Chapters Silence reigned supreme in the abandoned library. The sole occupant of its dusty rooms fast asleep. Spike had been sleeping for so long now that cobwebs were beginning to gather between his spines. The magical repose had not harmed him, but his absence showed in several subtle ways. All of the plants in the library were dead, no one had watered them. Books leaned in perilous towers next to their shelves, unsorted. Complex equations bled one into the other on every available writing space on the blackboard, no one had bothered to erase the old equations. Everything was covered in about an inch of dust, yet, dilapidated as the library itself was, none of it could begin to compare to the horrors that had come to inhabit the kitchen. Strange gurgling noises crept under the kitchen door as mold and bacteria settled in to what promised to be a long, putrid feast.
From the deeper darkness there came only a giggle. Eyes that swirled with madness looked through Discord as if seeing him, but not seeing him at the same time. The figure that had emerged from the shadows was just as intangible as Discord, yet where he seemed fairly solid, she faded in and out of existence. She laughed lightly to herself as her mane streamed behind her like a cloud, her entire body fading in and out of existence. The cutie mark of a screw and a baseball were the only part of her that seemed to have any permanence, and even that was hard to make out. The lord of chaos smiled and took her in his arms, holding her paternally as a father would a newborn babe. She continued to giggle, shivering and shaking in his arms. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he doubted her plan would work.
Mist drifted in front of a crescent moon, the light of shooting stars leaving streaks of light across the infinite gulf of darkness between the constellations. Though it was the middle of night, distant birdsong offered the promise of a dawn not far in the future. The peace of the night was interrupted by the thunder of hooves running urgently through town. There were already a few ponies awake at this time of day. Farmers coming in early to set up their stalls in the market and security officers on the last leg of their patrols. A few of the towns shop owners were already awake, doing inventory or setting up their shop windows for the day. It wasn't uncommon for someone to be rushing though town at this hour. Yet there was something urgent about the sound of these hooves. A few half expected to hear the words ‘help’ or ‘fire’ as the figure of a unicorn thundered past, yet she remained ominously silent. Most wrote the encounter off as soon as it had occurred. It wasn’t the strangest thing they’d seen in the middle of the night. Even so, there was something disquieting about the way she had looked.She was grinning ear to ear, though her face had been shiny, wet with tears.
Ponyville mail was something that its residents took for granted. Rain or shine, everyday ponies and pegasi were hard at work making sure that all the letters and packages were delivered in a timely manner. It was a largely thankless job, tedious, with long hours and little compensation. Even so, Derpy loved this job more than the others she sometimes took. It was so peaceful at this time of day. She couldn't help but smile as she landed gently next to one of the many mailboxes on her route and began to rummage through her saddle bags to see if there was anything for this pony today.
An unseen force suddenly slammed painfully into Derpy Hooves, pinning her against the ground. Undelivered letters rained down around her, spilling from her mailbag in her sudden fall. The grey pegasus had crashed many times before, but never so suddenly and with so much force! She'd usually be flying, for that matter, not on solid ground. She began to worry she might be suffering from some sort of fainting sickness when she made the terrifying discovery she couldn’t rise! Panic leached into her soul as she realized whatever force had caused her to fall was pressing her face into the dirt. Her chest began to ache as the unseen weight crushed the air from her lungs. Tears were streaming from her eyes by the time the force relented and a cold voice spoke, “What did Celestia do to me?”
The words barely had time to register on the delivery ponies ears before she felt herself lifted bodily into the air and slammed against the mailbox behind her with a crack that echoed in the early morning stillness. The beautifully painted box that read ‘Bon-Bon’ tilted and fell from the force of Derpy being driven bodily into it. She coughed, trying desperately to get her breath, her eyes trying and failing to focus on the pony who was attacking her. “I don’t know!” she gasped, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” That was apparently the wrong answer as the force lifted her into the air again, but this time she felt the pull of magic as it stretched out each of her limbs, her muscles crying out in agony as the magic holding her threatened to tear them from her bones.
“Don’t try to play innocent with me! I know you’ve been watching me and my friends. I’ve seen you!” Suspended as she was, Derpy could finally see that the pony holding her in her magical grasp was Twilight Sparkle. A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach yawned bottomlessly. “I know the Princess put you up to it and I know she did something to me...to us. What was it!? Did she really take away our memories, our personalities?” Tears were flowing freely down the unicorns face, yet anger blazed in her eyes. “WHY!? Why do that to her subjects!? To children!?”
Derpy tried her best to twist out of Twilight’s grasp, but the magic holding her body was tighter than a vice. All of the unicorns shouting, however, was starting to wake up the town. She could see lights coming on in nearby buildings and already hear distant voices raised in complaint. Help was coming. “Twilight, you’re babbling! Listen to yourself! Why would the Princess want to change you? Even if she did, what could I possibly have to do with it? Why would she want me to spy on you? I’m just a mail pony and not a very clever one at that.” Derpy was still crying herself, but she kept one eye on Twilight and the other on the small crowd of ponies that were slowly gathering.
“Why!? WHY!? That’s what I’m asking you!” A harsh crackle of magic swept over Derpy then, freezing and burning at the same time. The pain was sharp and made all the more terrifying when it left no trace of a wound. Only a sensory echo in Derpy's brain that promised her she did not want to have to endure that feeling ever again. Twilight lowered her voice to a menacing whisper, “I know about your mother Derpy.” The mail pony's eyes widened, but otherwise she betrayed nothing. “I know what happened to her, why you were born the way you are. I know where she is too. That’s why you were spying for Celestia, and unless you want everypony in Ponyville to know, you will tell me what Celestia did to me and why!”
The crowd was still a ways off, they’d need to be closer if they were going to be of any help. Derpy made a decision. “Do you really want to know Twilight? Are you sure?” Her voice had changed. Gone was the somewhat dopey sounding voice, replaced by one high and melodious. Her entire body language seemed to shift in one instant. Even her eyes looked different. She stared at Twilight, both eyes firmly focused on her own. “Do you really want to know why the ruler of all Equestria rearranged your mind? Think about it. Even if you did find out, what could you do about it?” The pony who had always been known as ‘Derpy’ smiled so sickly sweet it made Twilight blink. “Fight an entire nation? Fight a way of life? Are you really ready to do that? To betray your own kind?” Twilight's magic began to fade, and with it her grip on the grey pegasus, as her mind was suddenly filled with doubts. Derpy threw back her head and laughed. “You haven't even begun to consider the ramifications of your knowledge, have you?! Oh Twilight, I always knew one of you was going to be trouble. I always thought it would have been Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. But you? It’s so sad it’s pathetic!”
Twilight could hear the shouts of the other Ponyvillians approaching now. “I don’t care. I don’t care what it costs. Please...just tell me what you know! One way or another I have to know. Is everything about me, everything about my friends, is it all really just a lie? Is it all lies!?” Derpy’s eyes quickly lost their focus, she quickly went limp and began to sob for help. The gathering crowd, at last, had moved close enough to intervene. The captive pegasus began to writhe as they drew near, and it was all Twilight could do now to hold her. This is what the others saw as her cries for help drew them closer.
Twilight was on her back before she knew it, two ponies holding her down tight while a third broke her magical hold over Derpy. As the grey pegaus fled into the dark blue sky, Twilight heard herself uttering an almost animal cry, half way between the word ‘no’ and an unearthly scream of despair. “Easy now sugarcube. Ya need ta calm down!”
“Yeah Twilight,” chirped up one bright but brittle voice, “I bet they could hear you all the way back at Sugarcube Corner. The cakes just got the twins settled down, too.” Pinkie Pie and Applejack did their best to hold Twilight still. The frenetic unicorn would’ve used her power to fling them to the side, but the third pony was doing her best to disrupt Twilight’s concentration. Not far from where the three struggled in the dirt Rarity screwed up her eyes in concentration, her horn glowing brighter than it ever had before as she tried her hardest to hold Twilight’s magic in check.
“If it’s...not too much trouble dears...could you please...calm her down a little more quickly?” Sweat beaded Rarity’s forehead. She was quite the sight in bathrobe and slippers. The scene would’ve been comical if not for the fact the power she struggled with were not so immense. “NOW PLEASE!? I’m not used to...this much...heavy lifting...” She strained until her face was red and a vein throbbed in the temple of her forehead. Applejack tried talking sense into her, but Twilight thrashed all the more wildly. Pinkie Pie tried rubbing Twilight’s tummy and making soothing sounds, but what worked for foals wasn’t working for the enraged Twilight. “Oh for goodness sakes!” Rarity lost her patience and used an old unicorn trick her mother had taught her for when Sweetie Belle used to throw tantrums. Grunting under the strain, Rarity redirected all of Twilight’s magic back on her. In an instant, Twilight’s eyes went wide as the shock of the magical backlash surged down her horn. What was she doing? These were her friends! There was a flash of blinding white light behind her eyes and then she ceased her struggling.
Lying in the dirt, her ‘friends’ gathered around her, Twilight couldn’t help but sob. She didn’t know what to do.
Back in the cozy confines of Sugarcube Corner, with the smell of the mornings baking filling the room with warmth and pleasant scents, the four friends tried to sort things out over coffee. “So let me see if Ah’ve got this straight.” Applejack began, a look of puzzlement on her face, ”Ya’ve been shut up in yer Library for the past few weeks doin nothin but research in an old book ya found. Then ya had a dream that the Princess had done somethin horrible to us when we was all small, and yew thought the mail mare knew somethin about it?” The incredulity in the farm pony’s voice was enough to set Twilight’s teeth on edge, but she had to admit that phrased like that it did all sound crazy. It was obvious she had to clear up a few misunderstandings.
“It wasn’t a dream, it was a vision! More than that, it was a vision of the past! Our past! Derpy was there and I swear, she knows what happened!” Twilight slammed her hooves into the kitchen table, shaking everypony’s cup of coffee and spilling her own. Her mane was a complete mess and there was a twitch in her left eye. None of this was doing her credibility any favors.
“And that’s why you attacked her, dear?” Asked Rarity uncertainty.
“Yes!” said Twilight immediately, without thinking. “I mean no, I wasn’t attacking her, I just wanted answers. Before you guys showed up it seemed like she was on the verge of telling me what I wanted to know, too!”
“Land-sakes, I’m afraid Ah still don’t understand Twi.” Applejack took a sip of her coffee. She made a face, clearly Pinkie Pie put too much sugar in it for her liking. Smacking a bit to try and get the taste out of her mouth, she continued, “I don’t see why ya think what ya saw was real. The Princess would never do anythin to hurt her subjects, let alone a bunch of fillies!”
Twilight had been dreading this, but it was time to come clean if she was going to convince the ponies she thought of as her friends to help her. “I found it okay!? I found it the night it was lost.” She turned to Pinkie Pie, “I found your book Pinkie, I found the book of the Broken. It’s what showed me what happened...that’s why I know it’s true!”
