The light poured down on the meeting room as the four princesses of Equestria gathered around a large oak table and gawked at each other as they opened their saddlebags and laid out their reports in front of each other. Both Celestia and Luna's reports were on the state of mind of the ponies of Canterlot. Despite their reach extending out towards the whole country, their main business was to keep the privileged ponies in line, even though they would never think of breaking the law.

Cadence and Twilight's individual reports were on their own separate kingdoms of the Crystal Empire and Ponyville. Mostly to do with how their magic had progressed since they first began ruling over their people and on how their states of mind were. Unlike the other reports that had many things to do with political and financial gains and losses, Cadence and Twilight's reports were mainly on how they and the people around them were.

Given that the four princesses were tasked with keeping order in both Equestria and in their own separate lands, it was only fair that they reported in every so often with a quick check-up of how things had been going for them. Listing off all of their successes, failures, hardships, and other events was the main point of their meeting; and one that they had come up with following Queen Chrysalis's scheme to capture and replace the four of them and monopolise the entire population of ponies.

"So, Princess Celestia." Twilight cut the silence and rose her left hoof into the air. "Since you and Luna rule over Equestria but your main authority stretches to Canterlot, I was just wondering about how the two of you both alternate who has control over the city. Whether it's a nightly thing or when you take turns in sitting on the throne, I'd like to know."

"Twilight. While we both have a commanding position in Canterlot, it's been known that I do all of the heavy lifting." Celestia turned towards Twilight and nodded gently. "While Luna does have her role in raising the moon, she's more of a support when it comes to leading over the ponies. When I'm not around, that does make her the leader by default, but she's there if I need a helping hand in settling diplomatic negotiations with delegates from other parts of the world."

"Yes. And while I felt bitter about it for a while when we started out, I am still grateful for both Celestia and for you and your friends, Twilight." Luna nodded as well, attracting Twilight's gaze from Celestia's eyes. "Speaking of which, how are your friends in Ponyville? Still upholding their duties as the Spirits of Harmony?"

"Well... I only really consider us that when the fate of the world's at stake." Twilight blushed and gave a toothy grin to Luna. "Whenever things quieten down and we're not dealing with shape-shifting insects, power-hungry centaurs, or shadow ponies who cursed the Crystal Empire, we're just six normal ponies living life in harmony. Most of the time, at least." She sighed.

"What do you mean by most of the time?" Cadence's ears pricked up at what Twilight had said. "Is there some small tension between you and your friends?"

"Not exactly, Cadence." Twilight shook her head and turned towards her sister-in-law. "The thing is, sometimes we tend to forget who we are and what makes us who we are, so we have to give each other a wake-up call when we're not really feeling like ourselves. There was this one instance with Rainbow Dash a few months back that, now that I think about it, it made neither of us seem like the heroes."

"What are you talking about?" Celestia leaned in towards Twilight.

"Yes, Twilight. Do tell us what happened between you and Rainbow Dash." Luna moved in closer as well, practically sitting on the edge of her seat.

"I don't really want to talk about it. And even if I did, you would think that we were all being brats." Twilight shook her head and gently tapped her hooves together quietly. "There was an incident involving a lot of cookies, let's just say. I'm not gonna give away the whole story, otherwise you might think of me and my friends as dysfunctional, which I don't want you to start thinking us of, as we have saved this world many times over."

"We're not going to force you to say anything that you don't want to say, Twilight," Celestia started, "but at the same time, it's also not a good idea to keep secrets. The deeper you hide something, the sooner someone is going to find out. That's why, in Canterlot, nopony holds any secrets of any kind—not even us. If there are no rumours of gossip, then you have a much more utopian kingdom, and that's what I believe should be the case for Ponyville and the Crystal Empire as well."

"I appreciate the advice, Celestia, but we can both rule our kingdoms the way that we want to." Twilight pushed her paper further away from her. "And if that means that there can be some tensions and gossips between some of the ponies, then I approve of it—so long as it doesn't go too far."

"That sounds like a healthy rule to me." Cadence nodded and patted Twilight on the back. "It's okay to be a like that at times. Because that way, we can strive to become better and friendlier ponies because of it. You can't have day without night, and you can't have good without bad. It's about getting the balance right that we can truly be perfect."

"Thank you, Cadence," said Twilight. "Well then. Now that that's settled, let's get on with our findings. How are things in Canterlot, Celestia?"

"Nothing much has changed for us as of late." Celestia presented her findings to Twilight, who scooped up the sheets and set them down before her and Cadence. "The friends you used to have when you attended my school still live here. Maybe you should meet them more once you have the time."

"Yes. It is good to keep in touch with your old friends—even if you are having a lot of fun with your new ones." Luna raised her hoof as she watched the two ponies read through the papers. "Why don't you bring your current friends and have them meet your old ones? That would be a rather potent growth to see their new friendships intermixing with the ones you already had."

"That would be a rather good idea sometime—if I could find a way to fit it in with my current schedule of magic and castle-cleaning." Twilight flipped the page and read about the economy of Canterlot and if the trading stocks had changed. "Huh. Would you look at that? Restaurant Row's stocks are up by a large margin. I guess Pinkie Pie and Rarity did their job pretty well."

"Oh. Are they the reason that Restaurant Row stopped selling the exact same thing?" Celestia's left eyebrow raised slightly. "If that's the case, I might just have to meet your friends again just to see if they can give me some life lessons."

"Oh, I'm sure that it wasn't anything that big." Twilight twisted her hoof horizontally and blew air out of her mouth. "But let's not spend the whole day talking about friendship. We're here to discuss how our kingdoms have changed and if there's anything that we can strive to improve on."

