The Equestria Healing Process

Disclaimer: I do not own “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” or its characters.  They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.

“The Equestria Healing Process”

By TwilightSparkle3562

Chapter 1

    “Celestia’s Nightmare”

It had been several days since Twilight Sparkle and her friends had defeated Lord Tirek and returned him to Tartarus.  From Canterlot to Cloudsdale and from Appleloosa to Ponyville, the damages that Tirek had caused to his victims were not just physical, but psychological as well.  Many ponies were subjected to the wrath of the demon centaur and were drained of their magic and true purpose in life.  Perhaps nopony was more traumatized than not just Twilight and her friends, but also her fellow princesses, Celestia, Luna and Cadence, who had transferred all of their alicorn magic to Twilight, in order to hide it away from Tirek.  The plan ultimately was uncovered and Tirek used Twilight's friends and Discord as bargaining chips to get her to surrender the magic .  Still, although Twilight had found the last key that ultimately released Equestria's newest means of defense and sent Tirek back to Tartarus, the scars of his rampage were still fresh in the minds of all who were victimized, even though it had only been a few days.

It all began one night in Princess Celestia's private quarters in Canterlot where as she slept in her chambers soundly for the first time in a long time, the princess of the day began to think back to the moment that Tirek sent them to Tartarus:

The three once mighty alicorn princesses, Celestia, Luna and Cadence sat in the throne room of Canterlot castle waiting for the moment that Tirek would barge in and attempt to steal their magic.  However, they managed to hide their power within Twilight Sparkle and as Tirek barged in and stormed over towards them.  He used his magic to pick up Celestia and shake her like an old ragdoll as he attempted to consume her magic.

“What have you done?” demanded Tirek, but Celestia only responded by giving him a sly smile.  He then tried to do the same with Luna, who merely glared at him and with Cadence, who closed her eyes and shuddered in front of the enormous monster.   Realizing that they had no magic for him to give, Tirek grew angry.

“WHERE IS YOUR MAGIC?!” he shouted to them and lifted the three off of the throne and down to the floor as he climbed up the steps and sat down on the throne.  The three alicorns merely just glared at him as he sat there on their spot, silently mocking them as they watched him.  After a moment, he could tell that they had transferred their magic to someone else, but he didn’t know who it was they transferred their magic to.

“Getting rid of your magic so that I cannot take it from you? That was your plan?” mocked Tirek as he stared down on them.   “How does it feel, knowing that soon, every Pegasus, unicorn and Earth pony will bow to my will, and that there is nothing you can do to stop it?”

To prove that he was not joking, Tirek produced orbs with silhouetted figures of Earth, Pegasus and Unicorn ponies and then crushed them together.  Even with this, the princesses remained defiant.

“You will not prevail Tirek,” said Celestia weakly, but Tirek was determined to see that they were out of his way for good.

“Give my regards to Cerberus!” he said evilly and produced a portal that sent them into Tartarus.

As soon as they entered the portal, a white light flash that sealed off the portal and Princess Celestia woke up frantically with a start, gasping and her eyes popping wide open.  It was the first nightmare that Celestia had since she first sensed Tirek's presence in Equestria.  Hearing her sister’s gasps, Luna came barging in throwing the doors to Celestia’s bedroom wide open.

“Sister, are you all right?” cried the Princess of the Night, her eyes just as wide as her sister as she galloped over to her sister's bedside.  “I heard you screaming from down the hall.  You must have had a nightmare."

Feeling her younger sisters concerns for her, Celestia took in several deep breaths as she climbed out of her bed and brushed strands of her flowing hair out of her face.  Luna then levitated her magic to retrieve Celestia’s crown from the dresser and handed it to her sister.

“I’m sorry, Luna,” she gasped, taking in deep breaths, her face dripping with sweat.  “I just had that horrible dream again of us going into Tartarus.”

“And I have had that same vision as well, sister,” added Luna, who watched as Celestia donned her horseshoes.   “It seems that although Tirek is gone, We both have a fear that he would one day return seeking revenge and finishing what he started."

“And that is something we cannot allow, dear sister,” replied Celestia, her face still dripping with sweat from her nightmare.  “Tirek needs to be punished for his crimes and it will not just be imprisonment, Luna.”

Celestia walked back to her bed and levitated a cloth to wipe the sweat off of her face.  It seemed that her nightmares had been a sign of fear that was rarely seen out of her and the other princesses.  If this was a sign of things to come, they had to confront it.  Tirek could not repeat what he had done to their subjects and if he was planning to escape again, they would have to stop him.

