Twilight Velvet knelt on the palace balcony, overlooking the smoking ruins of Canterlot, half-buried in snow. The ambient heat of dragon flame had melted much of the ice, causing cool water to trickle down the mountainside. In the distance, the airships which Discord and the dragons had pushed clear of the mountain, could be made out as blackened husks, half-crumpled across the plains of Equestria.

Ash had joined the rime on the balcony, creating a grayish slurry that reflected the overcast sky. But the snow where Twilight knelt was pink with the blood of her son, whose lifeless body she now cradled between her hooves.

She heard the crash of the same creature who had saved her from the Storm King burrowing back through the roof of the palace and heard shouts echoing out from the throne room. Some of the voices seemed familiar, but the one she focused on was the Storm King's. He was begging for his life.

Velvet remembered hearing about satyrs in her various adventures outside Equestria. Like Centaurs, they were creatures born of the unholy magics of Tartarus, whose taste for power could never be satiated. She remembered even expressing her worry to Celestia, that such creatures might invade their home, as they had done to the homes of countless other races.

Celestia had told her that Equestria would be ready.

She closed her eyes and dragged her hoof over Shining Armor's face, closing his eyelids. Then she carefully lay him down on the cold stone, as if he was a foal, she was afraid of waking. Then she stood and her horn burned with magic as she limped back inside the palace.

There was Twilight. Sobbing and harrowed. But alive and hugging her friends. And there was Spike comforting her.

Her eyes passed over the strange objects which Twilight was wielding. The same staff which the Storm King had used to kill Shining Armor. And a massive, multicolored orb which produced an almost mesmerizing effect when looked directly at. Then her gaze landed on him.

He lay in the center of the hall, still trying to drag his broken and bloodied body away from his attacker. His antlers had been shattered and his abdomen was covered in tooth marks. He was so busy with his meager to escape attempt, that he didn't even notice Velvet until he'd reached the base of her hooves.

He looked up at her, one of his blue eyes swollen shut with bruising. The other wide with fear.

"It's okay, mom." Twilight said, through her sobs. "It's over now."

Velvet glanced back at her daughter and her friends and then she returned her glare to the Storm King. "No." She finally said. "No, it's not."

With that, she released the magic which had been building up in her horn, a blast of pink energy lighting up the hall. When the flash had faded, the Storm King's mangled body lay behind, the twisted expression of bestial horror on his face perfectly preserved in ice.

"Wha-what did you do?" Fluttershy asked.

"I didn't do anything. I just let him express himself without restraint. Now the Windigos can feed on him until kingdom come." Velvet said, turning away from the frozen figure and marching back in the direction of her son's body. "Now...now it's over."

Twilight stood in the plaza in front of Canterlot Castle, the place where the invasion had begun. She was unable to release Celestia and Luna until Cadence's statue had been returned to the castle. She knew that she should have rushed to release Cadence from the Miserable Malachite. However, any sense of urgency had left her. The enemy was defeated, the city had barely escaped total destruction, and the sooner that Cadence was awake the sooner she'd have to tell her about what had happened to Shining Armor.

About what she had ALLOWED to happen to Shining Armor.

She gazed out at the distant wrecks of the Storm King's fleet. Somewhere amidst the wreckage and the dozens of burned bodies, lay the shattered remains of Tempest's statue. And Grubber...unable to escape from a burning airship because Twilight had locked him into Tempest's quarters. Unable to do anything as the zeppelin he was on caught fire and sank into the earth.

Maybe he'd been killed in when the gunpowder went off. Or better yet, suffocated from smoke inhalation and not been conscious for that final, definitive crash.

Twilight lowered her eyes to the pavement. How could she ever call herself Princess of Friendship again? How could she ever claim to have the interests of ponies in her heart? While Starlight and Trixie and the Pillars were in danger, she was too busy hurting the Storm King. As if...as if hurting him enough might have brought Shining back.

And her friends...if she had just listened to them back in the kingdom of Hippogriffs, if she hadn't been so determined to cross any line to save her home...Shining would probably still be alive. And her mother...she never would have been driven to trap the Storm King in a prison of ice and hate for the rest of time.

She had ruined everything. She had ruined the lives of her friends, of her allies. Her sister-in-law was a widow because of her. Her niece would grow up without a father, because of her.

She sunk to the ground, feeling the subtle but constant shifting continental plates deep below and the burbling of magma beneath the crust of the Earth. She didn't deserve her wings. She didn't deserve to be princess of anything. She had failed, again and again, to do the right thing. She had forgotten...

"Princess Twilight! Good to see you didn't get turned to stone."

It was Dragon Lord Ember, looking every bit her title with her bloodstone scepter in both claws and her golden armor stained black with soot.

"Hello, Ember...I wanted to thank you again, for saving my hometown." Twilight said, looking glumly up from the street cobblestones.

