Author's Note

I apologize for the lateness of this chapter (which I guess a day late is better than never I suppose). So I do hope you all are not too irritated. But I also hope that you'll enjoy this chapter as well.

Chapter XIV: Hidden Truth's Unveiled

A quiet yet unchanging ring echoed all around Twilight. The nothingness of this unknown darkness surrounded her with no objects or ponies she could see for miles on end. And yet she couldn’t move; she grunted and tried to move her right foreleg, but the entire limb felt like it weighed a ton. With one last grunt, she stopped and shook her head. ‘Wh-where am I?’ Twilight yelped at an immense pain, although it felt like it doubled as another area of her body resonated with the same stinging ache.

She stiffened at the sound of a quiet ping, which slowly began to grow more frequent by the minute. ‘What’s going on? Why can’t I move?’ Twilight then felt her legs twitch. A warmth slowly enclosed around her four limbs until it grew hotter in the center, her chest and stomach almost too warm. And a voice whispered from the darkness, until another one, a little higher pitched, spoke up. She could clearly hear their voices, and Twilight felt her heart beat a little faster. ‘Spike… Rarity? Where are they?’

With another attempt, she felt her eyes slowly open up, opening into a blinding array of lights above. The flare from the powerful luminescence dulled a little, until the lights cleared into bulbs hidden behind glass. That same ping echoed to her right, and she turned to see it was an infusion pump. Twilight let out a quiet groan and raised a hoof to her horn, a slight throbbing ache slowly revealing itself to her nerves. “Oh… my head.”

“Twilight?” She held her hoof where it was and turned her attention to the end of the room. Her eyes widened at the four familiar faces: from the worried-filled expression of her parents, to Rarity and Spike’s relieved smiles.

Twilight then turned to the pony who had spoken. Her eyes met her mother’s with a faint frown. “H-hey everypony…” She scanned the room around her; it must have been a hospital room. “How did I end up here?”

“You have Rarity to thank, dear,” said her dad. She looked over at Rarity, who had a frail smile on her lips. Yet Twilight could see a white bandage over her marefriend’s right shoulder, and worried that she might have caused it.

Twilight returned the expression, but the smile disappeared when she saw her mother’s faintly red-marked gaze. “What were you thinking, Twilight? When Rarity informed us what happened, I thought you might have been in an accident. But when Spike told us about that book… why, why dark magic?”

“M-mom…” Twilight began, but the words she tried to find would not come out. “I… I can explain.”

“Explain? Well I hope you better have a good reason for using forbidden magic, because even if Princess Celestia never learns about this, you’re still going to be dealing with me.”

Her dad stepped in and brought Velvet back, whispering to his wife with calm words before he returned his attention to Twilight. “Listen… what you did is inexcusable. I mean, come on, Twilight. Do you realize the danger you not only posed to everypony else, but yourself as well?”

“I… I understood the consequences of using it. I…” Twilight then turned to Rarity, only for her to hesitate as she tried to keep her gaze on the pony she loved. “Rarity… I--”

“Twilight… just, why?” Rarity murmured and approached the right corner of the hospital bed. “Do you have any idea… how scared and frustrated I was? Learning that the one pony I love is practicing dark magic? When were you going to tell me about this?”

“I… I…” Tears that threatened to burst gently trickled down her muzzle. Twilight just couldn’t find the words to say; how could she justify her actions for trying to learn a magic that was dangerous for just about anypony? “I’m sorry… I, I know I can’t excuse myself for this… but I’m sorry. I’m so--” She couldn’t say another word, losing herself to her emotions and crying.

She heard hoofsteps but didn’t bother to look up. But Twilight seized up when she felt somepony wrap their hooves around her. She raised her gaze up and met her mother’s, only to see that the frown she had before was replaced with a weak smile. “But… I’m so glad that my baby… my daughter is alive.” Twilight watched as her mother’s own tears came down, before Velvet pulled her daughter closer.

