So there Spike and Twilight were, once again in Cloudsdale, at the point in time where Starlight Glimmer changed things. In front of them was Starlight herself, holding the time scroll with her bare magic. Anger and sadness clearly had befallen her face, for she had just shown them a painful part of her past. One more rip of the scroll and she would forever trap the two of them in that timeline, and there would be no way for them to change things.
"Your'e right." Twilight said. "I don't know what you went through. But I do know you can't do this. I've seen where this leads and so have you."
"I only saw what you showed me." Starlight replied. "Who knows what'll really happen.'
"I've seen it a dozen times. Things don't happen well in Equestria without me and my friends."
"Uuugh" Groaned Sunset. "What's so special about your friends? How could a group of ponies that are so different, be so important?"
"Because the difference between my friends are what make our friendships strong." Twilight replied.
"I thought Sunburst and I were the same, but we turned out different, and it tore our friendship apart!!!"
Now Starlight was streaming in tears of pain and anguish.
"So try again." Twilight pleaded. "Make new friends. And if something you can't control happens....
"SHUT, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!
The very force of Starlight's scream caused Twilight and Spike to fly back dozens of feet. Eventually they impacted on one of Cloudsdale's columns. From the look of it, they were knocked out unconscious.
Now Starlight stared at the seemingly lifeless bodies of her foes. Her eyes streaming red with tears and her nostrils snorting out puffs of steam.
"How dare you..." She said coldly. "How dare you put more pain on a pony just to get her attention. Some friend you are. You think everything just ends the way you want it to, with all your friends and loved ones on your side strolling off into the sunset. And for what, so you can be the center of attention. Well not this time Twilight. Once I destroy this spell, you will know what it's like to have everything you love taken away and crushed to pieces. Then we'll be even, Then we'll be equal!!!"
But before she could make one last blow to the parchment, Twilight woke from her unconscious and bolted a zap of magic straight into her face, not even giving her time to dodge it. The force was so strong, it pelted her back thousands of feet across the cumulus landscape. With every several miles, she impacted against the grand buildings and arenas of Cloudsdale. The final, fatal impact touched her horn, and she swore she could hear a popping sound on her horn. Finally, she landed on the steps of the weather factory just inches from the entrance.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike grabbed the scroll, rolled it up and safely placed the spell in her backpack. Then they rushed over to the now frail body of Starlight, who was just coming too. Her coat was now covered in bruises and marks, yet her face was still gleaming with anger.
"Why?" She said in a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me you had that power?"
"I didn't want to." Twilight replied. "But I had no choice. It was either you or the fate of Equestria. You might say it was a last minute resort."
"What do you mea..." Starlight touched the top of her horn and felt a crack at it's tip. Stunned, she tried to commit any spell that popped into her head, but to no avail. All she could produce were a few, pathetic sparks that quickly disintegrated into the clouds.
"Now you are powerless." Twilight said. "Now you can't hurt us anymore. I know you've been hurt, but it was no excuse to hurt those who didn't want anything to do with you. And when ponies try to rid other ponies of their friends, it can end up with them losing something even more precious. So take my hoof Starlight. I can rejuvenate you back, but on the condition that you give friendship a second chance."
Twilight reached her hoof out to Starlight's as she clumsily tried to get up. Her eyes widened in an innocent look and her mouth gaped open like a child staring at the sky. For a moment, it seemed the little foal that had long gone bestowed itself back into what remained of Starlight's soul. But yet, that soul was obviously gone, as Starlight's face turned from innocence to anger once more. She slapped Twilight's foreleg out of the way and let out a monstrous scream. She trudged her hoof into the ground and charged forward like a wild bull ready to blow.
"If that's your choice..." Twilight said remorsefully. "Then I must do what needs to be done."
With a sigh of pity, she made one last humongous blow of magic, shooting straight into Starlight's face. She flung into the rainbow factory's entrance, through the hallways and into the laboratories, without any sign of slowing down her momentum. Finally, she fell down the stairs and into a fresh vat of rainbow goop, letting out a cry that could be heard all around the lab.
Splurge was the sound her body made upon impact. It was a gruesome sight as she struggled to get out, but with no luck. Her skin had fused with the lava-like substance and there was no hope of escape. Finally, she choked on her own spit and succumbed to her predicament.
Twilight and Spike rushed into the lab in an attempt to rescue her. But they were too late. All they could see was a right foreleg slowly sinking to it's grisly demise. The Alicorn could not believe it as she collapsed in shock and confusion. For the very first time, the Princess of Friendship failed to save somepony through friendship. For the very first time, she had been forced to take the life of another rather than give one. For the very first time, a life came to an end all because of her.
"Twilight..." Spike started as he tried to comfort her. "I'm so..."
