1/14

The door opened, and Celestia came in.
	That’s the bare bones of it. The raw fact. But it fail to capture any of the truth of it. It's hard to consider where to begin. The room felt brighter. I’m not sure if the literal space of the room was brighter. I’m not sure if Celestia was actually emitting light. But the room definitely felt brighter.
	She moved with confidence. It wasn’t a casual grace or an easy calm. It wasn’t a projection or a trick. She simply emitted enough unflappable confidence that everyone else felt like they were simply pretending and only she had any idea what she was up to. She looked over everything like it was all falling into place exactly as she expected it, even when she was surprised, as she glanced over and saw me sitting on the bed.
	She was beautiful. My mind had a hard time comprehending it. Everypony sees pictures of her, hears stories, a lot of ponies get a chance to see her from a distance, but nothing can compare to just how gorgeous she actually was. Her fur was a pristine white, and there was nary a blot or a mark anywhere on it, just a perfect field of suff, sleek white with the bearest hints of fluff near her chest and fetlocks. Her entire form was long, graceful curves that flowed into each other, leaving her to move with a liquid grace that made her seem like a work of art with every step. Her eyes were a radiant pink that passed over everything like a breeze, taking in details with long, easy sweeps of vision. Her mane was a kaleidoscope of color, flowing and flashing with colors of countless hues.
	I was staring. I was aware of the fact that I was staring but I couldn’t stop myself. My mouth hung agog as she made her way over to me. She wore a simple smile, and I felt myself frozen with fear, anticipation, enjoyment… It was a rainbow of emotions and I felt myself paralyzed by them, crushed by them.
	“Normally,” she said with a voice that was smooth, deep, careful, loving. “My guests wait for me in the sitting room, but I can see that you’re feeling particularly eager to begin, hm?” She climbed onto the bed and sat down next to me, fixing me with a scrutinizing gaze and maintaining the easy smile. I felt as though she was picking me apart with a simple look.
	Naturally, I remained calm and composed and began sputtering like a foal. “I”m not…” I said. “I wasn’t… I didn’t mean…”
	She laughed, a peal of joyous laughter that immediately made me freeze. Embarrassment, delirium, and stress overwhelmed me and I swooned slightly as I stared at her. She smelled nice… She had probably taken off whatever perfume she was wearing a slightly sweet earthy tone was all that remained to her.
	“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said. “You seem a little bit shaken up. It was probably a mistake to send Fizzlepop.”
	“Uh, um, Fizzlepop?”
	Celestia paused and considered. “Goodness, is she still going by that ridiculous name Tempest Shadow?” She gave the name as much faux-grandiosity and doom as she could manage, waggling her hooves in an imitation of a fireside story. “Please don’t tell her I told you, but her name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist. It's a much nicer name, anyway, and I wish she’d go by it, but I think she’s scared about not being taken seriously.”
	“That’d be the day,” I mumbled. “I think I’d be scared of her if her name was Loving Suction.” I paused and froze as I looked up at the Princess, who fixed me with a disapproving gaze. I’d ruined it. Minutes into my tenure and already I’d
	“Loving Suction?” She asked, unable to keep the trace elements of a giggle out of her tone. “Have you been reading too many inappropriate novels? For a stallion your age, they’ll rot your mind.” She gave me a wink and I began to calm down a bit, though part of me was still on high alert.
	“Oh, you must be so nervous,” she continued, and reached out a hoof to gingerly push part of my mane out of my face. “You can’t be much older than… 20?”
	“Nineteen,” I confessed miserably.
	“Nineteen,” she said, murmuring the words thoughtfully. “Hm… The magic chose a young one.” She noticed my confusion. “Given the sheer number of subjects I have, this time in the choosing I had to opt for some magical guidance,” she explained. “There weren’t any strapping young war heroes lying about this time, and I haven’t had much time to expand my social circle, so I enlisted Twilight and Cadance in order to craft a spell that could help me find the ideal candidate.”
	“And it chose… me.” I said flatly, a distinct lack of belief filtering through.my voice. “I don’t have much of a resume. Unless you desperately need your hallways swept.”
	Celestia tapped her chin, looking upward thoughtfully. “Well, my maids have been getting lax lately..” She noted, then gave me a playful grin when she saw my reaction. “Don’t worry about it,” she said teasingly. “I’m not asking you to have faith in the grand machinations of a spell you don’t understand. I’m asking you to have faith in me. I’ve had three consorts before you. I don’t require them all that often, but they’ve all been different. One of them was a goofball who spent all her time playing games and we still worked it out. One of them was a grumpy soldiers who spent every minute he wasn’t with me working. You’ll find your part to play, I promise you.”
	And she did, in her seemingly magic, manage to ease a lot of the tension. I nodded simply, though my brain was hard at work. “Well, um. My name is First Prize. I grew up in Neighagra Falls, and my cutie mark is, uh…” I always felt self-conscious about this bit. “Being valuable.”
	“Oh? I don’t believe I’ve ever come across a cutie mark like that. How did you earn it?”
	I could feel my cheeks burning. “I, um, uh, got bullied at school because I was a poor flier and, um…”I looked away, trying not to meet her eyes. “Realized my own self-worth.” It always sounded dumb as hell when I tried to explain it, but Celestia didn’t seem so much as condescending about the whole thing.
	“Interesting,” she said simply. She gently placed her hoof on my haunch and let it drift down my back to my flank, where it rested next to my cutie mark, a medal with a blue ribbon. From there, she let the tip slowly rotate on my flank, somewhat thoughtlessly as she considered it.