Twilight found herself in an imitation of the "cosmic dimension" that Celestia brought her to when the destiny spell was cast. The figure spoke, "Star Swirl the Bearded, who I am sure you know well about, who some say even you may have surpassed in magic skill." He had conjured several pictures of the great mage, chronicling his many achievements. "He had great potential, but I'm sure you know everything about him, and about Celestia." A strangely goofy smile played across his lips, "but I bet you didn't know about them" he sang, followed by an unfitting kissing gesture.
Twilight gawked in spite of herself, "you don't mean-"
"Oh but I do. You see, super powerful wizards catch the attention of certain all-powerful princesses, and this princess tried very hard to make sure that she didn't lose this one for more than one reason. Now things are getting interesting, hmm?" He gestured, and they were at the scene of Twilight and Celestia right after the "Destiny Spell" was cast.
"Wait," said Twilight, "have you been accessing my memories?"
He turned briefly to her, "Yes, now listen" he said.
"-You have managed to accomplish even what Star Swirl the Bearded could not" said Celestia of her memories.
Twilight knew what she was looking and listening for, the way Celestia's voice became ever so slightly quieter, the way her voice subtly cracked, the way she turned away slightly at the words "could not." It all made sense now. "You mean to say, I am a sort of redemption for Celestia?"
He responded, "In way, yes. But it goes further than that." He cleared his throat, "not only were you among the most qualified for the transformation, but you stood out because of something you had, or rather didn't have." He then looked at Twilight with something approaching pity, "Affection. Sure, you had respect, sisterly love, and of course Friendship, but Celestia knew that you were still too... complex to fall for the petty routine of romance and thus have your heart broken, something I know that you can't deny." He quickly added in, "its funny really, you were actually sent to Ponyville to get you further away from a certain danger."
Twilight thought back and thought about maybe how things could've been had she managed to find her special somepony, but no one ever seemed to suit her. She sighed. He continued, "but what Celestia did not realize was that in many ways, Friendship is a far more powerful magic than Romance."
"But that's only because she did not know true friendship like I do" Twilight finished, surprising herself at this statement.
All the figure did was nod, "now you get it."
Twilight's head was swimming with conflicting thoughts as she approached Canterlot. She was overwhelmed at the amount of information the figure had given her. Suddenly it hit her, how did he know so much about the princess? "Unless" she thought, "he also has been accessing Celestia's thoughts as well." She further contemplated these new revelations, but couldn't think of anything else. With a heavy heart, she headed towards what would surely be a day to remember.
"Hello Twilight, how was Ponyville?" asked Celestia brightly as Twilight walked in.
"Oh, all the usual" Twilight said casually. "It has been a long day-" she started to walk out, "-so I think I'll just-" the doors and windows to the throne room shut quickly and quietly in front if her, but with a certain finality. Twilight turned back to face Celestia again, and the gaze she received made the room instantly seem 20 degrees cooler.
"How was Ponyville?" Celestia repeated gently, but with a hidden bitterness that hit Twilight so bad she took a step back. There was a hidden tension in the air that Twilight never noticed before, but now it made itself known, and it was suffocating. Twilight struggled not to collapse to the sheer weight of it. "Visit any... Friends?" Celestia now got up and looked as if she would start walking towards Twilight. "Not too aggressive" Celestia warned herself, she needed to handle this delicately.
"What friends?" Twilight shot back.
"Oh, forgive me for being so insensitive, it is simply that we know that you have been having conversations with a certain pony, and we would absolutely love to hear all about this new friend of yours." Celestia said this in the most carefree manner, but there was a dangerous glint in her eye that purposefully gave away her intentions. Luna just stood off to the side, motionless. Twilight could not tell Celestia anything, and both of them knew that.
So began one of the greater battles of history. But this one was not fought with magic, weapons, or even words. This was a battle of complete silence as the two sides stared each other in complete silence, neither one backing down, the only motion being an occasional blink. The air was still, and the sheer tension of it all did in fact lower the temperature by a few degrees. They stood like this for no less than two hours or so, the three of them. This battle would have no winner, nor a loser. Celestia and Twilight both realized this and simultaneously but begrudgingly stopped in a draw.