The pink party pony had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire time the others had been talking, busying herself about the kitchen helping with the mornings baking. She froze suddenly and turned to Twilight with a dark look on her face. The others hadn’t noticed before, but she wasn’t wearing her hair in curls anymore. Her mane hung limp over one side of her face as she spoke, “You said it was dangerous Twilight. You said if anypony found that book they weren’t supposed to read it, that it might cast a spell on them that would make them act how I did. Take them over, make them do and think things.” Pinkie Pie brushed her hair from in front of her face, but it fell back immediately. She ignored it as she said, “You’ve had the book this entire time? Twilight... I know from experience, no matter what knowledge that book has to offer you, it’s not worth the price!”
“I know! I know okay!” shouted Twilight, flopping onto the table in exasperation, forelimbs spread, spilling everypony’s coffee. “I wasn’t going to read it either. I was just going to keep it safe until I found out where it came from. But it was so hard! Especially when that mess happened with Rarity going missing in Canterlot.” Rarity’s eyes glazed over. She’d mostly succeeded in forgetting that ordeal, so the memories of that horrible time stung afresh when Twilight reminded her. “It was more than just having to know...the book called to me! When I finally broke down and started reading it, I found that there were gaps...huge swaths of text missing, entire pages ripped out. As I read, I could see how the magic wove itself through the story. The story was magic itself, but that meant I could change it, I could fix it! I could make the story better! But the more I worked on it, the further back I had to go. You wouldn’t believe all the errors and mistakes in our lives. It’s like some sort of childrens story, the structure is there but the basic syntax is laughable!” She didn’t tell them about the voices in her head as she had read that made fun of it all, or of the way words would appear on the page that she hadn’t written. She didn’t tell them that she thought Discord was loose, but inside her head rather than in Equestria.
“When I turned all the way back to when we got our cutie marks that’s when I read it. That’s when I saw it! It wasn’t just Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash...it was all of us! The Princess gathered us up to turn us into pony’s that could wield the Elements of Harmony. She erased our minds and changed our personalities. There’s no telling who else she’s done this too or how long she’s been doing it. All I want to know is why and how. Then maybe I can fix things so it never happened and can never happen again!” The wild look in her eyes scared her friends. None of them said what was on all their minds. Twilight Sparkle was grey, all the color had been drained from her. Just like it had been drained from them when Discord had corrupted them.
“Twilight, listen to yourself!” said Rarity, doing her best to keep her coffee away from the flailing pony. “I understand you’re upset, but even if it were true that Celestia had done something to us for some reason, don’t you think it might have been for the best? I mean we’ve saved Equestria from certain doom twice thanks to the Elements of Harmony. Why, we wouldn't have even become as close as we have in the first place if it wasn't thanks to their existence! Why would you want to undo all that good?”
Twilight looked at Rarity with her mouth wide open. She hadn’t thought of it that way. Why would she want to change things? Everything had turned out alright, hadn’t it? Everything was just how it should be. But a part of her that had been growing in strength in the darkness rebelled. Everything had turned out the way that Celestia had wanted. Who was to say that they wouldn’t have turned out better if Celestia hadn’t meddled with their destiny's? Yes, things might have turned out far worse, but how would she ever know? If everything was planned by Celestia, then didn’t that make her own choices meaningless? Wasn’t freedom worth that uncertainty?
She was about to say all those things when every door and window in Sugarcube Corner exploded inward. Night Guards, bat winged and sable armored, flooded through every entrance and seized every pony inside, including the Cakes and their customers. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” thundered a familiar voice, “GIVE THYSELF UP WILLINGLY OR IT SHALL GO VERY HARD FOR THEE AND THINE FRIENDS INDEED!” Princess Luna was here. Why was Princess Luna here?!
“Get your hooves of me you ruffians, I am a lady!” Shouted Rarity as the Night Guards took hold of her on either side and slipped a metal ring over her horn. The anti-magic runes flared as soon as it was secured to show it was working properly.
“Now hold yer horses fellas,” tried Applejack as the bat winged guards closed in on her. “I’m sure this heres all just one big misunderstandin."
“You leave the Cakes alone, do you hear me!” Screamed Pinkie Pie, whirling back and forth in front of the Mr. and Mrs. Cake. “You better not harm a hair on Pound or Pumpkin’s head either! Not a hair! Or I’ll make you cry every time you even see an egg beater!” She brandished the cooking utensil menacingly, turning the handle aggressively. The Night Guard gave her a wide berth, not liking the look in her eyes, but still kept her from moving from where she stood.
All was bedlam. Then all was still. A soft violet aura spread over everypony. No pony could move at all as Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed brightly. “You...Captain. What is all this about?” Twilight gestured, freeing the captain of Luna’s private guard from the magical stasis she'd put every pony else in. He shook, disoriented only for a moment. To his credit, he didn’t show an ounce of fear in front of Celestia’s favorite student.
“We received reports that you assaulted an employee of the royal mail in her duties. As ever, Princess Luna is responsible for guarding the night.” Twilight had a bad feeling she knew where this was going. “You are hereby under arrest Twilight Sparkle. Please come quietly, as our Lady’s wrath is a terrible thing to behold!” In a lower voice the captain tried. “Please miss, we’re only doing what we’re told. If you want to know more you’ll have to take it up with her majesty at Canterlot Castle.”
“You’re right Captain. I was going about this all wrong. If I want answers, I suppose I should get them straight from the horse's mouth.” She released the guards from her magical hold. They moved to take her into custody, but she held up one hoof. “I will go to Canterlot Castle. But I’ll be going there on my terms!” For the second time in as many minutes there was an explosion at Sugarcube Corner as every last Night Guard was magically expelled from the premises. Twilight stood up and strode out the front door before her friends could stop her.
Luna, Princess of Night, sister of Celestia hovered in the air over Ponyville. She did not look pleased at the treatment her guards had received. “THOU ART PLAYING A DANGEROUS GAME TWILIGHT SPARKLE! THOUGH YOU BE BELOVED OF MY SISTER, I SHALL NOT GO EASY ON YOU SHOULD YOU CONTINUE TO RESIST. TRANSGRESS FURTHER AT YOUR OWN PERIL!” Lightning flashed down from the clear night sky. It was only an hour until dawn, but Twilight doubted that Luna would give up when the sun rose.
“You want a rematch Luna? Is that what this is about?!" Shouted Twilight, "I’m not sure I can take you without the Elements of Harmony, but I’m willing to try!“ Her eyes blazed with barely controlled power. “I’m going to Canterlot, and if I have to, I’m going to beat some answers out of that sister of yours. You can either stand in my way, or get out of it! Which is it going to be!?” Power built at the tip of her horn and for a moment, just a moment, fear showed in the eyes of the Warden of the Night.
“Neither, Twilight Sparkle,” There was a genuine sadness in her eyes as she lowered her head. "I am so sorry." The bolt of lightning struck down from the clear heavens. Well, almost clear, save for one very angry storm cloud and the tiny grey pegasus that was jumping up and down excitedly upon it. The bolt made a deafeningly loud crack as it struck Twilight’s horn, sending the unicorn sprawling in the dirt. High above, Derpy smiled triumphantly.
Blinding light pierced the veil of unconsciousness. The harsh beams sent a stab of pain deep into Twilight’s brain. Her head was already hurting. There was a burnt taste in her mouth that she just couldn’t seem to get rid of. ”Spike...close the curtains, I’ve got a horrible headache.” The rays relented and blessed darkness flooded back before the unicorn's eyes. However, as she tried rolling over to go back to sleep, she realized she couldn’t move. She was lying on her side, legs bound by heavy chains connected to the cold stone floor that wouldn’t allow her to so much as budge from her current position. Sudden terror welled up in her soul as memories struggled back into her mind. Her eyes flew open to take in her surroundings. There wasn’t much to see. Her tiny cell seemed to have been carved from living crystal, every surface was slick and smooth, offering no purchase. The one break in the monotonous reflective surface was a single iron door. The light that had woken her was still there. Princess Celestia, in all her radiance, peered through the bars at her once faithful student.
“Oh Twilight...such a disappointment.” This is all she said before receding from the door, mane trailing hauntingly in her wake. Twilight wanted to yell, to scream for her to stop and come back, but her mouth was so dry the noises coming from her barely sounded like words. As Celestia retreated, so too did her illumination, leaving Twilight in pitch black darkness. There wasn’t so much as the flicker of a distant torch. Just how deep under the earth was she? Was this part of the Canterlot Dungeons or were they somewhere else, somewhere older? She’d never seen a cell made out of pure crystal before now. Her headache worsening, she tried to cast a spell of illumination so that she could better take in her surroundings. This was a horrible idea. Not only was she unable to produce more than a few scant sparks of light, but when she did her head exploded in agony. The smell and taste of burning worsened, making her gag and cough. This did no favors for the pain in her head. Her face felt wet, as though she had been crying. That didn't make a lot of sense since she had just woken up, but there were far more pressing concerns.
What had happened to her? She had no memory of being brought here. She could barely recall confronting someone...was it Princess Luna? Why would she want to fight Luna? Had she become Nightmare Moon again? No, that didn’t make any sense. If Nightmare Moon were back and she had defeated Twilight, why would Celestia throw her in prison? Celestia was apparently disappointed in her, true, but why? It hurt to think. Twilight didn’t notice the bits and pieces of luminous sparks showering from her head until one or two bits of the stuff stung her eyes. She tried her illumination spell again, this time going for the soft glow of fireflies. It was still agony, but not as bad as before.
“My gracious! Look at you. I didn’t have to be this way.” Between the slots in the bars, Twilight could just make out the form of Princess Luna, a look of regret etched upon her haggard features. She was no longer wearing her royal armor, save for her tiara. Star light danced in her mane as she continued. “Please understand, we meant to bring you in without harming you. But you resisted and harmed many of my guards. You are at least partially to blame for your own injury.”
Injury? Twilight tried to use the polished surface of her crystal prison to get a glimpse of herself, worried about what she might see. She found if she moved just so, she could untangle her limbs ever so slightly from their chains, enough to rise on her knees but no higher. She whimpered as she got a good look at herself for the first time since her blackout. Her horn was broken right down the middle, by who or what she had no idea. It was split into two jagged chunks laced with hairline fractures that branched out like the limbs of some awful tree. Worse, the cracks seemed to trace themselves through her skin, leaving a bloody, branching structure spreading across her face like cracks in a mirror. That explained the wetness on her face at least. Blood steadily oozed the open wounds, trickling into her eyes and down her muzzle. “What happened to me?” she asked, her lower lip trembling.”
