Random Revelations
(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Hasbro or Lauren Faust, and certainly have nothing to do with My Little Pony™. I am simply an author writing a story for my own entertainment and for readers like you. Also, recommended you read through this with a clear, creative mind, otherwise, the story won't make sense at all.)
Princess Luna
Well...I admit, being in a glass jar with two other ponies I killed isn't exactly what I envisioned my afterlife to be like, but at least it couldn't get worse.
Rainbow Dash
I'm stuck in a glass jar with a crazy Twilight Sparkle, a Princess that just tried to murder her sister and had us killed in the process, and no way to get (Much) room away from them for perhaps the rest of my 'life'. Joy to the world.
Twilight Sparkle
This was a disaster; this shouldn't have happened! Although everything made sense, this plan shouldn't have worked! There was no way that Celestia could be evil, just couldn't! My increasing getting rapid breathing was concerning Rainbow Dash, as was seen from her backing away from me, but I didn't care. There just had to be some way to fix this, just some way! But...I couldn't think of anything. Nothing came to mind at all. We were stuck in this glass jar, and soon, all of Equestria would fall to my mentor. How could...How could this have happened?
Celestia
This was going to be very fun.
As my captain of the guard walked away in a slightly hurried state, I placed the jar of ghost spirits away; they could rot away for all I cared, that is, if they could rot. It would be quite interesting to see if they did, seeing as they didn't need anything to survive on, but I digress. I grinned evilly as I looked out from my balcony at Equestria, and watched as the sun started to fall; it was almost time to raise the moon, and my plan worked. I was the sole ruler of Equestria, and there was nopony that could stop me;.
Looking behind me, there was one 'pony' that was hiding in the shadows; one of my captains, who was watching the entire event with silent eyes. He stepped forward, and at first glance, seemed to be unaffected by what he just saw, but I knew that inside, he was trembling, he knew what I was capable of, and what I was going to do if he chose to betray me. I waved a hoof at him and had a 'come hither' expression on my face, and slowly, he stepped even closer. When he was close enough, I whispered in his ears, and told him that now was the time, to open the eyes of Equestria, and have them know that I was in charge.
I would do no such thing, however, unfortunately for the three ghosts. As they were dragged oh so close, I produced a large, clear, glass jar, the kind that you would see holding pickles, candies and the like. I reached out with a hoof, and 'entangled' them in my hoof like cotton candy; I then placed the three ghosts into the jar, and forcefully clamped the lid back on the jar before the three had a chance to escape. I smiled as the three ponies inside the jar writhed around, the magic inside the jar restraining them inside and making them unable to leave the jar. Well, I now had the game. All my opponents, gone. The only thing left was to unleash my army of loyal 'ponies' on Equestria, and have them know just who it was that now commanded the thrones.
I looked over at Twilight Sparkle, my 'student', her friend, and Luna. They could do some damage, I knew, if they were left unchecked. Especially Luna, my 'sister', who had just joined their ranks. So my horn began to glow; and too late did my 'student' realize that the magic was meant for her, her friend, and Luna. As I unleashed the magic, it swarmed around them, then, for lack of a better term, dragged them over to me, and it was such sweet music to me to hear them scream and beg, yes, oh, yes, begging to be released...Their pitiful cries of anguish filled me with joy.
Luna
I just...Waited. Sat there. What could I do? I couldn't overpower my sister, I didn't have a backup plan, and...She knew everything. Planned everything so well that she actually made her plan work alongside mine. There was...Just nothing I could do. So I waited; waited for that sword to come down upon me like a reaper of death; my will to resist against my sister was just shattered. The last thing I ever heard was the sharp 'whoosh'. I opened my eyes, and realized that I was still alive; how? I looked down, and saw that my body was...Well, getting soaked in blood. I was a ghost, I realized; so, perhaps that's one rumor of the afterlife solved. I would've had more time to ponder about my 'existence', when my sister's horn started to glow...
Celestia
She didn't move; she just stared at me with an empty look in her eyes as I approached her. That was good; it just made the dirty part of the plan that much easier. It was a shame she didn't put up a resistance, though; I would of have had fun breaking her into a whining, crying, sniveling excuse of a princess, but it wouldn't be too much fun if she was already broken. Oh well, you take what you can get; any less would just be inexcusable. As I approached her, I cooed softly, murmuring sweet nothings as I lifted the sword up high. My moment of triumph was at hoof; there was no stopping it. The sword came down with a satisfying 'whoosh', and Luna was no more, her crown clattering to the floor beside her dismembered head.
Finally, I told them about the final step; the step was happening right now, in fact. I told them that there was nothing that any of them could do; Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash couldn't hurt me, because ghosts cannot physically cause harm to living ponies (Which also includes trying to use magic), and my 'sister' knows she has no chance. She was intending on taking me by surprise; a foolish yet somewhat amusing idea. She would never dare to take me on; I spent a thousand years raising my sun and her moon, battling exhaustion, that damned aristocracy, and other nations, and she thinks to usurp me? I laughed, and with a brutal yank, I tore the sword from what little remained from Luna's magic. She cried out in pain, and Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash could only watch as I approached my sister with the bastard sword, my intent clear in the glint in my eyes.
