[Canterlot] Canterlot Royal Public Relations Open House (Open!)

[SilverSwirl]

Timid listened intently to the Princess as she said that her husband would investigate his and Strife's claims about Timid's imprisonment and sighed with relief. He gave a grateful smile and said, "Thank you.". He didn't know what else to say about that and instead listened to Cadance explain the role of the CRPR and gave a respectful nod of his head to her speech. "I thank you for welcoming me here.", he replied at the end of her speech with a respectful bow before stepping aside for the sharply dressed stallion that waited behind him.

[HighRoller]

Stalwart awkwardly pawed at the floor with a hoof, careful not to scuff the floor in the process. His tail swished this way and that as he waited for the noble (a diplomat from what snippets he'd overheard) and the princess to finish their polite discourse. The young stallion was tempted to run off to the refreshment tables and sample some of what was laid out, but self-discipline won the day.

'No matter what branch of the guard I plan to join one day, I'm going to have to be on my hooves a lot,' he thought to himself. So, bearing this firmly in mind, he waited.

[Solaria]

Cadance gave an embarrassed smile as Polaris explained his thoughts and feelings on the CRPR, revealing that he was a member of her aunt's diplomatic corps. She knew somepony would catch the similarities between the two groups ventures, and had an explanation prepared for just such a situation.

"Well, to be completely honest Mr. Polaris the idea was born with the fantastic work of you and your colleagues in mind. We're not trying to replace you at all, merely... help citizens feel that the crown is approachable, if that makes sense. The diplomatic corps can claim to spread my aunt's love and goodwill as much as they'd like, and please don't take offense as obviously we're emulating that, but some ponies like a more tangible presence. Unfortunately since my marriage I've been rather too busy to continue traveling as I did before, but we managed to make a full sweep of Equestria before that and I think it struck a chord with our subjects. If anything, you and yours are now more important than ever." She added an amused smirk as she listened to the gentlecolt's assessment of the board. "Likely very true, and I would love to dance with you when the opportunity arises."

"Hello you two," the princess said amiably to Flux and Stalwart, hoping she had suitably answered Polaris's concerns and that she wasn't being rude for addressing other guests. "Is there something I can help you with? It's why I'm here you know," she added with a wink.

[HighRoller]

Stalwart cleared his throat and stepped forward, trying to maintain as dignified a posture as possible. "Um, yes, my lady. I just wanted to, uh, express my concern over a matter that's causing trouble in my home territory. I'm from the western frontier, near the mountains; my father started a farm out there after he retired from the Guard." This was a point of pride for the young stallion, but he didn't linger on that point too long.

"Before I moved out here, I had to defend my mother from some bandits. It's how I earned my mark. It would ease my fears if arrangements could be made to post another small garrison out there, in addition to whatever there is already. Banditry isn't too common, but there are some ponies and other creatures who get away with things simply because the guard simply can't answer every call as timely as they'd like." He coughed. "N-not to be critical of the crown, o-or the admirable job your husband does, of course. I just meant that they, uh, have their hooves full with so few guards in that region. That's all."

This last mass of words came out a bit jumbled, as he hurried to avoid sending the wrong impression. 'There goes my dignified appearance,' he thought ruefully. Still, he was his own harshest critic, and he was letting his insecurities get the best of him. He spoke remarkably well for a frontierspony, due to his parents' tutoring and his self teaching.

[Duchess]

((OOC: Hope you don't mind me weaving Polaris' dad and Dusty Chronicle together a bit, Solaria! I'll change it if you like.))

Polaris expertly hid a wince at 'Mister' – although whether his efforts would be enough to disguise it from an alicorn was another matter. Still, she was one of the royal house, and some leeway was their due. 'Pride cometh before a fall, Polaris,' he reminded himself forcefully. His voice remained polished and urbane, the dictionary definition of an educated Canterlot accent. “Thank you, ma'am, that is a relief to know. Now, I seem to be rather monopolising you, so I'll take my leave for the moment, if I may. It's been a pleasure, Princess Cadance.” So saying, Polaris essayed another elegant bow and shimmered away, allowing the two ponies who had been waiting behind him to meet the Princess face-to-face. He bent his head in thanks for their patience as he passed – a small courtesy often went a long way, after all.

