Twilight paced slowly across the floor in the Canterlot throne room, awaiting the arrival of the other princesses. She began to mutter to herself "I hope they're not delayed... what if something happened? What if someone tried to attack princess Cadence again? Or, what if--"
"Twilight, would ya calm down? You do this every time! You know they're probably alright." The voice that had spoken belonged to Spike, who was nonchalantly sitting on Celestia's throne, swinging his legs over the seat.
"Spike! Get off of there!" she said as she looked up at him, before responding to his statement. As he jumped down with a mild huff, she spoke up with a sigh. "...I know, Spike, I know. Sorry it's just, I get worried sometimes! Especially these days!"
"You can say that again!" Spike said, inspecting some of the crystals arrayed about the throne's base, wondering what they tasted like.
Twilight was about to call him out again, but was interrupted by the door opening, and the princesses, with a few other leaders, walking in. They were escorted by guards, each wearing different armor. Celestia's in gold, Luna's in greyish black, Cadence's in light blue, and other guards in colors from their respective city-states.
"Twilight, I'm glad to see you're here early," Celestia stated, as they each bowed respectfully to one another. The leaders all positioned themselves in a circle as the guards shut the doors carefully, standing alert and at attention. Spike, realizing all of the eyes on him, also stood at attention for a moment, but still cast the occasional glance towards the crystals.
"Alright, Is everyone here?" Celestia began, Looking about. This was the more informal call to attendance for these sort of meetings, and one by one, each leader spoke up in the circle.
"Princess Cadence representing the Crystal Empire," Cadence said to start it off.
"Princess Luna, representing the Reclaimed Everfree Lands."
"Princess Twilight, representing Ponyville."
"Acting Commander Typhoon, representing Cloudsdale."
"Sheriff Silverstar of Appleoosa."
"And Princess Celestia of Canterlot," Celestia finished, nodding.
"Now that everyone is present, we should begin with the state of affairs. As you know, this, the 4th meeting of Equestria in Distress, marks exactly one year since the Canterlot mountain incident." Twilight bit her lip lightly as she looked to her former mentor, who continued on without notice. "That said, it has been just under a year since the Trident's attempted coup of the land. Although we have defended our respective territories, have since regained Cloudsdale, and destroyed their operating base in the Everfree, there are still many areas they control. Does anyone have any news to add?" She opened the floor to whoever wished to speak, looking around the room slowly.
Typhoon spoke first, stepping into the circle. "Maretonia couldn't make the meeting, but they have recently requested our aid. We in Cloudsdale sent word that we are currently engaged in a campaign against Trident-held Las Pegasus, but we agreed to send a few arial units their way in the meantime."
Luna spoke next, a grave look on her face. "We regret to inform this gathering that Saddle Arabia has recently fallen under Trident control. We have heard that... HE was leading the charge again," she said in a reserved tone.
"Flak..." Twilight muttered, wincing as if in pain at the thought. If I had only known his plans... I never would have let him escape... Celestia noticed her distraught look, and subtly nudged her comfortingly with her wing.
"It's Las Pegasus all over again!" Typhoon muttered, looking at the floor. "That Flak guy seems to be the only reason they're gaining territory... bah, I'll have to bring him up in the strategy meeting later..."
It was Twilight's turn, and hopefully this news would lighten the mood a bit. "I recently sent an envoy to Manehattan, the Trident's makeshift 'captial'. Governor Smooth Talker has agreed to attempt a peace treaty between Royal Equestria and Trident Equestria."
"We can't let them do that! We know that they'll use that time to train up elite troops! It's bad enough with those agent squads of theirs, do you really want to face a whole army of those guys?" Typhoon protested, slamming her hoof on the ground.
Celestia stood calmly for a moment, and the pegasus commander fell silent. "Typhoon, remember that we took their primary training facility when they failed to take Canterlot from within. And the technology the Royal Engineering Corps took from their labs has put us on par with them, except we have the resources to mass produce the pieces. They don't own too many resource territories." Celestia rarely spoke very much in these meetings, aside from the formal parts and the Canterlot reports, so when she did, as now, they all listened. Her conclusion statement had their full attention. "In a battle of time, we have the advantage."