Then began the second part of my plan; I waited some more. It was so hard, so very hard to wait even longer, but it was necessary. I smiled as I watched my 'sisters' progress, learning about how much she hated me, what she was going to do to me...It was so refreshingly violent, and I could easily take advantage of that rage, make her think that the only way to get rid of me was violence, and needing to use a third party to do that. I smiled sadly at Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash; they didn't need to die, but it was so much easier for the plan and me if they did, so, I let Luna kill them. It was of no consequence, anyway; everything would be mine regardless if they survived or not. They were shocked to learn of this, and Twilight's grip on the sword started to falter; it weakened, but it didn't matter at that point. Luna was shocked by my explanation of how she was duped so easily; well, she'd be even more shocked to learn of what was coming next.
I began my explanation about how this was all planned thousands upon thousands of years ago; I spoke of the 'sisterly' rivalry between Luna and I, and how it was the start of all of this. I was hatching a complicated plan; one that I knew that would most likely take thousands of years to finally reach the end of, but would be all worth it in the end. After the whining from my 'sister' about the night finally became unbearable, I blasted my 'sister' with the Elements of Harmony; I knew that a thousand years was a long time for her to come back, but it was the only way I knew how to make sure that her rage and hatred were well contained and near unbreakable. A thousand years later, her 'saviors' would appear; the very same Elements, only wielded by six ponies instead of me.
Luna
How dare she snicker at a time like this? This was my moment; the moment I've been waiting for all these years! I raised up my sword to administer a painful dose of death when another magical aura surrounded the sword I was levitated, and wrenched it aside, trying to stop me from swinging the sword; my eyes widened as I saw a faint, transparent image of Twilight Sparkle. What was this, some kind of trick? I turned over to look at my sister, who had a predatory smile upon her face, and before I could say anything, she spoke, and I would have never known until then that this was all a trap.
Rainbow Dash
We were walking (Flying in my case) through the castle, lookin' for Princess Celestia. Honestly, why is the castle so damn big if ponies only used a few rooms? Well, whatever the case, Twilight looked a bit uneasy...I was, as well, but I obviously hid it. No point in having Twilight look at me and then worry some more; Celestia knows what happens when she worries too much. Anyway, we were getting lost until I flew into the throne room; there, I saw Princess Celestia alright, but I also saw Luna, holding a...Whoa, was that a bastard sword?! Cool! I had this brief image of me holding that very sword until I realized that Luna was intent on some Equestria domination thing. I shouted Twilight's name, and hoped that she had some idea of defusing the situation.
Twilight Sparkle
It was disturbing to walk through the castle. I don't know why and I don't think it affected Rainbow Dash, but there was just something off about the place as we searched for Princess Celestia. It was as if the very air was foul and musty; it smelled of evil, and I was worried that we were too late. A shout from Rainbow Dash, however, told me that was not the case; Celestia was in the throne room. We dashed forward, ready to shout out a warning to my teacher, but Luna was already there, a sword levitated in her magical grasp. Before anything happened, however, Celestia snicked softly. Luna, looking furious at my teacher, was about to swing the sword; I could feel the hatred and intention behind the magic she was about to use, and, thinking quickly, I stopped Luna from swinging the sword by sending in a power aura of magic to try and wrestle control over the sword; I probably couldn't keep it away from Luna for too long, but at least it was worth the effort of not letting her hurt my teacher. At this point, Celestia started to speak, and those words would forever scar my mind.
Celestia
Well, if there was one thing I could count on arriving on time, it was Luna; she came along with a bastard sword, levitated by her magic. It was a fitting sword for my 'sister', and certainly for the reason that I thought of her as. I smiled warmly as she came close; she was probably about to engage in some highly thought of and over-exaggerated speech when I was saved by two ponies, my 'student', Twilight Sparkle, and her friend, Rainbow Dash. I snickered softly, which happened to infuriate my 'sister'. Before I let her drone on and on, I spoke first. She raised the sword to strike me, but was stopped by Twilight's magical aura; oh, yes, how deliciously ironic fate can be.
I wonder when Twilight and her friend will get here. After all, I want them to be here to see this. I snickered into my hooves; this was all going according to plan. Forging the letter, secretly eavesdropping on my 'sister'; oh, this would be so deliciously amusing once Luna finds out that shes been working towards her own demise. After all, a 'sisterly' rivalry is extremely healthy, but, all good things must come to an end...And I plan on making that end quick and painless. Maybe. After all, even though she is my 'sister', that doesn't mean she shouldn't suffer.
Rainbow Dash
We were getting closer and closer to the train stop; finally, a chance to stretch my wings and fly! I looked down at Twilight...Who was sleeping. Figures, if I wasn't around, she'd have missed her chance at saving Princess Celestia! I shook her awake roughly; no time to be gentle, and I don't do gentle anyway! She still looked dazed as she got up and wiped drool from her mouth, though, so I slapped her. As she demanded to know why I slapped her, I told her that we were here, and no sooner than I said those words, she shot off, and even I was hard-pressed to follow her.
