Friendship cant save you

Twilight was overjoyed. She ran toward her friends, her blue coronation gown flowing behind her. The coronation, crowning her as ruler of Canterlot, was an utter disaster, but the friends all found a way to laugh about it, looking at Celestia and Luna, who were trying their best to also conceal their snickers.

As the party continued into the evening, all the guests moved into the gardens behind the castle, to use the castle as a shield from the sharp evening breeze. Laughter and jokes had simmered down to idle chatter, with the Elements of Harmony sat around a table together, enjoying drinks and snacks.
Soon, the soft chime of a spoon hitting a glass could be heard, and everyone turned their attention to Celestia and Luna.

“Every creature, I can't express how proud I am of my dear student, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. All of them have gone to amazing lengths to keep Equestria safe from threat. From King Sombra in the Crystal Empire, to Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, right here in Canterlot.”
Celestia began, glancing over at the Elements of Harmony,beaming with pride, before continuing her speech.

“Now I'm not only making this speech to brag about my student, but I have a smaller announcement to make. With Twilight Sparkle taking the throne, myself and Princess Luna, my dear sister, will be retiring. We have been ruling side by side for… who knows how long now. And we have full faith in Twilight to continue with our duties.”
Twilight nodded in agreement, holding up the dial that Celestia gave her, that granted her the power to raise the sun and moon.

Celestia ended her speech with one last thankyou, bowing her head to the crowd, before walking toward the Elements of Harmony, all of them gathering around Celestia, who embraced them with her front hooves and wings.

Once the embrace was released, Princess Luna spoke up.
“Now, I know you’re enjoying the evening, but there’s something we need of you, all of you, before we can officially retire. We need you to go and find Cadence in the throne room, she has some instructions for you. Think of it as a... Final test, so to speak”

The 6 ponies all looked at each other in confusion, before nodding and making their way to the throne room as instructed. As they walk in, they see that the throne room is already under heavy construction, renovating it ready for when Twilight takes over.
Twilight smiles wide with excitement as she walks over to Cadance, standing beside her. They greeted each other with a warm embrace and their signature ‘sunshine sunshine’ dance.
They ended the dance with a few heart-filled giggles, before looking at each other, and Twilight's tone got serious again.

“So… Princess Luna told us to come and find you here for… Some final test? Do you know anything about this”
Twilight asked, a hint of confusion in her tone.

"Pfft, c'mon Twilight! If Cadence didnt know, we wouldn't have been told to come to her"
Pinkie spoke out from behind the purple alicorn, causing everyone to erupt in laughter once more. Everyone was in such high spirits since the coronation. Everyone had such an amazing evening, and it was clear they were eager to see what came next.

Cadence’s smile quickly faded, and she nodded slowly as she led the main 6 out of the throne room, she spoke up, her tone was low and seemingly upset.
“Just… follow me. Ill explain everything soon.”

Soon enough, Twilight and the others were led into Celestia and Luna’s meeting room, the room was surrounded by bookshelves, with a large, round table in the middle, surrounded by chairs, with a small table covering in the middle, making the entire room look very professional and well put together.

Luna and Celestia were already standing there, and Cadence stood in the middle of them. The 6 ponies looked at the alicorns in confusion, before Cadence's expression grew more and more guilty.
Before they could react, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance's horns suddenly lit up, Soft beams of magic flowing out of all 3 of their horns, flying above the 6 ponies and making a strange dome around them. The dome then began casting a spell on the elements of Harmony, putting them to sleep.
Twilight looked around at her friends, seeing them fall limp in a forced slumber, and Twilight could feel her eyes growing heavy. She was growing nervous, why did she need to be put to sleep for this final test? Why did Cadence look so upset? What was going on?

She tried to resist the spell, looking up at Cadence, her ears folding back as she felt her legs grow heavy, her body beginning to sway.
“Wh… Why…?”
Twilight tried to ask, before she gave into the spell’s influence, falling to the ground, seeing Cadance looking deeply upset, before her eyes closed completely, and she fell into a slumber…