“I agree with you, sister,” said Luna as Celestia went over to her fireplace and knelt down in front of it.  “I too have had fears of Tirek escaping Tartarus and that I felt that justice was not served when he returned.  We need him to return to Canterlot to face those he hurt, particularly ourselves as well as Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

Celestia lowered her head down in exhaustion as she heard what Luna was saying to her.  In Celestia’s mind, Luna was right, Tirek needed to be confronted and punished for his crimes.  At the same time, Celestia had to realize that Tirek was a creature who did not deserve a second chance at reformation.  He was a creature of pure evil and darkness, someone that deserved to rot in Tartarus for eternity.  However, the emotions that went through Celestia's mind were raw and fresh and her eyes began to well with tears.  But, she needed to be strong in front of her subjects, so she did the next best thing when she got stressed and that was to sit in front of her fireplace.

“It needs to be done, sister,” sighed Celestia as Luna laid down next to her while she started a small fire  “Ever since he sent us to Tartarus, we have been scarred with the visions of a place that we should never have been to at all.  When we were sent there, I had never been so scared in all my life.  I thought I would never see Twilight or Canterlot ever again.”

Luna bent down to her sister and hugged her tightly in an effort to console her as she silently cried.  Celestia was right, being trapped in Tartarus was the most terrifying experience that they had ever gone through.  There they were, without magic and the only one keeping them company was Cerberus, although he had sensed that they didn't belong there and took very good care of them until Tirek was returned.  Had it not been for Twilight and her friends, they would have never gotten out and Tirek would have taken all of Equestria for himself.

“What if we didn’t get out?” thought Luna, as she hugged her older sister.  “Then Tirek would have turned Equestria into his own personal kingdom and would have enslaved every one of our subjects while we would have watched from Tartarus rule over Equestria with only Cerberus for company.  My sister is right, we were banished to Tartarus once and we are not going to be banished again.”

After a few moments, Luna got up and walked over to her sister's bedroom window and looked down on the streets of Canterlot, who were deserted of its inhabitants except for the night guards patrolling the streets.  Much like her sister, Luna could understand the pain that their subjects were dealing with.  Nopony was safe from Tirek and Discord, not even themselves and as Celestia had calmed down from her nightmare, she walked over to her sister and joined her at the bedroom window.

"Have you calmed down, sister?" asked Luna worriedly, looking over towards her.  "Or has your mind still remained active of these thoughts?"

"I've calmed down a little bit," replied Celestia, who was now thinking of something else.  "But there is something else on my mind of greater importance that we need to confront."

Although she was slightly confused by this, Luna had a good idea of what her sister was trying to think about.

"If you are thinking about Discord, then yes we need to confront him sister," guessed Luna, a hint of anger in her voice.  "Had he not disobeyed us to begin with, then maybe all of this could have been avoided and Tirek would have been stopped."

Celestia could see that her sister had guessed right and sighed heavily as she walked back to her fireplace.  In her mind, she was angry at Discord for what he did by betraying her and the other princesses and joining Tirek's side.  When Celestia had sent Discord to capture Tirek to begin with, she had thought that he had changed for good.  Instead, she failed to see that he didn't change and that was something that was going through her mind.  Yes, he did give her flowers as an apology, but it was going to take much more than flowers to heal from something like this.

"I'm afraid that we must also call on Discord to come here as well," added Celestia, laying down once again by the fireplace.  "We need to have a talk with him about his betrayal and what the consequences are for disobeying us."

"Indeed, sister," added Luna, a small scowl coming onto her face as Celestia fell asleep once again.  "Discord did disobey us and we must let him know how we feel."

With her sister asleep, Luna returned to her duties as Princess of the Night.  She had spent the past few nights trying to help her subjects deal with the nightmares surrounding Lord Tirek's attack on Equestria.  In her own mind, Discord was a traitor and if she had a choice, then she would have returned to stone.

At the same time, however, Celestia had another more pressing and personal issue on her mind and that was on Twilight Sparkle herself.  For Celestia knew that Twilight's home at Golden Oak Library was destroyed by Lord Tirek when he tried to go after their alicorn magic and was worried for her well being.  She then looked over towards a picture of herself, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight's friends and Twilight herself from Twilight's recent coronation as a princess.  Looking at the picture, she sighed heavily with sadness and worry deep in her exhausted face.  Twilight had lost everything in the explosion including all the friendship letters that Twilight had sent her from the days when Twilight was her student.  One of Celestia's goals was to not only punish Tirek and reprimand Discord, but also to help Twilight replace all the items that she had lost.

"Stay strong, Princess Twilight," Celestia thought as she fell back asleep in the warmth of the fires of her fireplace.  "We will help you get through this."

Meanwhile, unlike Canterlot, the citizens of the Crystal Empire were ordered to stay indoors by orders of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor while Tirek was on his rampage.  To this end, Tirek had failed to obtain magic from the crystal ponies who had already had their magic abused before at the hands of King Sombra.  However, as stood overlooking the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor still had his feelings of resentment towards Discord and began to once again think back to the moment his magic was absorbed from him by Lord Tirek.