Twilight Sparkle
My thinking was rudely interrupted with Rainbow shaking me roughly; I must have fallen asleep while I was thinking. I wiped some drool (At least, that's what I hope it was) from my mouth, and looked around groggily. Rainbow Dash sighed, and slapped me with a hoof; well, apparently, you can still feel pain as a ghost. I winced, and rubbed at my cheek while demanding to know why she just slapped me. She said that the train stopped, and that we should hurry on over to the castle. Instantly energized, I ran out of the train, with Rainbow Dash hot on my hooves. The train must have taken multiple stops along the way; it was just about to enter sundown. Perhaps we could...No, we would get to the Princess in time.
I studied under one of the princesses themselves, made six of the very best friends anypony could ask for, saved Ponyville and Equestria from numerous things, and learned all about friendship along the way of my life. If anything, I know that I lived a nice, full life, even if it was a bit too exciting for me at times. I wonder what they were doing now; they didn't know anything about what we were doing, and were probably doing what they did best...Rarity, making dresses, Fluttershy, tending to the animals, Applejack, bucking apples, Pinkie...Being Pinkie and working at Sugar Cube Corner. What would they say if they knew about any of this?
Rainbow Dash
I will say this now, I hated that train ride. It was uncomfortable, my wings ached, and it was quiet. I hate quiet. It means something awesome wasn't happening! Well, I suppose you could call our mission awesome, but whatever. Since there was really nothing to do, I started thinking about my life; what exactly did I do? Did I do anything that I'm actually proud of? I made a list that, while very short, also contained very important events; Defeating Nightmare Moon, defeating Queen Chrysalis, pushing myself to be the best I could be, learning about friendship along with Twilight...I couldn't really think of anything else. When Twilight asked me what I was doing, I told her that I was thinking about my life; what I think I did right, and if it was a good life. I told her that yes, my life was great, not only because I had her and everypony else as a friend, but also because of what we did together, like (Ugh) 'studying' friendship.
Twilight Sparkle
It was a very, very uncomfortable ride in the train. Most of the ride was in silence, and keeping to our own thoughts. While I appreciated the silence, it wasn't exactly comforting to see Rainbow Dash so quiet and thoughtful. When I asked her what she was thinking about, she told me that she was wondering if she lived a good life, and, although she didn't get to make it to the Wonderbolts just yet, she was satisfied with her life and wouldn't have done anything to change it. I especially liked the part where she said that her life was good because of our friends, me, and studying friendship alongside with me (Although I swear she shuddered at saying 'studying'). Her words were oddly deep, coming from her, and they caused me to stop thinking about plans to stop Nightmare Moon, and return thoughts back to my short lifespan.
Rainbow Dash
I said some pretty mean things to Twilight; it was all to encourage her, though! It worked, too; never seen the egghead run so fast. Unfortunately that didn't last as she stopped by the ticket booth, wanting to pay for a ticket. I sighed, and reminded her that we didn't need tickets, considering...Well, we didn't have any bits anyway and because nopony could see us. After pulling her away from the ticket booth, we hitched onto the last train car, and off we went, to Canterlot.
Twilight Sparkle
With some extremely harsh words of encouragement to me from Rainbow Dash, we wasted no time on hitching a ride on a train to Canterlot. Although I wanted to pay for a ticket like any other pony, Dash reminded me that we were ghosts and as such weren't bound by that obligation. The fact that I couldn't even do something as simple as smiling at my friends and with them never, ever being able to see me smile again hurt me deeply. We boarded the last train car, and just in time, too; the train started to move away from the station.
I thought the cycle wouldn't repeat, would never, ever, repeat itself again, but here we are, ready to prevent it from happening; we are, after all, the catalysts that set this off in motion, and like it or not, we had to warn Princess Celestia about the impending disaster that was going to happen; that, at least, I owed to my former teacher. Why was Luna doing this? I thought we defeated Nightmare Moon...
If we did fail, we would be living in darkness; well, maybe living was the wrong way to put it, but I digress. My mind wandered back to the letter; why would Princess Luna tell us what was going to happen? Perhaps she thought us helpless; well, she thought wrong. We wouldn't be mere unknowing throw-able pawns in her game. We set off towards Canterlot, our minds set in stone. We couldn't let this happen.
Rainbow Dash
Ah...This...Wasn't what I was expecting at all. I threw the letter to the ground; what else could I do? When Twilight asked me what was wrong, I sighed, and picked up the letter. I read it aloud to her; and she immediately looked worried. I know I would be, if I knew that somepony was going to die. I nodded towards the general direction of Canterlot...I think. She saw what I was doing, and nodded back at me. I smiled; even in death, we were still saving Equestria.
