Doug and Luna make their way back to their seats, the ponies still subdued and quiet. Celestia has barely moved, head bowed, with an unfocused stare at the floor. Ember and Gruff forgo their jeering taunts, merely smirking at Doug as he sits down next to the white alicorn. The ponies again cluster around him, Twilight in front and between his legs, Luna on his other side, the rest of the mares a rainbow barrier of bodies.

Rubbing at Celestia’s neck barely draws more than a flick of her eyes before she returns to her despondent contemplation. “Hey,” Doug coos as he rubs at her again, this time tracing a line along her back, past her folded wings, almost to her tail before he slips to the side and runs his gloved nails along her belly. “We’ll get through this.” He tugs her closer, finally drawing a reluctant nuzzle from the side of her head. “All of us.”

Princess Celestia nods, forlorn. “We must have hope.” She leans, further this time, resting her head across his chest and against his thigh. Her breath, which comes in fits and snorts, tickles Twilight’s flank, her tail flicking irritably until she quells the motion with an apologetic glance.

Tempest Shadow stands at attention on the stage, clad in her black and violet barding with the Storm King’s teal insignia where her cutie mark would have been, imperiously watching with her neutral glare.

“Please understand,” Alira says from next to Tempest Shadow, the Saddle Arabian mare hesitant even as she tries to stand confidently. “We are not conducting this out of any sort of malice. We are truly looking for a solution that addresses all concerns in an acceptable manner. Know that you will be given a chance to voice any objections.”

Doug grunts from behind his palisade of ponies. “Fine.”

“If I may?” the orchid unicorn demands coldly. “Or is there anything else you wish to say?”

Doug would rather stand to say this part, but he’s not going to move Celestia from his lap. “I will do my best to not speak out of turn again,” he states, loud enough for all to hear. He waits a beat as Tempest stares at him. “...That is all.”

“Very well.” Tempest Shadow grunts at the lack of apology as she starts pacing back and forth across the stage. Her steps are slow, measured and unhurried, circling around and around in a manner that would keep an unwary opponent off-balance in a duel. The other creatures take note of how the Princesses fail to counter his earlier assertion, whispers trading about what this might mean. “It’s time you learned a lesson and faced the truth about the danger posed by your... choice. And to understand how, from where we stand, you waste…”

She trails off, shaking her head. “But no matter. You heard from Prince Rutherford about existential threats and how we all must oppose them, no matter the source.” Tempest Shadow nods at the Yak prince, who returns a slight tilt of his head. She turns back to the ponies, fixing them with her harsh glare. “Do you deny that you hold this power?”

“No,” Luna answers when Celestia remains silent.

Tempest Shadow snorts. Her voice is demeaning, as if resenting having to explain. “Three conditions must be satisfied for an existential threat. Like a chain, if any are broken, the threat is gone. Thus, we must break one of these conditions in order to keep us safe. The first is the trigger. No dam, no mother among us would deny that the loss of a foal would be a sufficient trigger.”

She pauses, a brief hint of sympathy coming to her voice. “Such tragedies have occurred in the past.” She glances at Doug with a bit of a sneer. “And unlike your earlier assertion, we have no wish to be the cause of such tragedy.”

Doug stares back, stone-faced.

Tempest Shadow begins her pacing anew when it becomes apparent Doug will not reply. “But something could still happen later on, and an alternate version working out is no guarantee this one will.” She focuses on Twilight. “Correct?”

Twilight huffs at one of her flimsier arguments, the fact that it worked out between Doug, Celestia, and Cadance in an alternate timeline, being called into question. Tempest must have read the report she wrote about the entire incident. Which makes sense, since she submitted it to the Council. She begrudgingly replies, “Correct.”

“Other triggers will happen over the course of your lives. Removing this one will not help the others, nor can we be assured that they will be… insufficiently dreadful.” Tempest Shadow’s face hardens as she recounts the story. “When I was a young, naive filly, I had my friends, as we all do. But when I lost my horn…”

Her scowl intensifies, regarding Celestia with a vehement hatred.

