((Prompt: The Great and Powerful Twilight Sparkle!))
She was doubting herself again.
It was hard to spot. Any casual observer would look at Twilight and see a savvy diplomat rehearsing her talking points. She paced the room, a focused look in her eyes as she muttered her lines to herself.
“It is in everypony's interest... it is in everyone's interest if we... hm.” Twilight glanced at her notes.
It didn't look very much like panic to the casual observer, but Fluttershy was not a casual observer. If there was one thing she was familiar with, it was fear, and she could tell that Twilight was terrified. It was in the way she kept shifting under the weight of her crown. The way her voice cracked every now and then. The way she never made it past her first notecard in her rehearsal.
Fluttershy watched Twilight pace back and forth across the room, playing her terror off as professionalism. It was a convincing act; Fluttershy almost bought it herself. Almost.
“It is in everyone's interest if we agree to work together to...” Twilight's ear flicked and she glanced down at her notecards again. “If we agree to work together to... rrrgh!”
Fluttershy couldn't stand by and watch any longer. She stepped forward, extending a wing to stop Twilight's pacing.
Twilight's head jerked up, appearing startled to find there was anypony else in the room with her. Her eyes met Fluttershy's and her shoulders relaxed a little. “I'm uh, sorry to keep you here like this, Fluttershy. All this statesmareship must be really boring for you.”
Under another circumstance, Fluttershy would have responded to this with a denial, telling her it was actually very interesting to see the wheels of Canterlot in motion. Or reminded her that she had volunteered to come with so she could lend her expertise on the fauna in the area that was being discussed. Or even given her an admission that it was maybe a tiny bit boring, but it was okay.
Instead, she cut right to the chase. “You're scared.”
Twilight's eyes flickered. “Scared? Hah, no, just nervous! This treaty is a big deal, so of course I'm taking it seriously, but it's nothing I can't handle! There's no reason to be scared...”
Fluttershy patiently waited while denial poured out of her friend. Three, two, one...
Twilight dropped her gaze to the ground. “...Okay, I'm scared.”
Fluttershy wrapped both her wings around Twilight. “It's okay, Twilight.”
Twilight leaned into the hug, squeezing Fluttershy in tighter. “I just... I don't know if I'm ready for this! There's six gryphons in the other room there, and if I can't get them to sign this treaty, it's going to have real and lasting effects on both countries! This is... this is real, Fluttershy. It's not wearing a paper crown and parading around a book-fort declaring that it's cupcake day. I have actual lives in my hooves now, and I don't know what'll happen if I can't do this!”
“Shh.” Fluttershy stroked her hoof down Twilight's back. Purple feathers were all fluffed out of alignment, so she idly pulled them straight again as she held Twilight.
“Those gryphons in there are expecting Princess Celestia.” Twilight gestured toward the door. “What if they're insulted that they have to speak to one of the 'lesser princesses?'”
Fluttershy tugged on a feather. “I would be disappointed.”
Twilight pulled back, confusion plain on her face.
“I would be disappointed,” Fluttershy continued, “if I were them and they sent Celestia to talk to me instead of you.”
“Fluttershy...”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Twilight, you are the most amazing pony I have ever met. You could get a whole town together to change the seasons in just a day. You could bring the six of us together, even when we're at our worst, to overcome the impossible.” Fluttershy glanced away for a moment, smiling gently. “You can even get a scaredy-pony like me to face a dragon.”
Twilight sniffed, looking up at Fluttershy.
“There is nothing you can't do, Twilight. You are the smartest, bravest, kindest pony I have ever known, and anypony else that has spent more than a minute with you can tell you the same thing.” Fluttershy wiped the tears off of Twilight's cheeks and looked right into her eyes. “There are lives in your hooves, and there are no other hooves they would be better off in. Celestia is a great princess, but between you and her, I know which is the 'lesser princess.'”
Twilight blinked. She looked at Fluttershy's sincere smile, and slowly one spread across her own face. “You really think that, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy kissed her on the forehead. “Yes. I believe every word, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
There was the fire in her eyes. Twilight Sparkle stood up straight, brimming with newfound confidence. She turned and pushed open the heavy wooden door, striding purposefully up to the large table in the next room. “Hello,” she addressed the diplomats gathered there. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. Welcome, all of you, to Equestria...”