Twilight Sparkle
As Dash read through the letter, her good mood got darker and darker, eventually ending up in her throwing the letter to the floor. When I asked what was wrong, Rainbow Dash sighed, and showed me the letter, demonstrating the use of spectral objects in the process. It was a letter, addressed from Princess Luna. The pegasus didn't look too happy about it; I would've been happy to receive a letter from either princess, even...If it was one that told me that they regret ever knowing me. I read through the letter, and my eyes widened as I took in the implications that this could lead to. I looked up at the sun, which had now fully risen, and I looked down upon the pegasus, who nodded slowly in the general direction of Canterlot, and I nodded back. We couldn't stay here. We had a Princess to warn, and we couldn't fail at our task.
Rainbow Dash
Awesome, I got more mail! Heck yeah, Rainbow Dash is still kickin' it with fans even in death! When I noticed that Twilight looked confused, I laughed; finally, a chance to show her that I knew something she didn't! Although I had to make up a few things. I told her some mumbo-jumbo that seemed far-fetched to even me, but she accepted it, it looked like. Well, whatever, time to read the letter and see who it was that sent it this time!
Twilight Sparkle
You can imagine my confusion when the moment Ditsy laid the letter down on top of the farewell flowers and such for Rainbow Dash that I heard a rather catchy 'beep', sort of like a notification for something. I turned around to see a floating spectral version of the letter that Dash just received, and she was already reading through it. Looking up at me and noticing my confusion, she laughed as she realized that for once, she had knowledge that I didn't. She explained that, in theory, since Pegasai and Earth ponies couldn't manipulate physical objects in death like unicorns can (I have no idea how she knew this, but I kept quiet about it), anything physically sent that wasn't easily discernible, such as a letter inside an envelope, would have a spectral copy of that exact same physical object, thus allowing us 'ghost ponies', as Rainbow Dash dubbed us, to manipulate the object within our own terms.
Maybe things weren't so bad in the 'afterlife', after all. Maybe, one day, I can find the rest of my friends here, and say I'm sorry. As I was thinking, a mare came up to the grave, tears in her eyes, a saddlebag full of mail on her back, and flowers in her mouth. Ditsy, I think her name was. She took a long look at Dash's gravestone, and looked confused, as if she didn't know why she was here in the first place. She seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in, though, and left the flowers at the base of the grave, right on top of the other flowers, which were starting to wilt. Reaching into her saddlebags, she pulled out a letter, and then, surprisingly, a muffin, which she placed on top of the letter, presumably to make sure the letter didn't fly away.
What is life? What is death, for that matter? Is it when we give up hope? When we lay down, ready to breathe in the final breath of life before we cease to be? Just what is it when we continue to live on, past the odds? Borrowed time that has been enabled from sheer willpower or medicine? What if everything was just...A dream? One that you could paint for yourself in whatever way you wanted to? Of course, there are physical and mental limitations on what one can achieve in dreams, but...It's a possibility. We are always taught to pursue our dreams, without realizing that we are living in our own dream world already; it may not be the one that we have wanted, but it's one that we can change. Perhaps that's all that life is. A dream.
Rainbow Dash
I was just sitting by my grave, y'know, just chillin'. I didn't have anything to do, anyway; no point in training if nopony was going to see it, and I doubt the Wonderbolts would take deceased, invisible pegasai into the team. I noticed that somepony was nearby; my hearing was still as great as ever. I turned around, and saw Twilight Sparkle; my friend, but also the one that killed me. Eh, I wasn't mad at her; it was also my fault for crashing into her library, so I couldn't entirely blame her. She sat down next to me, and on impulse, I wrapped a hoof around her's; I was surprised to see that it still felt solid. I sighed happily; perhaps things wouldn't be too bad after all.
Twilight Sparkle
There were other ponies, those who had the same exact wings and halos; I wonder why I didn't notice them earlier. One of those ponies, however, attracted my attention more than the rest. Rainbow Dash was by her grave, a rather interesting and large tombstone on top of a hill overlooking the cemetery that just screamed 'Look at me!' with its lightning bolt shaped stone and massive amounts of flowers near it. Feeling that somepony was nearby, she looked around, and her eyes met mine; a look of understanding passed through between us, which I was grateful for. Words weren't needed; we both knew the reason why we were here, and because of that, we were paying the ultimate price for the rather poor decisions we made in 'life'. We sat down together, pressing our 'backs' to her gravestone, looking out towards the rising sun. An interesting note; I didn't 'phase' through the stone,like I did with other solid, physical objects. This was worthy of more research, but that could wait for another time. Time, ha! I had all the time in the world to research whatever I wanted, but now, I simply wanted to spend time with one of my friends, gazing at the radiant morning sky with its blues, reds, yellows and oranges, hooves intertwined with each other as, for the moment, we felt at peace; soon, though, my mind became clouded with various thoughts about...'Life'.
Although I didn't mean to, I was walking for quite awhile; while the original intention was to see if I was bound to Spike, and if something would stop me from wandering too far away from him. No such barrier seemed to have existed, though, which left me free to wander about, doing...Nothing. There wasn't anything that I, for once, couldn't think of doing. There was nothing I could do, anyway; I was literally cut off from everypony else. I couldn't communicate with anypony barring magical 'haunting', and I really didn't want to scare my friends to try and get a message across to them. I don't know where I was walking; things seemed so out of place, so different, now that I was cut away from the 'physical' world. It was like my first day in Ponyville, except that, quite obviously, I was deceased. I decided to wander up towards the town's cemetery; after all, I was here in this position because I murdered Rainbow Dash. However, as I walked into the graveyard, I noticed that I wasn't the only one suffering from this.