Twilight then felt another pair of hooves next to her mother’s, and turned to see her dad. “Your mother’s right, Twilight. Even though we’re both frustrated… we both can’t help but feel relieved that you’ll be alright.” The three ponies, a mother, a father, and their daughter, held each other. It went on, and Twilight felt like they were in this embrace for almost longer than a minute, and maybe even longer. But once they all separated from one another, Twilight sniffled while she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Another presence wrapped around her. Twilight smiled at Spike as she returned the favor. “I’m glad to see you too, Spike.”

He pulled away and shook his head. “Next time… can you not play around with that dark magic stuff? I know I should have told everypony sooner, but I thought you could handle it.” He frowned and looked away. “Guess I was wrong, huh?”

“We were both wrong, Spike. And although I wouldn’t have appreciated it if you told them earlier, I think you telling them now was for the best,” Twilight assured him and let him go.

She watched him walk away, only for Rarity to replace him. In truth, Twilight felt tense, even more so than when she apologized to her parents. “Rarity… I--”

“Twilight Sparkle. If you would kindly let me speak for a moment.” Twilight let her marefriend’s interruption slide, and waited for what she had to say. “In all honesty, I should be more than upset. I should be furious. Not only did you keep this hidden from me… and not trust in my own judgement to help you through this…but when you lost control of that dark magic and when I saw you explode right in front of me I thought I lost you for good.” Rarity’s frown deepened and Twilight only could listen as she went on, “I feel torn that you willingly kept this from me, and at the moment… I feel like you deserve nothing but a slap across your face.”

Eyes wide, Twilight sat there and watched as her marefriend went silent. She glanced at her parents with a faint frown, only to receive frowns filled with nervousness as well. With no help she could get from them, she returned her attention to Rarity and said, “Rarity… I… I understand if yo--”

“If you would kindly let me finish, Twilight.” Rarity raised a hoof and interrupted her marefriend once more. “Although I should give you some reprimanding for what you did…” It was so sudden, Twilight let out a small gasp as the pony she loved wrapped her forelegs around her. “I’m simply… unable to. When you were unconscious… I thought you were going to perish right in front of me. And seeing you… in such a condition, I was completely frightened.”

Twilight sat there, stunned beyond belief. Here she just sat as Rarity held her in an embrace. Honestly she felt like she deserved nothing from her marefriend, possibly not even the slightest kind word. And yet here Rarity was giving her something that Twilight would not take for granted. She returned the favor and murmured, “Rarity… I-I’m so sorry… I--”

Rarity shushed her, bringing her closer to herself. Twilight quietly cried as her marefriend gently patted a hoof against her mane. “But when the doctors told us that you were going to make it... I couldn’t have been more thankful than when I heard those words.” Rarity pulled away, still keeping a hold of Twilight’s shoulders. “And truly… that’s all that matters at the moment.” Yet in a sudden motion Rarity softly brought her lips to Twilight’s, with a quiet yelp from Twilight that followed afterwards.

Twilight could only sit still, the warmth of Rarity’s soft lips against her own. But slowly she melted at the contact from her marefriend, closing her eyes and gently pushing back. As the warmth left, Twilight opened her eyes and smiled at Rarity, who let go of her shoulders and murmured, “Just… promise me that you’ll let me know the truth from now on? No more secrets between us two?”

It was an obvious choice for Twilight, who nodded after she listened to Rarity. She froze up slightly at the sound of her mother giggling and glanced at her parents, only to blush as she realized what she’d done in front of them. “Don’t fret, Twilight,” Velvet quickly spoke up, “that’s one normal thing that you and Rarity will be doing.”

As the door opened, Twilight let out a silent sigh and eased up. She was glad somepony had come in so she didn’t have to reply back to her mother’s embarrassing comment. “Good evening, Twilight Sparkle.” The pony who came in wore a doctor’s suit, an obvious observation that answered her question as to who this mare was. “It’s good to see that my patient has awakened and seems to be functioning normally. Have your parents informed you on your condition?”