Ember removed her helmet and held it under one arm. "Ah, well, we almost destroyed it too, so it was only fair...sorry, we've never fought things like those before. We had no idea they were gonna explode like that."

Twilight nodded.

"I uh, I heard from Spike...that you lost your brother in the battle." Ember said, with a cough.

"It wasn't a battle. It was a massacre." Twilight answered. "I almost doomed Equestria..."

Ember snorted, smoke curling up from her nostrils. "Right, you ponies believe that if you get angry, the wind horses will destroy your kingdom."

"We don't believe it, Ember. We know it. Surely you saw them while you were up there in the sky? In case you hadn't guessed, it doesn't normally snow at this time of the year." Twilight said.

Ember sighed. "Yeah, yeah...still...you saved your friends, that's the important part."

"No! I didn't! I failed, Ember...Celestia needed me to make allies with the hippogriffs and instead I...I..." Twilight lowered her gaze. "I-I'm sorry...I'm not a leader like you, Ember...I can't make the tough decisions...I-I've failed..."

Ember watched her for a moment and then regarded her own reflection in the tip of her bloodstone scepter.

"Twilight?"

"Yes, Ember..."

"You broke into a queen's throne room and stole a magic pearl, right?"

Twilight nodded, head hanging again with shame.

"You were willing to do anything to protect the creatures who trust you to lead them." Ember said. "If it was me, I would have boiled the hippogriff queen as soon as she implied that my species wasn't worth saving."

"That's not how it happened...if I had just waited..." Twilight began.

"You did what you thought you had to do." Ember said, returning the helmet over her snout. "You put yourself at risk over and over again to save others and in the end, you defeated the enemy."

"Ember! A good leader doesn't just choose what other creatures should do...a-a good leader, especially the princess of Friendship, is supposed to trust other creatures! If I had trusted my friends, or the pillars, or even the dragons...if I hadn't...If I had just..."

Ember set a claw down on Twilight's wing. "You made a mistake. Believe it or not, it's not the last time you're going to do that. Every day, I wake up and I have to stop myself from stealing from the hoards of my subjects. Every day, you ponies have to choose to be kind and understanding instead of spiteful and destructive, even when you're faced with creatures who don't respect you or your culture." She leaned down, pressing the still warm metal of her helmet against Twilight's horn. "But you raised Spike to be like you, and in turn, you saved me from becoming the monster my dad wanted me to be. This time, your enemies got the best of you...but if someone showed up at my door and turned all my advisors to stone...I'd wouldn't have hesitated to start taking everything I could, to be powerful enough to defend my land."

Then she pulled back and lifted up off the ground with a flap of her wings. "One day, you'll realize you aren't supposed to be perfect; you're just supposed to try your best. After all, you've got an eternity to figure it out."

Twilight watched her go, the multicolored dragons quickly returning to their own lands, before their rescue attempt transformed into a feeding frenzy. She didn't know if Ember's speech was supposed to make her feel better. She didn't know if it was possible to ever feel better, with the way she was feeling right now. But she did know that, when Ember left, that last sentence felt like a threat. Like Twilight was to be resigned to some kind of dreary purgatory until she "figured it out."

It made her suddenly aware the price of her longevity, the downsides of which she'd had to force herself not to fixate on.

It was a few days before the funeral was held. There was so much to do in terms of repairing the city and reassuring the citizens of Equestria that the Storm King and his forces had been dispatched. Twilight was so busy that it was almost easy to avoid her family and friends. She could tell that Spike wanted to stay close to her (as if it was his job to be sure she didn't do anything unforgivable again) but she couldn't face him any more than the others. He was as much her brother as Shining was and she had betrayed him.

When the time came, the streets of Canterlot were dark with mourning dress. Shining Armor had been declared a hero, who had given his life in the defense of Ponykind. As if he hadn't died for nothing, like so many others had died for nothing. Twilight didn't interrupt Celestia's speech about him though. She knew that if she had been faced with that sea of faces, looking for some kind of hope to guide them through the ceremony, she would have crumbled.

Still, she could barely stand there and listen to the words about how gentle and brave her brother was. She knew all that. And it didn't make it any easier that he was gone. Worse, she could hear Cadence weeping over the sound of Celestia's magnified voice and the sniffling and blubbering of the crowd. She had avoided Cadence, just like everyone else. The betrayal which had almost destroyed her connection to the magic of Friendship was nothing compared to the heartbreak which had severed Cadence's connection to the magic of love. She had wandered through the past few days as if in a fugue state, holding Flurry close and moving multiple times per day from total despondence to torturous fits of melancholy.

She'd heard Luna propose to Celestia that she should become regent of the Crystal Empire until Flurry was older and Cadence's mental state had improved. She knew that Luna was trying to be kind. She knew that she was trying to do what was best for Cadence and for the ponies who she protected. But she couldn't help wanting to speak up, to declare that Cadence was not weak and would never consider shirking her responsibilities, regardless of the evidence to the contrary.

