It had been two whole months since Spikes murder, and Ponyville's atmosphere hadn't changed a bit. Many of the elements of harmony tried to go back to their normal lives… but it was easy to tell that they were all still shaken by the events that had transpired.

Pinkie Pie never smiled, not even when the cake twins repeatedly crawled up to her. She just give them a blank stare and then moved to another part of the room. Even when she baked the enthusiasm she'd put into her treats was gone.

Fluttershy was rarely seen around town, she'd come when she needed to get more groceries, but other than that she didn't leave the house. Oddly enough though, A few of the guards mentioned seeing Zecora lead her into the Everfree forest on occasion...

Applejack continued to work at the farm as if nothing had changed… however her family could tell that she was taking it just as hard as the rest of them. Occasionally instead of going to sleep she'd make her way to Golden Oaks Library in an attempt to talk to Twilight, sadly she was always absent.

Rarity closed down her shop about a week after the funeral, claiming that she'd "lost her inspiration", every night she could be heard crying herself to sleep...

Rainbow Dash had thrown herself into her training the moment she'd returned to Ponyville, pulling off stunts that were dangerous even for her. She'd been sent to the hospital four times in a single week, despite that the moment she got back out she was back in the air like nothing happened.

And finally there was Twilight.

Her appearances were more scarce than Fluttershy's, every time she did appear the first question she asked was: "Have you found the murderers yet?" And whenever she was asked exactly what she was doing in the forest, the only answer she gave them was "Preparing.", after which she made her way back into the forest with Flash by her side.

But that all changed one day when noneother that Prince Shining Armor himself arrived with some important news:

"We've caught them."

Word quickly spread throughout Equestria that the ones that orchestrated Twilight's assassination had to been apprehended. Many were expecting them to be publicly executed in the most painful way possible.

But much to everyone's shock, Princess Twilight had asked for their trials to be postponed... for an entire month.

This got everyone's attention, what was the purpose behind delaying the inevitable for them? Was it to draw out there suffering? To get more information out of them? What was she planning?

At the end of the month, they got their answer. And Equestria would never be the same because of it…

"...what?"

That was all Celestia could say upon hearing the words that escaped her students mouth. Luna could only stare at Twilight Sparkle (still in her new form) in disbelief as she loomed over fallen ex-guards: Valiant Wind, Gallant Heart, and Moon Blade, each of them looking like they'd been through Tartarus and back, covered in bruises and cuts with their horns and wings removed.

You could hear a pin drop in the vast throne room of the Royal Palace. Everyone from the guards to the press were all in shock at what they had just heard, this had to of been a mistake, some sort of cheap joke at their expense to give them false hope before hanging them from the gallows or whatever punishment she really had in mind, it was absolutely no way they were hearing this correctly.

Twilight simply smirked as she repeated herself. "Did I stutter? Well then, let me repeat myself: I have absolutely no intention of executing any of you."

"Twilight, what are you-?" Luna tried to ask, but was silenced when Midnight held up her hoof. The Princess of the Moon remained silent, but eyed her cautiously, just what was she planning?

She turned away from the ex-guards as her horn began to glow, the ground underneath them was immediately engulfed in a light, the like died down to reveal Twilight and the ex-guards standing on a rectangle that was split into two halves, The side they were standing on was light blue while the other side was a deep lavender, soon after that a grid of lines were magically traced into the rectangle.

"Twilight..." Luna said after a small period of silence. "What in Equestria is that?"

"Oh this? Just a little spell I've been working on for half a month." She stated nonchalantly. "I would tell you about the details but we have a trial to finish. So long story short: it allows me to speak with somepony even if they're far away, I just have to leave a similar spell someplace else in order to activate it." She said as a figure began to form on the lavender side. After a few seconds to figure shifted its shapes to form Flash Sentry. "Think of it as a special illusion of someone who's talking to you from another location."

"Can you see me clearly Princess?" The Pegasus asked.

"Perfectly, I assume the room has been prepared?" Twilight asked while everyone in the room stared at the transparent Pegasus in wonder.

