Assassinverse: Let There Be Lightby Joker the HedgehogChaptersChapter 1: Death and RebirthChapter 2: The White Lantern BeginsChapter 3: ReunionsChapter 1: Death and RebirthDread and plague, death and blight, the shadows all will fear my might. When darkness falls, don't fear the night. A new dawn comes... LET THERE BE LIGHT! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle. You may have heard of me about seven years ago, I was kinda found murdered in my sleep at the time. Clearly, that is not the case anymore. Thanks to a magic ring that found its way onto my finger, I’ve returned from the grave, greater and more powerful than ever before. I am The White Lantern. Yeah, heh heh, it’s been pretty cool, flying even faster than my old friend Rainbow Dash, being stronger than Applejack. If Rarity could see my outfit, ooh, boy, the things she’d say. Pinkie Pie would want to throw me a “Welcome-Back-From-The-Dead-And-Congrats-On-The-New-Superpowers” party. Fluttershy would probably be terrified of me. Thing is though… I’m not exactly too keen on reuniting with my old circle of friends just yet. If word ever got out that I’d returned from the grave as some kind of superhero, they’d be the first ones the Traditionalists would target to try to get to me, and, well, kill me again. However, I’ve let a few ponies in on the secret. My old mentor, Princess Celestia and her sister, Luna, for instance, as well as my coltfriend, Flash Sentry. I’m pretty sure you’re wondering how the Tartarus this all came to pass. Well, the best place to start would be the day I died… … A purple anthro Alicorn with a dark blue mane and tail, both of which had a magenta stripe in them, entered one of the vast guest bedrooms within Canterlot Castle, a thoroughly depressed look on her face. She wore an elegant lavender dress, a pink diamond necklace, and brown sandals with heels. Upon her head was a golden tiara. This was Twilight Sparkle, recently-crowned Princess of Equestria… although, at the moment, she was wishing she was still an ordinary Unicorn, getting ready for bed in her old treehouse/library home, back before Tirek had smashed it to splinters… back before she had to put up with all of this hatred and anger towards her and her politics. I just don’t understand it… why do they hate me so much? thought Twilight as she striped down to her black bra and panties. It’s not like I’ve done anything horrible to them… I’m just trying to make sure that Equestria isn’t left behind in this ever-evolving world we live in now. I mean, right now Equestria is laughably out gunned, lovers of two different species can’t get married, no matter how much they want to, and the Council is made up of royals and nobles who only have interest in themselves rather than the common good. As Twilight snuggled into the blankets and bedsheets, she felt a wave of hopelessness wash over her. Maybe I’m not meant to be a Princess of Equestria is this is how ponies are going to treat me… maybe I should just step down… No, Twilight. You can’t step down now. Do you really think all of this hatred will just go away because you’re not a Princess anymore? a stronger voice told Twilight deep in her subconscious Immediately, Twilight reached into a bedside dresser drawer and pulled out three pictures. One of them was of her and her friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. The second was of her and the other three Princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, all of them looking very formal and elegant in their dresses. The third was a picture of a pegasus stallion with orange fur and a blue mane and tail wearing a Royal Guard dress uniform. This was Flash Sentry, Twilight’s secret coltfriend… although, she was starting to suspect that he was getting ready to propose to her. Twilight thought for a moment about what this might mean for them, given all the hate she’d received. Flash must truly and deeply love her if he was willing to risk going through all of the same minotaur shit she’d been through… and if he wanted to start a family with her. Twilight smiled. As long as she had this group of ponies by her side, she could take anything those nay-sayers and Traditionalists threw at her. And with that, Twilight returned the pictures to the drawer, and closed her eyes… completely unaware of what was going on right under her muzzle. … “Well? Are we going to do this thing or what?” grumbled a voice in the shadows to one of its four fellows. “Are you really sure about this? I mean, we’re about to MURDER A PRINCESS-” “Shut up! Do you want to get us arrested? Besides, we’ve got the one thing that can make our troubles that much easier.” As the voice said this, a faint gleam of light from a shining blade appeared. A gasp was heard. “Is that… is that really-” “Orichalum. The boss stallion had this thing forged just for this sole purpose… something about getting some mare drunk enough not to stand on her own two hooves or something like that. Anyways, this is our room.” As the five shadowy figures reached the bedroom, they silently opened the door. There, sleeping soundly on the bed, was Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Well? Who wants the honors?” asked one of the voices. “I’ll do it.” “She’s all yours, Gallant.” As the single figure crept silently into the room, the orichalum blade in his hand, they felt as though a huge weight was resting upon their shoulders. Finally, the figure clamped his hand down over Twilight’s nose and mouth, causing her to awaken. “Get on her! Keep her down!” As the other four figures held Twilight down, the princess tried to muster up some magic. However, before the princess could muster the magic to fend off her assassin, the orichalam blade slashed across her throat, cutting deep into her flesh. As blood gushed out of the wound in her throat, Twilight stared in horror at her attacker, unable to scream or even breathe as they continued to stab her. Finally, after a moment of fruitless struggling, Twilight went limp and cold, and her eyes turned glassy. She was dead. “Good job, now let’s get the buck out of here!” And with that, the five killers ran for it, leaving their handy work behind. … Princess Celestia, an anthro alicorn mare with alabaster fur and a mane that resembled the lush green fields, the open blue sky, and the pink of love and compassion, yawned and stretched as she woke up and climbed out of her vast four-poster bed and made her way over to the balcony on the other side. Stepping onto the cold white marble, Celestia channeled her energies and focused them at the blazing golden sunset. With seemingly no effort at all, Celestia raised the sun to such a position that gravity would be able to take care of the rest until sundown, where Luna would take over and raise her moon. Celestia smiled. Looks like it’s gonna be a beautiful day… considering, she thought to herself, thinking back to all of her prized pupil’s troubles as of late. I don’t understand it. If these Traditionalists can’t bring themselves to trust Twilight, then why can’t they trust me? It’s not like I’m in any danger. If Twilight really wanted to seize control of Equestria, she would’ve done it by now, and considering how strong she already was as a unicorn, I don’t think Luna and I could handle her now as an alico- Celestia’s inner dialogue was interrupted by a member of her guard bursting into her room, a mingled look of panic and embarrassment at seeing his leader in her nightclothes. “P-Princess C-C-C-Celestia… f-f-f-forgive m-m-m-me,” stammered the guard as he started to turn beet red. Celestia frowned. What could’ve possibly happened to get this guard all worked up like this. “It’s all right, just tell me what’s wrong,” she said. “I-I-I-I-It’s P-P-P-P-Princess T-Twilight… sh-she’s b-b-been… m-m-m-m-m-murdered!” Celestia could almost hear the glass in her mind breaking into a million pieces. Part of her wanted to dismiss and demote the guard because of his lies… and yet, the look on his face and the way he was acting was very, very hard to fake. “T-Take me to her,” said Celestia, doing her best to sound dignified. The guard was taken aback. “Your Majesty, are you-” he began to say, only to be drowned out by Celestia’s anguished voice. “TAKE ME TO HER, I NEED TO SEE HER!” wailed Celestia. Nodding to show he understood, the guard led Princess Celestia out of her room and through the halls to Twilight’s room, where a small crowd had gathered, mostly consisting of royal guardsponies. “Let me through! Let me through!” yelled Celestia. The crowd made way for her. And then Celestia saw her. Her worst fears had been confirmed. Princess Twilight Sparkle lay on her bed as a couple of guardsponies moved around her, examining the crime scene, while a third, who had orange fur and a dark blue mane and tail, sobbed uncontrollably and stroked Celestia’s pupil’s mane. Blood was splattered all over the bedsheets, and there was a dark slash across Twilight’s throat. Princess Celestia couldn’t believe it. She closed her eyes and called upon a healing spell. Twilight’s injuries were repaired but the alicorn did not awaken. Celestia tried a shock spell. Twilight’s body shook and vibrate as though it’d received and electrical shock, but still she did not awaken. No matter what the tear-soaked Princess Celestia tried, she could not get any response from her beloved student. Finally, she was forced to face the truth. Twilight Sparkle had been slain in her sleep. “Twilight… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” wailed Celestia as she fell to her knees and wept. … At the request of Princess Celestia, the Pegasi Weather Patrol had made the sky almost completely hidden under a shroud of dark gray clouds that poured rain upon those adorned in black who’d arrived for the state funeral for Princess Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia watched on as more and more ponies filed past the glass coffin that contained the purple princess, who looked so at peace, wearing her coronation gown, her hands forever holding a bouquet of enchanted flowers that wouldn’t wilt for a hundred years… and she couldn’t stop herself from weeping. She blamed herself for bringing this fate upon her most faithful student. If she hadn’t made her a Princess, none of this would have happened. Finally, once everyone was seated before the large podium that had been set up, it was time for the eulogies. "Fillies and gentlecolts... today, we are here to celebrate the life of one very special unicorn, who ascended to become an alicorn princess... only to be taken from us in such a cruel fashion," said Celestia, a glistening tear on her cheek as she began her speech, pausing a moment before she could find her voice. "Twilight