Tirek lay on his side, wheezing.
"You should have known better, Tirek," Twilight said coldly, her friends freed from his prison and standing behind her. "I would never let you hurt any of my friends." She stepped forward, charging another spell. Tirek had only time to gasp before she fired. It hit high, breaking his horns clean off and sending the magic stolen from her kind sailing across the sky and back to its rightful owners. Arcs of stray magic leapt from her horn as she looked upon a withered and feeble Tirek still gasping for breath with disgust.
"Great job, Twi!" Dash said, flying above her and looping around in the air. "Now send this guy back to Tartarus!"
Twilight smiled at Rainbow, before glaring back at her enemy. "You know girls, I've been thinking," she said, stepping closer. "Rainbow Dash, do you remember the plot of Daring Do and the Sapphire Scepter?"
Dash raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, I guess so."
"Do you remember why Daring was nearly killed by the Mad Collector for the third time?" Twilight asked.
"Because he broke out of jail and tried to lure her into a trap," Dash replied, still unsure of what any of this had to do with anything.
"Exactly. Because he escaped from jail." Twilight narrowed her eyes. "How long until Tirek finds another way out of Tartarus just to do this again?"
"Uh... I dunno, I mean—"
"Exactly. No prison is escape proof. Not even the moon." Twilight wrapped Tirek in her magic and lifted him off the ground.
"Wh-what are you doing? Put me down, I surrender!" He shouted desperately.
Things were perfectly clear. Twilight knew exactly how to deal with villains like this. They couldn't be reformed. They would only plot, and scheme over the course of their imprisonment with but one thing on their mind: revenge. It was so obvious! How had she not realized the solution right in front of her the whole time? This monster had destroyed her home, and stolen the one thing that makes her kind themselves. What was to stop him from doing it again upon his inevitable escape? Could she, in good conscience, allow even the possibility of this beast harming her or her friends? What would stop him from escaping and starting all over again? Nothing. Except for her.
"Fluttershy," Twilight spoke over her shoulder. "Cover your eyes."
In an instant, Twilight turned back to face Tirek. She launched him high in the air, her target shouting as he went. A point of light at the end of her horn began to glow, and her eyes glowed white as she charged a powerful spell. One that Tirek in his weakened state would have no chance of stopping.
Rainbow realized her plan but was powerless to stop it. Even if she had been able to move, she could have done nothing. Before she could even blink, the magic was rocketing towards its target. The rest of her friends gasped as the beam impacted the screaming Tirek, exploding in a fireball that lit up the sky, even during the daytime. When the dust cleared, nothing remained of the once mighty chimera. Twilight felt a shiver in her legs work its way up to her spine. She'd never felt this way before, though she realized why. By dealing a killing blow to her enemy, she had ensured that there would be no return of Tirek to threaten her kingdom. It was a satisfying feeling.
A choked sob from behind her drew her attention as she turned. Fluttershy was burying her face in Applejack's chest while she comforted her. Rainbow had landed, a look on her face suggesting she'd just seen a monster. Rarity and Pinkie simply stared into the sky where the fireball had been.
"It's over," Twilight whispered.
There was silence for a time, before Discord broke it. "Well, good riddance, I say!" He teleported behind Twilight and put a paw around her. "That was quite the show! I didn't think you had it in you to actually finish him!"
Twilight removed his paw. "I didn't do it because I wanted to!" she snapped. "It had to be done." Twilight looked to her friends. "You understand that, don't you girls?"
Another pause.
"Y-yeah, he was a menace, for sure..." Rainbow answered, glancing away from Twilight.
"Ah know you had to do what was best, and Ah stand by ya." Applejack chimed in. "You're the princess, and we should trust your judgement."
Twilight smiled. "Thank you Applejack."
"Oh wow, did you see him explode? Tirek was all 'no, I surrender!' and Twilight was all 'Not today! Blaaaagh!" Pinkie shouted, returning to her normal self in no time at all.
"Honestly, Twilight, there would be no reforming a brute like that," Rarity added. "You killed him because you had to. He made the choices that made him who he was, and his decisions brought him to you."
Twilight nodded. "Actions have consequences. He should have known that."
"C'mon now, let's go see that fancy new castle that sprung up for ya!" Applejack said, as her group headed into town.
The castle was splendid, crystal in nearly every room, and a throne room more resembling a council chamber. Six high backed chairs sat around a glittering table, a seat for each element. Even Discord was appreciative of the castles beauty. Although he lacked a throne, he knew his place was right here with the ponies who had given him chance after chance for redemption, even after he'd betrayed them. After all of Ponyville had come to gaze upon the glory of crystalline home of the princess of friendship, Twilight had finally settled in.
She had gathered what books remained undamaged from her library and set them in a shelf. Owlowiscious perched happily on a new crystal stand, while Spike made himself at home trying his hardest not to eat her new house. After all had gone to bed, however, Twilight began thinking.
She had dealt with Tirek easily enough. What other threats had she simply let go only to endanger her kingdom again? Twilight began to compile a list of the enemies of Equestria as she sat at her new crystal table.
