“What do you mean it’s gone?!?”
“I MEAN IT’S NOT THERE.”
“Did you LOSE IT??”
“WHAT IN TARTARUS DO YOU THINK? IT IS KEPT SAME PLACE AS ALWAYS UNDER LOCK AND KEY. WE GUARD THEM WITH OUR LIVES!!!”
“Well then, looks like somepony knows now. Find them. Do what you must, but find them.”
She wanted to believe that everything was fine. Though her beliefs fought against her eyes, she wanted to believe everything was fine. According to anyone else around her, everything was fine.
But everything was certainly not fine. When the Goddess you worship on a daily falls to a Hive Queen, everything is anything but fine. She was taught that Celestia was infallible and omnipotent, yet broken was the Sun Goddess as she painfully arose from the tile; even more broken was the filly’s mind after the fact. Sure, she didn’t think of it much when it happened; but running away from imminent danger can only last so long and eventually it will leave your mind preoccupied with thoughts beyond the shock. Even worse, not running for your life tends to put more focus on why you ran in the first place. Why would there be a reason to run?
According to her schooling, Celestia shouldn’t have had to even put her proverbial dukes up to defeat a mortal like Chrysalis. It was against pony theology for an Alicorn to lose any kind of magic battle to a mortal.
What made it immensely worse was that a changeling was only a half-breed of a pony. Scholars of Sweetie’s time say that somewhere before the Celestial Era, one tribe of ponies who dealt in the dark magics found a way to mix their DNA with that of a type of bug that relied on stealth to feed on its prey. Changelings were then produced from this hideous experiment. It had the frame of a small pony but the characteristics of the bug. When the tribe saw what they had created, they tried their best to exterminate the problem. The changelings got them first.
So Sweetie understood the shame of losing to the Hive Queen. Chrysalis may have been powerful but she was still half bug; and yet the victor over Celestia. Sweetie argued openly about the topic to everyone on the train ride home. She was chided for her attitude towards Celestia. “She is still our ruler, Sweetie. You will treat her with respect” coaxed Rarity, “Even if it can be difficult sometimes…” Sweetie wanted answers, she wanted to understand; she would even fight for cooperation. But the rest of the pony population was willing to defend their Princesses’ honor, even in her imperfections. Sweetie decided upon a different approach. After all…
…what is a filly to a mob?
“Take Spike with you this time. Bring Rarity as well. They are both good at finding things and should provide the help you CLEARLY NEED.”
“Princess, I’m sorry. I’ll do my best.”
“I expect that much, filly. I want it here in six hours.”
She always wanted to be older, but being younger had its advantages too. Being adorable erased any sense of mischief from the elder’s minds. Most would let her go as she pleased without giving a second thought. So when Sweetie wandered into the Ponyville Library, she politely asked for the official government records concerning Ponyville from Princess Sparkle. After only giving a strange look for a few seconds, Twilight gave in to the filly’s request. She couldn’t hold back knowledge from a book-hungry filly. That was the second worst sin in Ms. Sparkle’s books, and she didn’t feel like being sinful today.
As Sweetie scans through the government book, she is looking for something in particular. All the numbers do not concern her, for it is not a number she detects for. She looks for words, names; specific ones of course. Her horn lights up to flip through the pages at a progressive speed scanning for a few specific names. A few hours later, she did not find what she was looking for and goes to return the book.
“Find what you were looking for, Sweetie?”
“Not yet, Miss Twilight. Maybe next time.”
Instead of asking for more government books, Sweetie this time checks out a self-help book for magic learning. This was much more pleasing to the librarian and she pointed out some other volumes in the same category that Sweetie might enjoy. As Sweetie checked out, she was given permission to keep the books as long as she needed. Twilight could barely keep herself contained at the thought of another pony in Ponyville on the way towards advanced magic. She couldn’t help but offer some lessons if Sweetie needed some help on the content of the books. Sweetie would keep it in mind; she could use that in time.
As the young filly sat in her room with the first volume open, she pondered her thoughts. If what she thought was true actually happened, she would have to set things right. It would be difficult, but the burden was lain on her shoulders now. Sweetie often wondered why Twilight never cared too much for social events in Ponyville. She was the Princess of the region now, yet she attended to her books more than her subjects. If the other Elements were present, Twilight was usually there. But all the same, it seemed as if she never really tried to win over the approval of Ponyville. She didn’t have to try. Mayor Mare might have been the government representative but the only other being over Twilight now was Celestia herself. Twilight may not have been a God, but she was the Princess; so public opinion never mattered too much. And after all…
… what is a mob to a Princess?
