Disclaimer: All MLP:FiM characters belong to Hasbro and DHX Media. I do not own any of them except my OC.
So, I was flying towards Canterlot along with Twilight and Spike because I had just received a letter about an emergency summons to the throne room even though it had no reason why or what was happening. How weird. I flew in as fast as I could without breaking the sound barrier or running into things and the rest of our friends ran with us. Fluttershy said "Oh good. We're all here." Yeah apparently. Twilight asked "So, everypony got an urgent summons to the castle with no explanation?" Pretty much. Pinkie said "Yep. I just love a good mysterious summons." Okay then. No comment on that. "What's it about?" I have no idea. "Do you think it's a surprise party?" Nope. Doubt it. "Hey, why are we running?" I think it's obvious. Twilight said "Because something could be terribly wrong. Somepony turn bad, another evil creature back for revenge." Eh, you're half right. Maybe. Applejack asked "Don't you think you're bein' a little paranoid?" I said "Perhaps. But you never know. So you rather be safe than sorry." Rarity said "Good point. We know better than to make ourselves worry." Yeah pretty much. Pinkie said "Plus, I like it when you run so fast, the walls get all blurry." Uh okay. That's random, but whatever.
"Wee!" Welp, you've now basically made yourself dizzy. How interesting. Rainbow said "Race ya!" You're on. I teleported to the throne room and the rest of the gang showed up right behind me. Once we were all here, Celestia said "Girls. Thank you so much for coming." Your welcome I guess. Twilight asked in a panic "What's wrong? What can we do?" Luna said "That's just it. Nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect." Bruh. You made us worry for nothing? How pathetic. Applejack asked "Did y'all call us down here just to tell us that?" They better not. Rarity said "With all due respect Your Majesties, you might want to save your urgent summons for matters that are a bit more well, urgent." They just laughed and I rolled my eyes. I said "Welp, see ya. Time to go take care of other stuff." Celestia said "Not so fast." I turned around and raised a brow. Do enlighten me then. Luna said "There's a bit more to it." I said "I'm listening." Luna said "Equestria is currently enjoying it's longest harmony in recent years." Hmm. I could easily think of all the bad things that happened so far. But Luna means something different. Celestia said "And it's all thanks to you, Twilight." How so? "And your friends of course." Right. Can't forget about me. Spike said "Who, us?" Who else? Rarity just laughed and Rainbow said "It's about time you notice." Yeah really. Twilight said "Thank you." You always seem to say that.
Luna said "Because of your efforts, there's been less and less for us to do." Really? I'm not so sure if I agree with that statement. Celestia said "So, after much consideration, my sister and I have decided it is time for us to RETIRE!" I beg your pardon? You did not just say that. Did I even hear that right? I think I must have misheard something. Everypony gasped and Discord appeared in a journalist costume. Oh dear. Now you've got Discord's attention. Great. He said "Breaking news! The Royal Princesses retiring! I have so many questions!" Save your lousy questions, you incompetant news reporter. You're just as bad as every other journalist in the Washington Post or what I call the Washington Compost. Take that, Jeff Bezos. How you like that?! What are you gonna do about it huh?! Nothing! HA HA! SO LONG SUCKER! Anyways, moving on. "Who will take over? Who will run Equestria?" Let them answer first before you ask another one. "Will it be someone tall, dark, and handsome or will it be the Lord of Chaos?" I rolled my eyes and said "Yeah, I don't think so. Considering your history, Equestria would turn into a disaster if you were in power, so sorry." Discord grunted in annoyance and Celestia pointed to Twilight. How ironic.
