A white unicorn popped in to existence right before a shocked Celestia, dropping a letter on her desk.
"Wait, Rarity, how did you get here?"
Rarity disappeared.
Curiously, Celestia picked up the letter. It was in an envelope which read, “READ IMMEDIATELY.” She sat down and began to read.
"Dear Princess Celestia, this letter has been written to inform you that Prince Blueblood has hired members of the royal guard to assassinate Twilight. They plan to make their move tonight, and you should covertly watch over her yourself, just in case.
Your faithful subjects, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Spike.
Your slightly less faithful subject who is doing this to ensure that his best friend doesn’t lose one of hers, Discord.
Post Script: Perhaps you should invite Gladius Shield to help you guard her.”
————————————————————————————————————————-
It was time. Celestia sat in her place behind the door of a large closet, fit for her beloved, princessly almost-daughter. Gladius sat outside, near the slumbering mare, calmly watching. Just as ordered, he had told none of his extra duties.
Then, the door quietly eased open. A very familiar silhouette subtly entered, and Gladius stood.
"Gallant? What are you doing here?"
Gallant tried to make a break for it, but a golden, magical aura enveloped his frame, and an angry Celestia walked out. The air around her was smouldering, and her usually wisteria coloured eyes were now sunrise orange. All the other assassins backed away from the sealed off door, but they were soon sandwiched between an inner ward and an outer ward
"Perhaps you’d like to explain to your brother how you think she is brainwashing me?"
She spread her wings wide. it wasn’t a comforting gesture. At about that time, Princess Twilight Sparkle woke up. She sat up in bed, fluffing her wings tiredly, looking about with bewilderment.
"Celestia? What’s going on," asked Twilight groggily as Gallant freaked out even further.
"This is a traitorous assassin," said Celestia. "He attempted to kill you because he thinks you’ve put a geas upon me."
Twilight burst out laughing and curled up as she laughed heartily, wiggling in her covers. The two brothers stared at her, gaping in shock. Celestia’s glare strengthened, and she stamped her hoof.
"This isn’t funny. He would have killed you if we hadn’t been watching."
Twilight let out another little chuckle and said, “Sorry, Tia. He couldn’t have known about your resistance to being placed under a geas.”
"Yes," said Celestia, voice icy.
Gallant slumped down inside Celestia’s magical grasp, thoroughly abased.
"I’m sorry! I wish I’d known! Prince Blueblood… He was the one who persuaded me. He claimed that you kept changing after she’d come back from Ponyville. I have no excuse, but I believed him… I’m sorry."
Twilight got up, looking at the miserable stallions as she embraced her teacher.
"What are you going to do to him, Princess?"
"I am going to turn him and Prince Blueblood over to the courts," Said Celestia, her eyes and the air around her having cooled down by a decent degree. She lowered the apologetic would be assassin to the floor, placing chains on him by magic. "It is the only way I can be certain that justice is what’s served, instead of revenge."
Twilight rushed over and hugged the Princess, warmly, pressing her face into the larger mare’s side. Celestia wrapped one of her large wings about her. Gallant lay where he was, and just cried.
————————————————————————————————————-
In the end, all was well. Blueblood was stripped of his titles and properties, and given life in prison, as were all other conspirators. The exception to this was Gallant Shield, who was judged guilty of attempted assault, and given a rather less sentence. And in another world…
Discord held Fluttershy as she wept with a light smile on her face.
"I’ve done what I could, Fluttershy."
"I-I know. Thank you for s-sending our Rarity back to warn their Celestia."
"Ahh, come now, Fluttershy. That spell affects *this* timeline. In the morning, when we wake up, it will seem as though Twilight’s death and the aftermath was merely a bad dream. We will remember our experiences, and the emotions will still be there, but Princess Twilight Sparkle will still be with us."