//------------------------------// // The Princess That They All Need // Story: Apart From The Pegasi // by KillerChainsaw //------------------------------// Twilight and Rainbow Dash rather quickly made their way back to Ponyville, along with the two guards following right behind them both, as the two seemed to waste no time in heading up to Cloudsdale after they had dropped home just to tell Spike about what had happened with Princess Celestia, and where they were off to now, before they left for the floating city above the small town of Ponyville. Twilight sighing a little as she slowed down and could see the entrance to Cloudsdale in her sights, seeming like she was thinking to herself for a few moments, before Dash (who was riding on the back of one of the guards right now) came over to drag the Princess out of her thoughts. "You okay Twi?" the cyan mare asked as she caught Twilight's attention and caused her to widen her eyes a little, the Princess looking back to Dash a moment later and just shaking off her thoughts, nodding back to her marefriend in reply. "Yeah, I'm fine Dash," She gave a slight smile, before taking a deep breath as they both glanced to the city of Cloudsdale once again. Dash seeming a little anxious and unsure of things at the moment as she bit her bottom lip and turned back to Twilight wondering if she was feeling the same as her right now or not. "You sure about this?" she asked, kind of expecting Twilight to shrug her shoulders and seem unsure of herself as well in reply, but instead the Princess just looked back to her as her expression formed into a more confident looking one now. "Yeah," Twilight simply nodded back to Dash in reply, as she gave an encouraging smile to her marefriend and picked up her pace a little flying off to the entrance of Cloudsdale and having Dash just sigh slightly, before she gestured for the two guards to quickly follow after the Princess as they all were arriving closer to the floating city a moment later. All of them quickly entring Clousdale together, and almost instandly getting stared at by the pegasi that were in their sights at the moment. Glaring daggers directed at them from all sides causing Twilight and Dash to both feel anxious and uncomfortable, Dash sinking back a little as she told the guards to take them to the outskirts of the city, as they then hopefully wouldn't draw as much attention to themselves as they were right now. However Dash telling the guards to stop and go back to Twilight when she looked back to see that the Princess was still hovering just above the entrance of Cloudsdale, the cyan mare wondering just what Twilight was doing at the moment, as she just bit her bottom lip, and took a deep breath before she now looked much more confident all of a sudden. 'No more running, or hiding away, it's time I faced these pegasi head on, I'm their Princess after all,' Twilight encouraged herself as she nodded, and now flew closer to the residents of Cloudsdale and gave them all a stern stare. Landing on a cloud with an authoritative stance clearly showing that she wasn't going to turn tail and run this time, and was willing to face all the pegasi currently living in the city if she had to. "Pegasi of Cloudsdale, I'm sorry to impose on you all like this, but I would greatly appreciate it if I could have your attention for just a few minutes. I know you all probably don't see me as your Princess right now, but despite that I am still your ruler, so just for now please listen to what I have to say to you all!" Twilight announced to all the pegasi of Clousdale, raising her voice and having caught the attention of almost all the inhabitants of the city, as they all looked around at one another for few moments, staying quiet and still giving the Princess slight glares, before some of them started to gather round together, and others went to go and fetch the pegasi that weren't so near to the entrance at the moment. While Twilight took into the sky and hovered just above the gathering pegasi, who were all whispering to each other and seeming like they were interested enough to see what exactly their Princess had to say to them all right now. Dash gesturing for the pegasi guards to fly back over to Twilight as she caught the Princess's attention and had the guard carrying her on his back fly to be hovering beside the lavender mare now, "Twilight just what are you doing?" the cyan mare asked in a raised voice, a worried expression formed on her face as she knew this wasn't any part of the plan that Twilight had told her about a little eariler when they left Canterlot, and wondered just what jer marefriend was up to with this sudden cause of action. However Twilight just turning away from Dash as she looked out to all the gathering pegasi and took another deep breath, nodding to herself as there was no way she was backing down from this, now that she had successfully managered to get the city's attention and wanted to keep it that way. "What I should have done a long time ago," she simply stated with a serious expression as she caused Dash to seem a little confused, and still worried in response as she looked to her marefriend in a concerned way, unsure of just what the Princess was hoping to achieve by doing this all of a sudden. Twilight not letting her worries or anxiety get the better of her at this moment as she waited for the rest of the pegasi from the city to finish gathering together, before she then flew away from Dash and the guards and hovered just above the front