"Of course your majesty."

"Good…" Twilight said before glancing back at the three ex-guards with a malicious smile. "...send them in."

On the lavender side Flash nodded and turned towards the Royal Sisters, both of whom were getting over their initial shock and what they were witnessing. He seemingly made a "come here" gesture to them and Luna hesitantly got out of her seat, only to sit back down in slight embarrassment as several figures made their way onto the lavender side of rectangle. Two rows of Guards dragged a group of cloaked ponies chains onto the scene, each one was either trying to fight against them or begging them to stop while crying.

"Now then, let's get back to the matter at hoof shall we?" Twilight said as the ponies were slowly tied to what looked like a stake. "I said I have no intention of killing you, but someone does have to pay the price… and who better than the ones who share your blood?"

The moment she said that, the ponies cloaks were torn off, the ex-guard's eyes widened in shock and horror as they saw their mothers, fathers, and for Gallant Heart & Moon Blade, even their siblings as well.

"NOOOO!" Moon Blade screamed as she desperately tried to run towards her little sister, the guards quickly moved to stop her but Twilight held out her wing, motioning for them to stop.

Moon Blade, despite her pain and injuries galloped as fast as she could towards her sister, the moment she reached her she attempted to rip off the ropes binding her… only to pass right through her.

"Sister... why...?" Crescent Blade asked, tears trailing down her cheeks down at her with shame. "Why would you do this? Why? Why did you betray us?"

"I-I never..." Moon Blade stuttered as she was dragged back by the guards.

"Valiant Wind..." The Pegasus mare called out. "Your father and I raised you better than this. How could you? How could you murder an innocent child?!"

"Mother you don't understand! I was saving Equestria-" Valiant Wind shouted, trying to justify his actions. Only for his father to cut him off.

"And that justifies murdering a CHILD?!" He screamed.

Gallant Heart only looked down in shame as his family stared at him in shock, horror, and disgust.

"Brother…" Gladius Stride choked out, trying to keep himself from breaking down. "Why did you do it? You told me that loyalty to the crown came before everything else when you were a guard… So why? WHY DID YOU DO IT?!"

Gallant Heart winced at his tone as his own tears started to flow. "I… I had no choice…"

"NO CHOICE?! YOU MURDERED A CHILD!!" His mother screamed in rage. "YOU BETRAYED EQUESTRIA, YOU BETRAYED OUR FAMILY! AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF YOU!!"

"Please Princess!" Everyone looked to see Moon Blade at Twilight's hooves. "I'm BEGGING you! Spare my family, spare my sister! I'm the one who took the mission to assassinate you! Please don't let my family suffer for my crimes!"

Everyone in the crowd stared at Twilight for a moment, would she really go through with this? Would she really execute innocent ponies simply because they were related to the guilty ones?

Twilight slammed her hoof down on Moon Blade's left hoof, causing her to scream in agonizing pain. “You killed Spike even though he was completely innocent! He was of no threat to you, so why did you kill him? Was it guilt by association? Well then, that rule should apply to your family as well shouldn’t it? After all, since Spike was apparently guilty of the same “crimes” I committed, so the same should hold true for your family!”

"STOP!" Celestia called out as she landed in front of her, her mane glowing intensely. "Twilight Sparkle what is the MEANING of this?!"

"It's simple, I'm giving them a taste of their own medicine. They took somepony precious to me, now I'm returning the favor. An eye for an eye as they say..." Twilight explained, not even flinching at the sight of her enraged mentor.

"So they took something from you so you'll do the same to them?! Be no better than they are?!" The Sun Princess questioned, slamming her hoof into the ground for emphasis. "What would Spike think of this?!"

"Yes… What would he think about this? Maybe we should go ask him-OH WAIT, WE CAN'T BECAUSE HE'S DEAD! BECAUSE OF THEM!" Midnight fired back, pointing at the trio of traitors.

"AND YOU WILL CONDEMN INNOCENT FOALS TO DEATH AS WELL?! YOU WILL BECOME SOMETHING AKIN TO A MONSTER?! NO BETTER THAN THEM?!" Celestia snapped, her mane now taking the form of a raging inferno.

