"Oh hey, the really tall princess is here, now," Cimex noted aloud, his embrace of his sculpted treasure making him the last to learn of such things. His hoof jaggedly asserted from below the fountain's leg. "Aged cocoon slime, her mane is gigantic! You could hide half a patrol squad in there, Thorax!"

The other drones snickered. Thorax sighed, a tortured sound that accompanied a head shake.

"You know, guys," he breathed, dragging a hoof down his face, "I don't think my heart can take much more of your informalities."

The alpha reflexed a smile as the solar monarch descended, seemingly from the sun, itself. Her wings flexed and curled, scooping the air beneath her as she came to a landing. Even upon folding away her angelic form she radiated with elegance, a finesse as absolute as the sun's place in the afternoon sky. She trotted, almost skipped, over to the group, and mirrored the sun's light off a set of perfectly straight pearls.

"Thorax, I'm so glad to see you've made it here safely," she expressed, offering a snowy hoof. "Today has been hectic, between the museum's preparations and now all this. I've been half expecting to find Discord around every corner, spinning threads of chaos. I'm relieved that you've all managed, regardless."

A pair of antlers bowed to Celestia's horn, tall and eloquent, before rising again to match it in height.

"Well, I am used to navigating with chaos around," Thorax chuckled, gently receiving the alicorn's hoof. He passed the praise with a turn of his head, and so all at once, a spotlight of eyes befell an unprepared alicorn. "We have Princess Luna to thank for helping corral us so quickly, though. We couldn't find Twilight, and we didn't know where the museum was, so there's no telling how long we may have wandered, unassisted."

"Oh please, I merely walked out a doorway," Luna dismissed. The pair of bugs utilizing her back reverted to their regular forms and descended to the grass. From her peripheral, Luna could make out a foalish despair coming off her sister's face as they did so. "You were wise to come to the castle, Thorax. If even I had been absent, the palace guards would have known where to send for us. Everything worked out in the end."

Stirred by a racket of voices, Thorax's attention was stolen. His face lit up, and he knelt down before the half-dozen drones to better take in their mounting excitement. Exclamations of approval for pony museums, culture, and further statues that spit water filled the air. In that moment, Luna's stare targeted Celestia, and grew stern.

"Everything worked out in the end," Luna went on, a sigh trailing her syllables, "despite an unpleasant altercation with the nobility."

Distracted by their blossoming conversations, the changelings failed to notice the tautness of Celestia's brow. They failed to notice that, for a moment, the sun's rays seemed to grow that much hotter.

"How bad was it?"

"Bad enough to rile up the changelings in Thorax's defense," Luna murmured. "I thank the heavens they brushed off the encounter so readily. I hate to say I told you so, sister, but I will. Tradition and conceitedness still festers in this city, not to mention the grudge it has reason to harbor. I do not believe this will be as easy as you expect it to be."

"I never expect, only hope," Celestia said solemnly. She salvaged her former smile. "And yes, before you ask, I still have hope for the museum visit."

"Do you?"

"Museums, like libraries, I find promote a certain neutrality," Celestia said, her watchful gaze returning to Thorax. She giggled. Though lacking context, the sight of Thorax forcefully pulling several struggling changelings into a hug was too pure for any other response. "I believe it is an environment the changelings will thrive in."

"And you believe it will be enough?"

Expressive orbs began to flick to the alicorns, pair by pair, as the changeling's self-contained antics came to an end. Not one to be caught off guard by attention, Celestia stepped forward, receiving the expectant gazes with a host's smile.

"It doesn't have to be," Celestia whispered in passing. "The museum is merely a stage, Luna, a place for the changelings to show their true colors. Trust me - setbacks aside, this visit will still be a rounding success."

Resigning herself to the backdrop, Luna wore a knowing smirk, watching her showpony of a sister scoop up the changelings with only her presence. Before her they gathered, a shepherd and his flock, hung upon her every word.

"I regret to say that I'm not hiding Twilight under my wing," the monarch quipped, unfolding a wing for visual emphasis and garnishing chuckles. "I, too, am unaware of her exact situation. However, I have dispatched some of our best scouts to Ponyville, to check up on her. With any luck, and a little bit of hope, Princess Twilight will be joining us before long."

As she spoke, small, rounded mouths offset eyes that shined in her light, ogling her. Centuries of practice remaining calm and collected before manic crowds and cabinets of politicians could not shield the princess from changeling charm. She could feel her cheeks aching, her demeanor degrading to a foalish remnant of itself.