As he glided over the polished marble of the ballroom floor – beautifully veined and patterned; only the best for Castle Canterlot, after all – he idly turned the new information over and over in his head. What the Princess had said made a lot of sense – it was a truth, after all, that a princess's visit was more meaningful than any ambassador's, and the corps, always small, had been rather overstretched of late. It was probably for the good that the Princess had got involved on the PR side of royal duties – at the very least, it was an interesting development, especially since several very senior courtiers were apparently behind her venture.

Not feeling quite up to fencing with Dusty Chronicle just yet – his father, Duke Silver Speech, had had a friendship with the cantankerous pony built on mutual bickering over the finer points of royal schedules and brandy – his hooves had taken him over to the refreshments table, where the royal kitchens had laid on a first-class spread of refreshments suitable for elevenses. And, unless his nose deceived him, a dash of Dutch courage in the form of fortifying punch. His horn glowed a clear, arctic blue as a glass arced up from its resting place, dipped into the punch bowl and then daintily tipped itself to let him sip. Happily, his eyes roamed over the treats on offer - naturally skipping over the salad and healthy dip section – and gambolling delightfully among the ranks of cupcakes, scones, teacakes, eclairs, sweet canapes and other such trifles, trying to decide which ones to consume first.

A thought occurred, and he looked regretfully down at himself. Whilst his ensemble fitted like a glove, as it was supposed to, the scales this morning had been wavering perilously close to the red section his doctor had painted on them. He gave a reflexive shudder at the thought of another diet, and the vaguely patronizing lecture his doctor would undoubtedly give. 'Now then, your grace,' the medical pony would say. 'I've worked out another food plan for you. You can eat anything you want, this time - as long as it has no colour, no flavour, no calories and isn't tasty. Anything with the word 'bran' in the title is also acceptable – I'll inform your butler on my way out, don't worry.' Really, no matter how many new 'food plans' – he never called them 'diets', oh no, that was apparently out of touch with modern medical thinking – the doctor came up with, they always seemed to boil down to that most depressing of common denominators, that zero of the food world and the gourmand's despair: the celery stick.

The thought of being subjected to weeks of celery sticks as his staple foodstuff would have been enough to keep Polaris firmly away from the snack table and just drinking the punch, had his sensitive nostrils not caught the most divine scent wafting around the ballroom. Almost completely without conscious direction, his hooves began to move him in the direction his nose told him the smell was coming from – a rather young mare with a sweet-shaped cutie mark, evidently quite appropriate, from the crumbly blocks of fudge she held in her hooves, the source of the delectable smell.

“I say!” he said, magnetically drawn to the fudge. It wasn't standard elevenses fare, but the scent of it washed away all thoughts of restraint and dieting from Polaris's mind.“That smells simply divine! Chocolate, lashings of cream, and if I'm not very much mistaken, a dash or two of vanilla, as well. I don't suppose you happen to have a piece to spare, do you? Or failing that, a shop in town where I might buy some?”

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise was taking in the overall sense of the Open House. She sometimes liked to just stay back and watch the ponies. She was waiting for Miracle to see if she was ok to have just one more fudge when a very dignified pony who announced himself as Duke Polaris was drawn to her, or more approately the fudge she was carrying.

"Oh hello," Sweet said as she bowed, somewhat awkwardly, "Your name was Duke Polaris, right? I'm Sweet Surprise! And yes these are my hoofmade fudge. You have a really great sense for candy as you got all the ingrediants. Do you make candy in your spare time? And yes you can certainly have a piece, and i have a candy shop in Canterlot called Mr. Cocoa's Candy Confections. You can't really miss it, since it looks like a big gingerbread house."

[Neoniie]

Quantum Flux nearly drank all of her remaining apple juice in one gulp in her haste to answer the Princess. She'd been hoping for this chance since arriving and her anticipation had been fairly high throughout her idling during the event thus far. As soon as she opened her mouth the begin, the unicorn's mind suddenly went blank. Luckily for the mare, the blue-grey stallion who had also been addressed by the alicorn spoke up first. Privately relieved that she hadn't just blurted out whatever first came to mind in an awkward ramble, Flux made good use of the time it took to tell Stalwart's tale to pull herself together once more. Truthfully, the part of the mare that wasn't all jittery with nervousness was quite sardonic about her lack of co-ordination today. In the name of Celestia, you can't let this be such a problem. Keep focused on the goal.

