Twilight dashed through the castle's hallways. She was still in Canterlot, and what ponies say about the press there is true. They wouldn’t give up a good story for nothing, and Twilight could not catch a break. Word had spread quickly of Sunset’s sentencing to Tartarus, and everypony wanted to know as much as possible about the case.
Turning a corner, Twilight dove into an old storage room that was unguarded, hoping the press ponies wouldn’t pay too much attention to the room. The princess held her ear to the door and listened closely, hearing them run by the door and shouting her name. Letting out a sigh of relief Twilight slid against the door and sat on the floor, exhausted.
“That bad, huh?” A voice came out from the darkness, causing the alicorn to spring up with a yelp.
Twilight stood in a defensive pose, “Who’s there?” she asked.
The lights suddenly turned on, and the voice revealed himself to be none other than Discord. He sat on a pile of old boxes, smirking at the princess coyly, to which Twilight just sighed and dropped her defensive stance.
Settling down once more, Twilight asked, “Discord, what are you doing in the storage room?”
Discord let out a chuckle and smiled innocently. “I simply enjoy the view of dusty boxes and old artifacts dear.” Sliding off his ‘throne’ of boxes, Discord moved closer to Twilight. “Those press ponies are really eating up this new villain hmm?”
Twilight frowned at him, ruffling her wings a bit. “Sunset Shimmer did do a lot of bad things, but it was a mistake for her to be sent to Tartarus.” Twilight remembered the helpless look on Sunset’s face when she received her sentencing, a look of despair and desperation. Twilight closed her eyes and looked down, “A big one.”
Discord watched the alicorn sulk to herself, and spoke up after a few minutes. “Do you agree with Celestia?”
Twilight looked up at him with confusion. “What?”
“Not that I was eavesdropping or anything but,” Discord let out a nervous chuckle, sliding a little closer to Twilight. “A little birdie told me that Celestia doesn’t think you’ll be able to bring her back.
“Discord!” She yelled. “That was supposed to be a private conversation between me and the Princess, we were in her room! How did you even hear anything?”
He backed up from the furious alicorn with his hands held up in front of him. “Press ponies aren’t the only creatures curious about what happened recently. I have my ways!”
Twilight looked incredulously at Discord. She opened her mouth to lecture him about the importance of respecting ponies' conversations and space, however she sighed and looked down at the marbled floor beneath her instead.
“I’m going to get Sunset out of there, even if it means getting in trouble on the way.” Twilight lifted her head, locking her determined eyes with Discord.
Discord grinned at her determined look, and said, “So, may I ask,” His grin grew larger. “What is your plan to get Sunset Shimmer out of Tartarus, Twilight Sparkle?”
“Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?”
Twilight ran around the halls of the castle, grabbing whatever she thought necessary she may need on the trip to Tartarus. She knew even if she asked her friends not to follow her to certain trouble, they would follow along and stick by her side no matter what.
“I’m sure Applejack.” She responded firmly. “I should have known long before I came back to Equestria that I was making a mistake, and now I fear it may be too late to fix it.”
The girls glanced at each other before nodding, putting on their saddlebags and smiling.
Rainbow gave Twilight a cautious look and said, “Sunset Shimmer has given you a lot of trouble Twilight,” At the comment Twilight’s confidence faltered slightly. Rainbow Dash hovered in the air and cast Twilight a smile. “But if you think this is the right thing to do, then you know we’ll have your back!” The rest of their ponies voiced their agreement, also giving Twilight large encouraging smiles.
The Princess of Friendship reciprocated their smiles and looked down at Spike, who only shared the same encouraging look as the rest of her friends. “Thank you everypony. I’m not sure what I’d do without you girls.”
Applejack nodded with a smile. “Sure thing Twilight.” She pointed to a scroll that Twilight had shoved her bag and said, “Is that your plan on getting Sunset Shimmer out?”
Twilight nodded. “It isn’t much of a solid plan, but I know this will help us open the doors to Tartarus at least, we can figure the rest from there.”
“Well then, what are we waiting for darling? Let’s go save Sunset Shimmer!” Rarity exclaimed.
Twilight Sparkle was too friendly, too smart for her own good, Discord thought to himself. After just pausing for a moment she was able to think up a plan to have Sunset Shimmer rescued from the hellish depths of Tarturus. Well if she could even call it a proper plan.
After blabbing her idea and running out of the closet room in a hurry to tell her friends, Discord grinned to himself. If the plan he and others had was going to happen, it would happen today, then and now. With a snap of a finger and a poof of shimmering dust, he appeared in the small camp the League of Villains had occupied.
“Discord?” Chrysalis began, slightly shocked and annoyed at his sudden appearance. “What is it?”
The other villains had begun to gather around the Lord of Chaos as he summoned himself a cup of tea. He sipped on it and grinned as they all looked at him with annoyed and expectant faces.
“Well?!” Cozy Glow practically screeched, not in the mood for Discord’s games.
Snapping his fingers, Discord made their campsite disappear with a smile. “If we are going to execute our plan, there is no better time than the present.”