Although most ponies would shun cold weather, Twilight actually found herself rather liking the feel of the icy air upon her face. Standing backstage, she stood beside an open window, looking out at the winter weather beyond. The wind blew fiercely, blowing at her mane and sending an occasionally pleasant chill down her spine. But, after having experienced as much of that as she was willing, Twilight let out a sigh, using her magic to carefully close the window. After doing this, she turned, looking upon the massive red curtain before her. Slowly, she approached it, taking a peek from behind the thing and glancing out at what was on the other side. A vast hall, filled to the brim with ponies from all walks of life. But, it was in the middle of such a crowd that Twilight couldn't help but smile at. For there they were; her friends. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, all still decked out in their various costumes from the performance, and all mingling with the rest of the crowd. Their performance was over, and had been received with great enthusiasm by their audience, which warmed Twilight's heart a great deal. As she looked up, she noticed the massive banner, reading the words "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve", and let out a brief giggle.

"One of my favourite times of the year," she remarked.

"And one of mine, Twilight."

Immediately, Twilight's ears perked up at the unseen voice, prompting her to pull back from the curtain and spin around. Although she knew from the sound of it who it was, she nevertheless smiled as she gazed upon the diarch of the sun herself, Princess Celestia. Without word, and without warning, Twilight immediately leapt forward, embracing her mentor in a hug, which was soon readily returned by the princess. As the two stayed together for some time, Twilight felt much contentment, before, at long last, they parted. Although a silence passed between the two mares, it was a comfortable one, but it was nevertheless eventually broken when Celestia spoke up.

"It is good to see you again, my student. It has been a long time."

Twilight nodded.

"Yeah...too long."

Celestia smiled down at her.

"I'm happy to see you safe and well, Twilight. And I must say, your performance out there with your friends was most entertaining."

The young unicorn gained a slight blush at that.

"Thanks. I'm sure they'd be happy to hear you say that."

However, she soon gained a look of curiosity as she looked up to her long-time teacher.

"But...what are you doing here? Last I checked, you didn't usually attend simple plays like this."

Celestia raised a hoof to her mouth and stifled a small giggle.

"Oh, Twilight...the chance to see my beloved student try her hoof at acting? How could I not watch that? Besides..."

She turned, looking through the gap and out onto the crowd beyond.

"...the story of this nation's founding has always been close to my heart. The past has been such a source of turmoil for our people...it's good to know that some good came of it."

Twilight's smile faded somewhat as she joined Celestia in looking out at the collection of ponies beyond the curtain. Looking down at her, Celestia noted the look of slight discomfort that Twilight now bore, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Something troubles you, my student?"

There was silence between the two mares as Twilight looked to her, with her expression one of uncertainty. Celestia watched as her student seemed to have a mental debate with herself over what kind of answer to give. Eventually, Twilight sighed, and looked Celestia right in the eye before finally speaking up.

"It's just...what you said is true. Equestria's past has a nasty habit of coming back to bite us."

Celestia bore a brief look of confusion, after which she began to look upon Twilight with understanding.

"Ah...I take it this has something to do with your lengthy absence from Ponyville?"

Twilight nodded.

"Yes. I made it a point to travel across Equestria...dealing with the threats I knew would come to harm us. And all of them...were disasters set in motion many centuries ago."

Celestia watched as Twilight turned form her, walking over to the nearby window. The weather outside was still terrible, with that same vast snowstorm raging continuously. Travel would no doubt be difficult in such weather, but thankfully, everypony was safe indoors for the time being. After a lengthy silence between them, Twilight turned to face Celestia once more, speaking softly.

"First...there was Discord."

At the mention of her ancient foe, Celestia's eyes widened, giving Twilight her full attention at this point. Knowing this, Twilight continued.

"In the past, when you battled him, he laid magical seeds that would grow at a later date, causing utter havoc across Equestria, including the kidnap of you and your sister. I found them...and destroyed them."

Celestia's mouth hung open, shocked at heaving heard that. But, even so, Twilight carried on.

"Also...I discovered the alicorn amulet. That ancient artefact which enhances and corrupts the magic of its wearer. That too, I destroyed."

Twilight opened her mouth, ready to speak her final piece, when she hesitated. The memory of that event gave her pause, the face of that dark centaur still fresh in her mind as she passed judgement on him. Eventually, she steeled herself, taking a deep breath before finally speaking once more.

"And finally...there was Tirek."

The utterance of that name caused Celestia to gain a look of utter terror. It was an expression Twilight could not remember ever seeing on her teacher's face, nor was it one she ever wanted to see. She cringed at the sight of her like that, but nevertheless kept speaking.

"I journeyed into Tartarus...passed the shades of the dead...and found him. I gave him a chance, to admit to feeling some measure of guilt for his actions...but he felt none. To ensure he would not break free, as he was destined to do...I took action. He will never surface from that terrible place...ever."

A deathly silence broke out between the two mares once more, with Celestia never letting her eyes stray from her student. She looked to her, trying to see if there was any kind of jest in her face. But, when she saw that there was none, she turned, gazing out of the window and thinking over her words for a long time. As one might expect, this long silence was difficult for both of them, but even so, they endured it. Minutes passed before the silence was broken, and that was when Celestia hung her head slightly and sighed.

