"Twilight, are you ok?"
Twilight awoke slowly, blinking several times before she saw Spike, felt the lavish sheets beneath her, and sighed. The view through her window still didn't include town hall or Sugarcube Corner.
"Yes, Spike, I’m ok. I’m up."
Spike crossed his arms. "Could’ve fooled me. I had to ask five times before you woke up."
"Sorry."
"Come on, everypony’s waiting for us. Oh, and I think Alpenglow said he wanted to talk to you."
Twilight felt a tingle of dread spark from her tail and blaze a trail to her horn. She had no idea what Alpenglow wanted to tell her, and frankly, she didn’t want to know. Nothing about the conversation from last night sounded like welcome news.
"Do you know where he is?"
"Yeah, I saw him after everypony told me to go wake you up. I think he's out on the balcony."
With more resignation than determination, Twilight left the safety of the bed and opened the door into the hallway. Instead of following Spike around the corner, where she could hear her friends talking, Twilight turned left and found Alpenglow. He was staring off to the right of the balcony, looking very much like he did that one morning in the Crystal Empire, old and gloomy. Yet when he turned to face her, she could see his face warm to a smile.
"Morning, Twilight."
"Good morning, Alpenglow. Spike said you needed to talk to me?"
He nodded as Twilight joined him to lean on the balcony. The air outside was chilly, as the sun had yet to fully rise. It was calm.
"You do some good work, Twilight," the stallion said, nodding.
"I didn’t do it alone."
"True enough. Like you said, you had your friends, Princess Celestia-"
"And you."
"A bit, I suppose. The seven of you held up better than anypony could’ve expected you to, in no small part thanks to you. You made sure none of them gave up, kept us moving, and made the tough decisions so we’d be ready for today." His gaze kept on the horizon even as he frowned. "Which is why we need you to make one more."
"We?"
"Your friends, the princesses. Everypony, really."
"What is it?"
"Princess Celestia will explain the details later, but between the new spell, the Elements of Harmony, and Blight’s box, we should have everything we need to re-imprison him. There’s just one last thing that needs to be ironed out. The princesses did the best they could, but when it came down to it, Blight had just changed too much. None of the spells they put together was enough."
"But you said we had everything we need."
"We do. But, Twilight..." He turned to face her.
"Somepony will have to go with Blight…"
Her heart dipped.
"...And...the princesses and I decided it should be up to you to choose."
For the first time ever, Twilight felt as if she were facing something she could not understand- not simply struggle to, but was outright incapable of grasping. Of all the lessons, of all the tests and assignments she had ever been handed, this had to be the one destiny would dictate her to fail. "I...I don’t understand. Why?"
"Because you have more experience with Blight as he is now, a better understanding of how he thinks, what he can do. It'll all be vital when we face him. Believe me, she didn't want to saddle you with this, but it made the most sense."
Twilight's legs were turning to sand under her. "Does anypony else know?"
"No- just me, the Princess, and Luna. I gave everypony else the impression that there was a decision to make. Without knowing the details, every one of them said they trusted you to make it. I'm willing to bet any one of them will do it if you ask."
The dread and panic of the first nights were starting to return. "But…no! That makes no sense! Why would they do that?"
Alpenglow smiled, horribly, with pride and respect. "Look in the mirror, Twilight. You’re young, but in every way that counts, you couldn’t be more like Princess Celestia if you tried. You're a leader, like her."
"What if you’re wrong?" Her head fell. "What if…what if Princess Celestia was wrong?"
She felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up. Alpenglow had taken off his helmet, the ink of his eyes set confidently on her.
"If you’re half the pony I’ve gotten to know, if you’re half the student Celestia trusts and adores, then you won’t concern yourself with proving us- or your friends- wrong."
Twilight took a deep breath, then let it go. "But…how do I choose?"
"The spell only needs a pony with a good, strong heart- in other words, the opposite of Blight. That means anypony here will do, though I don't think you should choose yourself or the princesses. The three of you are too important to Equestria."
"When you say everyone, does that include Spike?"
"I'll admit, I had my doubts at first, but he proved himself at the observatory when he told me to save Pinkie." He nodded approvingly. "He’s going to grow up into something very special someday, Twilight."
"What about you?"
"What about me?" Alpenglow put on his helmet. "I trust you, Twilight. I knew I could the day I met you. And whatever happens, I know you’ll do the right thing."
"I wish I had that much confidence in me."
"Until you do, borrow ours in you." He put his hoof around her as they walked from the balcony. "Come on, we’re burning daylight here, and I want to make sure the blacksmith got your sizes right."