//------------------------------// // Her Royal Highness: Twilight Sparkle // Story: Her Royal Highnesses // by DragonShadow //------------------------------// Her Royal Highness: Twilight Sparkle The golden light of dawn filtered in through the upper windows of the Royal Palace of Friendship, where Twilight Sparkle sat on her throne, surrounded as ever by those who had led her to this place, held her hoof through the tough times, and by every right earned all of the same power and privileges that she herself had gained. Not that she intended to abuse her royal authority, of course. As Princess of Friendship, it was her sworn royal duty to see to the happiness of others, not to revel in her own authority. Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat as a magically hovering gavel banged on the small podium she set up in front of her throne. “Before we formally begin the first official meeting of the Royal Court of Friendship, we must make sure we’re all here. Fluttershy.” Fluttershy waved meekly from her own throne. “Here…” “Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow grinned. “You know it.” “Applejack.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ain’t it a bit silly, callin’ roll? There’s not that many of us.” Twilight gasped in shock. “Not call roll? It’s official procedure for any meeting! If we simply threw out procedures because they’re mildly inconvenient, it would be total chaos!” Applejack relented with a chuckle. “Alright, alright, here.” “Pinkie Pie.” Twilight turned toward her pink friend, who was humming merrily to herself. “Pinkie Pie?” Once again, no response. Finally Twilight rolled her eyes with a resigned chuckle. “Pinkie Supreme-Chancellor-of-Fun Pie.” Pinkie Pie bounced up excitedly. “Ooh! Ooh! That’s me! Here! I’m here!” “I’m glad you are.” Twilight smiled before turning to the last seat. “Rarity?” Twilight blinked, seeing the last seat was, indeed, completely empty. “Rarity’s not here? We told her we were meeting today, didn’t we?” Twilight glanced down at the throne beside hers. Spike shrugged from his seat. “Don’t look at me, I totally told her, I swear!” Applejack spoke up with a worried tone. “I didn’t wanna say nothin’, but am I the only one who thinks this whole ‘royal court’ thing might be goin’ to Rarity’s head?” “Going to her head?” Rainbow shrugged. “I haven’t noticed anything weird.” “She seems fine to me,” Fluttershy quickly relented. “But then, I could be wrong…” “She’s finer than sand!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Just then the double-doors at the front of the palace swept open with a swoosh of air, and a massive, flowing dress made of snow-white silk and lace moved into the room, almost completely concealing the body of a pony half its size in its mighty folds. It would have slid across the ground as it moved were it not for the two mares following with the back end held carefully in their teeth to keep it from dragging. Lyra and Bon-Bon trailed close behind her, their faces solemn and focused on their assigned task. Rarity approached her throne with a slow, dainty step, almost as if she was marching down the aisle towards her future husband. The makeup was plastered across her face much more thickly than usual, though true to Rarity’s calling, it didn’t look appallingly overdone. It was fashionable, but somewhat extreme for a small gathering of friends. It took Rarity a minute to reach her throne and seat herself formally on top of it, leaving her two hoofmaidens to stand by the sides like royal guards. It wasn’t until she was fully seated that Rarity let her eyes flutter open with a flourish of fake lashes and heavy eyeshadow. “Hello all,” Rarity greeted her friends. “Um…” Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m glad you could make it, Rarity.” Spike was practically drooling. “Me too…” A hoof colliding with the back of his skull snapped him out of whatever thoughts had taken hold. Rarity batted her eyelashes apologetically. “I do apologize most sincerely, but I thought I would spruce myself up a bit for my public appearance on the way here. We royals must take care to show our best at all times, mustn’t we?” “Um, yes, that makes sense.” Twilight glanced uneasily over her friend’s shoulder. “And your… er… friends, there?” Rarity giggled. “Oh don’t mind them, they’re just here to observe and make sure I don’t need anything. Being a royal is quite hard work you know, I can’t possibly focus on both my royal duties and the day to day concerns of normal life, can I?” “Seems to be workin’ for me,” Applejack smirked. “‘Sides, callin’ us royals may be pushin’ it a little. We’re Princess Twilight’s Royal Court, not princesses.” “And yet this is as close as we can come to being princesses, we shall help make decisions that will shape Equestria. It’s quite stressful.” “Well