Discord saw it and said "Oh fine. Go with the obvious choice." Right. Then Celestia pointed towards me. WHAT?! Discord looked up at me and became interested. "Oh, this will be interesting." What the heck?! Is it really time for me to take over as King of Equestria? I guess so. But I have so many worries though. Wait. Yes, yes. Uh huh. Yep. Okay yeah I can do that. The Tree of Harmony told me I will be fine and if that's what it says, then I'll believe it. Twilight asked "You're retiring?!" Yep. Apparently so. Spike asked "Princesses can retire?" I said "Any ruler can retire at any time they want. Says so in Equestria's constitution." Luna said "He's right. I'm looking forward to a little R&R. Maybe a trip to Silver Shoals." Oh how wonderful. The old folks community. I don't have anything against them, it's just Celestia and Luna would be a bit out of place there since they don't age really at all. Twilight asked "And you want me and Zach to take your place?" Both of them nodded and Luna said "With the help of your friends of course." Right. I know I can count on them. Celestia said "We can't think of anypony more worthy." I can think of a couple. That doesn't include Discord or any sort of villain in the show whatsoever.
"Over the years, we've watched you grow. You faced task after task." Luna said "Challenge after challenge." Discord said annoyed "Countless adversities yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it." Dang, someone's got an ATTITUDE! Celestia said "And you've always prevailed." That is true. Twilight said "Thank you, but that doesn't mean that I'm… that we're ready to do what you do." I said "I do have one question though. How do I fit into all of this? I've only been here for like five years at this point." Celestia said "Since you are very close to Twilight, I figured it would be best if you were to rule by her side." I said "Oh. Okay thanks." Celestia said "I know this is a lot to take in, but-" before Rainbow said "Nope. Makes perfect sense." I guess so. "We're awesome." That is true. "Does this mean we get all your powers?" No Rainbow. It does not. "Oh, oh. I call dibs on showing up in everypony's dreams." I said "I don't think so. It doesn't quite work like that. You need to at least have a horn to be able to do that." Rainbow grumbled in sadness and Twilight pulled her back with her magic. She said "You can't be ready to step into their horseshoes just like that!" I don't think that's going to do anything Twilight.
Applejack said "Well, if the Princesses think it's time to retire, then we're not a bad choice." You would be correct on that. "We always have Equestria's best interest at heart." Yes, yes we do. Twilight said "That's a fair point, which should be taken into consideration when we have a round table discussion-" before Rarity cut her off and said "Well, I'm in. Darlings will all need a complete wardrobe update." Right. Whatever you say Rarity. "And I would love to pick your brain about mane maintenance." Right. Whatever that's supposed to mean. "When you have a moment." HA! How ironic. Fluttershy said "As long as we all have each other, I'm sure we can do it." I agree on that statement. Pinkie said "Yay! Protectors of Equestria on three: One… Two…" Everypony put their hooves together in a circle and I put in my paw as well. Come on Twilight. If I can deal with it, then you can as well. Twilight sighed and said "If you're all on board, I guess I am too." There we go. Everything will turn out just fine. For now at least. Then we all said "Protectors of Equestria and lifted our hooves and claws and paws and stuff like that into the air. Twilight said "It'll be a bit of an adjustment, but I imagine the transfer of power will be a lengthy process which will be-" before Celestia cut her off and said "Actually, we just need a few days to put together a little ceremony." I beg your pardon? A little ceremony? Come on man! I need every species out here to see me get coronated as King. I can't just have friends and family. That's too boring.
Discord looked confused and Twilight chuckled nervously before she yelled "A few DAYS?!" Oh brother. Here we go again. The rest of the gang groaned and I rolled my eyes. "But that's so soon!" So? Who cares? "Shouldn't there be some sort of training program?" Nah. We can axe that pretty easily. "That lasts weeks? No. Months if not YEARS?!" I think you'll be fine Twilight. Celestia said "Everything you've gone through over the years has been a training program." I can see why that's the case. Twilight said "Okay, but there's got to be a guide or a rulebook!" Of course there is. They don't just throw a crown on ya and say "Go rule Equestria. You'll figure it out." No. They tell you all the different things about how it works and everything. They don't leave you in the dark. Discord said "Yes. I have it right here. "How to Rule Equestria" by nopony mcpretendsmith." That's an odd name for an author. Luna said "The Friendship Journal you wrote yourselves is a better guide than anything we could provide." Now here comes the hyperventilating. Celestia said "We have the utmost confidence in you." Yeah, okay whatever. Luna said "And we hope you have the same in yourself." Does that look like self-confidence to you Luna? I don't think so. Twilight hyperventilated a little bit more and then breathed in and out with a paper bag. Ugh. She'll eventually get over it.
