Friendship cant save you

Twilight slowly stirred from her forced slumber. Her eyelids weighed heavy as she tried to wake up, and her eyes adjusted to the bright lights of the room.
As her eyes adjusted, she saw she was back in Canterlot, in the fully refurnished throne room.

The small stage that once housed Celestia and Luna’s thrones, now sat a single cushioned throne, with many stars engraved into the frame.
The long carpet leading up to the throne stand had been replaced with a purplish red colour, with a golden rope edge on each side. The banners that previously represented Celestia and Luna’s duties of raising the Sun and moon, were now replaced with bright purple stars and long banners that showed the moon cycle.

The entire throne room had been redecorated to give a very galaxy, space-like feel. As Twilight was known for her strong magic, and the ability to house the magic of 4, full-grown Alicorns, it felt… right… It was almost perfect for her. Twilight couldn't help but feel slightly in awe at the changes of the throne room. It was official, this throne room was now hers, and the decorations allowed her personality and being to shine.

Twilight then looked toward the door, to see Cadence approaching her.
“Well…” Cadence began, her face dawning a bright, cheerful smile, as she helped Twilight to her hooves.
“You passed! With flying colours, you succeeded in your test!”

Twilight wasn't as happy to pass the test.
As she stood up, she looked around the throne room again and saw a giant, stained-glass window behind her throne.
It was an image of Twilight, flying high into the air, with her friends all lined up at the bottom of the window, reaching up to her. Her friends also had small halos over their heads in the window, to signify that her friends passed during the test.

“Why did I need to pass some test to gain your trust in my duties…?” Twilight asked, her tired and bloodshot eyes locking onto Cadence.

The pink alicorn sighed softly, looking guilty as she began to explain.
“The test was never about trust, It was to make sure that you would be able to hold yourself together during times of crisis or hardships… This is why we had to do this test, as much as we didn't want to… ”

Cadence explained this with a weighty tone of guilt in her voice. Twilight’s eyes widened and began to go glossy.
“So you let my friends die, to test how well I would hold up against an ongoing series of deadly games, not giving me a chance to grieve the loss I just had?!”

Cadence spoke up, looking agitated.
“When it comes to battles and hardships, you don't have time to grieve until the fight is over! Consider yourself lucky I gave you time between each round before moving on! I was told to give them back to back without stopping!”

Twilight couldn't help but snap back at her, her heavy Canterlot-like sarcasm coming to the surface. Emotions taking over for a moment.
“Oh I feel sooo grateful to have a bit more time between my friend's deaths. It doesn't matter if I had time or not! The outcome was still the same! My friends are DEAD!”

Cadence immediately shouted back, her wings spreading wide above her slim body.
“You could have avoided that during the entire test!”

This made Twilight pause, her eyes softening for a second as what Cadence said registered in her mind.
“W-.... what?”

Cadence didn't back down, keeping her stance, though her tone softened slightly.
“The games were rigged from the start! They were ALL rigged, so if you were deemed the loser in any of the games, I had a shut-off button to stop the game from killing you, allowing you to pass, letting your friends live, and stopping the games completely!”

Twilight went to speak, but Cadence cut her off.
“Selflessness is one of the many aspects of being a ruler and a leader. Putting yourself in danger to keep everyone else safe. You didn't do that, you instead tried to keep your friends in a state of false hope and kept the games going. Keeping yourself alive.”

Twilight’s shock was clear as day on her face, tears now running like waterfalls down her face, her breath was shaky and her legs began to shake as the weight of what Cadence said, bared heavy on Twilight's mind.
All she had to do, was make herself lose, and the test would have been done and over with, right from the beginning!

Twilight then looked back at Cadence.
“W-what about my friend's families... And Discord?! What will they think?!”

Cadence relaxed, her wings closing and she gave a small sigh once more. Looking over her shoulder at the entrance to the throne room, as if not wanting to look her sister-in-law in the eye.
“Everyone's families were informed and made aware of the potential outcome of these games, long before the tests had been made. Celestia and Luna have now informed everyone’s parents, siblings, and relatives, that they didn't make it through the test, and that a funeral will be held in their honour.”

Before she could continue, the door to the throne room opened, and Celestia and Luna hobbled in. They were covered in bandages and looked to be heavily beaten.

Celestia had some bandages around her front legs and a thick bandage around her neck. She also had a cast on her wing, showing it had been broken. Her mane was missing chunks and her tail didn't look much better. Her body was also covered in bruises, with a black eye forming on her left eye. She hung her head low, avoiding eye contact with Twilight as she walked in.

