//------------------------------//
// Should have listened to Twilight 
// Story: On Second Thought... 
// by ThePinkedWonder 
//------------------------------//

It wasn't an easy battle. But against the odds, they were still victorious. After defeating King Sombra for the second time, this time with the omnipotent power of friendship, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack had just returned to Twilight's castle. They all sat in their respective thrones made of white and purple crystal, each bearing a design of their respective Cutie Marks. Spike also sat in a smaller crystal throne that was close to, and to the right, of Twilight's. All of the thrones surrounded the Cutie Map, a large circular table with a mini-map of Equestria, and is linked to the Tree of Harmony. 

Before King Sombra's attack, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had planned to retire from being Princesses, and to relinquish their duties to Princess Twilight and her friends. However, after the defeat of Sombra, they realized it was unfair to force their duties onto the young ponies with so little warning. Thus, they decided to retain their positions for the time being. The change of heart was especially relieving to Twilight, who "twilighted" over the stress of becoming Equestria's co-ruler. 

Twilight, giving a sigh, confessed, "Whew! I'm glad the Princesses are going to give us the time we need to be ready to run Equestria." 

Spike stretched his arms out over his head and said, "Yeah, I guess that really was a lot to put on you all." 

Fluttershy admitted, "And I know we are a great team and all, but ruling all of Equestria might be too much for us if we're not truly ready." 

Rainbow waved her hoof smugly and bragged, "Oh, we could've handled being in charge, Fluttershy. We're more than cool enough to handle it." 

Applejack asked, "But what does 'coolness' have to do with it?" 

"I don't know. It just does!" 

Rarity flicked her mane with a hoof. "Well, while I admire your confidence, Rainbow Dash, I believe I have to side with Twilight and Fluttershy now, because I have no idea what I was thinking about before. Between teaching at the school and running my stores, I couldn't add Equestria-ruling duties to it." 

"And I forgot I sometimes foalsit Pound and Pumpkin Cake and I have to work at Sugarcube Corner. There's no way I could do all that and help you guys rule Equestria." 

"And I don't know what went on in my head either. I have too many chores on the farm for that, and you're a Wonderbolt, Rainbow." 

Rainbow sighed, "I guess you guys are right, and doing all the stuff the Princesses do--" Rainbow gave a gasp. A thought had formed in her head that she had never wondered about before. "Wait, hold on. I just thought about something."'

Spike turned to face Rainbow. "What's wrong?" 

"Remember when I said 'the Princesses almost literally never help'?" 

Twilight asked, "Yeah?" 

"That got me thinking. Other than raising and setting the Sun or Moon, or fighting nightmares, what do the Princesses do? Especially Celestia, when she's not teaching at her school?" 

"That's a silly question, Rainbow. Princess Celestia runs Equestria." 

"Yeah, Twi, but I mean, what does she do?" 

"Well...she helps keep the peace in Equestria." 

"But isn't that what"-- Rainbow pointed a hoof at Twilight --"you do, as the Princess of Friendship?" 

"Well, sure, but--" 

"Think about it. First, when the Yaks came to Ponyville, you were the one in charge to help them feel at home in Ponyville, and it's now Pinkie that's the Ambassador to the Yaks, not Princess Celestia." 

"I guess that's true, Rainbow, but still I--" 

Spike reminded, "And you're the one that wanted to open a School of Friendship that teaches everycreature friendship, even those outside Equestria!" 

"Well, sure I did, but I don't--" 

Applejack, considering Rainbow's and Spike's words, admitted, "You know, Twi, I think Rainbow Dash and Spike are on to somethin'." 

"Wait, you're agreeing with them too, Applejack?!" 

"I know it sounds silly, but when things go wrong, more often than not, we're the ones that fix it, and you're especially great at it. Remember, when all those Pinkie clones were makin' a mess of things, all of Ponyville went to you, not the mayor, to do something about 'em. And it didn't take ya long to do it."

Now Fluttershy had a change of heart. "And even before that, you took charge to help with the Winter Wrap-up not long  after you came to Ponyville like a true leader." 

"Now you're doing it, Fluttershy? And sure, I helped out a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm ready or worthy of taking the Princesses' place!" 

Spike huffed, and said, "Twi? If I know you, you'll never feel like you're worthy or ready, but Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy are right. Think about how you and the others always took care of things." 