“A bolt of lightning. Harmless enough in the hooves of a professional, but deadly when used with precision. I’m so sorry about your pain Twilight. My sister should have healed you already, but she refuses to do so until you are brought before her to stand trial for your crimes.” The sparks that cascaded, quite steadily now, from the unicorns forehead were chunks and pieces of her horn breaking off and rolling away to wink out in the darkness. That was one source of the burning smell, the other was the obviously charred and blackened flesh around the injury, which Twilight now realized was the source of her migraine.
“How can she just leave me like this?” sobbed Twilight, “What have I done to deserve this?”
Luna hesitated for a moment, “That, I’m not sure of Twilight Sparkle. Assaulting a servant of the crown is a heinous offense, but this? Refusing to treat your injuries? It just is not like my sister.” Luna seemed to be agonizing over something, clearly unsure if she should say what was on her mind. “She has been different, since my return. I know a thousand years is a long time and ponies change. Even so, my sister was always the kinder and gentler of the two of us. Always quick to forgive and forget. There is a coldness about her now that I cannot account for. The strain of ruling by herself must have been terrible on her.”
A memory flared to life behind in Twilight’s mind. “She was the one to forgive and forget...but she didn’t forgive you when you tried to make the night last forever. Not the first time, at least." Some of the agony faded as Twilight continued to speak, "She sent you to the Moon and locked you away there for a thousand years. Yet when you returned, you begged forgiveness, and she forgave you without hesitation. Does that make sense to you?" Twilight slowly raised her slightly glowing eyes and locked them with the Princess of the Night. "Luna...was it truly the Elements of Harmony that changed your feelings towards your sister?"
The warden of the night looked confused, the question had caught her off guard. “Of course Twilight, you were there. Your friends drove the darkness from me using the Elements of Harmony. Taking that shadow, that hatred from my heart is what allowed me to ask forgiveness for my crimes. I am truly grateful to you and your friends for that.”
“Why?” This question further shocked the Princess, “Don’t get me wrong, no pony but you wanted it to be night time forever. But why should you thank me for thwarting your plans? A better question, why are you so quick to forgive the one who banished you for a thousand years without hope of reprieve? Luna, you have to listen to me. Celestia has this machine that...its hard to explain, it makes you forgets things, changes who you are! I know she used it on me and my friends. I think she might have used it on you as well!”
Luna shook her head in disbelief. “Twilight, listen to yourself. She is my sister! I admit we have had our differences, but Celestia would never do anything as heinous as that. I was rightfully punished for my crimes against Equestria. If you cannot see that, then clearly your injuries are worse than we thought. I shall appeal to my sister to heal you immediately! A pox upon her trial!” With that Luna whirled as if to go, however she came back in a few moments, flustered. “I am sorry Twilight, but there is one here who wishes to speak with you in private. I hope you can give her a moment or two, but if you feel yourself over taxed, please feel free to send her away.”
“Don’t worry Princess, I just want to see how she’s doing! I feel just awful about what happened to her.” The voice was familiar. Twilight almost called out to Luna, asking her not to leave, but a fresh wave of pain stilled her voice and blurred her vision. When at last it cleared, there was no sign of the warden of the night. Only a little grey pegasus. “”What a mess. Not the worst I’ve ever made, I’ll grant, but I almost feel bad about it.” The voice was high and sharp and sweet. The pony that everypony knew as Derpy Hooves hovered in the air just outside of Twilight’s cell, her eyes glowing brightly in the darkness from some unseen illumination. “Poor little Twilight, you just don’t know what went wrong, do you? Still want me to enlighten you?”
Her words broke a dam confusion that let loose a flood of half formed memories inside Twilight’s shattered skull. She grit her teeth as a rage she hadn’t realized she felt welled up like a wildfire in her soul. “You did this, didn’t you!?”
“I thought that was pretty obvious. Of course, it was by Celestia’s command that we brought you in. I'd planned on putting you in the hospital for a while and calling it an unfortunate freak accident!” Her voice changed for a moment on the last three words of her sentence, becoming briefly the old, innocent Derpy before she continued with a laugh. “Hah...guess this little compromise is the best of both worlds. I really must have done a number on you if the vaunted Twilight Sparkle is this slow. Then again, if your conditioning really is starting to wear off, I guess your intellect would be the first thing to go.” Derpy focused both of her eyes on Twilight. “What does it feel like? Your mind slipping away? All those false memories evaporating into thin air? You really shouldn’t have tugged at this string Twilight. A mind is a terrible thing to watch unravel. Especially from the inside out.” The last was spoken with true pathos, as though Derpy herself had been there.
“So you admit that Celestia brainwashed me...and my friends.” Twilight shuddered at the enormity of it all. “What’s going to happen to us now?”
“Us? Oh you mean you and your friends." The grey pegasus brightened up cheerily, "Well I’ve got some good news for you there. What happens next is entirely up to you! Isn’t that wonderful? If you cooperate, you can be back in your library enjoying a delicious breakfast muffin as a new day dawns, with no memory of this ever having occurred.” It was the old Derpy who said all this, full of sunshine and joy, her eyes straying apart from one another in a way that must have been intended as humorous.
Twilight didn’t see anything funny about the situation. “And if I don’t cooperate? Will I end up like your mother?”
The temperature changed like a cold snap in spring. Suddenly Miss Hooves was all business again, eyes firmly locked with Twilight's. “You don’t want to go there Twilight. Not if you don’t want to listen to your friends scream. They’re here too you know. There’s oh so many thing we can make them forget. You’d be surprised how ponies will accept that somepony has always been missing an eye, or a leg, or a wing." A cruel smiled flickered between her lips as she said this. "Even if we get a little carried away, well, its pretty easy to make them forget entire ponies if need be. Is that plain enough for your addled little brain? I hope I don’t have to draw you a picture. I’m afraid I’m running low on red ink.” The injured unicorn trembled with a mixture of disgust and anger. She believed her. “What do you want to know?”
Derpy's smile changed, all sunshine and lollipops again, “That a girl Twilight! You see, you came by a lot of information that literally no pony is supposed to know. Even if we were to reprogram you, the Princess worries that you’d stumble onto the information again and we’d be right back here again! Waste of everyponies time, you understand. Once we get you back to your cushy little life of being Celestia’s favorite, we want you to stay there.” The grey pegasus paused as Twilight began to laugh. Derpy frowned deeply, it wasn’t a pretty sight, the cracks in the unicorn's flesh opening and closing with the movement. The jagged cuts seemed to spread with every gust of laughter.
“No worries there then,” Twilight beamed, madness tracing its fingers through her mind. “I destroyed it you know...couldn’t have you or somepony else getting their filthy hooves on it and using it against me!”
“Use what against you?” asked Derpy suspiciously.
“Why, the book of the Broken of course! And you call me slow! If you’d bothered to ask any of my friends, that you claim are in your custody, they could have told you that!" Twilight's eyes glowed brightly in the darkness, swirling with insanity. "Everything that was or ever will be was written in that book, that pitiful piece of barely literate fiction. Not anymore though... Hahaha... No, not anymore! Nothing but ashes and soot when I left it!” Twilight grinned manically, tears streaming from her eyes, burning as they trickled over her freshly opened wounds. “So go right ahead and ‘fix’ me if you think you can! Maybe it will stick this time.”
“The book of the...” Derpy began, her eyes crossing in confusion. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. You expect us to believe that you found out about Project Harmony from a magic book? Your friends are right, you are going crazy. I guess you need a little more time to recover before we’ll be able to get the truth out of you.” This just made Twilight laugh harder. Derpy seemed to be genuinely disturbed by her reaction, but soldiered on regardless. “Rest up Twilight Sparkle. You’re going to be here for awhile after all.” With that the pegasus flew off into the gloom of the dungeon, leaving Twilight alone to laugh quietly to herself. Given that she’d just sentenced her friends, and likely herself, to hours of torture for nothing, the unicorn had no idea why she couldn’t stop giggling.
Time passed, though the only thing that Twilight had to mark it with was the steady deterioration of her condition. She was hungry, thirsty, and tired. Luna’s appeal on her behalf must have fallen on deaf ears. She was beginning to suspect that it had just been part of the old good mare, bad mare routine. No pony had been by since Derpy had fled from her howling laughter. The only thing she had to occupy herself was watching bits of her horn steadily crumble away. At least her wounds had stopped bleeding, settling into a steady ooze that burned and itched.
A moment of lucidity settled on her pain addled mind and she couldn’t help but start sobbing uncontrollably. She had been betrayed so utterly and thoroughly that there were no words to express her desolation. Princess Celestia...she had looked up to her since she was a filly, wanted to be just like her when she grew up. It was why she had studied magic at all, striving to become as knowledgeable as Star Swirl and the other great unicorns of antiquity. But was that even true? Derpy wasn’t lying, she could feel her mind unraveling moment by moment. Soon even the simplest spell would be beyond her control. Had she ever really been good at magic, or was that all lies planted in her head by the ruler she had trusted so implicitly? What was Twilight Sparkle without magic?
Did she even truly admire Celestia, or was that more brainwashing, changing her into the alicorn’s pet? She choked on her sobs as she thought of all the adoring letters she had written over the years, how Celestia must have laughed! She barely ever received a reply, looking back. Why hadn’t Twilight realized then what was going on? Her blind worship of the monarch of Equestria couldn’t have been the product of a healthy mind. So what was she then? What was she meant to be? She remembered how the words had torn into her mind as she had read them. A unicorn who didn’t even have a spark of magic. The very thing that had been required to ignite the power of the Elements of Harmony, yet when she was a filly she had not had even that bare minimum of magic.
Reflecting on it, it should have been obvious. She had always struggled with even the most basic of spell work, having to study twice as hard as any other pony to achieve half the results. But then something would take over, some part of her that she didn’t understand and the magic would just flow, raw and unchecked through her. If she were any kind of spell caster, any kind of true unicorn, she could have controlled her spells. Instead that spark eluded her in her youth...just as it had when it came to making friends. She could barely stand to be around any pony else. How could she have united with her so called ‘friends’ and awakened the Elements without outside tampering? She was such a foal!
“Twilight... Twilight dear is that you?” The words barely reached her ears. “Sweety, its Rarity. Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
“Listen to her wailing Rarity, does she sound alright to you?” Rainbow Dash’s brash voice was filled with annoyance. “Did those guards rough you up Twi? I swear when we get out of here I’m gonna kick their..”
“Easy Dash. Give Twilight a chance ta speak up why dontcha?” Applejack’s voice was calm, but full of concern.
“Yeah...Yeah it’s me. Where are you girls? It’s so dark...” Twilight said this, but her cell seemed to be brightening the longer she was in it. She didn’t realize it, but the cracks in her skin were starting to glow now that the blood had stopped flowing.
