Welcome to the
Grand Equestria Pony Summit!
You delegates have
traveled far and wide
to represent your cities as we seek
to celebrate and learn
from all the unique places that make up
our wonderful land of Equestria.
At tonight's welcome reception,
Princess Cadance will dedicate
this beautiful friendship statue
made up of gemstones
from each of your home cities.
Now I'd like to turn things over
to the one who organized the summit:
Princess Twilight Sparkle!
Thank you, everypony.
With delegates from
over fifty cities
attending three days of conferences,
receptions, and meetings,
this is the largest Grand
Equestria Pony Summit yet.
And let me tell you,
putting it all together
has led to more than
one sleepless night.
We're so excited to have you here
and to learn more about life
all across this great land of ours.
And now my faithful assistant Spike
would like to say a few words.
Um, hello, everypony!
I'm here to help any way I can.
So if there's anything
I can do for any of you—
We love you, Princess Twilight!
We love all the princesses!
I guess everypony
loves a princess.
Spike!
Spike?
A little help?
Spike, we need you!
Of course! What can I do?
Whoa, what happened to you?
I'm sorry, Spike. I just...
...need a quick...
nap.
Napkin!
Tell the delegates I'll...
She's been awake three straight days
preparing for the summit.
We need to make sure
she gets some rest today.
She'll never be able to attend
the welcome reception in this condition.
Can I count on you to see to it
that she isn't disturbed?
I promise! I won't let you down!
Perfect.
Not on my watch.
Uh, excuse me?
Can you keep it down a little?
Oh, no!
I'll give you birdseed!
Worms! Anything!
Just please stop singing
before you wake the princess!
Huh. I can't believe that worked.
Uh, hi fellas.
Sorry to break up your game,
but there's sort of an important diplomatic
summit kind of thingy going on,
and it involves a princess
needing to sleep, and, uh...
maybe you could move
your game somewhere else?
Uh, the princess thanks you
for your understanding!
Excuse me.
Do you have to do this right now?
Oh, no!
Are those dragon-sneeze trees?
Uh, these are too top-heavy.
Wouldn't take much to bring
these beauties down.
Can't you just wait a few hours?
Sorry, it's a public hazard.
I got my orders.
Well, I've got my orders too
from Princess Twi...
Twi... Twilight...!
Princess Twilight?
Why didn't you say so?
Gee, I reckon they'll keep
a few more hours.
Good thing I've got
the princesses on my side.
Aw, come on!
Excuse me?
Excuse me, sir!
I really need you to
STOP RIGHT NOW!
Oops.
Lemme guess, the noise?
Sorry, but we can't have
a broken water main!
You couldn't do this yesterday?!
Hey, pal, I'm just tryin'
to make sure
everything runs smooth
for the summit!
But there is no summit
without Princess Twilight,
and she needs things to be
kept quiet around here.
So if you don't mind, I'd—
All right, all right, if that's
how she wants it!
But if something happens,
it ain't my fault!
Princess Twilight will be rested,
Princess Cadance will be proud,
and Princess Spike
deserves a little reward.
Princess Spike.
I worked forever on this speech,
and I know I have more—
Uh, hi. Can I help you?
My friend here, the distinguished
pony from up Manehattan,
and I are in a bit of a pickle,
and we need the Princess Twilight
to resolve it.
Uh, can you talk
a little quieter?
And maybe come back later?
Oh, sure now, gosh,
I wish we could but, uh,
we're both supposed
to give speeches
about our local economies
in five minutes,
and we've been booked
in the same hall!
I had the room first.
And let's be honest, my speech
is more important.
Point of order there, sir,
but I think you'll find
that my speech is the more
important one, don't'cha know?
Look, youse is gonna have a lot of
unhappy delegates on your hooves
unless we get a ruling from
Princess Twilight right now!
Lemme see what I can do.
Does something need scheduling?
Oh, uh, yeah. Two delegates have
speeches booked in the same hall.
