The Daughter of Discord

An obsidian alicorn walked down the halls of the grand royal palace. She passed many doors, but stopped at the entrance to a room where two guards stood in front of the entrance, stoic expressions on their faces.

Upon seeing the alicorn, both guards parted for the famed Princess of the Night, giving her access to a dark room. She moved past the many shelves and bookcases to an area that was illuminated only by a few dimly lit candles. Princess Luna scanned the room, looking at the books that littered the floor, until her eyes landed on her very tired looking sister, who was nose deep in one of the books.

"Tis an odd time for a midnight reading, when tomorrow is-” She cut herself short before further inspecting the books, specifically the odd writing on the front. “What is it you hope to find in these dusty, old tomes?" she asked.

"I am faced with a decision I cannot bear to make. I've raised Twilight as though she were my own; so what kind of ruler would I be if I killed her? Even if that is what the people want." Princess Celestia spoke out in a weary tone.

"What are you thinking dear sister?" Luna asked not out of curiosity, but of concern.

"I cannot let Twilight simply go free, because I cannot base a decision on my own selfish desire for that would compromise my ability to serve my subjects.” She began as she placed her head in her hooves.

“If I sentence Twilight to..." Celestia stopped and closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from welling. "to e-execution then I would have failed her and her family."

"Which only leaves thee with exile" Luna pointed out.

Celestia opened her eyes and looked over, before she slowly shook her head.

"A normal exile will not help Twilight. It will only expose her to the likes of Fenrir or Mogus who would hunt her down for sport, or if she happened upon Chrysalis's domain, the bug would just drain the love from her and corrupt whatever is left to manipulate."

"So what are thou looking to find here?"

"If I remember correctly, there is a spell in here, by StarSwirl the Bearded, which can send Twilight to a place beyond our oceans. A place where the names Celestia, Luna, and Cadance have never been heard of. This is where Twilight can start anew, far from troubles here that we bear here."

Celestia looked down at the book in front of her, "It looks like it's one of Starswirl's little projects that never had any real purpose; this is her only fair, fighting chance."

Luna looked over Celestia, lingering on the word “fair”, for a moment before asking, "And what if Twilight abuses this second chance and chooses to run the locals to there ruin?"

Celestia tilted her head down, trying to keep a calm front, but her sadness, fear, anxiety, and guilt all slowly started to bleed out. A single tear leaked from her eye, flowing downwards and traveling across the bridge of her nose until it finally dripped down onto the floor.

"Luna," Celestia started "Twilight is like a daughter to me, the best and brightest unicorn since Star Swirl the Bearded, and the Element of Harmony who practically defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord on her own.”

Celestia finally looked up at her sister, her tears flowing freely from her saddened red eyes, and took a shaky breath.

“If I can't believe in her, what can I believe in?"