The Decree

The town of Ponyville would, at first glance, seem like just your everyday type of Equestrian settlement. But this unassuming place had witnessed many extraordinary events in recent years, perhaps none more so than the ascension of Twilight Sparkle, former student of Princess Celestia, now a fully-fledged alicorn Princess in her own right. The ponies of Ponyville had long respected their former librarian, so when this great change came, they'd welcomed it with open hooves. Though her transition was far from easy, and she'd faced many challenges in her life, she'd overcome them all, with the help of her closest friends.

Perhaps most recently, she'd faced her most dire ordeal yet, when a tyrant of great power emerged from the darkest depths of Tartarus itself to threaten all of Equestria. But like all other challenges, Twilight and her friends had risen to overcome it. However, unlike her other trials, this one left a permanent mark upon Ponyville, one that nopony could possibly miss. Situated between the town and the vast expanse of forest land known as the Everfree, stood a magnificent palace, forged of crystal, and sparkling in the light of the sun.

This was the new home of Twilight, and it was here that she found herself today. Within the great entrance hall of her palace in what was now known as her meeting chambers. A place of awe-inspiring scale, whose most eye-catching feature was a round table at it's centre, with a number of crystal thrones surrounding it, each one marked with the distinct symbol of both Twilight and her friends. Equestria's latest Princess was sitting upon her own throne, staring intently at what lay on the table before her. A simple piece of parchment, though one she'd been reading and re-reading for almost a day now.

Her expression, one of thoughtfulness, was clear to anypony, as she let out a long sigh.

"So...it's come to this."

She'd have most likely kept on staring at it silently for the rest of the day, had it not been for the sound of somepony clearing their throat. Looking upwards, Twilight put on a small smile as she saw that, waiting in the large doorway of her palace, was her friends. Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were all standing there, bearing looks of concern. Clearly, they were worried about Twilight being in here all by herself. Twilight knew them well enough to know that they were here to see what was wrong, so, raising a hoof, she gestured them inside. The group gave each other an uneasy look before walking forward.

Twilight watched as her friends all took their respective positions in their marked thrones, all keeping their gaze upon her. When all were seated, it was Applejack who broke the silence.

"You okay, sugarcube? You've seemed mighty thoughtful the last day or so."

The young Princess nodded at that before looking down at the paper once more.

"This came in yesterday morning. A decree from Princess Celestia. I'm not the only one who has it either. Manehatten, Cloudsdale, even up in the Crystal Empire, they've all received word of it."

The group looked to each other with confusion before Fluttershy looked back to Twilight and spoke.

"Is...everything alright?"

Twilight looked upon at her timid pegasi friend and shrugged her shoulders.

"That depends on what you make of it."

The purple alicorn saw Fluttershy tilt her head in confusion at that, as indeed did several others. Sighing yet again, it became all too clear to Twilight that there was no beating around the bush on this one, and that she might as well let them know outright. So, picking up the parchment in her hooves, she cleared her throat before reading out loud.

"This document is an official royal decree by order of the two sisters. By the power vested in both Princess Celestia of the sun, and Princess Luna of the moon, it is henceforth decreed that a new kingdom shall be formed. A kingdom whose territories includes not only the town of Ponyville and it's surrounding lands, but also the adjacent region of the Everfree Forest."

This announcement had the exact result that Twilight was expecting, as all of her friends began to look towards each other with looks of either shock of confusion. And who could blame them? The idea of a new nation forming was extraordinary in it's own right, but to have their town, their home, be the nation in question? That was something else altogether. And she knew deep down that if her friends were shocked, then so too would all of Ponyville. It almost gave her a headache to think how the rest of the population would think of this. But even so, she still had the rest of the parchment to read out.

"This new nation, which will officially be called the Everfree Kingdom, will be ruled over by the latest addition to the ranks of the alicorn Princesses. Twilight Sparkle, born of Canterlot, and Princess of Friendship, will be the appointed monarch of this new land."

It was here that she finally put the paper back on the table, all before letting out a sigh. Slowly, she looked up from the parchment to her friends, all of whom were staring blankly at her, with an uncomfortable silence hanging over all of them. After an incredibly unpleasant length of time with this silence, it was finally broken by Rainbow Dash, who stood from her throne before speaking.

"That...is...AWESOME!!!"

Before Twilight could react to this rather unexpected turn by her friend, Dash was already flying into the air and zooming to barely an inch away from her face, causing her to retreat back into her own throne. The energetic pegasus then began talking with a massive smile on her face.

"This is great! A new country? And it's YOURS?! How awesome is that?!"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie, who was suddenly bouncing out of her throne,.

