Dread filled Twilight's insides as she walked down the castle corridors. Years had passed since she last set hoof in this section of the castle, and old, suppressed memories wafted into her mind like a horrible stench. She could feel it by the way her hoofsteps echoed off the walls; by the way her feet trod against the marble floor; by the dimness of the light as windows became fewer; and by the way the she faced a pair of large wooden doors.
They stood tall and erect, looming over her like a formidable shadow. Two golden knobs jutted forward, as if daring her to open. With her heart pounding, the princess rested her hoof on one of the knobs and hesitantly twisted it. The door moaned as she inched it open, and she took a deep breath before opening it completely.
In the center of the room was a large conference table with enough room for twelve occupants. There were eighteen present, so the remaining six stood off to the side, but they were very much involved in the discussion. The eighteen ponies consisted of two princes - Shining Armor and Blueblood - two princesses - Twilight and Cadence - four royal guards, and the last ten were members of the royal council.
"Tirek's execution will take place tomorrow at dawn!" Shining Armor declared as his hoof hit the table. The impact jarred Twilight into an upright position.
"I say we should've done it sooner," Blueblood growled. "Right after the elements of harmony restored our magic."
"That's the problem," one of the council members piped up. "Tirek is a magical being. Though now he possesses none of our magic, so long as he still has the ability to suck out our powers, he'll be tricky to execute."
Prince Blueblood cleared his throat. "Last I checked, I'm a magical being myself. And as far as I'm concerned, it's easy to kill me."
The council member shook her head. "He possesses the magic that's enabled him immortality, just like Princess Luna and Princess Celestia."
"And they're dead now," the prince said indignantly. "I still don't know how that's possible."
Cadence, her scars so patent that Twilight could not help but look at them first, sighed disapprovingly. Her voice quavered. "We had given Twilight all of our magic when Tirek banished us to Tartarus. Once he had taken our powers from Twilight, he... he..." She broke down to the floor in a pink, scarred heap.
Shining Armor immediately helped her up, and supported her posture with his body. Though Cadence was spilled over him like a piece of cloth, she managed to utter, "...He... attacked..." the last word was merely a whisper, but the ponies in the room all understood what she said. Or at least, Twilight assumed they understood.
"Without their magic," Twilight decided to explain, allowing Cadence some time to regain her composure, "the princesses are as susceptible to death as the rest of us. It's their magic that's given them their immortality. Tirek took advantage of their vulnerability."
The room was silent for a moment while this piece of information sunk in. Only Cadence's quiet sobs could be heard. The mood even put a damper to Blueblood's condemnation. He cast his eyes to the ground and closed them tightly. Twilight realized that he was holding back his tears, but then gave up and let them trail down his cheeks.
She sighed, blinking back her own need to cry. "If..." she began, testing her voice to see if the participants would be receptive to it. The pairs of curious eyes resting on her indicated their assent. "If," she continued, "if we can somehow drain Tirek of his magic, then there's a chance that we can carry out his execution." The last word rolled bitterly off her tongue. Never in her life did she imagine that she'd be issuing the death penalty.
“So how do we do that?” A royal guard asked, scratching his head beneath his helmet self consciously. “Unless he willfully gives up his magic, like how the princesses gave them yours.”
A familiar voice said, “there is a way.”
Twilight blinked in surprised when she caught sight of a long sinewy silhouette in the shadows of the room. His limber body solemnly stepped into the light, where the afternoon sun highlighted every detail of his face. There was something about his mismatched eyes that replaced its comical energy with somberness, and he walked with so much meekness that Twilight hardly recognized him.
“Your highness,” he said.
“Discord,” Twilight replied.
Discord did not squeeze his way through to the table. He just stood over the ponies as he spoke with the princess. “There is a way to drain Tirek of his magic, but it can only be done through the power of another immortal being.” He gestured himself.
“So tell us!” Shining Armor snapped.
“Why should we bother listening to him?” Prince Blueblood cut in. “If it weren’t for his betrayal, the princesses would still be alive today!”