"Yes. And if we're going to stay on that topic, I feel that it's only fair that you provide us with your own report, Twilight." Luna pointed over towards the papers that lay jut beneath Twilight's forehooves. "We've told you and Cadence about how our kingdom is holding up, now it's your turn to let us see how you are managing your own."

"Ah, yes. How foolish of me to forget." Twilight lit up her horn and pried her own report from beneath her arms and slid it over to Celestia and Luna. "Here you are. I'm sure that you'll find what I've written to spell a good omen."

Celestia and Luna opened the papers up and began to read through the first few lines of Twilight's report with a smile on their faces. In the past, Twilight had always been a dependable pony for when it came to many situations, and Celestia herself even admired her for not only her thinking prowess but also her magical ability. For being a pony in her teenage years, she was able to vanquish and tame savage creatures single-handedly, save the world and make five ordinary ponies into heroes, and even transcended her old unicorn body and become an alicorn princess like herself. For someone as intelligent as Twilight, a single report would have all of the things that she and Luna would've expected, as well as more. When finding these extra tidbits of information, they couldn't help but hum in satisfaction.

"You've been busy with your spells, I see." Celestia cocked a small grin as she came to the part of the report that showcased the magic abilities that Twilight had learned since she became a princess. "I have a question for you."

"Okay. Shoot." Twilight pointed her hooves at Celestia.

"What do you think is your crowning achievement in magic ever since you became an alicorn?" Celestia asked, unfurling her wings as she propped her elbows on the table and pressed them together. "And just for the record, the spell you used to fix your friends and make yourself an alicorn doesn't count. It has to be after that."

"Hmm..." It didn't take Twilight much time to figure out what her answer would be. "I suppose that my best spell would have to be the one that I used when the Breezies came to Ponyville and got stranded."

"Breezies? In Ponyville? That's pretty rare—even for them." Cadence's eyes shot wide open as she turned her head to Twilight. "Go on. Tell us more about this spell."

"Well, Breezies can only really fly in packs if they want to stay co-ordinated. So when we were going to get the salvaged group home, we noticed that they were a few numbers short," Twilight began. "So, I used a spell where I take the template of another creature and temporarily paste it onto myself and my friends. That way, we were able to become Breezies ourselves and fill out the deficit."

"Interesting..." Celestia stroked her chin with her hoof and glanced through Twilight's reports. "Do you think that you could try it on us and see if it affects other alicorns?"

"Oh. Well, I've never really tried it on other alicorns before." Twilight brushed her forehead and pushed her hair back. "I thought that it'd be easier if I just used it on myself and my friends. I'm not even sure that I could risk trying it on you and the others. The consequences could be disastrous."

"I agree with Celestia." Luna lifted her hoof again. "We need to make sure that your spells are just as applicable as they are to other alicorns as they are to regular ponies. As much as I don't want to rule anything out, I just want to make sure that you can handle an alicorn villain in the future, should the need arise."

"Even if I wanted to test the spell out here and now, I don't even know what to use as a template, let alone which of you could be affected by it." Twilight poked the top of her horn and illuminated the tip. "My magic is powerful, yes, but even with this, it still has drawbacks. I don't want to do anything that could put the rest of you at risk."

"I'll leave you some time to think it over, Twilight." Celestia handed the report sheet back to her and watched as she put it back into the saddlebags. "Finally, let's move on to Cadence. Then we can adjourn this meeting and return to our own kingdoms."

"Alright." Twilight watched as Cadence presented the report of the Crystal Empire to her colleagues.

The rest of the afternoon was spent looking over the last few documents. All that it had to show was that the Crystal Empire was stable in all departments and that Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart were all doing fine and that their citizens were in just as fine a shape as they were. Once that business had concluded, the princesses began to file out of the room and walk past a couple of royal guards and walk off in separate directions.

"Don't worry, Twilight. I'm sure that we can find a time and place for you to try that transformation spell you mentioned in the meeting room." Cadence gave Twilight a few pats on the back as she accompanied her towards the door.

"It's not that I'm worried about not showing off what I can do. It's the fact that there's so many chances that it could go horribly wrong." Twilight shook her head and opened the door ahead of her. "I mean, what if we all turn into one species then can't change back again? Or what if I mess up the spell and we turn into deformed abominations too ugly to be seen in public? Or what if, instead of turning them into something else, I end up making them young aga—" She felt Cadence's hoof slip into her mouth.

"Twilight. There's no need for all this stress." Cadence looked Twilight in the eyes and gave her body a few rubs. "Look. Let's just get some shuteye and continue this whole thing tomorrow, alright? We're all a bit tired from the day's events. That, and I don't think you've done anything fun since we got here."

"Cadence, this is a matter of Equestria's security. I can't just have fun on an important trip like this." Twilight took Cadence's hoof out of her mouth and continued her walk towards the door. "Besides, I" —she yawned in the middle of her sentence— "don't feel tired or bored at all."

"You say that, but you just let off a pretty big yawn there." Cadence watched Twilight's eyelids begin to droop over her eyes. "Let's just get to bed for the night and continue these discussions tomorrow, alright? It's unhealthy not to rest after a meeting like this."

"Well, I can't argue with that logic." Twilight smacked her lips and groggily trotted through the doors. "Alright then. Let's go to bed. But tomorrow, we're gonna have to have a serious talk about my transformation spells."

"Alright." Cadence brushed herself against Twilight's skin and felt her leaning over and around her. "I'll lead the way, Twilight. You of all ponies need the most rest of all." And without another word, the two sleepy sisters-in-law waltzed their way out of the castle's corridors and towards their private towers.