The battle had raged on for what felt like an eternity. The very land bore scars to their duel. Even the sky seemed to burn from all the magic they had seared the fabrics of reality with. Now they stood facing one another, both ready to deliver the final blow.

Tirek struck first. "It seems we are at an impasse. How about a trade, Princess Twilight. Their release, for all the alicorn magic in Equestria!" And he struck deep.

Give in, give Tirek unlimited power, maybe get friends back.

“Twilight, no!”

Don't give in, don't give Tirek unlimited power, maybe not get friends back, maybe save Equestria.

"You can't!"

Both choices have limited probabilities of getting friends back.

“Don’t do it, Twilight!”

Only one choice had a chance at saving Equestria and possibly getting friends back.

"We aren't worth it!"

They were not at an impasse. The power of 4 alicorns clearly outclassed Tirek. As she is now she stood a chance at victory. Give in and that chance will be forever lost.

"What's it going to be, Princess?"

Her friends begged her to choose the latter. Who was she to not listen to her friends?

"Enough! I want an answer, and I want it now!"

Twilight Sparkle made her choice. She gave her answer.

She charged up all the magic she could muster in her horn. Enough magical power to level mountains and carve oceans collected at the tip of her horn. But instead of firing it directly, she would have it rise out of a circle of magic on the ground at Tirek's hooves. She would hopefully avoid Tirek using her friends as a shield. She would hopefully defeat him soundly and save her friends. With an anguished battle cry she released it, an arcane ray blinding enough to rival the sun.

"Poor choice, Princess." She heard Tirek roar.

Twilight saw the orbs carrying her friends spiral to Tirek's hooves as he floated up into the air, intent on using them as shields.

It was too late. The magic was cast. The circle was sealed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Twilight Sparkle watched. She watched as her very own magic tore her best friends apart.

What haunted her to this day was not Tirek's screams. No. It was their smiles, the smiles of her friends. It was as if they were telling her it was alright. That this was as it should be.

Those smiles would be burned into her nightmares for all eternity. And she quite literally did have all eternity.

Princess Twilight Sparkle sang softly as she regarded her Kingdom. The queues at the gates were lengthening nicely. She could hear her officials and clerks shepherd the new arrivals. "Murderers form a line over there, please! Looters and thieves, please use that queue over there! Liars and lawyers, if you could join the special express queue on the far end!"

She could see the faces of the new arrivals fall in horror and despair at the very sight of the long, orderly queues. She could hear them groan and lament their fates at the sight of the piles upon piles of forms they had to fill in duplicate and triplicate. And if that wasn't enough to kill what little hope they had left, the announcement of their allotted time on the very strict potty timetable would.

Gone were the fire and brimstone, the lava pits and the embers. In their place was the cold indifference of bureaucracy and paper, heavier than chains, more binding than iron manacles, more painful than thumbscrews. What was most remarkable was how low the escape rate was. 0% in the 10 years Princess Twilight had reigned as the Regent of Tartarus. Nopony could even begin planning an escape without filling in 75 different escape forms and all the associated health and safety waivers, indemnity agreements, disclosure dockets, etc. etc. etc.

Things had come far from when she took over 10 years ago. She had arrived intent on creating an unescapable prison, one even she herself wouldn't be able to escape. "This is my repentance." She had said when she sealed the exit forever. That inept mutt Cerberus now had a permanent place in the petting zoo, his place taken by a powerful and unfeeling shade, a product of her darkest magic. Back then the place was empty, all its denizens long since escaped. Now it was burgeoning, bordering on over-crowding, and yet running to every bullet point on her daily planner as smoothly as clockwork.

She sighed as she turned away from the lofty balcony overlooking her cold, clerical Kingdom. She entered her spacious, orderly office, slamming the door to her balcony behind her with a blast of her magic. She groaned as she climbed into her seat, allowing herself her usual scheduled 5 seconds to peer at the charred photograph sitting at the corner of her wide stone desk. Seven happy smiling faces peered back at her, almost taunting her with their happiness. "Hi, girls..." She murmured awkwardly. It was one of the few items that survived that day, if only barely. Little else did. Sometimes she wondered how much of herself did.

A knock sounded on her door, interrupting her at exactly 3.5 seconds. But she knew that knock. It was the only one she excused. "Come in." She called, pulling over the first stack of official dockets she would have to sign that afternoon.