Everypony in the room spoke out their agreement at once, and Discord flinched. Then one after another began shouting in a incoherent cacophony about the situation being his fault. The creases on the draconequus’s forehead deepened as his puffy eyebrows arched in pain, and he buried his face into his paw. Between the cracks of his fingers, Twilight could see tears trickling through.
“Silence!” She shouted with a raised hoof. The voices obediently died down, and each pony respectfully gave the princess his or her attention. Even Discord removed his paw to look at her.
With the focus now on her, Twilight felt suddenly self-conscious. Her mouth went dry and it took a few, long painstaking moments for her to find her voice.
Clearing her throat, she began. “Discord may be the master of chaos, but that doesn’t mean that he intended the princesses’ death with his betrayal. In fact, had Tirek not double crossed Discord, and they kept a duel kingship, I doubt Discord would allow Tirek to murder the princesses.
“My friends and I, especially Fluttershy, have been teaching Discord the importance of friendship since Princess Celestia granted him liberty from being a frozen statue. He’s still a novice, hence how easy it was for Tirek to persuade him with power. And had it not been for Discord teaming with Tirek, my friends and I would have not been able to open that chest – Discord gave me the final key.
“This may sound bad, but he wouldn’t have acquired that final key had he not joined forces with Tirek.”
Shining Armor stomped his hoof on the ground. Had he been any stronger, he might have broken the floor. “Had he apprehended Tirek in the first place, like he was supposed to, there would have been no need to open that chest. We would’ve returned that fiend to Tartarus where he belongs!”
“With all that magic he had already stolen from innocent ponies?” Twilight challenged. “He probably could’ve mustered enough power from his small inventory to battle Discord and escape Tartarus a second time. After all, he escaped as a helpless creature in the first place.”
“That’s because Cerberus abandoned his post,” Prince Blueblood interjected.
“And how do we know if somepony else would guard him well after we incarcerate him a second time?” Twilight pressed.
Shining Armor shook his head. “Shoulda – coulda – woulda – it doesn’t matter!” His face turned red. “We’re deterring away from the fact that he’s responsible for all this because he willfully chose to betray us. Now look where we’re at! And you’re defending him?” He looked at her incredulously.
Twilight wanted to throw her hooves into face and scream while falling to her knees. How she managed to keep her composure, she didn’t understand.
“You don’t know Discord the way my friends and I do,” her voice was a lot more even than she felt. “His passion resides in chaos – not evil. That’s why Princess Celestia had us – well, mainly Fluttershy – befriend him because Fluttershy knows how to help Discord and show him the importance of friendship. Obviously, he has a ways to go, betraying us has definitely shown that. But his remorse after Tirek double crossed him, even prior to the princesses’ murder has also shown that he’s come a long way. Killing them was not Discord’s plan; that was Tirek’s!” Her voice reverberated off the walls, and she realized that she was crying.
The room was silent for a moment, but Shining Armor was still fuming.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Discord stepped up.
“Princess,” he said, his voice soft. “I appreciate you coming to my defense. You’re right that it was not my intention to lose our beloved leaders… but I made a horrible decision, and it’s only right that I pay the price for it.”
“And what is your price?” Prince Blueblood spat, his temper matching Shining Armor’s. “Walking around with self pity?”
The draconequus shot him an angry glare. “The price I’m going to pay may take care of our problem with Tirek.”
“And what is that?” Twilight asked.
Discord’s expression darkened. “I can drain his magic. But that is going to require so much power that it’ll deplete my own magic. In other words, I’ll be an irregular creature with no special abilities other than an excuse for comic relief.”
Aghast, Twilight dropped her jaw. “Are you willing to do that?”
It took a few long moments before Discord answered. “Perhaps a week ago, I wouldn’t have suggested the idea to save myself the degradation. Things are different now, so yes, I am willing to do so.”