Sparkle was... like a daughter to me. I remember the day I met her, the day of her entrance examination... she seemed so happy, so full of life, so eager to learn new things… I could use so many words but they would never be able to truly convey how wonderful she is…. except maybe stubborn. Once she was sure of something she set to it…. and perhaps loyal as well….. I-I’m sorry… forgive me.” Celestia said as she ran off the stage, tears falling behind her, along with Pinkie Pie and Luna. Fluttershy, swallowing her pride and with as much courage as she could muster, took the stage. "H-Hi... I'm Fluttershy," murmured Fluttershy, her knees shaking from both fear and sadness. "T-Twilight... was... one of my... best... friends... and... I MISS HER SO MUCH!" she wailed at the top of her lungs, causing several ponies attending the funeral to jump. Mere moments later, Fluttershy passed out from both her stage fright and sadness. The rest of the funeral, compared to the beginning, however, was really quite uneventful. Finally, it was time for Shining Armor to do his part… something that, no matter how many times he had to it, never got any easier: honor guard. Today, however, he wasn’t just saying good-bye to one of his comrades… he was saying good-bye to the baby sister he’d watched grow up from the day she was born. “H-honor guard!” he barked, his voice choked up. As one, the guard ponies who stood in their black dress uniforms snapped to attention, their horns glowing. “Ready… aim… FIRE!” barked Shining Armor. As one, the soldiers fired off colorful blasts of magic, which exploded into fireworks with a loud Boom! “Ready… aim… FIRE!” Boom! “Ready… aim… FIRE!” Boom! “Ready… aim… FIRE!” With the last Boom! Everypony began to depart the funeral and return home. Not among them was Spike Sparkle, who was a well-built purple and green dragon as tall as a full-grown stallion, despite still being a teenager. He was clad in a black suit and tie as he approached his mother’s glass coffin and sank to his knees beside it, weeping. “I promise you, Mom. I will get stronger and I will avenge you,” Spike whispered once his tears had been reduced to dry sobs. Finally pulling himself together, Spike stood up and placed a kiss on his mother’s coffin, before returning to the castle to join the others. … Seven Years Later… In the vast darkness of space, a white comet the size of a pebble was hurtling towards Equis. Breaking through the planet’s atmosphere, the comet made its way towards the Canterlot Castle Gardens, and made what looked like a bullet hole in the glass coffin of Princess Twilight Sparkle before stopping on a dime. The “comet” was in fact a white ring shimmering with an unknown white energy. The ring floated over to Twilight’s right hand and fixed itself on her ring finger. A calm, peaceful-sounding voice spoke inside the dead alicorn. Twilight Sparkle of Equis… live! At the voice’s command, Twilight’s eyes flew open as she quickly surveyed her surroundings. She seemed to be encased inside a large glass coffin of some kind. Looking down at herself, Twilight could just see the merest traces of the gown she’d worn at her coronation, and in its place was a uniform of some kind. It appeared to consist of a white-and-black skintight body suit with white boots, black gloves, and a white cape with a protrusion. Feeling her face, Twilight could also feel some kind of eye mask. Twilight could also feel her something in her throat, like a wound being healed at an accelerated rate, as well as several other wounds on her body close up. Then Twilight began to remember… the stallions who had entered her room late in the night as she lay sleeping… four of them had held her down while a fifth stabbed her repeatedly… then, a dream-like floating away feeling… then, she was told she was in Elysium- A gasp escaped Twilight’s mouth. Elysium was the place good ponies went when they… died. I… died… and now… I’m back, thought Twilight, her mind reeling with the realization. Indeed you are, Twilight Sparkle of Equis. You’ve been deceased for seven years… Twilight looked wildly around for the source of the voice that had spoken to her. “Who said that?” she asked. How amusing… I am right here on your hand… Twilight looked at her hands to find the white ring there. “A… ring?” she said. Yes… but this is not the place to talk… let us leave this coffin, for destiny awaits. Nodding to show she understood, Twilight smashed through the glass lid of her coffin, and used her wings to take to the skies, leaving the Memorial Gardens behind. Chapter 2: The White Lantern BeginsUnderneath her younger sister’s moonlight, Princess Celestia made her way through the Canterlot Castle Gardens, wearing an expression that suggested that she was doing her best not to break down. Approaching a solid hedge, Celestia’s horn lit up with a soft golden glow, causing an entrance to appear in the hedge. However, Celestia was not prepared for what was on the other side of the hedge. Flash Sentry, a pegasus stallion with orange fur and a navy blue mane and tail who looked as though he’d seen better days, and who was wearing the dress uniform of the Equestrian military. Also present was Twilight Velvet, a unicorn mare with a lavender-and-white striped mane and tail wearing a black dress with matching heels and gold earrings, and Night Light, a blue unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane and tail wearing a black suit and tie. They were apparently having a heated discussion about something. Flash was the first to spot the puzzled Celestia. He motioned Twilight’s mother and father to follow him and the three ponies walked up to the Solar Princess. “Where is she?” demanded Twilight Velvet, a look of the utmost fury on her face. Celestia blinked. “She?” she repeated in a tone of confusion. “My daughter’s body! The one who died on your watch!” shouted Velvet as tears began to run down her face. “Honey, that’s not really fair-” Night Light started to say, before a glare from his wife forced him into silence. “I don’t understand… Twilight’s body should be…” said Celestia, pointing in the direction of Twilight’s glass casket, only to withdraw the same hand in shock at what she saw. The glass lid of Twilight’s casket had been shattered. Twilight’s vast flower arrangement sparkled with the shards of broken glass. Twilight’s body was nowhere to be seen. Celestia looked at Flash, who answered her unspoken question at once. “It was like that when I got here, Your Highness.” “I… I don’t understand this. Who would want to steal Twilight’s body?” asked Celestia. “That’s what we’d like to know,” said Night Light, holding his wife close to him. … “All right, ring. Where are you taking me?” demanded Twilight as she soared through the air like a fighter jet through a large metropolis. I am not the one taking us anywhere, we are heading here because of your subconscious desire to find the location of your killers and bring them to justice. “Oh, so that explains why we’re in Manehatten. But why would my murderers come to such a large city. I admit it is a good place to hide but so are so many other cities around Equestria.” Perhaps they have friends here. Allies and co-conspirators. “That makes sense. I gotta admit, hiding from the Royal Guard for seven years is pretty impressive. Especially considering that my older brother and coltfriend were part of the military,” said Twilight as she landed on the rooftop of one of the city’s smaller buildings. Peering through the skylight on the roof, Twilight caught sight of no more than nine individuals. Five of them Royal Guards, while the other four seemed to be important people of some degree, possibly nobles. Twilight quickly casted an eavesdropping spell, and began to listen in on her killers. ”You have each played your parts admirably. It’s been seven years since I orchestrated the hit on that insufferable know-it-all, and the Royal Guard is no closer to discovering our location, let alone knowing just how far my plans go. And at last, I have my father’s love.” Anger began to surge through Twilight. She knew that voice anywhere. Prince Blueblood, Celestia’s nephew, and “the most uncharming prince” her old friend Rarity, or any mare as far as she knew, had ever met. “Well, he’s just been promoted from ‘arrogant pain in the flank’ to ‘pitiful, cliche, evil prince’.” she said to no-one in particular. “Although, I can't blame him about the ‘father’s love’ part, even he deserves at least that much.” ”And what of the mare’s friends? Word is that they’ve become particularly outspoken for Sparkle’s changes, which Celestia forced upon us all after her pet got killed.” What the noble said made Twilight angry in more ways than one. The first was that she had been called a pet, and the second also made her disappointed, because Celestia actually enforced her changes instead of letting the ponies of Equestria choose to follow them or not. Even if it was for a better Equestria, that action bordered on tyrannical. ”Ah, yes, of course… I take it some of them have sisters? Well, which of you wants to break the news that their sisters’ had an… accident… involving some muggers on their class trip to Manehattan?” That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Twilight smashed through the skylight, landing in a “heroic landing” pose. “Sweet Celestia!” cried Blueblood in horror. “Who is that?! And what’s that red stuff leaking from her mouth?! Is that blood?!” cried the nobles as the bodyguards who’d betrayed Twilight grabbed their weapons and made ready to attack. What? Red stuff? Blood? thought Twilight as she looked down. Sure enough, a red, blood-like liquid was leaking from her mouth and burning a hole in the floor. “Hello, everypony. I’m Twilight Sparkle. You may have heard of me, I was kinda sorta MURDERED BY YOU PLOTHOLES!” screamed Twilight. “AND NOW YOU’RE GOING AFTER MY FRIENDS’ SISTERS?! I THINK NOT!” Almost instinctively, Twilight spat a stream of that same red liquid which would’ve landed directly on Prince Blueblood’s face had he not ducked. When the viscous, red, liquid hit the wall behind him it began to eat away at the concrete like an all-powerful acid. Huh. Acid blood. That’s new, thought Twilight. Time for a crash course in ring-slinging 101. You can create constructs out of anything you can imagine, so long as your will to live is powerful enough to create it. Be warned, though, creating constructs uses up ring energy, and we seem to be missing our Power Battery. Perhaps we should pick it up after we’re finished here. “Kill her! And make sure she stays dead this time!” screamed one of the nobles. This was all the bodyguards needed to be told as they sprang forward, excluding Blueblood’s guard who led him behind a crate. Twilight, following her new ring’s instructions, imagined the first thing she could think of. Sure enough, a glowing white katana appeared in her hands. As the guards charged forward Twilight swung her katana in a circle, completely separating the blades of her opponents’ swords from their handles. The guards, nobles, and Twilight herself, were all speechless at this feat before one of the guards came to her senses and drew out her firearm, a small pistol, and started to shoot at Twilight and the others followed her example. Twilight instinctively summoned a white brick wall with a kite shield symbol on it. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, okay, battle plan, battle plan,” she muttered to herself. “I’ve got it!” Twilight summoned a pure white minigun and dissolved the wall between her and the guards before she opened fire, sending the killers into a frenzied panic to get out of the way of her gunfire. “That's right, run! Run you little cowards!” Twilight yelled as she continued to spray gunfire all over the room. The guards, despite years of military training, were unable to avoid the pure white bullets that pierced their armor and bodies, efficiently rendering them out of action. Twilight then dissipated the minigun and turned her attention to the nobles, only to find them sporting similar injuries as the guards she’d just taken down. Now all that’s left is Blueblood, thought Twilight as she made her way over to the crate where Blueblood and his guard were hiding. Blueblood tried to curl up into a ball in a half-witted attempt to defend himself while Blueblood’s guard quickly pulled out his sidearm. “Don’t move!” yelled the guard, sweat dripping down his face as he aimed his weapon the best he could. Twilight recognized the stallion’s voice immediately. It was Gallant Stride, the guard who’d been assigned to her room the night she’d been killed. “You never struck me as the type who’d sell his soul to Blueblood, Gallant,” Twilight said, her voice as cold as ice. “Sometimes you have to make tough choices for the greater good. To protect what matters most,” said Gallant. Twilight glanced at Blueblood, then back at Gallant, her labyrinthian mind working hard. “They threatened somepony close to you, didn’t they? You were going to blow the whistle, but they blackmailed you into killing me, didn’t they?” Gallant nodded. “My little brother, Gladius. He completed basic training a few months after I killed you,” he said. “I was the one who stabbed you to death, Princess. But, you have to understand, nothing in this world is more important to me than my little brother. Nothing at all.” Twilight gazed down at Gallant. Tears were beginning to mingle with the sweat on his face. As she looked at him, she couldn’t help but feel that if she’d been in the same position, she might’ve done the same thing. “I’ll talk to Celestia, see if I can’t get your sentence commuted to life or something. I need to have a chat with her anyway, assuming what Blueblood said was true and she forced my reforms down everypony’s throat. However, when the Royal Guard gets here, you must surrender yourself peacefully. Is that understood?” “Do… do you really think she’s gonna keep her word, Stride?” choked Blueblood, speaking for the first time in the conversation. “Shoot her, then we can figure out what to do with the body. I’ll be damned if she gets a decent funeral this time…” “Gallant, I’m offering you the last lifeboat. I’d take it if I were you,” said Twilight. Gallant looked back and forth between Blueblood and Twilight, as if he were weighing two very heavy alternatives. Finally, Gallant lowered the gun and holstered it. “Smart move,” said Twilight, before turning her gaze on the bane of her existence, Blueblood. “As for you…” she said, grabbing Celestia’s poor excuse for a nephew by the collar of his suit, which now had the strong smell of urine coming from it, and dragging him into the center of the room, directly beneath the shattered skylight. “So, tell me, which bothers you more? That the pony you had killed has returned from Elysium, or that I’m even more powerful now than I was before I died?” Twilight asked as she held Blueblood down on the ground with her foot. Blueblood tried to speak, but terror was keeping a lump in his throat the size of a tangerine. “You know, you really are the most uncharming prince it has ever been my misfortune to even hear of.” On that last word, Twilight punched Blueblood as hard as she could in the face, knocking the sniveling coward out cold. Gallant let out a low whistle. “Nice punch,” he said. Twilight turned back to Gallant and smiled. “Thanks,” she said with a small smile. No sooner had the words left her mouth then the door was kicked down, and through it stepped a small squad of Night Guardsponies with their weapons drawn. Gallant calmly got on his knees and put his hands behind his head. Most of them frozen in shock at the sight of Twilight, who had an otherworldly glow from both her uniform and the moonlight shining in from above. “Well, I believe this is where I take my leave. Enjoy the leftovers, gentlecolts,” Twilight said before taking to the night sky. As she flew at breakneck speeds over Equestria, the reborn alicorn princess turned her attention back to her ring. “Okay, ring, where’s this Power Battery thing at?” asked Twilight. Going by your memories of the geology of this planet, I'd say it is in the San Palomino Desert. And I must say, for somepony who’s new to the White Lantern Corps, you handled yourself pretty admirably back there. “Uh, thanks, I guess,” said Twilight, blushing a little as she flew towards the desert. … After a short while Twilight and the ring were hovering over the desert. Twilight looked from left to right, before looking at the ring. “Nothing but sand, sand, and oh look more sand. Where is the lantern exactly?” I do believe it is at least half a mile to your left. Would you like me to tell you a simple way of finding it? “Yes please.” Twilight said in return. Think of a compass, or a map. Twilight did so, and a white compass appeared before her. Now think of the Power Battery, this will lead us to it. “Okay.” Twilight did as she was told, and the compass needle began to spin before it finally stopped, pointing to Twilight’s left. As she followed the compass, Twilight began to get curious about what exactly the “White Lantern Corps” were. The White Lantern Corps is similar to an intergalactic police force. the ring said, shocking Twilight. “Did you just read my mind?!" Your expression was the only thing I needed to know you were curious. “Oh. So, I’m a space-cop now?” Pretty much. A few moments of complete silenced passed by before Twilight saw a crater, and sitting in the center of the crater was what appeared to be a shining white lantern. Twilight made her way into the crater and towards the lantern. Once she reached the Power Battery, Twilight picked it up and began to examine it from every angle. “So, how do I charge you?” Twilight asked the ring. Simple. You insert the hand I’m on and say the Oath. Twilight turned the lantern around so that the business end was facing her before she slowly and cautiously inserted her hand. No sooner had her hand been fully insert than Twilight’s eyes flash white and she began to speak what sounded like an oath of some kind. ”Dread and plague, death and blight, the shadows all will fear my might. When darkness falls, don't fear the night. A new dawn comes... LET THERE BE LIGHT!” Chapter 3: ReunionsTwilight was currently flying over Equestria like a white blur on her way to Canterlot while she had a lot going through her brain, mainly what to say to Celestia when she finally sees her. I still can’t believe she’d actually go that far just because I died… I mean, she was like a second mother to me, and I could tell she saw me as something like a daughter, but what she did… it just added gasoline to the fire that’s started, thought Twilight before a familiar voice caught her ears… three familiar voices in fact. “Do ya really think we shoulda walked this far away from the rest of the class?” “Miss Cheerilee said we could explore, didn't she?” “I don’t think she meant halfway across the city when she said explore, Scoots.” “Whatever. We’ll be fine.” Twilight slowly stopped what she was doing and gently landed on the roof below her, looking over the side as she did. Down below her were three fillies, one was a light yellow Earth Pony with a red mane, freckles on her cheeks and a red bow in her hair, the second was a white Unicorn Pony with two colors to her curled mane, and the final one was an orange coated Pegasus Pony with a cerise mane. The Crusaders! thought Twilight as she saw them walk towards an alley. An alley that she saw the girls get dragged into! “No!” Twilight cried as she flew to one of the building roofs hoping it was just a prank from one of their schoolmates, except it wasn’t as she heard a unquestionably male voice come up from the alley. “Ya know, yous three fillies shouldn't be hangin’ ‘round these parts of Manehattan.” said the stallion dressed in mafia-like clothing and holding a lit cigar. “Yous could get in an accident.” he said sarcastically as he took a smoke while his three flunkies held the still struggling Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom. “Whattaya want with us?!” Apple Bloom said as she tried to break the hold of her captor, a large Buffalo with sanded down horns. “Yeah what did we do to you?” said Scootaloo, doing the same with the orange-scaled drake holding her in place. “Why are you doing this?” Sweetie Belle asked angrily as she was nearly choked by the overly muscular Zebra. The Earth Pony just continued to smoke his cigar before he took the cigar out of his muzzle and blew the smoke in their face, making the CMC cough. “Ya see dolls, me and my compatriots’ employer has offered us quite the hefty sum of bits to…’accident’ yous three.” he said as he blew three smoke halos above the girls confused heads. “What the heck do you mean ‘accident’ us?” Scootaloo asked while Sweetie Belle dawned a look of horror. “He means he's going to kill us, and make it look like an accident.” she said completely horrified causing the other two to gain a similar look as Apple Bloom barely got out a terrified “Why?” “‘Cause apparently your sisses have gotten him quite angry for their ‘outspoken political position’, or so he said, and he wants their tunes to change.” he said, “An’ what better way than knockin’ off their lil’ sistahs.”, this was when everyone present heard the voice of a dead mare. “Not on my watch.” said Twilight as her voice echoed in the alley. The thugs looked around for the source of the voice. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked around in disbelief, hope, and joy. “Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked hopefully. “Someone's playing a trick, trying to be a hero. Princess Twilight is dead! And good riddance to ‘er!” said the gangster before he heard Twilight’s voice coming from right behind him. “Then this shouldn't hurt at all,” said Twilight, her voice making him turn around and get punched in the face. WHAM! As the gangster regained his balance, and by that it means fell on his rear, he, the rest of the muggers, and the CMC, just stared at the sight of Twilight, the white aura around her making her look like an Angel. “Sh-she’s back! T-Twilight Sparkle has returned from the grave!” stammered one of the gangsters, the drake it sounded like if the gravely voice was anything to go by. “And if half the stuff I’ve heard that has been going on the last seven years is true, then I’d say I have some unfinished business to take care of. The first thing on my list is making sure your Traditionalist benefactors pay for what they did to me,” said Twilight, a small dribble of what looked like blood leaking from her mouth, except it left a sizzling hole in the ground. “Woah,” said Scootaloo in awe of their savior. The still unnamed stallion got up from the ground and wiped at his lower lip, coming back with traces of blood, before he turned back to his flunkies, anger plain as day on his face. “Well, get her,” he said to them before the zebra spoke up. “But sir, surely you jest. Not one of us can harm this undead pest,” he said before a bullet went through his head, spraying blood everywhere as he fell backwards releasing his prisoner in the process. “Do I look like I’m askin’?” he said holding the still smoking firearm as he grabbed Sweetie Belle, now with the blood from the Zebra on her clothes. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Twilight, making a chain gun made of pure white light appear out of seemingly nowhere. “Tell you what, I’ve always been a fair pony. I’ll give you until the count of… let’s go with five, to let those girls go and get the Tartarus out of here. One… two… three…” The sudden appearance of the weapon was enough of a threat deterrent that most of the other gangsters, save for the one holding Sweetie Belle, to almost instantly back down, drop their weapons, and start running for the hills, shoving each in their attempt to escape from what they believed to be an angered spirit. “Screw this, I’m outta here. Somebody's gotta warn the Traditionalists of what’s coming,” said the drake while he ran, spreading his wings and taking to the air. “GET BACK HERE YOU TARTARUS-DAMNED COWARDS!” said the still unnamed gangster, Faust rest his mortal soul for what’s to come. “Four… five.” Twilight said as she aimed at the assassin holding Sweetie Belle before he shoved the gun to her head. “Ah, ah, ah.” he said in a condescending tone. “Don’t ya move, or this lil’ sweetheart gets a bullet through her brains.” he threatened them. This caused Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to raise their hands in surrender, but Twilight still had the weapon trained on him, trying to figure out a way out of this. "If I may make a suggestion, why not try using your magic to make the chain gun’s ammunition curve through the air?" Twilight’s power ring suggested. Worth a shot, thought Twilight. A mere moment later, she opened fire on the assassin, then quickly used her magic to cause the white bullets to curve and nail the assassin before he could get a shot off into Sweetie Belle’s skull, sending him sprawling to the ground. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as Sweetie Belle ran over to her friends and hugged them as Twilight went over to the downed would-be killer and checked his wounds. From what she knew about medical science, the stallion would be okay, given the proper treatment. “Umm… excuse me, Miss Angel-Twilight?” asked Sweetie Belle cautiously. Twilight looked up at the Cutie Mark Crusaders and smiled. “I’m not an angel, Sweetie Belle. I’m back from the dead,” she explained. “Although, I think I understand the confusion.” Scootaloo frowned. “I thought magic couldn’t raise the dead. If you aren’t a ghost or an angel, then how can you be back?” she asked, sounding confused. Twilight held up the hand with the power ring on it. “This ring. I don’t fully understand how it works, but I think it brought me back to life and gave me superpowers somehow. But, that’s enough about me. Tell me what’s been going on in Ponyville for the last seven years. How’s Spike been holding up?” The CMC glanced at each other uncomfortably at the question. “Spike is, um… well, Spike is…“ Apple Bloom stuttered as she tried to break it to her gently. She looked to the others before she told Twilight the truth. “Spike left, Twilight. Nopony’s seen him in years.” Twilight simply sat there in shock. Her beloved son was missing? “Wh-what about Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy?” she asked. “Pinkie Pie, or Pinkamena, rather, has… changed drastically. Ya’ll remember that Cheese Sandwich pony?” asked Apple Bloom, to which Twilight nodded. “Well, he and Pinkamena tied the knot. She’s Pinkamena Pie-Sandwich and they live in this huge mansion now.” Sweetie Belle picked up from there. “Rarity closed up shop. She lost her inspiration a couple years after you died. Hoity Toity runs the boutiques now, with Rarity working as his assistant. Although, I’ve heard Rarity dreaming about him for awhile now,” she said. Scootaloo continued. “Rainbow Dash was in a bad accident. She lost one of wings, an arm, and a leg. Even so, I’ve stayed by her side. She’s really the only family I have,” she said. “Fluttershy… well, she’s been spending more time in the Everfree Forest with Zecora. No idea what she gets up into with her in there, though. But she’s got these weird tattoos now,” said Sweetie Belle. “But, Ah think mah big sister took it the hardest. Applejack just hasn’t been the same since you died. She’s been spendin’ more an’ more time alone, an’ almost hasta be forced outta bed in the morning. If’n Ah didn’t know any better, Ah’d think she was stayin’ up all night, cryin’.” Twilight couldn’t believe it. She was out of the picture for seven years, and everything went to Tartarus in a handbasket for her friends. She had half a mind to fly back to Ponyville this instant and get her friends back to their old selves again. However, something inside her told her that she wasn’t ready for word of her rebirth to get out just yet. “Girls, I need you to keep our encounter a secret, okay?” Twilight told the CMC in a stern sort of voice. “But, why Twilight? Everypony would be so happy that you’re back!” said Sweetie Belle. “Think about it, Sweetie Belle,” said Scootaloo. “If we went back to Ponyville and started shooting our mouths off that Twilight was back from the dead thanks to some magic ring that gave her superpowers, who’d believe us?” “Scootaloo’s right. I’m just not ready for that kind of press yet. I’ll get you three back to your class. Stay close to Cheerilee, got it?” said Twilight. “Yes, Twilight,” said Apple Bloom. “Yes, ma’am,” said Sweetie Belle. “You got it, Twilight,” said Scootaloo. “Good, let’s go,” said Twilight. … Princess Celestia was going over the Royal Guard’s reports for the capture of Twilight’s killers. They were… unusual to say the least. For some reason, some of the guards reported seeing “Twilight’s angel” departing the scene, presumably having laid waste to her killers using some new abilities, including what forensics had identified as “acidic blood.” Celestia shook her head and sighed as she made her way to her bed chambers. There was something going on here. First, Twilight’s body vanished from its tomb, then this angel in her image shows up out of nowhere. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think Twilight had returned from the grave, but that was impossible, as no magic could reawaken the dead. As Celestia opened the door to her bedroom she was so deep in thought that she failed to notice the shining white light approach her balcony window. As she made to sit on her bed, the balcony window burst open, revealing Twilight. Celestia could only stare in shock at the sight of her fallen student standing before her, clad in some kind of white and black get-up with the look of the utmost fury on her face. ”CELESTIA! YOU AND I NEED TO TALK!” roared Twilight in a truly terrifying Royal Canterlot Voice. ”HOW COULD YOU FORCE MY PROPOSALS UPON EQUESTRIA WITHOUT GIVING THEM A CHANCE TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES?! IF IT WAS TO QUELL THE FIGHTING BETWEEN THE PROGRESSIVES AND TRADITIONALISTS, YOU JUST ADDED GASOLINE TO THE FIRE!” Celestia just continued to stare, completely dumbfounded by the sight in front of her before she dismissed it as a hallucination. “I need to lay off the sweets, I'm starting to see things.” Twilight kept the same face, as she walked calmly up to Celestia…and slapped her across the face! Celestia simply sat there in shock as she lifted a hand to her face, feeling the spot where Twilight had slapped her. “How’s that for seeing things?” said Twilight. Celestia turned her head back to Twilight with a hopeful look in her eyes. “Twilight?” she said as she started to tear up. A moment later, Celestia embraced Twilight in a hug so tight Twilight could hardly breathe. “You’re home… you’re home…” the Solar Princess sobbed into her reborn student’s shoulder, never mind that she’d just slapped her. Twilight found her own eyes beginning to sting with what her older brother would’ve called “liquid pride.” “I’m home,” said Twilight. Celestia broke the hug and looked at Twilight. “How? How is this possible? How have you returned to us?” Celestia asked her beloved student. “Well-” Twilight started to say before the door opened. “Sister, where art thou-?” said Princess Luna freezing her tracks when she saw Twilight, apparently very much alive, standing in front of her tear-soaked elder sister. A glance from Twilight to Celestia heralded an unspoken question. “It’s her, Luna. Twilight’s returned to us from beyond the grave,” said Celestia, her voice sounding hoarse. “How is this possible? How have you returned from Elysium?” asked Luna. ”That would be because of me, your Majesties,” said Twilight’s Power Ring. Celestia and Luna looked wildly around the room for the source of the voice before Twilight spoke up. “That voice came from this thing,” she said. “This thing is responsible for my return from the grave.” Both Celestia and Luna just stared blankly at Twilight, as would anyone who had just been told that their loved one had been resurrected by a magic ring. “Perhaps we should sit down and have some tea, as this might take a bit of explaining.”