Once the pegasus had completed his request, the unicorn stepped forward slightly to voice her own sort of request. "I...uh...yes, I do believe you could give me a hoof. Not with an actual problem per se, but nonetheless." She paused briefly before continuing, trying to keep herself from cantering off-topic. "You see, most of the books I've encountered regarding the CRPR have been vague at best. They do give one a fair idea of its actual purpose, but its operations itself are fairly mysterious to me. You did mention that there are groups who go out into Equestria every once in a while as envoys of sorts to the royalty of Canterlot, to my understanding that is. The main question in all of this is what exactly they would deal with in these visits. Obviously not small, everyday problems, but larger ones that would affect Equestria at large, I assume?"

[SilverSwirl]

Timid stood off to one side, nibbling at his cupcake with one ear cocked towards the conversation. A lot of what was being said was beyond his understanding but he finally knew who those ponies were that had visited his village after the fire that had torched a gpod portion of their village. He smiled and finished eating his cupcake, wiping his mouth with a napkin before returning to the group around the princess to ask another question.

[Duchess]

Polaris acknowledged the bow – awkward though it was – with a regal nod, and listened attentively to the confectioner's words – one should always pay attention to ponies bearing sweeties. “Mm, yes. That wonderful aroma rather made me forget myself - a pleasure indeed to meet you, Sweet Surprise.”

He laughed softly, but kindly, at her question. “I've just got a rather sensitive nose, that's all. I've never made confectionery before, I must confess – I can just about stretch to assembling a sandwich, if somepony's got all the ingredients together, and that's about the extent of my culinary endeavours. I have a chef, you see – and a very fine one, at that. Never really seemed right to try my hand at it when she works so hard to turn out such wonderful food. That and she doesn't like me disrupting the running of her kitchen by popping down without prior notice.”

Hungrily, Polaris contemplated the fudge pieces. “You know, I probably should be on a diet, but one piece surely can't hurt, now can it?” he confided, before eagerly floating one of the remaining pieces of fudge into his mouth and biting down on it, closing his eyes in pleasure as the subtle melange of flavours washed over his tongue. “Oh, I say! Just as -mmm- perfect as it smelled.”

He sighed, slightly wistfully, as the morsel vanished down his gullet, leaving only a memory of the taste lingering on his tongue. “A pity that some masterpieces are so transitory. If the rest of your stock at this undoubtedly eye-catching store – which I will patronize as soon as possible, you can depend upon it - is anywhere near as good, then I shall have to restrain myself from buying the lot!” He frowned. “And then I'd have to deal with the lecturing of my doctor, but...I think it would be worth it.”

Polaris' head tilted to one side as a thought occurred. “Tell me, have you ever thought of experimenting with chocolate and coffee together? It'd be just the thing for an elevenses snack, I think.”

[Solaria]

Cadance smiled encouragingly as Stalwart stepped forward, as it seemed he was trying his best to look regal and dignified and she didn't want to do anything to make him feel uncomfortable. The happy look faded a little as she listened to his story, and by the time he finished the princess looked a little crestfallen. Though she really didn't have much to do with the REA and its duties aside from accompanying Shining Armor from time to time, it was still troublesome for a pony who cared so much about her subjects to hear tales of woe or misfortune.

"I'll see what I can do," she responded carefully, her expression guarded so as not to give false hope. Wanting to be completely honest with the stallion, she continued, "I'll speak with my husband and make sure that the guard is at least aware of the situation, but I'm afraid anything more than that is really up to the military rather than myself."

She declined to mention that though she was indeed a princess, she didn't carry quite as much authority as her aunts did. Not yet anyway. It wouldn't have bothered her to share this information, but it might have led Stalwart to thinking that she was just trying for a way out of helping him, when in fact the opposite was true. Instead, her smile made a slow return and she patted her guest on the shoulder reassuringly. The inquisitive-looking pony was up next.

The unicorn stepped forward with actual questions about the CRPR, just as Polaris had, and Cadance was visibly amused by her interest in the subject. The alicorn herself was head of a department and she still didn't find it all that entertaining at times. Flux then asked her big question: What did they actually do on their forays into Greater Equestria?