What...Was this? I wasn't expecting this, oh, no, not at all. The first thing that became immediately apparent was that I had a halo and wings. That's right, I had a golden halo above my head and what looked like white pegasai wings on my back. I have no idea why they were white, but I decided to 'roll' with it. The next thing that I noticed was that I looked...Transparent. Like an actual ghost. Okay, things were getting out of hoof fast. I...'Phased' through the door, and walked downstairs. By now, Spike had returned with four ponies; Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The absence of Rainbow Dash made me sick; either she was sleeping in or really was...Gone. Spike was crying and pointing at the stack of books, explaining how he saw a stack of books suddenly rise and scare the living scales off him. Pinkie Pie thought this was silly (Which was a first from her), Fluttershy had a concerned but dubious look on her face, Applejack looked at Spike with a disapproving glance, and Rarity rather vocally said that he was overreacting and should probably get more sleep at night. I wanted to prove Spike right and my friends wrong, but my blood ran cold when he said that Twilight's ghost...That I was haunting him. Of course, this was a rather startling revelation. Was I really here to haunt him? I slowly began to walk out of the library, phasing through the door, and walked away.
This shouldn't be happening, none of this made sense at all. First, I have a bad dream (Why is it that ponies insist on calling a bad dream, and not a bad nightmare?), then, Spike doesn't listen to me at all, and now...I find out that I can't touch him. Or anything else, for that matter, as my experiments proved when I tried to push or pull items around physically, such as a few spoons on the table, that bowl of gems next to Spike, and trying in vain to open the refrigerator. Rather...Humorously, though, I could use magic to pick things up, and I smiled as I levitated a small stack of books from a nearby bookshelf. What I was NOT counting on, however, was Spike suddenly bolting from his place at the table, and running out onto the street, screaming "GHOST! THERE'S A GHOST IN THE LIBRARY!" Perplexed, I set the stack of books down. A ghost? Would that make me...There was a mirror, in the bathroom upstairs. I walked up the stairs as quickly as I could without fear of hurting myself, and hesitated at the door. I couldn't open it physically, so I...Decided to take a chance. I bounded forward through the door, passing through it...And took a good, hard look at myself.
I can't remember what happened after I died, or, at least, thought I died. It seemed so real; l felt alive, though, and I certainly wasn't feeling the deadly chemicals kick into my system. Guess those rumors of execution and the pain of it didn't live up to its name. I yawned, and took a look around my surroundings; they surprised me quite a bit. I was in my bed, back in the library of Ponyville. I was just executed in some remote area, though! It...Was probably just a dream. A dream where I went completely insane and...I enjoyed pain and the fact that I killed one of my closest friends. Yeah, a dream...Or nightmare, which sounds much more appropriate, even though I don't know which of those scientific classifications would work in this case. I got up from my bed, went downstairs, and found Spike chewing on some gems. I smiled, and waved at Spike. "G'morning, Spike. You would never believe th..." I cut off as I realized that Spike wasn't listening to me; he was continuing to chew on the gems with a blank stare in his eyes. I reached out to touch his shoulder...And my hoof passed right on through him. Not expecting that to happen, I fell down onto the floor in a heap.
The guard looked down at me with sad eyes; I faintly remembered him as a captain when I was a little filly in Princess Celestia's castle. I offered a slight smile at him, trying to forget my current predicament or about what was going to happen. He looked a little unnerved; I suppose that's what happens when you find yourself to be precisely sixty-seven years two-hundred and thirty one days thirteen hours forty five minutes twenty one seconds five milliseconds old and counting, while looking down at a now grown-up mare that you fondly remember frolicking around in the castle and are now expected to end her life via lethal injection. That's what I thought, anyway. I quickly began speaking to the guard, telling him I didn't mean to do it, that this was all a mistake, a bad, terrible, horrifying mistake, and that I could; no, I would make it up for all of this. The guard paused, and looked over towards the small group of ponies; one of those ponies, my former teacher, hesitated slightly. My heart pumped frantically; she was the only one that could save me from this. I saw her open her mouth...Then she closed it, and nodded for the guard to go on. The guard sighed, and plunged the needle in, injecting the chemicals into my system. It wasn't necessary, though; I was already dead from the shock of witnessing my teacher order a guard to kill me; my teacher, one of the Princesses of Equestria, had ordered the guard to kill me.
When I came to, it seemed that I woke up in a strange place, somewhere I knew that I never set my eyes on before. I looked around, curious; I was strapped down onto a bed, and there was a small crowd of ponies on the other side of a glass pane, watching me. I didn't know how much time had passed since I passed out, but that didn't matter at all. Those ponies were watching me with wide eyes, and some were Not quite what I imagined the rest of my life would be like, but perhaps restraining me in this way was a much more effective way of making sure I didn't cause trouble; I even still had that anti-magic device sitting on my horn; oh, how painful that contraption was when I summoned sparks of magic into it! It took me a bit of time to realize that there was an old looking guard nearby, one that I recognized as a Captain that served the Royal Guard when I was a young filly, and was often looking after me; oh, goody! Maybe he'd listen to me, and perhaps convince the Princess to let me go? Only then did I notice that he was holding a syringe with magic. I whined. Oh, the pain of death by injection...I wonder how it would feel?
