Twilight Velvet sat in a dark room, and was asked the same questions again that she had heard all week.
Ever since the incident, she was swarmed. Reporter ponies were over her like flies to honey, desperate to hear what story she had to tell, what she possibly knew about her daughter's actions on that beautiful summers' day. Yet she remained silent. She had not spoken to anyone, not even her husband, since the incident.
That was about to change. The pony on the other side of the table was a police officer. He had a solemn look pasted onto his face, a false mask of empathy that his soft voice did not betray. His daughter was dead, and he wanted to know why.
"Let's start simple, ma'am. What do you know?"
The words where enough to make Velvet shudder. She wasn't sure what she knew anymore. She was not under arrest, though a deep part of her thought she should be. She had failed as a mother at protecting her daughter.
It had been five long years ago that her daughter had been rejected from Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Her and her husband took her home, her daughter crying her eyes out at the realisation she would not live the life she wanted so much to live. Velvet held her filly tight the whole way home. She swore she would let her be happy, one way or another.
From that day forward, Velvet had remained dedicated to her daughter's happiness, to the neglect of her son. But gone was the studious unicorn of before, and in its place was a cold shell of her flesh and blood, an empty, demotivated filly.
"Mother," Twilight Sparkle said one morning, shortly after being turned away, over breakfast. "I know this was not how things were supposed to happen."
Her daughter spoke as she had every day since her audition: Cold, intellectual, yet lacking in her usual passion. She sighed as she prepared for the same explanation she had heard every day. A unicorn from the future had ruined her life, the young one claimed. She wished deep down her daughter would just accept her own failures and move on.
Yet every day for the following year, she heard the same words, her daughter looking more and more dejected every time. Until one day, there was an explosion of emotion.
"I am supposed to be in that school! I will become Celestia's favourite student! I will become an ALICORN!"
And that's when it happened. Twilight Sparkle's first magical outburst. Every single window in the room shattered as the pony jumped and Velvet watched in horror. A shard of glass hit a pony outside, who went on to inform the police, earning Twilight Sparkle a magic dampening ring on her horn.
From then on, the complaining stopped. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be an ordinary unicorn... albeit one limited to the capabilities of an earth pony. She returned to a normal school, a year behind, and aced every class.
Things were fairly normal for the next few years, excluding Twilight Sparkle having intense bullying directed at her for her horn ring. It showed every filly and colt around her that, unlike a normal unicorn over the age of three, Twilight Sparkle could not control her magic. It was as embarrassing as if she had had to wear a diaper to school.
The voices in the earth-unicorn's head ceased from the moment the ring was put on. No more was she overwhelmed with thoughts of the universe being wrong. And to boot, she was getting plenty of attention from her adoring mother, who frequently took her out for ice cream and day trips to nearby cities, while her brother and father stayed at home.
A little over a week ago, however... The horn ring came off. Twilight Sparkle had reached the age of thirteen, and was legally considered old enough to consent to her own magic dampening, and take responsibility for the consequences should she cause another incident. Of course, she remembered her time before and was determined to once again try to be a magical being.
She was given the key to the lock, and she bounced up to her room, excited to unlock it and try out her new abilities.
From the moment the lock came off, however, her mind begun to scream. She was supposed to be in that school! Her eyes glowed a bright white and she levitated above her bed. Her door slammed shut and locked itself with her magic, her entire room became sealed in a purple glow. For the four days, nopony could enter or leave Twilight Sparkle's bedroom, as her mind filled with memories of a future she had not lived. Her memories with Moondancer. Lemon Hearts getting her head stuck in that beaker. Her own mind taunted her with images of a nonexistent life. And then it showed her the future.
It showed her her finding her best friends in Ponyville. It showed her saving the entire world on multiple occasions, learning the magic of friendship, and becoming a princess. It showed her the life she had always dreamed of.
And then it showed her why she could never have it.
She grew mad at the sight of these images. She knew the evils that would plague this world. And all because she didn't get into that magic school! If only Starlight hadn't stopped the Rainboom...
No. NO. Twilight Sparkle growled. It was Celestia's fault for not recognising her potential despite her failure. It was the fault of the other, less talented students that had gotten an opportunity she had not. How many of them had already dropped out by now, she wondered? Probably at least a dozen, wasting the space in class she was destined to have.
She teleported out of her bubble, walked for several miles. And, armed only with her own horn, the purple mare stepped into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.
"Ma'am? I asked a question."
Velvet snapped out her daze and looked over the table at the officer. She shook her head slowly.
"Ma'am, 'what do you know?' is not a yes or no question."
The police officer's voice quaked a little as he spoke, his emotions slightly overcoming his professionalism.
"I-I... know... my daughter... is innocent..." Twilight Velvet spoke, tearing up.
"BULLSHIT." The officer slammed a hoof down on the table in front of him as he spoke, the unicorn mare yelping and jumping back from the chair in fright.
He quickly realised he was not fit to be interviewing anypony. After a brief explanation that she was free to go, Velvet stepped outside the room and walked over to the visitation area of the police station. Her walk was accompanied by ponies who had been talking going silent at the sight of her, staring or avoiding eye contact. She closed her eyes as she pushed open the door to the room where they were holding her daughter.
There the purple unicorn sat, behind glass, and with a look of anger on her face. She was wearing orange and had an orange magical blocker around her horn, once again returned to a powerless being.
Her mother sat down opposite her, looking through the glass and sniffling. Her own flesh and blood...
"Why are you here, mother?" the purple unicorn spoke.
"I want to know what you did..."
"Didn't you see it on the news?"
"But I want to know why! Didn't I give you enough attention, and love, and care?"
"Attention, love, and care won't save the world from its destruction. Now get out, I have work to do."
"What work? You're in a police station, Twily! You're going to be put in jail! You killed all those ponies!"
"Ponies? You call those that are destroying the world while they laugh and play with their beakers ponies? They're demons. They're dark versions of their true selves, living lives they shouldn't. I should've been at that school."
"You're a monster."
"Yeah, I am. And you're my mother. Now, bye. Tell dad not to come in here."
And you're my mother.
Velvet sat in shock for a few moments before scurrying out of the room.
There, her husband waited, ready to hug her tightly. He did so, enveloping his hooves around her, rocking her softly, making her feel bette-
No. He just stood there, and glared. "You put all your love and care into a murderer. You must have known what she would do, you sick, twisted... Why did I marry you? All the reporters say you knew. You must've known, with the amount of time you spent with her. And I believe them!"
Velvet stood in shock. "I-I..."
"I'm taking Shining Armor with me, and I'm leaving. You can keep the house, Shining and I have enough to move out with his new position in the Royal Guard. Goodbye, Velvet. Murderer." He glared at her sharply as he walked away.
And there she stood. The world against her. Her daughter a murderer, her husband, son and the entire world believing she was a part of it.
She sat down and began to cry.
Author's Note
This is an extremely heavy subject matter, and one that I'm nervous to tackle... But I'll try anyway.
No, I'm not going to write the school shooting scene in full until the very end as an epilogue. Don't even bother asking.