Let's see... there's Chrysalis... the dragons... all of Tartarus... and... well that's it, she thought, writing her list down and folding it up to carry with her. for now.
"Princess Celestia and Princes Luna may not be able to keep the realm safe, but I will!" Twilight said confidently. "Time to pay a visit to a certain changeling..."
By the time Twilight left the castle, night had fallen. Before she stepped outside, she'd donned a black cloak to keep her from the evening chill. To her left, she took in the ruins of her former home. The fires had been put out, but the charred remains did nothing but light a fire in her heart. This was her home! It had been through parasprite swarms, Discord escapes, dragons, monsters, nearly every threat Twilight had faced, her humble home had faced with her.
Now, it was naught but ashes, and splinters. She walked towards it and picked up the singed remains of a book. The title was illegible, but she could see her notes scribbled in the margins. The burning of her house was symbolic, she supposed. It represented the last vestige of her old life as a confused princess unsure of her true purpose. She was now the princess of friendship, with a castle and everything. Even so, the destruction of her former home and all her belongings fueled her resolve. How many other ponies across Equestria had felt what she was feeling when a dragon attacked their village, or when a changeling kidnapped a loved one?
Twilight closed her eyes and turned away, the smell of burned wood filling the nighttime air. There was but one cure for the feeling that ailed her.
Retribution.
Chrysalis was easier than she'd thought. As it turns out, changelings are not that keen of sight, and a simple cloaking spell was all it took for Twilight to get close to her target.
"Do you know why I'm here?" Twilight asked coldly, removing her spell and showing the queen her true form.
"Ah, you've come to feed us with your love! How generous of you!" Chrysalis shot a beam of her magic towards her, but Twilight deflected it as easily as one swats a fly.
Twilight caught the changeling queen in her magic and held her in place. "Nope, I'm here to finish something Shining and Cadence should have finished." Twilight charged another spell as chrysalis' eyes grew wide with disbelief.
Twilight returned to her castle, opening her list in front of her. She crossed Chrysalis' name off the list and folded it back up. She yawned. It had been a long night! Even royal assassins needed sleep.
The next day, the news reports told her that the border towns that had been harassed by changelings for so long had suddenly stopped seeing incursions into their land altogether! In fact, some long kidnapped ponies began to return home! Twilight smiled to herself as she looked over the morning's newspaper and sipped her tea. Spike was busy organizing their new home, but she had to keep an eye on him to make sure he wouldn't eat her house. It was crystal, after all.
Another day, another way to make her kingdom safer. Who else was on the list?
She unfolded it before her and moved to the next name.
The dragon outside of town was no trouble at all. In fact, she began to wonder why she hadn't seen to do this in the first place. On top of that, his horde fed the poor ponies of manehatten for weeks once she gave it to them. Twilight's plan was coming up lovely for everyone involved! Well, almost everyone.
Next on her list was Tartarus, the stagnant cesspit of evil scum. This was more of a place than a person, so it was going to take some creativity to deal with this one. Twilight paced outside the entrance, watched closely by cerberus as she tried to think of a way to smite an entire region. Coming up with nothing, she cursed and looked up at the sky. To her surprise, there was a comet streaking across the heavens!
"Oh shoot, was Epona's comet tonight?" she asked herself, flipping through her day planner and finding the entry. It was indeed. Though she was sour that she didn't have the proper equipment to observe it, it did give her a solution to her previous problem.
Twilight produced a tennis ball from beneath her cloak and whistled. "See it? See the ball Cerberus? You want the ball, don't ya? Who wants the ball? Who wants it? Who's a good guardian of the damned? You are!" All three of his heads were focused on the ball as he playfully waited for her to throw it. "Go get it, boy!" With her magic, Twilight launched the ball over the hills as the huge beast chased after it. With the innocents out of the way, she focused on the task at hoof.
She concentrated on the comet. It was not nearly as difficult as raising the sun or the moon, but it still took loads of concentration to move a speeding celestial body. Slowly, Twilight altered the comets course to a direct impact with the hell-scape that was Tartarus.
Twilight smiled before taking off for a safe distance. She perched on the top of a hill as she watched the comet speed into the entrance to Tartarus and explode, destroying the cursed prison in one shot. The wind from the blast blew back her mane as she shielded her eyes from the dust.
"Another one down," she said, unfolding her list and marking through her last target. To her left, a soggy tennis ball dropped next to her, Cerberus wagging his tail expectantly. She smiled and petted the center head. "Looks like Fluttershy's gonna have to find something to do with you."
Back at her castle, she sat content. She had eliminated all the active threats to her kingdom! But, as she sat, her idle mind began to wander. Sure, she had dealt with all the active threats, but what of the passive threats? What if Discord switched sides again? What if nightmare moon comes back? So many unanswered questions! Logically, she knew that these threats needed to be eliminated... but these threats were also her friends now! And one was a princess! There was no way she could harm them. So the next most logical thing to do would be imprison them under her direct supervision so she could make sure they never harm anyone again! It made perfect sense.
Twilight donned her cloak again and strode towards the door.
