Discord sat in his living room, which now was emulating an IMAX theater from Gregory’s Earth. He was lounging in said theater while eating popcorn. Currently, he was watching as Celestia led a planning session in the Canterlot safe house. He had been rather surprised at the direction that events had taken and had to admit that he’d been surprised at how Gregory had acted in bringing the ancient pony heroes back. It also surprised him that the Rainbow of Light enforced the change of the changeling queen and one of her children. Events were unfolding in an interesting way, and he was here for it.

As the scene unfolded in front of him, he felt a warm presence beside him. He turned to his left to see a glowing column of light appearing. “Oh, what now?” Discord asked as he paused the movie on the screen. “I’m just watching them, surely that’s not a crime!”

“I merely came to see you,” the neutral voice said before the column shifted until it became an old human wizard with gray robes, a wizard’s hat, and a wooden staff. “I have been busy, shall we say,” ‘Gandalf’ added as he sat down next to Discord and looked at the paused screen.

Discord snorted and offered ‘Gandalf’ some popcorn, which the entity accepted. “Have you come to see how your predecessor has been faring?”

‘Gandalf’ chuckled with genuine mirth. “You do not know how apt your description is,” he said.

“I actually think I do,” Discord said as he picked up the remote and hit the REWIND button. The screen shifted to focus on the physical Tree of Harmony. The sound of a VCR rewinding could be heard and both the chaotic being and the wizard watched as the tree sat there, not moving from its spot in the cave beneath the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“I did not expect that you would use that magic that I gave you to create that device,” ‘Gandalf’ said, gesturing to the remote.

“I’m the Lord of Chaos,” Discord reminded ‘Gandalf’, “so you should always expect the unexpected.”

‘Gandalf’ chuckled, then brought out a large pipe from his robes, put the end in his mouth, lit up the pipe, and began puffing out smoke rings, filling the room with the scent of what Discord could only figure was pipeweed. He wondered if ‘Gandalf’ had gone to Middle-Earth to grab some of the genuine article, or if he’d just emulated it. Discord wondered briefly how Eru, the Ainur, or the Valar would have reacted to the presence of ‘Gandalf’ if he had showed up. “I suspect that even I will be learning new things in the coming days or weeks,” the wizard said.

Soon, the tree on the screen began to shrink, branches retreating as if they were seeing it grow in reverse. Eventually, Discord hit the PAUSE button, only to reveal seven ponies standing in the cave. A wizard stood in the middle of the group, holding up something in his hooves. Discord hit the ZOOM IN button, and the image of what was in the pony wizard’s hoof became clear.

In his hoof, the wizard held a small sliver of bright red metal. Discord hit PLAY.

Star Swirl began to move. “This seed,” he began, “will one day bear the fruit that will protect our lands from all who would dare cause trouble for the ponies who live here.” He placed it in the ground and cast magic towards it. The earth around it piled up until it was buried deep. He then backed away, smiling at his companions. “Now we know that Equestria’s future is secure. It is time we go on our next endeavor.”

“Where are we going?” Stygian asked.

“Far east,” Star Swirl explained as they began leaving the cave. “We must investigate a worrying case of…” the voices became indistinct as they left. The image zoomed in closer onto the pile of dirt. Discord and ‘Gandalf’ watched the dirt intently, only for a small glowing crystal to shoot out of the ground.

Discord hit PAUSE again, then turned back to ‘Gandalf’ with a grin. “You weren’t supposed to gain a consciousness, were you?”

‘Gandalf’ shook his head. “I awoke mere moments before I approached the former Elements of Harmony that day two years ago,” he explained. “Before that, I was a force of nature, as it were.”

Discord chuckled wryly. “You’re becoming more like me,” he said.

“I will take that as a compliment,” ‘Gandalf’ said as he began to transform again. His gray robes became a long white gown, his gray locks became a golden hued head of hair, his ears became pointed.

“Is there a reason for the Lord of the Rings motif today?” Discord asked as he now looked at ‘Galadriel’.

The now lovely elven girl giggled. “Can you blame me after you showed me the way to access those other universes? I was simply curious.”

Discord snorted in amusement. “For all your long years, you’re as excited as a child at Hearth’s Warming and Christmas,” he said.

‘Galadriel’ sat down next to Discord. “What worlds can you show me next?” she asked.