of the crowd so that all the pegasi could see and hear her. "Twilight wait, just what are you planning to- Dash quickly told the guard carrying her to follow after Twilight as he again came to hover beside the Princess, however Twilight quickly cutting dash off before she could finish and held a wing out to stop the guard from flying in front of her, as she caused Dash to widen her eyes a little in response. "Dash, please...just let me do this," She looked back to her marefriend with a pleading expression, while Dash could still see that stern look in her lavender eyes, seeming at a loss for words for a few moments as she was unsure of what to do, glancing to Twilight's determined face, before glancing to all the whispering pegasi that had gathered below them both, looking like they were impatiently waiting as most of them wore annoyed and still glaring expressions directed at the Princess, seeming like they wanted her to just quickly get on with what she had come here to say to them right now. Dash looked back to Twilight as she saw her give her a small smile of reassurance to show that she knew what she was doing at the moment, and had clearly made up her mind about doing this, causing Dash to just stare and think for a little while, before she soon just sighed heavily and nodded finally in reply, knowing that she wasn't going to change Twilight's mind right now, while the Princess just smiled softly back to Dash and thanked her before looking away from her now. Turning to look back at the gathered pegasi of Cloudsdale and giving them all another serious look, as Dash just hung her head low in return, 'I really hope she's thought this through,' she thought before she lifted her head and looked back to see just what Twilight was going to do at this moment. Twilight looking over the gathered pegasi and seemed like she was about to begin speaking to them all as they stood there still impatiently waiting for her to start talking it seemed. However the Princess pausing and hesitating as she spotted a few familiar looking pegasi amongest the crowd and recognising them as being some of the ones that were working with Lightning Dust, as they just glared up to her still and looked like they might just turn away and leave if she kept quiet for much longer. The Princess just shaking off her nerves and unsure feelings, as she knew now wasn't the time to be second guessing herself, after all she didn't want to start losing the attention of any of the pegasi before she had even said anything at all yet, as she decided to not make the pegasi wait anymore. "I know all of you don't take much of a liking to me after what happened when word got out that Rainbow Dash and were in a relationship a few months back, or maybe you may have other reasons for not wanting me to be around here, and as such I know hardly, if any of you see me as your Princess...and I don't blame you for that at all," Twilight stated as she sighed deeply and caused almost all of the pegasi to either raise thier eyebrows, or look a little confused to her, glancing to one another and whispering for a couple of moments, before they all turned back to Twilight and seemed like they wanted to stay and hear more of what she had to say to them all thankfully. "After all when I think about it, I really haven't been acting anything like a Princess to you all, I've been hiding and running away from this city, when I shouldn't be doing that at all. I realise that I should have been dealing with facing all of you long ago instead of just sitting back and allowing things to get worse than they were before, going about things in completely the wrong way, and not treating you all the same way that I treat the poines down in Ponyville...these were all stupid mistakes that I have made, and I truly am sorry for causing you all to resent me because of them," the Princess hanging her head a little low as she felt ashamed for letting things get as bad as they had, after all these pegasi were all her subjects, and she shouldn't be scared and cowardly hiding away from them like she had been doing for a good while now. "But I can promise that I will no longer be hiding away from you all in Ponyville, as although I will still be living in the town, I will be making more visits to Cloudsdale just to see how everything is going on with you all, and will be here to fix any problems or answer any questions that you may have. Now it has also been brought to my attention that some of you are...on bad terms with the poines of Ponyville, and instead of really trying to find a solution to it all, I asked for more information which meant I was just watsing both my own and your time," Twilight glancing to the pegasi that she recoginsed to be some of the ones working with Lightning Dust and just saw them glaring draggers back to her, while the other pegasi in the crowd were more skeptical of what she was saying, and looked less annoyed at the moment, it looking like they were all much more interested than before, as they all continued to listen to what Twilight had to say, and not wanting to interrupt her at any point it seemed. "I wasn't doing anything close to the right thing back then...I know that now, and so if ever there is any more problems among this city and the town below it then know that you can always come to me about them and I will listen and help to fix them in any way that I can, as I should have been doing all along instead of allowing you all to just suffer in silence. And I intend to do the same with