"Well, that's actually a hard question to answer," Cadance responded with an embarrassed grin. "What we do differs from village to village, city to city, and so on. Sometimes we actually do deal with small local problems if it would help resolve them more easily, which usually helps build trust between those we help and the castle. You're right that it's rare though, because most ponies don't want to seem like they can't handle anything without royalty coming in with guards to save the day."

"What Polaris was speaking about moments ago is rather true, we have to walk a fine line so that we don't cross over into the diplomatic corps' duties. While they focus more on resolving disputes with the authority of the crown behind them, we lean more toward establishing the goodwill and peace. Very similar in many ways, I know, but since you've already read books on the subject..." She turned and trotted over to one of the board members who was still snoozing, grabbed a massive tome with her aura of magic and wobbled back to Flux, dropping it to the ground with a loud poomf! "This is a compendium of all the CRPR's procedures and workings, which you're welcome to read. Who knows, you may enjoy it!"

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise felt extremely pleased that a nobel had taken an interest in her fudge. As Polaris spoke about his life as a duke. the chocolate hued earth pony became lost in her own mind. She was envisioning a beautiful great hall of a castle with gleaming marble. Everything was nicely decorated with white linens and the finest china for a royal feat. And there Sweet Surprise was, creating chocolate creations fir the feast with many royal poies congratulating her work.

Suddenly Sweet snapped back to this reality as Polaris mentioned mixing coffe and chocolate together. "Oh coffee and chocolate? Never really tried that, but I think I will. Thanks for the idea. I'm just starting out at the place I'm working at, but eventually I want to have my own candy shop and who knows maybe make confections for events."

[SilverSwirl]

Timid came up to the princess and gave a big grin as she said that the CRPR dealt with spreading peace and goodwill to all of Equestria. "I'd like to thank you for all the help you sent my home island after that jungle fire. A lot of my birthplace was destroyed but your representatives provided the extra help we needed to rebuild. I was only a small foal then but I still remember it, in fact, I occasionally have nightmares about it.", he said as he shivered from the memory of the fire but still smiling at the unicorn and the princess.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna nibbled as slowly as she could on the square of fudge as she watched Hoss and Jubilee enjoying themselves at the refreshments table.

She fluttered her black banded wings as a slightly well-fed noble trotted over also seeking fudge.

Shanna smiled pleasently and moved back a step for the Duke as he got a piece for himself. After a moment, she tried to think if he was familiar. "Good Morning, Duke Polaris, I am Shanna Skybright. Pardon me, but are you one of the Dukes that knows my mother, StarBright? She's one of the top astronomers in the Royal Canterlot Observatory and has recently taken up teaching astronomy in the University since she is starting to slow down too much for long distance flights."

[Neoniie]

Flux listened intently as Princess Cadance answered her query. It was true that the duties of the diplomatic corps and the CRPR seemed rather similar, but then again so did aluminium and tin on first glance. The unicorn wasn't surprised that their duties seemed rather interlinked at times, but it would do no good for one to displace aspects of the others. It did seem like a fine line indeed. Of course, she also wasn't particularly shocked to hear that the involvement of the CRPR in local problems was rare. After all, most ponies preferred to be self-sufficient and others had a rather unfortunate (though not always incorrect) view of nobility in Equestria. So, she nodded at certain points in Cadance's explanation to signal that she'd understood what had been said so far, but was otherwise solely focused on absorbing the information.

She was slightly puzzled by the Princess' intent when she trotted in the direction of one of the less active attendees of the party. However, when she returned with a book, the mare's eyes practically lit up with excitement and anticipation. When the alicorn further offered it to her for her perusal, she looked quickly between the Princess, the book, and the Princess again. "I-I can really read through this?" Her voice was positively bubble at this point, which was nearly impossible for the mare unless she was presented with something particularly interesting to her academic mind. "Oh my goodness, thank you!" she squeed, lifting the book very carefully with her own magical field. "I promise to take good care of it." She started to trot toward a more quiet corner of the ballroom to do some reading, but then remembered it had been a Princess she'd been speaking to. Flux quickly wheeled around, gave a quick bow toward Cadance along with a "Pleasure to meet you, Princess Cadance," and then skipped off to the side of the room to read through the book.

