A sound. I actually heard a sound other than the clinking of my chained hooves and the breathing of ragged breaths. My ears perk up, and I look around for the source of the sound. I still only see darkness. A soft magical light glows in the near distance. It's inside my cell, but only just.
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle." I immediately know who it is. It's Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, princess and goddess of the sun, and my former teacher and now jailer. I don't want to talk to her. The light comes closer.
"Has Princess Luna come?" I know the answer even before I ask the question. My voice is raspy from many years of not using it.
"No. She has duties tonight." Celestia comes a little closer.
"How... How long has it been? In Equestria, I mean." I strain for calmness as I speak, but my voice still cracks.
"No. It'll only make you angrier." I can tell from Celestia's tone of voice that it's been longer than it has here. I can only assume it's been several hundred years.
"So... Why have you come this time?" I tilt my head sideways. I finally notice that my voice echoes in the room.
"To visit. And talk. Which is what we are doing right now, is it not?" Celestia says.
"... I suppose it is."I eventually say. I blink once, trying to at least temporarily make the blackness go away. Silence follows. An eternity of pure silence, with just my breathing, and hers.
"How far gone are you?" Celestia finally breaks the silence. It's not a question I want to hear.
"It's almost completely taken me now. Not long before I fall into darkness. Not long before I escape." and it truly is not long before I escape. All I have yet to do now is get a key from a guard.
"I see. What will you do? When you escape and leave here, what will you do?" the question stops my train of thought.
"I..."I pause, thinking. "Truthfully, I do not know. My plans have all been focused on escaping Tartarus." I sigh. It's a long, tired sigh. A sigh of somepony who's long since given up any hope of escaping.
"... I see. Has it been so long that you forgot?" that's a strange question. I wonder what she's thinking...
"What do you mean?"
"Twilight, there are some things you told me that were... Concerning, to say the least. One of them was that you wanted to make everypony suffer. Needless to say, those things were the reason for why we locked you up here." I almost growl but manage to hide it.
"It's corrupting you again, isn't it?" I only nod, barely managing to hold in the rage.
"Then let it out. Let it out, tell me all the horrible things you wish to say to me, in one big shout." I do so. I growl. Looking back, Celestia was not prepared for my outburst.
"YOU LOCKED ME UP BECAUSE OF SOME RANDOM DESIRES!? YOU PUT ME IN TARTARUS BECAUSE OF A HUNCH!? SERIOUSLY!? I TELL YOU SOME STUPID FANTASIES, AND YOU JUST LOCK ME UP IN TARTARUS FOR IT!? GUESS THAT SHOWS HOW GOOD A MENTOR YOU ARE, HUH!?" I heave in heavy breaths, winded from my shouting.
"Twilight, these were not fantasies. You straight up told me you wanted to hurt ponies. I could see no fear in your eyes. No regret for the things you wanted to do. You were already succumbing to it." I calm down, relieved by her words, and the fact that another burst of rage is quelled.
"So... You didn't want another pony hurting others?" I ask.
"No. Least of all you. I couldn't bear to see my student, who I see as a daughter to me, fall into the darkness. It would hurt too much." I can hear another crack in Celestia's calm voice.
"Y-you see me as a daughter? Celestia..." I smile.
"Yes, Twilight, I do." Celestia says.
"Can... Can i... Ask you a question?" I ask.
"What is it?" Celestia's voice remains calm.
"Have... Have you ever... Experienced what I experienced, or something close to it? It feels as if you know more than you're letting on." I can hear Celestia sighing, and tell that she did not want this question to be asked.
"Do you see my light, Twilight?"
"Yes."
"Look under it, where my face would be. Watch the darkness, until you can see my soul. Then tell me what you see." and so, I do. I stare at the darkness, waiting for something to happen. Several minutes pass. I wait. As I stare, it begins to feel as if something is corrupting Celestia. And then I see it. A creature. Something so horrifying, I can only describe it as made out of a thousand different nightmares. I gasp. I have to look away.
"What was that?"
"That was my darkness, Twilight." I heave breaths again.
"Ha... I can see why you know more than I originally thought you did now. That thing, whatever it is, must have been there for a long time for you to know what I was going through." I look at Celestia's light again. It seems tainted now, almost as if it's threatening to wink out.
"Yes. And now that you have seen it, I must do something." her light changes from a soft yellow to an angry red.
"What are you going to do?" I back into my little corner. She comes closer. Her light grows larger. I press myself against the cold stone wall. Her horn is only an inch away from my forehead, now. My breaths are heavy.
"Celestia, what's happening?" my breathing accelerates.
"Goodnight, Twilight Sparkle." she touches her horn to my forehead. And then, all fades away as I am sent into unconsciousness.
"How was it, sister?"
"She asked the question tonight."
"I see. Then you did it?"
"Yes."
"How did she take it?"
"Like anypony else. She was terrified."
"Only to be expected."
"Yes. Only to be expected."
