The Equestria Healing Process

           Chapter 12

             “Twilight Strong: Part 3”

A few days after she and the other princesses were discharged from the hospital, Twilight was tasked with hosting a gala celebration of Tirek’s defeat as well as formally opening her new castle to her subjects.   Standing in front of a mirror in her new bedroom and dressed in her coronation gown, Twilight began to think of how far she had gotten as a princess and wondered if there was going to be any more challenges in the future where she would take on villains and enemies like Tirek.  After all, she had help carry out a sentence of eternal torture by a three headed guard dog named Cerberus.  Something that Celestia and Luna didn’t want them to do, but had done so nonetheless because Tirek was just too dangerous to be sent anywhere else.

At the same time, Twilight was still going to be adjusting to her new bedroom, which was just like her old one, but much larger. She now had a wardrobe, a balcony overlooking Ponyville among many others.  See was also glad to see her pet owl, Owlsicious, return to her following the loss of the library.

“This is the start of a new beginning for us, Owliscious,” said Twilight as she applied light makeup on her face.  “Let’s just hope we can all face these challenges together.”

Her owl hooted in reply and as Twilight finished with her makeup and straightened out her hair much like it looked at her coronation.  Part of being a princess was to host important events such as this and Twilight had to look her best.  She knew that thanks to Rarity, Twilight would not have to worry about finding outfits for certain events.

However, although she was willing to host important events, Twilight was also longing for simpler times as well.  Prior to getting this castle, she only had small, not-so-formal get together’s at the library like her Twilight Time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  This was going to take some getting used to, but it would be a little easier now that she had saved all of the important items from her library and all the pictures that her friends had given her.  Twilight walked over and looked up at them on her new mantelpiece.

“But, my friends were right,” Twilight thought as she looked at them.  “As long as I keep the memories of the library, it won’t be forgotten.”

Twilight was gazing at the pictures and thinking of the memories at the library, when a knock was heard at the door and Twilight turned to open the door and find Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence wearing the dresses and crowns from Twilight’s coronation walk inside her bedroom.

“Princesses,” gasped Twilight, her mindset being broken by their unexpected arrival.  “I didn’t expect to see you all here.”

“That’s all right, Princess Twilight,” replied Celestia, as they all over to Twilight’s side.  “We just wanted to see how you are feeling after everything that has happened.”

“I’m feeling fine if that is what you are all asking,” sighed Twilight as she placed the crown that once held her element of harmony on her head.  “It’s just that everything seemed to have happened so fast in such a short period of time.”

Princess Celestia understood what her youngest equal was going through.  It was a difficult period for all of them, a time of transition to an extent, but it was much more harder for Twilight given the fact that she experienced all of this first hand.

“But, you’ll see in time that it was all for the best, Twilight,” said Celestia as they all walked out onto the balcony.  “As you have said when you gained this castle, you have made it your mission to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria with the help of your friends.”

“Princess Celestia is right, Princess Twilight,” added Luna placing a hoof on Twilight’s cheek.  “What you have just experienced is something that is going to come at you on a much more frequent basis.  But, this was only the first of many tests that you will undertake as one of us.  As Princess of Friendship, you will face many challenges and there will be enemies much greater than Tirek that will stand in your way.”

Twilight then looked down off of her balcony and saw many citizens of Ponyville and Canterlot walk into her palace.  She could see her parents were also coming in as well and began to think that what her fellow princesses were indeed true about what they were saying.  Twilight had always thought of being a princess as something more than just smiling and waving.  To this end, it seemed like being tasked with taking on Tirek was a test of whether or not she would be ready for this new responsibility and like all the other tests in the past, she passed with flying colors.

“But just remember, Princess Twilight,” said Celestia, looking down at her youngest equal.  “We are always going to be there for you, just as you were there for us in Equestria’s darkest hour.  Think of this as the start of a new beginning of your life, just as when it was when you first came here to study the magic of friendship.”

Twilight then walked over to take in what Celestia and Luna had said to her when she noticed her fellow princesses close their eyes as they began to sing to her in the same manner as when they were in the Crystal Empire.

Your destiny was uncertain

And that was sometimes hard to take

But it has become much clearer

With every new choice you make

-Princess Celestia

Patience was never easy

I understand you wanted more

I know how hard it was to wait

To spread out your wings and soar

-Princess Luna

But you’re  standing here for a reason

You're gifted and you are strong

Your crown remains upon your head because

You belong

-Princess Cadence

Now that your time was coming soon

As the sun rises, so does the moon

As love finds a place in every heart

You are a princess, you've played your part

-Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence

We understand you wanted more

A chance to shine, a chance to soar

-Princess Luna

Now has come the day it turns around

-Princess Cadence

Twilight then saw her fellow princesses take to the air as she looked up while they looked down below on her.  After a moment, the three of them landed back on the balcony as they reached the climax of their song.