"Twilight, darling! Would you care to have a moment for some tea, perhaps a cake and a gossip?" A familiar alabaster form peered in, batting her long eyelashes while flashing the most fetching of smiles. She tossed her sleek curly lilac mane over her shoulder as she pulled in a tea trolley bearing the promised tea and cakes with her magic.

"Not now." Twilight muttered, testily. "I'm 12 seconds behind already."

"Oh, Twilight dear, if you've lost 12 seconds you might as well enjoy 15 minutes." Her visitor clucked cheerfully as she trotted over to a coffee table surrounded by low sofas in one corner. "Come come, I have the juiciest gossip from the office girls downstairs."

"Not now!" Twilight bellowed. The very room shook as if cowering under her Royal Canterlot voice. She gave a little gasp as she noticed how scared and teary-eyed she had made her visitor. "I'm sorry." She sighed, calming down considerably. "That's very kind of you. I'll have a cup. But, I don't want to see Rarity right now."

"Ah, I know how to turn that big frown upside down!" The visitor's voice turned an octave higher as she bounded over, her alabaster coat turning a bright jubilant pink, her hair suddenly exploding into puffy fuchsia. She set down the cup balanced on her nose on Twilight's desk before whipping out cupcakes out of nowhere. "Today's a happy happy day, cause we're going to do it the Pinkie way, we're..." She began to sing.

"Please, Willow Wisp." Twilight muttered in a voice that barely trembled under her restraint. "No."

"Aww, fine, be that way..." Pinkie's voice said before it turned softer. "I-I'm sorry, Twilight, really." The young changeling standing before her desk said.

"You're just following her orders." Twilight said, without feeling. The very thought of that mare made her spit turn to poison. If she uttered her name she knew only acid would come forth. "In the end we all are."

"She really does worry for you, Twilight, really." The changeling, Twilight's royally appointed 'mental health anchor', said, earnestly, as she poured out the tea with a touch of her changeling magic. "I mean, she appointed me to keep you company. That's how much she cares."

"Well, I don't want her to." Twilight snapped, impatience growing dangerously.

"It's already been 10 years, Twilight." Willow chided as she paused to set a vase of lavender and lilac flowers on one corner of the desk, replacing the old ones. "Surely you can at least write her a letter?"

"Try again in another century." Twilight scoffed bitterly.

"I won't be around then, Twilight, really." The changeling sighed as she adjusted the bouquet of lavenders and lilacs gently with a pinch of her magic. "Can't this humble servant hope to witness her mistress smile a genuine smile at least once in her lifetime?"

"No. Sorry, Willow." Twilight shook her head as she got to work on her dockets. "There are 5 ponies I need to beg forgiveness from first." She took a deep breath before sighing.

"You're extra touchy today, really." The changeling said, the thick reflective membrane covering her eyes, her third eyelid, slid back to reveal her deep turquoise eyes, something Twilight had come to learn was a gesture of earnestness from the changeling. "It's the anniversary, isn't it?"

"No, not that. The remembrance went perfectly. Not a single item was missed. We ran 24 seconds ahead of schedule. It was perfect." Twilight shook her head. "No, it's just that it now marks 10 years, Willow." Her quill paused, hovering over a docket. "10 years and I still haven't found them. I'm the princess of the afterlife, Willow. I hold sway over Tartarus and Elyssium. But 10 years and I-I have y-yet to find t-them, t-to b-b-beg their f-f-forgiveness." Twilight's voice cracked before giving way under the overwhelming strain.

Willow gave a little gasp before rushing over to her mistress' side as she watched her collapse onto her desk, burying her face in her hooves. "Twilight, Twilight, are you alright?" She asked, feeling rather stupid for asking such an obvious question. But there was little else she could do for the grieving mare as she threw a comforting hoof over her mistress' shuddering shoulders.

"I-It w-was m-m-my fault!" The young alicorn cried. "I-I k-k-killed them. W-with my own magic! W-with my own hooves!" 10 years had not made the guilt any lighter. If anything, it had only matured it, thickened it into a choking mire. And it was all she could do to cry herself to sleep every night and wake up in tears in the mornings. The last thing she needed was to spend the day inundated in tears too, but she couldn't help it. She missed them, she missed them so much. And it was all her fault they were no longer with her.

