Luna hooked her forehooves over the rail of the boat she had been abruptly taken to and shoved on while still in a state of half-asleep delirium, along with most of the contents of her workshop. To say she was confused would undersell just how confused she was exactly. At least she might be able to understand what was going on better now she was awake.

"Explain this to me again," she said to the purple alicorn sat next to her, glowering at the scenery as it crawled by.

"Snowbright wants to execute Hotpot."

"I gathered that, yes, but why are we all rushing up there to stop him? Couldn't you have simply flown up?" And leave me in Puddingarde, Luna thought. She wasn't particularly keen on leaving her comfort zone after only returning to it for so little time.

"Because I might need help convincing him to stop, and depending on what happens I might need your advice."

"Hence why you filled this boat with volatile explosives?"

Twilight ducked her head at hearing that, "You still need to finish making them," she mumbled.

"Something which I would've been more comfortable doing in Puddingarde I might add." Luna watched the scenery for a minute along with Twilight, who she still felt could fly on to Whiplash ahead of the rest of them if she were so concerned. Luna suspected that there was more to this than immediately apparent.

"Why exactly are we so concerned if he does execute her? She is a traitor after all, and indirectly responsible for a large number of our losses."

Twilight jerked her head up suddenly, "Are you kidding me? You support the idea of killing her?"

"Not as such, but this isn't our country, and these aren't our rules. The death penalty is still legal here from what I understand."

"That's not the point!" Twilight stopped and forced herself to calm down, "We are trying to make Mareitania a better place, and part of that is to abolish barbaric practices such as the death penalty. Surely you agree with that?"

"The death penalty was still in use when I was banished Twilight, and while I don't disagree with it being gone, I still find the idea of an eye for an eye to be the most... attractive form of justice. Her actions resulted in the deaths of hundreds, yet her punishment is to sit in a cell before being released a free mare in the future? That hardly seems fair."

Twilight gawped at Luna, not quite able to believe what she was hearing, "So you support the death penalty?"

Luna carefully studied Twilight's expression of disgust. To say she supported it wasn't entirely true. Back in the day they had been shamefully liberal with using death as a punishment, much to her own individual shame as she advocated it far more than her sister ever did. That said, there were some things she felt deserved the ultimate punishment, and sadly Hotpot fell into her definition of that.

"I'm on the fence Twilight," she said diplomatically, "but I will support your view as leader of the rebellion. However, you must remember this isn't just your rebellion, and you don't have the right to force your ideals over everypony else's."

"Which is why I have so many coming with me. Most of the prominent figures of the rebellion are going to be there so we can decide for good whether to abolish the death penalty or not. Snowbright wouldn't dare cross all of us to get what he wants, and Hotpot just so happens to be the pony in the middle of it."

Luna shook her head with resignation, "And yet you are keen to deal out death to a pony such as this Pearl I keep hearing of. Does that not make you a hypocrite?" Luna almost felt bad about the guilty pleasure she got from seeing Twilight's face just then.

"That's- That's-" Twilight stammered, "That's different!"

"It isn't, and you know it isn't. You killing her as part of the war is different from executing her, yes, but you still wish her dead for her crimes, which isn't. I suggest you think long and hard on that one Twilight."

Twilight did think about it, and found herself becoming horribly conflicted over this before she had even come to making an argument against the death penalty. Action was different from intent to a point, but if she won the fight to get the death penalty abolished, would she then have to take Pearl alive if given the opportunity. And what of the Duke and his family? Would anypony here really be able to accept the Duke being alive and well in prison after all he did?

It was almost two whole agonising days before they made it to Brayside. Twilight had forgot to account for travelling against the current when she decided to travel by boat, but it had at least given her a chance to catch up on her sleep.

As soon as the boat had docked, she, along with her friends, Luna, Daybreak, Thorn, Ivory, Rush, Sawbones, and the remaining Wonderbolts, had made a beeline straight for the facility to confront Snowbright before he did something. The fact that it had come to this in the short time they were gone was bad enough, so no time was to be wasted.

Most of their soldiers were out on the defences around the town, although there were still plenty inside the facility. Those that were there seemed tense, and Twilight could only think that what had happened was worse than she knew. She stopped a pony to ask where Hotpot was being held, and was directed to the centre level where she found a cell guarded by a quartet of thestrals, as well as Shadow keeping an eye on things from nearby.

"Thank the Night Mother you're here," she breathed, sending Luna into a choking fit until Daybreak smacked her on the back to stop it. "I'm not sure I could keep things here civil if you were gone much longer."

Fleur scraped a hoof at a flaking patch of dried blood outside the cell door, "What happened here Shadow? Was there a fight?"

"A small one, yes. Snowbright's ponies wanted to execute Hotpot, but we were under the impression she was to be kept alive until you had at least questioned her. They didn't seem to like that though, as they blame her for a lot of ponies getting killed, and tried to take her by force."

"Was anypony killed?" Daybreak asked quickly.

"Nah. Snowbright managed to get his ponies back under control, which then led to the ultimatum of you coming here to sort this out, but things have still been pretty tense since then. They've even built a gallows outside because they think you're going to side with them about killing her."

"Very loyal of you to not let them take her," Luna said to Shadow, giving Twilight a sly look.

"Yeah, thanks Shadow," said Twilight. "Thank you, all of you."

Shadow shrugged, "It's probably because I hate being pushed around." She grinned bashfully, trying to play it down. "Besides, she might still have useful information." There was a nasty laugh from within the cell, telling all there that the odds of getting that information was a good deal lower in lieu of what was going on.

"That can probably wait," said Twilight before being interrupted by Daybreak.

"Where is Snowbright now?" he growled menacingly.

"Up in the control room," Shadow replied, pointing up to the room suspended above them. "I think he's waiting to see if we slip up and give him a chance to grab her."

"We'll see about that." Daybreak started marching off, only to slow to a crawl and stop seconds later. "How exactly do I get up there?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and silently acquiesced to lead the way up the control room, which didn't stop Daybreak from barging past her as soon as he knew where he was going.

"Snowbright!" he bellowed, shocking Snowbright into fumbling the mug of tea he had gripped in his hooves and dropping it.