Now that your time was coming soon

As the sun rises, so does the moon

As love finds a place in every heart

You are a princess, you've played your part

-Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence

Twilight then looked down for a moment to think of everything that they had sang to her, before Celestia brought a hoof to her cheek and lifted her head up towards her own.

You are a princess, you’ve played your part

-Princess Celestia

As they finished singing, Celestia and Twilight embraced as the rays of light from the Crystal Empire shined across the sky.

A little while later, all of Twilight’s new subjects were all gathered in a large ballroom as Twilight and the other princess joined in the festivities.  Twilight could see that this was just exactly what her subjects needed after everything that had happened.  Perhaps nopony enjoyed this more than her friends, who were also wearing the dresses from her coronation and admiring how fun that this party was.

As for Discord, he was finally able to have fun for the first time since he repented for his actions by sharing a dance with Fluttershy on the dance floor.

“Shall we dance, my dear Fluttershy?” he asked as he snapped his fingers to reveal an outfit similar to the King of Siam.

“Yes, let’s,” she replied and the two of them danced around the ballroom as the booming music was heard throughout the ballroom.  Twilight and her friends were amazed of how much of a dancer Discord was and realized that maybe he wasn’t as bad as they thought he would be.

“You know, he’s not as bad as a dancer,” remarked Rarity to the rest of her friends, as Photo Finish took another picture with her camera.  “Wonder if he would do the same thing with me.”

“Well, why don’t you?” suggested Discord as he traded Rarity for Fluttershy.  This did not initially bode well for Rarity as she didn’t want to get her dress ruined, but eventually enjoyed it when the band began to play a slow waltz, much to her relief as Twilight and the other ponies chuckled.

Meanwhile, Scorpan was standing just outside the ballroom as he was preparing to leave to return to Tartarus.  Celestia and Luna then took notice of Scorpan and ran outside to see him before he left.

“Scorpan,” called Celestia as he was just about to take off.  Scorpan lowered himself back onto the ground as he turned towards his closest friends.  “Before you go, I wanted to thank you for supporting us when we dealt with your brother.”

“I had to do it, Princesses,” he said to them.  “My brother is dangerous and as much as I tried to help him, he was just beyond repair.  I know you didn’t want to send him to the sun, but in the end, it was for the better.”

“It was Scorpan,” replied Luna, feeling sort of sympathetic for her old friend.  “Returning to Tartarus is the best place for him and there he will remain forever, being tortured by Cerberus for all the crimes he committed against Equestria.  But, like all the events we have lived through, we will live through this one and its aftermath together.”

Scorpan smiled at this and then brought Luna to an embrace before turning to Celestia and giving her an embrace as well.

“I hope you have a safe journey home,” said Celestia as she and Scorpan broke away.  “Never forget that you are welcomed back at any time.”

“Give our regards to Starswirl,” added Luna as Scorpan took to the air once more.

“I will,” said Scorpan, staring back at the sisters before taking off once more.  “And until we meet again.”

The two sisters watched as Scorpan took to the air and made his way back to his homeland.  As the night went on, more repairs were being done as Discord and Shining Armor made up for what happened during the rampage and that as he and Cadence waltzed on the dance floor, Shining Armor no longer viewed Discord as a traitor, but more of as an ally.

"I see now that you are not the monster I thought you were," he chuckled as he danced with Cadence.  "Forgive me if I was rude to you earlier."

"Oh, no hard feelings," replied Discord while he danced with Rarity.  "I once said that I would use my magic for good instead of evil.  But, now I have decided to use my magic entirely for good."

"He's not as bad as he says he is, Shining Armor," whispered Cadence as they continued to dance together.  Although Shining Armor was not comfortable deep down inside, considering that he had not worked with him up until recently.

However, at the same time, Discord had finally been fully accepted by all of the ponies and much like he did when Twilight first introduced her castle, he gave Celestia a bouquet of flowers only since this was a formal occasion, he gave her a bouquet of roses, much like the ones that Twilight received during her coronation and Cadence received at her wedding.

The Equestria Healing Process was going to take a while as a result of everything that had happened, but it was going to be a healing process that everypony in all of Equestria would come to admire.