Throughout the next few months, a civil unrest was taking place across all of Equestria. A lot of the people who were once ponies were starting to believe Celestia could not change them all back. They doubted her power and began to turn their backs on her word of law. It soon became a sort of civil dispute, with many factions dividing all the citizens of Equestria.

“Tensions are building, and soon we will risk civil war. Your guards are the best trained in the land, but even they cannot stave off thousands in an angry mob.”, a humanized Pegasi in a dark grey breastplate trimmed with gold wearing black dress pants; his head was bald and his body was riddled with scars from past battles. He sat at the table with Celestia and her other advisors. He was giving his view on the situation and sharing it with the others at the table.

“General, Who says we must fight? Is it not enough that we try to win their hearts with some sort of act of good will?”, a humanized unicorn, although one wouldn’t be able to tell until she cast magic, suggested her view of things.

“I suggest that we remind them who they owe their loyalty to…”, Celestia spoke and the other advisors went silent. “Perhaps, I need to make an example out of the louder ones. Since they have been getting violent as of late, we should show them that it will not be tolerated.”, Celestia explained slowly with a hint of malice in her tone.

“As you wish your majesty, how do you want them to be punished?”, the General asked humbly.

“Do what is necessary, but make it severe. And… don’t kill them, it will only make martyrs for the others to flock to.”, Celestia told him as he left the room.

The general closed the door to the War Room and shook his head, “I have never seen this side of the princess before…”, he told himself before heading off to a nearby town to dole out some fear in the populace.

Arcana was in Twilight’s library, as her usual routine entailed, looking for certain books that would teach her new things. “Gah, This library isn’t enough… I need more books…”, Arcana’s tone was rather lifeless as she said this. She placed her latest book on the floor, one she got from Zecora while she and Twilight were visiting her. It was a book on Equestrian plant life, she found herself interested in the special properties of each plant. She read the section on poison joke, “How drole… A plant that pulls pranks. What else will nature create?”, she said to herself. Arcana walked out of the library to see a crowd gathering outside. She rose an eyebrow, “I wonder what the commotion is about?”, she whispered to herself as she walked into the crowd.

At the center of the crowd was a man in regal attire and accompanied by royal guards in the traditional golden armor. He was announcing the new laws that were going to take effect immediately, “First new law: Anyone who wishes to become a pony once more, must be loyal to Princess Celestia, bringer of the sun, and merciful leader. Second Law: Those who defy the law of Celestia will suffer punishment. The punishment will be as though one had committed treason, and be sentenced without trial to the Canterlot dungeon. Thir-”, the man was interrupted by a voice from the crowd.

“Nonsense! Celestia has no power! I bet she can’t even change us back!”, the random outburst began a myriad of murmurs among the people in the crowd. Some of the whispers being in agreement with the one who shouted first, others whispering that they think that those who defy the Princess deserve death.

“Death to the Solar Empire!”, another voice shouted as an apple flew threw the air from the crowd and hit the official in the head, not causing injury to anything but his pride.

“Please, let us remain civil.”, the official pleaded to the mob that was starting to look more infuriated. “You are all still subjects to Equestria, and you must pay your loyalty to the Princess!”

“We will never bow! Not to a monarch who claims to make the sun rise! If she could do that, then she should be able to change everyone back into ponies!”, a man walked out of the crowd and approached the official, only to be knocked over by one of the royal guards.

The murmurs of the crowd rose and fell silent as the man was struck. All eyes were on him.

He stood back up, and was knocked down once more by the guard.

“You will kneel before the Royal Advisor”, the guard stated after knocking the man to the ground the second time.

“No, I will not kneel to a lackey of the Princess.”, the man said as the guard began to kick him to make an example to the rest.

Many of the people in the crowd who were unicorns shook their head at the man, many who were earth ponies gasped as they brutalised him. Pegasi in the crowd were unsure what to make of it. The crowd dispersed as the beating continued until only Arcana stood there watching.

The Advisor looked over to Arcana with a curious expression, “Hello?”, he said as he approached her, “What is your name, little one?”, he asked Arcana who was but a child.

“Arcana.”, she replied in her usual dead tone.

“That’s a nice name. Where are your parents?”

“My mother resides in Cloudsdale, My father has been deceased for months.”, the fact she had little to no emotion in her words, made the Advisor somewhat curious.

“And this is… not shocking to you?”, he asked.

“Life is a limited thing, I do not waste mine, by mourning over things that do not require it.”

“Well, what do you say of this?”, he asked as he gestured towards the guards beating on the man from before.

