The Alicorn Amulet shimmered in the dim light, the darkness within it glowing sinisterly. Trixie could almost see the corrupting, dark magic as a cloud within the gem, fluctuating and bouncing around inside its tiny, red prison. She balked at the mere sight of it. “Kuh-keep that away from me! I…I can’t…I mustn’t…”

“You must,” Celestia sighed. She slowly took the Amulet from its box, levitating it before the blue unicorn. “Miss Lulamoon, I am aware of what happened the last time you and this object crossed paths.”

“Oh…oh Heaven...” the magician stammered, backing away from the Amulet as if it were an entire pack of timber-wolves.

“But you have to understand that is exactly what makes you the ideal pony for this! Miss Lulamoon…Trixie…” the white Alicorn dropped the amulet, letting it clatter to the floor. “…Trixie, as the only pony in the past millennia who has spent an extensive amount of time wearing the Alicorn Amulet, you are the only one who knows how its influence feels, and possibly, how to fight it.”

“Oh yeah, are you sure about that, Princess? Because last time it felt pretty influential to me!”

“Trixie,” Luna said, stepping forward to place a hoof on the magician’s shoulder. “We wouldn’t ask if the situation were not dire. But it is. It really and truthfully is. Shizukh’s plans could, at best, spark a war that could see thousands of his kind and hundreds of ours killed, and at worst, could see Canterlot in ruins. This is the only way to gain his trust and prepare the trap we require in the short amount of time we have. It’s the only way to save all these ponies’ lives and get to the artifact before it falls into the wrong hooves.”

“I…I…” Trixie curled up against a wall, far away from the amulet, tears gathering in her eyes as a certain yellow stallion appeared in her memory. “I can’t. I-I’m a changed pony. I’ve done too much to go back to that, I…I can’t risk what I have now. I can’t.”

Celestia gazed down at the sniffling, blue mess in pity, so terrified and saddened that she could hardly believe this was the same Great and Powerful Trixie that had strode into this room with such confidence just a few minutes earlier. She wished she could think of some other way for this to work, some way that wouldn’t require so many ponies to put their lives on the line. But there wasn’t. No matter how she looked at it, this was the only way to achieve the best outcome. However, it all couldn’t work without Trixie; the only pony she knew might withstand the Amulet’s influence.

“I understand what thou art going through, little pony,” Luna said suddenly, and Celestia turned to her sister in surprise. Regret and sadness filled the Princess of Night’s eyes. “I know what it’s like to have a past you wish to escape, one you wish to leave behind so you can begin anew. I know what it’s like to have to start over, to relearn how to talk to others, how to think of others, how to bury the memories and urges of something you wish had never happened.”

“Nightmare Moon,” Trixie whispered, eyes widening.

“And I know how much you love what you hath built now. I know you have ponies in your life that you might never have spared a second thought for before, but now cannot imagine living without.”

Luna nuzzled her sister, and the Princess of Day nuzzled back, trying to fight back tears. “Luna…” she whispered.

“But you cannot let your love for your new life interfere with what you set out to do,” the Princess of Night said. “Just because you haven’t fallen back on old habits does not mean you get to put your hooves up and relax. You must keep going forward, keep pushing, and keep the darkness at bay with the kindness you continue to share with others, because if one just stops and says they are content with their life, then was it really forgiveness you were seeking in the first place? Or just a way out of the cycle of hatred you had built for yourself?”

Luna’s hardened eyes focused on the unicorn. Celestia continued to nuzzle her sister, unable to keep her tears at bay, allowing them to dribble onto the blue Alicorn’s coat. Trixie continued to shiver, staring at the Amulet as if she were afraid it was going to jump at her like a snake. Her eyes darted around the room as she processed what Luna had just said. Was it really forgiveness and a life of good that she wanted? Or was it, as Luna said, just a “way out”? Just what had she really done to make up for the bad she had done in her past life? Most importantly, what had she done to show the six mares she most needed to forgive her that she was worthy of forgiveness?