yes, that’s true.” Twilight swept her gaze across the rest of her friends. “You may not be princesses, but I place your counsel equal to my own thoughts. I want us all to be equals here, as we have been since I came to Ponyville.” “There, you see?” Rarity smiled in satisfaction. “We’re princess-equivalents!” Applejack’s hoof clopped against her forehead. “Oh brother…” Rarity clopped her hooves together in front of her. “So! What important decisions shall we be making today? Are there new laws to make? Neighboring countries to negotiate terms of peace or surrender with?” Rainbow Dash cocked an interested eyebrow. “Surrender? Who are we at war with? Why didn’t I know we were at war?” Fluttershy squeaked and huddled down in her chair. “Oh gosh, war is so terrible…” Rainbow grinned. “You bet it is. One slice of a sword, and-“ Twilight interrupted just when Fluttershy looked like she was about to scream. “We’re not at war! We’re convening today to set the schedule for our royal responsibilities here in the castle. With us all being equals I see no reason for all six of us to live and work here every day, so we’re going to take daily shifts attending to the daily royal duties here in the palace.” Rarity sighed. “Oh, is that all? Scheduling?” Applejack gave her a wry look. “I s’pose you’re too good for that?” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Applejack. I simply meant that we could have discussed this outside of this dark… but admittedly most sparkly palace.” Twilight raised her hoof. “That wouldn’t exactly be organized or clear, and when it comes to royal matters, we need to be both organized and clear. Now, I propose that we all make a list of the days we’re available for royal duties, compile them, and try to assign each of us one day out of the week to tend to the palace. We’ll each spend the night in the castle and then pass it off to the next pony in the morning. Since I’m the Alicorn princess I will volunteer to be the one who takes the seventh day.” “Wait a minute…” Rainbow’s jaw dropped open. “Pinkie’s gonna be in charge one day a week? Alone?” “Yesseroni!” Pinkie was practically dancing a jig on her throne. Rainbow Dash looked at her, then at Twilight. “Seriously?” Twilight nodded. “She’s one of us, Rainbow Dash. Besides, don’t you trust her?” Rainbow Dash turned to watch Pinkie pumping her hooves at the air in front of her in what looked like a little butt-dance on her seat, then turned back to Twilight. “I trust Pinkie with sandwiches and balloons… but governing…?” Twilight giggled. “Oh come on, the daily royal duties for us mostly amount to signing paperwork and saying hello to curious travelers. Most of the royal Equestrian duties are still being handled by Celestia and Luna in Canterlot. She’ll only be here for emergencies, and we’ll all still be here in town to help if things get out of hoof. What’s the worst that could happen?” Rainbow Dash settled back in her seat again. “Yeah, those aren’t famous last words…” Twilight tapped her gavel on her podium again. “Now, Spike, would you please pass out these cards and pencils? I want everypony to write down the days they’re available to give up to the throne, and hopefully we’ll end up with one pony available on each day.” Silence fell over the throne room as each pony took their pads and pencils scribbled across the blank cards. When they were finished Spike gathered up the cards and brought them back to Twilight, whose magic and quick reading skills made easy work of sifting through and compiling the notes made by her friends. Except… Twilight smiled in understanding. “Pinkie Pie, a picture of a cake doesn’t tell me what days you’re available.” “But I’m sooooooo hungry!” “We’ll get something to eat when we’re finished here, I promise. We just need to finish this up.” Pinkie sighed. “Okay, well, I don’t have any plans on Tuesdays or Fridays.” “Perfect!” Twilight nodded and pulled one more sheet of parchment close, where a feathered quill quickly set about making a small list. “We have reached a consensus. Fluttershy, you’ll be on the throne on Mondays.” Fluttershy squeaked and ducked down on her throne. “Eeep! Um… I mean… yay…?” Twilight continued, “Applejack, you’re on Tuesday. Rarity will take Wednesday, Rainbow Dash on Thursday, and Pinkie Pie can handle Friday. I’ll sacrifice my own weekends, so I’ll take Saturday and Sunday.” “How very generous of you, darling.” Rarity smiled brightly. Applejack frowned. “Are you sure you wanna do that? We could rotate the seventh day, it would only be fair.” “Nonsense. This palace is mine, technically, it’s only right that I take the seventh day. You’re already being so kind to help me with my royal duties as it is, when you didn’t even ask for any of this.” Twilight smiled warmly. “Thank you all.” “Awwww, shucks…” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head