Discord laughed, then hit a button on the remote. “I found a universe with an asshole beer can and his human best friend as they fight against the rest of the galaxy to keep humanity safe,” he said. “Let’s watch the Merry Band of Pirates, shall we?”

Twilight stood at the edge of the new cliff which had once been the castle. Down below, she saw the ruins of the fallen structure along with a number of guardsponies searching through the wreckage. It was all gone, including her own old room and the books and memories held within.

A shadow briefly fell over her and she felt the brief rush of wind from the flying creature passing by over her. Looking up, she saw Gwaihir flying around the city, Gregory sitting on his back. The Great Eagle had arrived a day after the meeting in the bunker along with six others, three of each sex. He had asked that Gregory himself name the other six, and as such they were named Thorondor (who was Gwaihir’s father), Meneldor (a close friend of Gwaihir), Landroval (who was Gwaihir’s brother), Melian (who was the wife of Thorondor), Tinúviel ( who was the wife of Meneldor), and Celebrindal (who was the wife of Landroval). Gregory explained that the three names given to the eagle males were names of eagles from the same story, and the names given to the females were elf women from that story.

The Great Eagle circled overhead, then began to descend behind where she stood. Twilight looked away, careful to block the sudden dust that came up from the eagle’s massive wingspan. The ground shook slightly as the eagle landed. She looked away, watching below as the ponies continued searching. She heard the eagle walking up to stand beside her. She heard someone jumping off and landing deftly on two feet. Footsteps approached her, and still she didn’t turn to face who she knew was coming. Mostly out of lingering shame from what the Rainbow of Light had shown her and had made her feel.

The experience from the Rainbow’s light touching her that first time was not one that she wanted to feel again. For her, it had shown her the consequences of her negligence in regards not only to Jason Wright, but for Spike as well. She felt what they felt, experienced many of their darkest moments when it directly related to her actions. It also seemed to banish something that was always deep inside her. She now knew more completely the fullness of her failures. If her experience was anything to go by, she couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Celestia or Luna.

“Quite a sight,” Gregory’s voice broke through her reverie. His voice was calm and collected. She looked up and saw that he was looking down gravely at the destruction below, his arms behind his back, mask in hand. “I would have loved to see it in its prime,” he added as he leaned back and looked up at the sky, “but that probably wouldn’t have happened.”

Twilight looked away in shame. “It…It was a beautiful castle,” she muttered.

“From what little I saw of it here and in the show, I can only imagine,” Gregory said, “although placing it on the edge of a cliff always struck me as dangerous. Even on the side of a mountain seemed like a strange choice.”

“The princess needed a higher vantage point to raise the sun,” Twilight explained, unsure why she was defending Celestia’s own decisions even now. Her blind faith in her former mentor had all but shattered when she realized that it was that faith that had led her to take foolish actions because she wanted to please her teacher.

“She has wings, doesn’t she?” Gregory asked curiously. “Why not fly up each morning to some vantage point with some pegasi guards? Having Canterlot so high up could send the wrong message. Like they’re looking down at the ponies below, and not in a good way. I’m not saying that’s what the princesses intended, but it certainly worked for the former nobles, and now Majesty seems to have made them pay for their hubris.”

Twilight nodded slowly. Majesty had struck on the same day where she and the others had arrived in Canterlot, turning almost all of the nobles into perpetual foals, unable to talk or even control certain aspects of themselves. Many former nobles had looks of humiliation on their faces as they were forced to wear diapers. They were now being taken care of by the few nobles who had not been changed along with a large number of local ponies. “Are you sympathizing with her?” Twilight asked.

“I am attempting to understand her,” Gregory said. “Power may be power, but knowledge is also power. The more we know, the better prepared we can be. Majesty hasn’t acted for three days, but all of the reports we’re receiving indicate that more people are joining the True Harmonist movement.”

Twilight knew this, of course. Celestia and Luna had begun to work tirelessly to ensure that ancient and outdated laws were revoked, which was now much easier now that the corrupt nobles who would have been able to oppose their choices were unable to do so. In fact, the princesses were preparing for a countrywide announcement that would go to all of Equestria, along with a message to Majesty. “Do you think what the princesses are doing will be enough to make Majesty stop?” Twilight asked curiously.

“The Williams siblings seem to think so,” Gregory said, “but I’m more inclined to think that she’ll only slow down, not stop. Best case scenario, she stops temporarily to see if the princesses follow through. If she isn’t satisfied, she’ll go right back to it. Ponies are already leaving Equestria, heading into the former Badlands.”