"Ah! Hothothot! What the hell Daybreak?"

"Why the hell have your ponies been fighting with the thestrals!?"

Snowbright sighed guiltily, "That wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to surrender Hotpot with no fuss, especially since she's responsible for some of them being dead too. Sadly though, we underestimated how tenacious they are, and things came to blows, for which I'm sorry, and not just because they wiped the floor with us." He pointedly looked at Shadow, who gave a very toothy grin in return.

"And why have you decided that you have to execute the prisoner? You weren't given any orders to."

Snowbright threw his hooves up dramatically, "Great! So I'm not even allowed to think for myself now! I'm not the only one that thinks she needs to pay for what she did you know."

"She's a prisoner of war," said Twilight, hoping to take control of the discussion, "you can't just kill prisoners of war."

"Why not?"

"Because there are rules and conventions about such things."

Snowbright spread his hooves wide, "There are? Are they written down somewhere I can read them? Perhaps they're next to the part where it says you shouldn't kill innocent civilians, or where you shouldn't unleash tornados on your enemy because it isn't sporting."

Twilight looked to Ivory for support, but the white mare shook her head and shrugged, "Mareitania doesn't have the same rules in place as other countries, which I suppose isn't a surprise really."

Snowbright's hooves clicked as they met the floor again, "Wait, you're saying there really are rules for war?"

"Some, yes," said Twilight, "not killing prisoners being one of them."

Snowbright shrugged it off, "As Ivory said, they don't apply here. Besides, we haven't executed any of the other prisoners here, so we're doing alright."

"Then why Hotpot?" asked Daybreak.

"Because she's a traitor," Snowbright said bluntly. "Hundreds, if not more of our ponies have been killed because of information she gave to the enemy. Mason's dead because of her! You don't think she deserves to die for that?"

Daybreak paused, then looked to Twilight, who shook her head at him, hoping he would argue against that. She was to be disappointed. "Perhaps," he admitted with a sigh, "but that doesn't mean you get to decide a pony has to die because you say so. It needs to be a group decision."

"And things are never going to get better if we don't stop killing when we don't need to," Twilight added. "This is about more than just Hotpot. It's about all of us being better ponies by accepting that death is not the best way." Far too many ponies in the room didn't look like they agreed with that, and most hurtfully to Twilight was Trixie being among them.

"So... what does this mean?" Snowbright said scornfully, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, our noble leader, has decreed that killing is wrong, and we should stop. Winning the war's going to be really easy now."

"Killing is wrong!" Twilight shouted. "I can understand doing it when we have to, but doing it when we don't is barbaric! We should be better than that!"

"What if I think we have to?" Snowbright said back. "She's still potentially a threat after all. She won't be if she's dead."

"She won't be a threat in a cell either!" Twilight retorted.

Fleur smoothly stepped in between the two ponies, "That's enough. Clearly tempers are running a bit high right now, so how about we go settle in and give ourselves a chance to cool off. We can have a meeting to discuss it fully later, and decide there. Deal?"

Both ponies glared at each other for a few moments before Twilight nodded in agreement. Snowbright shrugged, "I've waited this long, I can wait a bit longer," he said confidently.

"I never took Snowbright to be such a smug condescending bastard before now," Octavia said once the six friends, along with Luna, were alone.

"Strong words for you," Fleur joked.

"I mean it. Until now he's been the perfect soldier, fighting with us and following orders without too many questions. Now he's acting like his opinion on this is the only one that matters. I don't understand it."

"He hasn't suggested killing the other prisoners here," said the filly, "so I don't get why he's after Hotpot so much. Not that I'm saying he's wrong or anything. The bitch did try to kill me."

"Because he has empathy for the soldiers," Twilight explained. "He used to be one, so he knows what it's like. But Hotpot is a spy, and the cause of soldiers getting killed. She's probably the worst of the worst as far as he's concerned."

The filly shrugged, "So she should be executed then if she got so many of our ponies killed." Twilight shook her head tiredly, "She shouldn't?"

"This is about more than just Hotpot. How is Mareitania supposed to improve when death is their solution to every problem? Killing solves nothing." Twilight almost facehoofed as she realised what she said.

"So why are we fighting this war then?" The filly asked in a near perfect approximation of what Twilight thought she might say.

Fleur cut in before Twilight could dig herself deeper, "I think Twilight worded that poorly. I think she's trying to say that death shouldn't be our 'go to' solution for ponies like Hotpot. She was only doing her job after all, misplaced as her choices might be. Equestria banned the death penalty long ago, and things have only really improved since then."

"I disagree," said Trixie.

Fleur groaned, "Of course you would."

"Ponies like Hotpot are a cancer, and need to be cut out. You say things won't improve until the killing stops. Trixie says things won't improve until ponies like her, Pearl, the Viscount, and mostly the Duke, are no longer an issue. If they ban the death penalty after the war is over, more power to them, but until then it's just fine the way it is."

"And this has nothing to do with you not getting your revenge on the Duke?" Octavia said, making Trixie cringe. "I'm sure what you did in Ponyville far surpassed a crime worthy of execution in this country, so you really ought to be more in favour of that not being a punishment. I think you're just saying that because you want no reason to spare the Duke from your wrath."

Trixie snorted and turned so she couldn't see Octavia, looking instead at Summer. "There must be a lot of ponies around that you think deserve to die. What do you think of all this?"

Summer's eyes darted around, nervous at suddenly being at the centre of attention. "Me?" She held a hoof to her chest as she contemplated what she was going to say. "There are ponies I wouldn't mind seeing dead, but I don't want the... power to decide if a pony should die. Nopony should have that power."

"The horn on Trixie's head says otherwise-"

Twilight stomped a hoof, "That's enough Trixie!" Trixie held her hooves up in surrender and leant back, not wanting to start a full on argument.

"You might have the power Trixie," said Luna, "but I'm not sure you truly have the wisdom to know when to not use it."

Trixie was speechless for several seconds, "Like you're one to talk, Nightmare Moon!"

