//------------------------------// // Some Advice // Story: Being a Princess // by PonyTom //------------------------------// "What are we doing now, Twilight?" Twilight looked to Spike. "Well, Spike, we're going to see Princess Cadence." Spike sighed and looked out the windows of the train, watching as the hills moved slowly past them, and several trees, rocks, and whatever else might be closer passed at a quicker pace. "I figured THAT much, Twilight, but what I don't understand is WHY." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, after my conversation with Celestia, I decided it might be to my benefit to see Cadence. A few of my concerns have been cleared, but I'm still a little nervous." Twilight shifted to trot away from the window and lay on her bed. She had purchased a private car; not that she felt too high and mighty to be among other ponies, so much as she felt the need for space. Of course, there was also that hope of not making the other ponies around her nervous. Twilight sighed and looked out the window next to the bed. She could see the crystal mountains over the horizon; it wouldn't be long before they crossed the border. "Well, I'm going to take a nap, Spike. Tell me if anything happens." Spike threw his hand up to his head in a salute, which made Twilight smile. She closed her eyes and laid her head on her forelegs, letting out a gentle yawn. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Shining Armor and Princess Cadence lay in the grass, enjoying a simple meal. Despite being the royal leaders of the Crystal Empire, Shining and Cadence still had very simple desires, and enjoyed them unhindered -- well, mostly. They DID have guards that were stationed around the area to assure they were undisturbed, but that was for their own sake. "The weather sure is lovely today... “ said Cadence. "I still find it amazing that the crystal empire seems to be immune to the otherwise arctic weather of this region..." Shining only chuckled. "Yeah. Twiley once said she had hopes to study it and discover why that is... she's fascinated that the weather here seems to control itself without Pegasus aid." Cadence levitated a teacup to her muzzle and took a sip. "Excuse me, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? Prince Shining Armor?" The two ponies turned to face the guard who approached them. "Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, the lord Prince's sister, has asked to see you." Both Shining Armor and Cadence looked to each other and smiled. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Twilight sat in a royal apartment, waiting for the arrival of her brother and sister in law. She was reading a book on advanced polymorphics when a guard stepped in and saluted her. "The Princess and Prince shall see you in the royal chambers." Twilight stood and looked over to Spike, who lay on the bed snoring loudly. "Is it okay if he stays here? I'd hate to wake him up..." The guardspony nodded. "The Princess says we should make you comfortable while you're here, so he is welcome to stay until deemed otherwise." Twilight smiled a bit and followed the guard out of the chamber. They trotted down the halls, and Twilight found two other guards had flanked her; this was normal for dignitaries, in case of assassination attempts. She doubted anypony would attempt to assassinate her, but then she remembered that's usually when ponies in history WOULD be assassinated, is when they least expected to be. The walk seemed to last forever, although eventually, they reached a large pair of double doors guarded by yet more guardsponies. They swung open, and at the very end of the hall were the royal couple on their thrones. Stepping before Twilight was another pony who saluted. "Presenting, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria!" Twilight stepped forward, relaxing a bit as she trotted closer to her family. A smile on her face as she stopped just before the throne. A smile shared by Cadence and Shining Armor. "Hello, Twilight. To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Twilight looked around; she was a bit nervous. She had, honestly, wanted this to be a private thing, between her and Cadence. Shining Armor, she wasn't sure if he would be good to speak to, considering he became a prince through marriage, AND he had been the captain of the royal guard before that. Of course, she had been the royal protégé herself... "Well... I was hoping to speak to you of private matters... is there any way we could have time alone?" Cadence looked up to the guards and smiled. "Please leave us to my sister-in-law?" The guards looked to each other for a bit, and then nodded. In formation, they all left the room, and shut the large door behind them. Cadence shifted her attention back to Twilight. "Now... what did you wish to speak of?" Twilight bowed her head and sighed. She looked back up at her brother and sister-in-law, and thought of her words carefully. "I've... been trying to cope with this whole... princess thing for the past few days now..." she raised her wings up to emphasize her point a little. "... and I've talked to Celestia about it... and while her words did put me at ease, I felt it important I talk to somepony who... somepony who knew about this a bit more than I did..." Cadence smiled a little at Twilight. "I see... so you're nervous about being a Princess?" Twilight gave a slight nod. Cadence and Shining Armor looked to each other, to which he simply nodded to her. "Come Twilight, walk with me." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The two ponies trotted through the gardens at a slow pace, with no particular place in mind. Twilight looked up to the sky and admired the beauty, the sounds of birds chirping, and the breeze in the wind. "So... what exactly do you want to know about?" Twilight put a hoof to her chin and pondered over that question. "Well... I think I'll start with the basics... when and how did you become a Princess?" Cadence smiled a bit. "Well... that's a funny question..." she turned to look at Twilight. "It was actually a short while before I started foalsitting you." Twilight raised a brow. "What? Really?" Cadence nodded and looked back to the path. "Mhm. Nopony is just freely given the title; it is one a pony must earn. A pony must do things that benefit Equestria, often at their own expense." Twilight gave a soft nod. "Yeah, Celestia told me that much... and while I got some answers from her, I admit I was concerned she might not be the best pony to talk to, having been a princess longer than most ponies have been alive." Cadence giggled in response. "She DID tell you you're not likely going to live forever, right?" Twilight nodded. Cadence looked about and leaned in, stage-whispering to the smaller princess. "To be honest, Celestia tells me it's overrated anyway." Twilight giggled a little at that notion; she could see how living so long would grow tiring... that was actually a major concern for her not too long ago. "But, it's not just that..." said Twilight, "I'm concerned... will my life change? Will I change?" Cadence stopped and looked to twilight as if she had no idea how to answer the question. "Well... a little bit of yes and no on the first count, and the second one is really up to you." Twilight was obviously confused by this, so Cadence sighed and thought it over. "Well... Princess is a title given to ponies who are beneficial to Equestria, you know that much... but I suppose it could be explained to greater detail what exactly that means to you, and how it may affect your life." Twilight smiled a bit; finally, she felt like she might get the answers she needed. "It might seem hard at first. Ponies will recognize you wherever you go, unless you do what I did for a short while and conceal your wings..." Cadence giggled a bit and blushed at this; she looked to Twilight to see the smaller mare didn't get the joke. Cadence sighed and cleared her throat a bit. "Well, anyway... first and foremost, you'll be a bit of a celebrity in the eyes of other ponies now. Some ponies might be a bit more nervous around you, treat you differently, and worry about offending you..." Twilight's ears flattened to the back of her head as she became visibly worried. Cadence smiled sympathetically. "Good news is... it will pass..." This seemed to lessen her despair a little. "Ponies view a princess with great reverence. You're important; ponies will want to invite you to parties, things like that..." She giggled a little. "But overall, you won't have to worry." The two ponies stopped and Cadence turned to face Twilight. "You're still you. In time, your friends, family, and other loved ones will come to realize this. When I became a Princess, I remembered that there was a while nopony came near me cause they were afraid if they touched me I'd have Celestia banish them to the moon. In time, however, my life became much like normal." Cadence shrugged. "True, your life will never return entirely to normal... you're a Princess. Ponies will recognize you. You'll be seen as inspirational, and ponies will see you with greater authority..." she giggled a bit. "Which I always found funny, because the only princesses with authority are Celestia and Luna." Twilight quirked a brow. "What? I don't have authority?" Cadence hummed. "Well... yes and no. Ponies will be likely to take your word over others, but you're more like higher nobility than actual royalty." Twilight's confusion seemed to grow. "Wait... I'm... not royalty? But there was a coronation and everything..." Cadence sighed. "It does get confusing... it's perhaps best I say it like this; there is one seat of power in Equestria, which Celestia holds... Luna herself, while part of the royal family, is not a ruling member, and while she can make decrees, she can be vetoed by Celestia or the Parliament." Twilight seemed to listen. Cadence cleared her throat and continued. "Truth be told, even Celestia's power is balanced out by the Parliament. They can collectively vote against her if they deem it wrong for Equestria, and the parliamentary is chosen well; none of them are afraid of being banished to the moon for displeasing the princess." Twilight hummed. "I guess that makes sense... I knew the Parliament balanced out Celestia, but I didn't know about Luna's role." Cadence giggled. "You'd be surprised what Luna has tried to decree since her return... at one point, she tried to outlaw charades when she couldn't figure out what Celestia was trying to act