“STILL!?”
“WE’VE DONE OUR BEST… whoever took it put an anti-detection spell on it. They had to.”
“Twilight, that is Discordant level magic, and as you can clearly see, he is still in stone. You’ve run out of time.”
“I DON’T KNOW WHO COULD HAVE DONE THIS!!”
“You know Twilight? I think I have a guess.”
Yellow magic formed a ring around Twilight’s neck and squeezed tight. So tight that the victim could not even utter words from her mouth. Tears dropped as Twilight wanted to cry; more hurt from the accusation than she was from her physical torment. Usually a pony would last about 20 seconds or so before giving up the ghost. Twilight only lasted about 10; she didn’t want to live anymore.
It had been three months of constant training for Sweetie Belle. Day after day of reading magic, studying magic, memorizing magic, and most importantly performing magic. She would not allow others to be a part of her studying, but to quell the requests from others she would do a new magic trick every once in a while. It was just something to get everyone off of her back for a week or so. She would do what she had trained for soon enough. She found where the book would be, and it was kept in the basement portion of the Canterlot Library. It didn’t matter that the portion of the library was locked and guarded; she HAD to get the book. Even if she perished by getting caught, she had to know the knowledge it provided. Besides the books that accompanied her magic training, there was one tome that was a part of her studying. All about Alicorns by Steelheart the Brave. It was an older volume, yet it was unsurpassed to this day in content.
Sweetie decided that she would get those lessons in magic after all. Twilight was more than happy to help as well. She had always wanted an apprentice of some kind but she couldn’t just ask ponies to follow. That wasn’t how this kind of learning was done. The apprentice had to find the master and submit to their learning. Twilight would never know what hit her.
After the first day of going over things with Sweetie, Twilight told her that the next day would be dedicated to showing off everything Sweetie could do with her magic. It was an important day for both ponies. Twilight needed to know what Sweetie could do so far with her magic. Potential was key in becoming a mage. She had heard of Sweetie personally studying magic by herself for these past months and it reminded her of herself when she was a young filly. She needed to confirm to herself that this was real and not some fantastic dream.
But Sweetie knew better than to show everything to Twilight. She knew that much of what she had done in magic was not to be approved by a princess, let alone the only one that specialized in magic. If there was one pony that could detect Sweetie’s abilities, her own master was the one. That was exactly why Sweetie signed on to apprenticeship with Twilight. While it is true that Twilight could teach her much faster than possibly any pony else, it was the most dangerous thing she could do right now, and she needed to prepare for what was to come.
The next day, Sweetie woke up and went to make her morning cereal. As the filly went to the market, she used her magic to take a bit out of her saddlebags and paid for an apple. Sweetie walked towards the local library while eating the apple. Twilight met her outside and asked Sweetie to warm up her magic. Wordlessly and without putting the apple down, Sweetie casually uprooted the library-tree in its entirety, flipped it a few times for good measure then caused the giant plant to re-root itself back into the ground.
Then she took another bite of the apple.
Sweetie carefully walked in silence as best she could. One wrong move, one sound too loud, one word spoken would mean utter failure. The room she was in was smelting in a setting sun. The windows poured in the light from the horizontal angle of Celestia’s pet. It would become dark soon then the guard would change at the doors. As Sweetie silently waited, she constantly checked herself to make sure everything was still working. She had worked so much on this spell it wasn’t even tiring to do anymore. She had gone an entire day like this and didn’t even have to rest her magic the next day. As long as she couldn’t see her hooves, no pony else could either. The busy library slowly became more and more empty. Customers were beginning to leave with their volumes and the librarians were cleaning off the tables and desks for closing time. The 10 minute warning was issued on the intercom and the general exodus began. The guards at the basement doors began to move around a bit; their shift almost ended. If Sweetie hadn’t seen this before, her nerves might have taken over her by now.
But Sweetie had been here before, several times. She had memorized the exact minute when the day guards left and when the night guards arrived. She had approximately 30 seconds to get into the doors and get out before the night guards arrived at their station. But the guards were sloppy and never followed an exact time measure; probably why they guarded a library room. Celestia probably chose the weakest soldiers to guard this. Her arrogance burned Sweetie from the inside out, but this was no time to become angry. Sweetie had to master her emotions if she wanted everything to go well, and work well it would. The irony worked for Sweetie’s favor. The day-guards had been trained to detect spells of teleportation in order to better secure Celestia’s secrets, but not a spell of cloaking and invisibility. Unicorns worth their weight could detect spells of invisibility, and yet Celestia’s finest lacked.
