[S4E1] A Royal Pain

Serena and Blair enjoy their summer vacation in Paris trying to take their minds off of home. Blair scores a date with a man she suspects is a member of a royal family. Meanwhile, Chuck is recovering in Prague after being found by Eva Coupeau, a waitress who does not know his real identity. Meanwhile, back in New York, Eleanor helps Lily make arrangements for Fashion's Night Out at the van der Woodsen penthouse and Dan deals with raising Georgina's newborn son Milo, while Nate meets a potential new love interest, Juliet Sharp.

[S4E1] A Royal Pain

Meanwhile, Nate brings one of his "dates" to a restaurant, and she is talking loudly on the phone. They're seated next to a girl who is reading, and Nate asks his date to quiet down. She excuses herself, and Nate apologizes to the other girl. She guesses he was hurt by a girl, and then notices the date leaving the restaurant with another man. He introduces himself and asks for her number, but she doesn't give it him and leaves. In Paris, Blair is at the Louvre staring at a Manet painting when she's approached by a handsome man, who introduces himself as Louis. They begin speaking in French, but he switches to English and he realizes she is from New York. He admits that he's seen her there before but had to work up toe courage to talk to her. He asks her on a date and they make plans for him to pick her up at nine. Louis is then approached by a valet, who passes on a message that Blair overhears. She realizes he may be a Grimaldi, but he tells her that he is just Louis and leaves. She immediately calls Serena and tells her they need to shop because she may have met a real life prince that she's going out with that night. Serena agrees to cancel her date to go out with her. While they shop, Serena attempts to tell Blair about Columbia but can't find the courage too, not wanting to ruin her date. Blair receives a text from Louis telling her they're having dinner at Baccarat and that he's bringing his friend Jean Michele so Serena has to come too. At the loft in Brooklyn, Georgina is begging someone on the phone for more time. They respond that she has one day and she goes to tend to Milo. While she's rocking his cradle, Rufus calls the landline and she gladly starts talking to him. He asks why she's answering the phone, and she glances at the birth certificate, which Dan hasn't signed. Outside, Dan and Vanessa are taking a walk and discussing things. He confesses that he isn't completely sure Milo is his son since he hasn't done a paternity test, but a big revelation from Georgina never happened and she's been good with him. He also says he told her he won't sign the birth certificate until they get a test done.

At Baccarat, Blair is telling Louis and Jean Michele about Serena falling in the fountain. A sopping wet Serena walks in, collects her things, then leaves with Jean Michele. Once they're gone, Blair pushes Louis to leave too. Louis admits that he is the royal, and that Jean Michele is the driver. He explains that he thought that maybe someone who loved what he loved could love him too, but he was wrong and she was using him. He leaves. At the loft, Georgina takes a call from Vanessa who tells her to pass along the message that she will always be his friend. After they hang up, she writes a note to Dan saying she needs to destress at the spa. She grabs her packed suitcases and leaves the loft. At Eleanor and Cyrus' in Paris, Serena is packing to go home. Blair apologizes and says she ruined her own date. She continues that all she cares about is Serena, then finally admits that she isn't okay and is worried she will never get over Chuck. They talk about how maybe going to Columbia together is a good thing, and they make up. Blair then sends a tip to Gossip Girl about how Serena will be back in New York at Columbia. When Nate sees the blast, he calls Juliet. At her own apartment, Juliet is stapling sales tags back on her clothes when she takes Nate's calls. He vaguely explains his situation to her and they agree to meet for coffee and talk. She grabs her coat, and it's shown that on her apartment wall that she has different Gossip Girl blasts about Serena, Nate, and the whole UES dating back to Serena's arrest (The Wrath of Con). At the VDW's, Lily gets a call from Paris police, who inform her that a body washed up in Paris and the identification says it's Chuck.