But before he could, Twilight tugged away and started to cry. Not a word could be said, nor an action could be made. Yet, at that moment, the two were startled by a rainbow like glow off in the distance. Rainbow Dash had done it. She had commenced the sonic rainboom. Now all was in balance, all was safe, and all was right. But at what cost?
"Come on Spike." Twilight sighed as she wiped away her tears. "Let's go home."
As they turned away and headed outside, they heard what sounded like a gurgle coming out of the rainbow like ooze. Believing it was nothing, they continued to proceed towards the time portal, which was just beginning to open up. However, that gurgle was not their imagination, for unbeknownst to them, a horrifically disfigured pony emerged out of the vat. This was all that had remained of what was once Starlight Glimmer. What had been a powerful, corrupt Mare, was reduced to a shell of a living things. 2nd and 3rd degree burns had covered all of her body, some of which were completely melted away to reveal bits of muscle tissue. Her lips had been charred off, exposing her teeth and tongue. Her hooves had been horrifically deformed, barely giving her the ability to so much a trudge several feet. And her once glorious mane had been reduced to nothing more than the buzzcut. The only familiarity of hers was the fiery rage in her eyes, which had miraculously been unscathed. This did not concern her, as she used whatever pathetic strength she had left to crawl toward her adversary, in the hopes of killing her.
Her mouth trickled large amounts of saliva and blood, leaving a trail of a gory mess on Cloudsdale's pavement. This caught the attention of Spike and Twilight, who heard her sloppy breath coming towards them. With a last might, the living corpse that was once Starlight, lifted her head up and leaned towards a bucket of spears, which were used for archery practice nearby. She picked one of them up and aimed towards the Princess of Friendship's head. But just before she could make one final blow, her foreleg snapped and fell to the floor.
"Ah.... Shit." Starlight gurgled. "I picked..... a heavy one."
Then she leaned over to the side and coughed up a few mouth fulls of blood.
"The heat's..... getting to me.... Aaagh." She continued as made her last few breaths. "I'll murder you.... momentarily. Aaaah.... but first... I need... a cool drink.... of iced.... cider...."
Before she could finish her sentence, her jaw fell off and finally collapsed on the weight of her pain. Now all she could do was was make a few gagging breaths and make a few instinctive jerks. Twilight slowly walked over to the bloody mess and picked up the spear.
"I may not be able to save you from your error." She said to her dying enemy. "But I can still save you from your pain."
With one swift blow, she stabbed Starlight Glimmer straight in the heart, putting her out of her misery.
As was traditional among all Equestrians, a few minutes of silence was bestowed between Twilight and Spike, as they paid their respects to the Unicorn they tried but failed to redeem. Then they took a deep breath and tossed the corpse off of the clouds, as it fell into an open field below.
Now it was truly time to leave. The mission accomplished, but a great cost was made. Such it was on that day. Yet they all needed to move on. With one small jump, they entered the portal and returned to their own timeline.
They softly landed on what was obviously their castle and their world, as the scroll disappeared in the abyss of the vortex, turning everything back to normal.
Spike promptly went to the floor, kissing it with glee.
"One castle of friendship, check." He stated.
Suddenly, the doors opened with all 5 of Twilight's friends staring in bewilderment.
"What in Equestria was that?" Asked Rarity.
"Is everypony Ok?" Asked Fluttershy.
"Eeee, can you do it again?" Pinkie asked.
"One group of amazing friends, check." Stared a reassured Spike.
"Yeah, spike." Replied a solemn Twilight. "It looks like we're home."
"Uh, you alright Twi?" Asked a concerned Applejack.
"I just need to be alone for awhile."
And so Twilight walked sadly to her bedroom with tears in her eyes.
"What's going here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Um, I'll explain everything in the dining hall." Spike replied. "But now I gotta write a letter to Celestia."
Her friends nodded as they walked to that room awaiting what needed to be said.
And so it was, Twilight sat in her bed and began to cry. She was saddened, and yet she felt relieved. All was back to normal, and yet she had to do someone no one would dream of doing: Killing Somepony. More importantly, what would her friends think? Would they think anything less of her? Or would they understand what needed to be done? And then it occurred to her. Spike was there, he saw the whole thing. He knew what happened. And since he would tell of their journey, she knew they would understand. So with a few more tears, she fell asleep, under the reassuring safety that friends would be with her till the very end.
All was well, all was calm, all was equal.
