//------------------------------// // The Princesses, Their Advice, and The Decision // Story: In Odd We Trust // by marmalado //------------------------------// Rushing through the portal, Twilight headed into Equestria and began to take flight for Canterlot Castle, hoping that she would have the chance to talk to both princesses at once. Given that it was still daytime, she figured that Luna was most likely resting up for the night shift, but it was still worth a shot. She would need all the advice she could get. As she burst through the doors, she was stopped by a rather handsome-looking white stallion with a black mane. "Oh, Princess Twilight! Lovely to see you. What brings you here?" "I need to speak to Princesses Celestia and Luna. Do you know where they are?" "Hm...last I saw Princess Celestia, she was in the throne room. Couldn't quite tell you where Princess Luna is, though, I'm afraid." The stallion angled his head towards the hallway where the throne room was located. "Perhaps Princess Celestia might know." "Thank you." Twilight nodded. "Is there anything I can get you in the meantime? Perhaps a drink?" "No, thank you. I'm in a bit of a rush. But thank you for offering." And with that, Twilight sped off towards the throne room, hoping that she wouldn't run (or in her case, fly) into any other ponies. Lucky for her, she arrived at the throne room rather quickly. Landing and folding in her wings, she took a moment to scramble for some semblance of composure that might have remained within her before using her magic to open the double doors. "Twilight Sparkle. How wonderful to see you again." Sure enough, Celestia was proudly sitting on her throne, mane ever flowing, looking as proper as ever. Luna, on the other hoof, was nowhere to be seen. "Greetings, Princess Celestia." Although her brain was frazzled every which way, Twilight opted to remain courteous towards her former mentor. "Is Princess Luna here?" "Not at the moment. She's out getting a snack." At this, Celestia gave a chuckle. "She has been eating quite an awful lot lately. I fear she may eat all of the food in Equestria at this rate!" Laughter bubbled forth from Twilight. As anxiety-ridden as she was, a good laugh was something she would always appreciate. "But I digress. Tell me, is anything the matter?" "Um...well, yes, actually. It concerns the villain we've been fighting over in the other world...Odd Todd." The purple alicorn's eyes quivered like Jello as all of the events of today were given. "I see." Celestia closed her eyes in deep thought. Every second that passed by felt like forever to Twilight, and she could only watch as her former mentor's mind began working. After what felt like a hundred moons, Celestia opened her eyes again. "Your idea is rather clever, Twilight. The Elements of Harmony were never used to kill ponies. Rather, they were used to punish ponies for their grave misdeeds committed against Equestria." Twilight nodded. "I understand that." "But at the same time..." Celestia folded her ears down as she broke eye contact with Twilight. "Olive raises a very good point. If the Elements somehow do not work on Odd Todd..." "I don't want to kill him. Not unless it's as a last resort." The situation was a rather tricky one. Celestia had to admit that she had very little idea of how to proceed. It didn't help that Luna happened to arrive in the throne room at that very moment, levitating an entire bag of apples. "Sister! You would simply not believe what I found at the Canterlot farmer's market! They were only selling these apples for a mere few bits!" Luna exclaimed, acting as excited as a filly with a new toy as she trotted past Twilight like she was completely invisible. "Would you like one?" "Not right now, Luna. We have a guest." Luna turned around and gave a soft gasp. "Oh my, I am deeply sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I had no idea you had come in." "She is seeking advice on her mission in the other world. The one given to her by the leader of "Odd Squad", Ms. O." Celestia explained. "She wishes to use the Elements of Harmony on this "Odd Todd" to reform him. But Olive and Ms. O want him dead." "Oh. That is quite the tricky situation." Luna took a bite of one of her apples and shifted her gaze towards Twilight. "Would you, perhapth, want thome more advith?" "Yes, absolutely. Any advice I can get." Twilight nodded. "I don't want to betray the ponies- erm, people of Odd Squad. But I also want to do what is right. I want to do whatever I can to save that world." Luna swallowed her apple bite before speaking, realizing that she was getting spittle all over the place from talking with her mouth full. "If this "Ms. O" allows you to use the Elements of Harmony, then use them. And if that fails, then you must kill him." Silence fell through the throne room as both Twilight and Celestia gave Luna looks of surprise. "M-my dear sister..." Celestia stuttered. "You sound so confident in your decision." "It is for the sake of Olive. She is but a child. So young, and yet, as her friends nearly died around her, she was the only one left to save her workplace." Luna shook her head. "Getting rid of the po- pardon, the person that caused her strife would help her to fully heal and to eventually move forward from this senseless tragedy." Twilight listened to Luna's words with open ears. She's right. If Odd Todd were reformed successfully...would he still cause Olive harm, even on the side of good? Would he still have urges to cause oddness? Or would he be on his best behavior? Perhaps...maybe I was wrong. Maybe it isn't ideal to spare Odd Todd after all. Maybe it would be better to... She shook her head violently. She had her moral values, but murder was something she just didn't do. She was a good pony, through and through. But sometimes, being a bad pony was a necessary evil one had to adopt. Temporarily, of course. "Twilight." Celestia spoke up as Luna took another bite of her apple. "You heard my sister's advice. There is nothing more we can do for you in this situation. It must be up to you to decide what is right." She glanced at Luna. "That being said, she raises a valid point. Perhaps killing Odd Todd using the Elements of Harmony would be better for everypony. In addition to stopping him from causing havoc on the other world, it would also stop him from entering Equestria and causing havoc." I hadn't thought of that. He knows about us, and it's not far-fetched to assume that he knows where we come from as well. He could ruin Equestria...and