There was one thing on Sweetie’s mind while she was cloaked. If something went wrong, she couldn’t be caught. There were no escape routes once she got in the basement doors, and the night guards were unicorns that could use a spell to see past cloaking. It was a difficult spell to do, but if they heard something they would most likely use it. The question was would she kill if all bets were off? If it came between living and dying in a palace dungeon, could she take a life? Her cause was just, it was right; yet was it worth the lives of innocents?
Innocent is subjective. Who deems a library guard innocent? Who deems Twilight innocent?
Who deems Celestia innocent?
These are the questions that plagued the filly’s mind minutes before she would get into the basement. Only seconds before entering the basement, Sweetie decided that any pony that should knowingly step between her and her just cause deemed themselves unjust therefore guilty by default. That left only the princess that helped her become so magically powerful. What if Twilight found out about what Sweetie was doing? What if she got in the way of what Sweetie needed?
She would have to be spared. Sweetie couldn’t bring herself to hurt Twilight, not after all Twilight had done for her. If there was any pony that deserved to live, it was Princess Twilight.
The thought of asking for her help in this situation was tempting, but this was Sweetie’s fight; she had to do this alone. While it was true that Twilight was the most powerful being in magic during Sweetie’s time, Twilight rarely used it for deception or violence. She could actually be a hindrance in Sweetie’s mission.
After all, it wasn’t like Twilight could possibly know what Sweetie was feeling. There was no chance that Twilight ever had her beliefs shattered then asked to turn a blind eye to it. There was no way Twilight knew what it was like to live a lie. Most importantly, Twilight was always sure who her parents were.
The guards left their post to unlock the library doors for the night guards. Sweetie made her way inside the basement. She found the book she needed and cloaked it as well. As she cracked the door open and looked outside, she saw that the guards were talking at the door. She closed the door behind her quietly and while still invisible made her way towards the front door. Still wide open, she quietly got out of the library without being seen or heard. The original plan was to wait all night in the library with the book and leave the next day, but Sweetie liked a nice improv.
Sweetie had a hard time reading. She could normally read just fine, but reading that book was especially difficult. The book itself was not too cryptic, and it was well outlined. No, it was Sweetie’s eyes that gave her trouble on that particular night; crying often blurs vision. As the tears feel across her face, she tried to read on.
Yet, reading is quite difficult when the book you aim to finish single-handedly destroys your entire world. It was the moment when everything in her life broke with harmony.
“1284:
-Scholars announce that the return of P. Luna should occur in approximately 13 years.
-Talk of a new city being built several miles outside of Equestria has begun. P. Celestia has decreed its name to be ‘Ponyville’.
-P. Celestia had a long meeting with her top medical advisors. During this time, P. Celestia has inquired her medical staff of the possibility of starting a program of elitist breeding within the Canterlot. Doctors agree on the possibility. The Program is to start next year.
-Octavia Philharmonica has been awarded the Golden Bow award at the age of only 16. She is the youngest to receive the award in history.
1285:
-The Program has begun in Ponyville instead of Canterlot. The possibility of word getting out is minimal in the new town. If by chance the Program has been leaked, P. Celestia is to deny any knowledge and immediately prosecute the doctors on the project. The doctors are willing to take the risk. The style of breeding will be brought forth by natural conception. The finest and youngest royal guard at the time was chosen to sire the first test. The first mare has also been chosen as the optimal subject due to the following pre-requisites: her coat is a flawless white, mane and tail is a deep purple, perfect Canterlot accent, and the age of only 16 brings the lowest mortality rate possible.*
* It should be noted that the mare had cold hooves before and during the transaction *
The first test was a success. In perfect time, the mare brought forth a small filly. In celebration, P. Celestia let the sire, Lt. Armor, name his filly. Part of his orders gave him the responsibility of never interacting with the foal. He named the filly “Sweetie Belle”.
The mare was allowed to take care of the filly until her foal reached the age of 2. At the age, pseudo-parents would take care of her in unison with Rarity, who would act as her daughter’s sister. P. Celestia warned the mare that if the filly should find out about The Program, the mare’s life would be taken.
