Princess Twilight looked out over the assembled royal legions with her heart pounding in her chest. She felt like she was sweating despite the chill of the morning air, her anxious panic threatening to overwhelm her.

The first glints of sunlight over the horizon glinted off the newly sharpened spears and glistening armour of her army, as they hastily prepared. Earth ponies were building fortifications, unicorns were layering heat resistant spells into shields and armour, and peagasi scouts flew overhead.

Twilight fidgeted in her unfamiliar armour, which felt crushingly heavy despite the fact she knew it was the best to be had, tough but moveable, designed for an alicorn in the air.

Her commanders approached her, and all she could think to herself was “How did I let it come to this?”
-----
“Congratulations, Princess Twilight,” said Celestia. She smiled down at Equestria’s newest alicorn. “Now, we must discuss your rule.”

“But you rule Equestria!” asked Twilight. The day before she had been a normal unicorn, and her head was spinning with all the unexpected changes.

“I do,” replied Celestia calmly, “But not alone. Now that Luna has returned to me, we guide Equestria together, along with the help of Princess Cadence. And now that you have ascended, you can help us.”

She pointed casually to a stylized map of Equestria that sat next to her on a small side table. Celestia’s royal study was never too cluttered, and normally nothing was left out. Twilight knew that despite her casual gestures, this was something Celestia had been preparing for her.

“Cadence protects the north, the crystal empire. Since her return, my dear sister has once again focused on the governorship of the east. Luna so loves Manehatten, the city that never sleeps, though she normally resides in Canterlot. And I have focused on the rest of Equestria, to the west.”
Celestia rested her hoof on the southern most section of the map, which had been carefully marked in a purple that exactly matched Twilight.

“So it follows,” announced Celestia, “that you must govern the south.”

Twilight studied the map carefully. The section which had been marked was relatively small, not much bigger that the crystal empire. But it was still a large section of Equestria, and covered Appleloosa, Dodge City, the Badlands and more.

“But I don’t know anything about ruling,” said Twilight, feeling her mouth drying as the reality of what Celestia was saying set in. “I’ve not prepared! Is there a book on how to govern? What are the Badlands like? What’s their economy based on, how many ponies are there, what’s the average rainfall? There’s so much I don’t know!”

“My faithful student Twilight,” chuckled Celestia, “This is no test. You have proven yourself ready, and everything will come with time. Just remember to smile and wave, and you will inspire the ponies of Equestria, just as much as you inspire me.”
Celestia rose, and Twilight felt that like a foal again, her audience with Celestia being brought to a close, despite their newly near-equal standing.

“Just be careful with the dragons,” said Celestia, her last piece of woefully inadequate advice.

----

Twilight followed Celestia’s advice carefully. She smiled, and she waved, as pony after pony sought her royal audience. Some wanted her to solve their disputes, some for simple advice, but all of them wanted to see for themselves Equestria’s newest alicorn. Every mayor and dignitary approached her, and she smiled for each of them until her cheek’s hurt.

But the worst was when Dragon Lord Torch decided to come and meet the new princess.

His letter was more of a demand than a request. He wanted a royal meeting, and he would have one.
Twilight, naturally, responded to this challenge by trying to research. She found books, and scrolls, and more books, all about dragons, seeing if there was any way she could politely decline.

But Equestria had been at peace, mostly, with the dragons for hundreds of years. Since, in fact, Dragon Lord Torch and Princess Celestia had meet. They had had a diplomatic meeting, of some sort, and since then everything had been calm and civil.

Twilight wrote back, trying to weasel out of meeting him. She was very busy at the moment, and she couldn’t possibly arrange a grand diplomatic summit with him. The preparations would take months - how many dragons would be coming, where would they meet, Twilight would need to get trumpeters to announce their arrival. So perhaps their grand diplomatic meeting should wait, she reasoned.

The dragon lord’s reply was short. He would come tomorrow, alone, and trumpeters were not required.

----

“It’s an honour to meet you, Dragon Lord Torch,” said Twilight, her smile wide and fixed.

The Dragon Lord landed with an almighty thump, which Twilight felt reverberate through her bones and knock her teeth together. He towered over Twilight, looming like a Manehatten skyscraper. His massive horns hung down over the sides of his head, framing it almost like a picture. If a picture frame had a point sharp enough to cut through rocks while being wider than any pony, that is.

Twilight’s two royal guards, flanking her on each side, suddenly seemed a lot smaller. She could see their eyes widen with obvious fear, as they each faced a giant horn lumbering towards them, as Torch lowered his massive head down towards Twilight. She felt her fear coiling deep inside as she looked into his eyes, and as his hot breath washed over her felt beads of sweat dripping down her flanks. But Twilight focused herself. She was a princess, and she could do this. So she widen her smile as much as she could, stretching her mouth uncomfortably.

“Hmm,” said Torch at last, studying her in detail. “You are much smaller than even that tiny Celestia”

“Er… compared to most ponies, I’m actually getting bigger now,” said Twilight, smiling at him. “As an alicorn, I’m – “

“ALL PONIES ARE SMALL!” yelled the Dragon Lord, “AGREE WITH ME!”

“Yes, absolutely,” squeaked Twilight, only just able to keep her smile, feeling the blast of hot air practically scorching her face. “Much smaller than you, definitely!”

“All ponies are small and puny,” said Torch, snorting, “Dragons are strong and powerful, and yet you take all this land of Equestria for ponies.”

“Er…,” replied Twilight, uncertainly. But she kept smiling. “Would you like some refreshments? I have prepared several of the more delicious gemstones for you.”

She gestured to where she had carefully positioned baskets with enough gems to feed Spike for months, each of them the kinds Spike found the most tasty, and the Dragon Lord moved over to eat.

----
Twilight watched fixedly, her facing hurting from the strain of her smile.

“Dragons are the best, AGREE WITH ME!” yelled Torch, silhouetted against the setting sun.

“Yes,” said Twilight tiredly, as Torch tipped another basket of gems into his mouth and ate them with a single bit. He had been loudly yelling and eating all day.

“I will come back tomorrow” said Torch at last, “And I will live in this pony town from now on. Every pony will bring me tribute! AGREE WITH ME!”

And finally, Twilight snapped, “Agree with you?! You can’t live here; this is our home! It’s my job to keep ponies safe, not let you extort them! I will never ever agree with you! We will fight to keep ourselves free if we have to! You can’t just threaten us!”

Her smile finally gone, she panted as she finally let out a little of the rage that had been bubbling inside, only barely restraining herself from saying more.

Dragon Lord Torch just chuckled. “Tiny ponies can’t stop us”, he boasted loudly. I will be back here tomorrow, and I will take all I please! I will bring many dragons with me, and we shall have all the land we want!”

And he flew off before she could say another word.

---

Her hastily summoned army ready, Twilight watched the sky. The Dragon Lord would be back to conquer them all, but she would fight.

Torch finally arrived, landing before them. He had a few other dragons behind him, smaller than him but still strong and powerful.

“We will fight and defeat you,” cried Twilight. “You can’t take our homes!”

Torch looked at her with an odd look. “Ponies are small, and weak. AGREE WITH ME!” he roared.

“Never!” shouted back Twilight.

“So you do have some strength,” said Torch. He looked over her army, and saw just how outnumbered he was. “I thought maybe you were weak, but you have strength. I respect strength.”

And he nodded to Twilight, one ruler to another.

And he took his dragons away, as Twilight gapped at his back.