[HighRoller]

Stalwart nodded his thanks to the princess. "Thank you, my lady. All I can ask is that you make them aware of the problem." He gave her a bow and stepped back, just in time to avoid being pummeled by the formidable tome, apparently a book about her organization's policies and procedures, among other things. He watched the mare, whose appearance suggested academia, as she took delight in the book and its most likely mundane contents. She was a strange one, he thought to himself...but he also had respect for the pursuit of knowledge and those involved in it, so he didn't think of her too critically.

The well-built stallion walked over to the punch bowl and served himself carefully, slightly ruing the fact he lacked magic to levitate and manipulate objects as the unicorns did with such apparent ease, but not dwelling on it too long. It was not in Stalwart's nature to stew in regret over things he could do nothing to change.

[Mojo]

Finally, the nervousness and embarrassment lifted from Jubilee as she helped herself to the items on the refreshment table. The petite blonde Pegasus mare noticed that Shanna had struck up a conversation with somepony else.

"Hoss, my love, should we try to mix and mingle with the other ponies here now?" she timidly asked, hoping that her very special somepony would take the lead. There were many interesting ponies gathered here and Jubilee wanted to be socialable and polite, especially after causing a big disturbance with her 'crash landing' entrance.

[Duchess]

“Oh, you’re quite welcome,” smiled Polaris, quite happily. “I have to say, if this is what you can produce as an apprentice, I shall await with bated breath your work as a master. With your skill, I should expect you will have your own emporium sooner rather than later; I do hope your current employer appreciates you, miss. Talent shouldn’t be wasted, after all.”

He took another genteel sip of the punch, humming gently in pleasure at the warming liquid. “Naturally, one needs a certain reputation to start, but event catering is an excellent way to get more exposure to patrons, and a superb way to display your mastery of the culinary arts. I really do admire the ponies who can make those perfect spun-sugar subtleties in the shape of the Princesses, or Fetlock Hall, and so forth, or chocolate models of griffons and suchlike - and the food is generally superb, too. I really will have to call in at your shop very soon - and hopefully when you‘re a famous chocolatier, you‘ll look kindly on me.”

Polaris inclined his head to Sweet Surprise and turned gracefully as another mare began to address him. She was a pegasus, with a brilliant bay coat and a startling black mane, tail and socks, and looked rather familiar. He racked his brain trying to remember her name and where he might have seen her before, and then was saved from trying by the mare herself. ’Shanna Skybright, of course!’ he thought. 'Her mother practically ran the Royal Observatory when I was studying at the University. Must remember to ask what the two of them are doing now - Shanna's one of a pair, I seem to recall.'

“And a very good morning to you, Miss Skybright! Thanks awfully for letting me get to that superb fudge - although I really shouldn’t have.” He looked down at himself somewhat ruefully, already imagining the celery stick diet - no, no, food plan, as his doctor would stress - that was surely in the offing when he gave into temptation and trotted over to Sweet Surprise’s place of employment. “To answer you, I do indeed know Professor Starbright, yes. I don’t manage to get over to the Observatory as often as I’d like now, so our acquaintance has lapsed a bit since I was last at university. It’s good to hear she’s keeping herself busy, though - although I do have to confess, when I was an undergraduate I was always terrified whenever we had a trip to her Observatory that I’d break something and suffer her wrath.” Polaris winced at the memory of Sirius Coltington and what was always referred to as the Cassegrain Caper (in hushed voices) - a decidedly infamous event that still filled him with mild dread if ever Starbright found out about his (supporting and mildly accidental) role in the damaging of a very expensive and newly-installed telescope.

He shook himself out of his momentary stroll down Memory Lane and beamed at Shanna. “Still, I’d regard it a service if you’d pass on my warmest regards to your mother when you next see her. Tell me, does she still hold her position as Astronomer Royal? If they’re still using the old telescope, I think I might persuade myself to help get a new one - the night sky is always so beautiful, after all, especially now we have Princess Luna back.” He gave a short, self-deprecating laugh. “And with a name like Polaris, well…"

[Solaria]

Cadance grinned broadly as Flux seemed overjoyed with the book. It had put the princess to sleep countless times, but then again she enjoyed being out and about speaking with ponies and being active, not memorizing rules. Besides, Dusty Chronicle quoted at least ten of them a day to her when she wasn't doing exactly what the tome said. It had worked out so far.