Discord said amused, "Oh, I'm absolutely certain she does." Well, that's a lie. We left Canterlot and went back to the castle. Once we were in the throne room, Twilight said "I'm not confident about this AT ALL!" I can tell Twilight. Discord said "Well, that's what I thought." Don't ask me why he's sitting on the table stroking his beard with a metal fork and using cologne to freshen it up. "I was being sarcastic before." I know that. I'm not stupid. Applejack gave him a stare and Discord became pressed. "What? This is all so predictable." Oh really? How so? "Now's the part where you all tell little Sparkle here that everything is going to be fine but she won't believe you." Wow. That's actually surprisingly accurate coming from the Lord of Chaos. "I don't need to be here for this." Then leave, you dimwit. No one's asking you to stay here. He snapped his fingers and disappeared from the room. Good riddance. Twilight said "It's just, I know I said yes, but then they said "in a few days," and there's still so much to figure out and it's all happening so fast!" I know, but you really need to calm down. Seriously. You're making a fool out of yourself. Twilight grabbed her brown bag and breathed in and out of it again. Whatever it takes to calm her down.
"I think I need some… *drinks water* I'll feel much better…" before Rarity said "Once you make a plan?" Sounds about right. Twilight said "Oh wow. It's like you-" before Spike said "knew you were going to react this way? We did." Right. Pinkie said "Classic Twilighting." Now there's a new one. Twilight was confused and asked "Twilighting? You-you made me a verb?" Not that there is anything wrong about that. Twilight looked depressed and Applejack said "It's not a bad thing. We just know you have a uh… process." Yep. Pretty much. Rainbow said "Stage one: You get big news and you're like "NOOO!" But then you pace, and you chart, and you worry." I don't think you need to give us a description of Twilight's emotional breakdown, Rainbow. Also, you're only making her feel worse. Fluttershy said "It's okay. You go ahead and Twilight, and we'll be here for you." Agreed. Twilight said "You're all acting so calm about this." So? Why does that matter? "But this is a big deal!" How so? "What if something big happens and the princesses aren't there to help?" Why does that matter? They never help. Rainbow said "Umm, if you think about it, they literally almost never help." Dang. She broke the fourth wall.
Pinkie said "And we still always win!" Pretty much. "Like when Sombra almost took back the Crystal Empire, or when Chrysalis pretended to be Cadence, or when Tirek came back and absorbed all the magic, or the other time when Chrysalis tried to take over, or Cozy Glow and the School!" You're missing a few things. "Am I missing anything." Quite a bit. Rarity said "Pony of Shadows." Can't forget about him. Spike said "Starlight when she was evil." Definitely. Time was almost destroyed because of her. Fluttershy said "Discord when he was evil." Yep. That wasn't pretty either. Applejack said "Do Flim and Flam count?" I said "I don't think so. They aren't considered evil enough to have committed any major federal crimes, so I wouldn't think so." Rainbow said "See? We've almost always done things without the Princesses' help!" I guess that's true. "Which makes sense now because it was all just training for you and Zachary to take over." Right. That would make sense. Spike said "And it worked. I mean, if you think about it, there hasn't been a single villain we couldn't defeat." Pretty much. Twilight finally calmed down a bit and we had to go over to the school to take care of some business.
