Attack of the Equine Empire

The huge doors to Celestia's throne room swung open as Twilight entered. She knew that if Celestia summoned her to Canterlot to discuss something face-to-face it must have been important. "Hello Princess," she said as she approached Celestia and bowed. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, and please, you may call me Celestia now. I'm not your teacher anymore," the Princess said with a smile on her face. Twilight blushed and rose from her bow.

"Force of habit I guess," she chuckled. "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Ah, yes," Celestia said as she stepped down from her throne. "Tell me Twilight, what do you know of the country Mustangia?"

"Mustangia?" Twilight thought about it for a moment. "It's one of the countries that borders Equestria. It is one of the few countries today that are run my alicorn monarchs, theirs being Princess... Cornaria, I think. Not much else I'm afraid. I read a book about the countries of the world once, but it was a long time ago so I don't remember much about it."

"I see," she said, obviously thinking to herself for a moment. "And what about the Equine Empire?"

"The Equine Empire? They were just a collection of independent villages north of Mustangia until about a century ago. Then they were attacked by dragons from the great migration. After that they banded together and formed their own country, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Celestia said, still just standing in front of Twilight and pondering to herself. The silences started to make Twilight's dress feel a bit tighter. She had decided to wear the silk and satin dress she was given for her coronation, along with her crown that doubled as her Element of Harmony. To her, she seemed the most Princess-like while wearing them. Only she was, at that moment, worried that her anxiety would get the best of her and her sweat would ruin the dress.

"Celestia, is there something wrong?" she finally asked. The Princess of the sun returned from her thoughts and a smile adorned her face once again, allowing Twilight to give out a soft, silent, and unnoticeable sigh of relief.

"Oh no Twilight, nothing like that," she said. "I merely have a task I would like you to take care of for me, from one Princess to another."

"What is it?" she asked intently.

"I've received a letter from our friends in Mustangia, asking for a meeting between myself and Princess Cornaria. She wrote that it's a matter concerning their neighbors the Equine Empire."

Twilight was unsure how to respond to that. "No offense Celestia, but what does this have to do with me?" she said.

"Twilight," Celestia said. "I can't go to this meeting. I will be busy with some other urgent matters that require my full attention." She rested her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "You're a Princess now. A leader of Equestria. I need you to go to Mustangia and settle this issue. Can you do that for me, and for Equestria?"

"I-I umm..." Twilight tried to say something. When she swallowed she seemed to swallow all the words too. Celestia had entrusted her with more important tasks before, but that time it was different. She really sees me as a Princess now. Not just her student, she thought. She didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of the whole thing. She shook her head to snap out of it. "I would be honored to Prin- I mean, Celestia."

Celestia smiled and put her hoof back down. "I know this is your first official act as a Princess, and going to a foreign country can be a bit overwhelming, so I thought it would be good for you to bring your friends along with you to Mustangia."

Twilight's face lit up. Once she knew that her friends would be there for he, she could feel the doubt slowly leave her the more Celestia talked about the trip. Yet, on the train ride home, a minuscule amount remained at the bottom of her stomach.

"We'd love to go!" Pinkie shouted in excitement. The pink pony jumped in the air as she said that and seemed to stay there a few seconds longer than physically possible for an earth pony. When she came back down she looked at each of her friends, who were staring at her, and she blushed. "Well, I'd love to go." The ponies then smiled as they usually did after one of Pinkie's outbursts had passed.

Twilight had wanted to tell them all the news at once and fortunately they had gathered in her library so that they could surprise her as soon as she had gotten home. Pinkie had, of course, made all the preparations. The library's interior was covered with the usual streamers that were draped across every wall and across the ceiling. Balloons of all sizes filled the room to the point of where you couldn't look anywhere and not see one. All the bright colors of a Pinkie party from the yellows to the sky blues and leaf greens and obviously pinks seemed to explode into place once Twilight had opened the door and her friends yelled "Surprise!"

She had only been gone about a day, but Pinkie had thrown parties for less. None of them could come to Canterlot on such short notice so they had agreed that a welcome home party was in order. They knew that Twilight would return with important news of some kind, everypony was just waiting to know if it was good news and bad news. "Why, I've never been to Mustangia before," Rarity said as she thought about what the country must be like.

"How long d'ya reckon this trip is gonna be?" Applejack asked while she sat and sipped the punch.

"I'm not sure," said Twilight. "Celestia didn't say how long I'd have to be there."

"I could really go for a vacation, so I'm in," Rainbow Dash said as she casually hovered around the room.

"I'll go to," Fluttershy added in her usual hushed tone. "Well, as long as you don't mind me being there and if you don't think I'll get in the way of your meeting with the Princess."

"Of course I want you to go Fluttershy," Twilight said reassuringly. As she said that she put a hoof on the young mare's shoulder and Fluttershy gave a soft smile.

"Ah'd have ta get Mac ta take care of Sweet Apple Acres while ah'm gone," Applejack said after putting down her cup. "Apple Bloom's gettin' to the age where she can work too, so that shouldn't be a problem. Y'all can count me in too."

"Well now I certainly can't let all of you go to an exotic foreign country all on your own. I'll have to come along as well." Rarity said.