Luna didn't correct her, "I learnt my wisdom at a high cost Trixie. A thousand years on the moon and a couple of magical rainbows to the face forced it in eventually."

"And yet, for all your apparent wisdom you're back in the same position you were before you went crazy; living in Celestia's shadow. I don't believe you're as different as you claim to be, and I think you're too scared to express your own opinions because you're afraid ponies will think of it as old fashioned and backwards. Instead you just go along with what Celestia thinks because you know ponies trust her. That's not wisdom. That's cowardice."

The room seemed to grow darker as Luna lowered her stance towards Trixie. "A trust she has every right to possess! And don't you dare to presume to know the pony I was, Trixie Lulamoon, or the pony I am now."

Trixie failed to meet her gaze, and looked away to find the others watching her with horror. Guilt and regret started seeping into her thoughts for saying what she did, but she refused to lose face. "Whatever. I'm out. I'll see you all at the meeting later." A few seconds later Luna stalked out after her, but turned in the opposite direction.

"Did Trixie really just say that?" Octavia said after a shocked few seconds, if only to end the cavernous silence. "There's no way she could've meant that."

"I don't know," Fleur said contemplatively, "I'm not saying she's right, but I have to admit that even with four princesses it still seems to be Celestia and her supporting act rather than the four princesses working in conjunction. Princess Cadence had been around for several years, but you never really saw her do anything princessly until recently." Fleur stopped as Octavia twitched her head towards Twilight, "No offense Twilight."

"Actually," Twilight sighed, "I don't disagree. The problem is that after a thousand years of Celestia, ponies are used to her. There may be more princesses now, but ponies, especially the older ones, are still used to it being just Celestia. Even Celestia realises this I think. She tries to make things equal between us, but ponies only really seem comfortable if she's involved. It'll probably be a generation or two before ponies get used to all of us."

"Princess Cadence doesn't seem to have that problem," Fleur pointed out.

Twilight shrugged, "The crystal ponies didn't have a thousand years of Celestia. Frankly anypony would be a relief after Sombra. Plus there's this whole 'crystal princess' thing that Celestia has left totally unexplained. It can't be a coincidence that Cadence's cutie mark has a depiction of the Crystal Heart on it."

The filly groaned and crossed her forelegs angrily, "I have literally no idea what any of you are talking about right now." Summer quietly nodded in agreement with her.

"It's also rather off topic," Twilight sighed. She stood and stretched her legs, "I'll see you at the meeting later."

"Where are you going?" asked Octavia.

"To talk to somepony, to see what their opinion on all this is."

The thestrals didn't try to stop Twilight as she made her way to the cell holding Hotpot. Shadow gave her a friendly wave from afar, and Twilight was finally able to spot several other thestrals lurking in dark, unlit spots near the cell.

Rather than draw attention to them Twilight waited for the cell to be unlocked by one of the guards, and entered to the unflattering sight of Hotpot laying in the middle of the floor with her legs splayed in all directions. The pink earth pony looked up and grinned at Twilight, "At last, somepony that doesn't want to lynch me. Finally decided I'm worth your time have you?"

Twilight stood inside the cell enough for the door to swing shut behind her, growing slightly annoyed that Hotpot made no attempt to move. But considering what she was faced with, Twilight decided a bit of leniency was allowable.

"You know this wasn't my idea. I'm trying to get them to not execute you."

"And a fine job you're doing of that," Hotpot said languidly, having pushed herself up onto her elbows. "I suspect I'll be a free mare before the day is out."

"I wouldn't go that far. You're still a traitor, and the time you'll spend in prison is hardly recompense for the ponies you got killed."

"But hanging me isn't recompense either?"

"No."

Hotpot smiled smugly at Twilight, "But I bet that what I know would go a long way towards fixing that." Hotpot lay back and rest her head on her hooves, "Too bad I ain't talking."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

"Sure. The way I see it, you decide to execute me, I take what I know to the grave. You decide to spare me, I still don't tell you squat because you don't torture ponies. Either way, I win."

"I see." Truthfully Twilight couldn't give a toss about what Hotpot might know right then. There was far too much going on to even consider worrying about it. Twilight would've let it go completely if Hotpot's attitude wasn't getting on her nerves.

"The problem is Hotpot, is that I don't think you really know all that much. Sure you could tell us all about what we've been up to, but we already know that funnily enough. I doubt your contact, or whatever, passed you any information on what they're doing in case you were captured just like this, and you've been with us since the beginning, so you would be very much out of the loop. All in all you're probably useless to us."

"Tell yourself that if it helps you sleep at night," said Hotpot, but the tightness of her jaw gave away enough that Twilight knew she wasn't too far off the mark. "If you're not here for information, what do you want?"

"Just thought I should at least talk to the mare whose life I'm trying to save."

Hotpot barked a single laugh, "Why? So you feel extra guilty when you fail? Spare me the platitudes princess, you lose nothing if I die according to you."

"Actually, I lose plenty."

"Then at least I get the satisfaction of that before I go."

Twilight stood still with her mouth hanging open in disbelief, "Do you want to die?"

"Of course not!" Hotpot shot back. "The thing is that you're my enemy, and I'm not going to insult myself by hoping for your mercy." Hotpot looked away for a moment, "And despite everything Twilight, you are a good pony. I don't want to insult you by asking for your mercy when I have no intention of giving anything back for it."

"But that's how mercy works..."

Hotpot shook her head, "I'm done talking to you Princess. Neither of us have anything to gain from this."

"But-"

"Goodbye, and... thank you for trying."

Twilight knocked at the door and waited for it to be opened in silence. If Hotpot had resigned herself to her fate, then there was nothing much she could probably say or do to change that. Not that Twilight thought that she should. Twilight wasn't about to get Hotpot's hopes up when the very real possibility of failing was there.

Instead she left it, only to find Trixie slumped dejectedly over the guardrail opposite the cell. Twilight stopped herself from reflexively shouting at her, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly until the urge passed. "What do you want Trixie?"

Trixie pulled back from the rail to turn to Twilight, "I need to apologise to Selene."

Twilight was confused for a second, then remembered the thestrals were nearby, becoming thankful that Trixie didn't let that slip. "Ya think?" she said after assessing all that.