The conference table was less crowded than the last time she saw it. Prince Blueblood sat at the edge of the ellipse shaped furniture, surrounded by ten council ponies. They gave the princess a polite nod as she made her way towards an empty seat next to her husband.
“Your majesty,” the lead councilman, Chamber Lane, began as Twilight sat down. “The prince has informed us that you have some information regarding our bizarre weather behavior over the past decade. You say it’s called Nature.”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she gazed at Blueblood. “You told them?”
He nodded firmly. “They should’ve known long ago. But I’ve done a poor job at explaining its essence. Perhaps you should try to tell them what Nature is and what it’s been doing to our lives.”
“Nature doesn’t do,” Twilight replied, now diverting her attention towards the council. “It just is.”
“Please explain,” Chamber Lane said.
Twilight explained at great length the concept of Nature. There are worlds that never had any sentient being control the rising of the sun and the moon, the weather pattern, or animal behavior. Somehow, there has been a natural order that prevented chaos. The sun knows when to set while the moon knows when to rise; animals understand when winter approaches, and they hibernate and wake up without a pony’s aid; seasons come and go at the appropriate time without the guidance of a calendar. The expression on the members’ faces matched exactly how Twilight felt when she first learned this information herself.
One of the members shook her head disbelievingly. “Is it a curse?”
“Not really,” Twilight answered. “It’s just a phenomenon. Would you call the law of gravity a curse if an earth pony falls off a cliff?”
“I’d call that pony an unfortunate,” she replied.
Twilight lowered her gaze. “And so are we.”
“What will it take to get rid of this horrible draught?” Another member asked, his voice squeaking with concern.
“Is there a way maybe to reinstate the magic in the weather?” Chamber Lane asked hopefully.
Twilight bit her lip, and Blueblood arched a brow. “Well is there?”
She shook her head. “I’ve spent the past eleven years researching that. Apparently, Princess Celestia’s and Luna’s power applied to all the ponies. Once their magic went, so did most of ours.”
“Will Equestria even survive this terrible heat if we can’t fix it?” The high voiced male asked in panic. “Crops are dying, ponies are starving, our resources are limited!”
The meeting erupted into a chorus of nervous murmurs. For the past decade, the weather was pretty fair, except for a few harsh winters that created blizzards so intense that the snow remained well into April. Summers have been fairly mild, except this one. It was never like Equestria suffered a draught before, but this was the first time without a leader like Celestia and her magic that could ebb the suffering with the weakening of the sun and having the pegasi summon rain.
But now it was completely unpredictable.
“There is something,” Twilight began, and all eyes fell hopefully onto her. “It’s a study called meteorology – a branch of science that focuses on forecasting the weather.”
Blueblood snorted. “Another piece of information you’ve been hiding from us.”
“It’s not quite ready for public knowledge, yet.”
“And why not?” Chamber Lane asked. “Princess, with all due respect, if there’s a possibility of predicting the weather, it’ll at least help us be able to prepare for the weather. We’ll know about future draughts and stack up on some food, or have preparations for blizzards and other extreme forms of weather. Even if isn’t ready for most citizens, we should at least be informed about this; we can help develop the theory.”
“I do have help,” Twilight replied, and she swallowed as if she’d eaten something hard. “We’re few, but we’ve spent the past six years studying the weather pattern and making predictions, most of which were inaccurate. I’ve turned to some of my books and read how creatures in other worlds predicted the weather forecast, but it involves instruments we don’t have.”
“Such as…?”
Twilight thought for a minute. “…like a barometer – something that measures the atmospheric pressure. Don’t ask me how it works; I’m not entirely sure of it, myself. But one thing we did find in our studies is that the atmospheric pressure does have a huge affect on our weather. Instead of pegasi being told to gather clouds and fill up the sky to make a storm, pressure causes cloud formations. We’ve come across another piece of information called a jet stream, but we’re currently figuring out what it means.”
“Honestly,” Prince Blueblood said after a moment’s pause. “I think you’re spending a little too much time in your studies.”
