“Aagh!” Tatterdrop yelped when Starlight and Trixie —popped— into existence next to her. “Do all you unicorns make a habit of doing that?”
Trixie smiled. “No, it’s just her. And maybe her friend Princess Twilight. But anyway, Tatters, this is important. Where’s Drifting Melody?”
“Um… having a nap in the drawing room, I think. Why?”
“We need to get her to the castle.”
Tatterdrop nodded. “I’m coming too, okay? Want me to go wake Melody?”
“I’m awake…” came a placid voice from the next room over.
“Great.” Starlight caught Trixie’s eye. “To the inner sanctum?”
“If you’d be so kind,” replied Trixie with a smile.
—pop—
The foursome arrived in the colonnade in front of the locked door. Trixie stared briefly at the raven motif, then tried to push it open, with no avail. She nodded.
“Drifting Melody, can you do what you did to open this last time?”
“Sure.” Trixie watched her nudge the door open with seemingly no effort. “Do we really want to go back in here though? It’s all dark and gloomy…”
Trixie peered into the secret room, full of unmoving gargoyles. “If I’m right, that shouldn't be the case for much longer.” She trotted to the ruins of the dais and beckoned the others to follow.
“Melody, I need you to imagine all the gargoyles in the world.”
Drifting Melody’s eyes went wide. “All of them? Whoa.”
“Yep. Every last one. Treat it like a creativity game for me. Can you picture them all in your mind?”
Her friend’s face filled with concentration. “Okay.”
“Now I need you to tell them all: come home. Fly in the sky over Nightcrag.”
“Huh. I can do that…” Drifting Melody’s voice took on a gentle tone, like talking to a puppy. “Time for you all to come home, my friends. Come back to Nightcrag. Come and see me in the sky over the castle.”
Immediately the gargoyles in the room sprang to life. They moved towards the exit, but calmly, not frenetically like last time Trixie was here.
Trixie exhaled a deep breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.
Starlight and Drifting Melody were watching the gargoyles file out. Tatterdrop, though, was looking speculatively between Trixie and Drifting Melody. She nodded and said softly, “…Oh. I see.”
Trixie walked up to her and murmured, “We probably shouldn’t tell her.”
“Tell Melody?” Trixie nodded. Tatterdrop contemplated briefly. “Okay. She might figure it out herself at some point, though.”
“You’re probably right. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” replied Trixie brightly.
Starlight Glimmer walked up. “Wow, this room feels brighter already now there’s more room to move around in here.”
Trixie smirked and said, “Yeah, that’s not a coincidence. You should probably go and check with Twilight, but I’m pretty sure she’ll find the Penumbra is receding now.”
“Ohh,” said Starlight. “So… it’s not that it lets the gargoyles fly, but rather that the gargoyles spread it wherever they fly?”
“Got it in one.”
Starlight nodded. “I’ll see what Twilight’s found. What are you going to do?”
Trixie took a deep breath. “I think… I need to arrange an appointment with Queen Heartslash.”
Twilight Sparkle had been shocked to see how worn-out Queen Heartslash looked. It had been over a year since she’d met her last, Twilight mused. The opportunities to catch up with other Equestrian royalty always seemed to be scarcer than they should be.
She looked around the ostentatious throne room. The gothic style would communicate ‘evil’ in most other places, but here in Transylmaneia it was just… the way they did things. The batpony named Tatterdrop stood at the back of the hall, looking uncomfortable. Ethereal Requiem was maintaining an aloof silence while Trixie addressed the Queen... whose iron throne, Twilight thought irreverently, looked unpleasantly hard to sit on for several hours each day.
Trixie had wanted to be the one to explain the situation to the Queen. Twilight had wondered whether Trixie had just been wanting to put herself in the most positive light, but to her credit, Trixie had been forthright and apologetic about her deception, and taken the blame for the destruction of the Distribution Dais.
She had, of course, dropped in the revelation that Ethereal Requiem was not actually the Queen’s niece. Ethereal Requiem had looked heartbroken when Trixie spelled that out, but Queen Heartslash remained impassive. The only detail Trixie hadn’t quite explained to Twilight’s satisfaction was quite how Trixie had managed to use the broken Dais to summon the gargoyles back to Transylmaneia, bringing the Penumbra with them. But Twilight didn't mind that much; the important thing was that the Penumbra was gone, not how it happened.
