Chapter Four: Negotiations

Public appearance is important for a Princess, when amongst the populace they must remain courteous, calm, and above all responsible. After all they represent the very kingdom itself.

It wasn't exactly a five star restaurant... in fact it could best be described as a diner. It wasn't too bad, less of a dive than some of the places Dash had introduced her to during the early days. Still it had that greasy quality to it that made Twilight hesitant to touch anything. The only benefit here was the food... which though very unhealthy had the promise of satisfaction.

Dash had of course ordered hay fries with a bowl of hay bacon and a milkshake the size of Manehattan... Twilight had moderated her order to a hay sandwich. Alright... two hay sandwiches, however she was very hungry and felt justified in her choice.

"Mmmf, mmf, mm m mmf?" Dash asked.

"I don't speak 'Mouth Full' Dash," Twilight responded with a stern expression, attempting to ignore all the side looks from the various customers who recognized her.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and swallowed in one massive load that nearly stretched out her neck, "There better?"

"It’s a start," Twilight replied wryly.

"I was just sayin that it’s good to just hang out, what with you being away all the time now."

"It’s just for two weeks Dash," Twilight answered with a raised brow.

"And who better to give you support than me right?" She grinned with bright eyes.

Twilight simply nodded and finished the first of her sandwiches, if she were to be honest she would have chosen anyone but Rainbow Dash to keep her company.

"Liar."

Well, perhaps not exactly true but the pegasus was a known menace after all, she had a habit of getting into trouble... or causing trouble.

"And?"

More to the point the distractions had probably set her back hours in work, maybe even days. It wasn't as if she didn't appreciate Dash's companionship, in fact she enjoyed it, it was just that it may be better if the rainbow mare just returned home and left her to run the country.

"So... just saying but..." Dash began.

"Yes?" Twilight responded, encouraging the hesitant pony.

Dash frowned, looking for the right words, "Look... I'm sorry if I said or did anything to upset you."

Twilight nodded, as apologies go trying to get one out this pegasus was almost impossible under the circumstances, which meant one of two things. One, Dash was embarrassed about what had happened and wished to just forget about it and move on... or Two, she was simply doing so just to cover her own back if something were to go wrong again.

Twilight hoped it was the former, the faster the nonsense of the last few days ended the better it would be for her sanity.

"There you go... lying again."

Twilight blushed without knowing why but nodded to Rainbow Dash's words, "Apology accepted."

Dash grinned, "Great!" Once more the pony fell to her meal, consuming the mass of food like a hungry timberwolf.

Twilight watched with an expression of horrified fascination, it always amazed her how fast her rainbow maned friend could put food away.

Swallowing first, at least she remembered this time, Dash asked something Twilight had not been expecting, “So… you think I’m hot?”

Twilight, having just taken a bite out of her sandwich, almost choked to death right then and there. It took a lot of effort to regain herself and quickly she waved a hoof to her friend, “Shhh!”

“What? You said it!"

Panicking slightly and looking around the diner to see eyes covertly watching, Twilight found herself unable to do anything but repeat herself, “Shhh!!!”

“I mean c’mon,” Dash shrugged, a smile on her face, “I’ve always had a thing for you y’know, you have amazing curves for a bookworm.”

“Dash please!” Twilight begged in a hushed voice.

“You nearly fainted when I kissed you that time…” The pagsi’s face took a strange turn, eyes twinkling with amusement.

Twilight froze internally.

“Oh she did not just do that!” Anger flared.

“I believe she did,” Intelligence responded.

“Just bury me somewhere,” Embarrassment surrendered, “I don’t care if I’m alive anymore!”

“You weren’t shushing me then!” The pegasi's grin was challenging.

“Quick!” Competitiveness commanded, “Someone come up with something witty to throw back at her!”

“Tell her to go jump off a tower with her wings tied!” Anger supplied.

“Tell her to shush again!” Embarrassment added its own piece.

“Ogle her butt!” Madness… damn you madness.

“Shut up Dash!” Twilight growled in a low voice.

“Ooh,” Dash’s smile was near cruel, “Kitty got claws.”

“I’m warning you!” Twilight muttered.

“You gonna punish me?” She drawled, “I mean… I don’t mind it if you do, it could be kinda cool!”

Twilight released a groan and allowed her face to fall upon the table’s surface, which in hindsight may not have been the best option considering the state of it.

“Red alert!” The Nerdy part of her declared, “Abandon Ship! Repeat, Abandon Ship!”

“Alright you win…” Twilight surrendered, “…just stop, please.”

Dash seemed to consider her words carefully, which did little to fix Twilight’s mood seeing as she was very smug about it. “Alright Twi… but you owe me now.”

Twilight gave Dash an expression of pure reproach.

Night came quickly after Twilight bid Dash a good day and returned to her work. The endless stream of papers to sign seemed a little less depressing knowing that her friend was off her back now. The peace and quiet too was something to be grateful for especially in view of how noisy things could have gotten had her friend's playful intentions been discovered.

“Princess?”

Twilight looked up, a slight blush on her face again as once more she had not even noticed his entry into her office. “Oh, yes, what can I do for you Marshal?”

Marshal Law revealed a slight smile, “You wanted me to remind you of the meeting.”