Trixie buried her face in her hooves, "I know, I know! I don't even know where all that came from!"

Twilight sat next to Trixie and hooked her hooves over rail to see over the edge, "Why did you flip out at her like that? I mean, what she said was a little insulting yes, but it didn't deserve that in return. You were kind of asking for it as well saying what you were."

"I know... I'm not sure why I did it though. All I could think when she said I lacked wisdom was that she was calling me stupid, and I got so angry."

"You know intelligence and wisdom aren't the same thing right?"

"I know." She pointed at Twilight, "Prime example," she said right before slapping her hoof to her face. "Sorry. I- Sorry... Really need to shut my mouth sometimes."

"More than sometimes," Twilight sniffed. "Why are you telling me you need to apologise anyway? Why don't you find her and, you know, apologise?"

"I don't know where she is, and she probably doesn't want to talk to me anyway."

"On the roof," Twilight stated. "It's a pegasus instinct," she explained after Trixie quizzically looked at her. "Come on, let's go find her."

Trixie fell into place beside Twilight as they made their way up through the levels of the prison. Nothing was said, right up until Twilight decided she couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Trixie, why are you in favour of the death sentence? I thought after your experiences in Stalliongrad you'd be against it."
Trixie was quiet as she thought about it long and hard, and the further it went on, the less hope Twilight had that her answer would be all that sensible.

"I don't think this will really be over until these ponies are dead and buried where they can be forgotten."

"'These ponies?' Are you intending to kill anypony ever associated with the Duke?"

"Of course not Twilight," Trixie retorted, sounding a little hurt.

"Just ponies you think deserve it then? Ponies like Hotpot?"

"She betrayed us Twilight! Ponies died because of her."

"She never betrayed us because technically she was always working against us. Either way there's no reason she should have to die for it."

Trixie shook her head dismissively, "Honestly Twilight, I couldn't care less whether she lives or dies."

"You don't? But what..." Twilight felt sick as she realised the truth was what Octavia said, and stopped to confront Trixie. "Octavia was right wasn't she? You're only supporting this so there's nothing stopping you from killing the Duke! Are you really willing to let ponies be condemned to death just so you have no reason to not kill the Duke!?"

"I have made it no secret that I intend to kill that bastard Twilight, so don't act like that's a surprise. As for the rest of them, the only ponies that are going to be executed are ponies that do something to deserve it. Ponies that would only ever create problems in the future. If they choose to ban the death penalty after the war is over, great!" Trixie started walking again, forcing Twilight to run to catch up, "So unless you're about to stomp your hoof and use your princess power to overrule us, you're going to have to accept that the group may choose against what you want."

Twilight grit her teeth in frustration. The fact that Trixie was at least right about that was annoying enough without her being one of those in favour of the death sentence. She didn't want to argue about it though, and held her tongue for the rest of the journey up through the facility.

Much as Twilight suspected, Luna was indeed on the roof, forelegs folded under her chin as she contemplated the horizon. Twilight narrowed her eyes at Trixie and waited for her to make her apology.

Trixie hesitantly stepped forward, "Uh, hi Luna." Trixie paused as Luna turned her head enough to look at Trixie out the corner of her eye. "I want to apologise for what I said earlier. I was totally out of-"

"Apology accepted."

"Huh?"

"So if there's nothing else I would like to talk to Twilight."

"But I..." Trixie hoped Twilight would have something to say, but the alicorn in question merely raised an eyebrow at her. Feeling like she'd missed something, Trixie slowly left, occasionally glancing back at them.

Feeling slightly gratified at how that went, Twilight joined her fellow princess in resting against the wall and staring out into the distance. They shared a comfortable silence until Luna eventually opened her mouth.

"Is this when you tell me you're here for me if I want to talk about it?"

"I don't know," Twilight said back, "is this when you tell me you got upset and angry because Trixie was right?"

Luna snirked, "Hardly. I'm not the mare I was back then. That's evident from the way that part of me now lives in the dreamscape as a separate entity. I started down my dark path because I felt unloved. A feeling that may have begun with my 'mother.' Ponies love the night now, and that is enough for me. I'm afraid Trixie may have struck a nerve elsewhere though."

"Oh?"

"After my return I was very unsure of myself, and let Celestia continue her rule without me for a time, which was fine, but I find now that ponies will always overlook you in favour of Celestia. Oftentimes I find that I will submit to her if we disagree on something, because I think that ponies are more likely to agree with her, and there's no point fighting that. Even you confessed to feelings of inadequacy as a princess."

"Only because I never seemed to do anything beyond smile and wave. It's different now."

"Is it though?"

Twilight finally looked at Luna, her interest piqued. "You might have to explain yourself a bit more Luna."

"Very well. Cadence did little as a princess until the Crystal Empire returned, yes?" Twilight nodded. "Seems odd for a equal princess of Equestria. And now that you and I are here in Mareitania, Equestria is back to a single princess. A single princess that has seamlessly taken a role back over that she held for a thousand years, without a single problem because that is what ponies are used to. Now, if you or I were to do that-"

"Ponies would continuously compare us to Celestia and give us no end of problems."

"Exactly." Luna slumped against the wall further, "It seems to me like our roles as princesses doesn't amount to anything as long as ponies expect Celestia to be there."

"Fleur said something like that after you left."

Luna nodded, "Fleur de Lis is a clever pony. I think she's often underestimated as being little more than a pretty face."

"Yeah..." Twilight stared back out into the distance again. After a while a cheeky smile appeared on her face, "How about, once we're done here, we overthrow Celestia?" she said in a tone of voice that made it obvious she was joking.

Luna hummed, "I don't know Twilight. I've tried that before and I seem to remember it not ending well."

"Aww come on, Celestia can have her half of Equestria, you and me will have the other-"

"Oh! So I still have to share my power with you? I think not Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Fine, we'll split it in three then."

"Four if you include Cadence and the Crystal Empire."

"Fine, four, and-"

"I'm claiming the Lunar Republic as the name of my quarter," Luna added quickly.

