Chapter 1: Royal Meeting
A massive castle towered over the land, far beyond the majesty of Canterlot. Its great marble walls and golden towers were riddled with small runes of immortality preventing it form taking the abuse of age. In the main hall at the heart of this mighty construct, sat beings of unimaginable power. Approaching these titans through the many hallways of the castle were four ponies, each possessing an equal level of magical power as the ones they drew closer to. One was the glorious Princess Celestia, her tricolor mane flowing in its usual nonexistent breeze. To her left was the infamous Princess of the Night and younger sister Princess Luna. To her right was the dazzling princess of love Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who was only slightly less relaxed than her much older Aunts. A large amount of her concern was centered upon the lavender Alicorn trotting beside her.
“Are you okay Twilight?” Cadence asked.
“Y-Yeah,” she stammered, a lock of her mane curling out of place. “I’m fine. Totally fine. C-Couldn’t be better!”
In truth, she was a nervous wreck! After the battle with Tearek, Twilight Sparkle felt that there wasn’t anything that could scare her. After all, what could possibly be more frightening than fighting a magic-eating monster from the pits of Tartorous? Three words; Grand Royal Summit. Every year, all of the few existing Alicorns from all across Equestria gathered at the ancient Castle of Beginnings at the northern point of the world to discus the conditions of their different kingdoms. This put Twilight in a very uncomfortable position. This would be her first time meeting other Alicorns aside from Cadence, Luna, and Celestia. Heck, she didn’t even know there were any other Alicorns in the world. In addition, these were members of her new race that were much older and infinitely more powerful than her, making her feel like the youngest foal in magic kindergarten.
What do I do when I see them? She thought desperately. Do I try to act all formal around them or would they like me better if I were more casual? Are they going to be friendly towards me or treat me like a foal because I only just recently ascended? Oh what do I do? What do I do?!
Celestia noticed her former student’s demeanor and smiled.
“There is no need for worry my friend,” Celestia said, looking ahead.
“Indeed,” Luna agreed. “And if any of thyn kin tries to bring harm to thee our punishment will be swift!”
Though she appreciated the attempt, Twilight still felt nervous.
With a sigh, Cadence leaned down to Twilight’s level and whispered, “Don’t think of them as Alicorns. Just pretend that they’re ordinary ponies.”
Twilight gave her sister-in-law a look of ludicrousy before letting herself relax, even if it was just by a small fraction. Mentally, she tried to tell herself that the ponies she was going to meet were no different than herself and her friends. To her surprise, it actually worked. Though not completely, so in order to settle her nerves she did what she always did; mentally recited the periodic table of elements.
It wasn’t until they rounded a corner into the hallway towards the main hall did a fraction of Twilight’s tension return. The magical auras she sensed were enormous! Leaving the former unicorn feeling like a bird flying towards a mob of tornados. Every fiber of her being was telling her to retreat, but taking Cadence’s advice and the knowledge that she wasn’t facing these pillars of power alone, she walked forward, ready to present herself to the rest of her kind as the Princess of Friendship.