Twilight tilted her head slightly and turned her attention to both her mother and father, both with faint frowns. “I… they haven’t told me anything yet.”

“Then you shall be relieved to know that you were luckily unharmed from that discharge of magic. Unfortunately we had to sew both the chest and side wound after healing you.” Twilight looked down and noticed the two bandaged marks, a faint frown on her lips. ”If the discharge was any stronger, you might have actually blown your horn from your head, and possibly could have caused even instantaneous death.”

Twilight shivered at the doctor’s words. What chilling information this was, even though she had some knowledge on the subject. “And… how am I internally?”

“Along with the good news about your horn, you’ll be happy to know that none of the magic went through your internal structure after discharge. Another surprising thing, since you didn’t seem to harm any of your important organs and such.” The doctor pushed her glasses up her muzzle before she continued, “But you may want to be careful with your magic still. Don’t overexert yourself, and you should be fine after a week or two.”

With that out of the way, Twilight sighed at all the good news. “But…” She raised an eyebrow at the doctor before she spoke. “I have also been requested to inform you that Princess Celestia wishes to have an audience with you. Something about your magic discharge moment.” Eyes wide, her right eye twitched at the mention of her teacher and ruler of Equestria. “But in other good news, you’ll be able to get that over and done with today, since you’ll be ready to leave in about two hours.”

‘O-other g-go-good news?’ How this was good news, Twilight could not fathom. ‘I-if she knows… oh, what is she going to do to me?’ Multiple scenarios ran in her head, each one indicating her unfortunate banishment and enjailment in some far-off place without a mailpost around.

“I’ll leave you to rest.” The doctor nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door and leaving the group inside the room.

“Twilight. Are you going to be alright?” Spike asked, taking a step forward.

“No, no, no, no!” Twilight let out a strained breath and shook in place. “Oh, I’m so doomed! She’s going to lock me up in the place she’ll banish me to. And I’ll have no way to contact you guys and then I won’t even get another chance at a relationship because Rarity will be far away and there probably won’t be any other creatures, much less other ponies around and--”

“Twilight!” Velvet pushed a hoof against her daughter’s mouth, shushing the overwhelming tide of words that rushed out. “Calm down. Everything will be ok--”

“Okay? Okay!?” Twilight brushed her mother’s hoof aside. “Celestia is going to destroy me! I’ve used dark magic. Who knows what she’ll do to me?” A frantic gaze appeared on her expression after she finished.

“But that’s an assumption, dear.” Velvet returned the hoof and placed it on her daughter’s left shoulder. “You don’t know if she’s learned about this. It could be for some other reason.” A smile replaced the frown on her lips. “But if she does, then we’ll be there by your side. No matter what.” Night Light joined by her side, and both Twilight’s parents reassured her with their gentle smiles.

Twilight felt a hand on her left foreleg, and saw Spike with a bright smile. And then she looked up and saw Rarity with the same expression. “We’re in this together, Twilight. I will make sure that I’m not leaving your side.”

“We’ll be there every step of the way,” Night Light assured her, nodding at his affirmation.

“But first you’ll need rest. There’s still two hours between you and your audience with the princess. Get some sleep.” Velvet hugged her daughter and murmured, “Don’t worry. Your father and I will make sure that you’re staying home.” With that, her parent’s opened the door and exited the room.

Twilight turned to Spike and hugged him as well, then watched him leave the room following behind her parents. Then she brought her gaze to Rarity, who approached her and leaned forward. Twilight did the same, and the two met once again, lips contacting the other’s, until Rarity pulled away. “You know how difficult this has been, and our relationship is finally working, Twilight. I’m not losing you again. But do know this… no matter where you are, I always will love you.” She embraced Twilight with her forelegs, and the two stayed like that for a long while before Rarity slowly and hesitantly left the room, softly closing the door behind her.

