Give and Take

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

Chapter 1

Luna walked slowly into the room. Her gait was graceful, elegant, and, above all, somber. She was shrouded in a black robe, and the lights of the room literally dimmed as she entered. The sitting room was rather gaudy for Rarity’s tastes nowadays. Once she had adored all the pomp and gold and glitter of high society, but years of working the system had shown her that it was nothing more than a reflection of the greed and corruption that infested it. Decorative plates, frilly drapes, and crystal chandeliers, they were all needless commodities. They couldn’t further her goals any. A century of politics and intrigue had sucked any of the frivolous dreams she had entertained going into this. It was time for her end game. The final piece of the puzzle was here, and, after tonight, it would all finally fall into place.

As always, Luna was in a perpetual gloom. One hundred years ago Celestia had been murdered. One hundred years ago it had all started. Distraught by grief, Luna had retreated into her sanctuaries. Ordering for no one to disturb her in her lamentations, she wasted away for one hundred years. She didn’t eat. She didn’t drink. She didn’t even raise the sun. She had locked herself away as the world morphed around her in the upheaval caused by her sister’s death.

Rarity had stepped up in the chaos following the unfortunate incident in Ponyville. In memory of all the friends she lost, the last Element of Harmony became a champion of the common pony. Stepping into the realm of politics, she brought reform to a shattered land. She had lived through wars, famine, pestilence, and death. All to bring her plan to fruition.

“What did you call us for?” asked the princess of the night.

“Well, darling, it’s just been so long since we last met. I thought we could get together and have a lovely cup of tea. You know, one last hurrah before I die.” Rarity was as polite and poised as ever. She had to be to get things done.

“What do you mean dying? We saw you just the other day. You were there when we first heard of our sister’s death.”

“Darling, that was a century ago. You’ve been cooped up in that castle for a whole hundred years. You’d think some fresh air would be good, but you wouldn’t let anypony see you. However that’s beside the point. While you had locked yourself away, I spent the last hundred years holding things together. I’ve done a pretty good job, but, when I pass on, all my work will be for naught if somepony can’t do the last few things that I can’t. I want to tell you a story. A story about the power a single gift can have. Maybe after hearing it, you’ll find it in yourself to move on.”

Rarity took a deep breath before beginning. Luna seemed impatient to be gone, but this was the final step. One last gift before years of planning ended.

…..

A lot of ponies wondered how I ever came to be the Element of Generosity. I was the most selfish, self-absorbed pony you would ever meet sometimes. They didn’t understand that true generosity involves knowing where you’re needed. I could visualize it, you see. I could visualize how each and every gift I made would shape the world. The petty gifts they expected from me were nothing in the grand scheme of things. I watched, and I waited, and I planned for the gift that would change the world. It’s amazing what one gift can lead to. It’s amazing what that one gift did.

It was a small box that I’d hand delivered in the quaint hours of the morning. Nopony saw me, and that was how I liked it. I always prefered to remain annonymous for my greatest gifts. It was a simple candy heart and a proclamation of love. It was the sort of thing anypony might get on any day from somepony special. The only thing that made this gift special was the pony I had claimed it was from. Normally, such a gift would do anything from creating a lasting relationship to destroying a long and happy friendship, but I had so much more planned for this gift.

Anyways, after delivering the gift to Rainbow Dash’s house, I took up a spot at one of my favorite little cafes on the street below. I had promised myself I would watch the event that started it all. You see, this was the first step of my plan. This gift would begin a chain of events that would shatter the world. It would cause kingdom’s to fall in despair, and it would cause ponies to rise in glory.

You see it was I who murdered Celestia. I gave that gift knowing the chaos that would follow. I knew each and every event that would follow, and I manipulated events so that it would end in the deaths of everypony I knew and loved. I planned every single detail of that horrid day, for that was to be my gift to the world. I was going to destroy the world as it was, so that I might create it anew.

…..

Most ponies who knew Rarity would be surprised at an omission like that. It went against everything the public thought about her. She was the one who held charity after charity. She was the one who had given her estate away when the orphanage had burnt down. She was the one who had traded herself for the hostages when the diamond dogs had revolted. The common ponies could make such foals. Then again, that was the point of it all.

“Surprised, darling?” It was surprising how calm a pony could be after a statement like that. She sat leisurely, and waited for the princess’ verdict. She had just confessed to the crime of the millenium. Surely the grief stricken princess would want to pass judgement.

