Celestia paced across the dining room of Canterlot Castle, staring up at the fresco of the royal sisters that adorned the ceiling. The painting depicted Celestia and Luna as they soared through a cloudless blue sky, the sisters’ celestial bodies just inches from their horns. The white alicorn’s wings drooped lifelessly, hanging limply on either side of her back, dragging on the floor. Celestia’s messy mane and tail and yellowed coat gave her a terribly unkempt appearance, but she had stopped caring a while ago.
A week had passed since Luna’s abdication, and though Celestia wanted to make amends with her sister more than anything else, she knew that the bastard foal would have to be done away with. Popularity with her subjects was of paramount importance to Celestia, so she knew that if she took the life of an innocent foal without first carefully planning her attack and turning her ponies against the filly, the citizens of Equestria would undoubtedly turn on her. Still, it had to be done; what if this foal tried to stage a coup once she grew up? What if her anger over Celestia’s denial of her royal lineage one day caused a revolt? The princess knew that there was growing talk of turning Equestria into a republic, but most ponies knew that would not happen unless Celestia’s blood was shed. If Trixie were to reveal Celestia’s refusal to accept her into the royal family with open hooves, the princess’ subjects would dismiss Celestia and her views as old-fashioned, heartless, cold, antiquated, and out of touch with modern society. If they discovered that Trixie was Luna’s bastard daughter who had no claim to the throne, they would definitely question the legitimacy of the monarchy as a whole. In Celestia’s view, Trixie’s death was the only possible solution to this potential crisis. The white alicorn sighed sadly at the thought of killing her niece; there was no way she could stomach doing it herself. She would have to seek assistance from another.
“May I help you, Princess?” a familiar voice suddenly asked. Celestia turned toward the source of the voice. Perched on the edge of the massive rectangular mahogany dining table, drinking from a beer bottle, was Discord. Celestia’s eyes narrowed at the draconequus, who chuckled lightheartedly and took a long sip of beer.
“What do you want, Discord? I’m not in the mood for your nonsense today,” Celestia sighed.
“I know, I know,” Discord tutted. “I just wanted to check in on my two favorite princesses, but it seems that Moonbutt is no longer ruling alongside you. Isn’t that right, Sunbutt?” Celestia seethed at the chaos god’s flippant use of the nickname that she so detested. Discord knew exactly how to get under her skin, and though she could usually keep her irritation with him at bay, her emotions were at an all-time high today.
“I must say, I was quite surprised by how you treated your sister, considering—“
“HOLD YOUR TONGUE, DRACONEQUUS!” Celestia bellowed, rage filling her body. Discord raised his claws in an effort to placate her.
“All right,” he said soothingly. “I won’t mention the little—“ he cleared his throat “—accident—that you had a few years ago. Not even your own sister knew about it. You of all ponies should understand Luna’s situation.”
“My circumstances were different,” Celestia snapped. “Sombra and I planned to marry, and then he was killed in battle. I was not shaking my rump in the face of every stallion that looked in my direction.”
“Yet you still got knocked up,” Discord mused, stroking his chin. “Maybe it was for the best that you mis—“
“Don’t say it!” Celestia cried, tears streaming down her face. “How can you be so cruel? It’s been five years, and I have healed. The actions that I have taken against my sister and her bastard have nothing to do with my past.”
“Actually, they have everything to do with your past,” Discord chuckled calmly. “You committed the exact same offense for which you have signed your sister’s death warrant; the only difference between her situation and yours is that you never had the guts to tell Luna about what you did, and your little ‘oopsie’ didn’t make it past twelve weeks. Maybe Luna should find ou—“
“SAY ONE WORD TO HER, AND YOU ARE DEAD, YOU MISTAKENLY UNSWALLOWED SPERM!” Celestia yelled. Discord laughed so hard that he fell from the table and disappeared with a poof. The sun princess groaned and went off to her bedchamber, where she collapsed and began to sob.