A sigh escaped her lips. Twilight could still feel the warmth left from Rarity. This was far from the anxiety-filled tension she had felt the last time Celestia ordered an audience with her, and even then, that was at least over her trying to make a friendship problem. But this was different, and the consequences of her own actions could cost her much more than that simple mistake. ‘I… I truly do hope… and pray that Princess Celestia can forgive me… I hope…’

~~~

Hoofsteps echoed in the hallway as Twilight, along with her parents, Spike and Rarity made their way to the throne room. She looked up at the ceiling; the sky, judging from the side windows at the highest point of the ceiling, was dark. She could even see stars blinking in the black sky, but nothing this beautiful could relieve her from the stress and anxiety she held. With each step she took, her body shook more and more. Twilight could only force herself to take the necessary steps to move forward; otherwise she felt she would be stuck and rooted in one place.

“Hey…” Twilight turned to her right and noticed a gentle smile on her mother’s muzzle. “Everything will be okay. You’ll see.”

“Your mother’s right, dear. There’s no need to get yourself so worked up.” She moved her gaze from her mother to her father. “Just because you were practicing… well, a magic that’s not good to learn doesn’t mean she’s going to punish you.”

“I know…” Twilight murmured, a faint frown on her muzzle. “But what if she does know? I can’t just expect she’ll forgive me so easily.” In all her time with Princess Celestia, even though she was quite benevolent and patient with her, she could only imagine what kind of punishments she had for students who studied and practiced in this field of magic. “But what if she doesn’t know? I can’t just lie to her keep the truth from her. If she ever found out that I lied to her, I don’t think she would ever be able to forgive me after that.”

“That’s why you just need to relax.” Velvet brought a foreleg around her daughter’s shoulders. “Getting yourself worked up will only make it worse. Just take a few deep breaths.”

With her mother’s advice, Twilight took a few slow breaths. She made sure to pace each one out. But even then, that still didn’t help as much as she would have liked. “Twilight, darling.” She turned to her right and smiled when she met Rarity’s gaze. “You don’t need to fret so much. Even if… things don’t become so favorable to us, we mustn't lose any hope. This is Princess Celestia after all. I’m sure that she’ll be a reasonable mare. After all, you, me, and our friends have saved Equestria quite a few times.”

That was something Twilight couldn’t argue with. She and the others did save Equestria with the Elements of Harmony. Maybe her teacher might refrain from a severe punishment, but still she couldn’t help but fear that if she was to be naive, she wouldn’t be ready for the final judgement that her teacher would give her. And besides, would any of what she had done truly matter when it might be Princess Celestia herself who was in charge of a final ruling?

Twilight looked back up and saw two guards standing at attention, and shivered at the fact that she was mere moments from facing her teacher. She gulped and forced herself to move onward. But she glanced behind her, and faintly smiled as her mother nodded her to go on. With another gulp, she moved past the two guards and saw her teacher, Princess Celestia sitting upon her throne. Twilight turned her attention to her right and noticed a row of nobles. Most of them were ponies she was unfamiliar with; however, she spotted three in this row of seven that she did recognize.

Her frown deepened at the sight of Jet Set and Upper Crust, eyes narrowed as they watched her and the others move up towards the princess. But within this small group of nobles, she smiled when her eyes met Fancy Pants’, who slightly nodded with his own kind expression. She then looked to her teacher, Princess Celestia, but her demeanor held no smile or frown. ‘T-that doesn’t look good…’ There would be no way to tell whether or not she was excited to see her student, or if she was disappointed with her.

Princess Celestia raised a hoof for her to stop, and Twilight quickly sat down along with her family and marefriend. There was no change in the expression Celestia showed, but she simply stared and said, “Good evening, Twilight Sparkle.” She turned her gaze to her parents, along with Rarity and Spike before she murmured, “Please leave the vicinity. I will talk with Twilight Sparkle alone with the nobles here.”

“But your Highness, please let us st--”

“That is an order, Twilight Velvet.” Princess Celestia lowered her eyes at Twilight’s mother, interrupting her until she nodded to the guards.