"I-It wasn't your fault, Twilight, really!" The changeling asserted. "It was all that Tirek! You saved us, all of us!" She bit her lip as she watched her mistress tremble in her anguish.

"I-I miss them, Willow. I-I m-miss them so much." Twilight cried. The cold and aloof princess of the Underworld bared her heart to others only rarely, and even then only ever to Willow. To the young changeling it was almost unbearable at times. Her kind, caring princess, who had always managed to spare a thought for her subjects amidst her lonely torment, was always adamant on suffering alone. To her, these moments when Twilight would allow her to soothe her, were precious, almost priceless.

There was only one thing to do. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. This, this was going to hurt. She closed her eyes. There, in the distance, just within hoofreach, was the little, lonely lilac glow, shrouded in a dark, painful shadow. She reached out. It was a heart devoid of love. Her every instinct told her to steer clear. There would be no feeding to be had here, only absolute pain. But she reached out and bit into it anyway.

Her eyes flew open, her wings flaring, as the shockingly thick bitterness surged forth into her, burning her insides like a deadly poison. But she held strong, holding her mistress steady as she drained every last drop of anguish from her.

Twilight's eyes fluttered open, feeling nothing but an empty hollowness where her heavy, painful heart was. She looked around and found her loyal assistant collapsed by her side. "Willow..." She murmured, embracing her assistant in the soft lilac glow of her magic. "You didn't have to do that." She sighed, "This...this is my burden to bear."

"S-sorry, Twilight..." Willow chuckled, before wincing in pain. "Uuh...I thought doing that first might help you not killing me after this, really."

"Willow, you silly filly, what is it about this time?" Twilight sighed, giving her assistant a faint smile as she allowed her limp body to lean against her own in her embrace.

"Well, uh, where to start, so you don't kill me." Willow gave a wattery smile.

"This isn't about last month's expense claims?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, filed and checked thrice, Twilight."

"The cell block expansion report?"

"Approved last week, Twilight."

"The tea and sweets docket?"

"Err....let me get back to you on that if I'm still alive after this, but, no, Twilight, not that."

"Well, what is it, Willow? You can tell me." Twilight said, giving her a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Willow could only shiver inside. Well, yes, technically she could tell her. Surviving it was another matter entirely. But she was a changeling, she was designed to be loyal, bug it all. "You, well, you know how I go report once a month to the Princess?" Willow surgically left Celestia's name out.

"Yes." Twilight nodded, suddenly guarded. "Did she say anything?"

"Well, sort of. But not, in fact, to me." Willow said, sheepishly. "Uh, I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, really."

"Go on." Twilight encouraged carefully.

"Well, the two princesses were discussing something. You see..." She licked her lips as she steadied herself. Twilight visibly held her breath. "I may or may not have overheard why exactly you haven't found the souls of your friends in the past 10 years."

"You WHAT?!" Twilight roared. "And you were going to tell me WHEN?!" She demanded, shaking the poor little changeling in her magical grasp.

"Twilight, Twilight." Willow croaked, patting Twilight's hooves urgently, "Can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, Willow. But tell me!" Twilight demanded, pulling up a chair and setting her assistant on it gently.

"Uh, right, well..." Willow panted for breath, fearing for her life a little. The chair was steadying, but it also cut off her escape. Ah well, only one way forwards now. "You see, the Elements of Harmony..." She gulped. This next bit won't be easy. "Theyarepoweredbythesoulsoftheirbearerssoafterthebearesdietheysucktheirsoulsupandkeepthemimprisonedforeverandever." She said all in one go before shutting her eyes tightly against the impending storm. She was wise to do so. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for what came next.

The very palace of Tartarus shook violently. The roar that followed almost blew every dormant volcano across Equestria. "WHAAAAT?!" The Regent of Tartarus demanded in a towering spiralling rage. Her eyes burned white with righteous rage, her mane billowed in the fiery psychic storm that rocked the entire palace to its foundations.

"Sorryyyyy Twiliiiiiiiiight!" Willow cried, hanging onto the desk for dear life to avoid getting swept up into the hurricane of crackling magical energy that was now ravaging the little office. "P-p-please spare meeeeeeeee reaaaalllyyyyyyyy!"

