Komm, Süßer Schein

All was quiet within the walls of Canterlot's throne room. Not a breeze to disturb the banners, not a creak from the stonework or wooden furniture, no skittish foal or exuberant noble to clack their hooves on the polished floor. The warm orange glow of late afternoon light cut in through the windows, and all was calm in the vast hall.

All, but one thing.

Perched on her throne, the cushion's fabric spared from the assault of her claws merely because she had none, Princess Twilight Sparkle sat and waited, and no one else was there to listen to the singing tension inside her.

A glance at the clock, a glance at the door, then her eyes settled back onto the source of her distress. One rectangular piece of paper, lying on the small circular table beside her, four words neatly inscribed onto it in sharp strokes of black ink.

We have a problem.

That was all Sunburst had written. She'd tried all sorts of spells and charms to reveal further hidden contents, and yes, she'd tried to hold the letter up to a candle, that wouldn't trick her again. Nothing else was there. Coming from the stallion who hadn't hesitated to tell her about how a magic explosion had replaced the School of Friendship with a different building housing strange bipedal creatures, one of which claimed to know both her and Starlight, it was quite worrying.

A click from the clock, as its hands struck six o'clock, and a knock at the edge of the room.

Purple light encased the doors as Twilight opened them, perhaps a little too hastily, and the bearded unicorn stepped in. And with him, he carried the obscure instruments that many times already had threatened to destroy Equestria.

Twilight had come to know them well. Forged in dark chambers many centuries before, the names of their creators lost by time. No one knew exactly what bout of madness had inspired the birth of such twisted tools, whether it be some dark force or simply their makers' own deteriorating mind. But most of those who came across them, even as simple mentions in books, swore to never again dare to research further into the nature of those cursed artefacts, and the few who did did so out of dire necessity.

No one dared, no one even conceived of studying them further than necessary for their own gain. All feared them, and the few dark mares and stallions who had tried to take over the country had sworn to cast them into fire rather than use them. They were vicious weapons, as deadly to the wielder as they were to anyone else. For a time, they had been forgotten, and the common pony wouldn't even know of their existence. But they had remained there, waiting in sealed up archives, for the day a fool would invoke upon their powers again.

And once again, it seemed, they had reared their ugly heads, threatening the peace and safety of the nation like so many times before. Twilight didn't wish to know them, but it was a burden she had to bear. And she was infinitely grateful that Sunburst had taken upon himself the terrifying task of studying their nature. She was quite surprised he hadn't yet turned mad, though quite worried about it, too.

The unicorn stepped forward, and set the dusty tomes of the Codex Solaris Lex Æquestrian on the floor.

Twilight stared at the collection of ancient laws and edicts, her eyes betraying the profound loathing she felt towards the inextricable web of details and clauses that had stumped and trapped her so many times. "What is it?" she asked, her voice dry yet dripping with dread.

Sunburst looked down at the books, then up at Twilight, then sighed with the weight of a thousands screams of agony.

The Princess broke protocol for a moment, and walked up to the stallion to give him a reassuring pat on the back with her wing. Then she returned to her seat. "When you feel like it. No need to rush."

Sunburst waited a couple of moments, breathing deep, slow breaths to calm his nerves. He clicked his lips and tongue once or twice, swallowing away the dryness, then took one last deep breath. "So," he began, "it turns out that ancient Equestrian culture had a definition of Princess deeply rooted in the nature of the most prominent examples available to them. Namely-" He adjusted his glasses "-while not every Princess must be an alicorn, every alicorn is by law a Princess."

He flipped through the pages to reach the relevant one. "This takes immediate effect the moment of their ascension, and their status as Princess is tied to them rather than to their nature as an alicorn, meaning it will not be revoked should they somehow lose their wings or horn." He looked at Twilight from over his glasses. "I think you know where this is going."

It wasn't immediate in Twilight's mind, but it didn't take much time either. Not long after the unicorn's question, the memories of what should have been the day of her coronation came to her. Particularly, those of a rather annoying pegasus filly, now part of a delightfully hideous statue in the gardens. She nodded along. "So by law, Cozy Glow is still a Princess, right?"

"Correct."

Already bracing herself, on the verge of a pit she knew she would have no choice but to fall into, Twilight still clung to one last shred of hope she recognised vain. "Please tell me that's all," she meekly asked.

Sunburst's answer was the loud thud of a volume's cover hitting the floor as he opened it, and Twilight's hope was crushed between the floor and those bindings. He moved to one of many, many marked pages, and looked up at the Princess, waiting.

After a moment of hesitation, and more than one instance of her contemplating abdication within it, Twilight finally nodded.

And so, by informal decree, began the swift and painful slaughter of the Monarch's daily mood and sanity. Sunburst chose to be a merciful executioner, and spared her the details of which section and paragraph he was referring to.

"A Princess cannot be imprisoned in any way without a formal trial."

"Nightmare Moon was."

"Nightmare Moon was imprisoned by the Elements, the judgement of which is considered equivalent to that of a formal trial."

"The Elements, or Harmony itself at least, sided against Cozy."