"Well...that is...quite a journey you've been on."

Twilight nodded, looking down at the ground slightly. Noting this, Celestia's expression became one of concern.

"Your actions trouble you?"

There was another pause before Twilight simply nodded in response.

"Yes. I was planning on going out and doing those things for a long time, from the day I first got these memories in fact. I thought I'd be ready for some of the stuff I saw...but..."

Celestia nodded.

"You find yourself overwhelmed by the burden...to take the decisions nopony else will?"

Twilight looked to her, and for a brief moment, as they looked into each others' eyes, there was understanding. Soon afterwards, Twilight put on a small smile.

"I guess you've know that kind of thing longer than I have, huh?"

Celestia chuckled slightly.

"Indeed. Though...I will confess that I rarely go out to take such pre-emptive action as you apparently have."

There was a brief bout of dry laughter between the two, but it was short-lived, as Celestia now appeared deep in thought over something. Twilight watched her with some worry, waiting until the elder alicorn finally spoke. Although, as Twilight's instincts foretold, it was not something she wanted to hear.

"Twilight...dare I ask...how you dealt with Tirek?"

The young unicorn looked away, partly afraid and partly ashamed to look Celestia in the eye. The princess said nothing, instead waiting for her student to speak of her own accord. In time, she did so, but her voice was hushed and slightly wobbling.

"I...I'd rather not talk about it."

Celestia looked to her, reading her expression as best she could, but, in recent months, Twilight seemed to have become just as adept at hiding her feelings as Celestia did, as the latter now found herself struggling to understand the meaning behind those words. One thing was clear though, Twilight was not comfortable in speaking about it, and that, along with the uncomfortable silence that followed, was all Celestia needed to know.

"I see. In that case...I will not press you further."

Twilight looked to her, a small smile of appreciation upon her face. However, when Celestia looked back to her, her own face was one of seriousness, which caught Twilight off-guard somewhat. Even more so was what Celestia said soon afterwards.

"I understand full well how difficult decisions can be when you're making them for the greater good. I myself have had to make great sacrifices in my own life to ensure the wellbeing of the ponies under my protection. You say what you did was to help? Then that's all I need to hear to trust your judgement on this."

Although worried at first, Twilight took a few moments to let Celestia's words sink in, after which she returned to smiling at her. Celestia too had resumed her own smile, and gently placed a hoof upon Twilight's shoulder. After a few silent moments between them, however, the young unicorn looked away, her smile fading somewhat.

"There will be others to come. Those who would threaten Equestria. I've already taken steps to ensure their damage is minimal...but I may have to make more decisions on what to do with them in the long run. And...I know it'll be just as hard with them as it was with Tirek."

Celestia regarded her student carefully for a while, recognising immediately the seriousness with which she'd spoken those words. She gazed upon her carefully, seeing just how much her foreknowledge and sense of responsibility was being a burden to her. However, in stark contrast to how Twilight might have expected her teacher to react to such words, Celestia simply let out a brief giggle. Seeing the clear confusion Twilight had at this reaction, Celestia allowed a few moments to let her laughter die down a bit before finally explaining herself.

"Oh, my dear Twilight! If you feel that kind of seriousness, then take solace in that fact that that means you are the best pony to be taking these actions. Although, as much as I adore you...you do tend to make everything sound so ominous these days!"

Although she had been tense and concerned mere moments before, Twilight couldn't help but giggle in unison with her teacher. As one might have expected, this did a lot to relive much of the tension she'd been feeling until this point. As the two mares laughed together, they eventually sighed with contentment, with Twilight looking up to Celestia in an appreciative manner. Celestia smiled, placing a hoof upon Twilight's shoulder once more. As Twilight looked to her, she watched with some surprise to see Celestia begin to walk off. Twilight stopped, looking from Celestia to the red curtain beside her, before clearing her throat, gaining Celestia's attention immediately. Gesturing to the curtain, Twilight gave her mentor a silent invitation to join her in mingling with the rest of the ponies in the hall. But, Celestia, after thinking that offer over for a moment or two, smiled sweetly before shaking her head, politely declining the invitation. Although initially disappointed by this, Twilight consoled herself in the knowledge that the princess most likely had other places to be, or at the very least didn't want to be swamped with adoring fans if she made herself known. So, Twilight simply nodded in response, watching as the princess turned away and walked off, with the ponies nearby never having known she was there.

Chuckling at this, Twilight took a moment to enjoy the silence and peace of being alone back there, before taking a deep breath and passing through the curtain. As she made her way into the crowds, she was immediately met with many who began to praise the performance that she and her other friends had given earlier that night. And while she thanked each and every pony who said so, what she truly wanted right now was to be with her friends. Thankfully for her, she managed to find them even amongst this massive crowd, and, as the other mares turned to her and smiled, Twilight sighed, with one thought now present in her mind.

No matter what I do, no matter what decisions I may regret in my life...seeing my friends safe, happy and smiling...makes it all worth it.