Twilight's forehead creased in confusion, "But you're a princess, so it wouldn't be a republic."

"Then I'll guess you'll have to get used to calling me President Luna."

"But if you're keeping all the power entirely to yourself... isn't that a dictatorship?"

Luna shrugged, "If it works. Celestia managed to be a benevolent tyrant for a thousand years, so I can probably manage it for a while." Luna shifted her position as her rear grew numb, "How about you Twilight? What would your nation be called? I imagine Celestia would be the Solar... something. She's predictable like that."

Twilight thought about it for a while, but couldn't think of much twilight related without using the word twilight, and it seemed a bit egotistical to use her own name in the name of her nation.

"I don't know," she said after a while. "Frankly I'm not sure whether I should be worried that you already had the name of yours in mind."

"If it came to war between Celestia and I, should I fail in my coup, that was what I intended to call the nation I built from the lands I conquered. Fortunately for Equestria, I never predicted just how hard I would fail in that coup."

Twilight's expression went flat, "But it still wouldn't be a republic..."

"What part of what I did as Nightmare Moon suggests sanity Twilight?" Twilight had to give her that one.

Luna pushed back from the wall and stretched her forelegs before standing to stretch her rear. "As fun as this idle speculation is, frankly we both love Celestia too much to ever do it. At least more than once anyway. I suggest we instead spend our time better by preparing for the gathering later."

The meeting came round far too soon, and Twilight was feeling horribly unprepared as hers and Luna's preparations consisted mostly of hoping ponies sided with Twilight.

The meeting was being held in the mess hall of the main building as it was the only place deemed large enough for it, and allowed for their deliberations to remain mostly private.

Twilight was making her way around the ring of the building, followed diligently by Luna, and was about to make her way into the mess when she caught sight of Shadow lounging against the wall nearby. Curious as to why the thestral was there instead of in the meeting, Twilight kept going to talk to her.

"Hey Shadow, aren't you going in?"

Shadow shook her head, "Nah, I'm abstaining from the vote, if I even got one anyway."

"You are? Why?"

"Because none of us thestrals intend to stay in Mareitania after the war's over, so I don't see why we should have a say in how it's run."

"B-but I-I-I could really use your support in this!" Twilight stammered desperately. She already felt like her list of possible supporters was already too short by far.

Shadow winced guiltily, "I hate to do this to you Twilight, but I'm not sure I can say I'm against it."

Twilight's face fell on hearing that, "Oh. I see."

"Sorry Twilight, but these are some bad ponies we're dealing with. I'm really not sure how we can make sure they won't cause problems in the future other than to remove them as a problem altogether."

"No, that's fine." Twilight put on a brave face, "At least I don't have you voting against me then."

Shadow grinned back, "Exactly. Good luck Twilight. You're probably going to need it."

"No kidding." Twilight said her farewells and headed back to the mess, taking a deep breath before heading in. The room had been rearranged quite a bit for the meeting, with some of the tables having been pushed into a rough circle around which most ponies were already situated. Twilight took a seat with Fleur, the filly, Octavia and Summer to her right, and Ivory to her left; the ponies Twilight was counting on to support her. Trixie was sat opposite, next to Snowbright, and seemed totally unwilling to look at Twilight. Luna sat back from the rest, having confessed to not being around long enough to feel like she should have a vote.

The other ponies at the meeting were Thorn, Sawbones, Rush, Patches representing the Bitmark group, a scattering of some other ponies Twilight didn't really know beyond that they were formally members of Pierre, and Daybreak, who was heading the meeting. The Wonderbolts were also present, but as they were sat away from the meeting tables it seemed they weren't participating.

Daybreak slammed a enamel cup down on his table, getting everyponies attention, "I think we're all here, so lets get this show on the road as I doubt this'll be pleasant for any of us." He waited until everypony was in their seats before continuing. "We're here to discuss the continued use of capital punishment in Mareitania. Speaking in favour of its continued use is Snowbright. Against, our leader Twilight Sparkle. Opening statements please."

Fleur leant over to Twilight, "Since when is Daybreak the pony in charge of this? Did something happen while we weren't looking?"

"I have no idea," Twilight whispered back as Snowbright stood and smiled at the gathered ponies.

"Friends and fellow members of the Mareitania liberation front, we are fighting a war, if you weren't already aware of that, and make no mistake that we are fighting ponies that would rather we were all dead. Should we treat these ponies differently when they are so willing to kill us all? Should we trust these ponies to accept defeat? Or would they throw our mercy back in our faces by constantly undermining us. In the end there is only one sure way to ensure continued peace once the war is over, which is why I, and hopefully you, will support the continued use of capital punishment. Thank you."

Daybreak waited for Snowbright to sit down again before gesturing to Twilight, "Twilight?"

Twilight breathed in and exhaled slowly. She'd been excluded from things like this in Equestria, and found herself to be far more nervous than if she were facing down Tirek again. She might have felt excited too if the subject of the meeting weren't so morbid. Having readied herself she stood and said her piece.

"When Celestia sent us to free this country from the Duke, she meant far more than to just fight until he was beaten. The barbaric practices he's used to keep ponies afraid and under control were also to be put to a stop, chiefly among those the death penalty, which has been used far too liberally to have meaning any more. If we want to truly beat the Duke, we have to do more than win, we have to be better ponies than him. That begins with abolishing practices such as capital punishment, which at its core is institutionalized revenge, and serves no real purpose other than that. Be better than those before you and ban the death penalty, please. Thank you."

Twilight sat again, feeling encouraged from the smiles the ponies beside her gave. Maybe this wasn't quite as hopeless as she had been letting herself believe.

"Right..." Daybreak hesitated for a few seconds, then shrugged. "I actually have no idea what I'm meant to be doing now, so how about we put this up to debate. Anypony else have anything they want to say?" Two hooves shot into the air, belonging to Fleur and Trixie. "Alright then, you go first Trixie." Trixie stood and smiled triumphantly while Fleur slumped in her seat.

"Who here hasn't lost anypony at some point to the machinations of the Duke? Trixie certainly has. My family was burnt alive in their own home by the order of the Duke, simply to teach a lesson. Daybreak was there and saw it all if you think I'm lying. What was my parents crime? My infant siblings crime? Wanting to be free! Free of the Duke, and free of this country!"