Arcana took a moment to ponder, nibbling on her thumbnail for a second before responding, “He is punished for not following the rules. Social creatures often have some norms that the others must follow, if they don’t, they are punished. It is simple, easy to understand when it is put in perspective.”

The advisor took a moment to admire the young girl’s vocabulary, “Well, here is another question: Are you a loyal subject of Celestia?”

Arcana looked back to the advisor, “Of course, she is royalty and only deserves my loyalty and respect.”

“Good answer.”, the advisor commented while nodding his head, “Celestia was speaking of this situation, she believe she must be more harsh in order to quell the upcoming war…”

“She believes there will be a war?”

“Yes, there are many ponies who will not abide by her laws anymore, believing she is powerless. The unicorns know better, the Pegasi are unsure, and many of the Earth ponies don’t believe she deserves to lead anymore. When people disagree and are passionate enough, they will do anything to show that they are right.”

“Interesting… I wonder if the Princess will allow me to reside in the castle archives.”, Arcana pondered and spoke aloud.

“That is just an old room filled with dusty books, what could you want there?”

“I am a student of magic, under Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s Student. I wish to further my studies, and for that I require a more expanded library.”

“I will enquire the Princess about that, you show promise. You may even become an advisor to her majesty some day.”

“Just what are you the advisor of?”, Arcana asked.

“I am her majesty’s advisor of Culture, Blazing Dawn.”, he snapped his fingers, lighting a small flame, “I too was a unicorn. However, I found watching culture was much more interesting, so I ended up following trends and trying to predict how ponies will react to certain things. However, I am ordered to do things against my will, but I do have faith in our leader.”, he walked back over to the guards that were escorting him, “I’ll be sure to ask the princess about your request. Ta-Ta!”, he waved goodbye as he walked off with the guards.

Arcana smiled slightly as he walked away. She then turned and walked towards the library once more.

“Hey, Arcana!”, the voice of a familiar person called to her.

Arcana turned to the source of the sound to see Scootaloo on her scooter and dragging Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom in a wagon behind her.

“Oh, greetings, Crusaders, how goes the pursuit of your unique abilities?”, Arcana asked with friendly concern.

“The usual, what are you doing?”, the purple-haired young girl asked Arcana.

“I am returning to Miss Sparkle’s residence to gather my things before I leave for Canterlot.”

“You’re leaving!? What about your mom?”, Sweetie Belle busted out in concern.

“She has Air Heart. I don’t find it necessary to have her bother with me when she could be making efforts to getting her life in order.”

“But what if she misses you?”, Sweetie Belle continued.

“You speak as if I were going to disappear forever, like my father.”

“I still find it pretty weird that you can even talk about yer dad so easily…”, Apple Bloom commented.

“My relationship with my father was strong, but I do not allow that to impede my daily activities. He was strong in heart, as am I.”

“Alright then, Arcana. We’ll see you around some time, hopefully. We’ll say ‘Hi’ to your mom for ya if we see her around.”, Scootaloo said as she pushed away on her scooter.

Arcana waved to the crusaders before heading into the library to find Rarity and Twilight conversing.

“I don’t like the way that this is happening, how could they just drop their loyalty for the Princess so quickly?”, Twilight thought aloud.

“Well, my dear, they are simply disloyal louts who don’t realize how wonderful a leader the princess is.”

“I wish that we cou-”, Twilight stopped as she turned to Arcana who just entered, “Hello, Arcana.”, Twilight greeted her politely.

Rarity smiled at Arcana, “How are you, Dear?”

“I wish to inform you that I will be evicting myself from your residence.”, Arcana stated.

Twilight shook her head for a second, not quite sure if she heard that right. “What’s going on?”, she asked.

“I will be living elsewhere soon, I will not require to bother you too much other than allowing myself some time to pack my possessions.”, Arcana said as she walked over to her room/study. The veins on her body glowing a dull sky blue as objects began to float into some bags.

“Wait a minute! What do you mean by that, where are you going?”, Twilight followed Arcana, Rarity trailing behind.

“I am going to take up residence in the Canterlot Archives. I require a larger library to continue my studies.”

“I can’t let you do this, your mom will not be happy with this.”, Twilight told her.

“I would not imagine mother would be pleased about this, but I must go. I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

Twilight took a deep breath, “I still think you should talk to your mom about this. She would be heartbroken to know you just left, and she would be furious to know I just let you leave.”

Arcana stopped for a moment, allowing her possessions to slowly float to the ground. She turned to Twilight, “Very well, I will speak to her of this. I will inform her of the situation personally. I will also assure her that you have been a exemplary caretaker, making sure she will have no quarrels with you. Is that a satisfactory plan?”