What do I do?
Okay, no problem.
Just put the hay in the apple
and eat the candle, hm?
Huh?
Oh, I need an answer, but Twilight
can't even think straight!
Oh, my gosh, what am I
supposed to do?!
Well? What did she say?
She picked me, right?
Hey, hey, hey. Let's not be
too hasty there, good sir.
I got a feeling she went with me.
He-hey, if she didn't pick me,
it ain't hard to see that as
an insult to all of Manehattan!
You know what I'm sayin'?
And it'd sure be a shame
to see something
like a scheduling issue
create a nasty old rift
between Whinnyapolis
and Ponyville.
So? What did the Princess say?
Come on, now! Spit it out!
Um, she said that...
Well, she said that she...
she wants you to...
share it?
If that's what the princess wants,
what are ya gonna do?
The princess is always right!
Now, back to more
important things!
Combining those two talks
was a disaster!
The hall was overcrowded and
the speakers just shouted over each other!
Huh? B-but—
Why would the princess have
made such a decision?!
Uh, by order of Princess Twilight,
be quiet!
I was really looking forward to the
"Don't Spend All Your Bits" Speech,
but when I went into the hall,
a pony had taken my seat.
A pony who used to be my friend!
Your friend took your seat?
Hah, big deal!
Why don't you just—
No offense, but I don't need
some random dragon's opinion.
I-I want to hear what
Princess Twilight thinks.
Fine.
The princess says no friendship
should end over a seat.
You should forgive your friend!
Of course! Oh, the princess
is so wise!
I could tell these delegates
anything
as long as they think
it came from Twilight.
Alright! Who's next?
So, how can Princess Twilight
be of service?
Well, as host city,
the Canterlot delegation
feels it's only right
that we should get passes to
every meeting and party, yes?
Well, that doesn't seem fair—
I mean, Princess Twilight
doesn't think that seems fair.
Ehhh... yes, yes, very well.
It was worth a try though,
wasn't it, old chap, hm?
This is great!
I just took care of
a whole bunch of stuff
that Twilight won't have to worry about
when she wakes up!
Wonder if anypony else
needs the princess's help?
If I can check a few of these meetings
off Twilight's schedule,
then when she wakes up,
she won't have to think
about anything but the reception.
Uh, it says here you have
a meeting with Princess Twilight?
Uh, yuppers.
She wanted me to prep her
on all the different gemstones
in the Citizens of Equestria statue
before the reception tonight.
Okay, go ahead.
Um, well, I'd rather, um,
tell the princess directly.
Well, if it helps, you can
call me "Princess Spike".
No-no-no, it's alright.
The princess asked me to
take care of a few things for her.
That's why I came to find you.
Um, if you say so.
The princess says so!
Uh, okay. Let's start
with topaz...
I'm here for your two o'clock!
You?! But I'm supposed to be
briefing Princess Twilight
on the progress with
the water main!
I speak for the Princess.
Uh, well, uh, can I start
fixing it again?
I'm getting a little worried,
to be honest.
Actually, Twilight
still needs her rest,
and her no-noise policy is still
in effect for a few more hours.
Sorry.
Hey, Spike. What's going on?
Oh, you know, just settin' 'em up
and knockin' 'em down!
What do you mean?
Not only have I kept things quiet
so Twilight could sleep,
I also took care of
all her afternoon meetings
so she won't have to worry about them
when she wakes up.
Are you sure she'd want
you doing that?
There are so many things to
keep track of at this summit.
Nah, don't worry.
I got it covered.
I know Twilight so well, it's easy
to make decisions like her!
Oh, okay. Well, thank you for
keeping Twilight's stress level down.
As long as that's the real reason
you're doing it.
Well, why else would I
be doing it?
You're not enjoying speaking
for Twilight a little bit?
Enjoying it? No way!
The only things I'm doing
by order of the princess
are for the good of the summit!
By order of the princess.
By order of the princess!
By order of the princess...!