Chapter 1: Death and RebirthDread and plague, death and blight, the shadows all will fear my might. When darkness falls, don't fear the night. A new dawn comes... LET THERE BE LIGHT! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle. You may have heard of me about seven years ago, I was kinda found murdered in my sleep at the time. Clearly, that is not the case anymore. Thanks to a magic ring that found its way onto my finger, I’ve returned from the grave, greater and more powerful than ever before. I am The White Lantern. Yeah, heh heh, it’s been pretty cool, flying even faster than my old friend Rainbow Dash, being stronger than Applejack. If Rarity could see my outfit, ooh, boy, the things she’d say. Pinkie Pie would want to throw me a “Welcome-Back-From-The-Dead-And-Congrats-On-The-New-Superpowers” party. Fluttershy would probably be terrified of me. Thing is though… I’m not exactly too keen on reuniting with my old circle of friends just yet. If word ever got out that I’d returned from the grave as some kind of superhero, they’d be the first ones the Traditionalists would target to try to get to me, and, well, kill me again. However, I’ve let a few ponies in on the secret. My old mentor, Princess Celestia and her sister, Luna, for instance, as well as my coltfriend, Flash Sentry. I’m pretty sure you’re wondering how the Tartarus this all came to pass. Well, the best place to start would be the day I died… … A purple anthro Alicorn with a dark blue mane and tail, both of which had a magenta stripe in them, entered one of the vast guest bedrooms within Canterlot Castle, a thoroughly depressed look on her face. She wore an elegant lavender dress, a pink diamond necklace, and brown sandals with heels. Upon her head was a golden tiara. This was Twilight Sparkle, recently-crowned Princess of Equestria… although, at the moment, she was wishing she was still an ordinary Unicorn, getting ready for bed in her old treehouse/library home, back before Tirek had smashed it to splinters… back before she had to put up with all of this hatred and anger towards her and her politics. I just don’t understand it… why do they hate me so much? thought Twilight as she striped down to her black bra and panties. It’s not like I’ve done anything horrible to them… I’m just trying to make sure that Equestria isn’t left behind in this ever-evolving world we live in now. I mean, right now Equestria is laughably out gunned, lovers of two different species can’t get married, no matter how much they want to, and the Council is made up of royals and nobles who only have interest in themselves rather than the common good. As Twilight snuggled into the blankets and bedsheets, she felt a wave of hopelessness wash over her. Maybe I’m not meant to be a Princess of Equestria is this is how ponies are going to treat me… maybe I should just step down… No, Twilight. You can’t step down now. Do you really think all of this hatred will just go away because you’re not a Princess anymore? a stronger voice told Twilight deep in her subconscious Immediately, Twilight reached into a bedside dresser drawer and pulled out three pictures. One of them was of her and her friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. The second was of her and the other three Princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, all of them looking very formal and elegant in their dresses. The third was a picture of a pegasus stallion with orange fur and a blue mane and tail wearing a Royal Guard dress uniform. This was Flash Sentry, Twilight’s secret coltfriend… although, she was starting to suspect that he was getting ready to propose to her. Twilight thought for a moment about what this might mean for them, given all the hate she’d received. Flash must truly and deeply love her if he was willing to risk going through all of the same minotaur shit she’d been through… and if he wanted to start a family with her. Twilight smiled. As long as she had this group of ponies by her side, she could take anything those nay-sayers and Traditionalists threw at her. And with that, Twilight returned the pictures to the drawer, and closed her eyes… completely unaware of what was going on right under her muzzle. … “Well? Are we going to do this thing or what?” grumbled a voice in the shadows to one of its four fellows. “Are you really sure about this? I mean, we’re about to MURDER A PRINCESS-” “Shut up! Do you want to get us arrested? Besides, we’ve got the one thing that can make our troubles that much easier.” As the voice said this, a faint gleam of light from a shining blade appeared. A gasp was heard. “Is that… is that really-” “Orichalum. The boss stallion had this thing forged just for this sole purpose… something about getting some mare drunk enough not to stand on her own two hooves or something like that. Anyways, this is our room.” As the five shadowy figures reached the bedroom, they silently opened the door. There, sleeping soundly on the bed, was Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Well? Who wants the honors?” asked one of the voices. “I’ll do it.” “She’s all yours, Gallant.” As the single figure crept silently into the room, the orichalum blade in his hand, they felt as though a huge weight was resting upon their shoulders. Finally, the figure clamped his hand down over Twilight’s nose and mouth, causing her to awaken. “Get on her! Keep her down!” As the other four figures held Twilight down, the princess tried to muster up some magic. However, before the princess could muster the magic to fend off her assassin, the orichalam blade slashed across her throat, cutting deep into her flesh. As blood gushed out of the wound in her throat, Twilight stared in horror at her attacker, unable to scream or even breathe as they continued to stab her. Finally, after a moment of fruitless struggling, Twilight went limp and cold, and her eyes turned glassy. She was dead. “Good job, now let’s get the buck out of here!” And with that, the five killers ran for it, leaving their handy work behind. … Princess Celestia, an anthro alicorn mare with alabaster fur and a mane that resembled the lush green fields, the open blue sky, and the pink of love and compassion, yawned and stretched as she woke up and climbed out of her vast four-poster bed and made her way over to the balcony on the other side. Stepping onto the cold white marble, Celestia channeled her energies and focused them at the blazing golden sunset. With seemingly no effort at all, Celestia raised the sun to such a position that gravity would be able to take care of the rest until sundown, where Luna would take over and raise her moon. Celestia smiled. Looks like it’s gonna be a beautiful day… considering, she thought to herself, thinking back to all of her prized pupil’s troubles as of late. I don’t understand it. If these Traditionalists can’t bring themselves to trust Twilight, then why can’t they trust me? It’s not like I’m in any danger. If Twilight really wanted to seize control of Equestria, she would’ve done it by now, and considering how strong she already was as a unicorn, I don’t think Luna and I could handle her now as an alico- Celestia’s inner dialogue was interrupted by a member of her guard bursting into her room, a mingled look of panic and embarrassment at seeing his leader in her nightclothes. “P-Princess C-C-C-Celestia… f-f-f-forgive m-m-m-me,” stammered the guard as he started to turn beet red. Celestia frowned. What could’ve possibly happened to get this guard all worked up like this. “It’s all right, just tell me what’s wrong,” she said. “I-I-I-I-It’s P-P-P-P-Princess T-Twilight… sh-she’s b-b-been… m-m-m-m-m-murdered!” Celestia could almost hear the glass in her mind breaking into a million pieces. Part of her wanted to dismiss and demote the guard because of his lies… and yet, the look on his face and the way he was acting was very, very hard to fake. “T-Take me to her,” said Celestia, doing her best to sound dignified. The guard was taken aback. “Your Majesty, are you-” he began to say, only to be drowned out by Celestia’s anguished voice. “TAKE ME TO HER, I NEED TO SEE HER!” wailed Celestia. Nodding to show he understood, the guard led Princess Celestia out of her room and through the halls to Twilight’s room, where a small crowd had gathered, mostly consisting of royal guardsponies. “Let me through! Let me through!” yelled Celestia. The crowd made way for her. And then Celestia saw her. Her worst fears had been confirmed. Princess Twilight Sparkle lay on her bed as a couple of guardsponies moved around her, examining the crime scene, while a third, who had orange fur and a dark blue mane and tail, sobbed uncontrollably and stroked Celestia’s pupil’s mane. Blood was splattered all over the bedsheets, and there was a dark slash across Twilight’s throat. Princess Celestia couldn’t believe it. She closed her eyes and called upon a healing spell. Twilight’s injuries were repaired but the alicorn did not awaken. Celestia tried a shock spell. Twilight’s body shook and vibrate as though it’d received and electrical shock, but still she did not awaken. No matter what the tear-soaked Princess Celestia tried, she could not get any response from her beloved student. Finally, she was forced to face the truth. Twilight Sparkle had been slain in her sleep. “Twilight… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” wailed Celestia as she fell to her knees and wept. … At the request of Princess Celestia, the Pegasi Weather Patrol had made the sky almost completely hidden under a shroud of dark gray clouds that poured rain upon those adorned in black who’d arrived for the state funeral for Princess Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia watched on as more and more ponies filed past the glass coffin that contained the purple princess, who looked so at peace, wearing her coronation gown, her hands forever holding a bouquet of enchanted flowers that wouldn’t wilt for a hundred years… and she couldn’t stop herself from weeping. She blamed herself for bringing this fate upon her most faithful student. If she hadn’t made her a Princess, none of this would have happened. Finally, once everyone was seated before the large podium that had been set up, it was time for the eulogies. "Fillies and gentlecolts... today, we are here to celebrate the life of one very special unicorn, who ascended to become an alicorn princess... only to be taken from us in such a cruel fashion," said Celestia, a glistening tear on her cheek as she began her speech, pausing a moment before she could find her voice. "Twilight Sparkle was... like a daughter to me. I remember the day I met her, the day