“Well Ah dunno about the others, but Ah’m in a room made outta some kinda purple crystal,” Applejack replied. “Amethyst,” came Pinkie Pie’s voice, oddly hollow.” It’s Amethyst. we used to grow them back on the rock farm. They looked like plain rocks on the outside, but inside there were all kinds of purple crystals. You could grow them pretty big, but these are way bigger than anything we ever managed to produce. They must have been down here for millions of years!”
“Why you’re right Pinkie, I hadn’t noticed.” Rarity said, a bit of longing coming into her voice. “Oh my, imagine the kind of dresses and accessories I could make from crystals this size!”
“Um... I think the others may be a little distracted,” came Fluttershy’s quiet voice. “So uh...are you okay Twilight? I mean as okay as you can be under the circumstances?”
“No. No I’m not okay.” Twilight pouted, the tears welling in her eyes like glistening pearls. “I’m... I’m not who I thought I was. I don’t think any of us are! And I don’t know what to do about it! I feel so betrayed!”
“What do ya mean betrayed?” asked Dash. “I know Luna’s involved in this since it was her guards that came for me and Fluttershy, but they said we were just being brought in for questioning.”
Twilight couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Questioning? Oh, Rainbow Dash, for someone so quick, you can be so incredibly slow. The only questioning that they’re going to do is going to be on the edge of a knife. Or a searing hot iron. Or who knows what other instrument of torture they can concoct. They don't even have to worry about you remembering it! And all because of that stupid book. I guess you’ll at least be prepared for it Dash. Last time this happened to you, they nearly melted your hooves off! Guess that explains why you can’t stand anypony touching them. Celestia did a decent job making you loyal to her. Pity she couldn’t make you more loyal to your friends. Let me guess - you tried to run when they came for you? Don't bother answering, running is what you’re good at!”
“Twilight...you’re scaring me,” whimpered Fluttershy, “you sound so mean, so angry.”
“Angry? You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you Fluttershy. It’s just beneath the surface, even now. Your fear is just part of it, the part that Celestia found acceptable. But push you into a corner and watch out! You’re like a powder keg waiting to blow. Take away your kindness and what are you but a pitiful antisocial shut in with an animal fetish? I don’t even want to think what you would be like without Celestia’s programming...you’re about the only one of us I can really understand her tampering with.”
“Twilight! That’s not right of ya ta say! Besides, it ain’t the truth! I told ya before, Celestia would never do all them horrible things ya’ll are talkin’ about!” yelled Applejack.
“Oh truth!” laughed Twilight darkly, “That’s rich coming from you, ‘Honest’ Applejack. Always trying to find a loophole so you don’t have to say something inconvenient. How many promises have you ‘bent’ through omission or circuitous logic? No, don’t reply. I think I got a pretty good measure of just how honest you really are during that business with Smarty Pants and your brother. How is he by the way? Ever bother telling him what really happened that day? Ever bother telling him about the pony that gave her life for him? No? Maybe you at least had the guts to tell him how you really feel? Hah... I doubt it.”
“Twilight, really dear, I know you’re upset but that’s no reason to dig into your friends like this,” spoke Rarity, trying to calm things before tempers could flare further. “We’re all we have right now, the last thing we need is to be turning on each other.”
“All we have? That’s all that matters to you isn’t it Rarity? What you have. What you want. What you need. As generous as you’d like us to believe you are, you’re just so transparent. You don't want us to stop fighting because you care, you just don't want to lose something you think belongs to you! Our supposed friendship isn't a commodity you can hoard!" the injured unicorn spat in disgust. "I don't even know why I bother talking to you. Everything you do, you do for praise and recognition. Well pardon me if I don’t feel like being charitable with you or anypony else's short comings right now." Twilight smacked a hoof into her forehead as a new idea dawned in her head. "I can’t believe how blind I was! We were NEVER meant to wield the Elements of Harmony!”
“Maybe you’re right Twilight,” spoke a calm, stoic voice. It was hard to tell it belonged to Pinkie Pie. “Maybe everything we knew was a lie. I mean look at me. I was raised on a rock farm. We never laughed or smiled, it was a completely foreign concept to me. Then one day, out of the blue, I’m suddenly a maniac for being cheerful and trying to cheer up everypony around me. What kind of sense does that make? But then again... What really was the harm? Was I better off how I was before...how...how I think I’m starting to become again? I haven’t laughed in over a month. I'm not upset or angry, really, but I can barely smile. Is this really better?”
For reasons even she didn't understand, Twilight’s temper suddenly exploded. “NO! No it’s not better! Each and every last one of us have been used by Princess Celestia, our natures twisted and changed. What we were before might not have been horrible, but knowing what we can never truly be is worse. We were forced to be better than we ever could hope to naturally be. And now? Now we’re sitting here waiting for them to either decide to change us back and let us carry on trying to ignore our imperfections, or let us rot in the darkness, tortured and despairing of ever seeing the light of day again!” She screamed, her anguish giving way to a rage so strong she began to physically shake. It wasn’t just her, the entire cell began to vibrate, her chains rattling. “And for what!? So Celestia can sit on her throne and tell the rest of us what to do and how to live!? So she can manipulate us for who knows how long and force us to do her dirty work for her!? It’s no wonder she can’t use the Elements of Harmony...she’s a bloody bucking MONSTER!” The cracks spread over Twilight’s face, ripping down her body as her face contorted in pain and rage. She was coming apart at the seams, bloody lines tracing themselves down from the remnants of her horn to the tips of her hooves. Light surged from the broken fragments jutting out of her forehead, lancing down through the cracks in her flesh and causing her entire body to glow. Her eyes shone brightest of all, a mixture of hatred and insanity illuminated by uncontrollable magic.
“Now just calm down sugarcube.”
"Yes dear, let's not get carried away.”
"You...you’re scaring me...Twilight...please stop!”
“W-w-what’s a-a-all th-that sh-sh-shaking? Th-th-this is-s s-s-so n-not c-c-cool!”
“M-m-m-my v-v-v-oice s-s-sounds-s-s s-s-silly-y-y-y!”
With a scream loud enough to make her friends ears bleed, Twilight gave herself over at last to the pure fury that had been building inside her for weeks. Her crystal prison shattered, breaking into a thousand pieces, ripping her chains from the broken floor. An aura of pure magic crackled over her body as arcane energy coursed through her very flesh, her entire body a network of glowing cracks and scars. Crystal shards rose around her and began to orbit about her body. Twilight’s mane and eyes swirled, madness and hatred a part of her very being now. She didn’t notice the mess that she had made of her friends, leaving them lying bloody and in various stages of unconsciousness beneath piles of broken stone. But they had never truly been her friends, had they? They were like everything else. Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, LIES! She didn’t have room in her mind for friends right now. There was only room for one thing.
Revenge!
Fleur de Lis was in her usual cafe. Today was an exciting day for her and it showed, the elegant pony positively glowed. Monsieur De Luxe had asked her out to dinner, requesting specifically that she dress for the 'occasion'. This was no rare occurrence in and of itself, it was just that normally when her good friend asked such of her she knew ahead of time that they would be going to some fund raiser or meeting an important business partner. Not today. Today Mr. Fancy Pants had gone to great lengths to keep her in the dark about his plans and, though it might be silly, she couldn't help but think that he might be ready to make something more of their friendship. She was giddy at the very thought of it. She could hardly contain herself as she sipped her mocha, its indulgent decadence lost on her as her mind filled with idle fancies far more sumptuous.
It would take something truly significant to shake her from her fantasies. When the entire cafe began to shake, she did not notice. Part of her may have thought she was merely trembling with excitement. When the shock wave came that shattered the cafe's front window and sent the clients screaming into the streets, however, she couldn't help but be torn from her day dreams. Chunks of debris began to fall from the ceiling as the quake continued. While earthquakes were one natural disaster that the weather ponies hadn’t yet found a way to master, they were rare here in the big city. Fleur left her still steaming coffee and rushed out to join the others in the street. Inside a high rise was no place to be at a time like this.
Yet once she had joined the rest of the bewildered citizens of Canterlot, all was still. Indeed it seemed that only the buildings themselves were shaking. Even so, a continuous booming, like mighty peals of thunder continued to echo from the direction of the Palace. Even from this distance one could see a huge plume of smoke rising into the air to blot out the sky. Filled with strange lightning flashes, it grew to hang over the entire town. That was when Fleur heard the voices, as though they emanated from the gloomy smog, angry and full of pain, screams. It was the sound of pure agony. That was enough to send the crowd into a fresh panic. Some ducked back inside of the still quivering buildings, others took to their hooves, running down the nearest road that lead out of town.
Fleur found herself frozen, unsure of what to do as a torrent of ponies flowed around her elegant form. She saw that the crowd was trampling over itself in their panic. She was about to raise her voice, to call for calm, when something warm and wet splashed against her muzzle. Perhaps responding to some subconscious impulse, her tongue darted out to clean the liquid dribbling down her face. It was warm and salty, a little coppery. The taste of chocolate flavored coffee was still fresh in her mouth, contrasting well with the new taste on the tip of her tongue. Her eyes widened in realizations as more warm, wet droplets began to fall on the town like rain. Blood. Fresh and hot began to patter over the already frenzied crowd. Pegasi that had already taken to the sky to avoid the stampede below suddenly wished that they hadn’t. One by one, Fleur watched in horror as they were struck from the sky, not by the unnatural lightning but rather by what fell along with the crimson rain. Bits and pieces of flesh tumbled from the heavens above, splattering the city ponies and staining their finery. Wet pieces of pony smashed windows and burst open where they struck the ground, sending jagged shards of bone shrapnel flying, impaling those who were still scrambling to find shelter. The sorry gobs of flesh were still clad in bits and pieces of badly dented armor. They were the Royal Guard, yet even the largest chunks looked as if they had been put through a shredder.
A young private's head, helmet still strapped on tight, burst like a melon at Fleur's hooves, splattering her dress with gray matter and bits of skull as well as even more blood. A wave of sickness crashed inside her and her gorge threatened to rise. Another crack like thunder, sharper than before, echoed from Canterlot Palace high on the mountain side. It was clear where all the horror was coming from, a steady geyser of crimson gushed from near the palace, painting the white walls a hellish red. A howling wind swept up suddenly, lifting those who were still alive along with the scattered chunks of the already dead. Fleur watched on, unbelieving, as the buildings around her began to crumble and fall. All of Canterlot was falling around her, the dead and the dying crushed beneath mortar and stone as great hunks were ripped from the sides of the buildings and sent streaming towards the palace. Fleur had no idea what was happening, truly, but she knew that Monsieur had waited too long to propose when her favorite Cafe toppled frighteningly, falling straight toward her.