Instead of quivering in fear however, Twilight simply took a step back, breathed, and asked her mentor. "Tell me Celestia, do you know why they were so willing to act against me? So eager to try and assassinate me despite knowing what the consequences would've been?"

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two powerful beings, Twilight waiting for an answer and Celestia not knowing how to give her one. Everyone in the room and waited with bated breath, some contemplating on whether it would be wise to stay and watch or flee while they still could before a fight started.

Twilight however, broke the silence with an answer of her own. "It's because they weren't afraid to die, they were more than willing to give their lives for this supposedly "noble" cause. However they believed that their families will be safe from any consequences they would have to face. As such, if we execute them they'll simply become martyrs for those who oppose my supposed "tyranny". But if their families die, they won't be so eager to oppose me, because they know that it won't just be them but their entire families lives on the line." She explained.

"So instead of de-horning them or taking away their wings you'll take away their families? Ponies who are innocent of the whole thing? Yes that makes much more sense Nightmare Moon, or would you prefer Sombra?" Celestia snapped, growing more and more impatient with her former-students cruelty and indifference towards innocent ponies.

To her surprise however, Twilight smirked at her. "You seem to be forgetting two things: One, both of those tyrants wanted to enslave all of Equestria, I could care less about that. Two, would you be willing to risk your family shouldering the hatred and pain of your actions? After all, that worked out so well in the past..." She added before casting a glance at Luna.

Celestia winced as several painful memories came back at once, she gave her sister and apologetic look. 'The blame was my own… but the punishment was yours… I could never force you to go through that again...' Celestia then looked to the bound families... as a ruler, many harsh choices had to be made… each one more painful than the last... "Twilight... if you do this and I can't protect you from what will come next."

"You couldn't protect me from what came before this either, and because of that I lost my son." She retorted.

A lone tear trailed down her cheek as she turned her full attention back to her former student. "...very well Twilight. If you truly have no room for mercy in your heart, then finish what you came to do."

Almost instantly the screams of several nobles and the ponies themselves assaulted her ears.

"ARE YOU MAD CELESTIA?!"

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!"

"DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN, THAT WITCH IS MANIPULATING YOU!"

"SILENCE!!!"Twilight shouted, putting the Royal Canterlot voice to use. Almost immediately everyone in the room went quiet. "YOU WORMS ARE NOT IN CHARGE OF THEIR FATES, I AM! I LOST MY SON, AND NOW I WILL HAVE JUSTICE!!" She turned to Flash and the guards. "Burn them alive."

Celestia couldn't bring herself to watch as they lit the flames. As the family's screams of agony met the traitors screams of despair. She could only look away with tears in her eyes, while Twilight watched on eerily quiet and content...

She didn't know exactly when it finally ended, but by the time she realized the screams had stopped Twilight had already undone the spell. She then walked up to Celestia and merely whispered something in her ear.

Celestia glared at her for a moment, but nodded, she spread her wings and flew up to sit beside her beloved little sister, who gave Twilight a less than happy look but said nothing.

Twilight then turned her attention to the trio of traitors. "And now for you three…"

"You've already taken everything from us you monster! What more could you possibly take?!" Valiant Wind screamed, his eyes red from constant crying.

"Simple, this." Twilight's horn glowed a sinister deep lavender as she began to draw out the magic from their bodies in the form of three streams of magic, one blue, one gold, and one red, their pupils started to shrink as their magic continued to flow into Twilight's horn, until their cutie marks faded from their haunches as the last wisp of energy left their bodies forever.

"You three are hereby banished from Equestria, should he ever return, my guards will send you back in worse condition than before." She stated before leaning down and glaring into their eyes. “Now you will know the pain I will have to suffer for the rest of my life, the pain of knowing that your actions have cost you your family, the pain of knowing that you will die alone, with your entire bloodline hated by all of Equestria. The pain of knowing that your entire legacy is now tainted. All. because. of. you. Now get these traitors out of my sight.”