After Celestia's speech was over, her father took the podium. Still exhausted from the residual fatigue of protecting the School for Gifted Unicorns, he looked so much...frailer...than she'd ever seen him as before. So much more vulnerable.

It was too much. She knew that she was supposed to stand on the stage and look sad but determined for the benefit of the general public. But her guilt and her grief had built, until she was sure she was going to crumble in front of every creature. She could do nothing but briefly whisper half-choked apologies to Celestia, before teleporting away.

From her old tower, she could see the funeral procession, as the casket was carried through the streets of Canterlot, to the train station which would return Shining Armor to his burial place in the Crystal Empire. Celestia had said that having the coffin travel through the nation would allow ponies to better process their sense of loss. But at the moment, Twilight wanted nothing more than to charge the train and cling to the casket and never let him leave again.

She knew it was selfish. Until recently, she hadn't realized just how selfish she was. Anxiety and inadequacy had always niggled at her, the root causes of her worst failures and most terrible mistakes. But the self-loathing which she had no come to call friend was stronger than that had ever been. And the worst part was that she had come to the tower not to collect herself, so that she might return to the ceremony and support her family.

She had come so she could cry. Could cry about how stupid and angry she was, with herself, with the world, for destroying her life so incidentally. Could pitch a fit, throwing books and furniture around with her horn like she was toddler lobbing her toys for attention. Could scream and pound on the floorboards uninterrupted as a broken weeping wreck of a mare and then curl up on the carpet like she was young again.

He had always been there. He had been her first friend. And she had betrayed him and everything he'd taught her. And now she would never...they would never again...there was nothing to say. No way out of it. No future for either of them. He had died trying to protect her, but she wished with every passing minute that he had been too slow. That the Storm King had stopped her lead heart before Shining Armor could intervene. She knew that no matter his grief, he would be capable of protecting those who needed it, of carrying on the legacy of whatever good she had managed in her brief and disastrous tenure.

But she was not her brother. She was not brave. She wasn't gentle either. Just a monstrous brat, hiding under the skin of something pretty, waiting for a chance to circumstances again set her free from reason or empathy.

It was time to talk to Celestia about her future.

As Shining Armor was lifted onto the train, Celestia approached his watching parents, having sent Luna to retrieve Twilight. She knew that her former pupil looked up to her so much and that if she were to follow the arcane trail left by her dangerously confused teleport, Twilight would heap apologies and beg forgiveness and blame herself for the flaws of having emotions or experiencing loss.

And Celestia couldn't stand that. Not right now.

"I just wanted to tell you how proud I am...of your son and of you both." Celestia said, the normal warmth absent from her voice. She had worked so hard to create a kingdom where all would be safe and tended to and where magic would run freely. And she had failed, spectacularly. Again.

"You and your son protected the ponies of this city when I was unable to." Celestia said, bowing her head slightly. "And for that, you deserve my eternal gratitude."

Night Light nodded, slowly. Twilight Velvet just stared at the open doors of the train, that the procession had just passed through.

Then she spoke, her normally cheery voice replaced with something ripe with ache and fermented with spite. "You know, the day that Shiny got into the Royal Guard was the happiest day of his life? He was so glad, to-to be helping others...that's all he ever wanted, was to help. And-and...we were so proud of him, that he had appeased you...that he had followed in our hoofsteps. We used to tell him, how noble it was, what a...honor, it was...to serve the princess."

She turned; her distant eyes fixed on Celestia's shocked expression.

"It's our fault...it's our fault, as much as yours. We knew what you did...to your sister. And we gave them to you anyway. But still...I just wanted to tell you." Her voice cracked; her rage drowned in too much sorrow to manifest in shouts. "I hope you're happy. You've taken them both from us. We trusted you...we trusted you to look after our daughter and our son...and...and...you took them from us."

She looked like she wanted to say more, but Night Light gently placed a hoof on her withers, and she just raised a hoof to her mouth, as if shocked at her own accusations. Then she turned away, her whole body shaking against her husband, as they gently trotted to the edge of the platform, to watch the train leave.

Celestia stared at them both, her carefully crafted composure crumbling around her. No one member of her subjects had said something so cruel to her face, in over a thousand years. Now it felt as if the ground had opened up and a vast and hungry recess was swallowing her. She could see ponies turning to look at her, only a few had overheard Velvet's speech, but all seemed to understand immediately what had transpired. Now they were looking to her, to see how she would handle confrontation with a pair of grieving parents.

She shrunk back from the edge of the station, unable to stand their eyes on her, looking to see if she might cry or shout or demand they be thrown in the prison. Their trust in her, she realized then, was gone. She had been like a mother to them, lifting the sun every day for their convenience. But she had failed when they needed her and now, they would never again regard her with the same awe or love.