“...I lost my friends.” She takes a deep breath. “They moved on. And unless you become like me, and abandon your childish wishes that everything will always work out?”

“We will not,” Celestia replies quietly. “There is always hope, even for you.”

“Then you remain blind in your fantasy land,” Tempest spits out. “Caught off guard when your shields fall and you find the many ways that life’s not fair or just. Perhaps your filly will stubbornly choose the wrong path despite your guidance. Makes a decision you vehemently disagree with. Would that be enough?”

Rarity gnaws at a hoof - Pinkie Pie’s, of course, her own would be absurd - thinking back to when she met Doug. How her parents had been wholeheartedly against the idea and even went so far as to leave her life rather than poison the well. Yet, even if they didn’t see eye to eye then… She cannot believe she put it off reconciling for so long, and wonders why her parents never contacted her. Perhaps they thought that their… interference? would be unwelcome, and they were waiting for her to contact them? She resolves to rectify this as soon as they get back to Canterlot! Or maybe once she can get Sweetie Belle to tag along.

“But that depends on the second condition,” Tempest Shadow continues. “The tragedy must be sufficient to overcome your self control.” She motions at the three alicorns around Doug. “Your abilities might be unparalleled. After all, how much control does it take to harness the power of the sun?” She nods at Celestia respectfully, then sighs. “But they are not perfect. Each of you has lost control.” She looks at Celestia. “We heard the story of Rising Heights.”

Celestia nods, mournfully.

Then at Luna. “Nightmare Moon. Need I say more?”

Luna solemnly shakes her head no.

Tempest Shadow looks at Twilight Sparkle. “You murdered Doug after he destroyed your library.”

“I got better,” Doug cheekily adds.

Twilight snorts, whacking Doug with her tail. “Technically in that alternate timeline I meant to kill him, I didn’t lose control, and it was a justified attempted killing to save the world instead of murder over some books, and-”

Doug roughly pokes her in the side.

Twilight flashes a broad smile at Tempest Shadow, hunkering down. “I’m just making this worse, aren’t I?”

Tempest Shadow turns to Cadance. “Are you so conceited to think you will never lose control?”

“I concede the possibility,” Cadance replies. After a moment she adds, “That I am that conceited.”

Tempest Shadow snorts, laughing at the brazen answer. “So perhaps one of you can be trusted. Then again, perhaps not.” She raises a hoof into the air. “Who here wishes to bet on the infallibility of the alicorn. Anyone?”

Shining Armor immediately raises his hoof, earning himself a chaste kiss from his wife.

Tempest Shadow rolls her eyes. “Anycreature not obligated purely due to their marital status?”

Shining Armor slowly lowers his hoof as Doug raises his hand.

This does not go unnoticed by Cadance. “Hey!” she shouts, offended. “You put your hoof down!”

“She said to raise it only if I wasn’t obligated purely by my…” Shining Armor falters at Cadance’s infuriated glare. His ears fold back as he hunkers down. “Um… I’m just making this worse, aren’t I?”

He tries to raise his hoof again, but it utterly fails to mollify his wife’s wrath.

“If that’s what you think?” Cadance sticks her nose in the air, trotting over to Doug. “Then I’ll just have to go to somepony who believes in me!”

“Um,” Doug stammers. He glances at his still-raised hand, of which many of the ponies next to him have copied. He looks back at Cadance; she’s walking backwards at him, everypony shifting to allow her space next to Twilight. He does his best to not look down. “This really sounds like something I shouldn’t get involved in.”

“Too late!” Cadance plops down on his leg. She hugs it close. “I’m pulling a Chrysalis.”

“Hey!” Chrysalis objects, though she’s not really sure as to what. She jumps ship all the time. She’s frankly confused as to why ponies don’t do it more often, but they have weird notions about fidelity.

“Hey!” Shining Armor shouts, stomping over. He’d glare at Doug and his raised hand, except the human looks mortified. Except that’s his wife’s rump in his face! He glares at Doug anyway, growling through bared teeth.