"Shining Armor," remarked Discord, who then took Shining Armor's helmet and placed it on his own head.  "Whatever are you doing here?"

"Back off traitor," snapped Shining Armor, stepping away from Discord, ready to pounce on him like a wild animal.  However, Lord Tirek appeared in front of him, emerging onto the tower with a royal guard in his hands, having just drained him of his own magic.

"The only one Discord betrayed was himself," laughed Tirek, throwing the guard aside as he turned his attention towards Shining Armor.  "Abandoning his true nature to make friends with weak-minded equines who offer him nothing!"

This made Shining Armor furious and he fired a blast of his magic, in an attempt to fight him.  But, Tirek merely grabbed the blast and turned it into a small ball before throwing it into his mouth and chewed on it like a piece of candy.  He then grabbed Shining Armor's horn and absorbed the magic from him.  After a few moments, Shining Armor collapsed and looked up towards Discord who threw away his helmet.

"How...could...you...do this?" he asked weakly and the last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was Tirek telling Discord to go have some fun while he went in search of Celestia, Luna and Cadence.  "No...Cadence."

As he snapped himself back to reality, Shining Armor knew that Discord was indeed a traitor.  But, he was not only angry at him because he betrayed all of Equestria, he was concerned about the two most important mares in his life, Cadence and Twilight and thanks to Discord, they became targets for this monster, while he was left to rot without his magic.  But, his train of thought was soon interrupted when a melodious voice came out from inside the castle.

"Shining Armor," called the voice and Shining Armor turned to see his wife, Princess Cadence walking over towards him.  Cadence could see that her husband had been up all night and was concerned for his well being.  "You've been up all night.  Why don't you come and have something to eat?"

"I can't Cadence," he said, turning over towards her with tired eyes.  "I can't eat or sleep until Discord pays for what he did to you and Twilight.  I almost lost you both to Tirek and if there is someone who needs to pay, it's Discord."

"Why are you putting all the blame on Discord?" asked Cadence, trying to defend him.  "He was merely misled by Tirek and was remorseful for what he did.  And being angry about it isn't going to do anything.  In the end, it is really Tirek who is the enemy, not Discord."

"He betrayed Equestria, Cadence," protested Shining Armor, his voice rising slightly.  "By joining forces with that monster who took you away from me along with Celestia and Luna and placed you in a place that is only for the monsters and other threats to Equestria.  Who knows what he could have done to Twilight and her friends?

Cadence could understand that Shining Armor was angry about Discord, but at the same time, she knew him personally from her visit with Twilight.  In her mind, all Discord wanted was to be friends with Twilight and even though he led them to a Tatzelwurm at the edge of Equestria, she knew that was all Discord really wanted.  She knew that Discord had a false friend in Tirek and knew that deep down, he wasn't a monster, but a misled soul.

"Do you think that matters, Shining Armor?" asked Cadence, looking shocked at her husband's look of anger.  "Would rather have Discord turned to stone because of what Tirek did to me, Twilight and my aunts?  Is that what you want?"

This had to make Shining Armor think for a moment.  His wife did have a point that Discord was misled, but at the same time, Discord needed to be punished, even if it wasn't going to be the way he wanted.

"No, I don't," sighed Shining Armor heavily.  "I just want to come face to face with him and tell him how I feel about what he did.  You and Twilight are important and I am doing this not just because I am a Prince of the Crystal Empire, but because you are my wife and Twilight is my little sister."

Of course, Cadence knew at that moment that her husband was only acting this way out of protecting those who were closest to him.  However, unlike Shining Armor, Cadence wanted to help Discord realize the error of his ways just as much as anypony would.  Soon, she would get that chance along with her aunts.  After all, Cadence believed in second chances and believed that Discord believed another second chance at being accepted by Equestria.

But much like Celestia, Cadence was also worried about Twilight and the situation that she was in.  Her library was gone and she could understand why Shining Armor was angry at Discord as well as Tirek.  Twilight was his little sister and Cadence was her sister-in-law, so, they needed to be there for her.

"I know now how you feel, Shining Armor," said Cadence, placed a hoof on his face.  "But, being mad at Discord isn't going to help Twilight bring her library back nor erase the memories of what had happened recently.  Right now, all that matters is that we punish Tirek for his crimes and being there for Twilight."

So, Shining Armor nodded in agreement at this and hugged his wife as a way of apologizing to her for his behavior.  Soon, the two of them would be swept into the aftermath that was blanketing Equestria, including the Crystal Empire, which had been spared by Lord Tirek and Discord.

Meanwhile, in his thinking tree, Discord was contemplating of everything that had recently happened and knew that he was going to face the princesses and hear them express their disappointment in him for deferring to Tirek’s side.  Had he done his job like he was supposed to do, then everything that would have happened would not have happened to begin with.

Much like the changeling invasion of Canterlot, a new healing process had begun…