The Elements appeared in her mind: how she had worked them, making them slave away into the night to throw together big, pointless posters and statues. Oh, the Element of Kindness had been so scared during that time. She had been so very scared…and the relief on her friends’ faces when Twilight had returned, showing them all that she was alright and just living with a zebra friend during her banishment…

“I…I’ll listen to what else you have to say,” she said, standing on her hooves. She trotted closer to the Princesses, still making sure to give the Amulet a wide berth. “I’ll listen to your plan. I’m not saying I’ll do it, or that I’ll ever go near that…thing again. But I’ll listen to what you have to say and then judge for myself whether to do it or not.”

“That’s all we want right now,” Celestia said as she rested her head on her sister’s back, her smile bright enough to outshine the star she was responsible for raising in the morning. “But to make sure, let me ask: do you understand the plan so far?”

“I think so,” Trixie said, wiping at her nose with the back of her hoof. “I am to show up at Shizukh’s doorstep, then high-tail it to Ponyville where I’ll get the citizens to help me dig these tunnels? Then we all just sit back in these domes while the Elements blast the tunnels out from under Shizukh’s feet?” When she said it all out loud, the whole thing sounded a bit less horrible. At least this way, Trixie just had to wear the Amulet around Shizukh. That didn’t sound too hard.

“Things are a bit more complicated than that,” Luna replied. “For one thing, we believe Shizukh has procured technology capable of detecting the presence of high concentrations of magic, hence why Celestia and I cannot engage him directly, and why thou cannot utilize the Elements of Harmony. The moment he detects the Elements being engaged, he will just turn tail and slink off back into the mountains.”

“Oh,” Trixie said, her hat deflating. “Well, I can still get everypony’s help to…”

“There is more,” Celestia interrupted, worry growing on her face. “Diamond Dogs are notorious for their ability to dig around, and Shizukh’s paranoia regarding his own allies and citizens is well-known. Both these factors combined lead us to believe that once you approach him with offers for an alliance, he will almost certainly place a spy within your midst. As I said,” she tapped a hoof on the ground. “The enemy could have spies right beneath our hooves.”

“So, nopony in Ponyville can know I’m acting on your behalf, right?” Trixie asked, eyes widening in terror. “You want me to return there as a…a…”

“A conqueror. I’m sorry, yes. The ponies of Ponyville will most certainly need to help you against their will.”

The blue mare’s jaw dropped, hanging open and closing again, her eyes growing moist again. “I-I…how could you ask me for that!?” She screamed, tears brimming in her eyes once more. “How could you ask me to reenact the biggest mistake of my life!? How could you ask me to put that Amulet back on, just like before, and…and…”

“Trixie? You said you would hear us out,” Celestia said. “Please, at least hear the rest of what we need to say.”

Trixie sniffled, but at length, nodded for the Princesses to continue.

“Now, there is some leniency to be had with this rule,” Luna said. “We are sure you are familiar with casting protection spells over small areas that could completely block out any listening ears, and as such you might be able to reveal your true intentions to a small group of ponies.”

“A small group?” Trixie said. “You mean the Elements of Harmony, don’t you?”

“We do, although this would add a few extra complications. Some of the Elements’ acting skills aren’t exactly up to par,” Celestia said, pausing as Luna faked a cough with a quick ‘Applejack’ under her breath. “So for them to continue throughout the town, certain…precautions would need to be taken.”

“There is a spell known as the Hypnotico Crucialus,” Luna continued. “It is used mostly by mental hospitals to aid ponies dealing with emotional trauma. However, it has been banned in most circles because with a few tweaks, a willing pony submitting for a simple head examination can be turned into the spell-caster’s puppet, completely unable to refuse any request the caster makes.”

“Oh for…” Trixie moaned. Brainwashing. Enslavement. This went beyond anything she’d tried the last time the Amulet was in her hooves, but still she couldn’t even bring herself to cry this time. She was all out of tears, growing numb to how terrible what she was being asked to do truly was.

“But remember: the pony must be willing!” Celestia said quickly, seeing the way the blue mare drooped. “That means you won’t even be able to use this spell on the Elements unless they wish for it, so it’s important you explain exactly what you’re going to do before the spell is cast.”

The Princess of Day bit her lip. “Do you have any questions?”