"How much pain and suffering has been caused by the Duke and his followers? How much was caused by his predecessors? There is only one language they understand, and only one way they'll realise we beat them, when each of them is stood with a noose around their neck! They wouldn't do any less for us, so why should we do any less for them?"

Trixie sighed, seeming regretful for what she was having to say, "Maybe once the war is over this issue can be brought up again, and capital punishment abolished once there is peace, but until those ponies responsible for the horrors of the past are dead and buried where they can't be of any harm to anypony, I can promise you there'll be no peace." Trixie sat back down and blushed as Snowbright patted her on the shoulder.

"I didn't think Trixie was capable of such a fiery rhetoric," Ivory whispered into Twilight's ear. "Or that she was so bold in public for that matter."

"She used to be a performer so she's fine with public speaking," Twilight whispered back. Truthfully she was just as shocked as Ivory, as was the rest of their friends. She had also kind of forgotten why Trixie was so hell-bent on revenge, and her supporting Snowbright's side of things at least made a little more sense now.

"Fleur?" Daybreak repeated, the first time having been lost to her shock, "You had something you wished to say?"

"Uh, yes... yes I did." Fleur stood and seemed to gather her wits again. "My parents were killed when I was six, by the overzealous actions of soldiers in Prance. It may have been an accident, or it may not, and I don't know why the soldiers were there so I can't tell you. The point is they were under orders. Orders that left me living on the streets for the next nine years."

"You might think I would want revenge for that, to see the ponies responsible strung up for their crimes against me and my fellow ponies, but you'd be wrong. Years of living in Equestria, where the death penalty is banned has taught me that nothing good comes from needless death, even if you think the pony responsible deserves it. At first it weirded me out that criminals were treated so leniently, but after a while, and after years of seeing the way ponies here are treated, not to mention the horrors inflicted on the pegasi, it was refreshing to be in a place where death isn't an option, let alone the preferred solution."

"I believe Twilight is right, and I believe the suffering of the past will never be forgotten while we use the tools of the enemy to keep ponies in line." Fleur sat primly, her piece having been said. Twilight was about to say something to her when Ivory rose to her left.

"I speak for the noble families that have placed their support behind the rebellion, and I speak for them when I support Twilight's goal of banning the death penalty. As the former consort of the Viscount, a position I was none too fond of, I was forced to witness any number of executions. Those were some of the worst days of my life, seeing a mare weep as her husband was killed, and foals crying as their family was taken from them, only to be forgotten by the uncaring ponies that put them in that position. Even worse than that, I'm still not sure as to how guilty any of those ponies were."

"Even if we were to introduce trials to find the guilt of ponies, how can we be without doubt that any and all are guilty? Even then, would their crime really be worthy of ending their lives? What could be worse than to hang an innocent pony? Or to end the life of a pony whose crime was to steal enough to feed their family? The only way to be certain we don't make those mistakes is to outright ban the penalty of death. Which is why I implore you to side with Twilight Sparkle. Please, are ponies lives worth so little to you that you can't spare one to spare all?"

"Thank you Ivory, now-"

"Sounds like she confirmed why we need the death penalty to me," Snowbright said loudly, cutting over Daybreak. "How else are we supposed to deal with ponies capable of such things?"

Daybreak slammed his cup down on the table, "Don't you interrupt me you cheeky shit."

Snowbright raised an eyebrow, "Why not? Isn't this supposed to be a debate?"

"Yes it is, and you've had your say for now." Daybreak glared at Snowbright until he backed down. "Right! Anypony else?" Perhaps emboldened by the others speaking, a few more hooves were raised. Daybreak pointed at the scarred form of Patches.

"All of us from Bitmark were there when the soldiers came to do whatever you wanna call it. I've heard it called a purge before now, so I'll go with that. Anyway, what happened during that time, it just weren't right. I dunno if those soldiers were brainwashed or what, but they were stringing ponies up left, right, and centre. Funnily enough, the only ponies they left alone were the pegasi."

"As far as I'm concerned there's only one way to deal with these ponies, and that's to string them up like they did to so many others. Perhaps, like what Miss Trixie said, we can ban the death penalty once the war is well and truly over, but until then I say we keep it." Patches grinned nervously and sat down hard enough to make the floor shake. Clearly it took a lot for him to get up and do that.

The next pony to stand was an older looking mare, supported by a stallion. Twilight didn't really know them beyond them being former members of Pierre, and was suspicious as to why they were here now.

"My name is Fruity Bouquet, and this is my husband Jolly Hops. Our son Smoothflow joined the Grand Army, and was one of those involved in the purging of Bitmark, but he only lasted a week there before deserting because of what was happening there. He was caught, and they executed him a- along with all the others." The mare's voice broke and she had to take a moment to recover.

"How could they expect a pony to do that and not crack? I miss my son every day, but as a mother I'm proud that our son realised that what he was doing was wrong, and that he wanted no part in it. The ponies that did that to Bitmark, that killed my son, they deserve no less than to burn in hell for what they did!" The mare sobbed and sat down as her husband pulled her into a hug to comfort her.

"Our son got no justice," he continued in her place, "and is the reason why we joined Pierre, and happily joined the rebellion. I know we're too old to fight, but if this brings justice for Smoothflow, then we'll do what we can. But there can't be justice until the ponies capable of such terrible things are dead themselves." He looked guiltily at Twilight, "I'm sorry."

The two ponies went quiet, save for the quiet sobs of Fruity Bouquet. Twilight wasn't looking at them though. She was looking at Snowbright, who was far too smug. It was pretty clear to her that he had brought those two along to tell their story in the hopes of gaining sympathy. To her small relief Trixie did seem a little guilty when she caught Twilight's eye.

It was also making Twilight question just how exactly they were running things if random ponies could turn up to a meeting as important as this.

Rush tentatively raised a hoof, and Daybreak smiled at her, "The floor is yours Rush." Snowbright seemed pleased that she was speaking, making Twilight question things further. It was beginning to feel like he was manipulating this meeting from behind the scenes.

