the Farm, Big Macintosh, bless his heart, but he's not fit for the job, He doesn't have that special spark for the farm that you do," Granny Smith poked her Granddaughter with her hoof, "It's either You or Applebloom, and Applebloom is too young," Granny ignored the annoyed sounding "Hey!" coming from her youngest Granddaughter.

"But I'm not ready!" Applejack cried in alarm, receiving a thwack on top of the head from Granny Smith.

"Did I say I'm giving you the farm yet? No! Don't skip ahead, I still have some good years left in me!" Granny Smith chastised loudly before quieting down, "I just want to make sure You'll be somewhat ready when I feel the time comes..."

"Granny..." Applejack whispered as she looked her Grandmother in the eyes.

"This Pen," Granny tapped the antique pen Applejack was holding, "My Grandfather used it when he signed the royal deed to establish Ponyville as its first Mayor and founder," She said gently, "And my Father used the same Pen when he created this Farm," She continued, "I used that same Pen when I first sold my Zap Apples to Stinkin' Rich and struck that generous deal with him, and your father-" Applejack gasped "-Used this Pen when he signed the marriage documents with your mother."

All eyes in the room were on the two Earth Ponies in that moment, Even Starlight Glimmer was paying attention to the conversation.

"And now I want you to use it as well," Granny slowly pushed Applejack's hoof till it hovered over the Paper.

Applejack stared at the pen with wonder before taking a deep breath to ready herself, Before she lowered the Pen to the paper...

And scratched it.

"..."

"..."

"...Is it broken?"

"...Oh Yes! How could I forget!" Granny Smith loudly said to herself as she stood up, "It's a Dip Pen, we need to dip it in Ink first," She went to search for an inkwell, leaving the other Ponies staring at her back in shocked silence.

Or at least it was silent before Scootaloo started laughing to herself at the whole ordeal.

Followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

Applejack stared at the three fillies, briefly locking eyes with Starlight Glimmer before they two joined the laughter.

Soon Granny returned, Applejack signed the paper and gave it back to Starlight, and Sweetie Belle came up with an idea that everypony agreed with.

"Let's all go to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate!"

----------------------------------

It was soon after Luna and I finished with Rarity that a message from Starlight appeared in front of me, telling us that she'd be late and we should return to the castle without her.

So with a flash of Luna's Teleportation, we did.

"A Prince, A Princess, and a Pest walk into a Castle."

"Tiberius is not a pest!" Luna tried to defend, but I scoffed at her instead.

"Until you take it to the best Veterinarians in the country, it's a pest," I told her, receiving a glare from both Princess and 'Possum.

But I ignored them, I hadn't eaten or drunk anything at all today, courtesy of whatever Luna did to me, so I was not in the mood to continue the conversation.

"I'll still beat you tomorrow!" Luna called out to me, and I smiled.

"I'd like to see you try!" I called back before I turned a corner and disappeared from her sight.

Perhaps I couldn't touch anything, But I sure did get tired from walking around and carrying my bag in my magic the entire day.

Perhaps I am due for some last-minute training.

---------------------------------

"Oh, Applejack! Princess Celestia was here just a moment ago, you totally missed her, Hey you're Prince Pirate Wizard's apprentice, What can I get for you?" As the group of Mares entered Sugarcube Corner, a Head of Pink fluff jumped into the middle of the group.

But listening to her, Starlight Glimmer asked herself.

"Why would Celestia be here?"

-----------------------------------

In one of the Royal Bathrooms of Canterlot Castle, A Pair of Ponies were relaxing in a large pool of Warm Medicinal Water.

"You know Luna, If you told me the cure to this Poison Joke thing was a Herbal Bath, maybe I wouldn't have been so grumpy earlier in the day," One of the Ponies, Prince Blueblood Platinum, told the other pony as he felt his muscles relax, a platter of Sushi laying a bit behind him as he levitated a piece into his mouth, washing it down with a glass of expensive Wine.

"Where would have been the fun in that?" Floating on her back with her wings outstretched and covered in soap, Princess Luna relaxed her body as she let the herbal waters wash her aches away, sipping from a wine glass of her own.

Filled with non-alcoholic Fruit Juice, of course, Blueblood didn't want to deal with a Drunk Luna right now.

"Are you two taking a dip without me?" Luna groaned as her head dove into the water as she turned her body to see her Sister walk into the room, a freshly reborn Phoenix on her shoulder.

"Go away Celestia, This is our pool now," Luna pointed out of the pool, "See that sign over there? No old hags allowed," Luna smirked in victory.

"I don't see any sign," Celestia smiled down at her younger sister, before a brief flash of light caused her to turn, seeing an illusion of a sign floating beside the door.

"Har har, Very Funny you two," She said with a roll of the eyes as she lowered her body into the pool, feeling the herbal waters breathe life into her skin as her Sister and Son high-hooved each other next to her on their well done job of making an illusion of a sign.

Now in the pool, Celestia grabbed Blueblood with her wing and pulled him into her, holding him close to her chest as she rested her chin on his head, smelling his shampoo as she hugged him like a big teddy bear.

"Really? Now?" Blueblood asked in annoyance but didn't fight as Princess Celestia merely closed her eyes and smiled.

"Mommy needs to charge," She whispered as she grabbed more soap and shampoo and redid his Mane.

It's been years since Princess Celestia cleaned another pony, but feeling her hooves moving through strands of hair, the feeling of soap-covered wings brushing against their fur coat...

Celestia might never admit it out loud, but she loved feeling like an actual mother, even if those times were exceedingly rare.

And so Celestia passed the next hour, sitting in a pool of herbal water as she cleaned and hugged her Son.

Even after Philomena flew off and Luna exited the pool, Celestia hadn't let go of the Prince.

"Are you excited for next week?" She asked him with a whisper as she played with his hair.

"..." Celestia turned her head to see why he didn't respond.

Only to silence her squeal of excitement before snapping a picture with a magical camera.

A Picture of a Prince Sleeping in his mother's soft embrace.