Praise be the ancient magics, even now they resembled giant, colorful plush toys.

"In the meantime," she picked up, catching herself before leaking a squee, "I'd be more than honored to be your guide for our museum trip. Through Princess Twilight, you've gifted Equestria a precious insight on your developing culture. As a bit of a history buff, myself, allow me to return the favor today by showing you Equestria's many forms throughout the ages."

Once more content in being rendered a spectator, Luna watched as the changelings chittered in response. Around her sister they rose and sank in gleeful bounces, wings taking to the air, once even leaping grew dull.

Ever so subtly had the moon princess begun to retreat across the grass, back towards the castle's backside, and the lull of her bed chambers. With the castle's decor finished, and the task of chaperoning now passed off to her sister, she'd become all too aware of a weight sliding her eyelids like curtains. They knew what was now within hoof's grasp, perhaps better than even her conscious mind did.

Luna shifted, and winced. The sun bore down at a relentless right angle, something she only now processed. She frowned, and yawned.

These double shifts were really starting to take their toll.

"Princess Nighttime," came a voice to rattle her thoughts, "aren't you coming with us?"

The weights let up, and her unsightly yawn skittered back down her throat. Luna turned, rather jumpily, to find the group watching her from the garden's edge.

"Oh, no," she began, dragging out her letters to frantically grasp for each set of new ones. "You all...go have fun with my sister. I believe I'll, uh, briefly retire while you attend the museum opening. You see, I'm not used to being up this long during the daytime. Short spurts, usually, at most."

From beyond a few mildly disappointed faces, Celestia cast her a nod and smile. Luna returned them.

"I won't be long," she continued, mustering warmth from a depleting enthusiasm. "By the time you return from your tour, I'll be up and alert. Besides sleep, there's one more item of business I need to attend to in the castle, anyway, so this is actually perfect timing."

She thanked her luck that, just then, Celestia spoke up. Mouths had begun to open for follow-up questions, and she was on her last legs, as it was.

"A splendid idea," Celestia said with pep, unfurling one milky wing and using it to prompt the group to follow her lead out the garden's side entrance. From the rear followed Thorax, ensuring no stragglers were left behind. "We'll give my sister time to do what she needs to, while we get to the museum. I am so looking forward to my turn to spend some time with you all. I was starting to get jealous of my niece and former student."

Upon emphasis, the sun monarch mumbled her words, setting off chuckles in response.

"So, being a princess, have you gotten to see the inside of the museum, already?" Apidae inquired. The ladybug changeling hovered a hoove's length off the ground just to meet her host's eye. Celestia acknowledged her with an odd look.

"Now what makes you think I could have seen the museum already?" she offered. "They haven't even opened their doors, yet."

As grass gave way to cool cobblestone, Apidae landed again just as impulsively, her momentum maintained.

"Well, from what we know about pony politics from the Crystal Empire, and from past infiltrations of Canterlot, all major events tend to have a princess involved," Apidae declared proudly. She shot a glance to Thorax and asserted her tongue tip between her teeth. "Plus, that's how the hive often works, too. Thorax or Pharynx have a role in almost everything major that goes on, from assemblies to feelings forums, training practices to evacuation procedures."

"Now hang on," came the cracking voice of Thorax, "I'm getting better at delegating, Apidae, you know that. Just look at Calor, he helps run a lot of our routine social activities in my stead, now."

From a short distance beyond Thorax's outstretched hoof, Calor excitedly waved his own.

"I'm just teasing, Papa Thorax," Apidae sang. "Calor runs social activities, I'm a liaison for the Crystal Empire, Calor says you also want to start finding volunteers for hive tour guides - everyling knows you're getting better at letting us help, don't worry."

Thorax opened his mouth, but settled for another head shake.

Celestia giggled, and, yielding with a nod, turned to the ladybug drone. "Apidae, was it? You're very clever. Yes, I admit I actually have been on a brief tour of the museum in both its unfinished and finished states. These tours were not for my own leisure, however, they were to understand room layouts, themes and topics covered by sections of the building, and other preemptive information. I didn't have much opportunity to explore or read any exhibits, which, in retrospect, I'm thankful for. It will be much more enjoyable to experience them for the first time with you all."

"Um, Your Highness," said Cimex, erecting a hoof as if to be called on, "if you haven't read any of the exhibits, and are learning things along with us, then how are you a history buff?"

Little more than a forgotten caboose, noling was there to console Thorax from his ugly grimace.