"What?!" Twilight demanded again, cutting the fuse on her magical storm abruptly, sending Willow crashing into the carpeted floor. "What?!" She repeated like a broken gramaphone as she hopped off her chair and paced up to Willow. She picked her rather abused assistant up in her magic, shaking her by her shoulders. "What?!" She asked again, almost pleading this time. "I-I'm s-sorry, W-willow, b-but...w-what?"

On reflection, that wasn't too bad. For one thing, Willow found she was in fact still alive and still in possession of all her limbs. That was better than she predicted. Emboldened by this she went on, "The Elements of Harmony, Twilight, they aren't powered by 'Friendship'. Friendship's just the key to make sure they are wielded by agents of Harmony. They are in fact powered by the souls of their bearers."

"So..." Twilight gritted her teeth, letting Willow slump back onto her haunches. "All these years...no wonder we couldn't find them no matter how hard we looked." So many thoughts. So many questions. Why did that mare never tell her? Did she know this all along? Did she know this before she entrusted the Elements of Harmony to her and her friends? Did....no, none of that mattered right now. What mattered was...

"How am I going to leave Tartarus to get the Elements back from the tree of Harmony?" Twilight gasped, sudden despair gripping her. "I...I enchanted the exit so not even I can pass...." She looked out of her office at the gates of Tartarus in the distance. Suddenly the folly of the act hit her. "That Wraith...if I can defeat him, perhaps..." She gritted her teeth as she paced back and forth.

"Err, Twilight..." Willow raised a hoof.

"That wraith was my own creation, surely if I reverse all 274 magic canticles I can desummon him? No, I made it so even that was not possible..." Twilight mused out loud.

"Um, Twilight? I need to tell you..." Willow waved her hoof in the air.

"If I open a new exit? No, that would be folly. Besides, the wraith would simply come and guard the new exit too. That's how he's programmed." Twilight thought to herself.

"Twilight, stop for a moment, really!" Willow stepped in front of Twilight's pacing, risking being run over by the alicorn's deadly train of thought. "I-I need to tell you something!"

"What is it, Willow?! I need to think up a way to get the Elements back from the tree!" Twilight snapped. "We have no time to lose!"

"Well, that's good, cause they're right here." Willow said.

Twilight stared at her assistant, dumbfounded. "Come again?"

"They're right here." Willow said, pulling aside the tablecloth covering the tea trolley, revealing a wooden strongbox underneath. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." She shrugged. "Besides, even if I didn't steal them then, I do have special permission to cross the border. I could fetch it for you anytime." It didn't happen often, but Willow quite enjoyed it whenever she pulled a feat of logic on her mistress.

"Willow, you..." Twilight gasped, before throwing her hooves around Willow's neck. "T-t-thank you, Willow! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" She cried.

"Uh, not at all, Twilight." Willow smiled, meekly. "So, uh, now that you have them..." She watched as Twilight reached out and unlocked the strongbox with but a touch of her all-powerful alicorn magic. The lid slowly opened itself, revealing the old but familiar pieces of Harmony, seemingly plucked roughly out of their resting place in their tree. They were once a source of wonder to the young Alicorn. Now their true nature gave them a sinister, perhaps even treacherous feel. "....what are you going to do, really?" Willow asked, her wings buzzing nervously.

"Release their souls." Twilight said, breathlessly. "No, no, why stop there? I-I can...I can revive them! Ascend them!" Her voice took on an excited, manic pitch. "Y-yes! I-if i-it's a spell, it's something I'll crack sooner or later! Oh yes!"

"Twilight, one last thing..." Willow added. "The princesses may have mentioned that releasing souls from the Elements will destroy them along with the Tree of Harmony. Forever." She gulped. "I know I've brought them to you. I have no reason to question what you do with them now. After all you've done for us all, you deserve to choose Equestria's fate..." She took a deep breath, "Just...is this really what you want, Twilight?"

Twilight looked down at the elements, gleaming back at her, almost taunting her. "What I want...." Twilight began, "No, what we want..."

Author's Notes:

Yet another plot bunny I felt I simply must air! The inspiration came to my while reading 'Rebirth' by The-Pony-Librarian. Go give it a read if you haven't already. It is perhaps the most original piece of fiction I've read on this site thus far. The idea is simply brilliant.

Hope you all enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Usual Disclaimer: MLP belongs to the amazingful Faust. It also belongs to Hasbro. I kinda want a changeling plushie though.