with a deep blush. “You can be such a sap sometimes…” Fluttershy smiled kindly. “Technically you didn’t ask for it either, you know…” “No, I didn’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is my responsibility.” Twilight cleared her throat and raised her gavel in front of her. “I decree that our business here today has been concluded, and seeing as it is Sunday, I will watch the throne for the remainder of the day and night. Thank you all so much for your participation.” Her gavel banged officially on her podium. “You’re quite welcome, darling.” Rarity slid off of her throne, a simple act she somehow made look easy despite the folds of cloth that engulfed her slender frame. “If anypony needs to find me, you of course know where I shall be! Now I must bid you all a fond adieu.” She nodded respectfully and turned to leave. Lyra and Bon-Bon scrambled to catch the back of her dress before it could touch the floor, accidentally yanking Rarity back mid-stride. “Hey! Watch where you’re tugging!” Rarity glared. Lyra blushed apologetically as she spoke around the cloth in her mouth, “gorry. Ib almob fwipped.” “Eeeewe, don’t slobber on my dress! You are ruining it! Come on, we can still save it if we hurry!” Rarity whirled to bolt out of the palace, the sudden sprint yanking her two hoofmaidens behind her by their teeth. Applejack looked at each of her friends in turn. “I ain’t gonna say it…” Twilight giggled. “She’s just excited, I’m sure she’ll calm down soon.” “I’m sure you’re right, Twilight.” Fluttershy slid daintily off of her throne. “I’ll see you in the morning, Fluttershy. Just come by when you’re ready to take over.” “I will. Take care Twilight.” Applejack waved as she turned to leave with the others. “Holler if you need anything, Twilight. We’ll all come runnin’.” “I’m sure everything will be fine, see you girls later.” Twilight showed her friends to the door, then turned with a sigh to head further into the castle. Her hooves tromped across the newly-carpeted floors on her way towards the back to take a look around. She hadn’t really spent a lot of time in here since it had sprouted from that mysterious crystal seed, and exploring its inner depths was next on her to-do list. Spike landed gently on her back as she passed the throne room. “Do you feel any different yet, Princess Twilight? Now that you have actual royal duties, I mean.” Twilight pondered that for a moment. “I haven’t really done anything yet, though… maybe once I do something, I’ll finally start feeling like a princess. For now, let’s see what we have to work with.” Their tour of the castle was silent and swift. It turned out that the building wasn’t overly large, in fact it was only slightly larger than Golden Oaks library had been. Just big enough to accommodate a couple of extra rooms spread out across the bottom floor, and seven bedrooms one on top of another leading toward the top of a spiral staircase with a cutie mark on each door. Twilight’s mark was on the uppermost door, and a smaller, unmarked bedroom she assumed was Spike’s sat right beneath it. “Man, that mystical seed thought of everything.” Spike commented as he looked proudly around his private room. “It is strange that everything it did was so… specific. It gave you a throne and a bedroom. How did it even know about you? Do you think the Tree of Harmony is… alive?” Spike scratched his head. “Trees are alive, Twilight.” Twilight blushed. “You know what I mean! I mean sentient, observant. It must have known you were with us.” “Maybe.” Spike shrugged. “If it is, I’m glad it remembered I was here. Having my own room is going to be awesome!” Twilight giggled, and the pair resumed their brief tour of the new palace, winding their way back downstairs towards the throne room. Upon entering Twilight smiled when she saw one of her most familiar friends waiting in the middle of the circle of chairs. “Mayor Mare! What can I do for you?” Twilight approached with a bright smile. The mayor of Ponyville turned in surprise, then bowed deeply in front of her. “I’m sorry to intrude, Princess Twilight, but I was wondering if, well…” “Go on.” Twilight nudged her encouragingly. “You see, with a princess in town making the rules, having a mayor too is a little… redundant… so I seem to be out of a job, at present. I was hoping you would have a job for me here in the palace?” The former mayor’s smile was hopeful. Twilight gasped. “Oh gosh, I didn’t mean to put you out of a job! Of course you can work here! I’m… not entirely sure what you would do, though.” “Oh, I have many skills! If you’d like I can assist you in keeping track of your appointments and who has come to see you.” “My appointments? Come to see me? Who’s coming to see me?” “Them, of course.” The former mayor gestured down the hallway toward the