"Great, it's settled then," Twilight said. Her friends cheered and went back to enjoying the night. The party lasted for hours. Pinkie made sure it was lively the whole way through. Party games, to dancing, to just talking with each other. Twilight loved every minute of it. It was one of the better parties the six had had in a while.

One by one each of her friends called it a night and went home. By the time the last one of her friends (Pinkie Pie) was gone it was very late. Spike had slunk upstairs to sleep and Twilight sat alone by the fire. It cast just enough light to allow her late night reading. Before her sudden call to Canterlot she had received new books for her library, one of which was a short novella titled The Griffon, the Lion, and the Dragon. Twilight managed to get through most of it before she had to leave. It was in the back of her mind the whole time that she was in Canterlot. Not finishing a book, no matter how good or bad, was a pet-peeve of hers. It gave her this odd feeling in her gut that she couldn't shake until the end of the last page. She knew she could probably finish it before she went to bed, even if she was already tired. As she read the last words on the book's last page, she heard a voice. "Twilight..." Spike said from the top of the stairs.

"Oh I'm sorry Spike. Did I wake you up?" she said as she closed the book.

"No, I couldn't sleep. I think I had a few too many of Pinkie's sweets. So why are you still up?" He rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the light of the fire.

"I wanted to try to finish this book... also I'm a bit nervous about the trip."

"Why? Is it because of that Equine Empire or whatever it's called that you told us about?"

"Yes...and no. Things don't always go great for us and I'm just worried that something bad may happen. Whether it be that other country or if I just screw up talking with Cornaria. I've never been a diplomat before. Who knows what could happen?"

"Twilight," he said as he walked to the bottom step, "there's nothing to worry about. You'll do great. You're a princess now and you're awesome at making friends. This other Princess is going to love you, I just know it."

"Aww, thanks Spike." Twilight stood up and walked over to the steps where he was and gave him a great, big hug. Twilight walked back over to the book on the ground and levitated it with her horn.

"So what book were you reading?" the dragon asked as he followed her off the stairs.

"Oh this?" She presented the cover to him. "It's The Gryphon, the Lion, and the Dragon."

"Never heard of it. What's it about? Besides of course a gryphon, a lion, and a dragon."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, it's an old fable that was passed down through word of mouth and eventually put in short little books like this one. It's a fairly simple story but I don't want to spoil it for you in case you ever want to read the book."

"I'm not going to read the book so you might as well tell me." He sat down by the fire.

"Alright then." She sat down next to him. "One day, long ago, in a distant land a young earth pony left his farm to go to a nearby market to sell some family produce. On his way there a small rabbit came up to him and told him that he'd get there much faster if he-"

"Wait, the rabbit told him something. How can the animals talk?"

"It's a fable Spike. Suspension of disbelief. So the rabbit told him that he could get there much faster if he went through the nearby woods. The pony wasn't so sure since he had never been in the woods before, but the rabbit said that she would lead him safely through. The pony agreed, but when they were deep in the woods the rabbit snatched the pony's basket of veggies and scampered off. The pony could not chase her because the woods were thick and confusing. The pony quickly became lost."

"That rabbit sounds a lot like Angel."

"Spike," Twilight said as she slammed the book on the ground with her magic. "I'm in the middle of telling a story. Please don't interrupt me."

"Alright. Alright." Spike scooted back a little.

"Thank you," she said, readjusting herself. "The pony had no magic to transport himself away and no wings to fly above the trees. He wandered aimlessly for two days when he came upon a clearing where he met three creatures."

"The Gryphon, the Lion, and the Dragon."

"Yes. Each of them offered help to the pony, but he was cautious for he remembered what the rabbit had done after offering help. The Dragon promised that he would fly him out of the woods and to the town, but the pony saw the beast's dark scales and smelt the smoke on it's breath. He thought that if a small rabbit could do him harm he couldn't imagine what a Dragon would do.The Gryphon offered the same, but once again the pony was worried. The Gryphon had claws and suspicious eyes, whereas the rabbit had not even these. Finally the Lion boasted that he was the king of the woods and that he could easily help the pony find his way. The pony wondered why a king would help a lone pony like himself with no real reason, the same way a harmless rabbit had. The pony did not know who to choose."

"So? Who did he choose?"

"None. He decided to find his own way out of the woods. The book ends with him starving to death." She sat back up and walked over to the bookshelves. Spike sat there, his mouth gaping open.

"Woah...that's...really depressing. I'm glad I didn't read it."

"It's a fable Spike. It's supposed to teach a lesson or a moral." She ran her eyes along the shelf labels, looking for the right one.

"We'll it could of done that with a happy ending. I don't want to read stories without happy endings," he said, getting up.

"It's still a good read." She wasn't surprised. Spike never enjoyed reading much other than comic books. He tried to stay away from stories without happy endings, even if they were really good.

"If you say so. At least you found a way to put me back to sleep." Spike yawned as he stretched his arms above his head. "Are you going to bed?"

"Yes, I just need to put the book on the correct shelf first."

"Okay," Spike said. He walked back upstairs as Twilight continued to scan the shelves. She was going to have to get plenty of rest before the trip. She looked over the different shelf sections. That week the books were sorted by author. She levitated the book into it's place on the U shelf, for Unknown.