Twilight turned her head down and placed a hoof to her cheek, realizing her friends were raising good points. "Maybe, but still I--" 

Pinkie suddenly started hopping in her chair. "Ooh, ooh! And then there's the Cutie Map. It has called us a lot to solve friendship problems, but it has never, ever, ever called Celestia and Luna, and it once even sent Starlight on a mission to solve a problem with them! Though, if it were me, I would have solved it with an 'I appreciate you sister' party, but..."

Still refusing to admit defeat, Twilight protested, "But, still, Princess Celestia does a lot more than only improve relations throughout Equestria. I'm not ready for all that she does!" 

"Don't be so sure, Twilight. Has Princess Celestia ever asked you to do anything you really weren't ready for?" Fluttershy questioned. 

Twilight rolled her eyes up, rubbed her head, searched her brain for something, anything, to say that could prove her friends wrong, but no words came to her mind. No matter how much she wanted to, turning her head to each of her friends, the Alicorn could not deny the facts being addressed to her, but she didn't want to accept that they could be right. "Well, no, she hasn't, but..."

Rarity, who was quiet for a while, finally nodded, and added, "And you might even enjoy ruling, darling. You love making plans, and if you take over, you will get to make them even more! Plus, you will have us helping you, so it's not like you will have to do everything." 

Twilight sighed and asked, "You think this is a good idea too, Rarity?" 

Spike added, "And Starlight could handle running the school more if you'll need her to, and she only pretended to twilight when you asked her to run it permanently before." 

"Really? You guys are seriously going to keep using me as a verb?" 

"Yep!" Pinkie answered while smiling. 

"Ugh, fine, I'll stay a verb. But I still have a feeling that taking the princesses' place is a bad idea." Twilight gave a gasp and reminded, "Wait, hold on. If both Celestia and Luna retire, even if we really are ready, we will still have a problem. We can't raise the Sun and Moon, and we can't enter the dream realm, so what do we do about that?" 

Rainbow's ears drooped down in realization. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." 

But Applejack said, "Then again, Princess Luna knows we can't enter the dream realm, and she still wanted to retire. So maybe there have been no nightmares for her to fight lately and things are even more peaceful than we thought, so we don't need her to do it anymore." 

Hearing that final point, along with all the points made by her friends, allowed Twilight to finally feel more confident in her friends and, more importantly, herself. Thus, she finally smiled and responded, "And if that's the case, and it's because of us, then I guess we really are ready to rule and to make Equestria even greater." 

"And not only that, who said Celestia and Luna have to stop raising the Sun and Moon? They could still do that, but just don't be Princesses," claimed Spike. 

Rainbow stood up from her chair. "And in fact, with the way Twilight makes plans, she could figure out a way to let all of us be able to keep on doing what we do now, and still rule Equestria!" 

"And I gotta admit, you are a master of planning and can figure out just about anythin' and everythin', sugarcube." 

"Well, If I can have a week or two to do it, I guess I could figure out a way to fit any new duties we'll have into what we do now," Twilight admitted then, with a confident smile, stood up from her chair. "All right, if you all really want to still do it, you guys want to go to the Princesses and let them know we are ready to take over for them?" 

"I'm ready to go," Rainbow answered. 

Pinkie hopped off her chair and continued to hop. "Me too!" 

Applejack came off her own chair. "Count me in!" 

Fluttershy, in turn, flew off of her chair. "I'm in, if you guys are." 

Rarity followed the lead of the others and moved off from her chair as well. "So am I, and maybe Celestia will teach me how to make my mane flow like hers do." 

And lastly, Spike left his chair. "And don't forget your future number one Royal Adviser!" 

The seven friends joined together in a huddle and placed a hoof or claw in front of them, so they were all touching each other in the middle of the huddle. Twilight cheered, "Well, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike, let's go and become rulers!" 

With a cheer, everyone raised their hoof/claw in the air then Twilight and her friends left the castle, setting off to tell the Princesses that they would take their place as rulers of Equestria.



Two weeks later, at a special coronation, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were all made into Alicorns, to officially become Princesses to rule Equestria alongside Princess Twilight Sparkle. Spike became their official Royal Adviser. 

Because Twilight didn't want Starlight Glimmer to feel like she didn't deserve a promotion of her own, and so she herself could focus on making a large number of plans to make Equestria even better, after thinking hard about it for a full minute, Twilight made Starlight the permanent Headmare of the School of Friendship to the dismay of the Lord of Chaos, Discord. Though, Starlight would "twilight" for real for two minutes when she was first asked to do it by her friend and former teacher, before finally calming down and accept running the school permanently. However, to ensure her friend wouldn't feel forgotten like he once did before, Headmare Starlight sometimes allowed Discord to be Co-Head Draconequus, who quickly became well-loved by the students. 