The alicorn nodded at Stalwart as he thanked her, wishing she could do more than offer a small promise and kind words. His concern for his mother was very evident to the empathetic mare, and it was a sobering thought to know that some ponies still harbored ill will in their hearts, like those bandits. Her reverie was soon broken by Timid however, who had approached her once more and was thanking her for helping to rebuild his home.

Cadance's eyes misted over as she remembered the visit, with so many ponies left homeless and despairing while charred pieces of houses continued to smolder. It had been one of her more saddening trips, but at least nopony had been severely hurt. The worst injuries were a few minor burns here and there, and most of the grief came from property damage. The CRPR had worked night and day with the locals to rebuild the area, and it had been very rewarding, but the royal pink pony tried not to think about it too much. It was her job, but it took a certain amount of willpower for somepony with such a vested interest in her subjects. She lifted a hoof and patted Timid Star on his head, a reassuring look flitting across her face.

"You're welcome. It was worth it to see the smiles of ponies with homes again."

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise smiled as Polaris remarked how great her talents were in creating the fudge and to call upon him when she became more famous. She knew that what she was doing was great, but every compliment made her accomplishments even sweeter.

As the Duke of Manehattan turned to address some other ponies. Sweet decided to pay Princess Cadance again with a few question.

"So... Princess Cadance, I have a question about you actually. What's it like to... you know... be a princess. I mean not just doing royal things, but to fly and do magic. I've talked to other ponies who can do one or the other, but never both. Are some ponies born to do both, or is there some wierd magic-y thing that does that?"

[Boss_Hoss1]

Hoss turned to Jubilee and smiled "If you feel up to it, sure! Some of these ponies might also be looking for entertainers for their events so you never know.

In any case, this is the kind of crowd my mother knew growing up, and finding your groove in dealing with them is better done now than when mom invites you and me to a party to show us off." he finished with a wink. "I think mom likes you."

With that, Hoss starts ambling over toward where Shanna was speaking with Duke Polaris...

Meanwhile, Shanna smiled brightly "Oh it was no trouble to give you a chance to have some fudge, Duke Polaris, it was the fair thing to do, kind sir."

She smiled and stifled a giggle politely "Oh good! I was sure I had recognized you as somepony mother knew. I can imagine she would be terrifying to anypony worried about damaging the equipment. I and my brother both got our tail ends as striped as the zebras we met when we went along on her field studies and... well, I'm sure she brought that older 3" telescope to the savannah because it was a rough journey on equipment anyway..." she politely blushed and giggled.

Shanna then fluttered her wings at what the Duke said next "Thank you sir, I would be glad to pass that along to her. She still holds that position at this time, and will continue to do so, even now that we have news Mother is in foal." The mare smiled brightly and winked at letting the happy news out into one of the the usual Canterlot court channels.

"She will be overjoyed to hear an offer to assist in getting a new main telescope. She's been fretting over the old one since Luna returned to Canterlot. Thank you ever so much!"

Hoss nickered as he and Jubilee joined them "Hello Sis, isnt' this one of mom's aquaintences?" He smiled at Polaris "Good morning sir, I am Star Skybright, Shanna's twin brother, and this is my Special Somepony, Jubilee."

[Solaria]

Cadance mulled into a pensive look as Sweet Surprise approached her again, this time asking about her heritage. It was something the princess had learned in her private lessons as a filly, of course, but it had taken weeks before she'd understood it, and she was the one with both wings and horns. She didn't know how she would explain the whole process, but she could provide some information at least.

"Well, from what I learned about the royal family's history our bloodline has always been this way. We each embody the spirits of all different ponies, whether they're pegasi, unicorns or earth ponies. Apparently, this is what helped ancient ponies decide to let my family take a place as rulers, even though I don't remember the details very well. It was something about how we could represent the interests of all citizens, since we could relate to each type. I personally think that each of my relatives and myself tend to lean toward one heritage more than another. My Aunt Celestia is very talented at flying while I'm always worried about strong headwinds and falling, and Aunt Luna does magic of which I can only dream."

Cadance leaned in and talked in quieter tones.

"Even though my magic has a lot to do with love and empathy, I think it comes from earth pony magic more than anything. It's an innate thing, a power of feeling and caring, more than arcane energy. I feel that my magic just allows me to bring those feelings out from my heart and spread them to those around me. Earth ponies always form such strong connections with friends and the land, which is why I lean toward that explanation."

The princess grinned, a small blush coming to her cheeks.