"Well" began Celestia after a deathly silence, "in the best interests of you and the kingdom, me and Luna have no choice but to keep you in this castle and under close watch until we can come to a resolution."
Twilight was taken back by this, "what? You can't do this! You haven't even explained why!
Celestia visibly regretted being so direct. She calmed down and took a deep breath, "Listen Twilight, have you heard of the ritual of transcendence?" Twilight nodded, it was what gave her her wings and princess title. Celestia continued, "It would appear from what we've observed from your accomplice that he is trying to convince you to do one again."
Twilight tilted her head, "but I thought only you could appoint new alicorns.
Celestia's expression became more somber, "that is true, I only can appoint new alicorns, but if performed by one of my appointees, it simply transfers the wings to the new recipient."
Twilight stepped further back until her back bumped the stained glass window that depicted her. A certain someone hadn't mentioned that. Mistaking Twilight's confusion for defeat, Celestia explained again, "So now you see, we need to keep you under close watch until we can bring in this deceiver for questioning." She turned to two guards standing by, "escort Twilight to her room, and do not let her leave until-"
"What was Star Swirl the bearded to you?" Twilight blurted.
Celestia raised an eyebrow, she did not expect this at all. Though, if it would satisfy Twilight to answer the question, she would comply. "He was... a great student of mine, and a good friend." Celestia became very concerned as she saw a look form on Twilight's face, one she could not quite identify. "Guards" she said hurriedly, "take the princess to her chambers, now." The guards hesitated, they did not expect themselves to have to basically arrest Twilight. Twilight made a move towards the window. "Twilight-" Celestia said as Twilight looked back one last time with what she now saw as a look of betrayal, and leapt straight through the window, breaking it into thousands of glittering pieces, and tears.
Twilight didn't know where exactly she was flying as she sailed through the air, she just needed to get away from the castle. That question was a test of sorts, and Celestia had inevitably failed. She heard the regret in Celestia's voice. Celestia had lied to her.
Twilight flew for what seemed like forever, and was surprised to find herself approaching Ponyville, she certainly wasn't thinking of going there, but perhaps she was after all. The town was too far off, so she drifted to the mountain that once housed the sleeping dragon. It took all her remaining concentration to land in the cave without crashing, but she managed to stumble into a semi-comfortable position on a conveniently shaped rock. She was exhausted, but couldn't sleep. So she just lay there, again not sure what to do, and finally decided to let her mind go free.
At first when she observed her mind, there was just a jumble of colors and other thoughts. But as she sifted through the mess, there surfaced an area of her memories that she would otherwise not explore. It was not quite a dream, more like a hallucination almost. She found herself in Fluttershy's cottage by her bed. There were some flowers on her side table, and soft light filtered through the window. All of her friends in their advanced years were around the bed, including Twilight herself, but the real Twilight had an overhead view of the scene. She knew the scene, it was the day that she and her friends talked to Fluttershy for the last time. She wanted the scene to go away, and it did, only to be replaced by the scene with Rarity. The scenes continued in the same order that they said goodbye: Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie. Twilight watched as her friends faded away and their numbers decreased, and not until now did she notice that when they said their goodbyes, none of them had any regret. They just lay there calmly with a smile, not fretting over anything, not begging Twilight for an age spell or the like. They all seemed so peaceful.
After watching Pinkie Pie, Twilight was surprised to see the scene continue to change. It changed to a view of the day after Pinkie's passing, to where past Twilight was sitting in front of the statue erected in her friend's honor. She saw herself tear up and wanted so badly to be at that time as well if it meant she could be closer to the memory of her friends.
Twilight snapped out of her half-dream to the sound of crying, her own. It was soft at first, but increased in intensity in little time as she could almost hear the emotional supports that she had spent so long putting up come crashing down, but she didn't care. She found that those same supports that she thought made her strong had also made her stiff and cold, so she set to work breaking down all that remained in a frenzied rage of mental fury, and in doing so discovered that the supports were but glass. When she was done, she never felt better, and though she continued to bawl like never before, she smiled, just a little bit..
"Poor Twilight" said a voice of genuine concern.
Twilight heard the familiar voice and slowly raised her head, seeing the figure as a result. "You" she simply said.
"In the flesh" he bowed.