“No,” Trixie kept her eyes on the ground, the brim of her hat disguising the sadness within them. This was the best way to save Equestria from war and chaos? To have her enslave an entire city once more, reliving the worst sin she had ever committed, while risking the lives of the very ponies she was most indebted to? Impossible! How could this help her leave the past behind!? How could the Princesses ever ask anypony to do this!? How could this…

“Trixie,” Celestia said, seeing the doubt on the blue unicorn’s face. “Before you give us your answer, remember that I had a question for you to answer.”

“Yes, Princess?” Trixie asked, fighting the urge to headbutt her way out the doors and run screaming from the palace.

“That question is: how far are you willing to go for a group of ponies you don’t even know?”

The magician was taken aback by the Princess’s question. “I-I’m sorry, what?”

“If war breaks out between Equestria and the Diamond Dogs, it is true that many ponies will be thrown onto the battlefield. However, it is almost certain you will not know these ponies. They will be warriors, sworn to defend Canterlot, with perhaps a few volunteers from random territories. It is almost certain that the war will hardly affect you or your lifestyle. It will be fought in far-off places, safely away from major population centers, in the countryside. But,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s those ponies’ own fault for living out there in the first place, right?”

Trixie remained silent. Her head looked like it weighed a thousand pounds.

“Now, let me ask you the question again: for nothing more than the lives of a couple hundred Dogs and a handful of strangers she has never met, how far would the Great and Apologetic Trixie be willing to go?”

Trixie sniffled. This was so very unfair. How could Celestia be asking her this!? How could her own, loving, omnibenevolent ruler want this for her!? How could she ask for the little magician to risk everything she had built up for…for…

A young foal’s face crept into her mind, his eyes lighting up as his father told him they finally had the money for a real prosthetic leg, and soon he might be able to get up and walk out of his chair. His face was followed by a yellow unicorn stallion’s, gazing at her with every single scrap of love he could muster as he caressed her mane and whispered: “I love you, oh Great and Apologetic one.” She had giggled at her new nickname that time, and she managed to muster up a tiny smile this time.

Her eyes slowly rose from the floor, determination joining the tears welling in them. Celestia smiled at the sight. She straightened her hat, inhaled, and exhaled. “Farther than you could ever know, Princess,” she said, wiping the tears away as she dashed across the floor and gazed down at the Amulet.

As she drew closer, it seemed to suck her hooves in, like a magnet attracting a paperclip. Somehow, even though she’d never felt it while in the Amulet’s presence, it felt familiar. Like seeing a relative at a reunion after a decade apart. But there was something sinister beneath the feeling. It was just the Amulet drawing her in, its magic willing her to pick it up, if a gem charged with dark energy could have a will. She looked back at the Princesses, and they smiled in return.

“Thank you,” Celestia whispered, and with a deep breath, Trixie closed her eyes and latched the Amulet around her throat.

The power coursed through her body, igniting every nerve ending and bringing her awareness to an incredible new peak. She opened her eyes, letting them spark wildly with power, and she could see the Princesses as they really were: tiny little beings, undeserving of their titles. The Amulet showed her the fear that existed on their faces, the way they backed away from the sparks of power shooting randomly off her body, scorching floor tiles and igniting curtains. She grinned wickedly at the thought of the Princesses cowering at her hooves, realizing their new place in the new Equestrian order, the one where she ruled over a real…

“TRIXIE! THIS ISN’T YOU!” Luna screamed, and suddenly the magician was bought crashing back down to reality. The glow faded from her body, retreating back into the Amulet.

“Oh…oh Celestia,” she gasped, swooning. The Princesses were immediately at her side to support her. “It was…it was…I wasn’t me for a second,” the magician sniffled.

“It is as I feared,” Celestia sighed. “Where before the Amulet was able to use your hatred and jealousy to influence you, it knows you now intend to use it for good, so it must use more overt attempts to assault and master your mind.”

“My mind…oh my gosh, it can think!?”

“Not exactly,” Celestia said as her sister mumbled something about a ring and something called a ‘Frito Haggins’. “To call what the Amulet is capable of as ‘thinking’ would be a bit generous. It does, however, possess something resembling a will, courtesy of the dark magic within it. Magic, both light and dark, has a tendency to influence its user towards good or evil, depending on its alignment. And when a will of pure good intentions meets such a high concentration of dark magic as the Amulet, the resulting dichotomy can be…disorienting.”