"Good question," Celestia cooed, politely meeting each face that watched her, as she walked. "Allow me to clarify - I am unfamiliar with how the museum's exhibits will demonstrate Equestrian history, not the topic of Equestrian history, itself. I may not look it, but I'm a teacher, as well as a princess."

"You teach pony history to little ponies?" asked Xenica, buzzing along a few yards in front of Thorax. Her distance from the alicorn dwindled as her interest rose.

"Not directly," Celestia replied. Unseen wings tickled her ears with a pleasant fluttering. "I run a small magic school here in Canterlot, where I teach magic to truly gifted young unicorns. Of course, history is an important part of learning magic, so I do cover many history topics in my classes."

Before further questions could launch, the alicorn made her budding smirk known.

"Of course, there's a more obvious reason why I'm already familiar with Equestria's history," she trailed on. She paused and drew attention. While seven pairs of bug eyes looked on, she winked.

"Having lived through much of Equestria's history, I have a first-hoof knowledge of the subject."

There was a painfully long silence, dotted with blinking. When gasps pierced the air at last, Celestia struggled to contain her giggling.

"Wait, how old is Equestria?" Calor squeaked. His eyes shook, and he grasped the sides of his head. He observed the ground like it were a charging maulwarf. "Cocoon slime, how old are you?"

The forgotten caboose changeling strained another display of teeth.

"That's got to be thousands of years," Apidae rasped in reply, staring up at the sun monarch with a newfound fascination. "Princess Cadance taught us about the Crystal Empire's history, and how the last time they were around was over a thousand years ago, before a curse. Equestria existed even then, according to her."

"Chrysalis had an extended lifespan compared to most changelings, but even she doesn't come anywhere close to whole millenia," Xenica expressed, darting her attention from Apidae to Celestia. "Were you around for Equestria's founding, Your Highness?"

Shrouded in mystique, Celestia wore a cryptic smile. Again she winked, and with a nod of her head, motioned to a decorated sign crowning a fork in the path before them. Below the sign sat an arrow, pointing right.

Equestrian History & Foreign Exchange Museum - Grand Opening! 5 bits for adults, foals free with adult supervision.

Eyes scanned the text, then rebounded to Celestia. She addressed them with a thoughtful raise of her brow.

"Equestria, as an identified nation is approximately two and a half millenia old. My sister and I do pop up throughout that timeline, though certainly not as the focus, for the most part." A ghostly smirk haunted her lip. "All the same, I'd imagine at least one of the exhibits will mention my full birthday. Hmm, I wonder which of you can find it for me, first."

There was another chorus of gasps, and so the drones sprang to life, trotting and flying ahead of their host and king with gusto. By the time Thorax could so much as release a breath, the drones had vanished in a cloud of dust.

"You hear that? Scavenger hunt, everyling!", proclaimed Calor, emerging before the pack and morphing himself a detective hat in a localized burst of flame. "Find the princess's hatchday-"

"Birthday," Xenica interjected blandly.

"-birthday, on one of the museum exhibits! First changeling to find it gets to show it to her!"

Thorax released his breath, and his window for reaching earshot slipped away. Futile as his continued efforts were, he leapt forward.

"Guys! Guys, please wait for us!", he expressed hopelessly, gallops evolving to a fluttering in the air. "You can't just leave the princess and run off to-oh, forget it."

The pack disappeared around a corner, and with them, what little remained of Thorax's reins.

With all kinetic energy arrested, no further sounds of trotting, buzzing or incessant questioning could drown out Celestia's giggling.

"I apologize, Thorax," she managed, placing a hoof to her chest as the dejected changeling sunk back down to the street. "I hoped to pique an interest in the museum, but it appears I may have riled them up beyond that."

"Don't worry about it," Thorax sighed, craning his neck up towards the sky and taking a deep breath. Upon collecting himself, he offered the clouds, and Celestia, a more hopeful look. "If I'm honest, I'm to blame - I've been trying to keep them calm and respectful this whole trip, but this is a huge deal for them, and I need to respect that, too. I need to get better at directing their energy, rather than trying to contain it."

Together they walked, navigating a modest side street nearly void of other ponies, but still a spectacle to behold for anyone in their presence. Side by side they nearly matched in height, towering over typical ponies, with Thorax losing only to a few notches in the alicorn's horn.

"I was just about to compliment how well you handled them, actually," Thorax continued, fishing for the monarch's eye. "I've never seen anyone so flawlessly handle them like that. I mean, I can, on a good day, but never when they're hyper-energized. You so effortlessly turned their excitement back around to the museum, like you've done this a million times."

