//------------------------------// // Chapter 12, Welcoming a Tribe // Story: CSR Brush Pony // by shysage //------------------------------// It's me, Fluttershy, again. I think this is my last chapter, anyway. And, I don't know if they will ever let me do another one... After my Sis, as the Phantom Alicorn, as the Shila, the deliverer, had amazingly rescued both the Brush Ponies and all our Panther friends, from thousands of Cougars; she and Shysage... reduced to groveling... crawling off into the brush... because... I don't know and... I'm not allowed... I just cried... The Brush Pony Princess Arianna hugged me, and cried with me, too. The ponies from Equestria, still standing in a line facing us, maybe 200 feet away... Nopony moved, or said anything... Well, I heard both Ariel and Shyna crying softly... For a while, nopony moved at all... I guess Princess Arianna's foal could wait no longer, and ran the 200 feet to her mom and dad. As a family, Prince Ma-gane, Princess Arianna and their foal Arianna hugged and cried together briefly. The foal soon calmed down though, and, with eyes wide said excitedly, in modern Equestrian "Wow, you brought everypony!" Princess Arianna hugged her foal again, brushing back tears. Princess Arianna knew things had to happen... She spoke something to the Brush Ponies, then walked slowly most of the distance over to Princess Twilight, and the brush ponies all slowly followed their Princess. Princess Arianna stopped most of the way, stopped the Brush Ponies right there, and said something else, and the entire Brush Pony tribe all bowed on their front legs, put their heads down. Princess Arianna, along with Prince Ma-gane, and little Arianna, their cute foal, the three of them walked the rest of the distance to Princess Twilight, then the three of them bowed to her. Princess Twilight motioned them up right away. The rest of the Brush Ponies stayed bowing. I think Princess Arianna felt this was best. Next, Princess Arianna said quietly to Princess Twilight "I am Arianna, Prince-ess of the Brush Pony tribe. Thanks you... for rescuing... Brush Ponies..." Then the Brush Pony family all bowed again. These words surely caught Princess Twilight off guard, and Princess Celestia was right next to Princess Twilight! And, from the looks of this army, maybe they hoped to do the rescuing. (But I didn't see near enough guards for that.) After a brief delay, Princess Twilight said quietly "Princess Arianna, this is Princess Celestia, ruler of all Equestria. She will be the Princess to set things... in... order..." Both Princesses bowed to Princess Celestia. Well, I guess Princess Celestia took over, and motioned them up right away, but she was deep in thought or something for a little while. Well, she finally... slowly... maybe thoughtfully... And, this doesn't show here, but, after Princess Celestia said the first sentence, Princess Arianna had the Brush Ponies all up, then worked at telling the Brush Ponies what Princess Celestia said. Princess Celestia didn't seem very comfortable with that, having to stop and such. Mildred was next to Princess Celestia writing everything down, and she let me have a copy of the exact wording to include here. "Princess Arianna, Prince Ma-gane, Let me welcome you and your ponies to the realm of Equestria. We are glad to have your tribe among us. It seems the Cougars have been somewhat troublesome to you of late, and we will certainly work to protect both you and the rest of Equestria from these beasts. "Princess Twilight has indicated that you will probably appreciate a new home here among us. We have identified a vast meadow far to the East of our capitol, with plenty of the brush you seem to prefer, and where the Cougars should be less of a problem. We propose that your tribe settles there. Equestria's Guard force is prepared to escort you safely to that area." Princess Celestia sighed here. "We will also require that you learn and carefully obey the rules and laws that are in place here in Equestria, along with any additional laws that the leadership of Equestria decides are necessary for the well-being of our ponies. This should not be a problem. Most of these regulations are rooted both in common good sense along with simple consideration for the ponies around you. For may years, many centuries, we had no need for the volumes of laws we now seem to require. But your tribe, each Brush Pony will need to learn and obey these just like every other pony in Equestria. "I understand from Princess Twilight, that your language is different from ours. That is a bridge that you will need to cross. While we do not seek to diminish who the Brush Ponies are as a tribe, we cannot have a kindgom within a kingdom. Around Equestria's ponies, you will need to be able to communicate; we want you to talk the way we do around us, in part to show your gratitude for the rights and privileges you will enjoy here in Equestria. "Beyond that, I can joyfully say welcome to Equestria!" Princess Arianna, Prince Ma-gane and their cute foal again bowed to Princess Celestia, and the whole Brush Pony tribe bowed again as well. Princess Arianna said quietly "Thanks you, Prince-ess." Then everypony got back up. Little Arianna said excitedly "Yippee!" Maybe she had been around Pinkie Pie while we were gone. Shining Armor walked over, and introduced himself, then asked that the Brush Pony leaders follow him, and have their tribe follow him as well. As they headed East, the Guards formed a perimeter around the Brush Ponies, and kept around them as they travelled. That huge group headed off together to the East. I was still 200 feet away from all of this, crying quietly... by myself... And, as soon as they didn't think it would cause problems, both Shyna and Ariel ran over to me, also crying softly. When I saw Princess Celestia walking over to me, I tried to stop crying, for a little while anyway. She walked calmly over to me, hugged me, then said this. "Thank you, Fluttershy, for your role in all of this. I was fairly confident that you would be able to take care of this task. The Brush Ponies are safe now, and we look forward to having them in our midst." Well, I didn't say what I really wanted to say. Ariel, Shyna and I were still sniffling, but I... put my head down and said quietly "You are welcome, Princess Celestia. I was glad to be able to help the Brush Ponies, and I am glad they are finally safe." I meant that much, anyway. Princess Celestia smiled. Less than 5 minutes later, Princess Twilight along with Filia and Fiona got in one Air Coach, and were no doubt on their way to Ponyville. Princess Celestia got in the other Air Coach, and was probably on her way back to Canterlot. That left just me, Ariel and Shyna... standing there... All we could do was cry... loudly... That whole thing... And now everypony else was gone... We cried for a while. It was getting dark, but I didn't care. After what I just had to watch... After everything that had... Then I thought I was hearing things... Summer walked up... "Oh, Sis..." I just collapsed... Summer and I hugged tightly and cried together, we all cried together for hours... Shysage, Summer, Ariel, Shyna and I... My family... We spent the night right there, and flew calmly back to Ponyville together over the next few days... I love my Sis...