Twilight looked back and watched as her mother and father, along with Spike and Rarity, were escorted out. She watched as they tried to plead with the guards, but the ponies in golden armor just kept moving them along. Twilight’s frown grew even deeper once they disappeared around a corner. She returned her attention to Princess Celestia and shivered; for now, she was along with her teacher with ponies who she had begun to assume would be responsible for deciding her fate.

“If you all would…” Celestia looked from the guards to the nobles. “Can you please excuse me and Twilight? I want to have a chance to talk in private with her before this meeting begins.” The nobles looked from one another before they hesitantly stood up and made their way out the open doorway. Once the guards and nobles exited the room, the two double doors glowed in a golden aura as Celestia closed them from her seat. “Now then…” Twilight looked back to her teacher and shook even more when she watched Princess Celestia stand up. She closed her eyes and feared the worst, bracing herself for whatever was about to happen.

But nothing came. Twilight slowly opened her eyes and looked back to Celestia, who still held that same neutral gaze. “I would say that I am glad to see you… but these circumstances are understandably in the way.”

“Princess Celestia… I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry for what I did. I did--”

“Didn’t intend to do harm upon others? An admirable reason, but nonetheless, you were a danger to others and yourself with the practice of dark magic.” Celestia slightly lowered her eyes as she stared down at Twilight.

Hearing the confirmation, Twilight’s eyes watered up slightly until she looked away, unable to bear the gaze her teacher threw at her. “I suspected that you already knew about my… practices… but I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt anypony,” Twilight pleaded as she shakily stood up. “I had every intention of learning about these powers, but I never wished to use them against anypony else.”

“But even then, you do know that it is against the law to practice such dangerous magic.” Twilight could only nod as she awaited what else Celestia had to say. “However, I am glad to see that you are alright.” She felt Celestia’s right wing drape around her smaller frame, which finally gave her the courage to look up and face her teacher. “You have no idea how worried I was when I heard you were in Canterlot’s hospital.”

“Princess… I, I’m so sorry… I…” Twilight could hardly hold back against her tears, losing it as small droplets rippled down her muzzle. She could feel the wing slightly tighten around her, and her teacher’s muzzle rest upon her head.

“There’s a reason I put that law into place, Twilight. I only intended the best for my little ponies.” Twilight looked up as she felt both her teacher’s wing and muzzle leave her and watched her walk back up onto her throne. “And that reason was because of what happened a long… long time ago.”

“Princess…?” Twilight sniffled a little as she watched her frown deepen. When Celestia looked up and met her eyes, she flinched at the pain and anger that flickered through her gaze.

“That is why I wish for nopony to ever even think about practicing dark magic. And what could possibly happen if you were to keep on this course of actions.”

Twilight opened her mouth to ask why but landed on her back as she watched a circle of flames erupt around her beloved teacher.“Princess Celestia!” Twilight yelled out as she watched this horrifying display right in front of her. She laid there, still on her back, while she witnessed this terrifying moment. The flames quickly dispersed, but the room felt warm, a little too warm as sweat slowly dripped down her muzzle. But her eyes never left the chair where Celestia once was or could still be.

Two pairs of wings shot out from where some of the flames flickered on the throne room chair, which was followed by a fiery ethereal mane and tail, as her teacher sat upright. “P-Princess C-Celestia… a-are you okay?” Twilight raised a hoof from where she stood, but quickly put it back down as Celestia’s irises met her gaze, which were now added with a dark orange eye shadow. However, the kind and mother-like expression she had once held was gone.

Both her golden horseshoes extended upwards slightly, while her chest piece had gained more decorative attachments to it, with a new golden collar above it with more purple diamond-like shapes circling around it. A few necklaces adorned her neck, and another wrapped around her upper barrel. Her ears had one pair of earrings, which looked like two stalagmites, one dark blue and one dark purple, which slightly swayed as she completely turned her attention to Twilight. Her crown had also gained new attachments and more purple diamonds across the top of it. Twilight whimpered at the sight of two horns behind Celestia’s crown, a little ways above her horn, that pointed backwards in a slightly curved zigzag shape and stood tall above her ears.