of her entrance examination... she seemed so happy, so full of life, so eager to learn new things… I could use so many words but they would never be able to truly convey how wonderful she is…. except maybe stubborn. Once she was sure of something she set to it…. and perhaps loyal as well….. I-I’m sorry… forgive me.” Celestia said as she ran off the stage, tears falling behind her, along with Pinkie Pie and Luna. Fluttershy, swallowing her pride and with as much courage as she could muster, took the stage. "H-Hi... I'm Fluttershy," murmured Fluttershy, her knees shaking from both fear and sadness. "T-Twilight... was... one of my... best... friends... and... I MISS HER SO MUCH!" she wailed at the top of her lungs, causing several ponies attending the funeral to jump. Mere moments later, Fluttershy passed out from both her stage fright and sadness. The rest of the funeral, compared to the beginning, however, was really quite uneventful. Finally, it was time for Shining Armor to do his part… something that, no matter how many times he had to it, never got any easier: honor guard. Today, however, he wasn’t just saying good-bye to one of his comrades… he was saying good-bye to the baby sister he’d watched grow up from the day she was born. “H-honor guard!” he barked, his voice choked up. As one, the guard ponies who stood in their black dress uniforms snapped to attention, their horns glowing. “Ready… aim… FIRE!” barked Shining Armor. As one, the soldiers fired off colorful blasts of magic, which exploded into fireworks with a loud Boom! “Ready… aim… FIRE!” Boom! “Ready… aim… FIRE!” Boom! “Ready… aim… FIRE!” With the last Boom! Everypony began to depart the funeral and return home. Not among them was Spike Sparkle, who was a well-built purple and green dragon as tall as a full-grown stallion, despite still being a teenager. He was clad in a black suit and tie as he approached his mother’s glass coffin and sank to his knees beside it, weeping. “I promise you, Mom. I will get stronger and I will avenge you,” Spike whispered once his tears had been reduced to dry sobs. Finally pulling himself together, Spike stood up and placed a kiss on his mother’s coffin, before returning to the castle to join the others. … Seven Years Later… In the vast darkness of space, a white comet the size of a pebble was hurtling towards Equis. Breaking through the planet’s atmosphere, the comet made its way towards the Canterlot Castle Gardens, and made what looked like a bullet hole in the glass coffin of Princess Twilight Sparkle before stopping on a dime. The “comet” was in fact a white ring shimmering with an unknown white energy. The ring floated over to Twilight’s right hand and fixed itself on her ring finger. A calm, peaceful-sounding voice spoke inside the dead alicorn. Twilight Sparkle of Equis… live! At the voice’s command, Twilight’s eyes flew open as she quickly surveyed her surroundings. She seemed to be encased inside a large glass coffin of some kind. Looking down at herself, Twilight could just see the merest traces of the gown she’d worn at her coronation, and in its place was a uniform of some kind. It appeared to consist of a white-and-black skintight body suit with white boots, black gloves, and a white cape with a protrusion. Feeling her face, Twilight could also feel some kind of eye mask. Twilight could also feel her something in her throat, like a wound being healed at an accelerated rate, as well as several other wounds on her body close up. Then Twilight began to remember… the stallions who had entered her room late in the night as she lay sleeping… four of them had held her down while a fifth stabbed her repeatedly… then, a dream-like floating away feeling… then, she was told she was in Elysium- A gasp escaped Twilight’s mouth. Elysium was the place good ponies went when they… died. I… died… and now… I’m back, thought Twilight, her mind reeling with the realization. Indeed you are, Twilight Sparkle of Equis. You’ve been deceased for seven years… Twilight looked wildly around for the source of the voice that had spoken to her. “Who said that?” she asked. How amusing… I am right here on your hand… Twilight looked at her hands to find the white ring there. “A… ring?” she said. Yes… but this is not the place to talk… let us leave this coffin, for destiny awaits. Nodding to show she understood, Twilight smashed through the glass lid of her coffin, and used her wings to take to the skies, leaving the Memorial Gardens behind.
Chapter 2: The White Lantern BeginsUnderneath her younger sister’s moonlight, Princess Celestia made her way through the Canterlot Castle Gardens, wearing an expression that suggested that she was doing her best not to break down. Approaching a solid hedge, Celestia’s horn lit up with a soft golden glow, causing an entrance to appear in the hedge. However, Celestia was not prepared for what was on the other side of the hedge. Flash Sentry, a pegasus stallion with orange fur and a navy blue mane and tail who looked as though he’d seen better days, and who was wearing the dress uniform of the Equestrian military. Also present was Twilight Velvet, a unicorn mare with a lavender-and-white striped mane and tail wearing a black dress with matching heels and gold earrings, and Night Light, a blue unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane and tail wearing a black suit and tie. They were apparently having a heated discussion about something. Flash was the first to spot the puzzled Celestia. He motioned Twilight’s mother and father to follow him and the three ponies walked up to the Solar Princess. “Where is she?” demanded Twilight Velvet, a look of the utmost fury on her face. Celestia blinked. “She?” she repeated in a tone of confusion. “My daughter’s body! The one who died on your watch!” shouted Velvet as tears began to run down her face. “Honey, that’s not really fair-” Night Light started to say, before a glare from his wife forced him into silence. “I don’t understand… Twilight’s body should be…” said Celestia, pointing in the direction of Twilight’s glass casket, only to withdraw the same hand in shock at what she saw. The glass lid of Twilight’s casket had been shattered. Twilight’s vast flower arrangement sparkled with the shards of broken glass. Twilight’s body was nowhere to be seen. Celestia looked at Flash, who answered her unspoken question at once. “It was like that when I got here, Your Highness.” “I… I don’t understand this. Who would want to steal Twilight’s body?” asked Celestia. “That’s what we’d like to know,” said Night Light, holding his wife close to him. … “All right, ring. Where are you taking me?” demanded Twilight as she soared through the air like a fighter jet through a large metropolis. I am not the one taking us anywhere, we are heading here because of your subconscious desire to find the location of your killers and bring them to justice. “Oh, so that explains why we’re in Manehatten. But why would my murderers come to such a large city. I admit it is a good place to hide but so are so many other cities around Equestria.” Perhaps they have friends here. Allies and co-conspirators. “That makes sense. I gotta admit, hiding from the Royal Guard for seven years is pretty impressive. Especially considering that my older brother and coltfriend were part of the military,” said Twilight as she landed on the rooftop of one of the city’s smaller buildings. Peering through the skylight on the roof, Twilight caught sight of no more than nine individuals. Five of them Royal Guards, while the other four seemed to be important people of some degree, possibly nobles. Twilight quickly casted an eavesdropping spell, and began to listen in on her killers. ”You have each played your parts admirably. It’s been seven years since I orchestrated the hit on that insufferable know-it-all, and the Royal Guard is no closer to discovering our location, let alone knowing just how far my plans go. And at last, I have my father’s love.” Anger began to surge through Twilight. She knew that voice anywhere. Prince Blueblood, Celestia’s nephew, and “the most uncharming prince” her old friend Rarity, or any mare as far as she knew, had ever met. “Well, he’s just been promoted from ‘arrogant pain in the flank’ to ‘pitiful, cliche, evil prince’.” she said to no-one in particular. “Although, I can't blame him about the ‘father’s love’ part, even he deserves at least that much.” ”And what of the mare’s friends? Word is that they’ve become particularly outspoken for Sparkle’s changes, which Celestia forced upon us all after her pet got killed.” What the noble said made Twilight angry in more ways than one. The first was that she had been called a pet, and the second also made her disappointed, because Celestia actually enforced her changes instead of letting the ponies of Equestria choose to follow them or not. Even if it was for a better Equestria, that action bordered on tyrannical. ”Ah, yes, of course… I take it some of them have sisters? Well, which of you wants to break the news that their sisters’ had an… accident… involving some muggers on their class trip to Manehattan?” That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Twilight smashed through the skylight, landing in a “heroic landing” pose. “Sweet Celestia!” cried Blueblood in horror. “Who is that?! And what’s that red stuff leaking from her mouth?! Is that blood?!” cried the nobles as the bodyguards who’d betrayed Twilight grabbed their weapons and made ready to attack. What? Red stuff? Blood? thought Twilight as she looked down. Sure enough, a red, blood-like liquid was leaking from her mouth and burning a hole in the floor. “Hello, everypony. I’m Twilight Sparkle. You may have heard of me, I was kinda sorta MURDERED BY YOU PLOTHOLES!” screamed Twilight. “AND NOW YOU’RE GOING AFTER MY FRIENDS’ SISTERS?! I THINK NOT!” Almost instinctively, Twilight spat a stream of that same red liquid which would’ve landed directly on Prince Blueblood’s face had he not ducked. When the viscous, red, liquid hit the wall behind him it began to eat away at the concrete like an all-powerful acid. Huh. Acid blood. That’s new, thought Twilight. Time for a crash course in ring-slinging 101. You can create constructs out of anything you can imagine, so long as your will to live is powerful enough to create it. Be warned, though, creating constructs uses up ring energy, and we seem to be missing our Power Battery. Perhaps we should pick it up after we’re finished here. “Kill her! And make sure she stays dead this time!” screamed one of the nobles. This was all the bodyguards needed to be told as they sprang forward, excluding Blueblood’s guard who led him behind a crate. Twilight, following her new ring’s instructions, imagined the first thing she could think of. Sure enough, a glowing white katana appeared in her hands. As the guards charged forward Twilight swung her katana in a circle, completely separating the blades of her opponents’ swords from their handles. The guards, nobles, and Twilight herself, were all speechless at this feat before one of the guards came to her senses and drew out her firearm, a small pistol, and started to shoot at Twilight and the others followed her example. Twilight instinctively summoned a white brick wall with a kite shield symbol on it. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, okay, battle plan, battle plan,” she muttered to herself. “I’ve got it!” Twilight summoned a pure white minigun and dissolved the wall between her and the guards before she opened fire, sending the killers into a frenzied panic to get out of the way of her gunfire. “That's right, run! Run you little cowards!” Twilight yelled as she continued to spray gunfire all over the room. The guards, despite years of military training, were unable to avoid the pure white bullets that pierced their armor and bodies, efficiently rendering them out of action. Twilight then dissipated the minigun and turned her attention to the nobles, only to find them sporting similar injuries as the guards she’d just taken down. Now all that’s left is Blueblood, thought Twilight as she made her way over to the crate where Blueblood and his guard were hiding. Blueblood tried to curl up into a ball in a half-witted attempt to defend himself while Blueblood’s guard quickly pulled out his sidearm. “Don’t move!” yelled the guard, sweat dripping down his face as he aimed his weapon the best he could. Twilight recognized the stallion’s voice immediately. It was Gallant Stride, the guard who’d been assigned to her room the night she’d been killed. “You never struck me as the type who’d sell his soul to Blueblood, Gallant,” Twilight said, her voice as cold as ice. “Sometimes you have to make tough choices for the greater good. To protect what matters most,” said Gallant. Twilight glanced at Blueblood, then back at Gallant, her labyrinthian mind working hard. “They threatened somepony close to you, didn’t they? You were going to blow the whistle, but they blackmailed you into killing me, didn’t they?” Gallant nodded. “My little brother, Gladius. He completed basic training a few months after I killed you,” he said. “I was the one who stabbed you to death, Princess. But, you have to understand, nothing in this world is more important to me than my little brother. Nothing at all.” Twilight gazed down at Gallant. Tears were beginning to mingle with the sweat on his face. As she looked at him, she couldn’t help but feel that if she’d been in the same position, she might’ve done the same thing. “I’ll talk to Celestia, see if I can’t get your sentence commuted to life or something. I need to have a chat with her anyway, assuming what Blueblood said was true and she forced my reforms down everypony’s throat. However, when the Royal Guard gets here, you must surrender yourself peacefully. Is that understood?” “Do… do you really think she’s gonna keep her word, Stride?” choked Blueblood, speaking for the first time in the conversation. “Shoot her, then we can figure out what to do with the body. I’ll be damned if she gets a decent funeral this time…” “Gallant, I’m offering you the last lifeboat. I’d take it if I were you,” said Twilight. Gallant looked back and forth between Blueblood and Twilight, as if he were weighing two very heavy alternatives. Finally, Gallant lowered the gun and holstered it. “Smart move,” said Twilight, before turning her gaze on the bane of her existence, Blueblood. “As for you…” she said, grabbing Celestia’s poor excuse for a nephew by the collar of his suit, which now had the strong smell of urine coming from it, and dragging him into the center of the room, directly beneath the shattered skylight. “So, tell me, which bothers you more? That the pony you had killed has returned from Elysium, or that I’m even more powerful now than I was before I died?” Twilight asked as she held Blueblood down on the ground with her foot. Blueblood tried to speak, but terror was keeping a lump in his throat the size of a tangerine. “You know, you really are the most uncharming prince it has ever been my misfortune to even hear of.” On that last word, Twilight punched Blueblood as hard as she could in the face, knocking the sniveling coward out cold. Gallant let out a low whistle. “Nice punch,” he said. Twilight turned back to Gallant and smiled. “Thanks,” she said with a small smile. No sooner had the words left her mouth then the door was kicked down, and through it stepped a small squad of Night Guardsponies with their weapons drawn. Gallant calmly got on his knees and put his hands behind his head. Most of them frozen in shock at the sight of Twilight, who had an otherworldly glow from both her uniform and the moonlight shining in from above. “Well, I believe this is where I take my leave. Enjoy the leftovers, gentlecolts,” Twilight said before taking to the night sky. As she flew at breakneck speeds over Equestria, the reborn alicorn princess turned her attention back to her ring. “Okay, ring, where’s this Power Battery thing at?” asked Twilight. Going by your memories of the geology of this planet, I'd say it is in the San Palomino Desert. And I must say, for somepony who’s new to the White Lantern Corps, you handled yourself pretty admirably back there. “Uh, thanks, I guess,” said Twilight, blushing a little as she flew towards the desert. … After a short while Twilight and the ring were hovering over the desert. Twilight looked from left to right, before looking at the ring. “Nothing but sand, sand, and oh look more sand. Where is the lantern exactly?” I do believe it is at least half a mile to your left. Would you like me to tell you a simple way of finding it? “Yes please.” Twilight said in return. Think of a compass, or a map. Twilight did so, and a white compass appeared before her. Now think of the Power Battery, this will lead us to it. “Okay.” Twilight did as she was told, and the compass needle began to spin before it finally stopped, pointing to Twilight’s left. As she followed the compass, Twilight began to get curious about what exactly the “White Lantern Corps” were. The White Lantern Corps is similar to an intergalactic police force. the ring said, shocking Twilight. “Did you just read my mind?!" Your expression was the only thing I needed to know you were curious. “Oh. So, I’m a space-cop now?” Pretty much. A few moments of complete silenced passed by before Twilight saw a crater, and sitting in the center of the crater was what appeared to be a shining white lantern. Twilight made her way into the crater and towards the lantern. Once she reached the Power Battery, Twilight picked it up and began to examine it from every angle. “So, how do I charge you?” Twilight asked the ring. Simple. You insert the hand I’m on and say the Oath. Twilight turned the lantern around so that the business end was facing her before she slowly and cautiously inserted her hand. No sooner had her hand been fully insert than Twilight’s eyes flash white and she began to speak what sounded like an oath of some kind. ”Dread and plague, death and blight, the shadows all will fear my might. When darkness falls, don't fear the night. A new dawn comes... LET THERE BE LIGHT!”
Chapter 3: ReunionsTwilight was currently flying over Equestria like a white blur on her way to Canterlot while she had a lot going through her brain, mainly what to say to Celestia when she finally sees her. I still can’t believe she’d actually go that far just because I died… I mean, she was like a second mother to me, and I could tell she saw me as something like a daughter, but what she did… it just added gasoline to the fire that’s started, thought Twilight before a familiar voice caught her ears… three familiar voices in fact. “Do ya really think we shoulda walked this far away from the rest of the class?” “Miss Cheerilee said we could explore, didn't she?” “I don’t think she meant halfway across the city when she said explore, Scoots.” “Whatever. We’ll be fine.” Twilight slowly stopped what she was doing and gently landed on the roof below her, looking over the side as she did. Down below her were three fillies, one was a light yellow Earth Pony with a red mane, freckles on her cheeks and a red bow in her hair, the second was a white Unicorn Pony with two colors to her curled mane, and the final one was an orange coated Pegasus Pony with a cerise mane. The Crusaders! thought Twilight as she saw them walk towards an alley. An alley that she saw the girls get dragged into! “No!” Twilight cried as she flew to one of the building roofs hoping it was just a prank from one of their schoolmates, except it wasn’t as she heard a unquestionably male voice come up from the alley. “Ya know, yous three fillies shouldn't be hangin’ ‘round these parts of Manehattan.” said the stallion dressed in mafia-like clothing and holding a lit cigar. “Yous could get in an accident.” he said sarcastically as he took a smoke while his three flunkies held the still struggling Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom. “Whattaya want with us?!” Apple Bloom said as she tried to break the hold of her captor, a large Buffalo with sanded down horns. “Yeah what did we do to you?” said Scootaloo, doing the same with the orange-scaled drake holding her in place. “Why are you doing this?” Sweetie Belle asked angrily as she was nearly choked by the overly muscular Zebra. The Earth Pony just continued to smoke his cigar before he took the cigar out of his muzzle and blew the smoke in their face, making the CMC cough. “Ya see dolls, me and my compatriots’ employer has offered us quite the hefty sum of bits to…’accident’ yous three.” he said as he blew three smoke halos above the girls confused heads. “What the heck do you mean ‘accident’ us?” Scootaloo asked while Sweetie Belle dawned a look of horror. “He means he's going to kill us, and make it look like an accident.” she said completely horrified causing the other two to gain a similar look as Apple Bloom barely got out a terrified “Why?” “‘Cause apparently your sisses have gotten him quite angry for their ‘outspoken political position’, or so he said, and he wants their tunes to change.” he said, “An’ what better way than knockin’ off their lil’ sistahs.”, this was when everyone present heard the voice of a dead mare. “Not on my watch.” said Twilight as her voice echoed in the alley. The thugs looked around for the source of the voice. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked around in disbelief, hope, and joy. “Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked hopefully. “Someone's playing a trick, trying to be a hero. Princess Twilight is dead! And good riddance to ‘er!” said the gangster before he heard Twilight’s voice coming from right behind him. “Then this shouldn't hurt at all,” said Twilight, her voice making him turn around and get punched in the face. WHAM! As the gangster regained his balance, and by that it means fell on his rear, he, the rest of the muggers, and the CMC, just stared at the sight of Twilight, the white aura around her making her look like an Angel. “Sh-she’s back! T-Twilight Sparkle has returned from the grave!” stammered one of the gangsters, the drake it sounded like if the gravely voice was anything to go by. “And if half the stuff I’ve heard that has been going on the last seven years is true, then I’d say I have some unfinished business to take care of. The first thing on my list is making sure your Traditionalist benefactors pay for what they did to me,” said Twilight, a small dribble of what looked like blood leaking from her mouth, except it left a sizzling hole in the ground. “Woah,” said Scootaloo in awe of their savior. The still unnamed stallion got up from the ground and wiped at his lower lip, coming back with traces of blood, before he turned back to his flunkies, anger plain as day on his face. “Well, get her,” he said to them before the zebra spoke up. “But sir, surely you jest. Not one of us can harm this undead pest,” he said before a bullet went through his head, spraying blood everywhere as he fell backwards releasing his prisoner in the process. “Do I look like I’m askin’?” he said holding the still smoking firearm as he grabbed Sweetie Belle, now with the blood from the Zebra on her clothes. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Twilight, making a chain gun made of pure white light appear out of seemingly nowhere. “Tell you what, I’ve always been a fair pony. I’ll give you until the count of… let’s go with five, to let those girls go and get the Tartarus out of here. One… two… three…” The sudden appearance of the weapon was enough of a threat deterrent that most of the other gangsters, save for the one holding Sweetie Belle, to almost instantly back down, drop their weapons, and start running for the hills, shoving each in their attempt to escape from what they believed to be an angered spirit. “Screw this, I’m outta here. Somebody's gotta warn the Traditionalists of what’s coming,” said the drake while he ran, spreading his wings and taking to the air. “GET BACK HERE YOU TARTARUS-DAMNED COWARDS!” said the still unnamed gangster, Faust rest his mortal soul for what’s to come. “Four… five.” Twilight said as she aimed at the assassin holding Sweetie Belle before he shoved the gun to her head. “Ah, ah, ah.” he said in a condescending tone. “Don’t ya move, or this lil’ sweetheart gets a bullet through her brains.” he threatened them. This caused Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to raise their hands in surrender, but Twilight still had the weapon trained on him, trying to figure out a way out of this. "If I may make a suggestion, why not try using your magic to make the chain gun’s ammunition curve through the air?" Twilight’s power ring suggested. Worth a shot, thought Twilight. A mere moment later, she opened fire on the assassin, then quickly used her magic to cause the white bullets to curve and nail the assassin before he could get a shot off into Sweetie Belle’s skull, sending him sprawling to the ground. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as Sweetie Belle ran over to her friends and hugged them as Twilight went over to the downed would-be killer and checked his wounds. From what she knew about medical science, the stallion would be okay, given the proper treatment. “Umm… excuse me, Miss Angel-Twilight?” asked Sweetie Belle cautiously. Twilight looked up at the Cutie Mark Crusaders and smiled. “I’m not an angel, Sweetie Belle. I’m back from the dead,” she explained. “Although, I think I understand the confusion.” Scootaloo frowned. “I thought magic couldn’t raise the dead. If you aren’t a ghost or an angel, then how can you be back?” she asked, sounding confused. Twilight held up the hand with the power ring on it. “This ring. I don’t fully understand how it works, but I think it brought me back to life and gave me superpowers somehow. But, that’s enough about me. Tell me what’s been going on in Ponyville for the last seven years. How’s Spike been holding up?” The CMC glanced at each other uncomfortably at the question. “Spike is, um… well, Spike is…“ Apple Bloom stuttered as she tried to break it to her gently. She looked to the others before she told Twilight the truth. “Spike left, Twilight. Nopony’s seen him in years.” Twilight simply sat there in shock. Her beloved son was missing? “Wh-what about Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy?” she asked. “Pinkie Pie, or Pinkamena, rather, has… changed drastically. Ya’ll remember that Cheese Sandwich pony?” asked Apple Bloom, to which Twilight nodded. “Well, he and Pinkamena tied the knot. She’s Pinkamena Pie-Sandwich and they live in this huge mansion now.” Sweetie Belle picked up from there. “Rarity closed up shop. She lost her inspiration a couple years after you died. Hoity Toity runs the boutiques now, with Rarity working as his assistant. Although, I’ve heard Rarity dreaming about him for awhile now,” she said. Scootaloo continued. “Rainbow Dash was in a bad accident. She lost one of wings, an arm, and a leg. Even so, I’ve stayed by her side. She’s really the only family I have,” she said. “Fluttershy… well, she’s been spending more time in the Everfree Forest with Zecora. No idea what she gets up into with her in there, though. But she’s got these weird tattoos now,” said Sweetie Belle. “But, Ah think mah big sister took it the hardest. Applejack just hasn’t been the same since you died. She’s been spendin’ more an’ more time alone, an’ almost hasta be forced outta bed in the morning. If’n Ah didn’t know any better, Ah’d think she was stayin’ up all night, cryin’.” Twilight couldn’t believe it. She was out of the picture for seven years, and everything went to Tartarus in a handbasket for her friends. She had half a mind to fly back to Ponyville this instant and get her friends back to their old selves again. However, something inside her told her that she wasn’t ready for word of her rebirth to get out just yet. “Girls, I need you to keep our encounter a secret, okay?” Twilight told the CMC in a stern sort of voice. “But, why Twilight? Everypony would be so happy that you’re back!” said Sweetie Belle. “Think about it, Sweetie Belle,” said Scootaloo. “If we went back to Ponyville and started shooting our mouths off that Twilight was back from the dead thanks to some magic ring that gave her superpowers, who’d believe us?” “Scootaloo’s right. I’m just not ready for that kind of press yet. I’ll get you three back to your class. Stay close to Cheerilee, got it?” said Twilight. “Yes, Twilight,” said Apple Bloom. “Yes, ma’am,” said Sweetie Belle. “You got it, Twilight,” said Scootaloo. “Good, let’s go,” said Twilight. … Princess Celestia was going over the Royal Guard’s reports for the capture of Twilight’s killers. They were… unusual to say the least. For some reason, some of the guards reported seeing “Twilight’s angel” departing the scene, presumably having laid waste to her killers using some new abilities, including what forensics had identified as “acidic blood.” Celestia shook her head and sighed as she made her way to her bed chambers. There was something going on here. First, Twilight’s body vanished from its tomb, then this angel in her image shows up out of nowhere. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think Twilight had returned from the grave, but that was impossible, as no magic could reawaken the dead. As Celestia opened the door to her bedroom she was so deep in thought that she failed to notice the shining white light approach her balcony window. As she made to sit on her bed, the balcony window burst open, revealing Twilight. Celestia could only stare in shock at the sight of her fallen student standing before her, clad in some kind of white and black get-up with the look of the utmost fury on her face. ”CELESTIA! YOU AND I NEED TO TALK!” roared Twilight in a truly terrifying Royal Canterlot Voice. ”HOW COULD YOU FORCE MY PROPOSALS UPON EQUESTRIA WITHOUT GIVING THEM A CHANCE TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES?! IF IT WAS TO QUELL THE FIGHTING BETWEEN THE PROGRESSIVES AND TRADITIONALISTS, YOU JUST ADDED GASOLINE TO THE FIRE!” Celestia just continued to stare, completely dumbfounded by the sight in front of her before she dismissed it as a hallucination. “I need to lay off the sweets, I'm starting to see things.” Twilight kept the same face, as she walked calmly up to Celestia…and slapped her across the face! Celestia simply sat there in shock as she lifted a hand to her face, feeling the spot where Twilight had slapped her. “How’s that for seeing things?” said Twilight. Celestia turned her head back to Twilight with a hopeful look in her eyes. “Twilight?” she said as she started to tear up. A moment later, Celestia embraced Twilight in a hug so tight Twilight could hardly breathe. “You’re home… you’re home…” the Solar Princess sobbed into her reborn student’s shoulder, never mind that she’d just slapped her. Twilight found her own eyes beginning to sting with what her older brother would’ve called “liquid pride.” “I’m home,” said Twilight. Celestia broke the hug and looked at Twilight. “How? How is this possible? How have you returned to us?” Celestia asked her beloved student. “Well-” Twilight started to say before the door opened. “Sister, where art thou-?” said Princess Luna freezing her tracks when she saw Twilight, apparently very much alive, standing in front of her tear-soaked elder sister. A glance from Twilight to Celestia heralded an unspoken question. “It’s her, Luna. Twilight’s returned to us from beyond the grave,” said Celestia, her voice sounding hoarse. “How is this possible? How have you returned from Elysium?” asked Luna. ”That would be because of me, your Majesties,” said Twilight’s Power Ring. Celestia and Luna looked wildly around the room for the source of the voice before Twilight spoke up. “That voice came from this thing,” she said. “This thing is responsible for my return from the grave.” Both Celestia and Luna just stared blankly at Twilight, as would anyone who had just been told that their loved one had been resurrected by a magic ring. “Perhaps we should sit down and have some tea, as this might take a bit of explaining.”