Luna didn't look to be in any better shape. She had a set of bandages around her back legs, with a cast on the front left one, showing breakage. Her mane and tail were also dishevelled, and her right eye had an eyepatch covering it, but a large cut could be seen poking out of the top, showing that her eye had been injured.

A pair of unicorn guards were accompanying them, carrying their princess Armor and Crowns with their magic. They bowed to Cadence and Twilight in greeting, as they held the doors open for Celestia and Luna.

Cadence’s eyes widened, as did Twilight’s, they quickly made their way over to the Alicorn sisters.
“I'm assuming Discord didn't take the news well…?” Cadence asked, her ears folding back as she guided Celestia into the room, Twilight doing the same for Luna.

“Unfortunately not…” Luna responded, sounding defeated. “But who can blame him… Fluttershy was his closest and possibly only friend. He made us swear that she would be safe during the test. So when he was informed that she met her demise... He wasn't exactly calm about the situation.”

“Where is he now?!” Twilight asked, looking concerned about Discord's whereabouts given the situation, it could mean he’s causing chaos out of rage somewhere in Equestria.

“I can assure you he’s been handled, we and our accompanying guards were able to overpower him after a while. Sealing him in a magical forcefield similar to the one you were in for your test Twilight.” Celestia explained.

Luna then cast a window-like spell, showing that Discord was currently being held in a cave, deep within the Everfree Forest, His arms and legs were shackled with steel cuffs, with a few feet of metal chains on each cuff, which were embedded in the rock. His wings were clamped shut with an additional cuff around his torso, and he was surrounded by a forcefield that would cut off his magic, similar to Chrysalis’s castle.

“And all of this… was because of a test I had to take… And I failed my friends because i didn't allow myself to be put into the line of danger…”
Twilight said softly to herself, as she stared at the situation Discord was in, the state of the princesses, the new throne room, and finally, the stained glass window, the final memory she had of her friends, sealed in glass… showing how she allowed her friends to get killed for her survival.

Twilight sat down, her wings laying limp at her sides, and she burst into tears, her whole world came crashing down. Everything she had learned, everything she had done, it didn't matter. She accomplished everything with her friends… and she repaid them by allowing them to die.

Her sobs were loud and uncontrollable, she lay her head down on the ground in front of her, pressing her forehead into the carpet leading to her new throne.
Her sobs soon turned to wails, as she screamed into the carpet, unable to control the despair that flooded her body.

Spike came running into the throne room upon hearing Twilight’s screams, but Cadence stopped him gently with her hoof, shaking her head. He had been tending to Canterlot Castle while Twilight took her test, and assisted in decorating the throne room. He looked up at Cadence when he was stopped, looking worried.

“Leave her be for a moment.” She says softly, before looking back at Twilight, her crumpled form curling in on itself, as Twilight tried to make herself as small as possible, feeling crushed under the weight of what happened, and how easily it could have been prevented.

It took a good 10 minutes before Twilight finally began to slow down, her breathing shaky and her fur and mane a mess, the occasional hiccup as she tried to dry her face.
She sat up, using her front hooves to try and clean her face, and Luna slowly approached her, putting a soft hoof on her back, causing the purple Alicorn’s head to snap toward Luna.

Her eyes were almost completely bloodshot, the fur on her face was clumped together from all the tears, and her mane was a mess. Luna couldn't help but feel guilty for Twilight.

“I understand how hard it is… When I had my test… Long before I became Nightmare Moon, I had lost all my friends in the test as well. Much like you, we had no idea this was an option until we were told afterward… We were always told, that selflessness, and making sacrifices made a great leader. At that time, I believed they meant sacrificing my time and safety to keep my friends safe… But then I learned exactly what you did… It will never be easy to recover… but we’re here if you want us to be…” Luna spoke softly, sitting beside Twilight as she spoke. She looked upset as she recollected her own test, before looking down at the broken Princess of Friendship.

“I'm sorry Twilight…” Cadence spoke up, catching the attention of Luna and Twilight “I didn't want to put you through this test… I tried to fight for you, to let you skip the test given everything you did to keep Equestria safe… But then they brought your brother and Flurry Heart into the picture, saying if I didn't go through with it, they would be hurt, or worse… I had no choice...”

Cadence explained all of this while walking over, she attempted to put a comforting hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, but she shrugged it off, still sniffling and hiccupping.
Twilight quickly got up without saying a word, her eyes locked to the floor as she stormed out of the throne room, as she walked out of the door, her horn sparked to life, and slammed the door behind her, almost slamming it off of its hinges.

The Alicorns all look at each other in shock at seeing Twilight’s sudden reaction, but all decide against going after her.