“So…” Twilight cringed at the scary resemblance of her teacher’s voice. “Is this what you were looking for? A power that you believed could be under your control?”

“Princess Celestia… no… this isn’t what I wanted…” Twilight shook her head slowly, shivering in place as drips of water continued to stream down her muzzle.

“Really? With all this power, you could potentially be able to change lives. And all of this could be yours if you let the darkness take over.” Celestia smirked as she stood up.

“Please… Celestia I--”

“I am not Princess Celestia anymore!” She stomped her hoof on the staircase in front of the throne. “That name is not relevant to somepony of my stature. You can call me Queen Nightmare Star.” She took a step forward and slowly began to circle around Twilight, whose gaze never moved from where she sat.

“C-Celestia… wh…” Twilight’s eyes widened at the sight of how much her cutie mark had changed, how more intense the sun on her flank had gotten with its bright red fiery glow. “Where did this come from… why are you--”

“I’ll be asking the questions here!” Nightmare Star snapped, eyes lowering further into a hot and tense gaze. “Is this what you want!? Is this what you want dark magic to do to you!? To control your life and ruin everything you ever wished you could have!?” Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but only a couple of squeaks resonated from her. She cried out as Nightmare Star leaned into her face and yelled. “Answer me!”

“No!” Twilight cried back, closing her eyes as she assumed the worse was about to take place. “No this isn’t what I wanted. I just wanted to know what it can do, but please don’t hurt me. Please!”

She waited for the inevitable. To feel the flames of this new persona of Princess Celestia to burn her alive. Yet the warmth that she felt slowly began to drift away. She opened one eye only to see this Nightmare Star slowly ascend back up to the throne before she sat down. “That’s what I thought…” The flames along her mane and tail began to die down until she saw the same colors of Princess Celestia return. The added decorative jewelry disappeared in a mist of flames until she was left with nothing but her normal attire. With an added fact, Twilight felt glad to not see two horns protruding outwards from her teacher’s head. And her cutie mark had regained its natural coloring as well. “Twilight Sparkle… please forgive me…”

With a shake of her head, Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the strength to say what she desired to ask. Yet she took a gulp and murmured, “P-Princess… w-what was that… w-what you did…”

“Please, forgive me for what I have done, Twilight. But when I learned of the possibility that you were practicing dark magic, I could only remember what had happened to me from a long time ago.” Celestia shook her head and closed her eyes. “It is a path you should never take… for the flaws and dangers of its power are just too great…”

“But what do you mean? Where did this come from, and how long have you been hiding this from everypony… from me?” Twilight sat up and returned to a sitting position, eyes glimmering for the answer she begged to find out.

“As I… or as Nightmare Star said, she was from a time long ago.” Celestia opened her eyes before she spoke again. “You see, after I was forced to banish my sister, Princess Luna, with the Elements of Harmony, I was left to rule Equestria alone… and with nopony else I could call family, I was left to foresee the future of this country all by my own judgement.” She shivered and shook her head. “I wanted nothing more than to escape the reality I was left with. And I found that peaceful relief by finding a book relating to the subject of dark magic: a form of magic that previously I had known before, but never did I imagine the thought of actually practicing it.”

“But where did Nightmare Star come from? How did she come into existence?”

Celestia let out a quiet sigh before she murmured, “Nightmare Star didn’t come into existence, Twilight Sparkle. Slowly I began to notice different changes to my appearance over time until I realized that the darkness of this arcane magic was changing me. And only a matter of time later would my own personality change as well, which turned me into what I named Nightmare Star.”

“But that means that--”