“...So ultimately I guess I just need to beg your forgiveness. Your Majesty.” Trixie bowed to the Queen, although Twilight couldn’t help noticing it wasn’t at quite the correct angle according to the etiquette lessons she’d had with Celestia.
The Queen continued gazing straight at Trixie.
Twilight was just beginning to wonder whether the monarch had actually expired while Trixie was talking, when Queen Heartslash suddenly burst into rasping laughter. Trixie looked as shocked as everypony else around.
“You two princesses have been practicing a fine amount of intrigue, haven’t you?” murmured the Queen. She smiled once more, revealing her fangs. “And intrigue and plots are one of the oldest and most well-established Transylmaneian traditions of all.”
The Queen’s horn lit up mahogany and she effortlessly lifted Trixie and Ethereal Requiem before her. She looked between one and the other, and then said conversationally, “So neither of you is eligible to rule Transylmaneia. And yet I find that both of you are eminently qualified.”
“...Your Majesty?” Trixie asked quizzically as the Queen placed her back on the lush carpet.
“I decreed this vote, this test of popularity, to see how you reacted. Both of you,” added the Queen with a nod to Ethereal Requiem. “And neither of you disappointed me. I approve both of your actions.”
“Surely not when she—?!” “You can’t approve her—!” The two in question exclaimed, before glaring at each other.
“I still find myself without my true heir,” Queen Heartslash mused. Trixie raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “But I have two more than capable candidates before me. So my decree is this: Trixie Lulamoon, Ethereal Requiem. Will you two work together as co-reigning monarchs and equals, to rule Transylmaneia and ensure its prosperity?”
A moment of stunned silence filled the throne room.
Trixie spoke first. “…If that is your desire, my Queen, then the Great and Compassionate Trixie is willing.” She turned to Ethereal Requiem. “Whaddaya say, my fellow fake princess? Shall we do this thing together?”
Ethereal Requiem stared at Trixie’s proffered hoof for several seconds. Twilight found herself holding her breath.
Then the batpony scowled and swatted Trixie’s hoof away. “With you? Never. I can not imagine the damage you would do to this nation. Your Majesty, I beg you to reconsider. Perhaps return to your prior decree, the votes of the council…?”
Twilight was briefly terrified at the look in Heartslash’s eyes. She suddenly found herself able to believe the rumours about what happened to the Transylmaneian Queen’s enemies, and what parts were found afterwards.
But all the Queen said was, “This is my decree, Ethereal Requiem. You can rule alongside Trixie, or you can disobey me and be disowned.”
Ethereal Requiem’s eyes went wide, briefly. But then they narrowed in defiance once more. “You are making a mistake, your Majesty. And all of Transylmaneia will pay for it. But I will have no part of this.”
The batpony flared her wings and flew out of the throne room, leaving Trixie, Tatterdrop and Twilight with the Queen.
Heartslash sighed. “A pity. She is a capable politician. It is my hope that she will reconsider, in time.” Then she turned her eyes to Trixie.
“But we do not always get our wishes. Given the situation in which we find ourselves, then: Trixie Lulamoon. Will you rule Transylmaneia as my successor, and ensure its security and prosperity?”
Trixie bowed once more. “I will, my Queen.”
“The security and prosperity of… all its citizens,” the Queen added, almost as an afterthought. “It is possible you were correct at our first meeting, that my reign has been too focused upon the nobles and the rich. I entrust you with the well-being of our proud province.”
“The Great and Compassionate Trixie will not let you down, your Majesty!” Trixie proudly proclaimed. Then she turned her attention behind her. “On which topic… Tatterdrop.”
“Me?” The batpony slouching by the door jumped. “Um, yeah?”
Walking towards her, Trixie admitted, “I’ve realised that… there’s a lot I don’t know about ruling a province. I’m going to need some good advisors.” She looked at Tatterdrop earnestly. “Including some who understand the concerns of the ponies who live outside the capital. That is… unless you’re too attached to the baker’s life…?”
Tatterdrop blinked, then smiled. “Hmm, yeah, you are going to need somepony to keep you in line, aren’t you? I’d be happy to help, Trix.”
“A wise choice,” rumbled Queen Heartslash. She coughed, a long, drawn-out rasp. “We should begin arrangements for you to move into the palace.”
“Yeah. I think my friend Drifting Melody should have a room here too,” Trixie mused. And then a wicked grin filled her face as she added, “And then we have to arrange the most great and powerful coronation ceremony Transylmaneia has ever seen!”