As for Luna, most ponies would be surprised she hadn’t flown into a rampage at that omission. Most ponies would be surprised she wasn’t burning the town down right now. Even Rarity was surprised. She had half expected the drugs to fail at debilitating a creature as divine as an alicorn.

“I do hope you enjoyed your tea.” Rarity’s smile was coy and demure. “You see, I had to make sure you wouldn’t interrupt my story. A lady must always keep up her appearance, so there was no way I could finish if I was a bloody pulp on the floor.” Rarity took a sip of her own tea before continuing. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance eventually. You are the last piece of the puzzle after all. I relish what is to come after you hear my story”

Luna appeared to struggle at the lethargy that had overcome her body. Such treason could only be met with death, but her wings couldn’t rise, and only the weakest sparks would sputter from her horn. Her legs were as heavy as lead. Only her mind was left untouched. She could see, hear, and even speak. It turned out she could also cry.

“Please don’t cry darling. Would it make you feel any better if you knew that I had taken the drug too? I always find that makes my guests a bit more receptive. It puts us on even ground.” The first few minutes were always difficult for Rarity. She often found her guests were more responding to a caring and attentive captor. Luna, however, didn’t seem to want to buy it.

“Here, have some more tea. It will relax you. You’ll find you have strength enough to at least levitate your cup.” She was always surprised when her guests refused more tea. It was perfectly fine except for the drug. They never seemed to understand that, after the first dose, they were too helpless to get away. She could easily force the drug down their throats after that. Wasn’t it better to just sit, and have a nice conversation over tea?

“Luna, darling, you need to hear this. This is my gift to you. It is the final piece. Hear my story and suffer. Let it burn away your grief. Let the fires of rage consume you, so that you might rise from the ashes and reshape the world.” Luna struggled to get away from her captor, to escape the madness that was unfolding, but it was too late.

The tale would be told, the plan would unfold, and the mistress of the night would rise.

Author's Note: I always thought Rarity would make a good villain. Not one of those power-crazed brutes you normally find, but the classiest of villain's. The kind of villain who manipulates the world from the shadows. A queen commanding her pawns across the chess board, and the one who knows that a good game means taking measured losses. When you face a villain who will forever and always be ten steps ahead of you, the world takes on a remarkably different light. All the world's but a game, and we are it's humble pieces. That is my favorite type of villain, and that type is the one that will always send shivers up my spine.

Chapter 2

“Why are you doing this?” Luna had to choke the words out. It just didn’t make any sense. The Elements of Harmony were the personification of peace and friendship. What could possibly have driven one of them to try and destroy the world as it was known. Equestria had been a utopia, and Rarity had destroyed it.

“It’s quite simple, darling. I seek perfection.” There was a rather obsessive glint in Rarity’s eye. “Everypony thought the system was perfect. They thought we lived in this little perfect world, and that nothing was wrong with it. I saw the truth. Our system was flawed, and everypony else was just too naive to see it. I made it my goal to fix it. It was for the good of Equestria, and I was willing to give anything to do it. If it meant giving my soul away in the process, that was a price I was willing to take.”

The princess of the night was not going to just cower for this madmare. The lunar maiden gathered all the energy she could muster, and prepared for the long night to come. She would fight with whatever weapon she could use, even if the only one she had was her tongue.

“Committing atrocities for the greater good does not excuse them, Rarity.”

“Did I ever say I was to be excused for my actions?” The coy smile returned. “You don’t seem to understand that my confession to you is, in and of itself, part of my plan. Whatever this tale may lead to, you may be certain I will have won in the end. Now, where was I?”

…..

Ah, that’s right. I had delivered the gift to Rainbow, but she had yet to open it. In fact, she hadn’t even woke up yet. I had to wait until noon for my plan to commence. I had delivered the package at dawn, but Rainbow always liked to sleep in. I suppose in hindsight that was part of the plan, even if it was for personal reasons. I wanted to see the faces of everypony passing by one more time. This was to be their last day among the living, and I felt that, if nothing else, I owed it to them to burn as many as their faces in my mind as I could. I was doing this for them. I was trying to make the world a better place, but they would not be able to partake the fruits of my labor. They were to be the sacrifice that began it all. I was going to give up my life, my friends, and my very being, all so I might give the world the gift of perfection.