I whimpered as they took me away; go, send me to the darkest dungeons, go, place anti-magic devices upon my head, go, deny ever meeting me! There's nothing left for me to go back to; all the ponies would look upon me in fear, in horror,in disgust, me, of all ponies, for killing my friend! I continued whimpering as the now armed congregation of Royal Guards magically picked me up with their magic; oh, that sweet, sweet magic that reminded me oh so painfully of what I did. I writhed in my strait-jacket, and whined at the ponies who were watching the progression, many looking away in disgust, some in fear, and others simply staring at me, unable to fully understand why I did what I did to one of my closest friends. I regret everything, everything that I did earlier! I was caught between a disturbing revelation; I was horrified that I killed my friend, and yet, the voice, the voice in my head had reveled in the knowledge that I killed Rainbow Dash! I, Twilight Sparkle, the condemned murderer of Rainbow Dash, am going beyond insane, even more so than when I was 'tardy'! Am I developing an alternate personality, based on Rainbow Dash's stories of 'Pinkamena'?! Suddenly, I was injected with some substance; I tried to look at the guard who injected the needle into me, but my world suddenly got dizzy, and my eyes were growing tired...
No, anything but this! I wasn't going to let her guards catch up to me! If they did...Well, they weren't going to catch me that easily, at the very least! They couldn't catch me, I wouldn't let them! Aiming my horn at one of the rapidly approaching guards, I shot a highly concentrated beam of magic at him, effectively knocking him unconscious. The now sleeping guard's partner swerved around him, and jumped in some sort of tackle at me, only to get shot in midair by me. The inertia of jumping up at me, however, still caused him to smash into me, knocking me down upon the floor. I swore, and more guards started to restrain me, beat me; they incapacitated me, holding me down as I feebly tried to squirm free from my restrainers as they placed an anti-magic device on my horn. I wasn't going to be beaten that easily; I attempted to fire another bolt of magic, and, for the love of all in the name of all known knowledge, it HURT. It was also a total and unnecessary failure; I merely shot out a cone of sparks. It wasn't all that bad, though; I still managed to singe a guard, and thus making them panic as they rammed another anti-magic device on my horn, and forced me into a strait-jacket.
I ran. I ran as fast as I could, away from that horrible, horrible scene. I killed...I killed one of my friends. What was wrong with me? Who knew what was going to happen to me? This was becoming a nightmare! No, this was a nightmare! The voice in my head started to laugh and coo softly at me, telling me that it was alright, that I should just give in to it...NO. I would not allow it to do so! I will not find sadistic happiness in killing my own friend! I screamed at the voice in my head; screamed at it to leave me alone! Unfortunately, I had forgotten that Princess Celestia was here in Ponyville to visit me, and it was even more unfortunate that ponies everywhere were staring at me...I giggled nervously, hoping that they would look at me funny and walk away...Which didn't happen. I backed up, hoping to go somewhere...Safe, when Celestia whispered quietly to a few guards escorting her. The guard took a look at me, then started forward towards me, a partner of his coming along with him. Ohnonononono this can't be happening this can't be happenin-
This...Wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen! I cried as I threw the bookcase off her brutally with magic, and gently shook the mangled body of Rainbow Dash, hoping, no, knowing that she was still alive! She couldn't be dead; she survived much harder landings, a heavy bookcase filled with equally heavy tomes of knowledge falling on her couldn't kill a tough pegasus like her...Right? All this blood was just a bottle of hot sauce that she was hiding somewhere for a prank on me, right? I continued shaking her when Spike came into the room, and took in the sight. I screamed at him to leave the library, and when he didn't move, shocked to the core at the scene in front of him, I ran out of the library, unable to cope with having to tell Spike what happened.
Rainbow Dash
I really, really hate it when I'm levitated in the air by Twilight's magic. She didn't know, but it was very uncomfortable for me to be floating knowing the fact it wasn't because of my own wings. At this point, I knew that if I talked, she'd just keep me up in the air longer; so I just kept quiet, and waited for a rant from her about how I shouldn't crash into her library. Well...That didn't happen. I found myself smashed against a bookcase, and I looked around, my eyesight more messed up than Ditsy's (No offense intended to her), and then, something heavy fell across me, blacking my vision out.
Twilight Sparkle
No longer in control of my magic, I watched helplessly as I picked up the spluttering pegasus up with my magic; she immediately broke off her apology, and sighed. Whenever I picked her up with my magic, as I often did, she knew it was often better to stay quiet. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times. I wonder, had she been loud, demanding, and annoying enough, would she have broken me of my trance? It was something we would never find out, as the voice in my head screamed at me to smash her into a bookcase. And so I did, unwillingly, but I did. I smashed Rainbow Dash against a heavy bookcase; one that I knew had extremely heavy tomes on its racks and was slightly unbalanced. The crushing sound of bones and the sudden rush of blood on the floor made me sick, and I vomited; the voice in my head laughed gleefully, screaming nonsense about how 'It's all in place', and then left me to my misery with my broken friend.