The Program was sent into full swing in hopes for Ponyville to be fully populated be the new elite race.
Sweetie wanted to ask for help. She needed to cry with someone; yet she didn’t know who her friends were now. Twilight couldn’t help if only because Twilight would never fight against Celestia’s laws. It didn’t matter anyways…
…what is a Princess to a God?
“You did WHAT??”
“I killed her. I am certain she was behind all of this. Do not question my judgment.”
“She was your personal student, Celestia. You’ve gone mad. What will we tell the public?”
“Nothing yet.”
Sweetie had enough time to sleep. She had enough time to think about what she had read. Once the shock of the situation subsided, she devised a plan. A plan that would involve telling Rarity that she knew. She would thank her REAL mom for raising her the best she could, and she would promise to only tell Twilight.
But Twilight was the first part of the plan. She would take Twilight to Canterlot and brief her on the situation. She would ask for Twilight’s help after all. Earlier she didn’t want to, but even Twilight would not turn the other cheek towards such breaking of pony rights. Once arrived at the capital, they would both confront Celestia. It was long overdue.
Once Sweetie arrived at the library she knocked at the door and had a worried Spike answer. He informed her that Twilight had not been around for days and he was beginning to worry. By the time Spike was asking around where Twilight had gone, Sweetie already knew. She wasn’t given any factual information and certainly no one had told her but she knew all the same. This had crossed the line, this was wrong. This changed everything.
Sweetie was pushed to her limit. First it was Celestia losing to a mortal, then it was her parental situation, now Twilight had been killed. Every time she thought her world was secure from tragedy, it just wrecked her more. Now it was just a race against the clock before something bad happened to her again.
In a corner of her room, Sweetie sat down to cry. A storm outside her window cracked thunder and lightning with pelts of rain against the glass. Such a storm was also set in Sweetie’s heart. She just wanted this to be over. The filly just wanted to wake up from this terrible nightmare and live the life she had a couple of months ago. She just wanted to be happy again.
With a crack of lightning ever so close to Rarity’s house/boutique, Sweetie realized that this terrible nightmare was real life indeed. There was no waking up, and sleeping only meant re-living the nightmares once again. So Sweetie sat, and Sweetie cried. Hours later, there was no energy left in her body to move.
So while she was only a few feet from her comfy bed, she slept on the floor.
(((Play this song I made while reading until the end.)))
She felt like she was being carried, like Rarity used to when Sweetie was but a small foal. The warmth of a good memory cascaded over Sweetie like a warm blanket and her eyes did not feel worthy to open just yet. In a few moments afterward, they opened to introduce Sweetie to her Solar Ruler. Sweetie was being carried in a realm of magic by the Princess. She looked around and saw a vast amount of trees and plants in the black of night. She struggled to be set free, but the magic kept her still.
“Oh, so nice of you to join.”
“LET ME GO!!!”
“Soon enough.”
Celestia carried a grin that could haunt the most veteran of guards’ nightmares. Then the Princess stopped.
“Now look down Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie looked down to find a pit that went down farther than the eye could see. The top glowed of a fire-red and the further it went down, the more pitch black it became. Sweetie went to use her magic in order to set herself free from the inevitable fall but her horn had been filed off.
“No, no Sweetie Belle. I just can’t let you do that. See, even after the project failed I still had to make sure that the products like you would never reach your potential. I knew that you would grow up to destroy me when you became powerful enough. The problem was that I needed to do it in a way that no hooves would be pointed back to me. So I created a spell on the three of you that would never allow you to achieve your cutie mark...
Ingenious, I know. Sadly, you got nosey. You started practicing your magic anyways. I wish I could have used you, but you sealed your own fate.
One more thing, Sweetie. What is a filly to a God?”
The magic unraveled and the fall began with the scream of a filly. A scream that Celestia could hear for several seconds.
Sweetie awoke bawling her eyes out, feeling a fire inside her. It was a rage that engulfed her entire existence. The tears in her eyes seemed to sizzle with heat as they dropped from her ducts. The sweat on her body seemed to evaporate with haste. Her horn glowed not a pure green per usual, but a wildfire-red that glowed around her entire body. This had changed her and she had to end it. It was up to her to make this right. She went into her closet and grabbed something she never thought she would use.
“Princess, the ponies are demanding to know where Twilight is. We cannot stall any longer. What should we tell them??”