And she didn't deserve either. Velvet was right. She had pitted Twilight and Shining Armor against countless threats, even transforming Twilight's salvation of the Crystal Kingdom into a kind of test. She had trained them to believe their value came in what they did, not what they were. And now one of them was dead and the other might never know comfort again.

"Princess Celestia!"

It was Spike, running up to her, with half Twilight's friends in tow. There had been a great rift split in their group by these events, the kind which might never fully be repaired.

"I have to talk to you about Twilight." Spike said, panting from exertion as she reached her forehooves.

"Y-yes...of course..." Celestia said. "But umm...not right here...I uh...let's meet at the palace in an hour or so? I believe Twilight needs some...alone time at the moment." She noticed the looks of concern - and confusion - on the faces of Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. But she didn't give them a chance to ask her any more questions. She spread her wings and took off, rising quickly high above the crowd and gulping in the increasingly cold air of the atmosphere, to clear her chest of the poison which was surely tightening her lungs.

She stopped only when the clouds were distant beneath her, and the grace of the stars no longer hidden. It would have been suicide for pegasus to fly this high, but she had long ago become accustomed to it.

She closed her eyes and felt the tears freezing against her muzzle. It was silent up here. Totally silent. Nothing but the beating of her heart and the pounding of each thought that struggled to dominate the mind.

"Well, I never thought I'd say it, but Twilight's mother would make a wonderful draconequus." Said an all-too familiar voice. "The way she speared your heart like that? I couldn't conjure magic that potent..."

"You!" Celestia lashed out, her horn blazing with a beam that could have put craters in the moon.

Discord simply inched his serpentine body out of the way, bending around the beam and raising an eyebrow. "Oh, come now, Tia...I come here to comfort you, like a good friend, and you attack me? Those seem hardly the actions of the noble and good Celestia that I know and love."

"This isn't funny!" Celestia shouted, her voice making thunder echo far below. "A good pony is dead...and it's your fault! If you had just done your job, if you had protected the realm..." Her voice died away as she realized her words. "I...I...oh, what have I done?"

"That seems hardly like a fair assertion." Discord said, simply. "If I had shown up, I could have been petrified again, a position which I suspect you'll now understand is less than comfortable. Worse, with that staff of his, the Storm King could have drained my magic...all things considered, I thought it more important for you ponies to make some savvier allies, so that when this happens again, you won't be caught off guard."

"Happens again..." Celestia echoed.

"Oh, come now, Celestia. This whole experiment of yours, of creating a nice pony paradise where every creature can live unmolested by the world's troubles...well, it was never going to work, was it? I mean, how many times has it almost been destroyed by the vagrants of this world? Despite all your powers, even you cannot subvert fate..."

"I-I can't...I can't just let them become like everything else in this world...tired a-and angry." Celestia said.

"Need I remind you what happened when our peoples last fought?" Discord asked. "You Alicorns won the war, Celestia...you tamed the sun and the moon...you even made the seasons and the wildlife dependent on your magic." He smirked. "You locked away the children of Grogar in the depths of Tartarus. And you imprisoned the lord of chaos himself, in stone...But you still can't stop time. Everything ages, everything rots. Everything...struggles, whether you like it or not. No matter how much you control, the rest alludes you...you know this, deep in your heart, or else you'd have tried to make your ponies immortal by now."

Celestia shook. "You've no right attacking my efforts to keep ponies safe when compared to the atrocities you have committed in the name of 'fun'."

Discord rolled his eyes. "Good intentions. What a wonderful shield it will be to hide behind, when this world is dead and all that you've built has been destroyed by your own petulance."

Celestia opened her mouth to snap back at him but stopped herself. Then she hung her head.

"It doesn't matter...I've failed all that rely on me. The loss caused by this conflict will foment and consume future generations in hatred and alienation. I've no right to argue with you...after what I've done to the ones I love."

Discord groaned. "You're no fun when you're like this." Then he pulled out a gramophone from his ear and set the needle. As it began to move along the grooves of the disc, two voices began to emit from the horn of the player.

"I can't do this anymore, Luna. I've failed everypony. I stole from creatures which might have been allies...please, take my wings away. I-I can't be an alicorn anymore...I can't let myself hurt anyone again because I think I know better."

"Twilight, remember you are talking to the mare who blocked out the sun because of she allowed envy to consume her."

"Please, Luna...don't. Just...don't. If...if Celestia had died and you knew it was your fault...you wouldn't be able to be a princess anymore. Please, just...take away the power. You can use the staff if you want...you can give my powers to somepony else. Any pony else."

Discord lifted the needle from the disc. "It would appear that you are not the only creature who blames herself for the state of the world below."

Celestia just stared at the disc in horror. "Twilight...Twilight wants to give up her magic? Resign as princess?"

"Yes...I wonder what she plans to do when she's isolated herself from every creature she once relied on." Discord shrugged. "Just a thought..."