Rainbow Dash
I looked up and smiled sheepishly at Twilight. Oops. I guess her library was my favorite place to 'crash' at, so to speak. She began zapping papers with magic; I inwardly shuddered and hoped that one of those bolts wouldn't hit me. I started to apologize, hoping that I could make it up to her somehow. She seemed distracted, though; I kept extending my apology, adding so many things that even I probably couldn't do. I eventually shut up when I was suddenly wrapped in her magic.
Twilight Sparkle
I stared in mild annoyance at the rainbow-maned pegasus that caused all the manuscripts in my study to fly around haphazardly in random directions, making me lose my exact place. Again. This stupid pegasus...I shook my head. What? Rainbow Dash wasn't stupid, she was just...Slow to pick up on things. I sighed as I began zapping manuscripts around with a low-level spell that would bring the manuscripts back to where they originally were before the cyan torpedo had crashed into my study. I looked crossly at the Pegasus, who smiled sheepishly back at me, and began apologizing quickly. Then...There was this voice in my head again, the same one that said that Rainbow Dash was stupid. It told me to kill her, get rid of her forever...I wanted to fight it, I really did. I wasn't about to kill my friend over a simple mistake (That she admittedly done twice now), that was just...Stupid! The thoughts continued to invade my own, personal thoughts until I shut my mind off; it was a dangerous gamble, especially with Rainbow Dash here, droning on about how sorry she was, but the thoughts were a bigger threat all on there own. There was nothing I could do, however, when it suddenly got violent. I felt as if I was...'Overruled' in my mind. I could control my body, but my mind, and the magic connected to it, was handled over to the voice in my head, and I shudder to remember the events that took place.
Rainbow Dash
Oh yeah, this was gonna rock! I could do a Sonic Rainboom anytime I wanted to! I didn't want to stop there, however; now, I was going to do a Sonic Rainboom backwards! Oh, this was gonna be so awesome! I quickly dived, hoping I could get the same amount of momentum that I got from doing the Sonic Rainboom 'normally'...Well...I...Kinda did. Just as I was about to pull up and perform it backwards, I just so happened to crash through a window. And...Uh, unfortunately, it was my friend, Twilight's window. Uh oh...I already crashed into her library three times already this week.
Twilight Sparkle
It was a normal day, just like any other, looking over manuscripts of the past in my study. Everything was going along fine; I had a nice, if dreamless sleep, Spike made an exceptional breakfast for me, and Princess Celestia was even coming along to town! Although I would have been scared about a year ago about such an event, over time, I had learned to not make too much of a fuss over it; although some ponies would say that I'm still obsessive at times. Whatever. I was in the middle of a particularly interesting quote that dealt with the history of Canterlot when a flying cyan torpedo crash-landed through the window and caused all the manuscripts I had lying around to suddenly take off into the air.
Breakfast was nice, very nice; Spike really outdid himself that morning. Light, fluffy pancakes with sweet maple syrup, a small bowl of daisies to the side, some baked bread, and it was all topped with a cold, blended fruit smoothie that, for once, actually tasted like fruit; Celestia knows how many 'fruit' smoothies I spit out after ordering them from a fast food stop. As I dug into breakfast, Spike left the library to go get some mail; while its true that Ditsy, the mail-mare, delivers mail around Ponyville, today's mail was a cart full of books that were...Hee Hee, going to be re-shelved inside the library, and I couldn't ask Ditsy to haul the thing all the way from postal service. I couldn't wait to re-shelve them! Well...At least until I remembered that I had quite a few manuscripts to go through. I groaned, and finished up the rest of my breakfast; no sense putting it off, and I didn't have much to do, anyway, other than planning for Princess Celestia's arrival, and I was sure that I could finish that in a snap!
Sighing softly, I read through the letter that was not only delaying me from eating breakfast, but also came through last night; while I was slightly disappointed that Spike didn't wake me up last night (The letter could have been a warning from the Princess!), I admit that it was mostly my fault if I turned in and slept early instead of continuing to stay up late reading. As I looked through the letter, it was nothing more than Princess Celestia coming by to visit her and see how the small town was doing. Wonderful! It meant planning; lots and lots of beautiful, perfectly organized and time-consuming planning! Oh, this was going to be so much fun! My stomach, however, reminded me of what I had yet to do, so I quickly sat myself down and levitated a fork, ready to go to work on the now slightly cold meal in front of me.