***
The main hall was massive, roughly the size of Celestia’s throne room. It was circular and had gems and various other precious metals decorating the walls, floor, and ceiling. At its center was a round jade table, encircled by thirteen chairs , each baring the cutie-mark of the prince or princess it was reserved for. A tall and slightly boney stallion occupied one. His coat was an ashy grey and his mane was bright silver that moved like small flames across the back of his neck. He looked around the room with listless dark-blue eyes that carried with them the cold indifference of countless ages of judgment. His wings and horn were the darkest shade of black. The black crow perched on a scythe that adorned his flank matched the one on the head of his seat. Sitting across from him was a fierce black mare with a long mane that looked like flowing orange flames. Her left eye was covered by an eye patch while her right was gold and bore the kind of glint one would see in the eyes of a falcon searching for prey. Her wings were bright gold and her horn was copper. Aside from her morning star cutie mark; the only marks on her body were battle scars from countless confrontations. To her left sat a stallion whose coat looked like he was dropped into multiple vats of neon paint. His wings, horn, and mane all bared the same chimera of colors. His cutie mark was a pair of theater masks. Unlike the previous Alicorns, this one gave off a much less intimidating aura, his hazel eyes scanning through a magazine. Next to him sat a sapphire blue mare with a mane and horn a slightly brighter shade than her coat. Her cutie mark was a trident surrounded by bubbles. Next to her sat a dark green mare with an emerald mane. Her flank bore a tree covered with fruit. Her eyes were a deep amethyst purple. Teetering in the seat next to her was an Alicorn mare with a much brighter shade of green in her coat and a bubblegum-pink mane. Her dopy eyes were as brown as fertlile soil and a wineglass cutie mark decorated her flank. An ornate crystal bottle sat in front of her on the table. A silver Alicorn stallion sitting next to her gave a slightly annoyed sigh. His cutie mark was a white coliseum. He shifted his light-blue eyes back to his other neighbor. Much like him, the Princess sitting next to had blue eyes and her whole body was one color, only she was white instead of silver. Her cutie mark was a tornado. The other stallion she was sitting next to was bright red with brown wings and mane. His black eyes kept darting around the room impatiently, boredom beginning to gnaw at him. His left hind leg was a chrome prosthetic that was enchanted to function like a normal limb. His cutie mark was a golden hammer.
The room held an eerie silence that was only broken by the occasional cough. After what felt like an eternity, the doors to the main hall opened and the last four Princesses stepped inside. All of them bowed in respect to Celestia as she and the rest of her group took their seats. The second they did, all of them stared at Twilight, some with curiosity and others with scrutiny.
Twilight noticed all of the attention and she gulped.
Okay, she thought. Here goes nothing.
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off when Celestia loudly tapped her hoof on the table.
“Greetings, and thank you for attending this years Grand Royal Summit. Normally, we begin these meetings with progress reports and comparing the developments of our respective kingdoms, but first I feel we should introduce ourselves to the latest member of our family.”
Family?! Twilight thought, frazzled by this sudden announcement.
“Fair enough,” the silver Prince said casually as he rose from his seat. “I’m Platinum Blitz, Prince of Competition. It’s nice ta’ meet ya.”
“Um, like wise?”
With a confident smirk, he nodded his approval and sat back down.
The white mare stood up next.
“I’m Tempest, Princess of Wind,” she said with the same kind of pride she heard from her friend Rainbow Dash on a daily bases.
With a kind smile, she bowed to her and said, “It’s and honor to meet you.”
With a raised brow, Tempest returned to her seat, perplexed, but not insulted by Twilight’s formal attitude.
The blue Princess took her turn.
“My name is Princess Cascade, the ever fabulous Princess of the Sea,” she said, dramatically brushing a hoof through her already flowing mane.
For a moment, Twilight thought she was looking at an Alicorn version of Rarity, but pushed the thought out of her mind and bowed in respect.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Cascade.”
The Princess of the Sea flashed a slight smile at the younger Alicorn before returning to her seat.
The red stallion stood and in a gruff voice said, “My name’s Heavy Burden, but most call me the Prince of the Forge.”
She bowed and greeted Heavy Burden just like she had all of the rest, gradually becoming more confident. When he sat down, the dark-green mare stood.
“Greetings,” she said with a calm smile. “My name is Drassiel and I am the Princess of Nature.”
She smiled back. In some ways, Drassiel reminded her of her mom. She just had that warm glow to her.
Drassiel sat before the mare sitting next to her greeted Twilight.
“Hiya,” she hiccuped, taking a swig of the bottle sitting in front of her. “I’m (hic) Grapevine. But most ponies call me the Princess of Wine.”
Twilight didn’t know how to react to this one. Granted, she’s dealt with her fare share of drunken ponies in her time, but none of them were royalty. Deciding the safest route was the smartest one, she settled on giving her the same greeting she gave Tempest. Grapevine let out a drunken cackle then flopped into her seat. At speeds that both startled her and gave her a sense of déjà vu, a multi colored Alicorn flew from his seat to the empty space beside Twilight and started shaking her hoof.
“Hi!” he said with a massive grin on his face. “I’m Mirth Hour, the Prince of Theater, but you can call me Mirth if ya want!”
“S-Sure,” Twilight stuttered as Mirth Hour’s hoofshake rattled her like a tambourine. “N-Nice to m-meet you.”
