It was the middle of the night, Twilight once again was staying up. Though Luna was trying to help everyone have a decent sleep, combating the nightmares the War had brought out among them, the Princess of Friendship had been having trouble sleeping like the others here.

To keep herself occupied until exhaustion takes her, Twilight helped herself at the Temple's library, looking up what she could about the Titans for Spike and Rachel and also brush up on her dragon lore. Something she regrettably should have done more when Spike was a baby.

When Rachel took Twilight over a year ago after replacing her amputated wing, she immersed herself into more of the dragon culture. What she had thought she knew was literally nothing, not even scratching the surface of what she knew now. Essentially also helping her build a sturdier backbone when tough times arised. A lot of creatures were grateful to her, Twilight is especially grateful to her.

She is honored to be her Sister-in-law.

During her research, under the gilded floating lights she made with her magic, she heard large clopping noises coming from hooves approaching the library.

“I see some things never changed.” Twilight's ears flung back when she heard her former mentor speaking to her.

Twilight glanced up from the ancient, dusty scrolls to look up at the white alicorn. Now not really covered in makeup, the deep bruising on the ruler’s face was much harsher, purpler. Type of bruising that takes ages to heal. Wearing a babydoll gown.

Twilight just grunted and went back to her research, hoping Celestia would take the hint.

But alas, she wouldn't.

“Twilight, could you say something? I think you and I need to talk.”

However, Twilight, once again, refused to look up, ignoring her presence, as she had been since the end of the War. Since she had lost her wing…since Spike….

As Twilight was just reading about dragons used to be able to transfer their essences into other beings, the papers were enveloped in yellow aura before they were moved out of her reach. “Hey!” She snapped, glaring up at Celestia.

“I'm trying to talk to you, I don't appreciate you ignoring me.” Celestia spoke, taking the papers and stacking them back where they belong.

Twilight's scowl hadn't moved, since they were alone, she didn't hide her distastefulness towards her mentor.

“Maybe I didn't want to talk? I got nothing to say to you, Celestia.” no using titles like Twilight used to say. “I was reading those.” She looks back to where the scroll was now put up.

Celestia sighed, touching her left temple, wincing when touching the bruise.

“Twilight please, I miss having talks with you. I missed you being around, your letters… I know we have been going through things the past year or so, but I'm sure we can work it out.”

“There's no working out. I'm not your student anymore, I'm your replacement, in charge of cleaning up the enormous mess you will be leaving behind once we get back home.”

“What mess are you referring to?”

Twilight looked stunned. Standing up, her wings flexed. “Are you joking??”

“If you are referring to what happened on the battlefield, casualties happen in war. I have already apologized to those involved and am stepping down in a matter of days.”

Twilight takes in a few deep breaths before speaking. “A consensus was taken, those we lost during the final fight. We lost more of our people with you dropping the literal sun on us than the creatures of Tartarus we were fighting against. We were trying to prevent a nuke going off, but you made it worse. Fluttershy got caught outside of the barriers, she barely escaped by diving into the ocean and swam as far as she could to get away. I lost my wing-”

“I was under Sombra's control, I had no way of knowing.”

“No, because you became a damn liability! You nearly sent Spike, my baby brother, into Tartarus instead of helping him in his time of need. Using it as your personal dumping ground!”

“Twilight Sparkle, I suggest you lower that tone at once. I'm still your Princess, I still demand your respect.” Celestia grunted, losing her motherly manners. “Being a ruler means you have to make even the toughest decisions.”

“Was erasing Blueblood’s memories thousands of times one of your toughest decisions??” Twilight spat. “If we want to get technical, the reason why we had this war was because of you!”

“That's enough!” Celestia snapped at her, slamming her hands on the table. “I will not allow you to keep talking to me like this, I did everything I could to help my boy, but he was too much!”

“Oh? He's your boy? So you do take responsibility for him?” Twilight crosses her arms. “You saw the signs early on, you knew what he was capable of, instead of handling it, you erased his mind over, and over, and over again. You never told him his origins early on. That deep seeded hatred he had of you was because of you. Erasing his memories is like bandaging an infection, it got worse and worse until that infection became Sombra. Luna at least tried to stop things but you refused her.”

“You never had a child, you can't possibly understand the sacrifices I made!”

“Sacrifices??? Don't give me that self-righteous hetericy! You saw Blueblood’s narcissistic, psychopathic traits and all you did was cover it up because it suited your needs. You've done well in the past but those days are over. This War is ultimately your fault!”

Celestia glared at the irritated smaller princess. Unable to recognize her.

“It seems Queen Rachel had rubbed off on you, you're not the star pupil I thought you'd become.”

“Oh, here we go! Don't spew that on me. With Rachel, I finally was able to open my eyes and see the truth.”

“I have every right to strip you of your alicorn abilities!”

“Fuck you!” Twilight's horn sparked, close to blasting her.

Celestial's eyes widened at that.