Celestia was already turning away, a bright yellow beam diving back down through the atmosphere. Discord smiled, a tiny bit.

"There's the compassion I've come to despise."

"Twilight, I don't think you understand what you are asking me to do. You were fated to become an alicorn, it is written in stone. If I remove your powers...you will still be the embodiment of the Element of Magic. You will still be needed, by your friends and your family, and by all of Equestria." Luna said, softly.

"No! I won't!" Twilight shouted, tears in her eyes. "I don't know if the Elements of Harmony made a mistake...but I know that no creature needs me here! Not after what I did."

Luna stepped closer, a confused look on her face. "The theft of the pearl? Please, Twilight, it is not-"

"NO! I didn't trust my friends...I-I didn't trust my brother. I should have known that other ponies would be able to protect Equestria...but I thought...I believed that I, had to do it. If I had looked for my brother when I returned..."

Luna stepped closer, lifting a hoof to comfort Twilight but Twilight ignored the gesture, continuing with her trotting rant.

"...I-I thought that because the Storm King was violent and selfish, that I would have to be too, to beat him." She closed her eyes. "I-I started to hate my own kind, Luna, the ponies I was supposed to be protecting. And when I finally had the power, I was looking for...I abused it."

"Twilight, I have visited you each night since you rescued me from stone..." Luna said. "I have seen your dreams, I have walked in your nightmares...believe me, you made a mistake. But you did not kill your brother."

Twilight's shoulders slumped and she sat down, her ruffled wings hanging limply to her sides. "It doesn't matter anymore, Luna. It's not about me, it's about them. None of my friends will ever be able to trust me again...we won't be able to use the Elements of Harmony. I'll never be able to adventure with Cadence or babysit my niece...I-I can never look my father in the face again. N-nothing I can do will fix what I let happen. I can't keep pretending to be something I'm not, Luna...I'm not...strong. I'm not like you and Celestia. I'm just...a-a..."

"STOP!"

Twilight lifted her face and watched as Starlight appeared in a flash, the invisibility spell dissolving around her form. No sooner had they made eye contact than Starlight had rushed up to her, wrapping her hooves around Twilight's neck and holding her close.

"Please, Twilight...please don't say things like that." Starlight said, her eyes shut tightly. "I know you are hurting, and I just-I just want you to get better...but...you are wrong. You are not weak. You are stronger than you know. Please...you did everything you could to help others...it's not your fault." She tightened her grip around Twilight's neck. "You...you don't have to be princess anymore if you don't want to...but please...don't...don't give up on yourself. Don't give up on your friends...please, Twilight, I-I...I hurt my family, I brainwashed ponies for years. I ruined lives because I was afraid...but you still cared about me...please, please...let us care about you."

As she spoke, her horn flared and magic wove around the two of them, holographs of memories appearing around and above them. Memories of telling Spike to save the Crystal Heart. Of giving the alicorn magic to Tirek to save her friends. Of returning to the Everfree Forest to restore the Tree of Harmony. And of Twilight standing on a cloud, extending a hoof toward Starlight.

Twilight just stared at the swirling images, blinking fresh tears from her already sore eyes, as Starlight clung to her.

Luna smiled slightly and trotted over to them. "Starlight is right...I will not prevent you from abdicating the throne, Twilight. But neither will I be party to stealing from you that which you have earned...your wings are as much a part of you as your horn." She lowered herself slightly, so that she and Twilight were at last on the same level, not one looking up or down at the other. "And just as your friendship saved Starlight, so too did it save me once...we two will be here to comfort you and support you regardless of what comes...because we have also made mistakes. And you taught us that we were not defined by them."

Twilight stared at Luna and then down at Starlight. Unable to force words to come, she wrapped her hooves around Starlight's head and closed her eyes, allowing the brief moment of comfort to banish the unshakable pain which had lodged in her chest.

Luna leaned close to them both, nuzzling Twilight's mane and looking up only once to give a heart-felt smile at the invisible Celestia watching the encounter.

The only way out was forward. The only way to set things right was to take responsibility for them. When a week had passed and the grief had become almost bearable, she set out, with Starlight at her side, a constant reminder that she was capable of good.

There were apologies to make.

"I submit myself to your authority, Queen Novo." Twilight said, the bubble spell around her head wavering as she bowed. "I violated the sanctity of your laws and insulted the wisdom of your council. Although my intentions were noble, my methods did a disservice to my subjects. I only hope that regardless of the punishment inflicted on me, our two nations can be allies once more."

The platoon of soldiers who had their spears trained on Twilight and her companion watched as she levitated the Pearl of Transformation out of her satchel and moved it through the water and into the fins of the queen. All the while, Twilight kept her eyes downwards in adjuration. Starlight though, watched Novo consider the Pearl, her fins seeming to connect somehow to the power within and her eyes glowing brightly with the light of revelation.