"Harmony removed her status as an alicorn, but did not imprison her. Arguably, this makes the imprisonment worse."

"She should have been in Tartarus when she became an alicorn. She should be going back there either way."

"Princesses cannot be imprisoned in Tartarus. A new punishment will need to be established for her old crimes as well, assuming what she had to go through already isn't enough, this does not change the fact that she is a Princess now, and must be judged as such."

"She destroyed Canterlot!"

"And it'll be the jury's duty to establish a rightful punishment for her."

"Does she have to be present at this trial."

"Physically and mentally, and she needs to be able to defend herself."

Twilight inwardly cursed the day she'd agreed to take over the throne. Celestia had conveniently made no mention of the Codex. But oh, she'd be sure to help, as long as she wasn't busy with such important activities as shark-diving or kite-surfing or enjoying her sister. "So we have to free Cozy Glow from stone and put her through a formal trial. Is this all?"

"Princess Cozy Glow," Sunburst corrected with little enthusiasm. "And no. It's not all."

"Of course."

"Before we can put Cozy through the trial, she needs to be formally recognised as a Princess, with a proper ceremony. One that must be officiated by at least one of the current rulers of Equestria, which only leaves you as an option."

"Free Cozy from stone, crown her, trial." Twilight sighed, then asked with little hope, "Is there more?"

"Yes."

Twilight wordlessly tilted her head back, smacking it against the throne with the delicacy typical of her resigned frustration. Her long horn slid into the hole in the fabric and stuffing, one of many left there whenever she'd encountered the Codex. It had served as a good reminder of her growth, when she pierced a new one she knew she'd gotten taller since the last time she'd crossed paths with her ink on paper nemesis.

Sunburst flashed a tired but supportive smile towards the Princess. "On top of being crowned, Princess Cozy will need to receive a series of compensations for her status." He looked up again. "Every Equestrian Princess is owed a crown, a residence, and a title designating a field she rules over. You must give them to her yourself, as current ruler." Sunburst paused with a sigh. "Now for the worst part."

Twilight failed to contain a groan.

"Princess Cozy Glow is also owed compensation for her unjust punishment, and for the late recognition of her title. As she is a Princess of Equestria, both of these offences classify as treason. I am still figuring out what exactly the compensation will need to be, but at minimum it will involve a lot of land to rule over, a number of servants and subjects, monetary compensation, and some level of leniency during the trial. And about the land..." Sunburst sighed again, bringing a hoof to his temple and shaking his head. "Her last known residence was Ponyville. So I believe, as far as I'm allowed to see, that that is the city she should rule over."

Twilight readjusted her neck. "So I need to free her from stone, crown her, give her money and a castle, make her the ruler of the town I used to live in, then finally put her through a trial?"

Sunburst nodded.

The alicorn clicked her tongue. "Sunburst? What would happen if I ignored the Codex?"

"It would void your position as ruler, and the next pony in the hierarchy would replace you. Which, given the present circumstances, would mean that Cozy Glow would become the rightful ruler of Equestria."

"And can I not choose to abolish the Codex?"

"It was approved by Celestia herself."

"And Celestia appointed me as her successor."

"And going against her decisions concerning the Codex would render that null, as you would be going against the explicit will of the one who appointed you as ruler and therefore no longer be suitable for your current role. This would create a vacancy of power, and Cozy would legally take your place. "

"What if Celestia changed her mind?"

"She's no longer the ruler."

"What if I made her?"

"Again, you'd be going against her explicit will. You'd lose your position, the decision would be considered unlawful, Cozy would become the ruler."

Twilight stared at the ceiling, in a futile attempt to pierce through it with her gaze. "What if I changed the Codex?"

"The Codex can only be altered by a unanimous decision of all Princesses. That includes Cozy."

Twilight finally lowered her head. She did not want to hear it, but she needed to. "Remind me again why we can't ignore the Codex, Sunburst."

"Because following the law is the right thing to do."

"And?"

"Because there are ponies out there who wait for nothing more than a chance to dethrone you."

"And?"

"And we saw what happened last time you ignored it. You don't exactly function well when you get to make the rues yourself," Sunburst hesitantly concluded.

The memories of that building burning were still fresh in her mind, even after all those years. "Right. Right." Twilight took a deep breath. "So I should go free Cozy and tell her she's a Princess now, right?"

With a defeated expression, Sunburst closed the volumes. "Yes."

The Princess' expression was a perfect image of calm and tranquillity, a placid pool of undisturbed water. Except for a barely noticeable twitching in her left eyelid. And had that twitching not carried along the echoing sound of shattering glass with each vibration, she might have easily fooled most ponies into thinking she was indeed calm.

Sunburst looked at her. "Do you need a moment, or-"

"A moment," Twilight said. "Just a moment." She disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared a second later, shaking some white dust off of her hooves and wings.

Sunburst lifted a hoof and opened his mouth, but did not get to speak.

"Moon dust," Twilight explained, as if that was all the explanation needed. And under her breath, she added, "Someone didn't like it when I glassed a desert last time, I had to find some other place."