Twilight nodded somberly. Sanctuary had been located only a day ago, located on the shores of a new massive lake in the former Badlands. The report had come from a large group of disguised changelings who had fled from their former hive. To Twilight’s shock, the changelings she had seen were not the pockmarked black chitin covered equines she was used to. They had apparently undergone the same transformation that had occurred to Chrysalis and Thorax. Much of their hostility was gone, but there was still some tension between changelings and ponies.

To the surprise of many, however, the changelings seemed to strike up a fast good relationship with the Great Eagles. The plains beneath Canterlot were open and bare and it was where the changeling refugees now lived, at least until they could find a good time to head to Panthera.

Majesty had put her magic to good use, as a massive magical shield now surrounded the former desert. Nopony could enter or leave, apparently unless Majesty wished it. Long range spyglass viewing showed that the apparently multispecies city within were happy but hardworking as they begun to create and expand on the farmlands that had magically appeared there. Not only that, but many nonponies from Equestria had begun moving there, as well as many younger ponies. Everycreature there worked together in peace and harmony, at least from what the scouts reported.

“At any rate,” Gregory interrupted her thoughts, “she’s apparently too busy being Rimuru Tempest to do anything to us. This is probably a brief respite for you, nothing more.”

A flash of frustration boiled up in Twilight, only for it to dissipate as quickly as it appeared. He had no true stake in this fight, she knew, and she couldn’t blame him for that. As a mercenary, he and his party did jobs for money, and from what little she knew about him, mercenary work had been the only type of employment he had been able to find. She doubted anypony would have employed him, or if they had, he would have been criminally underpaid. “I guess that’s possible,” Twilight admitted.

Gregory turned his head to her, then his full body. “Fly with me,” he instructed her.

She raised both eyebrows in confusion. “Fly? Where?”

“You’ll see,” he said as he turned back to Gwaihir, who lowered himself to allow Gregory to climb onto his back. He then turned back to Twilight. “Climb on.”

Confused, Twilight spread her own wings. “I can fly.”

“Not as fast as Gwaihir,” Gregory said, holding out a hand. “Come on.”

Deciding to listen to Gregory, the former princess approached and extended a hoof. Gregory’s hands wrapped around it and with a strong pull, she found herself sitting behind Gregory, who had placed his mask over his face. Gwaihir turned his head back, a smile on his beak. “You may want to hold onto something,” he said.

Twilight’s natural response was to wrap her forelegs around Gregory’s waist. Before she could do anything else, the eagle shot into the air with seemingly impossible grace. She yelped in alarm, tightening her grip around Gregory while at the same time burying her face into his back. If he was uncomfortable, he didn’t mention it, likely because he was clinging to the eagle’s majestic plumage. He was also shouting in what sounded like excitement, which contrasted with Twilight’s odd fear. Her brain knew that she was safe from being hurt from a fall since she could fly, but her emotions seemed to tell her otherwise. It seemed that even now, a small portion of her thought like a unicorn.

She slowly opened her eyes and pulled back, although she didn’t loosen her grip on Gregory. And her eyes widened. Whenever she flew, she was always too concentrated on the flying aspect and not on the view. They were higher up than she’d been before, her new pegasi nature keeping her warm despite that. She looked at Gregory, suddenly noting that he wasn’t a pegasi or alicorn, and as such wasn’t immune to cold or the somewhat thinner air like she was. However, he didn’t seem to be bothered. Instead, the mask he wore seemed to be now making a breathing noise.

The eagle began slowly flying in a lazy circle, leaning slightly to the right. Twilight looked down and saw the mountain below, along with Canterlot, the valley below, the former town of Ponyville, and even some other smaller towns in that same valley. The train tracks looked like foal’s toys from this height. Despite the current situation, she was struck by how beautiful nature was around her. Equestria, for all its faults, was a physically beautiful place.

It was just a shame that its citizens ruined that beauty.

She sighed and leaned back against Gregory’s back without even thinking, watching as the mountain on which Canterlot sat grew as Gwaihir flew slowly downwards. Minutes passed, and finally they were reaching the ground near where the castle ruins now lay. When they landed, Gregory reached up and removed his mask with an audible hissing noise. Turning back, he had a somewhat amused tone as he said, “I get that I’m a comfortable pillow, but we’re down.”