During a flashback, presumably in Prague, Chuck is shown on a bed in immense pain but being treated by a mysterious blonde. He starts having flashbacks (when Serena rejected him and Dan punched him in Pilot, his fight with Nate in A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate, his break up with Blair, both in Inglourious Bassterds and Last Tango, Then Paris). The scene suddenly changes to him waking up to the blonde, who asks who he is. He grabs his ring, monogrammed with his initials, then notices a book with the word Henry. He introduces himself as Henry Prince and drops the ring on the floor. The scene changes again to him waking up on a train, seated next to the blonde. She tells him that she knows he had the dream again, but that hopefully things will change in a new place. They kiss, and she welcomes him to Paris.

Each episode begins in similar fashion, with an introduction to our different couples and their painfully obvious issues before the big day. Sitting them both down, Jamie encourages the pair to unwind and talk about their concerns.

In Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle practices flying while Spike and her friends Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity cheer her on, with Rainbow Dash giving her pointers. However she is still unused to fine wing control, causing her to flap them out of sync, lose control, and crash. She isn't prepared for her performance in the Summer Sun Celebration, which is only two days away. As Applejack helps her up, she calls her "Princess Twilight", which Twilight points out is unnecessary. Rarity questions why she insists on that as she has already given up on wearing her crown all the time, and she should at least embrace her royal title. Twilight concedes that if other ponies want to address her that way it's fine, but it feels wrong for her own friends to do so. Rainbow has her run through her performance's big finish, and Twilight has no problem soaring, but her coordination falls apart after smashing through three clouds, loops out of control, and plows a furrow into the ground.

In the throne room, Twilight's friends admire the new stain glass window commemorating Twilight's ascension and coronation, along with Star Swirl the Bearded's spell book and a purple book with her cutie mark on the cover underneath. Twilight feels downcast that her friends won't be in Canterlot for the official Summer Sun Celebration, as it was the celebration that brought them all together. It doesn't feel right to any of them that they won't be spending their special day with Twilight in Canterlot, but Mayor Mare was desperate for Twilight's friends to help set up the local celebration for Ponyville. Applejack states that while the celebration is what brought them all together, she points to the stain glass window depicting the six defeating Nightmare Moon (from The Return of Harmony Part 1) as proof that they will always be united by the Elements of Harmony. Twilight and Spike see them off at the train station and they Pinkie Promise to write her as much detail as possible so it'll be like she's there with them, while Rarity reminds Twilight that the two have an appointment after the celebration to discuss royal upgrades to her bedroom loft décor in the Golden Oak Library. However, even as the train pulls away, Twilight tells Spike that she still can't help feeling like she's already missing something.

That evening in their castle guest quarters, Spike goes over a checklist and noting that they are way ahead of schedule, suggests that they have time to make a quick trip to Ponyville, then return to finish off the checklist before the celebration. Twilight decides to stay in Canterlot in case something goes wrong that requires her attention; this being her first royal duty, she doesn't want to let down her old teacher. Princess Celestia enters the room and says that she is actually looking forward to the celebration for the first time. Looking out the window as Princess Luna raises the moon from a tower balcony, she explains that to her subjects, the holiday celebrated her victory over Nightmare Moon, but to her, it was always a painful reminder that she had to banish her beloved sister to the moon. She then brightens up, stating that it now reminds her of Luna's transformation back and the happy reunion with her. Celestia is happy to have Twilight as part of the festivities, but knows it must have been hard to have her friends return home without her. While no longer teacher and student, Celestia reaffirms that she will always be there if Twilight needs her, just as she hopes that Twilight will be there for her. After sharing a nuzzle, Celestia leaves Twilight and Spike to go over the checklist one more time. As she walks down the corridor, a black root breaks through the floor and pursues her off-screen. All that is heard is Celestia's startled gasp and a short cry of alarm.

The next morning, both the sun and the moon are in the sky, splitting the sky into half day and half night. Two Unicorn royal guards anxiously take Twilight and Spike behind the closed doors of the throne room and inform her that both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are missing; they've mysteriously vanished. As the only princess available, they can only take orders from her. Twilight pulls herself together and instructs the two to continue the search and to immediately let her know of anything they find. Another guard bursts in with news from Ponyville: the Everfree Forest is invading! 041b061a72