Trixie didn’t need any more explanation. She could feel it: the dark intent of the Alicorn Amulet slithering into her mind like a clump of earthworms released into the earth. She could feel the light inside her, struggling to retain control. It was an all-out war taking place, with her very soul as the battleground. The magician’s hooves raced to the Amulet, ready to tear it off…but…

Sethisto…

“Trixie? Art thou alright?” Luna asked.

“Y-yes, Princess,” she replied, allowing her hooves to rest at her side as she stood on her own. “I…I think I’m going to be alright. For now.”

“Good,” Celestia said, a business-like tone entering her voice. “You shall have two days to get used to the Amulet, and the spells you will require upon reaching Ponyville. After that, you must be off to Shizukh’s den.”

“Yes, Princess,” Trixie said, wearily making her way out the throne room, the Amulet hidden within her cloak.

“Oh, and Trixie?”

“Yes, Princess?”

The magician turned to see both Alicorns looking at her with the most incredible look of pure gratitude in their eyes, with smiles so warm they practically heated her face. “Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts,” Luna replied.

“Y-you’re welcome, Princess,” she said, hurrying out the door with the thought of those smiles keeping the encroaching darkness at bay.

Celestia sighed as the boom of the doors slamming shut echoed around the room. “Discord? You can come out now, sweetheart.”

“What was…” Luna started before a mismatched pair of eyes locked on her own.

“Hi.” The draconequus said with a crooked grin.

“Gah!” Luna leapt back as the Lord of Chaos howled with laughter.

“Oh, Lulu! You are simply too much!” He laughed. “One little ‘hi’ and you burst to pieces! It’s hi-LARIOUS!”

“Discord,” Celestia said, keeping her face neutral. “I take it you heard all that we discussed just now?”

“But of course, Tia! I’ve been hanging out in the eaves this entire time,” he said, waggling a finger in his marefriend’s face. “Now, why did you go and try to hide something from me, hmm? Dontcha know better by now?”

“Luna,” Celestia said. “Could you leave us, please? I would like a moment in private with Discord.”

“Of course, sister, I’ll do as YOU ask,” the Princess of Night replied, shooting Discord a dirty glare as she trotted from the room, slamming the doors shut behind her.

“Sheesh!” The Lord of Chaos sighed and shook his head. “Save a girl’s sister, and how does she repay ya?”

“She just doesn’t know you like I do,” Celestia smiled, nuzzling his nose. “She hasn’t taken the time to see the wonderful hero underneath the messy exterior. Like most of the kingdom, I’m afraid, she still views you as the chaos tyrant.”

“Oh, a tyrant, was I? Tell me, did Sombra ever bless his citizens with chocolate milk rain? Or living chocolate rabbits? Or how about the Grand Russian Bison Ballet Corps?” He sighed, snapping his fingers to turn Luna’s throne into a giant gingerbread cookie. Taking a seat, he snapped off a piece and shoved it down his throat. “The way ponies talk, you’d think I was their version of Hitler! Yet did you see me opening up concentration camps for the elderly? I think not!”

“These things take time, dear, and a reputation that has stood for a few millennia can take a while to reverse,” she said, smiling as she strode up to him and broke off a piece of candy-cane from his throne.

“Time, bah,” he grumbled. “I think I’ve waited long enough for these little, xenophobic pricks to warm up to me.”

“Careful, Dissy,” Celestia replied, ice creeping along the edges of her tone. “Those little, xenophobic pricks happen to be my beloved subjects.”

“Oh? And what’s the pretty little pony princess gonna do?” He snickered. “Put her stallionfriend in the stone again?”

She glared back at him. “She could just refuse sex for a few months.”

“Heh,” he snickered, rolling his eyes to her. She kept up the glare. The smirk faded from his face. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“Try me.”

“Shit. Alroight, well played, Tia,” he grumbled, stretching out on the throne before returning it to its natural state, sans a few bitemarks, with a snap of his fingers.

“Discord,” she sighed and shook her head. “Please don’t tell me you only showed up here to annoy my sister.”

“Of course not, dear Tia!” He laughed, taking her face in his his claws. “I also wanted to annoy you!”