"It's fair to note that we are not fighting the real Trident anyway," Cadence chimed in. "We are fighting remnants led by a fractured Council. after Reach's disappearance, they apparently had no succession plan, and without validation of life or death, the council still acts as if he is the head, but merely not present. They are not the ruthlessly efficient machine that ran Equestria anymore. They are a creature of the shadows that has been forced into the harsh daylight, and they're thrashing around just like any scared, violent creature." Cadence always did have a way of grabbing the attention of others when she wanted it, with her excellent tone control and soft, subtle gestures.
Typhoon quieted down for a moment, allowing the others to speak.
The Sheriff cleared his throat and stepped forward. It was clear that formality was not his particular forte, but he was a respected leader, so no one felt the need to criticize him as he spoke. "We just finished up a deal with the Buffaloes. If we ever need their brute strength protectin' our town, we've got it." It was short and simple, yet effective. He went and sat down nearly as quickly as he had stood up.
"Alright, with that, does anyone have any internal reports, good or bad?" Celestia asked, moving the meeting along. Spike, who had been trying to stand at attention this whole time, subtly moved over to Twilight's side and sat down, poorly concealing a yellow crystal shard under his arm.
"The Pegasus emergency military command initiative has ensured that the initial crime spike a few months ago has ended entirely. Otherwise, more and more families are helping out in the war effort," Typhoon explained with pride.
"Crime is still hard to control, but Shining has been increasing patrols on the streets of the Empire. Also, the people's warrior history has led them to be more than willing to enlist in the cause, be they guards or reservists," Cadence stated formally.
"Here in Canterlot, I have personally been randomly doing sweeps with some of the guards. The crime spike seemed to level off after that, although the prisions are fuller than ever," Celestia explained calmly.
"A-are they talking about me? Whatever I did was an accident, I promise!" Spike whispered to Twilight, earning a light chuckle.
"You're fine Spike," she said quietly as the leaders wrapped up their reports.
"Now, has all been covered for now? Any questions? Good. The strategy meeting will be at noon as usual, and in the meantime, your rooms have been prepared for you here in the castle," Celestia announced, indicating the end of the initial overview. As everyone stood, bowed, and left with their guards, Twilight and Cadence stayed behind.
"You okay, Twi?" Cadence asked, wrapping a wing around her back, as Spike snuck away back to the throne itself.
"This is all my fault..." the princess muttered quietly, slinking down.
Cadence sighed, pulling her a little closer with a wing. "Twi, I want you to listen okay? You heard in that meeting. We're getting the new crime under control, and you may have found peace with the Trident remnants! Things are slowly getting better Twilight, and they will continue to get better! You made a choice you thought was right," she explained gently, soothingly.
"But... even you told me to just take over the Trident! I never expected things to get this... violent..."
"Oh Twilight... I said that because I was afraid we couldn't keep Equestria going without it... but just look at us! Look at you! We're running Equestria just fine, and we're getting better. You heard back in the meeting, the Trident is confused and out of their element. With their council disjointed and most of their old bases gone, coming out in public to save themselves in a last-ditched effort will prove to eventually be their undoing. I back up your decision 100%!"
Her words were comforting to the princess, who looked up slowly, considering her words. "You really think so?" she asked sincerely.
"Of course I do! Ponies are finally free of restrictions of any kind, all thanks to you. They just have to get on their feet after being chained down for so long," Cadence explained, using the metaphor to show Twilight it would all be okay in the long run.
The princess felt better after hearing it, and, after thanking Cadence, called out to Spike.
"Mm--huh?" the dragon questioned through a mouthful of yellow crystal. He swallowed quickly and waved his arms. "I only took a piece, that's all!"
Twilight chuckled a bit at his antics. "Come on Spike. We should head to the room, I have a few papers to prepare for the meeting," she said, gesturing for him to hop on her back.
She thanked Cadence once again and walked out into the hall, a new air of confidence about her, an extra determined look in her eye. Twilight had learned the hard way that freedom wasn't without concequences, but, in the long run, she had done the right thing, she thought.
Equestria was free thanks to her, and by her efforts, no one would ever again be enslaved by Brands, chained down by a dark organization. In the end, Twilight felt that it was better to be free, than to be Marked.