Derpy Hooves flew around in a panic. The explosion had come from the special cell-block deep beneath Canterlot Palace. The crystals down there had unique properties that were meant to prevent the use of all but the most basic of magic. They were supposed to short out any powerful spell work and leach magical ability from the unlucky prisoners over time. For such a powerful explosion to come from down there, either somepony had snuck in explosives, or they were dealing with something far more powerful than any of them could imagine. Dust hung like a choking fog by the time the grey pegasus made it to the scene. She could hear the sounds of battle in the distance, screened by the grey haze, but her main concern was Project Harmony. Celestia probably wouldn’t be banishing her to the moon, but there were worse punishments if something should happen to the wielders of the Elements of Harmony.
She worked her way through the rubble, digging through half collapsed passageways. She thought she could hear voices from deeper inside. “You okay Rainbow Dash?” she called. “Applejack? Pinkie Pie? Can you hear me!?” The muffled voices seemed to rise in volume as if in response, but she couldn’t be sure. Shouldering aside a boulder taller than she was, she at last made it into the sub chambers where the prisoners had been kept.
It was bad. Derpy was no expert, but she’d been involved in enough demolition projects over her career that she could tell the ceiling was going to give way any moment. “Derpy Hooves! Oh great, on top of everything else!” This from Rainbow Dash, her left wing trapped under a particularly large hunk of crystal. The others seemed okay, though Applejack’s legs were similarly stuck and both Fluttershy and Rarity were out cold. Derpy had to work fast.
“What are you guys doin down here?” None of them knew she was working for Celestia, and none of them needed to. As far as they were concerned her association with the palace was purely professional. “I think we need to go, it’s dangerous.” Derpy helped Rainbow Dash free her wing and together the two pegasi drug Applejack from beneath her pile of rubble. As they worked her loose, the farm pony screamed. It was worse than Derpy had thought. Both of Applejack's legs had been broken, only the pressure from the crystal shards had kept her from feeling the pain before, pain so great she passed out almost immediately. This wasn’t going to be easy.\
“So now what? How do we get out of here?” Pinkie Pie seemed unnervingly calm, given the situation. She already had the unconscious Rarity draped over her back.
“Now we’ve gotta go. Follow me, I think I know the way out!” With Dash’s help, Derpy draped the injured Applejack across her back. Dash herself went back for her friend Fluttershy. Together the three began climbing a flight of stairs that listed to the left and right, shaking horribly from whatever was going on above. Derpy had noted who was not present and the thought chilled her to the bone. She had a terrible, growing feeling that she knew exactly what was going on and who was responsible. The horse apples had seriously hit the windmill.
Every window in the palace shattered at once as a scream of pain and hatred echoed across the sky. It was pandemonium as guards rushed back and forth, unable to find the source of the attack that was shaking the very foundations of Canterlot. One by one, those Guards outside the Palace walls were whisked into the air as if by invisible hands. Their screams of surprise turned quickly to wails of agony and terror. It was no better for those who remained as massive hunks of stone and glass that had once been buildings fell to crush them and smashed violently into the side of the palace itself. The sky literally was falling, and it showed no signs of stopping. Old outer walls and parts of the castle that had stood for centuries crumbled into so much dust and mortar. The Day Guard surrounded Celestia within the throne room, but only she was calm in the face of this unknowable horror. How could her guards protect her from a force of nature? It was almost a relief when the great double doors exploded, burning in a flame so hot that they scattered into the air as a fine mist of dust and ash before they could hit the ground. A few actually smiled as the unicorn strode into the throne room. Here at last was something they could attack. They should have run. A shower of glass and stone roared through the vacant windows, pelting the unwary and pulverizing those who didn’t get out of the way of the larger chunks in time, a tsunami of glass and stone sweeping through the room. The unicorn stood tall, the wave splitting itself around her body.
Twilight Sparkle, her entire body seeming on the verge of bursting apart with raw magic, turned baleful eyes upon those who would stand between her and her prize. Those who had not fallen to her initial attack came quickly, and in force. Those in the first wave crumpled under her gaze just as quickly, their armor shrunk about their bodies, crushing their bones and squeezing out their flesh like so much jelly. While those behind them were more cautious, their hesitation did not prove to be anymore of a boon than their compatriots haste. One nod from Twilight's and they were raised as one into the air. As they struggled to escape from an invisible vice like grip, they were twisted at painful, unnatural angles. Like a child's toy or some sad marionette, each were broken, one by one. They were wrung out like damp dish rags and tossed, still screaming, through the Palaces remaining stained glass windows. After that the earth ponies and pegasi finally retreated, leaving this fight to the unicorn heavy assault group.
It became a true war of magics then, both cunning and cruel, as the guards tried to bring the mad mare to her knees through subtly where mere brute force had failed. Great beasts and illusions rose like a heat haze from a burning desert, filling the throne room. A ripple spread through the world, as though all of reality were but a puddle into which a careless child had thrown a stone. One by one, these conjured beasts and spells of great power melted away as a single purple crystal ripped through the malicious magics and rendered their spells useless. Twilight had discerned what her crystal prison had been meant for. A cage for her magics, to drain her and keep her weak. But Celestia had been expecting a mere spark of magic, and what was leaking from Twilight’s fractured horn was now oh, so much more. A ring of the purple crystals rotated around her in a wide orbit, shielding her from the Day Guards worst. What spells she could not destroy, she bent against the Royal Guardians, adding her own twist to their spellwork to make them doubly deadly. A satisfied sneer twisted her features as each fell to a unique fate that had been meant for her. Their screams and moans were justice. The crunching of their bones sweet music to the beast that raged in her heart.
When the haze of magical smoke at last dissipated, the throne room was painted in shades of crimson, splattered from floor to ceiling. Twilight Sparkle herself seemed to float over it all hooves only lightly touching the floor, body thrumming with barely contained madness and completely unchained magic. Of course Celestia still stood, the Princess of all Equestria and Steward of the Sun wore a look of grim determination, an aura as bright and burning as the day star engulfed her form. Eldritch energy slithered from the wounds of Celestia’s former student like grasping tentacles, ripping up the tiled floor and sending a wave of monstrous power screaming through reality, erasing everything in its path. The spell slammed into Celestia, and for a moment it appeared as though she had been completely consumed. Tears streamed from Twilight's eyes as she laughed long and loud, her mind completely snapped. She had just killed the one pony who could have explained it all, made it all better again. Yet as the spell dissipated, a glow like the dawn suffused the throne room. Celestia stood as calmly as before, a shield of magic crackling briefly around her form before it faded away.
"Monster, you shall not harm a single hair upon the head of our beloved Princess!" The Captain of the Day Guard stood valiantly by his rulers side. Clearly the shield had been his work. Another ant wriggled before the mad unicorns vision. Just one more to squash before she could finally take her revenge. Energy surged behind Twilight’s eyes as tears of blood seeped from their bulging sockets and her open wounds.
Yet before a second onslaught could be unleashed, Celestia’s voice rang out clear as day, “TWILIGHT SPARKLE, CEASE THIS MADNESS AT ONCE AND KNEEL BEFORE YOUR PRINCESS!” The command must have touched her in a place buried deep within, for even in her insanity Twilight Sparkle found herself on her knees, head bowed low. She barely had enough willpower to raise her eyes and watch as the Mare of the Morning glided smoothly over blood slicked marble towards her. “Look at you. Pathetic, filthy, thing. Look at the carnage you have wreaked! Look at the mess you’ve made of my beautiful palace!” Celestia fairly steamed, “I should send you to the dark side of the moon to shiver and freeze for a thousand years!”
“Is that what you do with all your subjects that don’t do as you please?” asked Twilight, fighting the last vestiges of her programming. Slowly, she rose from her knees, each inch an excruciating exertion of will power. The crystals orbiting her moved close, gathering into a rough helm that covered her head but left her bisected horn exposed. It seemed to help her concentrate as some of the madness left her eyes. “Do you banish them beyond space and time? Hide them away in some dank, desolate crevice? Consign them to a living death inside a padded room?” With a last effort that seemed to make all her wounds burst afresh, she stood. “Imprison them in stone!?” Twilight’s eyes blazed as a fresh torrent of power exploded from her broken horn, bringing the already weakened ceiling crumbling down on their heads. In a matter of moments all was buried under a mountain of rubble as the throne room imploded. Twilight stood atop the pile, a rictus of pain and pleasure distorting her features. “How does it feel Celestia? To be buried alive in cold stone? Does it feel like justice?” she whispered, laughing madly.
Twilight’s laughter was short lived, however, as an orb of violet light rose from the rubble. Celestia and the Captain of her guards glared down at Twilight Sparkle. “Is that what you think this is about? Justice?" The disdain in Celestia's voice matched the look of disgust on her face. "Twilight, I thought better of you.” With a scream of frustration, Celestia’s former student unleashed another stream of chaotic magic lashing towards her former mentor - Yet Celestia only chuckled. “You can do that all day you horrid little defect, but so long as your brother shields me, your magic is useless.” The onslaught abruptly ceased.
“My...my brother? I don’t have a-” a look of pure confusion dimmed the madness in Twilight’s eyes further. “I don’t have a brother. I’m an only child!”
“Oh come now Twilight, I made you forget what a failure you are at magic, you don’t think I couldn’t make you forget your family?” Celestia genuinely seemed amused by the look on Twilight’s face. “Do you even remember your mother? Your father? Their names? I was the only parent you knew or loved for the bulk of your life. Why should it surprise you that I’d keep somepony like your brother close to me in the event you ever broke loose from the chains I wrapped around your pretty little mind?” Twilight stared, disbelieving. “He’s much stronger than you by the way. I was thinking about perhaps bringing him into the royal family. After all, I can’t hold the fact that his sister is a psychotic murderer against him when he has served me so loyally.”
Princess Celestia draped herself possessively over the stallion she named Twilight’s brother. For his part he arched his back and moaned suggestively as his liege touched him in ways both intimate and profane. Memories blossomed and died behind Twilight’s eyes. A reshuffling of her private world occurred as a past long buried suddenly exploded in her mind. Shining Armor. His name was Shining Armor. A calm descended upon her, far more deadly than her rage could have ever been. “Get your hooves off my brother.”
“Or what?" Mocked Celestia. "You’ll kill a few more useless guards? Destroy more of my palace? Go right ahead.You’re falling apart Twilight, both physically and mentally. It’s only a matter of time before the spark of magic you’ve fanned into a raging flame is extinguished for good.” The Princess bit Shining Armor’s ear, causing his concentration to lapse for but a moment. “When that fading ember dies, you will be at my mercy. So rage on Twilight, murder your friends and loved ones to your hearts content. I will rebuild my kingdom on their ashes and yours.”
