Both of the Princesses looked with dread at the telescope's magical projection of the situation unfolding in Ponyville. Twilight had found the Elements of Harmony, but she hadn't restored her friends back to their true selves and in her anger and haste she hadn't even bothered to find Rainbow Dash before confronting Discord outside the Ponyville Library.
The result was, as both Princesses feared, disastrous. Not only had the magical power of the Elements failed, now Twilight and her friends were breaking apart, each one going their own way in anger. As Fluttershy tripped Spike, Luna looked to Celestia.
“What now sister? Thy Elements of Harmony have failed and our foe grows stronger with each passing hour. If we are to strike, we must strike now, before his abominable chaos spreads beyond Ponyville to the rest of Equestria.”
As Twilight began to turn a shade of gray, Celestia closed her eyes in disappointment and turned from the projection. Finally looking up, she could see that Luna had already sent the guards to fetch their ancient armor.
Celestia's mind raced for options. Was this it? Was this how it was going to end? Despite Luna's determination and their combined power, they couldn't defeat Discord without the Elements.
As the guards entered the room with their armor, Celestia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had to restore the Elements to their full power—no, she had to restore Twilight and her friends to their true selves. She had to remind them of what they had learned.
Suddenly Celestia's eyes shot open. That was it, to remind Twilight of who she was, who her friends were, and what they meant to each other, she had to remind Twilight of the lessons she had learned. As Luna fastened her breastplate in place, Celestia placed a hoof upon her shoulder.
“Sister wait. Give Twilight one more chance.”
Looking from the armor back to her sister, Luna raised an eyebrow incredulously.
“Prithee Sister how? We have not the time to dally any longer! Twilight Sparkle has failed and the longer we delay, the more difficult our task becomes!”
“If I can remind Twilight who she is and what her friends mean to her she can restore the Elements and stop Discord.”
Luna claimed her black gorget from the armor rack and rolled it towards her sister.
“And how dost thou intend to reach young Twilight Sparkle? For surely any attempt at direct contact will result in the escalation of force that thou dost fear so much.”
Celestia fell silent for a moment. Luna was right. How could she reach Twilight without talking to her directly? She felt her heart racing as her eyes searched the room for any sort of hint until at last a soft, almost inaudible sound reached her ears from from a bookcase across the room.
A scroll, perhaps a budget report or some other official business, teetering on the edge of the shelf for sometime, had finally lost its balance and had fallen to the floor, its wrinkled paper only making a small patter on the marble floor. However in the silent room, with all eyes on Celestia, the tiniest noise sparked the greatest idea in her head.
Twilight had been sending her scrolls and reports about the lessons she had learned on friendship ever since she had moved to Ponyville over a year ago. Each one filled not only with the practical life lesson that she had discovered, but also filled with an almost tangible joy that came from experiencing these new lessons with her friends. What better way to remind Twilight of her friendships than with her own words?
“If I can just send Twilight's letters back to her, I know she will turn this all around.”
“Surely you jest Sister? For surely Discord will notice thy magic and interfere.”
Celestia nodded as the two turned back to the magical image in front of them.
“The magic required to send a single letter is not that noticeable.”
“Doth thou truly believe that thou shalt be able to revert thy pupil's mind with but a single letter?”
Celestia's smile began to fade as Luna continued.
“Thy pupil is renowned for her ability to read and comprehend, however her mind is distraught and we do not possess such time as would be required for thee to write a letter capable of reverting her mind to a tranquil state.”
“No, I can use her own letters, her own words that she wrote will have more impact. I'll send her some of those.”
“Now thou needs to send how many letters? One may not be noticeable, but it will also not suffice. Prithee, what quantity shall be required?”
Celestia gritted her teeth as Luna's points painfully sank in. She would need to either find a way to buy time to write a single letter, or she would need to stream as many letters as she could through Spike before Discord could stop them.
As though she had heard her sister's thoughts, Luna raised an eyebrow and looked back from her sister to the armor rack.
“And who knows what manner of evil Discord might wreak upon thy pupil should he discover thy letters and decide not to stop them, but to contort them unto his own twisted design?”
Celestia's thoughts now ground to a complete halt. Exasperated, she looked up to her sister.
“So this is it then? We have no choice but to fight.”
To her surprise, Luna shook her head.
“What thou art in need of most is something to prevent our foe from discovering the urgent messages that thou doth intend to send. Something that could occupy his short attention span long enough for thee to warn Twilight Sparkle and restore her to who she truly is.”
“A distraction.”
Luna nodded her head. They needed a distraction, but what could they use? Celestia again searched her mind for any idea that could help.
“A full on assault from the Royal Guard would be too suspicious and far too costly...”
“Not to mention that they should take far too long to arrive. Nay Sister, we need something smaller, something akin to an individual pony or two. Perhaps a single letter could slip by unnoticed to one of the town-watch at Ponyville? Perhaps they could derive some manner of distraction.”