cracked-open front double doors, where a small line of ponies was beginning to gather right outside the building. Spike gaped at the crowd. “Holy moly! What are they doing here?” “Well as an official princess now, you’re not just responsible for being a judicial leader, but a spiritual leader as well. Especially as the Princess of Friendship, your advice is highly sought after.” “They’re coming to me for advice? All of them?” Twilight blushed. “That sure is a lot of ponies… okay; you’ve got a deal, Mayor. If you’d let them in one at a time for me?” “With pleasure, Princess Twilight… er, and it’s Care Mare, now.” “Oh, er, right, sorry.” Twilight blushed and turned to approach her throne at the back of the room, taking a moment to compose herself. “Please let the first pony in, Miss Care Mare!” “Yes your highness!” Care Mare turned to head down the front hallway. Spike settled into his throne beside Twilight with a sigh. “I think I’m gonna get used to having ponies come to us with their problems instead of running around town helping them.” “It’s certainly more convenient,” Twilight giggled. She turned her attention toward again at the sound of hooves clopping across the thick red carpet they had laid down from the entrance. A pleasant smile lit up her features when she saw Big Macintosh approaching with slightly redder-than-usual cheeks. “Hello there, Big Mac! Can I do something for you today?” “Um…” Big Macintosh glanced around the room, then at Spike. “Private?” “Oh, of course! It’s a personal matter…” Twilight slid off the throne and turned to give Spike a smile. “I have a feeling a lot of the problems are going to be this way. Why don’t you take the day off, Spike? Go have fun.” “Fun?” Spike blinked. “By myself? I guess I could go help Rarity…” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Whatever you want to do, Romeo. Just try to be back by eight PM.” “You got it!” Spike saluted and turned to dart out of the palace. “This way, Mr. Mac.” Twilight led the way to one of the ground floor living rooms, where a set of thickly cushioned chairs and rugs was arranged in front of an inviting fireplace. “Please, make yourself comfortable,” The alicorn slid into one of the taller chairs, while Mac sat himself down on the longer sofa facing the fireplace. “What seems to be bothering you?” Big Macintosh looked around a bit guiltily, as if making absolutely sure they were alone, before pulling her old beat up Smarty Pants doll out from under his yoke with a sheepish smile. Twilight looked at the doll for a moment, then turned her gave up toward Big Macintosh’s eyes. “Big Macintosh, you took my smarty pants doll?” “Eyup…” Big Macintosh yupped self-consciously. “Oh my gosh…” Twilight frowned. “You stole my Smarty Pants doll!? How could you!? I combed the field three times looking for her! My ailing grandmother sent me that doll when I was six! My brother horn-swore over it to be my B.B.B.F.F. when I was eight! I patterned my whole life around the lessons that doll taught me about how to focus on my studies! Without that doll who knows what I would be now! And you just took her without permission!?” By the time she finished letting her feelings out, Big Macintosh was huddled on the couch looking so much like a guilty dog that she could almost hear him whimpering. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. “Big Macintosh, my friendship lesson to you is, don’t take things without asking. It’s rude and illegal.” “Eyup…” Big Macintosh nodded guiltily. Twilight paused for a moment. “You love it that much? Even without the spell?” After a nod from the eldest Apple family member she looked down for a moment. “But… here’s another friendship lesson…” Twilight stepped forward and picked up the doll from the floor where it had fallen. “Sometimes even if you love something, it’s better to give it to somepony who loves it more.” She held the doll out to him with a soft smile. Big Macintosh finally looked up from his coiled position, his eyes shining brightly at the doll. “Yup!” “And don’t worry about what others will think. It doesn’t matter how many ponies think it’s ‘for girls’, enjoying something you love never makes you less of a stallion.” Big Macintosh nodded in agreement and set Smarty Pants on his back like a little rider, rather than sticking her back in his yoke. “Yup! Thanks!” Big Macintosh pulled Twilight into what would have been a crushing hug to a unicorn, but which Twilight took in stride before showing him out into the hallway. She still felt a bit miffed as she watched him leave with her childhood friend, to the strange and concerned looks of the ponies gathered just outside. Care Mare approached Twilight with a bright smile. “Did it go well? Are you ready for the next pony?” “Yeah, I think I can handle this.” Twilight smiled. “Bring it on!” ___ Roseluck sighed on her back on the couch. “I just had to confess to somepony… I took Colgate’s twenty bits from her counter. I mean, I know it was wrong, but… still, it’s twenty bits, you know? I’m sure she doesn’t even miss it.” “Uh…” Twilight coughed. “Still, I think you know what you need to do now. You’re clearly feeling guilty about it, so maybe you should consider returning it. That’s my advice as a friendship expert.” Roseluck put a hoof on her chin, then waved it over her head. “Nah. I mean, our friendship won’t be hurt if she doesn’t find out, right? Yeah, just forget all about it and it can’t possibly ever come back to hurt me.” “Uh, I don’t know if that’s really the right way to look at-” “Thanks a lot, Twilight. You’ve really helped me piece all this together!” ___ “I swear sometimes it’s like herding a group of cats!” Cheerilee plopped down on her back on the sofa. “After ten years of teaching I swear it never gets any easier trying to get them to just listen to simple information!” “Oh my… but it’s your job, Cheerilee, and they’re your students, they rely on you to prepare them for the real world later on in life.” “Oh bah, prepare nothing, three quarters of those little buggers are going to end up window cleaners and toilet scrubbers anyway.” Cheerilee heaved a sigh. “Why did I choose to waste my life on a hopeless cause? Why couldn’t my calling have been something that matters?” “But… you’re a teacher. Teachers are our most important members of Ponyville.” “Bah, this town doesn’t produce anybody important! We had to import you just to make some of us important by association!” “Are you okay…?” “Why wouldn’t I be!? Hush up! I’m perfectly fine! It’s this place that’s messed up! Especially the children!” ___ “Mom? What the hay are you doing here?” Twilight Sparkle blinked in surprise. Twilight Velvet smiled proudly as she took a seat on the sofa. “Oh I had to come and see your new palace, sweetie! Your father and I are so proud of you.” Twilight blushed. “Thanks mom, I didn’t expect you… but it really means a lot to me.” “Of course now it’s time for you to take a prince and make some little princes and princesses.” Twilight blushed. “Mom, I’m not thinking about that right now.” “I know, so I did it for you!” Velvet’s horn glowed, dragging a suave-looking unicorn into the room from just outside. “Gah!” Twilight gasped. “Hola, senorita Sparkle. My name is Silver Tongue, and you… are the most beautiful mare in these bounteous lands of ours.” The stallion took her hoof and raised it to his lips. “Uh… thanks…?” ___ “Why does everypony act like it’s my fault that I’m pretty, popular, smart, and rich?” Diamond Tiara whined on the couch. “I wasn’t the reason that Apple Bloom was raised in a barn! I didn’t give Scootaloo lopsided wings too small to lift a paperweight! I sure didn’t give Sweetie Belle those freaky-ginormous eyes! And I didn’t take away their special talents so they would be worthless blank flanks forever! Nature did that! Not me!” “Mmhmm…” Twilight Sparkle tapped a pencil against her lips as she regarded the little filly with a studying eye. “How much time have you spent talking to them?” “Talking? I talk to them every day. Somepony’s gotta remind them how hopeless and meaningless their lives are.” “Have you considered perhaps stopping and talking to them calmly? Nicely? Perhaps if you spent more time getting to know them, you would be able to overcome this perception you have of them as relatively worthless, and you could see that, even if they’re not perfect, they have their own virtues, and aren’t all that different from yourself after all?” Diamond Tiara stared at her blankly for a moment of stunned silence. “… That’s stupid, you suck at this.” She slid off the couch and whirled to leave as Twilight’s hoof slammed into her forehead. ___ An earth pony stallion with deep black fur and a wild attractively tangled mane that burned fiery red sat on the edge of the couch, giving her a wide, excited smile. “You have really pretty hair…” Twilight smiled back in appreciation. “Why thank you, I try to take care of it.” “I could take care of it for you, when we’re married!” The stallion leaned closer. Twilight leaned back a bit reflexively. “Ahem… th-thank you…? And you are…?” “My name’s Dragon Shadow, I just arrived in Equestria, and I’ve never met you before… but I sure believe in love at first sight…” “Er… th-thank you…” Twilight’s horn began to blink furiously. “I love you! Marry me!” “I love you too! Do you know who else loves you? These wonderful gentlecolts in the white lab coats.” Twilight forced a smile onto her lips as the door to her office opened and two big stallions marched in to detain the black pony. “They’ll take the best care of you.” “You can’t deny our destiny, Twilight Sparkle!” Dragon Shadow struggled against the two stallions