Author's Note
I know you guys are obviously bewildered with how gruesome this ending, but I think this serves as a much more suitable ending to the finale. I for one was kind of pissed off with how abrupt and quick Twilight was able to change the mind of Starlight. I mean, I know it's a kids show, but the fact that she went from pain and anguish to forgiveness and redemption in just 30 seconds flat seemed so unnatural. she really looked like she was going to rip up the scroll without hesitating, and then all of the sudden change her mind at the flip of the coin. Personally, I think it would've been better if Twilight showed her a letter from Sunburst regarding how much he cherished their friendship. Or maybe introduce her to Applebloom, or Sunset Shimmer, explaining how they experienced what she went through, and that they regretted rushing themselves. I don't know, it's just my opinion. I'm open to criticisms.
It was nighttime in Pony. Every resident was asleep. Everyone, of course, except Twilight. She trotted around her room, alone, afraid, and still bewildered. She could still not believe the atrocity she had done. She had committed a spell she promised she would never do. A forbidden spell that would put somepony behind bars for life. But then again, what other choice did she have?
Suddenly, a little tap was heard at her chamber door. As the courteous pony that she was, she slowly opened it. And there she was, the great and powerful Princess Celestia, along with two other guards, presumably ready to take her away with whatever punishment she saw fit. Twilight bowed her head in shame, yet surprisingly, her princess ally lifted her head up with a smile bestowing her face.
"Why must you look at me so lightly your majesty?" Asked Twilight as her eyes filled with tears. "Don't you realize what I had just done?"
"Yes I do." Answered the great and powerful leader. "Spike explained everything, and you have nothing to fear."
She gave the guards a nod, to which they nodded back and backed away, leaving the two to their privacy.
Twilight stared at the magnificence and radiance that was Celestia, feeling unworthy to stare at her elegant beauty.
"That Starlight Glimmer must have been pretty powerful from what I have heard." Celestia stated. "Almost as powerful as either me or my sister, or maybe Cadence."
"She obviously had more magic talent than almost any pony I've ever encountered." Twilight replied solemnly. "My magic couldn't stop her, I even tried to convince her to stop on on her own. But she was in far too much pain and anguish to have her mind changed. So I was forced to use a spell I promised I would never use, not even on her."
Tears streamed down Twilights cheek as she started to sob profusely.
"And...because of that." She continued as she gathered whatever strength she had left. "I...I killed her. I killed her with my own bare horn."
She bowed her head once more in shame, as Celestia looked down at her. Then she ran towards her dresser and took out her royal crown, presenting it to Celestia.
"Here." Twilight said. "Give this crown to somepony more worthy."
"What?" Celestia asked in confusion.
"Didn't you hear the whole story back there?" Twilight asked bitterly. "I don't deserve to be the Princess of Friendship. Not after what I did. Because of me, somepony is dead. I am a murderer. Don't you get it? Starlight Glimmer is Dead! What kind of Alicorn does that and gets away with it. I just want to except my punishment and denounce my position. Because no friend should kill another pony, even if Equestria is at stake. I am a stone cold killer and I...I...."
She couldn't think of the right words to say next. So much anguish, so much hurt, and so much self loathing had built up inside her. Now she knew how Starlight felt, only this time, it was on her.
"I deserve to be locked away." She finished. "Tartarus Here I come."
Then she threw herself on the bed and started packing with her suitcase as tears fell down her cheeks. Meanwhile, Celestia, feeling remorse for her former student, walked over and sat beside as she gently dried her eyes with her wing.
"Twilight." She began after a few brief moments of silence. "Remember when I said that we are all students to you as you were to me?"
"Yeah." Twilight replied quietly.
"Well, you taught me something today. A very difficult lesson to be exact."
"What? That you overestimated me and that someponies just don't deserve what was thought of them?"
"No." Celestia replied with a chuckle. "You taught me that when somepony is too powerful to be stopped, and in too pain to be persuaded, you must do what is necessary to end their suffering, even if it means ending them."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked as she wiped what was left in her tear ducts. "I was so close to helping her. So close to having her see the error of her ways. I could've shown another way out. I could've done something, and I failed."
"I know, I know." Celestia replied as she rubbed her back with her wing. "You keep thinking: If only I could have done something different. If only I could've redeemed her. But there was nothing else you could do. There was nothing else anypony could do."
Twilight looked up to her former tutor and leaned her head against her long swan like neck.
"We can only hope you will never have to use that dark magic on anypony again." Celestia continued.
"I feel so ashamed." Twilight said under her breath.
"Don't be. You had no choice. And as far as I know, you have saved Equestria. Only this time, it came with a price. Just like me when I was forced to banish my sister."
"But Starlight isn't like Luna." Twilight replied. "She's not coming back. She's dead, and there's nothing I can do about it."
Celestia thought for a moment.
"Maybe in this life. But I have heard of a spell that may give her a chance in another."
"What do you mean?" Asked Twilight.
"Come."
And with that, the two princess flew out of the castle and into the field, with the guards trudging right behind them.