“Yes, Twilight…” Celestia interrupted her, but hesitantly she met her eyes. “Nightmare Star isn’t like Nightmare Moon. I may have turned into something I wasn’t, but once I turned into this… ‘being’, I was completely conscious of all my own actions. Every horrendous decision was my own doing… and for the first third of my time while ruling Equestria on my own, I was in charge as Nightmare Star. However, nopony of the commonwealth of Canterlot or further along from this city knew about my change. They all believed that I was the same alicorn from before, but only the nobles closest to me of that time knew about my change… and how awful I was. And while in that mindset I was always prepared to go to war with any other sovereign country. That’s why the first hundred years were awful during my rule.”

“Princess Celestia… I can’t believe what you had to go through…” Twilight looked down at the ground, blinking once. “How were you able to revert back to your normal self?”

Celestia let out a short chuckle, which Twilight sort of felt that this kind of attitude was almost unexpected. “It should have been a cliche discovery. One day I looked in the mirror and realized all my deeds? That’s how it should have happened, correct?” She let out a quiet laugh; Twilight leaned back at the sight of her teacher being so distraught yet different from her normal self. “As if… I watched a pony die right before me because of my own decision for their punishment… for a simple matter by stealing some food from the market. There and then I simply authorized the highest punishment as necessary and ordered them to death at the very spot.”

‘Why… is she telling me this?’ Twilight could not believe how tyrannical her teacher had once been, and shivered at the thought of seeing her and what this “Nightmare Star” could have been like.

“And after watching that pony die right before my very eyes... after seeing that happen to one of my own citizens, the ponies I had sworn to protect ‘til my dying breath... I could barely handle it. I couldn’t even muster the courage to see the consequences of my decision.” Celestia shivered as her voice cracked. A few tears trickled down her muzzle, but with a slight shake, she breathed in. “I had the pony’s body immediately removed, and I requested to be alone. After all my guards and nobles left, I simply wallowed in the pain of my loss.” A quiet cry slowly overtook her as Twilight watched her teacher become lost in her emotions.

With a hesitant step, Twilight quietly walked up next to Celestia and leaned against her. She felt her teacher’s wings wrap around her again. She closed her eyes and wrapped her forelegs around Celestia’s left foreleg. ‘This is what waits for me? This is what dark magic does…’ If this was what awaited her, if this was the fate of all who used this arcane magic, then she was afraid of what would happen to her. “I… I promise… I won’t use dark magic anymore… seeing and hearing what it does, I don’t want this…”

Twilight looked up and felt Celestia’s muzzle against her cheek. Her teacher pulled away and smiled. “I’m glad to hear this… but unfortunately, since it has been revealed to some of the nobles you met, there must be a meeting to discuss the penalty of your crime.” Twilight looked away and let out a quiet sigh. “Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle. If worse comes to worst, I can always put my input on the decision.” Celestia retracted her wings and sat upright. “Now if you’ll take your place in front of the throne’s staircase, I shall invite the nobles back into the room.”

“But after all the noise in here, what if they heard what you said to me?” Twilight turned around and sat on the floor, a frown on her muzzle as she asked her teacher.

“Do not worry, Twilight. Before I began, I laced the walls with a soundproof spell. Everything that you and I spoke about will remain between us two and nopony else.” Her eyes lowered slightly before she said, “And if you would. Please keep this between us. Tell nopony else about this. You’re the only other pony I’ve revealed my horrible past to.”

Twilight nodded before she tilted her head. “Who else knows about it?”

Celestia let out a quiet chuckle as she murmured, “Who else other than my own younger sibling, Princess Luna.”

Twilight’s eyes slightly widened, but she smiled afterwards. It certainly made sense for Celestia to tell somepony who actually was her own flesh and blood. She glanced behind her and saw the door open with a golden glow to them. The line of nobles filed back in as they kept their gazes on the two ponies. Once they sat back in front of the right line of columns, Celestia nodded and announced. “Now that I’ve said what I’ve needed to say to my student, let this meeting and trial commence.”

With those words hanging in the air, Twilight gulped as she waited for the first pony to speak. Even though Princess Celestia had assured her she was going to get a fair judgement, she could only hope that some of these nobles would be fair in their decisions. ‘I’ve promised that I won’t use dark magic ever again… but what if these ponies can’t forgive me for my actions? Will this be the end of my life in Equestria?’