“Hey, Twily!” Cadance greets as she brushes against the lavender flank. Her eyes spring open as both grin. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

“Dammit,” Doug groans as the two alicorn’s foalhood dance leaves their raised rumps pressing against each other. The joy they share doing so makes it even harder to not get excited. That or the raised tails. He hopefully looks at Tempest Shadow for some sort of lifeline.

Only for the unicorn to dash any hopes by smirking back at him. “Looks like Doug is the only one with some self control there.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Doug replies quickly. He glances down as Cadance moans euphorically; his hand is pressing against her flank. “Gah!” He gulps as he pushes against her, saying as flat and emotionless as he can, “Cadance, your rump is amazing. Can you please remove it from my face?”

“Certainly.” Cadance grins as she gets up, does a quick one eighty, and plops back down on his leg. She would bend her head lower, implying some salacious intentions, except Celestia is still in his lap. “Better?”

“No.” Doug sighs loudly as Shining Armor shoots past fuming and straight to frothing at the mouth. “Please stop torturing your husband.”

“Aww, but you believe in me!” Cadance groans at Doug’s uncompromising stare. “He deserves it?” She huffs when Doug doesn’t move. “Well, he still hasn’t raised his hoof!”

“Wait, that’s all it would take?” Shining Armor says, his anger fading as he studies Doug’s still raised hand. He tentatively raises his hoof in the air. “I tried that before!”

“My hero!” Cadance calls melodramatically, launching herself at her husband. “Yes, but you didn’t really mean it. Now you do.” She embraces him, yet winks at Doug and blows him a kiss. “Thanks for playing along.”

“...You’re welcome?” he returns, puzzled. He’s grateful when Tempest Shadow clears her throat, drawing attention away from himself.

“Anycreature might suffer tragedy,” the unicorn evenly states as she continues her pacing; her calm facade breaks every now and then, revealing a malevolent smirk. “But we must agree that the Princesses are more likely than most to suffer one now. And, as have just seen, their control can be… lacking.”

Celestia again rubs against Doug, her past failures haunting her, as Luna growls quietly.

“The third condition,” Tempest Shadow continues, “is enough power. We know Princess Celestia has sufficient power, as does her Sister, through their ability to move the sun and moon through the heavens. And it is only a matter of time before Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance can manage similar feats unaided. Yes?”

“Yes,” Princess Twilight concedes, dreading where this is going. She drops a little lower, clinging to the legs around her. She loves how they tighten, pressing against her sides, even if the protective cocoon they make isn’t particularly all-encompassing.

“We also know that their power can be transferred, safely and without damage to the foal, to another. After all, they gave their power to Twilight.” Tempest Shadow’s contemptuous grin is plain now as she gloats. It’s enough to make Twilight almost regret sharing the knowledge about what the alicorns went through during the Tirek Incident. “But the only ponies that they have given their power to are other alicorns. Who, alas, are all with foal. This might reduce, but not eliminate, the chance of catastrophic failure. Fortunately, there is a solution.”

Tempest Shadow rears up, dramatically pointing a hoof at the Storm King.

Who is sitting there, a distracted look on his face, as he idly scratches his back with a piece of wood.

“My liege,” Tempest Shadow spits out at almost a shout. She growls at having to work with such incompetent imbeciles!

It takes him a second, but the Storm King eventually gets the point “Right!” he shouts. He vaults over the rows of seats and lands next to his second-in-command. “We use this!” He proudly holds the Staff of Sacanas in the air before frowning and peering closely at the stick. He bends it curiously. “What does this do, exactly?”

“The Staff of Sacanas,” Tempest Shadow explains through gritted teeth, “will channel the power of the four alicorns and allow the wielder to control the very sun and moon! This will keep our planet alive, at least until the… present danger has passed.”

“Right!” Raikou grins for a moment. “Um, how, exactly, do I do that?” He waves it around, spinning it like a baton, but nothing seems to happen. “Do I hit them with it? Right now?”

Tempest smirks at the alicorns. “Unless you have a better suggestion?”

Next Chapter: Ch. 41 - The Red Nightmare, Part Six Estimated time remaining: 25 Hours, 31 Minutes