this feud that has been going on between both of your homes, after all it is a Princess's job to keep all of her subjects happy, and that's most certainly not how all of you feel at the moment right?" the Princess asked as she caused pretty much all of the pegasi to look to one another, before turning back to her and nodding their heads in reply, causing Twilight to let out a small sigh of relief as she was glad that they had responsed to her and bar the odd few (namely the pegasi that had been helping Lightning Dust) they were no longer glaring to her anymore. "And so it's about time that I started acting like a real ruler for both Cloudsdale and Ponyville as that's what I was sent here to do all along. I know all this may come as a bit of a shock to you all and I'm sorry for not realising my mistakes and taking action until now...I've let you all down and I'm also deeply sorry for that, however I hope that in time as we all get to know one another a bit better, that you all can forgive me someday. And I can finally become the Princess who you all and the poines of Ponyville deserve to have and who you can all confide in whenever you may need to," Twilight nodded and gave a confident smile to all the pegasi, showing that she meant every word that she had said, taking a deep breath as she felt like her nerves had all disappeared and there was no longer any uneasy thoughts hanging around at the back of her mind anymore. "That's all I came here to say, so please continue with what you were doing before, and I will be leaving shortly. But I would like to thank you all for listening to what I had to say today, and I'm once again sorry for causing you any inconvenience at all," The Princess now finished as she slowly dropped down onto the cloud floor that all the pegasi of Cloudsdale were currently standing on and expected to be instantly bombarded with countless questions from the huge crowd, as she felt she was prepared to face them all head on at this moment. However only silence seeming to come from the crowd of pegasi as they all looked around at one another, a few whispers and mumbled comments being exchanged amongest them all, while Twilight stood back and waited for the pegasi to respond to her and all that she had said to them. But them doing nothing of the sort, and instead just seeming a little lost and unsure of how to react to all of this, as they all soon began to leave and decide to go either back to their homes, or back to what they were doing before as Twilight had told them to, and within a few minutes none of them were left having all flown off by now, leaving their Princess all alone to seem slightly confused and suprised by their reaction, however she just sighed again and smiled to herself, before she turned round and was almost immediately stopped in her tracks by her marefriend and the two guards who had been staying back and obvserving all that had just happened. "What was that all about?" Dash asked as she got down from the guard's back that she had been riding on, and came to stand beside Twilight now, giving her a confused and still slightly concerned expression at the moment, while Twilight just shrugged her shoulders and smiled back to her marefriend in response. "They seem to have a lot to think about, so let's just leave them to it and go back home for now," she simply stated in reply, however Dash not seeming very satisfied with that answer as she shook her head in return. "I wasn't talking about why they all flew away like that Twi," She said, raising her eyebrow to the Princess as she gave her a bit of a skeptical expression, while Twilight just smiled back to her nervously now, knowing full well what the cyan mare was actually talking about at the moment, and avoiding replying to her it seemed. As Dash narrowed her eyes and looked like she was going to ask Twilight another question, however not getting the chance to as she was cut off by a voice calling out to them instead. "Hey Princess!" Both Twilight and Dash heard a somewhat familiar voice calling out to them as they turned and looked up to see a lone pegasus looking down to them with a sharp glare at the moment. The two soon being able to recogise the pegasus as being the one that they had talked to yesterday, and had seemly been left in charge of the other ones that were all working with Lightning Dust, as the mare now flew closer to them and glared to them still. Dash standing in front of Twilight as she stood her ground and showed she was prepared if the mare decided to act out of turn at all towards her marefriend, and gesturing to the two guards just in case she might need some help at any time while going up against the other pegasus. However the mare keeping her distance it seemed as she just looked to Twilight and seemed to be much more focused on her then what Dash and the two guards were doing at the moment. While Twilight looked back to her with a curious expression, wondering just what she was going to do or say to her right now. "You know none of what you said changes anything right? We're still going to carry on going with Lightning Dust's plans, and no matter how much you say you're going to try to reach out and 'help' us, we aren't just going to give up on our revenge like you want us to, those damn poines living in that vile town still need to pay for what they did after all," the mare stated with a stern stare directed at Twilight, as she just seemed unsure of how to reply for a couple of moments, before she just smiled slightly and nodded