The attack was as sudden as it was unpredictable. The fused crystal crown leapt from Twilight's brow and slammed into her brothers face, piercing his shield and his helm in one shot. He was not dead, but he fell unconscious to the rubble below. Celestia was suddenly without her protection. To her credit, she did not hesitate. Celestia revealed how she had won her throne as she sent a blazing beam of pure light roaring towards Twilight Sparkle. Without the crystals to shield her, Twilight could do nothing to protect herself but rig a hastily crafted protection spell. It couldn't withstand magics perfected over the course of a millennium. As the delicate spell matrix evaporated, Twilight howled in pain, her flesh felt as though she were bathed in fire. A heat more intense than she had ever known, a pain sharper and deeper than she had ever felt, though her flesh did not scorch her wounds bubbled and steamed. She fell to her knees, bleating horribly like a wounded lamb. Celestia hit her again, spreading her wings wide as she climbed into the air to position herself over her former student. Twilight writhed in agony like an ant under a magnifying glass, part of her wanting to beg for death. But that was not the part that was in control.
Squirming out from under the glare of Celestia's spell, Twilight rolled over the sizzling stones. And then she was gone. In a puff of magic she was atop another pile of rubble, panting like a dog. Celestia turned quickly, aiming another beam to smite her, only to watch as Twilight vanished again. Faster now, recovering as best she could as she went, Twilight appeared and disappeared around Celestia. She was teleporting here and there around the monarch as she furiously tried to catch Twilight with her solar beam, but the spell had to hit her in order to have any effect. Disoriented, the princess began firing randomly, hoping to catch the mad unicorn when she next appeared, never noticing that she now floated high above her. A shower of sparks gushed from Twilight Sparkles horn, falling like a comet from the smoke choked heavens. The ball of raw magic smashed into Celestia, sending her tumbling to the ground below. The roles were reversed now as Twilight pummeled her former teacher with spell after spell, sending a shower of sparks and stones raining down on the monarch. Wounds appeared on Celestia's alabaster flesh like beautiful roses, blooming and growing to cover her body. With a smile that seemed as though it would remove the top of Twilight's head, the unicorn lifted the mangled remains of Celestia's throne. It was fitting that the seat of power would be the death of the one who had abused it.
Before the final blow could be struck, Twilight found herself smashed from the air by a bolt of dark, star flecked lightning. Princess Luna, awakened from one of the few towers that were still standing, had come to her sisters aid. The torrent of moon bolts that fell upon Twilight Sparkle stunned her, causing her entire body to flex and jerk uncontrollably. When the assault finally ceased, Twilight cracked open her blood shot eyes to stare up at the stern visage of the Princesses of the realm. United, there was no force that could defeat them. Even so, Twilight launched one last spell, almost lazily. It bounced off an invisible wall harmlessly. Shining Armor was awake once more, his shield spell erected once again to protect his liege. Twilight was well and truly outmatched.
“Why?” muttered Twilight through broken teeth.
“Excuse me?” asked Celestia. Though bright red blood leaked from several abrasions, she seemed to bare up under her wounds much better than the shattered Twilight. Even as she watched, Celestia's wounds began to heal, the flesh knitting as if the injuries had never existed.
“Just tell me why.” Tears, real tears this time rather than bloody ones, were streaming from Twilight Sparkle's eyes. Their crystal purity washing away the blood and dirt that stained her face. “Why did you do this to me? To my friends? Just tell me WHY!?”
“Because of me.” The voice thrummed through the earth, through the sky, through Twilight's chest. From the little unicorn's shattered horn another burst of sparks showered, followed by a column of smoke rising from the ruin on her forehead. A pillar of choking darkness rose from the dying fragments forming a rough outline. Glowing crimson eyes opened wide as the being took shape. A lion’s paw, an eagle's claw, a dragon’s tail, a bat wing, and a pegasus wing were all there in a pell mell mess, disparate parts coming together to make one terrible whole. It was at last crowned with curling mismatched horns above a face that leered down over all. “Did you miss me Celestia? I missed you.” Discord. He loomed over them all, larger than life. He was really here. Twilight wasn’t dreaming, she wasn’t hallucinating. She wasn't crazy! Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony was here! So how was it that joy that filled her heart instead of terror? Why did his laugh fill her with such hope?
Celestia and Luna, for their part, seemed to be fully in the grips of terror, rich and pure.“You?! Impossible! They defeated you - You’re a statue in my garden!”
“Did they? Oh my, were you there Celestia? Did you watch as my body petrified? Did you see my last, desperate struggle for freedom? Or did you send a troop of brainwashed girl scouts to do your dirty work?” Discord smiled mirthlessly. “Did you really think that they would defeat me so easily? It took your greatest sorcerers the better part of a hundred years to craft my downfall and even then they could not wield it! That six broken little ponies could master their power in but a day is ridiculous. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize what you had done to them? Celestia, it’s one thing to enslave the population of an entire nation and call it freedom, it’s quite another to use my own tricks and think I couldn’t turn them to my advantage. You lost as soon as the Elements of Harmony were in my grasp.” Discord leaned down and poked Shining Armor’s impenetrable shield with a single talon. It popped like a soap bubble.
“So what then fiend? Thou played dead!?”
“Bingo!” Discord 'boop'ed Luna on the nose. “I don’t turn ponies into stone, but transforming myself is another matter. The Elements of Harmony were powerful enough to undo my improvements to Ponyville, but your little troupe of zombies could never hope to truly defeat my glorious self!” Discord flew into the air, absurdly tiny wings beating majestically before he lounged on a low hanging cloud of smoke and ash. “But I knew better than to let them try again. So while you thought me imprisoned, I used my time wisely." He smiled, showing a mouth full of fangs as he leaned back contentedly. "You’ve been a very naughty girl Celestia. Very busy too. It took me months to unravel all your spells and enchantments, but now here we are at long last!”
“I still don’t understand. Discord, what’s going on? Why am I, why is she-why are we like this?” Twilight almost wailed, her horn was almost completely gone now. As it crumbled away, so did the rest of her magic. The raw power that had ripped through her body seemed to be receding, leaving gashes all over her form.
“Poor, sweet Twilight, a pawn used by both sides in our little game of chess." Discord left his cloud to hover over the pony in question. "You were the easiest of your friends to manipulate, you know. So dedicated to order and perfection. You were a tool crafted too well. It was so easy to expose you for what you really are. All it took was a little creative scheduling on your calendar.” The Spirit of Disharmony couldn’t help but laugh. “Though making the sun tick across the sky like the hand of a clock was an inspired touch on my part I thought. Pity you seemed to be the only pony to take notice.” He turned from Twilight back to the cowering princess, “Honestly Celestia, if you weren’t so paranoid about your pet project, this might have all been avoided. Did you really need weekly progress reports? You were the key to Twilight's corruption. You made her so dedicated to you that she couldn’t help but fail you in one way or another. Exposing that obsession was all it took to start the rest of the dominoes falling one by one. Of course, everything in the universe naturally moves towards chaos, it was inevitable, I suppose. How droll.”
“So you are responsible for me...my friends...everything...falling apart!?” asked Twilight, not sure what to believe anymore.
“No my dear, I’m responsible for freeing you!” exulted Discord as he picked Twilight up in a swift hug before plopping her back down on her posterior. “No more having to bother with all that tedious studying. No more having to suffer through the pretense of friendships you don’t understand. No more having to live a lie. You’re free to be exactly the kind of pony you’ve always known yourself to be at heart.” He smiled, his grin full of sharp teeth and his eyes full of the kind of sanity you arrive at far beyond the shores of madness. “Most importantly, no more having to obey Celestia and her sweet sister Luna. Equestria will be freed, and the only thing that shall reign is pure chaos!”
“Never Discord!” shouted Shining Armor. “The Princess may no longer be able to use the Elements of Harmony against you, but that does not mean that she is without protectors! She has had thousands of years to prepare for your return!”
“Oh, spare me the barking of your little dog Celestia,” the draconequus yawned, already bored. “If you had a back up plan of some kind you would’ve already sprung it. Now, be a dear and answer your dear student. She’s come an awful long way and broken a great many rules to have her questions answered. I’m afraid she might not trust them from me. Perform well enough and I might even let you pick the flavor of gelatin I turn you into.”
Celestia grit her teeth, clearly loath to obey, but at the same time too fearful to oppose Discord's command. She licked lips suddenly gone dry. When it seemed as though she might try to remain silent after all, Discord gestured with but a single claw. The motion by itself was enough to compel the Mare of the Morning's mouth to speak the truth, each word torn from her mind as though from a the purse of a greedy miser. “Wh-when Luna and I had our falling out, the spell that I used to banish her broke our bond with the Elements of Harmony. I feared then that Discord would break loose from his prison, but the Elements were strong enough that the seal only weakened. I knew then that it would only be a matter of time before I would have to deal with him again, this time alone if I didn't do something. I also knew that when my sister returned only the Elements would have a chance of stopping what she had become.”
As Celestia continued to speak she seemed to warm to the subject. Though it might have been against her will, it was almost a relief to reveal these long held secrets. Only a handful of ponies had known about what she said next, out of necessity. That didn’t mean she wasn’t proud of her cunning. “I knew that it would take a bond of powerful friendship to unlock the Elements true power, for this was the secret that allowed Luna and myself to harness their strength to begin with. At first I tried in vain to find such a friendship naturally, scouring Equestria over hundreds of years to try and find somepony or some group of ponies that had the kind of special bond I had shared with my sister. I thought I had come close many times, but the Elements remained inert. Friendship by itself wasn’t enough. There needed to be a truly dire need, as well as a spark...” Celestia looked into Twilight’s eyes. “A spark of magic.”
Discord couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at some private joke. Celestia flinched, but when it was clear he wasn’t about to say anything, she continued. “So I resolved if I couldn’t find such a friendship, I would forge one instead. One that I could use at the required time. As I’m sure you’ve already deduced Twilight, you and your friends were chosen because you represented the exact opposite of the Elements of Harmony. Each of you were broken in some way before I found you. Using the ancient technology of pre-Equestrian pegasi mixed with the spell work of unicorns from the same era, I was able to duplicate an effect similar to one of Discords powers. But instead of corrupting you, I made you pure! What you might so foalishly think of as brainwashing, I knew to be valuable re-education. Without it you never could have played the heroes that defeated my sister. At least you were good enough for that, even if you failed at your ultimate purpose.”
“Is this really true sister?” Luna’s eyes were fierce, even as her tears glistened at their corners. "What you did to Twilight and her friends, did you do that to me also?” Darkness flowed like liquid silk from her mane, engulfing her body in a form terrible and majestic at the same time. Celestia backed slowly away from her sister. She had seen this change before. Nightmare Moon was reborn before their eyes. “I thought the nightmares were just that. That I was dreaming about your cruelty, your arrogance, your drive to dominate and control all around you. But they weren’t nightmares, were they? They were the truth. They were why I tried to overthrow you to begin with. You’re the reason why we lost our connection to the Elements of Harmony. You’re the reason Discord is free! But you wouldn’t allow me to remember! Twilight, I’m so sorry I ever doubted you!” Body crackling with dark lightning, the Mare in the Moon strode toward her cowering sister.