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door and I opened it to which it revealed Starlight. Oh nice. Just the pony I was expecting. She saw what was happening and Spike said "Help! She's spiraling! We're at the "My Plan needs a plan stage of a total Twilight meltdown!" Yeah really. Starlight whispered "Oh. Got it!" and went over to Twilight. She said "Twilight." Twilight said obviously not hearing her in the slightest "Did I write down Eliminate redundant less on School of Friendship to do list or my personal to do list?" Oh brother. Starlight got annoyed and yelled "Twilight!" That scared Twilight and she said "Starlight! Oh good you're here! I need to talk to you." Gee. I wonder why. Starlight said "Ok." and Twilight went looking through her scrolls. Twilight said "Hang on. I had "Talk to Starlight" on one of these." Who cares? "Just let me find it so I can cross it off." Oh. Yeah, that might be a good idea. Starlight said "Wow, you are Twilighting hard." Pretty much. Although, you might want to be careful with that. She must take offense to that. Twilight asked "You say Twilighting too?" Pretty much. "Well, EXCUSE ME, this is the first time time I've ever been asked to run a whole Kingdom!"
I had enough and said "Twilight calm down. It's not that big of a deal." Twilight looked at me with a glare and said "Not that big of a deal?" Oh dear. Here it comes. "NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?! PRINCESS CELESTIA JUST ASKED ME TO RUN AN ENTIRE KINGDOM JUST RANDOMLY OUT OF THE BLUE AND YOU SAY IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?!" I put up my shield and said "Yep. And nothing will make me change my mind." Twilight got furious and she blasted my shield as hard as she could, but it didn't do anything. It didn't even crack. Not even a single dent. Twilight had just got exhausted and fell to the ground. I lowered my shield and looked at her. "Feel better now? Did you get all your anger out?" Twilight sighed and nodded. Spike whispered to Starlight "That's what she did the last time Sombra tried taking over the Crystal Empire." If you've seen Season 3 Episode 1 "The Crystal Empire Part 1," then you know what reference I'm making here. Starlight asked with hesitation "So what did you want to talk to me about?" Twilight said "Ah. Here it is. I wrote it down." Here comes the speech. "Starlight, you have blossomed into one of the strongest, smartest, most caring, ponies I know and I can't think of anypony better to leave in charge of my castle and the School of Friendship. So what do you think?" Dang, she read that really fast. The author could barely keep up with that.
Starlight said "What? You want me to take care of the castle and run the School?!" Yeah. Didn't you hear what she just said? Please don't break down too. One is already bad enough. "HEY! Be quiet!" Yes, mother. Twilight said "Yes?" and Starlight continued. She said "I can't! I'm not ready!" Sure you are. "Remember what happened the last time you left me in charge?!" Yes. I remember that quite well. "And now you want me to do it PERMANENTLY?!" Pretty much. "What if I don't do the right things?!" Oh dear. Where's the brown bag? Twilight picked up Starlight and said "Starlight, get ahold of yourself. You've risen to every challenge you ever faced. You can do anything you put your mind to. You've got this." Hmm. I can say the same about you. Twilight gave me a glare and I rolled my eyes. Starlight gave a smirk and said "HA! And so do you. See what I did there?" Yep. That is pretty clever if you ask me. Beating Twilight at her own game. "You just said everything you needed to hear." Pretty much. Twilight laughed as if that was the stupidest thing she ever heard and said "Ha ha ha. Nice try. But running a school and running a country are very two different things." I said "Not really if you think about it logically." Twilight ignored me and said "Now if you don't mind, I have 7,432 more things to take care of before I become the new ruler of Equestria!" You tried Starlight. It was a great effort on your part.
