Twilight woke up once again staring at a ceiling she knew very well by now, the Canterlot Hospital ceiling. She had bandages wrapped around her head and both left legs. Upon inspecting her surroundings, she noticed that she was alone; no doctors, no nurses, no friends visiting her, even the other bed in the room was empty. Since the lights were lit, it was probably night outside.

"He..." she tried to say, but immediately proceeded to cough - her throat was very dry; fortunately, a jar and a glass of water were sitting on the bedside table. After drinking two glasses, her throat felt much better. "Hello? Is anypony there?"

The doors were opened and two pegasus Royal Guards stepped inside, bowing their heads.

"Your Highness." the first said. "Sorry for bothering you so soon after your awakening, but your assistance is needed in the palace."

"The palace?"

"We're under direct orders from the Princess herself to escort you there as soon as you wake up!" the second explained.

"Can I see my friends first?"

"Sorry, Your Highness, but it's an emergency, we have no time!" the first said as the second retrieved a wheelchair from the corridor.

Twilight sighed and nodded. After the guards assisted her to sit on the wheelchair and carrying her safely to outside the Hospital, they carefully laid her down on the seat of the Royal Chariot and flew to the castle. During the flight, Twilight felt that something about the capital was different; it was too quiet, even for a Canterlot nighttime. Once they arrived at their destination, the guards placed her back on the wheelchair and took her to the Throne Room. Twilight couldn't see who was sitting on the throne, since they were surrounded by books, pictures and documents. Both guards bowed.

"Your Highness, Princess Twilight is here." one of the guards said.

"Thank you for your assistance, guards." she said before lowering all the papers surrounding her. Twilight gasped. "Could you please leave us alone?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" they said before leaving the room. The unicorn guards standing outside closed the door, leaving the Princesses by themselves.

"I'm glad to see you're finally awake, Twilight."

After staring at the Princess with her mouth hanging open, she finally remembered how to speak:

"T-T-Trixie?!"

Trixie, now wearing a smaller version of Princess Celestia's regalia, was sitting at the throne that once belonged to Princess Celestia. Once the door was closed, her stern expression was replaced by one of terror. Without thinking twice, she ran to where Twilight was, removed her crown and held it in front of Twilight's face.

"Here! Take it! Quick, take it! I can't stand this anymore!"

"What happened? Why are they calling you a Princess? Where are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

"Oh, so much happened in these last few days you were in the hospital, I don't even know where to start." she looked down at the crown she was holding. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they... They disappeared after the last Twisted Metal."

"They what?!"

"Nopony was sure what to do, this had never happened before. The council was desperate! They were out of options, since Princess Cadance is ruling over the Crystal Empire and you were in a hospital bed, so they gave the crown to the closest Alicorn available. They were a little reluctant since there were 6 'Yes' votes against 5 'No' votes - one of the council members was absent that day - but they needed somepony with their flank glued to that throne."

"But why don't you want to be a Princess? It's an honor!"

"Honor? Honor?!" she levitated a few dozens of papers in front of Twilight - most of them letters and newspaper clippings. "Ever since news of the disappearance of the Princesses, Equestria is a complete chaos! Street fights, robberies, all kinds of crimes are being commited everywhere! And do you think that's all? No no no no no, they're watching us, Twilight. Changelings, griffons, even the zebras. Since Discord's return we have been losing their trust - or fear, in the Changelings' case. They already know that we're vulnerable and, once we hit our lowest, they will see it as a chance to 'expand their territories'. If we can't pull ourselves back up, we better prepare ourselves for the possibility of war. A war, can you believe it? There are even rumors tha Fillydelphia is building underground shelters in case other nations indeed decide to strike. You are a natural leader, Twilight, only you can take over the reins of the situation! We need you. Equestria needs you." She once again held the crown in front of Twilight. "I need you."

"Stop acting like Princess Twilight can decline, Trixie." an unknown male voice said. The Alicorns looked at the door, which was half open, and where a middle-aged beige unicorn with grey mane and tail wearing a white suit, shirt and tie was standing.

"And you are...?" Twilight asked.

"Aries, head of the Royal Council." he bowed his head. "It's a pleasure to finally get acquainted with you, Your Highness."

"And what were you saying about me not being able to decline?"

"Well, unlike Trixie, you were already crowned a Princess. By the Royal Sisters, no less!" he levitated the crown away from Trixie's hooves and placed it on Twilight's head. "This is your duty, and you cannot deny them." he then proceeded to hastily strip Trixie from the royal regalia with his magic and place them on Twilight's lap. "Thank you for your assistance, miss Trixie, but we got a real Princess to do the job now. Your job of keeping her seat warm is finished, you are now dismissed."