“Likewise,” he smiled, letting go of her hoof. “I can tell we’re gonna be best friends in no time!”
With that, he gave her a hug and teleported back to his chair.
Huh, another Pinkie Pie, she thought, shaking off her dizziness. And he’s a Prince. The world truly is a strange and wondrous place.
It was then that she noticed another Prince standing up and a strange feeling came over her. She could tell that he was different than the other stallions in the room. He seemed older, wiser, and, well, tortured. Twilight couldn’t explain how she knew this, but when her eyes met his, she saw a pony that found happiness as alien as she did about romance. They were the eyes of somepony as fragile as glass, yet as strong as tempered steel.
“Greetings, my name is Nevermore and I am the Prince of Death. May our time together be both enjoyable and productive.”
Though his voice lacked any emotion, she could tell his wishes were sincere.
“Likewise,” she said confidently.
With a bow, he returned to his seat.
At this point, all of Twilight’s anxiety from before had completely disappeared. They really were no different from other ponies. Perhaps this meeting wouldn’t be so bad after all. Those feelings instantly started to fade as the last Alicorn rose from her seat.
“My name is Morning Star,” she said with a growl. “I am the Princess of War.”
Without even waiting for Twilight to return the greeting, Morning Star sat back down, deliberately trying to avoid eye contact.
Okay, that was rude, Twilight thought, raising a brow.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Morning Star.
No response.
Choosing to think nothing of it, Twilight motioned to take her seat, but stopped when she noticed the expectant looks coming from the other Alicorns. She looked curiously at Celestia who chuckled and whispered behind her hoof, “You haven’t introduced yourself yet.”
Twilight internally face-hoofed then turned towards her pears.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight if it’s more convenient. I’m the Princess of Friendship.”
The reactions to this announcement was mixed. Some of the Alicorns smiled and nodded in acceptance while others gave her vague indifferent looks. Morning Star, however, looked almost murderous, as her head snapped back into Twilight’s direction.
Twilight cringed.
She didn’t like making enemies especially if they were ancient beings. The fact that the one Alicorn she seemed to have turned against her was the Princess of War didn’t make Twilight feel quite as comfortable as she was earlier with her current company. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to take another swing at Tearek? It was then that Celestia slammed her hoof onto the table to get everyponies attention. The room once again became quiet.
“Thank you. Now, as Princess Twilight already knows Cadence, Luna, and myself, we will skip our introductions and move on to the matters at hoof.”
As she said that, she used her magic to materialize thirteen sheets of paper, each with various numbers and figures printed on them.
“What you are all looking at are the different levels of economic growth, population, and resources of each of our domains since last year. Just looking at it what do you see?”
Everypony did as they were told and for most of them the news wasn’t pretty.
“As you can see, with the exceptions of Canterlot, Ponyville, and the Crystal Empire, everyponie’s domains are heading into a gradual downward spiral in at least one of these crucial factors.”
This shocked Twilight. Considering she only recently manifested her castle, she didn’t realize that Ponyville was now an official royal domain. Not only that, but one of the most well maintained.
“I fear this may be due to the fact that all of you spend very little to no time getting to know any of your subjects on a more personal level.”
A few of them looked away and scratched the back of their heads like foals caught lying.
“Fortunately,” she continued. “I have thought of a way to give all of you some practice.”
Everypony except Morning Star gave Celestia a curious glance.
“For two months, all of you will be living in Ponyville along with Princess Twilight Sparkle. In addition, each of you will need to form at least one genuine friendship within that timeframe. Should any of you fail to do this, I will use my authority as First Princess and maintain control of your kingdom until you do.”
Everypony, including Morning Star, looked at her in stunned fear. It was rare that Celestia made such a threat, but when she did, it was widely known to not be a bluff. Knowing this, nopony gave her any resistance or argument
“You each have one day to gather what you will need and meet at the Castle of Friendship. This meeting is now closed.”
With that, she slammed her hoof onto the table to officially end the meeting. With a few irritated groans, everypony teleported out of the main hall back to their castles to get ready for their two-month rehabilitation. One particular lavender Alicorn returning to her previous state of nerves.