Ponies assume it’s those petty gifts that mark somepony as generous. What does charity for a beggar mean if the beggar doesn’t even have the will to live? What does a toy for an orphan mean if the orphan desires more than to be a street rat? Material gifts mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. I was doing the most generous thing I could think of to make the world a better place. I was willing to destroy myself, and everything I stood for so that I might gift the world with perfection. A utopia beyond the little one of naivety and ignorance we had built. But I’ve moved off on a tangent, haven’t I?

Rainbow finally rose from her lazing slumber. Groggy from sleep, she almost missed the carefully arranged package I left for her. That would have ruined the whole plan. I had been setting up all my manipulations for weeks. If she had missed it, all my plans would have been knocked out of synch. I still remember my heart skipping a beat, in both relief and annoyance, at the thought of that happening.

She picked up the small brown package rather carefully, as if expecting a trap. You see, I had marked the package as if it was a present from Pinkie Pie. While Pinkie was known for her gifts, she was also known for her pranks, and it was this randomness of hers that made me put the package in her name.

We were all drawn to the sheer bundle of energy that was Pinkie. She made anything look possible, and that’s why we all liked her. She was also the most enigmatic pony you would ever meet. She was random, and silly, and she always left you wondering if you could really believe that whatever had happened when you met had actually been real. Rainbow had always been fascinated with Pinkie’s randomness, and it was that very same fascination I planned to use.

Nopony knew what to expect from Pinkie Pie, so, when Rainbow opened a package that had a proclamation of her love for her, she was obviously left completely confused. In reality I don’t think Pinkie thought of anypony that way. She was almost childlike with naivety, but the shock of seeing something like that would leave Rainbow so confused that she wouldn’t even realize the ridiculousness of the situation. That was why I’d chosen Rainbow Dash. She was rash, and hasty, and quick to panic over anything serious. She wouldn’t be able to handle the implications of the gift, and ,when the panic began, there was only one pony she would go to advice for.

…..

“You lied,” whispered Luna, “You took everything you knew about your friends, everything that made them unique and special, and you used it to further your own ends. What kind of monster are you?”

“I’m the kind that does what others don’t for fear of the consequences to follow.”

“You destroyed them. You didn’t just kill them. You took the things that had created the bonds between you and you unraveled them.” Luna tried once more to move, but the drugs still held her. “We remember our sister before she left. She said Ponyville was in chaos and she had to help you. We wondered why she didn’t just let it settle down, since you six always saved the day. Do you know what she said? She said she wanted to go because the strength of your friendship was the purest thing she had ever seen, and that, even if she came after the problem had settled, it would be worth it to see your faces. You corrupted that friendship to destroy the utopia we had in a mad quest to make what was perfect better, so we shall ask again. Why?”

Rarity chuckled before taking a sip of tea. “Darling, you may have Equestria was a utopia, but as I said before I saw the truth. It’s true that we had two immortal and benevolent rulers with the wisdom of ages come and gone, but that was what made us complacent. Ponies lost the ability to think for themselves. We followed your teachings mindlessly, not even understanding why you taught us these lessons. You said something was right or wrong, and we followed without question. Nopony thought to question whether you were right or wrong. Eons of wisdom may have been yours to command, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t make mistakes.”

Rarity lazily turned her head to look directly into Luna’s eyes. “You of all ponies should know you can make mistakes. Some you can see, but, like all ponies, there will always be some you’re blind to. Do you know the greed and corruption that festered among the nobility while you two were in power? They were arrogant, self-absorbed, and greedy. They used their power only to further their own ends, and leave everypony else behind to rot. Nopony but myself could see it, and so I sought to break the curtain of naivety you had created.”

Luna stared at Rarity with the utmost contempt. “Rarity, my dear, you must realize you’re being a hypocrite here. What have you done, except everything you have just accused the nobility of?”

The audacity of Rarity’s laugh made Luna flush with anger. The lingering chimes of her laugh rang through the room for the longest time before settling. “Yes, I am a hypocrite, but you see I knew that all along. I told you I had to sell my soul to give my gift to the world. I became the very thing I hated, so that I might banish it from the world. I am the cruelest, most manipulative, witch you will ever meet, and it is the story of my crimes that shall be my lesson to others. Now, if you don’t mind, shut up. I have a tale to tell, and you will listen. You will listen, and then the puzzle will be complete.”

Chapter 3

“You’re saying you murdered my sister and the entire population of Ponyville to make the world a better place.” Luna glared at Rarity coldly.

“Yes.” Rarity’s response was calm and collected.

“You’re saying that you’ve spent your whole life becoming the very thing you hate, so that you can rid the world of an evil that only you’ve seen.” The drug seemed to be wearing off. Maybe, if she didn’t move, she’d catch Rarity by surprise.