Twilight sighed, “Fine…”, she rolled her eyes, knowing that for a child she was maturing way too fast.

The next day, Twilight received a letter from Celestia, telling her that Arcana has been invited to live in the palace, as well as her and Rarity.

“Odd… Celestia has invited Rarity and I to live in the palace? I guess maybe she wants Arcana to have some company there…”, Twilight thought out loud, rubbing her chin as she read the note.

Arcana walked into Twilight’s bedroom, seeing Twilight was reading a letter on her bed. Arcana walked over to the bed side and hopped up, “I assume that is Celestia accepting my request to live in the Archives?”

Twilight looked up from the letter and at Arcana, “Yes, and Rarity and I will be joining you.”, Twilight said as she showed the letter to Arcana.

Arcana took the note and looked it over, “Curious…”, she said to herself. She looked back to Twilight, “I suppose a good action would be to gather your belongings for the trek.”, Arcana told Twilight as she laid the letter down on the bed and walked out of the room.

Dash woke up in her old room, waking from her own nightmares of how she imagined War Heart had died. Some mornings she would cry upon waking up, others she would just open her eyes and stare at the ceiling in a near catatonic state, just thinking about it over and over. What bothered her the most was that she was not even conscious to see it. She wished she could have been there for him then, that she could have told him not to go after Discord, or take the hit for him even. She would often take Air Heart to school to drop her off and go flying elsewhere, trying to soar across the skies as if fleeing something. She tried to outrun it, the pain, the anger, it was eating away at her every second. She kept going faster, but to no avail, she couldn’t escape this, but she felt like she had to try. Other days she would go over to the mountain peak they sat on to watch the sunset. She had set up a makeshift grave there, a headstone with his cutie mark carved into it. She would kneel in front of it and apologise for letting him die, or for not being strong enough to wake up and keep him from that last heroic act, always saying sorry, but never able to accept forgiveness. Buried beneath the headstone was the sole feather that was found afterward. Dash continued to wear the polished wooden pendant that War Heart’s mother gave to her. She felt it was like having a piece of him close to her heart. Tears welled up in her rose-coloured eyes, turning red from crying so hard. She would try not to cry in front of Air Heart, always trying to play it off as something was stuck in her eye.

Air Heart had overheard her crying more than once, but didn’t know what to do about it, so she just kept quiet. She knew her mother was in pain, she understood that she was sad. She tried her best in school, trying to get the best grades she could, hoping that her success in school would make her mom proud, or maybe even smile again. What Air Heart wouldn’t give to hear her mother laugh again. Air Heart wasn’t the best with words, but she knew one phrase that was so simple, but straight from the bottom of her heart. Everyday, after getting dropped off at school, she would hug her mother tightly, as if she never wanted her to leave and say, “I love you, mom.”, just to see her mother’s gentle and caring smile again. Air Heart wasn’t sure whether it was that her mom didn’t hear or that she just didn’t have it in her to reply, but she didn’t smile. She would crouch down and hug her back just as tightly, then left to her daily activities.

Today, Dash flew to Ponyville while Air Heart was in school to visit Arcana. She landed in front of the library. She slowly opened the door and walked in. She was surprised to see her daughter packing her things, “What are you doing, Arcana?”, Dash questioned her.

Arcana walked over to Dash who was dumbfounded. Arcana looked up at her mom, noticing she had been crying not too long ago and hugged her, “Mother, I need to move to expand my studies in magic. I am moving to Canterlot to live in the palace.”, Arcana explained.

Dash didn’t know how to react, but soon she thought of questions, “Why? What’s wrong with Twi’s library, how will I visit you? Who will take care of you?”, each question was filled with a motherly instinct to care for her child.

“Miss Sparkle does not have the books I require to continue my practice. I will be sure to compose a letter as often as I have the time to do so. And as for who will take care of me, I am sure the Princess’ staff will help, even then, Miss Rarity and Miss Sparkle will be accompanying me in the palace.”

Dash sighed and shook her head, wishing that she could go too, but she knew she couldn’t do anything to help with Arcana’s studies on magic, “Okay then, but promise that you will be careful when doing your magic, and make sure to write at least once a week.”, Dash said as she crouched down to hug her daughter.

“I promise, mother. Say ‘Hello’ to my sister for me when you see her.”, Arcana stated as she returned her mother’s embrace.

“You got it…”, Dash started to tear up again, almost feeling like she was never going to see Arcana again.

It was a few hours before the Royal Guard escorts arrived for Arcana, Twilight, and Rarity. The guards helped move their belongings onto the train for Canterlot.

As the train was slowly moving away, Dash was right outside, waving to her daughter for one last ‘Farewell’.