Twilight immediately released him, flying up herself and landing on the grass below. “I-I’m so sorry!” She felt flustered by her familiarity with him.

Gregory waved a dismissive hand as he deftly leapt down, landing on his feet with a knee bend. He winced slightly. “God, I’m getting old,” he muttered before he placed the mask on his belt and looked behind them. “No matter how many times I’ve been here, it’s always a sad sight.”

Twilight knew what she was about to see if she turned, but she was frozen to the ground, unwilling to look. She had seen it from above, and that had been painful enough, but seeing it like this, from this close? It would be too much.

Gregory, however, didn’t seem to notice this as he approached her, then gently put a hand on her withers, leading her to turn around. She did so reluctantly, not resisting but not letting him do it easily either. Her purple eyes took in the massive pile of alabaster whitewashed stone, the purple shingles, and the gold plated towers, all smashed to rubble. Slowly, she walked up to it, ignoring the man walking beside her or the recovery crews who were going through the wreckage for anything salvageable.

She approached a large collection of objects that had been salvaged. All were standing on large pieces of plywood, but one particular pile caught her attention: a large assortment of books. She ignored the guard standing at attention nearby as she walked up to them. Noting absently that they were not organized in any fashion, not even the Dew Drop Decimal Classification, she began to organize them. Books were lifted up and placed with reverence on the ground in order of author. Within that, she organized by title and furthermore by series. She let her mind fall back into her organizational skills which she had honed over years of careful experimentation and experience.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Gregory walk past her and pick up two books out of seemingly nowhere. She was initially irritated that somepony had interrupted her organization, but that irritation was quickly replaced by curiosity when she saw what he had picked up. One was called The Myth Of Man, a thin book she had only really skimmed, having not put any credence to the former mythos of humanity. However, it was the second book that caught her attention more. “Predictions and Prophecies…” she muttered as Gregory opened it.

“‘Elements of Harmony’…” Gregory said with a bemused expression on his face, “See ‘Mare in the Moon’, huh? So that part wasn’t fabricated.” He quickly turned the book forward. “And here we are,” he said, putting the book down on a nearby scuffed up table.

Twilight walked up and looked at the now familiar words of the article. The Mare in the Moon, myth from olden pony times. A powerful mare who wanted to rule Equestria. Defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the Moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal. She touched the book almost reverently. These words had started her journey on the road to discovering all of the elements and finding some of her best friends.

“I feel bad for Luna,” Gregory said, interrupting her thoughts. “Being relegated to nothing more than a footnote in history when Celestia should have really done more to honor her memory than just making a holiday to mock her.” Twilight bristled a bit, but then calmed herself. She thought back to Nightmare Night, going over the traditions, and realized that Gregory was right. “Furthermore,” he continued, “I’ve observed that even now, Luna is slightly relegated to the background. Not as much now, but it certainly seems to be similar to how it was in the show. Oh, it’s certainly not as bad, but Luna’s throne over there is still smaller than Celestia’s whereas in the Castle of the Two Sisters their thrones were equally sized.”

Twilight looked over at where Gregory was pointing. Sure enough, the former thrones of the princesses sat, half destroyed, on another piece of plywood. The ruins of Celestia’s throne were noticeably larger than Luna’s throne. Both thrones were perfectly split down the middle vertically and horizontally. She put the book down then walked up to the throne slowly. She observed the thrones carefully, and despite the dust and debris that littered each, she could see that they were exquisitely made. Luna’s was definitely newer, but at first glance was equally as well made as Celestia’s older throne.

She slowly turned to Gregory. “Why are we down here?” she asked. “Did you want me to see something?”

“I’ve noticed that you’ve avoided coming down here,” he replied calmly, hands behind his back. “Even your former friends came down here once according to the guards here and their own personal accounts. Celestia and Luna did as well, and so did your parents. You strike me as the type who avoids anything that troubles you unless there’s no other choice. That’s going to be a problem for you in the future, especially since you’re an immortal alicorn. Avoiding the issues in front of you is what led to this. You avoided facing prejudices. You avoided Jason Wright. You avoided your own failures. Frankly, I was getting sick and tired of seeing you mope around, so I decided to give you a nudge.”