However, Twilight is still blind to the truth and doesn't realize everything will be fine. Twilight used the paper bag again and Spike said "It was a valiant effort." That's just disappointing. Wait. WHAT?! KING SOMBRA IS BACK AND IS TAKING OVER THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE?! NOT ON MY WATCH! Twilight panicked some more and I had to shake her to death to get her to listen to me. I said "TWILIGHT! KING SOMBRA IS BACK AND IS TAKING OVER THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!" Twilight said "WHAT?! There's no way! How are you sure?!" I put up a screen of dark clouds moving in on the Empire and Twilight believed me. I said "Get our friends and meet in the throne room." Twilight nodded and I headed to the throne room back in the castle. Twilight met me in there and we waited for a little bit. Suddenly, the doors opened and the gang was there. She said "Thanks for coming so quickly!" Discord then showed up and said "Sure thing! But if you're going to be the ruler of Equestria, you may want to work on your penmanship." Why is that? "This looks like it says "Cadence sent an emergency message: Sombra's back and he's taking over the Crystal Empire." You would be correct. Twilight flew up to him and said "That's exactly what it says!"
Rarity said But-but how is that possible? I thought the Crystal Heart dispelled him into the ether!" I said "It did, but someone revived him. Who that is, I have no idea. However, that doesn't matter right now." Twilight said "Zach's right. He's back and it's up to us to save the Empire and my family!" Actually, I do have an idea who it is, but I'm not going to spoil it because then it would only add to the stress and I would look like a fool. Fluttershy asked "Shouldn't somepony tell Celestia and Luna?" I'm not sure they would be any help here. Discord said "Oh good point." How so exactly? "One of us should probably loop in the REAL rulers of Equestria." Har har. Very funny Discord. Twilight said "No. If we're going to run Equestria, we'll need to handle things like this on our own." Pretty much. Discord got interested and said "Ohh Twilight." What do you want now Discord? "Could this mean you finally have the confidence to ascend to the throne like the Princesses believe you can?" Oh brother. Don't give me that evil grin. Twilight said "Maybe. Unless you'd consider taking care of Sombra for us?" Don't count on it. Also, that's just being lazy. The one time you actually care about Discord is when you need him to use his magic to solve your problems. That's pretty pathetic if you ask me.
Everypony gave him a pleading expression and Discord said "Oh, no no no. You are absolutely right! You need to learn how to handle these things on your own! Ta ta!" Dang, someone doesn't like confrontation. Applejack said "Handling things on our own is all well and good, but last time, we defeated Sombra with the Crystal Heart." Pretty much. Spike asked "What if he has it already? How are we gonna stop him?" They all looked at me for a second and I said "Don't count on it. I could easily take out Sombra, but I need all of the Elements in order to make sure he stays gone for good." Twilight said "Wait. Elements. Hmm. Of course! Zach! You're a genius! We can use the Elements of Harmony! With those, we can defeat anypony! Even Sombra!" Discord appeared out of the wall and said "Ah no no no no no. You didn't need the Elements last time you defeated Sombra. And I'm not sure using them still counts as "handling things on your own." I said "That was a different circumstance. The Crystal Heart was just hidden in the castle and needed to be retrieved. Also, it was part of a test that Celestia gave Twilight. So keep your comments to yourself woman." Twilight said "Zach's right. My family is in danger. I'm not taking any chances!" Well said. Rainbow said "She's got a point." Discord grumbled and said "Ugh. Fine!" He closed the curtain and disappeared once more. Pinkie asked "What's his problem?" Who cares? I could care less about what he thinks. He's just upset that he won't be ruling Equestria. Sorry, but I never have had faith in him to rule an entire kingdom.
Twilight turned over to Starlight and said "Starlight? Can you stay here and take care of the school?" I hope so. Starlight said "I've got you covered." Thanks. I teleported us to the Tree and used the scepter's magic to make the Elements come down and be placed around their necks and heads. I teleported us again and we headed off to the Crystal Empire. I saw Sombra and he was chewing grapes. That selfish arrogant pony! He will pay for what he has done. I heard Sombra say "It's cute that you think that will do anything." That won't, but we will! Cadence said "It might not, but they will!" We all came into the throne room and I just snarled at Sombra. Time to end you for good Sombra. Pinkie said "Calvary's here!" Okay then. We charged at him, but I realized what he was about to do. Sombra just laughed and said "How can I be surprised when I'm waiting to show all of you your greatest fear?" He cast his fear spell and I said "NO!" jumping in front of the girls and being the only one affected by it. Everypony gasped and I immediately saw what Sombra had predicted as my greatest fear. Everyone trembling before me and turning evil against Twilight.