As the guards wasted no time dragging the three ponies screaming and kicking out of the throne room She turned to the crowd of ponies, each and every one of them staring her in shock and horror. "Let this be a lesson to anyone stupid enough to try and assassinate me again. You're welcome to try, but just remember: I won't take your lives, but I'll take everything else."

One month later...

Flash yawned as he stood guard in front of the cave, however he quickly shook himself awake. Looking to his left he couldn't help but notice how content the Timberwolves seemed as they rested in the circle around Fluttershy, who was scratching one of them behind the ears.

Not too far off Zecora he saw continue to chant an incantation in a language he couldn't even begin to understand as she placed several ingredients into a boiling brew. He'd ask what it was for, but the last time he asked she'd simply told him not interrupt the incantation as she dropped a Cockatrace scales into the brew.

A flash of light from within the cave caught his attention, he glanced behind himself to see Twilight emerge from the cave. She seemed tired, but had a content smile on her face, as she exited the cave she leaned down (he was still getting used to his marefriend being bigger than him) and gave Flash an affectionate kiss which he happily returned.

"I'll assume that means it's finally done?" He asked as they broke the kiss.

"Yes, it took three months but the preparations are complete." She smirked, glancing back to the cave as the object within began to shine brighter. "Now we just need the others..."

As if on cue, a Sonic Rainboom exploded across the sky, and from it’s center a rainbow-colored streak shot out and flew straight towards them.

Rainbow Dash landed in front of the lavender Princess, she was noticeably more disheveled along with several bandages covering her hooves. "I got you message Princess, what's the emergency? Was there another assassination attempt?!" She asked, only to notice Fluttershy and Zecora. "...what are you guys doing here?"

"To answer your questions Rainbow Dash, no there wasn't an assassination attempt, not this time. However I do require your assistance, along with the rest of the Element wielders, which is why Fluttershy's here." Twilight explained as she glanced at the staircase leading up the side of the dried-up moat they were in. At the top she saw Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with a team of six Royal Guards.

"And Zecora?" The cyan Pegasus asked as their friends made their way down the steps.

"I know more about this Forest than even you, and the Princess's plans require this brew." The zebra answered as she approached the two.

"Twilight, what's this all about?" Rarity asked nervously, as much as she hated to admit it, being around her friend was a lot less comfortable when she willingly executed several innocent ponies for the sake of spiting the guilty ones. She still remembered the dark tone in her voice when she was questioned about her horrific methods of dealing with the traitors.

“I tried to lead by example, but they refused to see reason. They took someone precious to me, so in turn I shall do the same. Unless those who conspired to take my life are brought forth, I shall hunt them and their families down myself, and they shall all share the same fate as those traitorous guards!”

Rarity was brought out of her thoughts
when Twilight spoke. "My friends… you have all been called here in order to assist me in making Equestria a better place, not just for ponykind, but for many species in general." She elaborated as she turned her attention to the cave behind her, the light inside now pulsating rapidly with multiple colors and glowing brighter. "Today will mark the beginning of change, the beginning of a truly harmonic world... but first, we must stand as one."

Applejack was about to ask what she was talking about, only to hear Fluttershy gasp in shock as she was surrounded by a yellow aura. Applejack was soon engulfed in a gentle yellow-orange glow, followed by Rarity as a blue-violet aura wrapped around her figure, Pinkie Pie gasped as she was lifted off the ground and the pink energy enveloped her, Rainbow Dash could only look around in confusion as her body was enveloped in blue light.

Flash, Zecora, the six Guards and the Timberwolf pack slowly backed away as the group was surrounded by a clear bubble, the light within the cave glowing brighter as five streams of magic flew out of the five mare and into the cave.

"Soon..." Twilight said as she herself was engulfed in a lavender aura, her sixth stream joining the rest m. "...soon Equestria will change… for the better…"

A pillar of rainbow-colored light erupted from the depths of the Everfree Forest, and everything changed...

Author's Note

I have to say it was the fastest I've ever gotten a chapter finished!

I'd also like to thank my friend VampDash for the dialogue between Twilight & Celestia!