"I hope that satisfied your curiosity a bit, but I'm willing to answer more questions!"

[Duchess]

“’Tis good to hear that even the progeny of the Astronomer Royal managed to damage equipment on occasion,” Polaris laughed. “Even though Unyasi is the very devil to get to, there’s something quite spellbinding about the deserts and savannah there, I found. Small wonder the zebras are such a mystical people, with just the land rolling off into the distance and the great bowl of the sky overhead. Concentrates the mind on eternity, I think.” He shook his head fondly, remembering a past trip. “Very hospitable people, too. Indeed, my first posting abroad was to Unyasi, and the zebras gave me a full set of the jewellery befitting an adult in their culture as a welcoming present.” Polaris chuckled. “I could barely move in all of it, even though it did look very fine indeed!” As the news about Professor Starbright being in foal registered, he beamed.

“Well, you simply must pass on my congratulations! The Professor and…Thunderstar, isn’t it? must be very happy! Once the joyful news gets around, they’ll have to set up some sort of queuing system to deal with all the well-wishers, of that you can be sure,” he added wryly; Starbright, the Astronomer Royal and now Professor of Astronomy at the Royal University, was a highly respected and admired figure, after all.

Polaris paused, and considered Shanna, tilting his head to one side slightly. “That is, unless the news is supposed to be a secret?” He hoped not - it was always so delightful to be the bearer of good news, after all, and he was already plotting whom to tell first. ‘Perhaps Aquila? Or maybe Lord Moor - he’s always been a friend of the Observatory - and Starbright too, I shouldn‘t wonder. No, he probably already knows. How about Inky Page, the Court gazetteer? - no, no, the Professor will want to tell him herself, when she’s ready…Oh, who to tell, who to tell…’ He didn’t let himself dwell on it for too long, though - that would have been awfully rude to Shanna. “We can’t have your mother fretting over a telescope, of all things, when she’s expecting. Do have her order whatever she thinks would be best for the Observatory and send the bill to Hoofburgh House, all right? Oh, and whilst I remember - have the doctors mentioned when the foal might be due?” he asked, curious.

Just then, the male mirror image of the pegasus he was talking to trotted up, with another pony in tow. “A fine morning to you both,” he replied as they addressed him, making sure to smile reassuringly at the white-and-blonde pegasus who stood close to Star - Jubilee, he’d said her name was. She seemed a little nervous. “The name’s Polaris - I don’t think our circles overlapped very much when I was at university here in Canterlot, sir Skybright, but I know your mother, at least, quite well. Your sister was just telling me the happy news about her! Hopefully another splendid addition to the family, eh?” He looked over at Jubilee, and winked. “Perhaps two, in the fullness of time?”

[Solaria]

((I'll get the ball rolling again soon with a presentation followed by dancing, etc. if I need to ))

[Mojo]

Jubilee became more happy and excited when Hoss spoke to her of others who might need entertainers and especially when he mentioned that his mom liked her. The petite Pegasus mare had never met the love of her life's parents before.

"Thanks Hoss, and I KNOW my parents will love you too!" she said with a big grin.

Then Jubilee listened with interest to Princess Cadance's speech and Polaris' words. She then began to blush a little when Polaris looked in her direction and hinted that there could be 'two additions' to the family.

"I am honored to meet you, sir," the blonde Pegasus said shyly.

[Lux]

^{Sweet listened intently to what Princess Cadance said. Even though she was a simple candy making earth pony, the fact that she was living in Canterlot where there was not one, not two, but three princesses excited her. She sometimes wondered what her life would be like born as a unicorn or pegasus, wondering if her life or carreer would have changed.}

^{"I think I understand a little more about being a princess" Sweet said, "Actually I kind of know about love magic myself, even though I'm just an earth pony. You see, I was told by Mr. Cocoa who I work with that chocolate is an aphrodisiac, or I think that's what I think he said. Anyway he said some foods, like chocolate are supposed to make ponies fall in love with each other more. I guess that's why lots of ponies buy them especially on holidays. Maybe the chocolate is like your magic, it brings out the love in ponies, or at least the happiness."}

^{Sweet Surprise stopped as if thinking about something before continuing.}

^{"i guess that's why I like making candy. It's not just about feeding ponies. It's about making them happy, and I love to see ponies happy!"}