An unseen voice in the room said, “Why don’t you just tell them the truth?”
Celestia jumped out of her throne and threw a detection spell to cover the room. The Pony Relations officer sprinted out of the doors and they were shut behind him as the lights went off in the throne room.
“Quit with the spells. You won’t be able to find me.”
“WHO ARE YOU?” Celestia yelled out.
“Oh. Now you want to know?” the voice said with a snarl.
“How can I not detect you??” Celestia asked while using her usual detection spell. Her spell had never failed her, which is why this situation almost sent her into a panic.
“I have made a spell that bypasses your efforts. It’s ingenious, I know.” Celestia then found herself wrapped in a red magic and thrown to the wall.
“Discord… is that you???” the princess pleaded.
“Last time I remembered, Discord didn’t sound this feminine.” the voice chuckled back.
“HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?? Not even Discord could be this powerful with magic!!”
“It’s simple, really. Discord never hated anypony. He just wanted to play a game. He wasn’t trying to take lives… like you did.”
“I… I don’t know what you are talking about.” she denied. Another time, Celestia was thrown to the wall.
“DON’T PLAY DUMB WITH ME. I KNOW YOU KILLED TWILIGHT.”
“It had to be done. She was the only pony alive that could have stolen my book.”
“Not the only one.”
Celestia looked around frantically trying to find just a blur in the air or the ground. The sound of the intruder’s voice seemed to come from all corners of the throne room. She then begged once more, “WHO ARE YOU??”
With a laugh, the voice answered, “I’ll give you a hint. My mother’s name is Rarity.”
Celestia’s pupils turned into pen pricks. It all made sense now; this would explain why Ponyville’s magic had spiked over the past months. It would explain how she could get the book without being detected. She wasn’t a pony, she was an elite magic wielder; literally bred to break the bounds of pony magic. Celestia’s decisions came back to haunt her. It would explain why Celestia’s magic was useless. Before she could leave the train of thought, she saw a red-glowing pillar coming for her.
The impact was palpable for Sweetie. It felt so good to cause this monster pain. She proclaimed, “That was for what you did to my mother. This is for what you did to Twilight.” Sweetie picked up another pillar and swung it to hit Celestia. The Princess flew right into the double doors, breaking both of her wings and a few other bones. It was Celestia’s turn to shed tears now, a spectacle all too welcomed by the invisible filly.
Celestia got up as best she could and uttered, “I’m sorry.” It was barely audible but Sweetie heard it just fine.
“Not yet.”
Celestia wavered in her balance but tried to walk back to her throne. Before she reached it, she was grabbed by the red magic and frozen still. She could not move, no matter how much resistance she put forth. Celestia giving up the idea of moving decided to scream, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS. I AM A GOD"
She saw Sweetie uncloak in front of her. The filly, only a few feet away, slowly walked towards the Equestrian Ruler. Sweetie propped herself up against the larger alicorn's side and whispered, “Answer me this. What is a God to a non-believer?” As Sweetie finished the whisper, she pulled out a gift that was given to her months ago. It was Twilight's royal letter opener, and it was given to Sweetie for being Twilight's apprentice. After glancing at the letter opener and a single tear falling from her cheek, she thrust it into the Princess’s throat.
As the filly sat next to the blood, she took the crown off of her victim and put it on her own head.
“It fits.”
Author's Note
WARNING: TL;DR MATERIAL AHEAD.
I wrote this story over the period of about a week with a faint glimpse of how I wanted this to end. When the ending came to me, I kinda flinched because it was darker than what I wanted it to be. Nevertheless, I found it to be the right ending. I like to mess with your head-canon and show-canon and warp it into something totally different, so I apologize if it takes a while to remember that Sweetie is adorable. I also chose Sweetie as the protagonist because I feel like she has the most potential as a character, and people wear the crap out of the "orphan Scoots" and "farmer Applebloom" on this site. I try to cover something new every time or at least a new twist on an old idea when I write.
Also, I actually felt bad for Rarity when I wrote this. Believe it or not, I don't like references to rape... like, at all. But I needed to create the sub-text that she was forced to be a part of the Program rather than being a volunteer. Else, Sweetie would have no reason to be angry at Celestia.
If you have any questions about the story, feel free to leave a comment and I'll answer it (if I can).
Yes, that is actually my song. If you liked it, follow me on Soundcloud for all my songs. I am a producer/composer when I'm not writing.