“No! You’ve got it all wrong!” From over a pile of rubble, a troupe of bloody and dirt stained ponies emerged. It was Twilight Sparkles friends. And Derpy Hooves. “She was so afraid. You have no idea how alone she was with no one to love her, no one to know the real her! Please, don’t judge her so harshly. I was the one that told her about the Pegasus Device. It’s my fault if it’s any ponies.” Twilight Sparkle and Nightmare Moon turned on the grey filly as one, a pure white glow exuding from Luna's eyes as she was seized by a spasm of power and rage. Discord merely chuckled all the more.
“No! No, listen. We’re not your enemies!" begged the little grey pegasus. "Twilight, I’ve been keeping an eye on you and your friends since we were both little fillies. I know it’s hard to believe. You probably never noticed me in the background of your lives, but believe me it was never my intention, or Celestia’s, to really harm any of you. It was just a job for me at first...a way to test a process I hoped would get my mother back. If what Celestia did to you worked then maybe, just maybe, it could work for her. But the longer it went on the more I began to care. I wanted Rainbow Dash to become a Wonderbolt and Fluttershy to come out of her shell. I truly wanted Rarity to become a famous dress maker and the family business to go well for Applejack. I wanted Pinkie Pie to keep smiling and you to find friendship even as you tried your hardest to master your magic. I wanted you all to have the lives you never could have had otherwise, even if they weren't truly meant for you. I wanted Celestia to help you make your dreams come true!" Nightmare Moon seemed to hesitate as fresh tears came to Twilight's eyes. Somewhere along the way things had become terribly complicated. "In a weird kind of way, I always saw myself as your guardian angel. I know it may not have seemed like that, but you have to believe me. We’re not your enemies. He is! Discord is the real villain here!”
“Ya should listen to her Twi. This whole mess doesn’t make a lick of sense, but if Ah know one thing, Ah know Discord is bad news.” said Applejack, still draped over Derpy's back.
“I don’t know what to believe, Twilight.” said Pinkie Pie, looking sadly at her hooves. “But I believe Derpy when she says she thought of herself as our friend. You others might not have noticed her, but I did. Whenever she was around us, she always seemed to be smiling...even when there weren't fresh muffins.”
“Heck, I remember her from back at flight camp, don’t you Fluttershy?” added Rainbow Dash.
“Yes... She was always nice to me. You two were the only friends I had back then.”
Rarity, for her part didn’t seem as sure as the others. “I’m afraid I’m dreadfully lost Twilight. It sounds like Celestia wronged us horribly, but she did have good reasons, and it seems like it worked out well enough for us. Two wrongs do not make a right, but I don't even know where to begin to try and resolve this. What do you think we should do?”
“I-I don’t know,” murmured Twilight as she brought her hooves up around her head. “I just don’t know. I’ve d-d-done so many bad things. I-I-I ripped so many ponies apart just to get here and I don't even remember why! It hurts s-s-so bad. My head. My head feels like its going to tear itself apart.” It was true, as the rage had drained steadily from Twilight Sparkle she had begun to look worse and worse. Magic had been what had kept her going, and now all that remained within was nothingness. The void yawned hungrily inside. She barely had any horn left. There was a strange pulsing sensation coming from her that seemed to stretch out into the world around her. "I wish...I s-s-still had the book. It could tell me what to do, what comes next..."
By this point, however, Discord was laughing so hard that everypony couldn’t help but look at him instead. High above them all he seemed doubled over in laughter. "What comes next! Oh, if only you knew! You should've read ahead Twilight!"
“What’s so funny?” demanded Celestia.
Discord managed to gasp between gusts of laughter. “What-what’s the opposite of a spark Celestia? What’s the true opposite?” He laughed louder. But not loud enough to cover up the thin hissing sound coming from Twilight’s head. The last of her horn crumbled to ash. The cracks in Twilight’s skin spread. Not just through her body, but from her body and out into the world around her. The cracks moved through the ground, through the air, over her friends and foes alike. They even spread through Discord, who giggled all the more.
Twilight Sparkle’s head literally split in half as something older than magic erupted from her mind. The cracks ripped her friends to shreds in a single burst. Discord was still laughing as each of his mismatched parts were liberated from his body. Nightmare Moon and Celestia only had time enough to embrace one another before they shared his fate. So fast, so loud, so bright. Not even shadows would be left behind by a blast that made the birth of stars seem like but a fleeting glimmer on the cosmic scale. In one burst, everything, everypony, all of Equestria ceased to exist.
All returned to nothing.
Everything spun wildly around her, or at least it felt like it did. There was no up or down, no left or right, everything was in flux, ever shifting. It was hard to even tell if she were alive or dead. One minute she could feel nothing, see nothing, hear nothing. The next; a snatch of music, a flash of light, an all consuming pain as though her body were one raw nerve being scraped by sandpaper. The world heaved wildly between being a realm of nothingness and being full of...everything, anything, all things mashed horribly together, a rushing cacophony of sound and color and light. Only one thing remained constant through it all, her head ached terribly. When she put her hooves to either side of it, she could feel her skull moving beneath her skin. It was almost as if it had been split in half. The thought was terrifying, but if that were the case then maybe she could...slowly, carefully, Twilight Sparkle put pressure on her head from the right and the left. The bone shifted sickeningly, crunching slightly as the two jagged halves met. She could feel them touching and a wave of horror and revulsion threatened to cause her to black out. Yet as the gash that exposed her mind closed, the pain eased, and the world around her resolved into a familiar void.
Cradling her head with care, Twilight looked around, trying to get her bearings. She seemed to be floating in a sea of nothingness. Every now and then an occasional flash of something halfway between light and darkness would flash, quick as a dying shadow in the distance, but aside from that there was little else. No land, no sky, no stars, just an endless grey fog extending into the distance in every direction. Part of her wondered if this was what it was like to be dead. She discovered that, if she willed it, she could move through the shrouding mists. The grey substance tingled and swirled as she moved through it but, besides the shattered unicorn herself, the mist was all that seemed to move in this place. “Hello!?” Twilight cried, “Is anypony out there? Is anypony there?!” The effort of talking shifted her bones painfully, one edge of her skull slipped against the other, opening just a crack.
Twilight Sparkle was sitting at a table with the rest of her friends. They all seemed very excited about something but Twilight herself was more angry than excited. Once again it seemed like nopony was listening to her, all of them wrapped up in their own little worlds, too busy to care about her worries and concerns. Spike was there too, playing with some silly little dolls. It annoyed Twilight so much that she couldn’t help slamming one hoof into the table and storming off to...nothingness. The image was gone. Once more Twilight found herself in the void. All those emotions and sensations had felt so raw, so real. The emptiness Twilight felt now was like a yawning ache deep inside compared to that world of explosive light and color. What was going on?
“Oh there you are!” called a cheerful voice that came from everywhere and nowhere, “I was wondering where you’d gotten off to. Ah, here, let me get that for you.” A hat was suddenly plopped on her head. It fit oddly. By the hats jaunty angle, Twilight realized she no longer had her horn. That was what had caused the gap in her skull, and likely what had caused it to split apart. The hat seemed to hold everything more or less back in place with odd convenience, but compared to everything else going on... .or not going on as the case may be, not so hard to accept. She reached one hoof up to touch it. It was soft. Was that a...propeller? Why would there be a propeller on a hat? “A perfect fit! Of course it would be though.”
“I’m sorry but, where are you?” Twilight could see nothing but mist, though the shadowy bolts of un-light seemed to be flashing by more frequently. Something not unlike snow began to fall upwards around her. “Where am I for that matter...”
“Twilight, how soon you forget! You’ve been here before.” The ‘snow’, for the lack of a better word, began to sleet into a single point and spread out around her. A place and something that might pass for time began to materialize around her. The ground was a checkerboard patchwork of many colors, the sky was full of pink, purple, and blue clouds. A sweet smell filled the air. In the distance, Twilight thought she could see what looked like buildings, but instead of resting on the ground they floated in the air. With sickening realization, Twilight found she was back in Ponyville. The Chaos capital of Equestria. Discord slowly took shape before her eyes, though his form was somewhat ghostly in this place, as if he were barely here. “This is your paradise, remember? I suppose it’s a little different from before. I thought it might be helpful if it had a familiar touch.” Discord smiled brightly, and for the first time it actually seemed genuine, almost friendly.
“My paradise? This horrible place?” Twilight tilted her head to one side, and her beanie shifted, moving her skull just a fraction.
She was sitting under a tree in late autumn. The wind was cold on her face, but after each gust the sun would warm her again. It was almost time for the traditional Running of the Leaves and she was really looking forward to participating. The pages of the book she had found on how to successfully run a marathon were crisp beneath her hooves. The text itself was quite engrossing and she found herself devouring word after word, whiling away her afternoon in the quiet embrace of her studies.
“Now, now, none of that.” Twilight felt rough claws on either side of her head, pulling her back from somewhere else. “We’ve got a lot to talk about, you and I. There’s no need to be coy anymore, I think. After all, the story is over and done, Chaos has triumphed and Order is done! This place is proof of that. Look around you! Chaos as far as the eye can see, raw and absolute!” Shadowy fireworks seemed to dance around Discord for a moment. Beyond the modified Ponyville, the grey nothingness sat gnawing at its edges. It really was only a very tiny bubble of what passed for reality that they were in.
Squinting her eyes, Twilight tried her best to pierce that dense fog. “I don’t see anything. There’s nothing but nothing out there.”
“Well exactly! This is how everything started and how everything ends. This is raw firmament we’re floating in, the very basic particles of existence! The chaotic potential we’re bathing in is absolutely staggering! Why, a gifted creator could shape almost anything, indeed everything from just a few particles of this stuff.” The Spirit of Disharmony swished his talons through a patch of mist as it drifted through their bubble, causing strange eddies and whirls of half realized nightmares and fantasies. “Can you wrap your mind around that Twilight?”
“I guess. I don’t see that it matters though. It’s all over. I don’t know how, but I seem to have destroyed everything. All my friends, Equestria. It’s all gone.” Twilight Sparkle raised her hooves in front of her face. She looked at them as if she were seeing them for the first time. “I ended the world.”
“Oh, don’t beat yourself up over it! The world is ending all the time! It was going to end one way or another, I would have seen to that.” Discord chuckled. “It was a good story, but I’m afraid not one of your better works. Plenty of disharmony and distress, I’ll admit, but everything fit together just a little too well, I thought. And what was that business about that grey pegasus’s mother? You know what, I don’t even want to know! It was probably terribly grizzly. I’m glad it’s over, frankly.” Something else seemed to take form briefly, just in the shadow of the spirit’s wings. Another pony floated beside him, though she was even less visible than he was. Indeed, she seemed to be fading in and out, like a signal just on the verge of being lost. Twilight found her eyes immediately arrested.