“Dissy,” she smiled, shaking her head. “Why are you so determined to make yourself the bad guy in every conversation we have?”

“Because the bad guy gets to have all the fun,” he replied, his tail silently creeping along the tile until it reached her shoulder and began to stroke slowly, up and down. She shivered under his touch. “Come now, you can’t say you’d prefer it if I were a little goody-two-shoes, running around, hugging everpony and frolicking in rose bushes or some crap, would you?”

“I’d prefer it if you were more honest,” she replied, pulling away. “I mean, you seem to want everypony to see the big, evil draconequus, when all I want is for everypony to see the great and noble hero.”

“Tch,” he snickered. “Dear Tia, ‘hero?’ Come now, you can’t be that naïve.”

“Oh? If there isn’t so much good in you, then why did you relay the warning from Swarm about Shizukh?”

“Please,” he rolled his eyes yet again. “I just owed him a favor or two, that’s all.”

“A favor?” She cocked an eyebrow. “When did Swarm do something for you?”

His cheeks turned bright red, and rather suddenly he switched to the defensive. “Nothing, nothing! Just…picked up some of the chaotic slack in the multiverse while…I’m engaged with you, is all.” His eyes darted around the room, focusing anywhere but on her.

“Discord, what’s that you keep telling me about trying to bullshit a bullshitter?” She asked, an eyebrow arched.

“Oi! Being the spirit of chaos is a full-time job, and I…”

“Oh my gods,” she gasped suddenly, and based on the glee in her eyes, Discord realized she’d hit upon exactly what Swarm had done for him. His face plummeted as she leapt on him, the warmest of smiles on her face. “It’s me, isn’t it!? Swarm’s the one who shoved you back into my hooves, and you feel like you owe him for that!”

He didn’t say a single word, but turned away from her and tried to block her line of sight on his face with a hand, his face a deep chartreuse.

“Ohhhhh, Dissy, you big sweetheart!” She cooed, wings splaying out as she leaned towards him for a kiss. He responded with a sudden downpour of chocolate milk right over her head, soaking her from head to toe and flattening her otherwise ethereal mane. He smirked as she sputtered, only to scowl again as she parted her mane and revealed that little smile, her vermillion eyes lit up like the star she commanded.

“I love you too, Dissy,” she sang, giving him a sweet, soaking peck to his cheek before trotting out of the room, a little side-to-side motion in her hips. “And you can peel your eyes away from my flank whenever you want!”

He moaned as the doors to the room slammed shut, leaving him alone on Luna’s throne. It was getting easier for her to predict him. She was far more intelligent than even he’d ever guessed, and from the start he’d known she was brilliant. “Not a good sign, ol’ chap,” he muttered, double-checking to make sure he was alone before pulling out a velvet-lined box. Peeling the little, brown, sugary kiss from his cheek, he carefully laid it in the box and snapped it shut. That one was a keeper! But now, back to business: how was he going to get back at his marefriend for this? It had to be subtle, he knew that much. She’d never in a million years expect something subtle or underhanded from him. Oh, but what? How could he…

His eyes drifted across the desk set along one wall, eventually falling upon the little scroll the Princess had prepared for Trixie, complete with official seal and everything. A grin crossed his face as he drifted across the room and snatched the scroll in his claws, only breaking the seal after making sure the royal stamp pad was still there for him to redo it. “Now, let’s see…” he mumbled, scanning over his marefriend’s words. “Boring, predictable, blah-de-blah-de-blah… ‘destroy this message once you have finished with it’? Oh, Tia! How cliché!”

He shook his head and tsked before snapping his fingers. His personal quill pen materialized beside him and happily yipped. Stroking it gently, he set it to work on a new ending for Celestia’s note. “And done, and…done!” He said once the charm was complete. “There, now that’s a proper self-destruct mechanism!”

Replacing the scroll on the desk and reapplying the seal, he cracked his knuckles and cast his pen away, allowing it to vanish in a small cloud of confetti. “And with that handled, I get to see what Lulu’s up to!” He mused, bouncing happily out of the throne room with a carton of eggs and a few rolls of duct tape at the ready. Oh, today was going to be so much fun!