A/N: Yep, the last chapter was supposed to be sinister. I've never 100% trusted Princess Celestia...

Ch 4

The room went grey, and began to spin...when Twilight woke up it wasn't Princess Celestia's face staring down at her—it was the faces of her five friends. "Girls?" she whispered.

"You okay, sugar cube?"

Twilight nodded in Applejack's direction. She looked over to the princess. "Me? What do you mean me? I can't be your successor...how can I? I'm not anything special, I'm just...me."

"Nothing special?" Rarity exclaimed. "Twilight you are anything but—and you know it."

"But I can't be a princess—the princess. How could I?"

"You wouldn't be alone," Fluttershy said, but she wasn't smiling. None of her friends were. They knew something she didn't.

"What is it? What's going on?" She turned back to Princess Celestia for answers. The Princess rose and stepped over to them. Twilight's friends let her into the circle, and she bent down to meet Twilight's eyes without having to look down. "Princess-"

"You are not going to succeed me—you will become me."

"But that's—that's impossible."

Celestia smiled a little. "You know that's not true. Everything you've done since that day we first met has been impossible. You were chosen-" she looked around at the others. "You all were chosen. Every single one of you is special."

"Yeah, and look where it's gotten us," Rainbow Dash said, a tone of bitterness in her voice. She looked like she was going to say more, but she didn't, and sighed.

"Your friends have already agreed."

"To what?"

"Until the six of you were tapped, the day of the sonic rainboom-"

"I didn't know this would happen," Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"-until that day," she continued, "I controlled the six Elements of Harmony. No one soul can do it. It needs friendship, love, and the ultimate sacrifice made by all six elements."

Sacrifice. Twilight looked around at her friends' serious faces. Fluttershy was crying. "No!" Twilight cried out. "I won't do it! I won't let you hurt them." She glared at Celestia and pointed her horn at her, prepared to fight for her friends.

"It's okay, Twilight," Applejack said softly. "We've already agreed."

"Agreed!"

"The Princess spent all night explaining it," Rarity said. "It's not at all like dying." She gave a toss of her head. "Rather more like living forever. At least, part of you is."

"If we don't do it, it'll mean the end of Equestria," Rainbow Dash.

"End of Equestria—but Princess Luna could rule the day and the night—we don't have to—you did it for a thousand years, Princess."

"She wasn't dead," Celestia said. "This shape, as you know it, is dying. If I'm not reborn the sun will come down...and never rise again."

Twilight felt empty. She felt empty and dead, and everything she'd ever had with Princess Celestia was a lie. "You were never my teacher, were you?" she said. "You were—you were grooming me—to what? Take my soul? The lives of my friends? No! I loved you! I thought you loved me."

She shoved past the Princess, knocking over her frail form, but she didn't care. She ran out of the throne room, not thinking about where she was going, just running away. Eventually she hit a dead end on one of the many balconies of the castle.

Her friends were not far behind. They silently surrounded her. "We have to do this," Pinkie said, serious for probably the first time in her life.

"But I can't let you," Twilight said. "What about the Wonderbolts, and Sweet Apple Acres, and Big Macintosh? What about your dreams?"

"If we don't do this," Applejack said, "No one will have any dreams ever again. The Princess will take care of everything." She looked around at the six of them. "We will take care of everything."

"We love you, Twilight," Fluttershy said. "And you can't do this alone. I love Big Mac, but my loyalty is with you."

"We were chosen," Rainbow Dash said, puffing out her chest, trying to be brave. "Equestria needs us. There is not bigger glory than that." She kicked a hoof at the ground. "The Wonderbolts are just entertainers anyway. They don't actually do anything important..."

Pinkie looked at the ground. "I would never be more than an employee to the Cakes. I don't do anything important. I'm only important to all of you." She looked up with a smile. "Besides, my Pinkie Sense will be dead useful for the Princess."

They were all talking to her like the Princess was a separate person... "But if you do this, won't you all be...gone?"

"Our Spirits will always be with you," Rarity said. "You can only do this with all of us."

"That's right," Rainbow Dash said. "We're a package deal."

"This is crazy," Twilight Sparkle said. "Why did she talk to all of you and leave me out of it?"

"Because, silly," Pinkie said, "she knew we would have to convince you that we were okay."

"But what if I don't want to be part of the princess?"

"Of course you do, Twilight," Applejack said. "It's what you were born to do. You're better than any pony that's ever lived. What else would you do but rule Equestria?"

Twilight blinked back tears. "What do we have to do?"