"I- I don't think..." Rush swallowed and breathed for a moment before trying again. "I don't think I need to tell you what was done to the pegasi. Each of us could write a book on our experiences. Killings, mutilations, abuse of all kinds. We're nothing more than a resource to the Duke. A resource that they couldn't give a flying fuck about, so long as we do our job."

"Now we're free though, we can see that things weren't always better for non-pegasi. Lots of bad things happened to unicorns too, and even some earth ponies, and I hate to think of the ponies that did all that getting away with it. That said, I hate that if we do the same things as them, can we really say we're better than them? I'm tired of death, and I'm tired of suffering. I know we have to win this war, but it seems to me the dying won't stop there if you want to kill everypony responsible for every bit of suffering, and I hate that too. W-we need to be better, we-" Rush sat down suddenly and shook her head, her nerve having fled her.

"Well said," Fleur stated with gentle applause, a few others joining in as Summer hugged the shaking Rush. Snowbright crossed his forelegs in anger, clearly not impressed, leaving Twilight wondering if Rush had gone against him, or if he had expected the pegasus to side with him anyway.

"Thank you Rush," Daybreak said kindly. "Nopony else seems to want to speak, so I guess that means we should get on with a vote I suppose?" He looked about like he was seeking confirmation that a vote was the right thing to do. Snowbright opened his mouth and was about to say something when Fleur slammed a hoof on her table.

"This is a total farce!"

"Excuse me?" Daybreak said, shocked at her outburst.

"This meeting is a farce. No offence to Fruity and Jolly, but they were clearly brought here by Snowbright to gain sympathy, and to build the number of voters in his favour. Then there's the fact that he's only doing this to fulfil his short term agenda of getting revenge on Hotpot!"

"What are you saying Fleur?"

"I'm saying this isn't something that should be decided by..." She quickly counted the ponies in the room, "sixteen ponies in a cafeteria! This is too big for that!"

Snowbright smirked at her, which Fleur didn't like one bit. "What are you suggesting then?"

Fleur sighed, "Help me out here Twilight."

Twilight quickly stood, not wanting to waste the opportunity given to her, "We're here to decide a big part of Mareitania's future, and so far all we've done is tell stories and give opinions. The fact is that this really should be decided by more ponies than just us."

Snowbright leant forward and gave Twilight a predatory smile, like he suddenly had her exactly where he wanted her. "I agree actually."

Twilight was stunned, "You do?"

"I do. Which is why I was going to propose that we put the decision to the ponies that have fought and bled for this rebellion. They have the freedom to choose now, and I think they should be allowed to choose about this. I say we put the vote to them. Let them decide."

Twilight froze, and her heart sank. She knew now that this had to have been Snowbright's plan all along. Even if he had the support of everypony in this room, he still probably would've done it to shift responsibility for it off himself.

"I suppose that would be fair," Daybreak said thoughtfully. "Very well. Those in favour of letting the ponies of the rebellion decide, raise your hoof." Most did. Even Ivory and Rush reluctantly raised their hooves. "Those against." Nopony raised a hoof. To raise a hoof against that wouldn't only look bad, but would be highly hypocritical.

Daybreak slammed his cup down again, "Alright then, that's eleven in favour, twelve including myself. None voted against, and four abstained."

"Four?" Fleur questioned.

"Sorry Fleur," the filly said guiltily. "They should be allowed to decide. Besides, that bitch did try to have Seeker kill me, remember?"

"To the soldiers the vote will go," Daybreak said cheerfully, almost like he was happy to be free of the responsibility himself. "I guess that's meeting adjourned then while we go organise this." Ponies filed out of the room, until only Twilight, Fleur, Octavia, Summer, the filly, and Luna were left."

"What just happened?" Octavia asked out loud to nopony in particular.

"That's it then," Twilight said miserably, "we lost."

"We haven't lost yet," said Fleur.

"Yes we have. Snowbright was counting on this to happen, and would've made it happen even if I hadn't given him a huge opening to do so."

"That doesn't mean we've lost," said Octavia, echoing what Fleur said.

"Yes, it does. As far as those soldiers are aware, this started with the desire to execute Hotpot for her crimes. They've died because of her, and they will vote in Snowbright's favour to get back at her with little regard to what they're actually voting for!" Twilight stood and paced angrily, "This entire meeting was fixed from the beginning thanks to Snowbright! And we fell right for it..."

"We can't deny the ponies fighting for us the right to choose Twilight," Fleur said soothingly.

"I'm not saying we should, but this has shown that there are some glaring holes in how we're running things. We're supposed to all be the leaders here, yet somehow we had ponies brought into this meeting that have never had a leadership role, yet were able to cast a vote, and no offence filly, but I really think a pony your age shouldn't be voting."

The filly snorted grumpily, "Fuck you too Twilight."

"That's democracy Twilight," Fleur pointed out.

"That was not democracy! Not when Snowbright was able to twist it to fulfil his own agenda! And Daybreak was no better! He didn't know what he was doing, and who decided he was heading the meeting? And quite frankly, I might be in charge of the military aspects of the rebellion, but as of now I have literally no idea who's running this country!"

Fleur placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder to stop her pacing, but the alicorn shrugged it off. "Come on Twilight, calm down."

"I am calm. If I wasn't I'd be rushing after Snowbright to turn him into a bloody smudge on the floor. But that wouldn't be very democratic of me."

"He did have this entire meeting wrapped around his hoof now I think back on it," Octavia said thoughtfully. "I never thought of him as being so manipulative."

"He's an ex unicorn hunter," Fleur spat. "He probably learnt it all at the hoof of Pearl herself."

Twilight turned angrily to Luna, "What about you? You're being very quiet about this."

Luna shrugged helplessly, "While not the best example of democracy I've seen due to most of the leaders being entirely self elected, and the vote being given to whomever happened to be in the room, I'm afraid the outcome was still the democratic one."

"Then democracy is stupid," Twilight muttered.