the other world! For how smart she was, Twilight couldn't believe that she, nor anyone else, had considered Odd Todd entering Equestria and deciding to cause destruction -- whether he remained a human, or turned into a pony. Thinking about it, however, only caused her brain to become more scrambled. She took a moment to do some deep breathing, hoping that she wouldn't collapse from the stress in front of her former mentor and her fellow princess. "We have confidence in you." Luna nodded. "You must kill Odd Todd by using the Elements of Harmony, if reforming him fails. It is the only way to save both worlds from complete disaster." Why am I being so stubborn about this?! Twilight internally screamed. She knew that both Luna and Celestia were right, but at the same time, she just couldn't grasp the concept of murder because it was beyond her moral understanding. She also knew that her friends were opposed to the idea of killing Odd Todd, and like her, they held the belief that he could successfully be reformed by using the Elements. She gave a long and heavy sigh. "Okay." She nodded. "The girls and I will try to reform Odd Todd using the Elements of Harmony. If that fails...then we will kill him." "Do continue to keep in touth with uth." Luna said as she chewed on another apple bite. "And always know you can come to us for advice whenever you need it, Twilight." Celestia nodded. As the purple alicorn opened up her mouth to speak, her badge phone rang, and she clipped it off of her jacket before flipping it open. "Hello?" "Twilight? It's Applejack." "AJ? What's going on? Is it an emergency?" "No, nothin' like that. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and I saw ya run off in a hurry earlier and we wanted to know if you're okay." "If I'm okay?" Twilight paused. "Yeah...I'm okay." "Good." Applejack sounded delighted. "We also wanted to talk t' ya about the counterplan. Ya got some free time?" "As soon as I come back to Odd Squad, yes. Meet me in the bullpen." "You got it. See ya then." As Twilight closed her phone and clipped it back onto her suit, Celestia chuckled. "I see your friends are waiting for you." "Yes, they are. Thank you so much, Princess Celestia. You too, Princess Luna. Your advice is invaluable." "We are glad to help." Luna smiled, watching as Twilight turned and headed out of the throne room. Twilight felt at ease now that she had a clear plan on how to move forward, and took off flying once more, heading for the exit of Canterlot Castle and onwards to her next destination. Upon returning to Odd Squad, she found it completely darkened, with only a few places providing light sources -- the Lab and the computers, to name a few. Since it was nighttime across Equestria as well -- Luna must have raised the moon before getting a snack -- she figured that it was nighttime in Toronto as well. Everyone had gone home, more or less. "Howdy, Twilight!" Applejack greeted, carrying a bucket of apples on her back. She came with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who both gave friendly waves. "Hi, Applejack. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy. Oh, you don't know how relieved I am to see you." "Why? You just talked on the phone with AJ earlier!" "I know, Pinkie. But seeing my friends is just the thing I needed." "Did something happen?" Fluttershy asked, her tone filled with worry. "I was visiting the Princesses." Twilight explained. "They gave me advice on what to do with Odd Todd." "What did they say? Tell us, tell us!" "They said that killing Odd Todd...is the best solution." At that moment, Pinkie stopped bouncing, hanging in midair as though she were being lifted by a string. "What?!" She landed. "Kill him?" "I know you three, and Rainbow Dash and Rarity, all said that killing him would be too much." She spotted the two other mares in question approaching the group wordlessly as they listened to their friend. "But it's best for this world, for Odd Squad, and for Olive." "So what're we gonna do?" Rainbow asked. "We're going to try reforming Odd Todd using the Elements of Harmony first. If that fails, then we will kill him." "That honor will go to me." A voice from within the bullpen startled the six ponies, and they looked around for the source of the sound. Sure enough, Olive stepped forth, her navy-blue suit doing well to conceal herself in the darkness. "Olive?" "I want to kill him." Her voice was cold -- nothing new for her, but Twilight was quick to note that her tone was more icy than usual. "It will be justice and revenge for how much he's hurt me, my friends, and my co-workers." "I understand, darling." Rarity's voice, in contrast to the human girl's, was softer. "But the Elements of Harmony will take care of things." "Then let me wield an Element." "That's not how it works." Rainbow piped up. "We were chosen as the Elements. You can't just use one randomly!" "Especially if you don't represent the aspect of the Element." Fluttershy noted. "I'm sorry, Olive." Olive looked like she wanted to say something, but bit her tongue back and resigned to clenching her fists instead. "I know you're upset. But that's just the way things are." Twilight took a step forward. "If we can't reform him, and you want to make the killing blow after the Elements have done their job, then by all means." "Perhaps you oughta go home and get some rest." Applejack approached Olive and reached out a tentative hoof, but only got a hand-yank away in response. "You'll feel better in the mornin'." "No. I won't feel better until he's dead." "Olive..." "And if I'm being honest, you ponies are too pacifistic. For how many villains you've supposedly faced, you'd think that would change." A soft scoff. "Guess I'm wrong." She began to head towards the steel double-doors. "Where are you going?" "Home. To rest." she said, without looking back. Within seconds she was gone, the double-doors hissing closed behind her. "What're we gonna do?" Fluttershy asked. "We're going to continue moving forward as intended, that's what." Twilight nodded. "Let's head back to Equestria and get some sleep. Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, you can tell us about your counterplan on the way." She headed through the portal with her five friends in tow, although Olive continued to weigh heavily in her mind like a boulder. All she could do was hope that Olive wouldn't put herself in danger by confronting Odd Todd before they had a chance to do so themselves. That would spell disaster...and I can't let Olive face him again. Never again.