out." Cadence tapped her chin. "Probably wasn't fair that Luna had no idea that you loved books and had frequent panic attacks and, indeed, had only just acquainted with you a year earlier when you defeated Nightmare Moon and had no further exposure to you..." Twilight furrowed her brow. "Wait, what?" Cadence opened her mouth to continue before realizing what she said. "Oh... uh... forget that last part... " ignoring the look of indignity on Twilight's face, Cadence continued. "In a sense, you are and are not royalty. You're considered part of the royal family, but you don't have the power Celestia does, or even Luna herself. You share the same amount of legal power as... oh... say.... Prince Blueblood." Twilight cringed a bit, remembering the Gala from a few years back. Cadence smirked. "Speaking of... watch out. Blueblood knows you're not related to him biologically, and he might start trying to get in your good graces as a publicity stunt." Twilight quirked a brow. "Isn't he already a prince?" Cadence sighed and nodded. "Well, yes... but he got the title due to inheritance. His blood relation to Celestia is far removed to the point there's no real link between the two beyond being a branch off on the family tree..." Twilight pondered this over. "So... wait... if that's true, then are YOU related to Celestia?" Cadence smirked. "Funny you should ask. I am, in fact, not related to Celestia OR Prince Blueblood..." She hummed in thought. "At least, as far as I know..." Cadence shook her head and turned to Twilight. "My princess status was earned entirely. Truth be told, I sometimes wonder if Prince Blueblood is truly a prince, or if the 'Prince' is part of his name." Twilight pondered that over. "Seems kind of arrogant to name ones' foal Prince..." Cadence smirked. "Look at Blueblood himself... I don't think it's out of the question that he may have had parents who wanted to spoil him." Twilight shrugged, conceding to this idea. The two turned and walked back the way they had come. It was silent for a bit, Twilight and Cadence listening as the birds chirped. "So... I was wondering... will any doors be closed to me as a Princess?" Cadence smirked. "Well, that depends on how much you care about what other ponies think of you." Twilight gulped. Cadence giggled. "I was kidding... some ponies might not always agree with how you do things, or how you live your life, but there will always be that. The only difference, as a Princess, a lot more ponies will have a greater interest in how you do things." Twilight bit her lip. "Like what?" Cadence hummed and thought. "Well, when everypony first learned of my engagement to Shiney, some thought it was a 'travesty' for a Princess to marry a Royal Guardspony." She smirked. "They said that a Princess should only wed Nobility and other Royalty, and that me marrying a Guardspony was scandalous." Cadence gave a shrug. "Of course, nopony cares now that the deed is done, and before we became the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire, ponies were lining up to shake hooves with him and tell him what a great husband he was for a great princess like me." She giggled. "Nobility always voices their opinions beforehoof, perhaps hoping they might have a chance at winning a Princess over, but once the deed is done, they stop caring." Twilight pondered a bit on this. She had to admit, she was receiving a lot more information about this than she thought she might from Cadence, and it was helping ease her worries. Cadence smirked. "Really, Twilight, being a Princess means whatever you make of it... but I'm certain, that with time, you'll come to see your life won't be negatively affected. At worst, some ponies you've never met before and will probably never have an extended conversation with will expect more of you than you might live up to." The two ponies stopped as Cadence turned to Twilight. "But..." Twilight gulped. "But...?" Cadence stared Twilight in the eyes. "You do have a responsibility now. Ponies will look up to you, to be their light, to solve their problems... you're more than just a Princess, you are also a beacon, a sign of hope. Do not be surprised if some of them magnify everything you do, or look to you for advice." Cadence then smiled softly at Twilight, seeing the worry in the Pegasus-Unicorn's eyes... "But... don't forget... you are still you. The same lover of magic, books, and sciences. One of the elements of harmony. While you have a responsibility to serve as an icon to the ponies of ponyville... do not let that responsibility consume you, otherwise you'll lose what Celestia saw fit to make you Princess for to begin with." Twilight nodded softly, her mind still racing with new thoughts and questions as she tried to piece them together. "You know... I should have figured that out myself..." said Twilight, with a little relief in her tone. Cadence smiled. "Oh? And why is that?" "Why in the world would royalty foalsit for ponies on the lower rung of the social ladder if they were so powerful?" Cadence giggled and hugged Twilight. "You see? Now you're getting it." She broke the hug and the two trotted down the street. "And the answer? You were fun to play with, and your brother was hot." "I'M NOT HEARING THIS! LA LA LA LA LA!"