"It often is, yes, but many countries utilise it to some degree like the zebras and minotaurs. I'm afraid Equestria only works like it does because its immortal rulers tend to be fairly amiable towards their subjects, otherwise we may have been overthrown and replaced with a different form of governance by now, such as a democracy. Technically the triumvirate that ruled before Celestia and I was a kind of democracy, as two of its members were elected leaders, except for Platinum, unsurprisingly..."

Twilight started pacing again, "Well that's fine and all, and I'm glad were not ruining the system, but I would like to know one tiny thing..."

"And what might that be?"

Twilight stomped her hooves and shouted, "When did we even decide we were a democracy!? I certainly don't remember that being brought up, like, EVER!"

"I'm pretty sure we decided to start this rebellion on a vote," said Fleur, thinking of the meeting back in Puddingarde after they found Pierre in Neigh Orleans. "It doesn't surprise me that they've carried the system forward."

They kept watching Twilight with concern until she seemed to reach a decision, "I need to go somewhere and think. Don't tell me how the vote goes. I'm sure the sound of ponies cheering for Hotpot's death will inform me we lost."

It took some time but the vote was held, and went much as Twilight predicted. They would've counted the votes, but due to the fact that the box in favour had to be emptied twice before the box against was half full made it seem a little pointless.

What would annoy Twilight more was knowing that the majority of those voting against were her posse of the Lady's true believers.

The sun was starting to crawl over the horizon as Fleur stormed up onto the gallows where Snowbright was whistling a jaunty tune as he checked the structure was solid. "What are you doing Snowbright!?"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to be a little more specific."

"We've heard you're planning to execute Hotpot at sundown. You haven't even given her a trial or anything!"

"And what would the point of that be?"

"Excuse me?"

Snowbright stopped what he was doing to face Fleur, "She's confessed Fleur. If there was ever any doubt that she was the mare we were looking for, then I do believe that confession makes it pretty clear she's guilty." He went back to what he was doing, only to look back at Fleur for a moment, "You should know Fleur. You were there when she first confessed."

"I- You-" Fleur stomped a hoof, "You're totally full of shit, you know that?"

"Oh? How so?" Snowbright said calmly, only annoying Fleur more.

"You're doing this plainly to get back at Hotpot! It's not justice. It's not even necessary! It's being done purely because you want revenge!"

"And why shouldn't I?" Snowbright shouted back, his calm composure thrown aside. "Why shouldn't she die for all the ponies she got killed? Why should she get to keep living when far better ponies than her lost their lives through her actions?"

"And what about all the ponies we have in here?" Fleur retorted, referring to the captured soldiers in the facility "They've killed ponies too! Why haven't you suggested that any of them pay for the lives they took?"

"Because they're just following orders! But, if you're suggesting that it's only fair that they get hung too, then that's just what we'll do! Will that make you feel better?"

Fleur opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instead she emitted a whine of frustration and trotted back to the ground where Octavia, Summer, and the filly had been watching the exchange. Already ponies were gathering around as sunset approached, wanting to get a good spot to watch from.

"We need to find Twilight," Fleur said quickly. "She's the only one that can stop this now."

"She's on the roof," said Summer, pointing up at the small purple blob of Twilight up by the edge nearest to them.

"Come on then!" Together they galloped as hard as they could through the facility, dodging past a trio of ponies that were escorting Hotpot out to her execution. Fleur caught her eye for a second, seeing both fear and defiance there, then they were past, only to gallop harder as time grew desperately short.

They burst onto the rooftop, the surface beneath them echoing with their hoof falls as they made it to Twilight, who didn't bother to look at them.

"What are you doing Twilight?" Fleur panted, out of breath. "Why are you just sitting here?"

"What am I doing? Why I'm watching democracy in action! Isn't it glorious?" Twilight said with fake cheerfulness. "What else should I be doing right now?"

"Putting a stop to this! That's what!"

"Why?"

Fleur stopped, stunned at Twilight's indifference. "You're not going to do anything?"

"It's pretty clear how the vote went, and they already know she's guilty thanks to her confession to several ponies, and apparently habeas corpus is out the window. In the end, who am I to stand in the way of what they want so badly?"

"So that's it then?" Fleur said weakly.

"I'm afraid so."

The rest of them walked over to the wall besides Twilight. They watched as Hotpot was led out of the building and up onto the gallows. They saw how much she was shaking as Snowbright confirmed her guilt for the crowd and explained her punishment. They listened to her defiant last words, saying that if she had to, she'd still do it exactly the same. They respected her conviction, even if the crowd didn't. They continued watching as the noose was placed about her neck, and looked away as the lever was pulled. Except for Twilight. She was watching Trixie in the front of the crowd, and she saw how ashamed the blue unicorn was. She knew Trixie's reasons though, and she could maybe forgive, even if she couldn't truly understand.

"Please tell me some good came of this somewhere," Octavia whispered over the sound of the masses below. "Just... please, I need something to make this okay..."

"There's no good in this," Fleur said glumly. "We just watched what we thought to be good ponies hang a mare simply for Snowbright's revenge."

"Fleur's right," Twilight said. She could be thankful that they were hanging a pony that was at least guilty without a doubt, but thankfulness was a long way from her thoughts. "At the very least I've learnt there are some serious cracks in this rebellion, and they could tear us apart faster than the Duke ever could if we're not careful."

Author's Notes:

Hopefully I've made the conclusion of this believable. I'll be sad if I haven't.

Now for that moment where I discuss the episode. Who here finds Starlight more likable for trying to brainwash Twilight's friends? Not because it was a good thing of course, but because it shows her redemption is a long way from being an overnight thing. For me it made her much more believable as a character because she's brought all her flaws along with her, chief of which is her tendancy to fix all her problems with magic, and that she's not suddenly a social butterfly despite being Twilight's student. Also, all those bits with Applejack was so worth it. I know some would find her doing such things deplorable, which it was, but I think it keeps her consistent as a character. Go team Glimglam! Also, what were the unicorns that made those spells planning?

I have seen the early release of Legends of Everfree on youtube from the Brazil release, but I'll leave any discussion of that until after the actual release to avoid spoilers for those that haven't seen it.

Click here if you want to give it a watch. It is in English.