Humming, Celestia looked skyward as well. The sun enveloped her, a stellar marionette held aloft by her own magic. Her ears twitched, as did her smile, to the now audible chirps of passing birds, and the distant city sounds she had grown so accustomed to. In pausing her pace with Thorax, a familiar calm overcame her, and she gave the world a smile to outdo all others.

"This smile is my pleasure," Celestia replied at last, turning to sample it for him. "It's a pleasure because, unlike many smiles I put on throughout my day, it comes from someplace genuine. I feel no happier than when I am gently guiding others, especially those with so much to see and learn. You and I both tend to gravitate towards mingling with our subjects, not out of obligation, but because leading is more rewarding when done personally. I believe we may share a fair bit in common."

From over the peaks of tiled rooftops and rowed tree lines, a layered building of vivid reds, yellows and whites came into view, modeling for the entire city block. Tall, brilliant banners depicting the day/night cycle wrapped around a caricature Canterlot Castle, and adorned the building in a set of four along its front entrance. Canvases of hoof-painted artwork covered every size-able inch of the outer walls, and Thorax found himself following them with his eyes.

Flurries of leaves danced along an autumn path, set before a stone, barracks-like structure. Before it, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns in armor conversed together under the light of an orange sun.

Travelers towing wooden wagons stopped to bow before the solar princess, bathed in a warm, yellow glow. A young green mare met the princess where she stood, and gestured to her caravan.

A jet-black dragon sat amidst a ruined castle, baring a maw full of fangs towards a small army of approaching pegasi. A sickly red twilight painted a scene of desperation and contempt.

Voices tore the alpha from his observations, revealing the small crowd of changelings he'd been hunting for.

"Hurry up, Papa Thorax, you have to get your hoof stamped if you want to go inside."

Thorax blinked. There was on odd shoving sensation just below his wing case, as if an impatient lilac drone were nudging him along.

"Cimex puppy dog eyed some poor ponies into letting him be first in line," Xenica continued, quickly circling the air into view. "He thought he was being cute, but I think they're just afraid he's gonna stuff them in cocoons or something."

Thorax leaned forward. Sure enough, crowning the line was Cimex, inadvertently horrifying surrounding ponies by way of a rhythmic bouncing in place.

"You guys sure are serious about this whole scavenger hunt thing," Thorax mused, stepping forward to a cowering earth pony working the stamp station. A trembling hoof emerged from behind the table and lightly pressed a stamp into his foreleg.

When Thorax turned, Celestia awaited him. He offered his imprinted hoof, and an awkward smile.

"I guess we're ready now, princess," he said, his face betraying his vocal confidence. "We better get going, I don't want Cimex to lose track of us in this crowd."

"Everything will be just fine, Thorax," the sun monarch soothed, seemingly commanding the museum doors to open with a turn of her head. Before a wave of brisk voices and pushing hooves, she remained calm and fixated, a life raft in the ocean of Thorax's anxiety. "I am confident that there is nothing within these walls that the changelings cannot handle."

"Your Majesty, you've returned," came a certain castle guard, offering a sturdy nod and tone. His brow curled as his nose twitched. "Ah, and you've been to the royal greenhouse, I see. It must be time for your afternoon retreat."

Up the stone steps trotted Luna, a mane of lavender affixed around her head. From half-lidded eyes she peered from one guard to the next, a sharp eyebrow awaiting the slightest snicker.

"Sure Point."

"Yes, mam."

"Crisp Plackart."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I require a favor." Luna sniffed, and her senses were cradled by purple bliss. "Please inform any passerby that my sister and I will be henceforth unavailable for further guidance to the populace, today. She now attends the museum opening with the changelings, and I must check in with Chef Sedani, regarding preparations for tonight's dinner. Following this, I will be taking a brief nap, before our guest's visit resumes in the castle."

The guards nodded in unison, and Luna ventured the path between them.

"Should I not wake by the time my sister returns, you have permission to open my chamber door and wake me," she added. The castle doors yawned and receded upon swallowing her, gripped in her deep blue magic. "The same goes for if the units sent to Ponyville return, and report that Twilight requires assistance. For now, I bid a pleasant afternoon to you both."

A heavy-set thud of oak beset uncertain glances. Sure Point snorted.

"Not it," he disclaimed quickly. "I've already been assaulted by her tapestries, today, I'm not playing alarm clock, too. It's unsettling how fast she can peg a pony with pillows through that door crack."

Author's Notes:

Shout it out if you caught the game reference. If not, happy hunting!