as he was dragged toward the door. “Our destiny is together! You’re supposed to love me! You’ll love meeeee!” ___ “I hate that jerk, Rarity!” Aloe Vera plopped down on the couch and pounded her hooves against the cushion beneath her. “She comes to the spa every single week and treats us like her slaves! ‘The usual’ she says! Every! Single! Time! Urgh! Everything about her voice makes me want to throw her out of the spa, but she just pays us too much money! So we put on the same song and dance we have to do for all our customers while I resist the urge to buck her head so hard it flies out her butt!” “Wow! Okay… I can sense a little animosity here.” Twilight raised her hooves in a calming manner. “Rarity can be a… unique pony, for sure, but you know she wouldn’t mean to do anything to make you upset. Perhaps if you spoke to her next time she came by, you could resolve these feelings in a calm and civil manner and, perhaps, overcome them altogether, even if being friends isn’t an option.” “I can’t confront her! She’s practically putting our future children through college! If she marches out we lose a major source of income! I just want somepony to sew her mouth shut!” Aloe sat up and leaned toward Twilight conspiratorially. “You don’t know anypony who can make that happen, do you?” “… No. No I do not.” ___ “So uh…” A stallion hidden underneath a thick brown cloak cast a conspiratorial glance around the room from the sofa. “You’re Princess Twilight Sparkle, yes?” “That’s right, and I’m here to answer all of your concerns about the magic of friendship.” “Right, I understand.” The stallion winked. “Friendship is important; it would most certainly prevent us from doing what must be done to undo the tyranny of the throne.” “To… undo the what now?” “Nothing, of course. Nopony would ever dream of uninstalling the current tyranny and placing a certain new princess on the throne in their stead to usher in a new age of Equestrian peace and prosperity.” “… Guards.” ___ “Thanks for coming to see me, Maud!” Twilight smiled brightly as Pinkie’s older sister, Maud Pie, settled onto the couch. “What brings you here today?” “Did you know there are still places outside of Equestria where rocks are thrown at criminals as a form of punishment?” Maud spoke in her usual low tone. “Oh my! I didn’t! That’s terrible!” “I know. I’ve always wanted to do something about it, but I don’t know what.” “Well Maud, we can change things here in Equestria, but sometimes we just have to accept that other cultures have their own ways. We can talk to them, and try to reason with them, but ultimately we can’t spend our whole lives worrying about it. You need to live your life, and try to help those ponies who are victims wherever you can.” “I was talking about the rocks.” Maud nodded slowly. “Imagine it. Being thrown through the air against your will, used like slaves. It’s unimaginable.” “Uh… yeah, I… guess?” “I’m sure if you would sign my petition to end rock cruelty it would help out tremendously.” “Um… oh my, look at the time, I think my next appointment is already waiting…” ___ “I don’t know how to talk to her! I mean, we play games together all the time, but I don’t know how to say things! I feel like I become stupid whenever I’m around her…” Button Mash cupped his hooves in his lap demurely. “Maybe I am stupid…” Twilight giggled. “Oh Button, you’re not stupid. You’re just an innocent boy growing up. Tell me, what kinds of things do you do together?” “Well we play video games; we really like to play Minecraft.” “That’s good! Sharing interests is good. What else?” Button Mash blinked. “Else?” “Yes. Like… video games are your interest, what do you do that interests Sweetie Belle?” Button continued to stare up at her blankly. “I don’t follow.” “You see, relationships, romantic or platonic, are a give and take thing.” “Oh! She gives me video games sometimes! She’s so nice!” “…” ___ Thunderlane’s hooves rested on his stomach as he spoke. “I called Derpy ‘wall-eye’ yesterday. I guess it was kind of mean… but it just made me feel better about myself somehow, you know?” Twilight cleared her through. “Well you know, sometimes putting others down can make us feel better… but that feeling is fake. We put down others to put them below us, which puts us above them, and raises our self-esteem. Perhaps there’s something in your life that you feel bad about. Something that we can help you fix if you’ll just talk about it.” “What? Nah, I’m fine, it’s just, have you seen Derpy? I mean, I can’t even look at her head, she just looks creepy.” “Her name is Ditzy Doo, actually.” Twilight frowned. “And you’re here to…” “Vent, mostly. I feel a lot better. You’re great at this.” Twilight sighed. “Thanks…” ___ Ditzy Doo sat demurely on the edge of the couch. “Thunderlane called me wall-eye yesterday… called me Derpy