Twilight flinched at the words. She didn’t avoid her troubles, did she? Surely he was wrong. He had to be. He just had to be.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. She did exactly that. She was the kind to deny her troubles and to avoid everything and everypony. That’s what she’d been doing for the past year in Maretime Bay, after all. Sure, she had faced some troubles of her own lately, but like he said, that was because there was no choice in the matter.

She stood up straighter, wings spread out behind her with determination. No more, she determined. No more! “No more,” she muttered. She leapt into the air and flew back up to Canterlot, leaving Gregory to watch her fly. She might not be a princess now or ever again, but she could still offer the world something because of what she was.

“Equestria is the land of opportunity! Of freedom! Of harmony! And yet, as a pony, I have seen very little opportunity given to our non-pony brethren! No freedom given to them! And none of the tenets of harmony extended to them!”

The earth pony speaker, a young stallion with pale orange fur, teal and pink mane and tail, and a set of gears for a cutie mark, stood at the podium in the small eastern coastal town of Gray Harbor. His name was Gear Turner, and he was the local timekeeper, a job that meant he had to make sure the town’s main clock was in sync with other clocks around the country. He was twenty three years old, incredibly intelligent, and a very kindhearted. But those who knew him well also knew him to be one who stood by his principles.

Gear surveyed the crowd, his piercing red eyes full of determination as he spoke to the gathered crowd. True Harmonists or not, they needed to hear this. He took in a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone. “Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and the Magic of Friendship. These are the very tenets by which we are supposed to live, and yet us ponies cannot extend it to others? Why is this? What makes us better than other races? Is it our closer connection to magic? I need not remind you all that centaurs have access to magic as well. Is it our ability to control the weather? Again, gryphons can control their weather as well!” He took a breath and spoke louder to be heard by the crowd. “The many races of Erda are all equal! We are like everyone else! We hunger! We thirst! We work to provide for ourselves and our families! We sleep! We love! We feel! Our physical differences are not important! It’s what’s inside that really matters!”

“Lies!” an older sounding voice called from the crowd. Gear turned to look at the older unicorn stallion who approached. Beside him was an equally as old mare. Gear knew these two. They were both great great grandfoals of the town’s founders. Silver Bolt and Amber Song. They were both married and had a few foals of their own, and they could trace their lineage back to two of the five founding families of the town. Silver stepped forward, brushing his wing through his slicked back white mane. “We are special! We have abilities that other races can only dream of!”

“Like flying?” Gear asked calmly. “Dragons can fly. Hippogriffs can fly. Gryphons can fly. Is it our farming skills? Panthera has surpassed us in many farming techniques. Magic? Kirins can perform spells our unicorns can only dream of. So tell me how we are better?”

Amber scoffed. “We live in peace and harmony with the world, other species do not!”

“I fail to see why living differently makes any one species worthy of scorn,” Gear said calmly, noting that the couple seemed to be growing more irate with each argument. “I have met many members of different races who have passed through our town and I have made the effort to get to know them. Their cultures are so fascinating and we can learn from them.”

“Learn from monsters who only want to eat ponies?!” Silver bellowed. To Gear’s dismay, many older ponies nodded in agreement, including Gear’s own mother.

“Every race will have its bad eggs,” Gear said, “but to judge all of them based on a few negative experiences? That is the epitome of foolishness.”

“You want to see our very way of life destroyed!” Amber shouted.

“The way of life that caused the undeserved exploitation of non-pony species who came to Equestria to find a better life for themselves?” Gear asked. “The way of life that has caused hate crimes? The way of life that caused the world’s only human to commit suicide? If that is what you mean, then I will gladly fight for that sort of change so that Equestria can grow.”

“You mean be given to the dogs!” another older pony, this one a unicorn stallion, shouted.

“We have lived in stagnation for too long!” a younger mare, this one Gear’s marefriend Aura Hex, shouted above the ever increasing disgruntled opposition to the True Harmonists. Gear could see it moments too late. Lines were being drawn.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, please!” he pleaded, “let’s not let this get to blows!”

It was too late. The first stone throw came from the older pony side, striking a random younger stallion, who couldn’t be more than sixteen, directly on his horn. He screamed in pain and fell, holding his horn in agony. More rocks began to be thrown, much to Gear’s horror. He had no idea how things had come to a head so quickly. He begged and pleaded with his comrades in arms not to fight or hurt their fellow creatures, but he noticed that one of the ponies, Silver, had a small shortsword in his wings and was running towards a small family of zebras.