When she'd finished, she glared down at Twilight's supplicated form and opened her mouth to proclaim judgement.

"Stop! Mother, I-I object..."

Novo snapped her gaze toward Princess Skystar, who had risen from her coral seat and swam between her mother and Twilight. "The princess...she did nothing wrong!" She proclaimed.

"Daughter, now is not the time..." Novo warned.

"No! This is wrong!" Skystar said, pushing past the guards who surrounded Twilight and Starlight and putting a fin tentatively to the top of Twilight's head. "Twilight and her friends came to us...for help. And we turned them away, because we were afraid..."

"That is enough, Skystar!"

"I'm not done talking!" Skystar said, her own voice taking on the tone of imperialness with which her mother-maintained court. "...I'm not done...so if you could just let me finish, I would very much appreciate it, mother." She took a deep breath. "They came because their home had been invaded, like ours...if we'd gone to the ponies when the Storm King attacked...they would have done all they could to save us. But we...allowed the fear of what the Storm King might do to prevent us...from being kind."

She swallowed as the members of the court exchanged looks, half-guilty and half-enraged by the impropriety of her speech.

"A-and then...when Twilight stole the Pearl to help protect her home...we locked up her friends, even though they were telling the truth, that they had no knowledge of her plan. We locked up innocent creatures, who came here seeking aid...what kind of nobility is there in that? What kind of justice?"

Her mother's warning glare deepened, but Skystar continued.

"A-and now...now that Twilight has done what she said and used the Pearl to defeat the Storm King...we are able to return to the skies." There was another mumble of disagreement throughout the crowd, although this time with less anger. "Because of Twilight...if we had trusted her from the beginning...if we hadn't been afraid, we could have rid the world of our greatest enemy and reclaimed our home...instead, we...we imprisoned innocent creatures and allowed another creature to bear the brunt of battle." Skystar took another deep breath. "I-I don't want to rule over a kingdom, where we punish creatures for caring for each other...or one where we imprison the creature who has liberated us from decades of isolation."

There was an uproar from the crowd. No one wished to speak up against the queen, not when their race lay trapped beneath the waves. But the thought of returning to the air above had come with it a sense of invigoration. And the prosecution of the ponies who had released them from their exile threatened to spoil the celebration.

Queen Novo did not once glance at the various nobles and dignitaries who were now cheering her daughter on. Her eyes remained fixed on Skystar's expression.

Then she took a long, deep breath.

"Very well...count yourself lucky, Princess Twilight, that you have creatures like my daughter who will make such an impassioned plea for you."

Twilight lifted her face and looked up at Skystar, who was still focused on her mother.

"Since you have indeed made the skies safe for our return...I will not impose a punishment as a sentence, but rather a compromise. When you return to the surface, you will take my daughter with you...she has always desired to explore the world beyond, and I will give you this chance to prove yourself and to foster friendship between our nations. Look after her and keep her safe...do you understand?"

Twilight looked up at Novo, whose eyes told her everything she needed to know about what would come for her if harm befell Skystar.

"I understand, your majesty." Twilight said, with a dip of her head.

There was a cheer which rose from the crowd, but Twilight kept her eyes on the sand. She would have been happier resigned to a cell, where she might wallow in her own contrition. But she also knew that she had apologies to make elsewhere and was glad she'd receive the opportunity to do so.

Princess Celestia paced the carpet of the throne room, chewing on her lip.

"I'm sure that no matter the queen's decision, Twilight will be fine." Luna said, stepping over to her.

"I should have taken the Pearl back myself." Celestia said.

"Oh, please..." Discord called, as he levitated just beneath the recently reconstructed roof as he sucked from a straw in a coconut. "I can't think of a bigger bunch of softies for Twilight to throw herself to the mercy of. What are they going to do, make her pick up seashells?"

Luna gave him a withering look, but her reprimand was pre-empted by the opening of the two grand halls and the entrance of Twilight, Starlight and Skystar.

"Wow! You were right! This place is so pretty!" Skystar said, as she launched up into the air and twirled. She paused when she saw Discord.

"Oh, you didn't tell me Princess Celestia had a pet, Twilight!" She said, excitedly examining Discord's horns and teeth.

"Excuse me, madam. But I am not a pet." Discord said, removing her talons from his face not unforcefully.

Luna giggled along with Starlight, while Celestia rushed over to Twilight.

"Are you alright? What did Queen Novo say?" Celestia asked, looking over Twilight as if she might have returned with a gaping wound.

"She wants me to introduce Princess Skystar to Equestria..." Twilight explained. Then she lowered her voice. "Princess, I have something I need to talk to you about..." Twilight said, glancing over at Skystar who was now pestering Discord with questions and Luna who was watching with a smile.

"What is it?" Celestia asked.

Twilight looked at Starlight who gave a nod of encouragement then she looked back at Celestia.