back to the mare in response. "That's not what I came here for today, and I will no longer bother you or any of the other pegasi about all that," she said shaking her head, and causing the mare to just raise her eyebrow back to her slightly in reply, "But I will say that if you do still choose to follow along with Lightning Dust's plans and do as she has told you all, then I can guarantee that you will all end up behind bars just like her soon enough," Twilight replied as she just looked back to the mare with a confident expression and caused her to bare her teeth angrily in response, looking like she was going to attack the Princess however seeming to compose herself as she looked to the warning stares that Dash and the guards were giving her at the moment, as they all stood their ground and were letting her know that they were ready to defend and protect Twilight if she did go for her right now. The mare just sighing heavily as she bit her bottom lip and cursed the Princess under her breath, before she just turned away from them all, "Just get out of here already," she said in a low voice, as she glared to them all one last time, and then flew off, soon being out of sight from Twilight and the others while they all just watched her go. Dash and the guards not backing down at all until they could no longer see the mare, and relaxing once she had disappeared into the distance, as Twilight just sighed deeply and turned away from the direction that the mare had flew off in, turning back to her marefriend a moment later. "Come on Dash, don't you think it's time that we head home now?" she asked as Dash seemed to be a little lost for words at the moment, as she clearly was still unure of how to react to all that had just happened, before she soon just sighed slightly and nodded to Twilight, while the Princess just kneeled down on the cloud floor so that Dash could climb onto her back now. "Fine, but I still need to talk to you about all this once we get there," Dash stated as she gave a slight stern stare to Twilight, while the Princess just nodded back to her with a smile, letting the pegasus climb onto her back and get comfortable, before she now slowy took off into the sky and started to head for their home down in Ponyville, the two guards following close behind them both, as they all soon left Cloudsdale and were on their way back to return to the library once again. .... Twilight and Dash returned back to the library as the two guards went back to their posts outside, and just as the couple had entered their home Spike instantly came running over to them both as he had a slight look of concern on his face at the moment while the two mares greeted him. "So how did it go?" He asked as it was easy to see that he had been worrying while he was waiting for the two mares to come home and hoping that everything up in Cloudsdale had gone well enough for them both, and judging by the simple smile on Twilight's face he guessed things mustn't have gone all that bad after all. "It went okay, and we luckily didn't run into any trouble while we were there," Twilight simply stated as she smiled back to the young dragon and reassured him that there was nothing for him to worry about, causing Spike to let out a heavy sigh of relief in reply. "That's good, and oh since you two missed lunch eariler I've made us all a big dinner, and its almost ready too," he said as he smiled back to Twilight happily and turned to head back into the kitchen, before Dash stopped him in his tracks and caught his attention now. "Thanks Spike, we'll come down and eat with you in a bit, but first I think Twilight and I both need a little rest from today," she explained as she caused Spike to just nod back to her a moment later in reply. "Right I understand, you two just come down whenever you're ready to," he replied before he turned again and walked off back into the kitchen, as Twilight turned to look to Dash with a nervous smile now, while she just gave the Princess a blank stare. "So...I'm guessing you want to go and talk in my room for a bit?" She asked with a nervous chuckle as Dash just nodded her head in reply a moment later and caused Twilight to sigh a little, before they both quickly made their way up to the Princess's bedroom. Dash closing the wooden door behind them, as Twilight lay down on her bed and looked over to her marefriend, while the pegasus soon came to stand near to her and it seeming like she had quite the scolding look in her magenta eyes right now. "And just where in Equestria did that all come from Twi?" she asked as she caused Twilight to just look back to her nervously in response, while she was currently avoiding looking directly at the pegasus at the moment. "What do you mean Dash?" she asked in reply, causing Dash to just raise an eyebrow to her. "You told me on the way back from Canterlot that we were just going to talk with the pegasi that are working with Lightning again, not the whole damn city," "Well...I changed my plan a little okay?" "And what about all that stuff that you said?" "What about it?" "How come you never talked to me about that kind of thing first, before going to Cloudsdale and telling all of the pegasi there?" Dash asked as she raised her voice a little and caused Twilight to just look back to her nervously again, before she soon just sighed and gestured for the pegasus to come and lay down beside her on the bed. Dash doing so as she clearly wanted to hear just what Twilight had to say for herself right now. "Because...I was