I heard Sombra say "You should all surrender! Nothing can defeat your own fears!" Oh really? I summoned a sword and threw it straight at his chestplate to which he growled. Suddenly, my scepter glowed and connected with the rest of the Elements. HA! I'm free from his spell. Twilight said "We didn't need to defeat them. We just needed to face them long enough to distract you!" Sombra saw Spike blow fire on the dark crystal and Cadence was immediately freed and went straight for the Crystal Heart lifting in the air and putting back down below the castle. Sombra tried fighting for it back, but it didn't work. Shining said "It's cute that you think that will do anything." OH BURN! How do you like that Sombra?! Cadence put the Crystal Heart back in it's place and everything was restored back to normal. Sombra growled and backed away in anger. He said "You may have won the battle, but I SHALL WIN THE WAR!" Don't think so buddy. I snarled at him again and blasted him so hard that he disintegrated leaving some smoke behind. Once we were done, Rainbow said "We totally just wiped the castle with that guy!" Pretty much. Flurry gave Twilight a hug and Cadence was still in her defensive position before finally getting out of it and walked over to Twilight. Shining said "Thanks Twily." Your welcome.
Pinkie said "That was fun." Eh, more like extremely satisfying to me. Applejack said "And easy." For the most part. Rarity said "As magical battles go, that was a cake walk." Pretty much. Pinkie said "Mhm. Cake walk." That's not what she's talking about Pinkie. Oh dear me. That's funny though. Having Pinkie dance back and forth on her hind legs with cakes on her back legs. Twilight said "We handled this pretty well on our own." Yeah, I would say so, but I believe the war is not quite over yet. Spike said "Does this mean?" Perhaps. Twilight said "I still don't feel like I'm 100 percent ready, but will I ever?" I said "Knowing you, nope." Twilight said "I have you guys. And we have the Elements. And together, we've never failed. We'll be okay." Of course you will. About time you got it. The girls came over and I wrapped them in a hug with my eagle wings around them and they just laughed. We went back to the Tree and Twilight put the Elements back. All nice and safe. "Once again, Equestria is safe." For now. Fluttershy asked "What should we do to celebrate?" I don't know. You tell me. Pinkie said "I vote for a cake walk." Of course you would Pinkie. Classic you. Suddenly, I heard cracking and turned around to see what it was. Oh no. Don't tell me he's going to do what I think he is. Sombra shook the earth and Applejack asked "What's goin' on?" I might have an idea. Twilight said "I don't know." Suddenly, dark crystals appeared all over the Tree and then one big one shattered it. WHAT?! UGH! HE WILL PAY FOR THAT!
To be continued…
AN: Well, we finally can kick off this amazing season. Obviously, I'm not very happy that the Tree of Harmony had to be destroyed, but it is what it is. I have big plans for this season and I promise you it will not disappoint. I know that in the ancient world, Kings and Queens were already married by the time their coronation came around, but this is Equestria, so I can mix it up a little bit. Anyways, part 2 is already under way and I will get that posted as soon as I can. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Next Chapter: The Destruction of the Tree of Harmony! When everyone least expected it, Sombra came back and destroyed the Tree of Harmony. Obviously, this angers Zachary so much that he starts fighting Sombra himself. But it won't be as easy as it was before as he has been severely weakened in terms of magical power. With the destruction of the Tree, the Everfree Forest begins to invade once again. While that is going on, Sombra decides to take over Canterlot and rule Equestria. Will Zachary and the Mane Six be able to put a stop to King Sombra, or will the amount of problems that they have to deal with be too much?
Until then, my fellow readers