“Yes.” She was humoring her. For some reason Rarity found all of Luna’s questions amusing, and that was infuriating Luna to no end. She was going to enjoy crushing Rarity’s neck.

“You’re saying a world full of chaos and turmoil is better than the peaceful land my sister and I ruled.” It was almost time. Luna tensed her muscles.

“Yes, and no. You still don’t understand the goal of it all, darling.”

“That’s because it doesn’t make any sense, darling.” Luna put as much venom as she could into Rarity’s little pet phrase. She could actually move her legs now, even if it was much too slowly.

“But that’s just it, darling. It does make sense. You don’t see it yet, but you will. I’ve planned this too perfectly to be wrong on such a trivial manner. By the way, I suggest not moving your leg next time. It gives yourself away. It’s too bad, since you would have caught me unawares then. Nopony has ever recovered that fast before, but I suppose that comes with the territory of being an immortal god. I do hope you went to the bathroom before you came, because it appears you’re going to need a lot of tea to make it through the night. Anyways, I’ll just pour you some more tea, and then I’ll continue my story.

…..

As I predicted, Rainbow Dash flew into a panic, and shot off for the only friend she’d think to confide in. Twilight was too much of an egghead to her, Fluttershy would be much too timid to talk about such a subject, Pinkie was out since she was the cause of the problem, and Rainbow thought I would overreact like it was gossip. That left only Applejack.

Applejack was normally a very considerate pony, but, as with everything else, I’d planned things so Rainbow would be coming at a very stressful time. Applebuck season was in full blast, and Big Macintosh had mysteriously gone ill again. In truth, I had given him an anonymous gift that may or may not have been one of Pinkie’s baked bads. Over the years, I’d find that they were a marvelous way to incapacitate my foes for several days while I furthered my goals.

Anyways, the point is, Applejack was currently very overworked, and very agitated. None of us were able to help her that year because Twilight had extra reports for the princess as punishment for a certain dragon making a fire in an attempt to show off for me, Rainbow had extra weather duties from a friend of mine in Cloudsdale who had heard of Rainbow’s skills from me, Pinkie had been roped into helping bake all the treats for Sugarcube Corner’s Nightmare Night Extraveganza from a particular comment I made to the Cakes, and Fluttershy was currently caring for several animals that were caught in a flood I may or may not have caused by telling the Cutie Mark Crusaders to try dam repair. I myself had politely made an excuse not to help because, obviously, it was part of the plan.

Normally she would have understood our excuses, but , needless to say, two weeks straight of bucking apples alone had left Applejack strained, tired, and very cloudy headed. She became frustrated with us as the fatigue left her unable to think straight. The sheer agony that came from being overworked, not to mention the blow to her pride from failing to keep up the pace she needed, had made her start to question us. It made her wonder if we’d abandoned her. Of course it was all in her head, but she was too exhausted to see that. When Rainbow showed up not to help her, but to take some of the precious time she had left to buck her apples, she snapped.

I’m not very sure of the particulars of the fight, because I wasn’t there. There were other pieces of the plan I had to fulfill. I wish I’d been there to witness it. Not because I wanted them to fight, but because back then I still had the ability to care. Who knows, maybe if I had seen it with my own eyes things would have been different. Maybe if I’d been there I could have stopped it all. Oh well, it’s too late now. The only thing left to do is make sure their deaths weren’t in vain.

…..

Luna looked at her captor very carefully. There had been an echo of the Rarity she had known in the end of that flashback. Perhaps, given enough time, she could appeal to the pony she once knew. “Do you feel regret for what you’ve done?”

Rarity looked at Luna with such vehemence that the princess of the night actually flinched away for a second. “Of course I feel regret, darling.” This time it was Rarity using the venom. “I may be evil, but I am far from heartless. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of what I did. I will pay for my crimes. I made sure of that. Besides, my plan would never work if I didn’t pay for them myself in the end. I told you that my goal was to enlighten the common pony, yet I leave them ignorant of my crimes. I told you of my hatred for the nobility, and yet I act as if I am one. Do you not see why I do these things?”

“No, Rarity, I don’t,” whispered Luna, “It doesn’t make sense, and it never should. No pony should walk a path like you've chosen.”

