“I mean… can we really do that?” Starlight asked skeptically. “I know Princess Luna has ruled for a long time but… I’m not sure about this… I mean, he gave Cadance a trial, so at the very least he deserves one, too.”
“I… I don’t want to say you’re right but… but you might be. But this is Princess Luna we’re talking about. She’s been a rock in this whole mess. If there’s somepony we should be listening to…”
“I don’t know… I’m not comfortable with killing him, even if Princess Luna told me to. I mean, he’s already been punished for the crimes he committed before, and he… well, let’s face it, he hasn’t actually done anything so far this time. He deserves a second chance. Err, a fourth chance, I guess.”
Twilight frowned at that. Common sense told her that she should trust what Luna had to say. However, she’d trusted what her sister, Celestia, had to say, and that... well, that was a disaster, and nearly ruined her friendship with Fluttershy. And if Celestia herself wasn’t infallible, then who was? Certainly not Twilight's sister- well, not technically her sister anymore- Cadance, that much was clear. It was jealousy on both of their parts that caused their fates, that she knew, and she certainly didn’t want that to happen to herself.
She didn’t want it to happen to Luna either. She didn’t know why the princess thought it was a good idea to do… well, she could see why, sort of, but still. She didn’t want to see her go down the same path as two of the four princesses had gone down. It was a frightening prospect, the idea that she would be the only one left out of all the princesses if something happened to Luna. She wanted to talk to her more to make sure everything was alright with her.
“I know, Starlight, I know,” Twilight answered. “I’m just concerned is all. I don’t want Luna to end up like Celestia or Cadance. I… I don’t want to be all alone… handling all of this.”
“I’m sure Luna’s fine. She probably just needs to be reminded that Sombra hasn’t done anything wrong yet, and he gave Cadance a trial, too. I’m sure it’s nothing. Now help me work on this spell?”
“What do you think could be making her say that?” Twilight asked. “Do you think she blames Sombra for what happened to Celestia?”
“I think we should-”
“I mean, I can see how she would blame him, but she has to know that it’s not going to be good for her. Just look at what happened to Celestia and Cadance! She has to know it wouldn’t end well.”
“Twilight?”
“We could try to talk to her though,” Twilight continued, starting to pace back and forth. “We could explain what she’s doing and what happened to them. I’m sure she’ll listen. Yeah, she has to listen! Like I said, she’s been a rock since this whole thing started! She’ll listen to us!
“Twilight.”
“But what if she doesn’t?” Twilight asked aloud fearfully, mostly to herself. “What if she doesn’t listen, and turns back into Nightmare Moon because of it, like how Celestia turned into Daybreaker? What are we going to do? I’m pretty sure Cadance won’t help us because she hates-”
“Twilight, do you think you’re overreacting just a little bit?” Starlight asked.
“Overreacting?” she asked, turning to Starlight, who gave her a look. “Okay, maybe I’m overreacting a little bit," the mare admitted, "but we need to think about these things! What are we going to do if that happens? What if Luna turns into Nightmare Moon because of this?”
“I’m sure everything is going to be fine, Twilight,” her friend assured her. “She already knows how dangerous it is to let jealousy get to her. I mean, she was already banished to the moon for a thousand years once because of it. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Plus, we’re making progress on Cadance, and when Celestia comes back, she’ll have had time to think about everything that happened.”
“I… I guess you’re right. But I really want to talk to her, just in case.”
“We can talk to her if you want, that sounds like a good idea. But right now, I need your help with this spell. I want something that’s all-purpose. I still think it should be something involving Cogeria, but we’ll need to combine it with other stuff. Maybe something like Mente Opprimunt?”
“That might be a bit strong to be using on him. We don’t want to completely wipe him out… maybe something like Reducite? That might be better… should we kill Sombra?”
“I don’t think so,” Starlight told her. “I mean, like I said, he hasn’t done anything wrong yet. All he did was cast a spell on himself, and as far as I know, that’s not illegal. What about Profertis? I mean, we’ll need something to make sure we’re bringing the right pony forward, but that might be a good spell to use, maybe in conjunction with Reducite?”
“Maybe… and, I mean, what if Alex asks to have Sombra in his place? What do we do about that?”
“Then we put Sombra in his place, Twilight,” Starlight responded simply, reading her book of spells. “I mean, Alex didn’t want to be here in the first place. I think it’s only fair we give him what he wants, even if that means having him be the one who’s suppressed.”
“I… don’t like him making that request because… well, we can’t know if Sombra is making him say that. I mean, Sombra could say he wants to be brought forward when actually-”
“Twilight, didn’t you tell me how this whole time Alex wanted to be sent back to where he came from?”
“Yes, but-”
“Then why would that change now?” Starlight asked gently.
“Well, it might not, but we can’t ever be really sure because we're also dealing with Sombra,” she explained.
“I really think you’re overthinking this, Twi. Overthinking things isn’t going to help. We just have to trust that it’ll all work out.”
“I know, but… I just don’t want anything crazy to happen. Too many crazy things have happened already. I just want everything to work out, and I… I have to admit, I’m a bit afraid of just having Sombra out and about, even if it’s what Alex wants. I know Sombra doesn’t deserve to be killed again because he didn’t do anything wrong, but… I mean… I don’t know if we can… just let...”
“Well, the way I see it, Sombra doesn’t deserve to be killed because he didn’t do anything wrong yet. Yes, he had past crimes, but he already was punished for those past crimes. And even if he did deserve to be killed again, since Alex was brought into this without his consent, it should be his choice for what happens to him. Even if it means…”
“I- I don’t like that. I know it might be what he asks for but… I don’t know if we can do that… especially if we don’t know it’s really him asking for that.”
“Well, how about this? We can bring Sombra forward first with a timed spell, say, forty-eight hours, then Alex after that, then see which he likes better and respect his decision since he’ll be making it informed. Is that fair?”
“That… that seems fair, yes. That’s a good idea. I don’t like the idea of… but that’s fair. I hope though that he doesn’t choose...”
“I hope so, too, Twilight, but… anyway, help me with this spell?”
“Yeah, let’s get back to work.”