"Ooh! Does this mean we get some big, new-nation party? Can I plan it? Pleeeeease?!"

The young Princess tried to respond, but was yet again interrupted, this time by Rarity.

"I must say, I'd adore the idea of my own kingdom! The prestige! The fame! The..."

But it was here that Twilight finally got a word in, and what a word it was.

"GUYS!!!"

That did the trick, as an absolute silence fell upon the whole room once more. Spike and the other mares, though clearly taken aback by her outburst, nevertheless gave her some breathing room, as Twilight lifted her hooves to her temples and began rubbing them, a clear sign of stress. After a good long while of nothing from her, she finally spoke again, her voice quiet, almost to the point of a whisper.

"I appreciate that you're all excited about this. Really, I do."

She looked down at the table, her face that of thoughtfulness. All the others glanced at each other with worried looks, as they knew Twilight well enough by now to know that she was concerned about something. So, waiting patiently, they looked on as she looked up and spoke again.

"And I am truly honoured by what Celestia and Luna are doing for me here. Being in charge of my own kingdom is...well...it's an opportunity few in history will ever know."

Twilight glanced upwards, and the splendour of the council chambers around her.

"I just...don't know if I can really do it, lead a nation."

Looking down at her friends again, she finished what she had to say.

"I struggled enough with just being an alicorn and a Princess. But this? I'm not sure if I can do it."

The group kept their gaze upon her as she slipped back into silence. They'd known her long enough to understand her struggle here. They had, after all, been there for her when she tried coping with her ascension, and with every single trial she's faced since meeting them. Twilight had always doubted herself at times like this, when new opportunities were presented to her. They didn't fault her for it though. After all, they knew that, if they were in her position, they'd have most likely been just as unsure of themselves. And this was by far the most anypony would ever be expected to do. To lead a whole country, to have the lives of mares, stallions and foals in her hooves and to be the one ponies came to when they had great need.

Needless to say, it was a lot for anypony to take in. So, as Twilight sat there, wondering about her role in all of this, the group all looked to each other before smiling to themselves, turning their attention back to their dear alicorn friend. Spike walked up to her and placed his clawed hand on her shoulder, gaining her attention. He smiled at her warmly, and she looked from him to the rest of them, as Applejack stepped forward and spoke.

"Believe me, sugarcube. We know you can do this. If anypony can do the things expected of this new kingdom, it's you."

Twilight looked on as Fluttershy spoke next.

"For years, you've been what brought us together,. Without you coming here, I doubt any of us would have called each other friends, or grown so close. And I know you can do that for everypony else in Ponyville too."

Then, it was Rarity's turn.

"All here in Ponyville know it, even if they've never said it outright. Ever since you came here, you've been the one this community turns to when things are bad. You've put us on the right track more times than I can count. And I, for one, would be proud to call you our monarch."

Rainbow spoke next.

"You've been a leader ever since we met, and you can be a leader again, just...for more than us this time."

Twilight gave a brief chuckle at that before being taken aback by the sudden, and alarming appearance of Pinkie just a foot away from her face, who then spoke in her usually bubbly manner.

"So turn that frown upside down! If mean old Tirek and all those other nasty guys can't get you down, then neither should this!"

The young Princess looked at her before slowly bringing her gaze upon each and ever single one of her friends, all of whom were smiling genuinely at her. It took a few moments, but Twilight too now broke into a smile, and a big one at that. Moving out from her chair, she walked towards her friends, who now walked towards her in kind. Once together, they all bundled into a massive group, hug, Spike included. It was one of those moments that Twilight pretty much lived for, when her friends cut through all the doubts she felt about herself to bring her to a happier and more confident place.

As the group eventually parted from one another, the mood between then became no less happy, as they all kept smiling at one another. However, this peaceful moment was interrupted by Spike, who now cleared his throat. Looking down at him, the mares saw that he was gesturing to the main door of the palace, and so turned their heads to face it. Twilight saw now that there was a pony standing in the entrance. An earth pony mare and one of the resident of Ponyville. She seemed nervous as she took a few steps inside.

"Um...Princess Twilight? I was wondering if I could ask your advice for something?"

Twilight stared at her for a few moments. This was, as she knew deep down, most likely the first of many ponies who would be coming to her, for help, for advice, or any other matter that might warrant the attention of their Princess. But, after what her friends had made abundantly clear to her, she no longer bore the same concerns she once did, and so approached the mare with a smile upon her face.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you."

As the mare smiled, Twilight looked over her shoulder towards her friends once more.

"All of you."