“I knew you’d say that,” scoffed Rarity, “That is why you are the final piece of the puzzle. You will forever hate me for what I’ve done. Even if you come to understand me, you will never approve of my actions, and that’s exactly what I need. When I die you will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. You will sing of my crimes to the people and they will come to hate me. It’s brilliant. Don’t you see? To have a noble pony so perfect and pure as myself become reviled by the public is just what I need. Finally, the common pony will wake up from their naive little world to try to think for themselves. Finally, they will see that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that power should be shared and divided among all, so that its abuse might be diluted. And you, my dear princess, will be the one to guide them down this path.”

Rarity looked towards the sky with a sly smile on her face, while Luna felt a conflicting rumble of pity and hatred for her mad captor in her stomach. It made sense, in a really twisted sort of way. She didn’t want it to make sense, but it did.

Still looking into the distance, Rarity began to murmur to herself. “If you really want to win a game of chess, the best thing you can do is simply to play as the other team. Rise through the ranks and champion their cause, only to stab them in the back. I may have played as the black queen in this little game of darkness, but I was always a pawn of the light. Maybe, by the end of the story, you’ll actually understand. I’d never ask for forgiveness, but I’d like for you to understand. Maybe one day...”

Author's Note: This was going to be my submission for Equestria Daily's NaPoWriMo, but I don't think I'll be able to get to 50,000 words by the end... It's gonna go for a while, but I'm not sure I can believably make a 50,000 word conversation, because all this is is one big conversation. At least it's fun to write. I've always enjoyed speculating how a story will progress and that's exactly what this is. As I write it I need to logically figure out each and every step the Elements would take, and how to counter any reaction that might screw Rarity's plan up until only Rarity's desired route of action is left. Here's to hoping my logic is sound.

Chapter 4

“Rarity...” Rarity snapped out of her daze, but Luna didn’t really know how to continue. If, somewhere deep inside, any scrap of kindness remained in Rarity, the princess of the night would have to be as crafty and charming as her mad captor to bring it out. Unfortunately, this meant playing along and listening to Rarity’s story. It also meant controlling her emotions, which was something she was not very good at.

“Rarity, my dear, you claim that you are somepony pure and rightous, but all of your actions this night don’t suggest that. What have you done in my absence? Why do the common ponies in the street adore you?”

Rarity looked at the princess, batting her eyes. “Darling, I have done everything. Charities, fundraisers, reform policies, and peace treaties, I have done them all. Over the years I’ve made sure that every foal receives an education. College has become mandatory, and the government pays for any who lack the funds. Health insurance is provided as a government service, and any and all freeloaders to the system are weeded out by a strict set of regulations that prevent abuse of my gifts to society. I am personally responsible for the financial caring of over one thousand orphans scattered throughout kingdoms we’ve warred with in the chaos following Celestia’s death, and I’m also behind most of the peace settlements.”

Rarity paused waiting for an apparently expected prompt from Luna to continue. It seemed her captor knew what she was trying to do. The mad mare had expected this to come up, and it was infuriating that, even in resisting, she was doing what the manipulative witch wanted. Luna inclined her head for what she knew the rest of Rarity’s answer would be, although it was more of a violent twitch from her frustration. She was off to a poor start of beating the witch at her own game.

“Of course, that was only what I let the public see of me. Not even counting that I was the one who murdered Celestia, I started most of those wars. The few I didn’t start I had predicted would happen merely as aftereffects of other actions I made, so I guess, in a way, I started them all. Darling, I am responsible for making griffins an endangered species. I turned the Diamond Dogs into self-eating savages, and I almost wiped out the dragons. Luckily, I planned well enough to preserve them, and find a way to integrate them into society. Where Equestria had tiny borders before, we now stretch all around the world. My gift was for more than Equestria. My gift was for the whole world. For my plan to unfold, I needed the whole world to be united as one so that they might hate me as one. I was careful though. All the horrible things I’ve done to the world I’ve always done through others. More than one noble house has already fallen from me giving them advice that only twisted their actions to my own ends. Of all the tiny gifts I give to further my plans, the ability to give somepony an idea will always be one of the most deadly. But I digress. Maybe I’ll go into details later, but right now I must continue my story. I only have so much time after all.” Rarity looked over at the goddess she had dared to hold captive and smiled.

“Oh, by the way, I’m glad you’ve finally decided to enjoy the tea.”

It took all of Luna’s self control not to do a spit take. It seemed she had gotten distracted from Rarity’s speech, and started drinking her tea. The mistress of the night tried to keep her fuming rage inside, but it was hard to stay calm when she was supposed to be beating herself up for being stupid enough to willingly drink more of that cursed tea. Rarity just grinned slyly, before continuing her story.