“This information can be vital,” Twilight objected.
“Yes, it can very well be,” the prince concurred. “However, you are the ruler of Equestria – I think it’s time you play that role a little more.”
Twilight arched a brow. “And what do you mean by that?”
“If I may, sire,” Chamber Lane spoke up. When Blueblood nodded his assent, the lead councilman continued. “Princess, while your knowledge regarding the weather and this so called nature is very crucial for our survival, right now we need you as our leader. Researching is one thing, but withholding all this information because, based on what I’ve gathered, you’re so engrossed in your studies for the past eleven years could cause more harm than good.
“With all due respect, I’m not saying you should abandon your research. Not at all. But it’s time, as Prince Blueblood has said, that you should take charge as ruler of Equestria. The prince volunteered to help you, not make all the decisions himself. You are Princess Celestia’s prized student, and you said so yourself, her dying words were for you to take her position as ruler. I don’t think she’d bestow upon you that pedestal if she didn’t feel you were capable. I certainly think you are.”
Whether or not she wanted to admit it, Twilight realized that she had been afraid of that position. For the past decade, she had done well to avoid it. Researching was definitely a help to the country, but the real reason to why she did not disclose her findings to anypony outside of her study group was because she knew she’d be forced to a meeting like she was right now.
She’d have to have discussions.
She’d have to make decisions…
Chamber Lane spoke with such eloquence and dignity that made it strangely comforting. It would not be easy, but Twilight knew she couldn’t hide from the public eye for too long.
“What do I have to do?”
Prince Blueblood’s eyes widened and Twilight knew he was shocked that she had acquiesced. She was glad that he didn’t say anything on the matter.
“For starters,” Chamber Lane looked at Twilight directly in the eye. “Perhaps you should make your presence a little stronger in Equestria. You’ve spent so much time in Canterlot, but you haven’t seen much of what’s going on. I’m not suggesting you go far, but perhaps you might want to go to Ponyville.”
Twilight shook her head. “What’s the purpose in that?”
“To see for yourself how your citizens are living,” he replied.
“Your friends have come here to share their problems,” Prince Blueblood added – a lot more gently than he usually would. “But you haven’t seen it for yourself. Maybe just go there and see their experiences.”
Her chest swelled, and she swallowed hard. Every part of her innards was screaming against the idea. Her mind craved for all of her books and the need to plunge into the knowledge that lay woven in their words. To hide away from the world without abandoning it was what Twilight knew best. The more she’d research, the more she could help with Equestria’s problems.
Another voice – one that she was vaguely aware existed – gave her a gentle tap.
It is time, it told her. You are a princess, and it is a princess’s duty to be involved with the wellbeing of her ponies.
With a heavy sigh and a lot of self persuasion, Twilight looked at her husband. “I will do it.”
“My student,” Princess Celestia gasped. Twilight knelt beside her, not caring that she was staining her coat in the princess’s pool of blood.
“I’m here,” She whispered.
The white alicorn groaned miserably. “Where’s Luna?”
Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes. “She’s… she’s…”
“…Dead?”
Twilight broke out into an uncontrollable sob. “I’m so sorry, Princess,” she quavered.
Princess Celestia stared at the crying young alicorn; tears of her own trickled down her face. “I feared that it might’ve been so.” She closed her eyes. “Luna, I love you, and I will be seeing you soon.”
That was too much; Twilight fell onto the ground and wailed. “Don’t go! Please… don’t – leave – me!”
“There are things, my dear student, that even magic cannot fix,” Celestia opened her eyes. “I’ m so sorry, Twilight.”
“B-but what will happen to Equestria?” She could not see well through her teary vision. “Who will lead us?”
For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Princess Celestia smiled. It was a small and subtle, but it was a smile nonetheless. “You.”
“Me?”
The princess nodded, and light was fading from her eyes. Her voice was meek, and each word she uttered was laborious and painful. “I know you can do it. Take care of Equestria.”
And her chest raised and lowered for the last time.