Twilight snarled, wings flared. “You can't take away my powers, I earned it. You know as well as I do, in order to keep what peace we have with everyone, especially the dragons, is for you to step down and disappear.” She starts settling down, straightening up herself. “I am the Princess of Equestria, it's what you groomed me to be. This conversation is over, I'm done with you.”

Twilight held her head high before she began leaving the Library, only to stop at the walkway. “Luna still has a job so I'll be seeing her around Canterlot. You Celestia, are not welcomed back. When we go home, you better be long gone, don't even want you at my coronation.” with that last word, she leaves the gobsmacked Princess.

When she stepped out, she froze when she saw that her argument had drawn a crowd. Several members of the allies were caught eavesdropping.

Twilight grunted. “Don't all of you have better things to do?”

They scrambled out of the way.

The purple princess shook her head as she continues onto her room-

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

A frightened scream startled Twilight, causing her to gasp out loud. When the screams continued, she took off towards the sound.

She and a few others who also heard the scream were running with her. The sounds soon discovered came from Spike's room!

“Spike! Spike baby. Wake up, wake up!” Rachel's voice cried out. Iggy's cries were loud as well.

When Twilight bursted into the bedroom, Spike was spasming, still screaming, eyes glued shut. Iggy was crying in his crib, Rachel was doing what she could to get Spike to wake up!

“What's happening?!” Twilight shouted going over to the couple, helping Rachell hold Spike down.

“Spike's having a night terror, I'm trying to get him out of it!” Rachel responded as Spike tried to push her and others off, still screaming, trapped in his dreams.

“LUNA!!” Twilight screams for the Princess of Dreams as she helps Rachel.

As others were pouring into the room, Luna teleports in with a bewildered look. Once she assessed the situation, she raced over to Spike.

“Hold him still!” She tells Twilight and Rachel.

Spike was still thrashing about, trying to break free from the nightmare but it had a strong hold on him.

When Rachel and Twilight get a good hold on the Dragonlord, Luna gets to work. She puts her hands on his head, however the sounds of the screaming Iggy was breaking her concentration. “Someone take the baby!”

Rachel looks at who was there, when she saw Cadence and Shining coming in. “Take him, now!”

Cadence wasted no time rushing in and grabbed Iggy.

“What's wrong with Spike!?” Shining asked loudly as his wife walked over to him with Iggy, pushing and bouncing him to try and calm him down.

“Night terror! Luna help!” Rachel shouted as Spike jerked. Arms started swinging but she was about to grab him and restrained him again.

“Working on it!” Luna grunted, hands in Spike's head, she closed her eyes and her horn lit up.

“Uncle Spike!” Flurry tried to come in but she was pushed back.

After a few minutes of Luna entering his mind and breaking into his dreams, the thrashing and screaming finally stopped. Luna looked like she had just gotten out of a fight mentally and stepped back.

When she did that, Spike woke up, his eyes opened in terror and covered in sweat. Realizing what had happened, his eyes swelled and he started sobbing.

“Oh Spike!” Rachel held him as he cried.

Twilight stepped back so he could cling onto his mate.

She looked at Luna. “What was that?” She asked her.

“Night Terrors, a tantibus, not like the one I created but still nasty.” Luna explained. “They form when cases of extreme trauma happen to the individual. Been fighting off a lot of them since the end of the War.”

“I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…” Spike said in between sobs, his head pressed onto Rachel's abdomen, arms tightly wrapped around her. His wings sagged, earfils drop, his tail wrapped around his leg, trembling. Unable to calm down.

“Shhhh, it's okay, you're safe now.” Rachel consoled him, stroking his head and cheek. “You're here…You're here.”

“So we all have this tantibus?” Cadence asked as she was still trying to calm the baby down. “It's okay Iggy, your daddy is okay, see?”

Iggy still cried, his arms waving about.

“Alas, this is a natural occurrence. However, the ones I've been fighting off from everyone, including my own, were from the final fight. With time, they will go away. First time one got this bad.” Luna said. Even glancing at Iggy, suggesting even he has one.

Rachel and Twilight shared a look, knowing it wasn't the first time Spike had this violent of an episode.

He had one before he took off.

And Rachel knows Spike had seen her herself and had a few. He helped her those times.

“Thank you Luna, Twilight…” Rachel tells them. “Cadence, could you take Iggy with you for a moment, I need to handle my mate, please?” She asked the fellow mother. And with the hold Spike had on her sobbing, she wasn't going to leave him. Her hands sadly were tied for that moment.

Cadence nodded. “I got him, you go do what you need to do.”

“Is Uncle Spike going to be okay?” Flurry Heart asked, staying close to Shining, looking at her uncle with worry.

“He'll be okay, we're just going to give them their space.” Shining responded.

“Thank you. “ Rachel tells all of them.

They all respectively left the two alone.

It was around 2:46 in the afternoon when Spike was able to calm down. Rachel had managed to get him to have some shut eye before waking up now. Still in the same position they were earlier.

Rachel had her sketchbook, trying to keep her mind occupied when he began to stir.