The meeting… Twilight frowned and looked down at the desk. Of course she would have forgotten about that, she seemed to forget about everything these days. “Yes, thank you Marshal.”

“Just doing my duty ma’am,” he answered before leaving her alone.

Twilight climbed off her seat and winced as her muscles argued again the fact, she should have at least stretched first but once more she had just rushed into it. Wincing slightly as she moved the princess left her new office and embarked upon her journey to the other side of palace.

When she arrived it was to hear loud voices locked in argument.

The door leading to the confrontation was shut but even so she could hear quite clearly what was on the other side.

“I told you before you idiotic fool, you cannot just declare war on the Gryphons!”

“I’m not declaring war on them you sightless braggart, just a few bandits that don’t understand the meaning of borders!”

“Hah! And you call me blind? You of all ponies should know that if you attack one you attack them all!”

“I doubt the clan chiefs would care if we removed a few uncouth Gryphs!”

“Your racism is in poor taste good sir!”

“And your pessimism is all too hilarious, my friend!”

Twilight rolled her eyes heavenward, wishing that she could she turn around and leave before being dragged into this nonsense. The voices belonged to the usually calm Foreign Minister, Protocol, and the rather aggressive Minister of Defense, Heavy Hoofed.

Usually the two were more than willing to listen to reason, however when the two found themselves on opposite sides of the table such reason was thrown out the window… but then they were brothers and everypony knew that siblings often came to blows over the silliest of things.

Twilight entered the chamber in a stately fashion, these ponies prided themselves on the pomp and show so a little dazzle would go a long way to distracting them from their argument.

She walked with head held high past the ponies that were present, ten in total with five on each side not including herself. That meant little however as the other eight were sat down with bored expressions. As she walked past all stood, she may be new to this but she was still a princess and they knew enough to show respect.

As she moved to the head of the table she cast a quick glance over the assembled and knew exactly where this was going.

“Alright gentlecolts.” She began, “What seems to be the problem.”

Heavy Hoofed answered by coughing into a hoof and throwing a spiteful glance at his brother, “As I am sure you are aware princess the bandit activity along the border separating us from Gryphon territory has increased dramatically over the last week…”

“I wouldn’t say dramatically,” Protocol muttered.

Eyes like steel Heavy ignored his brother’s slight, “It is my thought that we rally a small force and drive these bandits back where they belong.”

“And these bandits… are they gryphons?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed,” Heavy Hoofed nodded.

Twilight looked to the foreign minister, “And this is cause for such animosity because?”

“We have evidence that the leader of this band of bandits is none other than the son of a rather powerful clan chief within the gryphon nations,” He answered, “Attacking them outright may just trigger another war.”

Twilight understood the cause for Protocol’s concern, nopony wanted another war with them, though they were a smaller nation than Equestria with a weaker force in term of numbers, they were still a violent war driven race who’s combat ability outstretched ponykind by a long streak of brutal savagery.

“I see… are there any solutions?”

“We beat them for six with superior numbers!” Heavy responded, slamming a hoof down upon the table, “Not only do they insult us by crossing the border and raiding our villages but they also laugh at our unwilling to do anything about it!”

Twilight grimaced, “I understand your anger but there has to be another way than inciting war.”

Protocol shrugged, “We could always arrange a diplomatic meet with the clan chief who's son is involved, perhaps we can arrange a deal to end this before it comes to any form of violence.”

“Pah!” Heavy Hoofed spat, “That would take months and all the while we allow them to do as they please in our land!”

“Our peace treaty with the gryphons is already a fragile one!” Protocol argued, “It wouldn’t take much to see it torn to shreds!”

Heavy Hoof turned to Twilight, “Princess if we don’t show strength they may just go to war with us anyway, throughout history they have always attacked when we show any kind of weakness, they respect force and little more!”

“They are not all warmongering savages I can assure you,” Protocol explained, “We only need to reach out to them, I’m sure they will listen, after all they respect oaths as much as force and they made an oath for peace.”

Twilight frowned and considered both sides of the argument… both had merit but any one decision could be the cause of an all out war… this was a test and she knew it, this would make or break her as a ruler of Equestria.

“I need time to think on this…” Twilight answered finally.

Protocol was the first to argue against that, “Princess if we delay the matter will only get worse.”

“I agree,” Heavy Hoofed added, “We need to respond to this threat now!”

Twilight struggled internally, there was no solution it seemed for this mess, “I understand… however I feel it important to consider all the options, I will need all the information you have regarding this situation and some time before I make any kind of decision.”

“That's my girl!” Her Good declared, metaphorically fist pumping.

“Indeed,” Intelligence agreed, “I’m rather proud.”

The two parties shared glances before nodding,
“As you wish princess…”
“I will have all the documents sent to you immediately.”

Twilight smiled, “Very well gentlecolts, I say we call this a night and we'll reconvene later.”

Author's Note

Hrm... hadn't anticipated this and I was writing the bloody thing!

Don't expect this to get too serious, I just wanted to add something to the story (I have a habit of this...), the next chapter will lead on to something more... yes.
And sorry for this being so late, my computer got hit with a pretty screwy virus that locked down my internets. Thankfully I was able to defeat it with Superior Intellect! (An anti-malware program)

So indeed, onto the smexi stuff!