"When I'm done, journeying with Princess Skystar...I'd like to know if it would be alright if I left Equestria for a little while. I think it would help me learn more about friendship and about how to be a good princess. I want to know all I can, so that I will be ready if there is ever another invasion." She looked away. "And I also...I want to seek out creatures like the Hippogriffs, displaced by the Storm King's army...I want to help them. As the Princess of Friendship, I need to make allies with other nations, but I also need to be there, to spread the message of Harmony. I feel like the rest of the world doesn't know us...and I...I think, if they did, they'll be less likely to invade."

Celestia stared at Twilight for a moment and then glanced at Starlight. "And...this will make you happy?"

Twilight took a deep breath. "It's what is best for Equestria, that I become a better ambassador...and it's what's best for my friends, that they get a break from being around me. But...it's also what would make me happy."

Celestia nodded and hung her head. "I will miss you dearly, Twilight...but I believe your reasoning and trust your instincts. If this will allow you to better serve Equestria, I will do all I can to support you in it."

Twilight nodded. "Princess Celestia?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"Starlight is going to stay behind and fill in for me...if there's any magical crisis. But I will be bringing Spike with me...he will be able to send word if either of us are in trouble. And Princess?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"I heard from...some of my friends...that my mother said some...hurtful things to you."

Celestia's breath hitched.

"I just want you to know, that I don't blame you for what happened to my brother and that I am glad you were my mentor."

Celestia nodded slowly. "Of course, Twilight...I'm glad you were my pupil and I'm sorry if...if I never trusted you with the truth, of how dangerous the world beyond ours is."

"I know, you were trying to protect me." Twilight answered.

Celestia winced. "That...does not make it acceptable."

Twilight leaned forward and wrapped her hooves around Celestia's front leg. "It's okay...some things you have to see for yourself."

Journeying around Equestria with Skystar gave Twilight an opportunity to re-visit many old friends, including those she had not seen since the invasion. Each time, she apologized for how she had treated them and each time she reassured them, that they were under no obligations to forgive her.

She sensed the most hesitance from Rainbow Dash, who out of everypony, seemed the most injured by Twilight's betrayal. Twilight wanted to hug her, to say something to her which would make her feel better and reassure her that everything was alright.

But she knew better. You could not force others to be what you wanted them to be, no more than you could force yourself.

So, she left on a high note, watching Skystar doing aerobatics alongside the Wonderbolts.

When the trip was over and Skystar asked if she could continue with Twilight's journeys beyond Equestria and become something of an ambassador for the Hippogriffs, Twilight just smiled. She had sensed in Skystar the fear that if she returned to Mount Aris, there would be an old loneliness waiting for her. So, she nodded and said of course.

Her parents had left Canterlot in the past few weeks, moving into the Crystal empire to help Cadence look after Flurry Heart. It was scarier than anything she'd yet faced, returning to that place to reveal to them her plan and to ask Spike, if he would be willing to leave the kingdom where he was all but worshipped to journey the world with her. Still, one look at Starlight told her that she had to do it.

Her parents rushed to her as soon as she arrived, wrapping her in their hooves and telling her how glad they were to see her again. She knew then that they were just happy she was alive and able to smile again and that come what may, she would have a place here, if the world beyond proved too much for her treacherous mind.

The reunion with Cadence was a less joyous occasion. Cadence was exhausted, but warm nonetheless and Twilight waited until they could be alone to do what she needed to. She had only gotten a few words into the apology she had mentally rehearsed a thousand times, before Cadence had held her close and told her that she had nothing to apologize for, and that she had in fact never blamed Twilight for what happened to Shining Armor.

It turned out that Cadence had been having about as rough a time as Twilight had, since the funeral and that her sadness had only been deepened by Twilight's avoidance of her. For that, she did allow Twilight to apologize to her and Twilight agreed to send her letters during her trip, along with souvenirs which might entertain Flurry.

Cadence made her promise to return a year's time though, so that the two might again heal one another of the wounds they had allowed to fester for too long. And Twilight couldn't help but to agree.

It was the first night away from Equestria and they were on an airship this time, commissioned by Celestia herself for Twilight's diplomatic mission. The parrot pirates who Rainbow had inspired had survived the crash, having been found on the shores of Mount Aris by the once again airborne hippogriffs. Twilight had paid them handsomely to pilot the ship for her, on the sole condition that they neglect from attempting to steal anything during the upcoming travels.

Now, she sat in her quarters, listening Skystar and Spike singing a shanty with Captain Celano's crew, as they drifted over the Frozen North. Slowly, she lifted the gift which Starlight had given her during the christening of the ship from her bag and unwrapped it.

It was a simple black book, with a strange title, one of the few books she'd never read about in her literary history classes at the School for Gifted Unicorns. Inside the book was a piece of parchment written in a familiar and impossibly messy hoofwriting. Eventually, though, she began to decipher the contents of the letter.