“Hey hon,” She spoke gently, putting her pencil in the book, closing it before settling it on her nightstand. “How are you feeling?”

Spike pushed himself off her lap, rubbing the sand out of his eyes. “I'm better now, thank you…” He spoke softly, sitting up next to her. “I'm sorry for last night”

“Spike, you're okay. There's nothing for you to apologize about.” Rachel said, reaching over and grabbing his hands, holding them gently in hers. “It was a nightmare.”

“Where's our son?” Spike asked, seeing the crib was empty.

“Cadence is watching him. He got scared…it was scary last night.” She said, “He's fine.”

Spike pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “Did I….?” He trailed, his voice quivered a little.

Rachel shook her head. “No. You didn't hit me.” She assured him. “I'm okay, Iggy's okay. You're okay.” She then kissed him. “We're okay.”

Spike nodded, eyes opened with a soft expression. “We're okay,” he repeated, starting to feel more relaxed.

“Wanna talk about it?” Rachel asked.

Spike shuddered, gripping onto her hands. It took a moment for him to speak. “We were all back at the chateau. You and Iggy were tied to the bomb as it was counting down…. I-I couldn't get to you two in time before it exploded….”

He slipped his hands from hers, only to cup her face. His thumbs stroked the fur on her cheeks. “When I was facing the bomb, the only thing I had in my mind was the two of you. I was terrified for my life, but I was more scared of losing you both.”

Rachel placed a hand on top of his. “I was scared when you went back in. When it went off, I was sure we were dead…” She started to tear up. “And when I couldn’t find you…”

Spike pulled her into his arms, holding her close.

“Spike, what we all have been through, what you and I have been, what we have seen and done…what I learned, we can get through anything together. We survived a cataclysmic catastrophe, there's nothing that can hold us back. Together, that's when we are at our strongest.” She then placed a hand over his chest, over his heart. “You are so brave…the strongest out of all of us.”

“You made me that way. I wouldn't be walking around if it wasn't for you.” Spike said. “I don't know what I would do without you.”

After sharing a moment between them, they were able to finally get out of bed, get dressed and join the others out in the common area.

However, when they got close, almost all of their friends were seen hiding behind the entrance way of the area, loud shouting and arguing coming from inside.

“What's going on?” Spike asked, no one in particular but to anyone who would say what.

“Twilight and Celestia are fighting.” One of the changeling drones responded.

“They've been arguing since late last night.” A griffon responded.

They jumped when something got thrown.

“WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE!?” Twilight screeched.

Rachel and Spike looked at each other before they looked inside, seeing the two powerful alicorns squaring off.

“Twilight, you are clearly too emotional to handle all of this.” Celestia grunted. “You're not ready to rule.”

“That's not for you to say! Go through the Portal and go, I had enough of you, everyone here in this temple had enough of you!” Twilight shoves her mentor. “Why be in a place where it's clear no one wants you around!?”

“Oh shit.” Spike whispered, haven't seen Twilight this pissed off since Tirek blew up the Golden Oaks Library.

“Twilight grew balls…nice.” Rachel grinned. Proud seeing Twilight standing up to Celestia.

“Shhhh, we're trying to watch.” Rainbow Dash hushed, eating a poptart while watching.

“Twilight, you are acting like an adolescent child throwing a temper tantrum. I'm trying to be civil.”

“But you didn't hear a word I said! We could have died but you think smiles and cakes would repair what was damaged! Your time here is over, go home- actually, get your shit and leave Canterlot all together. You're not needed in the talks, you have no more power.”

“You are being ridiculous. I'm still needed.”

“No you're not.” Twilight then looked at the peeping Toms. Celestia looked at them too.

“Well? Do any of you agree with this?” Celestia asked them.

No one at first said anything, but Rachel soon raised a hand. “We really don't need you around, talks are nearly over and I think neither of us invited you to the wedding.”

“We really didn't.” Spike agreed.

Luna spoke up as well. “I think it's time for you to go.”

Celestia's eyes widened. “Luna!? You can't be serious!”

Luna shook her head. “I told you there will be some consequences for Blueblood and what you pulled in the battle.”

“You were there, aren't you coming with me?”

Rachel points to Luna. “She's in my wedding party.”

Twilight crossed her arms. “Like I said, Luna is welcomed, you however, overstayed your welcome. Go back to Equis, Celestia, you're done.”

Rachel had the biggest shit eating grin on her face and actually started clapping. So proud of her nerdy sister.

Celestia looked at all of them, the look on her face, the betrayal of all of them. To her own sister…

Too distraught, Celestia teleports away.

Author's Note

Great lyrics for Twilight to Celestia

:You told me yes, you held me high
And I believed when you told that lie
I played soldier, you played king
And struck me down when I kissed that ring
You lost that right to hold that crown
I built you up but you let me down
So when you fall, I'll take my turn
And fan the flames as your blazes burn!!

Lunar Republic for life

Rest in peace Chester Bennington