“Wh-who are you?” asked Twilight Sparkle. The other pony had a light purple coloration, almost shading to pink, and a flowing purple and white mane and tail that seemed like liquid smoke floating around her form. A strange cutie mark of a screw and a baseball was just visible on her flank. Her eyes were frighteningly mad, literal whirlpools swirling away in a head that had clearly seen better days. Her smile was pleasant enough though. She wore a hat just like Twilight’s.
“Oh her? I’m surprised she’s still here. That won't last much longer. She was successful you know. You were successful. She got what she wanted in the end.” When Twilight continued to look blank, Discord seemed to decide it was time to speak plainly. “Time doesn’t really mean anything here, but if it helps you understand, this little darling is you from next Tuesday morning.”
“She’s me? But...how?” Twilight looked down at her washed out body. It was true that they looked remarkably similar now that most of her color had been stripped to try and re-write the Book of the Broken. The only difference lay in their cutie marks.To Twilight’s horror, it seemed that the one she had earned as a filly was fading away. Her eyes grew wide with terror.
“Settle down, settle down!” Soothed Discord. “As I said, time doesn’t really count for much here. It would be more accurate to say that she is a possible you from a possible future. You are not the first Twilight Sparkle. There have been many before you. This one comes from a different story, one that ended with me breaking her mind completely.” Discord cradled the fading pony to his breast, where the pony with a screwball mark snuggled shivering. “I confess, I actually felt a little bad about what I did to her, especially given she views me as a father figure now. She seems to remember a bit of her old life, but so many of the details were lost or changed. It was a wonder she was able to shape a world at all.”
“She shaped a world?”
“Your world to be precise my dear. She wrote your story.” The draconequus stroked the pseudo Twilight’s insubstantial mane tenderly with one talon. She was fading more by the second. “She was the one that set down all your stories. But she couldn’t write it alone. You helped her a lot you know. The Book of the Broken wouldn’t have made half as much sense without your alterations. After it was finished,” here Discord giggled remembering, “she was so proud of it! She just had to share. I’m still surprised she was able to give it to Pinkie Pie without her realizing that she wasn’t the same Twilight. And oh my, all the times she interfered. I thought she was going to give away the entire game when she showed up at the Circe de Celestia, but no pony ever suspected her as anything more than a performer or an over enthusiastic patron. I thought for sure she would fail, but in the end, she got exactly what she wanted.”
“To cease to exist.” The Spirit of Disharmony half smiled, ears laid back against his long skull. “I...I am what I am Twilight. You have to understand that. I am Chaos and Disharmony. I am ultimately a creature of destruction.To me laws were made to be broken. Stories are written to end. I cannot be stopped. Everything you know, everything you love, it will all fall apart one day. The best you can hope for is to delay the inevitable.” Discord clenched his talons, opening and closing them spasmodically as he spoke. “If you didn't care for her stories, don’t blame her. When she realized what had been done to her, to her story, it completely decimated her mind. With nothing but madness and pain to guide her, she tried to change the past to alter the future, to avert the outcome of her story as best she could. The fact that she’s not here anymore and you are means that she succeeded. You have swapped places." As he continued speaking, Discord was slowly becoming more and more solid, as was the world around him. "It would appear that I will get my wish as well. There can be no Chaos without Order, Twilight. But the world will not end as it did for her, with all her friends my puppets, with everything she believed in destroyed. With me triumphant. This time the world will go on.”
“But it can’t go on!” Twilight screamed, her voice filled with more anguish than she had realized she felt. “The world is over! My friends are dead! And you,” she drew in a deep breath, tears spilling from her eyes,” you are triumphant! Chaos has destroyed Order, just as you said. There’s nothing left but to wait for my mind to snap like hers drifting in this living hell! Then, if I’m lucky, I’ll cease to exist too. That's what I have to look forward to, isn't it?! That's what drove her insane in the first place!” Twilight fell to her knees, clutching her head in agony.
“No, no Twilight. You’ve got it all wrong!” Discord shook his head, taking Twilight Sparkle by the shoulders. “She was a very troubled pony. She sacrificed your world, yes, but your world still exists. It’s in here,” he said as he touched her head with one claw, “and here.” he finished as he touched the spot on her chest over her heart. “As I say, you have to understand, I am a being of Chaos, disharmony and destruction are all I know. But you...you are a creature of Order, Twilight Sparkle. You have always been a creature of Order, and you will always be exactly who and what you were meant to be. Much as I hate the very concept of it, one cannot exist without the other. I cannot exist...without you. That we’re both still here means that there’s still a chance that the story will go on, even if it is only for just a little longer.”
The broken unicorn looked into the draconequus eyes and saw only sincerity. “So, somewhere everypony is still out there? Somewhere everypony is okay? I don’t understand, how is that possible? What are you saying?”
Discords intangible claws sank down through Twilight’s shoulders, dipping into her chest. She could feel them catch on something that pulled away with a sharp tug. As the Spirit of Disharmony pulled his claws out, something else came with them. “What I’m saying is- reality is what you make it.” In his claws he held a book that was more solid, more real than anything Twilight had ever seen. The cover of the book was shiny and new, absolutely blank. Just as she knew each of its golden pages would be. As the book opened, her eyes began to swirl with light, a grin spreading across her face. In that moment, for the first time perhaps in her entire life, everything was finally clear.
Canterlot stood a crumbling mess. There were many ponies who had been injured. Fortunately it seemed that everypony was going to be okay, even if they were a little shaken by what they had witnessed. The damage from the changeling attack had been quite extensive. Who could have guessed that their Queen had managed to sneak into Canterlot and almost take over all of Equestria? Celestia had been powerless against her and the Elements of Harmony couldn’t even be brought into play. There hadn't been a disaster this dire since Discord’s escape from his stone prison. Yet the changeling horde had been driven back by the very thing that they would normally feed on, the love between two ponies.
Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s marriage was going to go ahead, now that the threat to their happiness had been removed. Twilight Sparkle was so proud of the city of her birth. All of Canterlot pulled together to get the city and the palace back into shape for the long delayed wedding. Of course she did her part, simultaneously supervising the repairs and the final wedding preparations. Seeing her brother finally able to relax was reward enough for her. He’d been so distracted before, almost like a stranger...and she remembered how angry he had been when he had thought she was trying to ruin his special day. Those memories haunted her, but it was easy to drown them in work. Her friends helped of course. Rarity’s dresses were always stunning, Fluttershy’s choir of birds were pitch perfect, Applejack’s food was to die for.
Of course the ceremony itself was beautiful. Everything was perfect down to the finest detail, Twilight had seen to that. All of her friends were there and smiling. The sonic rainboom, as performed by Rainbow Dash, was the stunning icing on the proverbial cake. With that, it was Pinkie Pie’s turn. The pink party pony had truly outdone herself this time, hiring the famous DJ Pon3 to perform for the royal wedding reception. And Twilight herself sang the first song in honor of her dear brother and her childhood friends happiness.
The night was truly magical, everypony was enjoying themselves. Celestia and Luna mingled among their happy subjects and seemed to be having a good time. The upper crust of Canterlot were there as well. Rarity seemed to be sticking close to Mr. Fancy Pants and his entourage. There would be talk later, but as Fleur de Lis put one hoof possessively on Mr. Fancy Pants’ shoulder, Twilight doubted that the gossip would last long. It looked like there might be another wedding in the future if she could read anything from the look in the two high class ponies eyes.
Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom were there, having served as the flower fillies, it was only fair that they’d be allowed to stay up late and keep Spike company at the party. They had hoped to get cutie marks for doing such a good job scattering flowers, not once but twice, yet their flanks were still blank, even Sweetie Belle’s. Still, they seemed to be enjoying the party almost as much as Derpy Hooves. The usually clumsy pony was really enjoying herself, but she was on her best behavior tonight. With her mother supervising her, there was very little chance she could misbehave. The two looked strikingly similar. The only real way to tell them apart at a glance was to check their eyes. Derpy’s would still drift apart from time to time, much to the giggles of those around her, while her mothers remained still, kind and calm. Twilight couldn’t remember ever seeing Derpy as happy as she was tonight.
As her brother and Princess Cadance got into their chariot to drive off, Cadance tossing the bouquet to her bridesmaids - and one very determined Rarity - Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but feel a warmth growing inside her heart. Love for her friends, her family, her hometown, for everypony in Equestria filled her heart. “Now this was a great ending.” said Twilight.
“Beg yer pardon?” asked Applejack.
“I said this was a great wedding.” said Twilight smiling to her friends.
“Oh yeah?” said Spike. “Just wait until you see what I’ve got planned for the bachelor party!”
Fireworks filled the night sky. The guests of honor may have left but it seemed the party might go on until dawn. The world, in all it’s beautiful chaos, spun on. But this story at least had come to a happy end.
Putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece, a warmth flooded her mind, comforting and filling her with happy feelings. The propeller on her hat began to spin as she floated into the air. Her eyes danced with mad delight as she flew gently through a world bright and alive with chaos. Chocolate milk rain fell briefly from the sky, but it sleeted harmlessly around her, a little funneling into her mouth merely because she willed it. It was super tasty today! As she glided past floating houses and flying pigs, she saw who she was looking for seated in the middle of town. Of course it wasn't like she could lose him, she could feel him at the back of her mind whenever she wanted. Daddy was sitting in his favorite chair, enjoying the world that surrounded him at his leisure.
She squee'd as she realized all her friends were there too! It had taken so long to sew them back together and even longer to find all the pieces, but it had been completely worth it. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, their grey bodies resplendent gathered around daddy's favorite chair, sat bathing Discord with their attention. They couldn't take their eyes off him. Though that was probably because daddy hadn't let her to give them back their eyelids just yet. Oh! And Celestia and Luna were here too! They were never far from daddy these days, but it was nice to see they weren't crying for once. She had no idea why they cried so much, daddy treated everyone so well after all! He'd even made them skin they could wear whenever they felt like being social! It didn't fit them as well as their old skin, but she felt it was still a very thoughtful gift.
Why, with everypony here, she'd have a perfect audience for her latest story! She just knew the others would be just as thrilled as daddy! She floated down to Discord's throne and plopped herself right on his knee. Daddy pretended not to notice her at first, but couldn't help but laugh as he looked down into her smiling face. "What's this you've got here little one? Another one of your fantasies? Oh, this should be good for a laugh!" She could barely contain her eagerness as Discord's talons flicked through her latest work. It was full of monsters and mayhem and true love. There were even a few songs! She just knew he'd be pleased! "My, my my. You've truly outdone yourself this time. We'll have to share this one with all your little friends. I'm sure they'll love it." He smiled with his big, sharp teeth. His face was so handsome! How could anypony not love her daddy?
"You and your stories always brighten up everyponies day."