again too…” “Oh Ditzy, I’m so sorry.” Twilight cooed sympathetically. “You really shouldn’t let the judgementalism of other ponies get you down. Everypony is entitled to their own opinion, but the only opinion that should matter to you, is your own, and those of your close friends. Be who you are, and don’t worry if somepony is too close-minded to realize how special you are.” “I know… sometimes it just makes me want to… destroy them all! For all the terrible things they’ve ever done to me! They’ll never hurt anypony like that again! Never ever! Not after they can’t move anymore! Yesssss…” “…” “Whew, I feel a lot better now! Thanks for listening, Twilight!” Ditzy slid off the couch and turned to approach the exit with a lighthearted hum. ___ Twilight Sparkle watched the front double doors of her palace swing closed with a thunderous clang in the open entryway at the front, the only ponies left on the inside being Twilight herself and Care Mare, who turned to approach her with a bright smile. “We got through the first day. I think this calls for a celebration!” “Yeah… the first day… of the rest of my life.” Twilight looked away from her friend. “Twilight? Are you okay? You look a little down.” Twilight hesitated a moment before continuing. “Have you ever felt like there came a moment where you realized that you didn’t know your friends at all? That everything they’ve told you about themselves was just a charade? A friendly fake to get by in daily life without being looked at funny by their peers? I’ve always thought of Ponyville as a wonderful town full of good ponies, but now…” “Ah, I see…” Care Mare turned to walk toward the stairs in the back, gesturing Twilight to follow. “As the town’s mayor, I was privy to information about a lot of Ponyville’s citizens that not many others had. I saw many of them at their absolute worst when they did something regrettable.” “How could you keep looking at them like the same ponies? I mean, I won’t spill private information, but some of the things I’ve heard today were… well, frankly, horrifying. I feel like the town is full of liars, cheats, jerks, and borderline criminals.” “Let me put it this way, Twilight.” Care Mare gave her a piercing, searching look. “I saw you when you first came to Ponyville. I watched you grow closer to your friends, unsure, unsteady, but growing more confident all the time. Here you are, beaming your confidence to the rest of the world… and yet now coming and confiding your unsureness and confusion to me. Which of you do you think is the real you, Twilight? The confident princess, or the confused unicorn who is still learning?” “I…” Twilight gulped. “I don’t know.” “It was a trick question.” Care Mare approached Twilight’s room at the top of the building and pushed the door open for her. “They’re both the real you. There’s more to a pony than just who they are in public, but that doesn’t mean who they are in public is fake. Flaws, doubts, insecurities, sometimes even less desirable personality traits, they’re all just parts of who we are, pieces of the puzzle that make up each and every pony in Equestria.” The two mares walked through the room to look out the far window over the town of Ponyville, where Twilight could watch the ponies who had just hours before been in her castle complaining, whining, confessing. Disgusting individuals who suddenly, out there, looked happy, and were making others happy in turn. “I think I see what you’re saying.” Twilight shook her head. “As flawed as they are on the inside, they still have the virtues they always had. They exist side-by-side; two or more sides of the same pony, sometimes conflicting, but still coexisting somehow. The most complex puzzle in the world… unsolvable, but real.” Care Mare turned to look at her fully. “That’s how I’ve always seen them, at least.” “Thank you, Care Mare. Your advice just saved me a lot of headache.” Twilight smiled. “I hope I can count on your continued service here in the palace. I’ll make sure you get paid as much as you were getting as mayor. You deserve it.” “It would be my honor, Princess Twilight.” Care Mare bowed low in front of her, then turned to head toward the door. “Sleep well.” “Goodnight.” Twilight waved after her, then turned to look out the window with a small half smile. She hadn’t been prepared for what she would discover once she became the Princess of Friendship, and the types of problems she would be confronted with when ponies exposed their innermost thoughts and feeling to her. It had been overwhelming, and for the most part she felt like she hadn’t helped at all… but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try. If she could help even one pony find the magic of friendship, it would all be worth it. And for the rest? Well, they were flawed… but they were still her friends. To Be Continued