He pointed at the open door and Trixie walked toward it. "Good luck, Princess Twilight..." she tried to keep her calm, but her insides were filled with worry about her friend. After all, being a Princess was quite the responsability and she dumped it all on her lap out of the blue.

"Wait, Trixie!"

The former showmare turned her head to look at her friend. "Yes, Your Highness?"

"Come closer."

Trixie did as she was told. Aries raised an eyebrow, not sure of what were the plans of the new ruler. Once Trixie was close enough, Twilight touched both her shoulders with her horn. "Beatrix Lulamoon, due to your extended knowledge of the current situation of Equestria, admirable knowledge of the arcane sciences and previous experiences with a royal position, I, Princess Twilight of Equestria, hereby name you my personal adviser. You must accompany at all times, assisting me whenever I'm in need, no matter the situation."

Trixie's eyes grew wider with every word said by Twilight. "M-M-Me? Your... Adviser? Bu-But, I-I can't..."

Twilight pressed her hoof against Trixie's mouth, making her stop talking.

"I can't do this either, Trixie. At least not alone. Even Princess Celestia needed Princess Luna's assistance and vice versa. I need somepony to help me, so why not a close friend? Since you are so averse to the idea of being a Princess, can't you at least stand by my side?"

Trixie shifted her gaze from Twilight to Aries, who simply rolled his eyes. She looked back at her friend, who was looking at her with big, expectant eyes. Trixie sighed.

"When you put it like that... Okay, I accept your offer, Princess!"

Twilight giggled. "You know you don't need to be so formal, Trixie."

Aries rolled his eyes again, this time to the other side, and proceeded to leave the room. "I truly hope Equestria can survive being ruled by ponies like those..."

Once Aries closed the door, a fact came to Twilight:

"Wait a second! If I'm a Princess, then that means I can't go to Twisted Metal!"

"Well... I guess we'll have to trust your friends."

"But the only ponies on our side who are still participating are Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts!"

"Uh... Then I think we may have a problem."

Aries opened the door of the Council Meeting Room and cleaned his throat, drawing the attention of the other eleven council members "Gentlecolts! The throne is once again occupied."

"Are you getting senile, Aries? We know!" a dark purple pegasus mare with black mane wearing glasses said. "Personally, I don't trust that Trixie gal with my goldfish's life, let alone a whole nation."

"I am not senile, Aquarius, and I'm not talking about Ms. Waste of Time, no. Princess Twilight is here!"

"Finally!" a bulky, dark brown earth pony with golden mane and covered in scars said, slamming his hoof on the table. "Taurus was tired of waiting! So, when is Princess going to give permission to prepare for war? Taurus want to smash griffon beaks!"

"Now, now, Taurus, I know you like to fight, but war is always bad." a light pink pegasus mare with a poofy, yellow mane said while rubbing his back. "Calm down and let's hear what Aries has to say, alright?"

Taurus crossed his forelegs and huffed. "Just because Virgo asked."

"Thank you, Virgo!" Aries cleaned his throat again. "Well, I have good news and bad news! The good news is, I finally located where she is currently living."

"And the bad news?" a green earth pony stallion with dark green mane asked.

"The bad news, Cancer, is that she is a very busy mare and won't be available during the next Twisted Metal, only the one after that!"

"Well, those are indeed bad news, but--"

"And we need to pay her triple, because she is bringing her sisters."

"What?! Does she think we have a garden of bits?!" a red unicorn mare with orange mane shouted.

"Don't worry, Scorpio, it's a small price to pay in order to bring peace and order back to Equestria. Discord needs to be brought down, and she is the best Beast Hunter of this generation!"

"Small price, he says." Scorpio said, crossing her forelegs. "It's not the royal money we're using, it's ours."

"Knowing Equestrian Royalty as well as I do, Princess Twilight would never support a plan already denied by her predecessors. We must act on our own, and you know that! And remember--"

"Blah blah blah, nothing of what is said here must leave this room, blah blah blah, we know that, Ari!" a light blue seapony mare inside a water tank said. "You don't have to repeat it every time we meet, are you sure you're not senile?"

Aries frowned. "I am not that old."

Author's Notes:

Do you like The Zodiac Council of Equestria? Yes? Too bad, they were entirely pointless, I don't think I'm bringing them back.
But I might decide to draw them someday! It will also feature the missing Zodiacs that were not addressed in that scene.
Anyway, can you guess who are the three mysterious mares hired by the ZCE to destroy Discord?