Celestia let out a restrained sigh as she watched her sun
illuminate the castle gardens. She longed to be out there. Even though the
chill of the winter hadn’t been banished entirely, the first signs of spring
were already prevalent throughout the castle gardens. The first of the spring
rains had been scheduled, meaning that clouds were obscuring most of the sky,
which gave the entire garden a somewhat melancholy feel. Celestia didn’t care;
she wanted to watch the small, delicate bluebells bloom when the rains started.
She wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin.

After four days of dealing with a huge scandal over the
possible rigging of the mayoral election, another three days spent drafting a
proposal to the Zebra tribes (making an entire diplomatic document rhyme was
far from easy, after all), and an entire week spent attending an overly
ceremonious tea party to which she had been invited by the dragon ambassador,
she had completely lost track of time. Not only that; she had all but forgotten
about the filly she had accepted as her student. Which wasn’t a problem until
an attendant came up to her in the middle of morning court.