Celestia nodded, though inside she still had her doubts. The local police at Ponyville were no doubt running in circles trying to keep their town in some semblance of order. Would she even be able to reach any of them?
Using her magic to swing the telescope around, Celestia scanned the town in a vain attempt to find anypony else who might be able to help. She had just about given up hope when she spotted Applejack walking past a familiar looking pony with a crooked lance and a battered basin upon his head. Instantly Celestia's eyes went wide and she turned to the guards to fetch a messenger.
Luna however, seemed at a loss at why her sister's smile grew wider and wider.
“Sister? Prithee, what hast thou seen?”
“Little Sister, look. Rocinante is in Ponyville right now. He could do it, he could help us.”
Luna looked at the image. There he was, alongside a pegasus pony that Luna could only assume was his squire, and a little filly. All three of them were talking to Applejack and, although she could not hear what was being said, the trio were clearly disturbed by what Applejack was telling them. But Luna wasn't as interested in what was happening in Ponyville as much as she was interested in finding a reason for why they needed somepony else.
“Sister... Rocinante is hardly...”
As Luna searched for words, Celestia's smile slowly began to fade. Although she knew Rocinante would be more than willing to charge headfirst into danger, she also knew that asking him to draw off Discord would be no different from telling him to get hurt. Yet despite these concerns, she could also see that Rocinante was the only pony who was conspicuous enough to draw Discord's attention and keep it.
Celestia also knew that even though Luna didn't consider Rocinante her protégé, she had still given him a title and no doubt cared for him just as much as Celestia cared for Twilight. Taking a deep breath, Celestia looked to her sister. She hadn't been too eager to send Twilight with her friends and the Elements of Harmony to confront Discord and she could easily tell that Luna was already more than opposed to sending in only Rocinante and his squire, despite the distraction being her idea.
“Luna, I know this is dangerous, but...”
Luna dismissed the guards and pushed the armor rack out from between them, but she said nothing as she thought carefully about the situation. Seeing that Luna was waiting for her to continue, Celestia looked back towards the town below them.
“But we both agreed that we need the Elements to stop Discord. And we both agreed that we need to keep Discord's eyes away from Twilight, for just a few moments, to keep her from losing them. You know Rocinante is the best equipped for this task.”
Luna suddenly began shaking her head.
“We cannot be so rash as to command a single earth pony to attack a creature so powerful as Discord!”
“Sister, I would not tell him to attack.”
“But that is what he would do is it not? He would think of no other recourse!”
Celestia's eyes narrowed as they remain fixed on Ponyville. Her sister was right. There was no chance Rocinante would think of anything else when asked to distract Discord. In the silence, Luna continued.
“I doubt that Sir Rocinante would even consider that there could be a difference between distract and destroy in this hour. Nay, he would no doubt commit himself fully to a course he could not keep, even unto his own undoing.”
Celestia closed her eyes as she heaved a sigh. Luna was probably right, but what choice did they have? Without a distraction, Celestia wouldn't be able to push Twilight in the right direction.
“I know it's dangerous, but we need him to do this, we need him to confront Discord.”
Luna looked at her sister incredulously. Though she kept her poise, Celestia noticed Luna's volume had started increasing.
“Didst thou not say unto me that without the Elements of Harmony Discord cannot be bested? Didst thou not say unto me that such a confrontation would escalate the affair to a degree far greater than what we desired?!”
“Sister-”
“Nay! If thou art so certain that two full alicorns are unable to confront him, then how couldst thou send forth a single earth pony to such a hazardous task?!”
“Discord would fight us with all that he has, but Rocinante would be like a game to him. He wouldn't use his full power.”
Luna stamped the balcony in anger as she cut off her sister.
“He is not your pawn, Sister!”
Luna had hoped Celestia would back down and realize that she wouldn't let this happen. But instead Celestia stamped the balcony herself and stared straight into Luna's eyes.
“No, but he is your knight!”
Luna gritted her teeth, however her reply was stopped as the door slowly opened and the messenger poked his head into the room. He had heard the fighting from outside, but he had also been told the matter was urgent.
Taking the brief moment of silence as an opportunity, Celestia leaned in and whispered to her sister.
“Twilight needs him. We need him. Equestria needs him. You know this.”
Luna looked to her sister and whispered back.
“Tia... How could I ask such a dangerous thing of any of our little ponies? Especially one who would so eagerly follow such hopeless orders?”
“He's the only one who can do this. We both know that.”
Luna stared at the ground for a moment. She regretted ever coming up with the idea for a distraction. She really didn't want to send anypony against Discord, but without the Elements under their control, she knew her sister was right. With a heavy heart, Luna looked to her sister, then to the messenger, and lastly towards Ponyville.
“Courier, I write a letter to Sir Rocinante of La Manecha, who is currently in Ponyville.”