He didn’t even stop to think. He leaped from the podium, using his earth pony strength to vault him over the crowd. Time slowed for him. He could see the glint of the sword as it was being raised above Silver’s head. He saw the fear on the mother’s face and the two zebra foals. He saw the determination on the father’s face as he moved to protect his family.

And he felt the searing pain in his chest as he landed directly on the point of the sword. The world moved fast around them again as he and Silver tumbled onto the ground until both came to a stop. Gear looked around, feeling himself getting weaker as he lay on his side, blood seeping from the wound. He coughed up copious amounts of it as he heard the distant screams of his mother and marefriend. Everycreature else had stopped and were now staring at Gear in shock and horror.

His vision began growing dark, and he opened his mouth, trying to say something, but his lungs were filling with blood. He knew that now. He coughed up another large amount, and managed to get out, “…Don’t…fight…please…” before his vision went dark.

The city square where Gear had been speaking was silent, all except for the screams of anguish coming from Gear’s marefriend and mother as they begged him not to go while also screaming for somepony to help him. Nocreature moved, the shock was too overwhelming.

That was, until the sky suddenly darkened with menacing and glowing red storm clouds which formed out of nowhere. Everyone looked around in fear except for the marefriend and mother who didn’t seem to notice or care as they were both holding Gear’s still warm corpse.

Silver, who had woken now, looked up at the dark form that had appeared from the center of the cloud. The mane and tail of the alicorn that was now known by most of Equestria was aflame with blue hot flames, her eyes were glowing a bright and somehow menacing purple. Everyone stepped away from where she landed, and when she moved away, the spot where she had placed her hooves left a hoof shaped blue fire that didn’t die. Slowly, regally, she approached a trembling Silver and Amber, both of whom were actively pissing themselves in sheer unadulterated terror. She stopped in front of the older couple, a look of pure rage plastered on her face.

“How dare you!?” she bellowed in a incredibly loud voice. “You would dare to take the life of an innocent creature in this, the land of harmony!?”

“I-It was an accident,” Silver began blurting out as he tried to crawl away.

“He didn’t mean to do this!” Amber said in an equal amount of fear.

“SILENCE!” Majesty shrieked as she grasped the two in her magic and brought the close to her. Her eyes blazed brightly, illuminating the older couple. “You will look into my eyes!”

“W-We’re sor-!”

“Your souls are stained by the blood of the innocent!” Majesty declared with finality. “Feel their pain!”

Both of the older ponies eyes began glowing purple as well and they began screaming in utter horror. They tried to tear themselves away, but Majesty held them in her grasp so they didn’t harm each other or themselves. The very same moment that their screams stopped, the clouds above them vanished in a burst of magic that sent them all scattering across the sky. She set the ponies, now catatonic, back on the ground. She turned back to the rest of the villagers, who backed away in fear. “They will recover,” she promised before she turned to Gear’s now cool body. She lowered her head in sorrow, then approached the two grieving mares. “I grieve for your loss,” she said in an empathetic tone. Turning to the other villagers again, her expression hardened. “True Harmonists, I grieve with you for your loss today. I also invite you all to join me in Sanctuary, a place where peace and harmony are enjoyed by all creatures.”

The younger True Harmonists exchanged looks with each other, then slowly turned back. A younger filly, maybe eighteen, stepped forward. “Thank you for the offer,” she said, “but we would rather stay here for now to try and change this country.”

Majesty beamed at her with an expression that could very well be pride. “My invitation is always open, but I hope that your endeavor goes smoothly, my dear pony.” She then turned to the zebra family who had been attacked. “What about you three?” she asked. “Will you join Sanctuary? There are other zebra foals there along with children of other races with which your foals can play and there is honest work. Food and shelter is provided for all.” The zebra family didn’t even hesitate. They agreed without question.

Majesty smiled, then turned to the town again. "Tell your princesses this: I will be abstaining from any more visits like this one for some time. I have delivered my message long enough, and now it is my hope that young Celestia and young Luna will enact true change. It is also my hope that ponies and nonponies-no, that the citizens of Equestria will gather together as one under harmony's guiding light and not be split by race. Celestia is also welcome to visit me in Sanctuary. I look forward to future talks."

With that, she lifted her horn. It began to glow, and in a flash, her and the zebras vanished.

Author's Note

If you can guess the asshole beer can reference, congratulations, get yourself a juice box.