unsure of just what to do at that point," the Princess stated as she spoke in a low voice and rested a hoof over Dash's, while the pegasus just looked a little puzzled in response. "What do you mean Twi?" "Well I've been thinking so much about what Lightning Dust's plans just might be, about how we can somehow hopefully stop her and the other pegasi helping her, about how exactly this feud between Cloudsdale and Ponyville started, and about what we can do from here to make things better for all the poines and pegasi that live in these two towns. But when I think about it all...I was focusing so much on getting more information and finding the answers to all my questions that I completely lost focus on what we are really doing this all for, and I haven't really been acting anything like a 'Princess' to the pegasi of Cloudsdale at all," Twilight explained as she revealed all that she had been thinking about by herself for a good while now, and caused Dash to still look a little confused in response to her. "I became much too wrapped up in everything to do with Lightning Dust and the feud, as well as dragging you along with me, that when Lightning Dust was locked away and I was trying to decide what to do, I realised I should have reached out to the pegasi up in Cloudsdale a long time ago, and not just hidden away from them all because I was afraid to face them, after all I am the Princess of both Cloudsdale and Ponyville, and as such all of the ponies and pegasi of the two are my subjects, so I should treat them all equally. And besides I had to smoothen out my own relationship with the pegasi of Cloudsdale first if we're ever going to get them to do the same and try to get along with the ponies in Ponyville some time in the future," the Princess stated as Dash just widened her eyes a little and stayed slient for a few moments, before she nodded slightly, seeming to get why Twilight had done what she did now, as she sighed deeply and nuzzled into Twilight's neck slightly, while she looked back to her and smiled in return. "So where do we go from here then, I mean what if dispite all that you said to them the pegasi of Cloudsdale are still going to be unreasonable, and won't even consider trying to start over and maybe getting along with the poines in this town?" Dash asked as it was obvious that she was worried for how things might just pan out from where they were now, while Twilight just shrugged her shoulders slightly in reply. "That's for them to decide now, it's completely their choice what they do with what I told them all," Twilight simply stated as she soon nuzzled Dash back and snuggled into her more now, laying a wing over her back as she smiled slightly back to the pegasus. "And what about the pegasi that are working with Lightning? After all that mare did say that 'none of what you said changes anything', so what should we do about them?" Dash questioned as Twilight soon just sighed and lay her head on Dash's shoulder, nuzzling her again while the pegasus just waited to hear her reply. "The same goes for them I guess, I told that mare what would happen soon enough to them if they continued to follow in Lightning Dust's hoof-steps. It's up to them what they do now, after all we can't really do anything about it at the moment so let's just wait and see what they will choose from here," Twilight replied as she relaxed against Dash and looked to her with a reassuring smile, while the pegasus just nodded back to her with a still a bit of an unsure looking expression now and shrugged her shoulders slightly, cuddling into Twilight more a moment later. The two laying together on the bed like that for a while as Dash wondered about the pegasi who were all working with Lightning Dust, and what their next move just might be, before she just pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and kissed Twilight lightly on her forehead knowing that now was not the time to be focusing and possibly getting herself worked up on such things as a blissful silence fell on them both while they embarced each other and decided to stay in Twilight's room for just a little longer, before they would soon need to head downstairs to have their dinner along with Spike. .... Meanwhile as the late evening was slowly starting to settle in now, the pegasi that were helping out Lighting Dust were all flying just over Ponyville, all of them seemed to pass by the town as they were headed for the outskirts, while they all were keeping a look out for any guards that may see them if they weren't careful enough. All if them seeming to know exactly where they were going at the moment as they all had determined expressions on their faces, however the mare leading them all stopped as they came to pass by the library where their Princess lived, and she looked to it with a somewhat thoughtful gaze, before one of the other pegasi caught her attention and caused her to look back to them now instead. "Is something the matter?" the pegasus asked with a slightly concerned look to the mare in charge, as she just shook her head back to them in reply. "No, it's nothing. Let's keep moving," She stated as the other pegasus just nodded to her in reply and continued to follow after the others, while the mare in charge glanced down to the library once again and narrowed her eyes slightly, before she sighed a little and turned away, flying off to join the rest of the pegasi a few moments later as they all waited for her to catch up and carry on leading them to their planned destination.