I started a tune-less whistle as I levitated a small brush; although I certainly wouldn't have gotten a cutie mark from whistling, I still think I'm pretty darn good at it. I lathered the brush with some soap, and I cooed with pleasure as the brush started to rub against my back. Bath time was always a good time to feel good! Well, at least until the water gets cold and you realized that you weren't done cleaning yourself up. Not wanting to meet this awful fate so early in the morning, I started to scrub my mane gently; I may not be a pony that has a beautiful and well kept mane like Rarity does, but I do try my best to keep my mane clean and well presentable. After a little more time in the bathroom (Most of it being horn-care), I staggered out of the bathroom, muttering a quick spell to dry myself off quickly. Then, I smelt it; the scents of a warm, delicious breakfast. I was happily walking down the stair and was almost to the kitchen when Spike came out of the very place where those heavenly scents were coming from, and waved a letter. Aw. When Spike mentioned it came last night, I cringed.
With a snort, I woke up to Celestia's sun...Ow. The light, it hurts. I turned my head away from the offending beam of light shining into my eyes; it followed me. I guess I wasn't going to get five more minutes. I groaned in despair. And I had such a good night's sleep as well...I wish I could've enjoyed it longer. I yawned as I more or less dragged myself out of bed; mornings weren't especially good to me. Funny, considering my teacher can rise and lower the sun. But, I digress. I started my day every morning by...What else, hopping into the bathtub and turning on some warm water. The soothing wave of liquid slowly filling up around my hooves in the tub helped me to recollect my thoughts and refresh me for the day ahead. I thought ahead towards today; what wonderful new things awaited me today? Quite a few thoughts wandered into my head before I realized that the tub was about to overflow with water. Giggling to myself, I shut off the tap; many a time happened when I was so lost in thought, I didn't notice that the tub was overflowing with water until Spike started yelling at me. I could be so silly at times.
Luna
Now, it was was time for the next phase of my plan; the actual downfall of Celestia. Unfortunately, I could not do this while the Elements were alive; after all, they'd probably just try and exorcist me again, and I had no desire to end up on the moon for another thousand years, or, perhaps, much, much worse. I tried thinking of efficient plans, but none seemed to come to mind. Then, I realized, that I would have to kill at least one of the Elements, and the easiest, it seemed,to be the Elements of Magic and Loyalty. Pity, really; the Element of Magic would have made a very good pet. I laughed, and my horn started to glow, casting a spell that would, in time, when she woke up, allow me to control her actions in a limited fashion; this was going to be fun!
That time came, right around Nightmare night. Finally, after all those months studying about all those boring books full of subjects I didn't give two horse-apples about, it was time to enact the beginning of my plan. And so I did, albeit with some difficulty. I began channeling the magic of the stars into me; they would help me in my eventual battle against my sister. Unfortunately, the results were as clear as the brightest star, as my tail and mane were permanently changed and had stars speckled through them; that was something I wasn't looking forward to explaining. Even so, Celestia seemed to accept my answer (I messed up a spell, Tia!), so I was in the clear.
I looked up towards the main source of light this fine, cold night. There's something to be said about my moon; something that just compels me to revel in its glory. I don't have time for that, though. After all, it is almost time to put my plan into action. I laughed; This would be easy. Celestia will never know what hit her. Or...Maybe I should let her see what was going to happen; let her know her oh so pathetic plan to hit me with the Elements of Harmony failed. Perhaps she should have checked whether or not the blast had actually worked. Just before the blast hit, I managed to shove my feelings of hatred and resent down deep, so very, very deep, that the Elements could not strike at it without striking at the rest of my well being either. Being a force of good, it could not do harm, and so, even though I was blasted, my hatred was intact.
I laughed; the sound happened to chill the air, it seemed. Although it took quite a bit of planning and time, eventually, all will bow down before the true princess...No,the Queen, of the night. There is no other than can match with my beauty, my grace, my...desire to forever have the world in eternal night. I am the one they called Nightmare Night, and before long, not even the Elements of Harmony can stop me...Because they'll be working for me.
'Celestia'
I watched as Luna thought she was alone, and I grinned widely to myself. Poor, poor 'sister', if only you knew just how easily you were being watched. You're not as smart as you think you are. It will be me, not you, who shall control Equestria forever, come sundown tomorrow. I levitated a banana from a nearby small brown bag, and began eating it as I listened into Luna's ravings; soon, I thought, I wouldn't have to listen to her ever again, and the best part is that I can soon rule over Equestria unchallenged; although it would be a regrettable blow, killing my 'student', it was going to be a necessary sacrifice for my well being. I could wait until tomorrow; if I could wait a thousand and few odd years, I can certainly wait for tomorrow. Then, the revelation and shattering of everything they thought they knew could ease the discomfort of waiting this long.
Time. It was almost time to finally enact my plans. I grinned as I started walking over to the balcony, ready to eavesdrop on my 'sister'. It was amazing how easy it was to fool everypony into actually thinking I was their princess; perhaps I should have been more subtle the first time and overthrown the kingdom by myself, but, let bygones be bygones. With a flash of bright, green light, I transformed into a spitting image of Princess Celestia; no pony could tell that it was really me, Chrysalis, the changling queen...And they would never know; they would never know until it was too late to do anything about it, and by then, not even the Elements of Harmony themselves could do anything about it. I walked outside the balcony, and looked down upon my 'sister'.