Dear Twilight,

Your student and friend, Starlight, asked me to write this, so that you might have a better account of the truth behind the Staff of Sarcanas and my friendship with Scorpan the Gargoyle. She believed it would be important for your journey as a student of friendship.

Long ago, when the world was far more infected with the evils of Tartarus than it is now, two creatures ventured into Equestria. Raised in distant lands, where strength was valued over kinship, they were at first viewed as suspicious outsiders. However, when they turned their expertise on the battlefield toward ridding our kingdom of the monstrosities which plagued it, they came to be viewed as heroes.

Celestia and Luna's father still did not trust them, however, having been at war with their parents for centuries. As a result, he had me spy upon them through a magical means. I watched as they earned the respect and friendship of ponies across our land. And I saw when they recovered the Staff of Sarcanas, an artifact from a conflict even older than I am. It was actually the staff which I and the other Pillars used to plant the seeds which would turn into the Tree of Harmony. But I am getting ahead of myself.

On seeing that the Staff might allow him to seize the magic of the Alicorns, Tirek suggested that his brother use it to overthrow the current regime and seize control of all of Equestria. I saw in Scorpan great uncertainty about this plan, and it was revealed to me that he and his brother had been exiled from their own kingdom, sent away until they could prove to their capability to their parents.

Now, the two may have entered Equestria with plans to destroy our nobility and take it for themselves, but Scorpan had come to enjoy being viewed as a hero. He had come to prefer our gentle ways to the harshness of his homeland and had no desire to return to it nor to prove himself to his family.

Had I reached out then to him and to Tirek, perhaps I could have prevented what happened next. But I was young, and I was distrustful of outsiders, especially ones as monstrous of countenance. So, I did my duty, and I warned my king and queen of Tirek's plot. It was the right thing to do, or so I thought, the utilitarian choice to rescue my people from untold evil.

But it resulted in a battle. A battle where Celestia and Luna lost their father and where Scorpan was forced to turn on his own brother and to help me seal Tirek in the depths of Tartarus. The ponies of Equestria blamed Scorpan for the death of their king and desired to have him executed for his 'crimes'. Instead, against my counsel, the queen banished him. Now exiled from both his new home as well as his old, Scorpan resolved to travel lands unmapped and to protect the Staff of Sarcanas from those who would do evil with its power.

I left the queen's employ at that point and agreed to accompany him. We had many great adventures together before I had to return to Equestria to better protect it and Scorpan allowed me to bring with me a piece of the staff, one which would be used in the creation of the Tree of Harmony. But I know that I have never forgiven myself for allowing fear to cloud my judgement.

I do not know how the staff fell into the hands of the Storm King, although I suspect it may have been stolen by the Griffon King (that greedy imbecile) and later lost with all his riches. Neither can I propose to know what became of Scorpan, although given his brother's longevity, I would not be surprised if you find him on your journey.

Most of all, I do not know why Celestia and Luna believed it was they who sealed Tirek in Tartarus. I believe their mother may have cast some kind of curse on them, some powerful magic to make them forget the tragedy of losing their father. I hope to develop a counter-spell which may unravel its grip on them, but I know that should I pass before I can finish my work, you will be able to do what I cannot.

Good luck on your travels, Twilight, and if you find Scorpan, please wish him my best regards.
~ Starswirl, the Bearded

Twilight lay the note down and allowed the breeze coming in from her window to ruffle her feathers and cool her mane. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep sigh. She wondered if Starlight had read the letter or only delivered it as requested. Within the book she had given to Twilight, there were no doubt untold secrets, many of them similarly tragic and rich with the sorrow of being. But there would be tomorrow to analyze its pages and learn more of the world which Starswirl and his friends had, without understanding the significance of their actions, cured.

For tonight, she walked out on the deck and listened to the jaunty, slightly off-key singing coming up from the deck below. For tonight, she lifted her wings to better enjoy the crispness of the air and watched as the Northern Lights blazed across the sky.

For tonight she listened to the creak of the floorboards beneath her feet, as the Shining Armor drifted over glittering glacial landscapes and despite the cold, she felt warm.

Author's Note

If you couldn't tell, I'm not a biiiiiiiig fan of Queen Novo. I am, however, a big fan of Luna being there for her sister and Twilight when they need her most.

This story shares a lot of themes with my other one, "The Last Light of the Evening Star", regarding Twilight's anxieties and Celestia's teaching methods, so if you would like to read another crushingly depressing Twilight-centered story, by all means go and check that one out.

~~This story was heavy, even for me, so I promise my next one will be a lot more lighthearted by comparison~~ I was lying. I may, however, eventually follow this up with a prequel of some sort about Starswirl and Scorpan's adventures in ye olden times. Hopefully, none of you minded the retcon too much! Have a great day and leave a comment if you have any suggestions, as I am always open to feedback.