"Going somewhere, Twilight?" Spike asked from the bookshelf he was organizing.
"Just to see some old friends," she said over her shoulder as she closed the door.
"Well that was needlessly foreboding..."Spike muttered to himself.
Discord was not hard to track down. She went straight to Fluttershy's cottage and found the two of them in her yard playing with Cerberus, who seemed to be getting along quite well with his new companions.
"Oh, hello Twilight," Fluttershy said sweetly. "Cerberus and I are getting along great. What brings you by?"
Twilight smiled. "Well, I actually came by to talk to Discord."
The god of chaos turned. "Me? Well, I'm always willing to lend time for a friend!" he said in a manner that made her unsure if he was being serious or not.
"Yeah, I just need a quick word..." Twilight said, leading him around the cottage and out of view of Fluttershy. Once they rounded the corner, Discord had no time to react as Twilight cast a sleeping spell over him. Looking around, she quickly teleported the two of them into the basement of her castle. Quickly, she threw Discord into an enchanted cage and locked the door.
"Now for the last piece of the puzzle..." She teleported herself to Canterlot, where Luna was hard at work doing literally nothing. She sat on her cushion sipping tea when Twilight appeared in front of her.
"Ah, Twilight, what bringest thou to our court?"
"Oh, you know... just a friendly visit..." she had to think quickly. "...and to play a new game all the ponies are playing!"
Luna's eyes lit up. "A new game, you say? And it is popular amongst the peas—I mean, ponies?" Luna thought for a moment. "I should like to play this game."
"Great! We can play it at my new castle!" Twilight replied.
They teleported into her basement where a still unconscious Discord lay in a cage in the corner. Luna looked around. "Twilight, what manner of game in played in a basement?"
"This one! All you have to do is get into this cage, and count the digits of pi!"
Luna looked at the cage, and then back to the ever smiling Twilight.
"And then what happens?"
"You win!" Twilight explained, hoping Luna would fall for it. After a moment to consider, she came to a decision.
"I shall be the best at this game that ever has been!" Luna happily hopped into the enchanted cage and Twilight locked the door behind her.
"Phew," she said, whiping the nervous sweat from her brow. "I'll be back to see how you're doing later!" she promised, heading upstairs.
The next day, a feeling of contentment was the first feeling to great her as she stirred from her bed. She had done it! All threats to Equestria had been contained or eliminated! It was a good feeling. Until she again thought of Nightmare Moon. In essence, she was just black magic. Black magic that could theoretically posses any alicorn, even Celestia!
Twilight knew what she had to do, but before she could, a knock at her door drew her from modifying her list further. Fluttershy and the rest of her friends stood outside. "Hello girls, what can I do for you?"
"You haven't seen Discord around here, have ya?" Applejack asked.
"Nope, I haven't seen—"
"Fluttershy, help me!" a voice echoed from her basement.
"Did y'all hear somethin'?"
"I didn't hear anything..." Twilight replied, sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.
"I'm trapped in her basement!"
Within minutes the jig was up, and she found herself gathered in the basement.
"I'm sorry girls, I just wanted to keep Equestria safe, and I thought by locking up or killing anyone who posed a threat, I could make it easier on everyone."
"Well, your heart was in the right place but you—wait. Did you say killing?" Luna asked as her friends gasped.
"Uhm... I said..." There was nowhere to run. "Yes... I said killing."
Luna strode towards her, locking eyes. "For my sister's sake, Twilight, whom did you kill?"
"Just the dragon outside of town, Chrysalis, and the whole of Tartarus! That's it, I swear!"
Princess Luna studied her for a few nerve-racking seconds. "No harm no foul, then! For a second there, I thought you'd killed someone important!"
Twilight was taken aback. Killing was most abhorred in Equestria! Was there to be no retribution for her deeds?
"Princess... so that's it? I'm not in trouble?" Twilight asked.
Luna turned to her. "Of course not! You're a princess! Though I am a slight upset you misled me about the fantastic new game you mentioned. Still though, I think it would be best if we kept this a secret between us," she said, turning to the rest of Twilight's gathered friends. "Is that okay with everyone?"
Her friends all broke eye contact, mumbling some form of 'yeah,' or 'sure'.
"Lovely! I'll be off then," Luna said, continuing her climb up the steps.
"Princess, wait! It's already noon, how will you explain to Princess Celestia where you've been?" Twilight asked.
Luna paused for a moment. "I'll simply tell her I went out drinking. It wouldn't be the first time."
With that, the moon princess was gone. Twilight stood next to her friends as they let the silence take them.
"So... what was the lesson here?" Dash asked.
"Perhaps it was..." Rarity put a hoof to her chin. "Locking up your friends is not a good idea unless you had a good reason?"
"Nah, maybe it was 'sometimes killin' is justified if it keeps others from gettin' killed?" Applejack offered.
"Oh, oh, I know!" Pinkie said happily. "Princesses can get away with murder!"
Author's Note
So this was just a spur of the moment fic brought on by the finale. It really has no direction or moral. I wasn't even sure what tags to use, so... yeah, more fuel for your finale fetish.