Princess Twilight only objected strongly to Starlight's decision to let Discord be Co-Head Draconequus for five months. 



An undisclosed amount of time later... 

With moonlight penetrating the windows of the homes of Ponyville, an ominous chill filled the air. Ponies all throughout  Ponyville felt an uneasy feeling flow through their whole bodies, and fear pierced their hearts. Many ponies shook at their unexplained fear on the spot. A few ponies even trotted inside their houses and locked their doors, without knowing what they were hiding from; they only sensed that they needed to hide. 

A mere minute after the feeling of dread gripped the hearts of all of Ponyville, one mare, at the borders of Ponyville, shouted, "No, it...it...it's them, and her! Somepony help us!" as her eyes locked on what everypony in Ponyville was dreading, even before they saw it. 

With more and more ponies turning their heads towards the borders of Ponyville, another mare screamed, "Where's Princess Twilight and the other new Princesses?!" 

"Somepony get Starlight Glimmer! She'll know where they are!" yelled a stallion. 

Soon, everypony in Ponyville, even those on the other side of Ponyville, became aware of the threat coming for them all: four villains, who were marching towards Ponyville at a slow pace. Their names? 

Queen Chrysalis. 

Lord Tirek. 

Grogar. 

And leading the way walked the biggest threat: their fearless leader, Empress Cozy Glow. 

As the Legion of Cozy marched their way to the borders, a team of two heroes, who were alerted to the dire threat of the almighty Empress Cozy Glow and her evil team, teleported to the borders. They were poised to defend not just Ponyville but Equestria itself. 

A blue Unicorn, Trixie Lulamoon.

And, with her horn luminously glowing light-blue, the Headmare of the School of Friendship, a purplish pink Unicorn, Starlight Glimmer. She barely got her students to a safe hiding place in time, even if it wouldn't be safe for long.

"This isn't looking good, Starlight! The Great and Powerful Trixie could help you defeat Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, or even Grogar, but not something like Empress Cozy Glow! I'm about to start twilighting here!" 

"Don't worry, Trixie. I couldn't contact Discord, and Thorax isn't here to help this time, but Twilight and the others should be here any time now. Even Empress Cozy can't defeat six Alicorns!" 

"Well, they better get there soon, or we're doomed!"

The two brave Unicorns stood their ground, ready to do whatever it took to at least try to slow down the threat heading for them. Even so, they hoped with all their hearts that the six Princesses would arrive in time to save them all. 



Meanwhile, in the coldest deepest part of Tartarus, Princess Twilight, Princess Rarity, Princess Pinkie Pie, Princess  Applejack, Princess Fluttershy, Princess Rainbow Dash, and Royal Adviser Spike were all sitting down, trapped in a black impervious anti-magic cage, and unsure on how they let themselves fall for the trap set for them by Empress Cozy Glow. They were all unharmed but powerless to escape their new prison. Ex-Princess Celestia, Ex-Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Starswirl the Bearded were in another area of Tartarus, in a similar type of cage.

"Uh, guys? What just happened?" 

"I don't know, Pinkie. That was a trap we should have never fallen into!" Applejack complained. 

Twilight confessed, "I know, Applejack. It was one thing when Queen Chrysalis caught us that way, and when we fell for Empress Cozy Glow's lies the first time. But this...this time it's inexcusable on the way we got caught!" 

"No kidding! It's like we were off our game this time!" Rainbow admitted. 

"Yes, what's so different now?" Fluttershy asked. 

"Well, the only thing I can think of that's different is what we took Ex-Princess Celestia and Ex-Princess Luna's place," Rarity said. 

"Yeah, I don't...Oh, yeah." Spike facepalmed. "Guys, we have the roles of Ex-Princess Celestia and Ex-Princess Luna, and like Rainbow said, they 'never help us', right?" 

"Yeah, but...oh. So that is what's different," Applejack sadly. 

Rainbow sighed and facehoofed. "So, I guess that means, now that we have their roles, we can't help now." 

Pinkie frowned, her ears flopped down, and her fluffy mane noisily deflated into a straight mane. "I think we might have goofed up by becoming the rulers of Equestria." 

"You see? I tried to tell you guys I had a bad feeling about us taking over!" Twilight scolded. 

Rainbow solemnly replied, "Yeah, we should've listened to you, Twilight. But what do we do now?" 

"Well, there are only three things that I can think of now." 

"What are those, Twilight?" Spike asked hopefully. 

"We wait, hope Starlight fixes everything, and do nothing else. If she doesn't save us, Equestria is done for."