Princess life is good!
It sure is, but it's also
hard work, isn't it?
Eh, it's not so bad.
Spike, I'm concerned you might be
abusing your relationship with Twilight.
What are you talking about?
I'm a great princess—
I mean, Twilight's
a great princess!
And I've been working hard
to help her!
When two delegates
had a falling out,
I'm the one who fixed
their friendship!
I listened to that pony
drone on about gems
for forty-five minutes
so Twilight wouldn't have to!
I moved a polo match away from
the tower so she could sleep!
And I didn't even eat that
delicious looking statue!
I'm a decision-making master!
Okay. So maybe I did get a little
carried away making decisions.
But it's not like
anything bad happened.
This is unexpected!
I'll go shut off the main!
You get rid of the water!
At least the statue's okay.
Oh.
Oh, no.
Oh, no!
Oh, bless me...
Oh, my! What is
the meaning of this?!
Well, uh, you see, there was
this polo game, and—
How could you let a water main burst
on Canterlot's most important day?!
Hey, don't look at me!
Princess Twilight said
to stop working on it!
Well, what about these trees?!
I ordered them trimmed
to avoid just such a situation!
But the princess told me
to stop, bub!
Why would the princess make
such horrible decisions?!
This all could have been
prevented!
Please, everypony, listen!
I'm so sorry all this happened!
What are you apologizing for?
These were Princess Twilight's
awful decisions!
I'm about to blow my stack
on Princess Twilight,
I'll tell you that for nothin'!
Yeah, me too!
I'll not let Princess Twilight
give Canterlot
a bad name in the eyes
of Equestria!
Come on, everypony!
Let's go give her
a piece of our minds!
Please! You've got it all wrong!
Wait! I mean, wait!
What is it now?! There's an angry mob
here that demands satisfaction!
It's just that, uh, we don't want
to wake the princess, do we?
Wake her?! What?!
You're tellin' me
that she's asleep?!
Princess, we must speak at once!
She...is...
SLEEPING!
I'm glad you're here, Spike.
We've got a lot to do!
Do you know if
the water main was fixed?
Uh, you seem well-rested.
I haven't slept like that
since I was a filly!
You haven't? Well, at least
I got one thing right.
And it was the one thing
Cadance asked of me.
Maybe I did do a good job today!
Fancy Pants, what's wrong?
Don't play games
with me, Princess!
You know why I'm here!
Is this about the special privileges
you wanted?
Because this seems
a little extreme!
The special privileges?!
The last thing on my mind
is special privileges!
What's going on, Spike?
Um... you needed to sleep.
And Princess Cadance told me
you weren't to be disturbed.
And there was this bird,
and, well...
long story short, I made a few
decisions on your behalf.
A few decisions?!
Well, maybe more than a few,
but I had good intentions!
Honest! Until I...
didn't anymore.
I'm sorry, Twilight.
I guess I got a little
carried away.
It-it just felt so good
to have ponies
caring about my opinions
on such important matters.
I guess I was just enjoying
feeling like a princess.
Well, Spike, one of the most
important things a princess can do
is realize when she's made
a mistake and fix it.
How do I do that?
You could start with them.
Uh, hi there, everypony.
So I guess I owe you all
a pretty big apology.
It's funny.
Here we are at a summit
that brings together ponies
from all across Equestria,
and all I could think about
was myself.
You all came here
to celebrate the things
that make each of our cities
so unique and special.
But instead of getting into
the spirit of things like all of you,
I used my friend's position
to make myself feel good.
The Canterlot ruby
goes here, old sport.
And ours goes here,
don't'cha know?
Does this mean you forgive me?
Sure!
You know, the whole idea
of the statue is that
when each of us plays
our own small part,
it adds up to somethin' great.
Quite. Just like how
all our cities make up
the beautiful land of Equestria!
I hereby dedicate
the Citizens of Equestria statue
to everypony who plays their part,
no matter how big or how small!
Aw, come on!