…..

The second part of my plan was to make sure none of my friends interfered with the conflict I had created. If they somehow managed to cool the conflict I had created, my plan would be for naught. In fact, if my plan was to work, I had to make sure they made it worse. I needed to generate enough chaos to draw Celestia to Ponyville, and, if there was one thing I learned from when Celestia had last intervened in Ponyville affairs, Twilight Sparkle knew how to make chaos when properly stressed.

Twilight was also currently overloaded with work. I believe I mentioned the extra assignments that were punishment for her little assistant’s fire. Of course, that had really been my fault for egging him on as he tried to impress me, but Spike wasn’t going to tell Twilight that.

All it would take is a little spark to ignite the chaos within. The spark in this case was three innocent little fillies that had a tendency to almost burn the town down looking for their Cutie Marks. Since Applejack and Rainbow Dash were fighting, I was the only pony left who actively controlled the little scamps. The town felt it was our responsibility because we were their role models, and I was going to use that to my full advantage.

All I had to do was feed them a ridiculous story on dragon slaying, and they were off to the only place in town where there was an actual dragon. I don’t think they honestly expected they could become dragon slayers, but they were young and imaginative. It was rather adorable watching them scamper all about in their antics sometimes, but I doubted Twilight would be in the mood that day. Actually, as you probably figured, I was counting on it.

They would trash the treehouse, Twilight would snap, and then they’d dash into the hills, probably chasing a still terrified Spike. I was actually counting on that too for the plan, although I couldn’t control where they’d run. I was going to need Spike and Sweetie Belle in the years to come, so I made sure the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike were well outside of town when I made my move.

As for Twilight, I believe she ended up trying to hypnotize the whole town into slaves who would help her finish her work. I can’t be sure, because I was avoiding her like the plague to avoid be ensnared by whatever she was doing, but I passed a number of zoned out ponies who were acting like those zombies Spike always carried on about as I continued to implement my plan. By now things were in full swing, and Rainbow was probably headed over to Pinkie’s after her fight with Applejack. This was where I thought the biggest chance of failure would occur. That darn pink mare was just too unpredictable.

…..

“So you had a heart after all,” whispered Luna.

“I beg your pardon, dear. What ever would give you that idea?” Was that a flicker of fear in Rarity’s eyes? It made sense. Rarity was driven by her hatred from what Luna could see. She hated the ignorance she saw in society, and she hated the nobility for their corruption. The most powerful drive she had, however, was her own self-loathing. She had convinced herself she was the thing she hated most, and any sign of decency was a sign that she could have done something else. If the princess of the night was to make something out of this encounter, she would have to use that to her advantage.

“You saved them. You said you needed Spike and Sweetie Belle, but you saved all the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Why would you do that? There was no need for you to save somepony who had no use to you.” It wasn’t much, but a single bead of sweat betrayed Rarity’s thoughts.

Luna smiled before continuing. “I’ll tell you why. It’s because deep down you cared for Sweetie. Twilight Sparkle’s letters made it very clear that your sister cared deeply for those two other fillies. You saved those two other ponies, because, in the chaos that was to follow, you wanted her to be able to find some measure of happiness.”

Rarity flinched for the briefest of seconds. It was almost imperceptible, but it was there. Luna knew she had scored a hit, and she giggled madly on the inside at her triumph. She still had to maintain her outward control, but there was something immensely satisfying with having affected her captor in such a way. The idea that this shrewd, logical, creature before her couldn’t picture every event that would happen was nice. So far everything had happened according to Rarity’s design. Throughout this whole conversation Rarity had been humoring her. The ivory idol had expected each and every turn the conversation would take, but she hadn’t expected that last comment.

“Rarity, you know there were other paths you could have taken. You could have relied on your friends, instead of stabbing them in the dark. I understand your goals, but why did you choose this path? Why did you choose a path filled with so much destruction and chaos?”

Rarity stared past Luna into the distance. She was quiet for a very long time before answering, and when she did it was almost a whisper. “I did it because I was jealous. I wanted all the power that high society ponies had. My friends knew more than I how deep my ambitions to succeed were. If I had told them of my hatred for the nobility they would have laughed. I would have been nothing but a hypocrite to them, and they’d be right. Even if they had understood, what could I have done? Any waves I would make to change the world would be tainted by my own hypocrisy. They might make a splash, but there would be no resounding change. It wasn’t until after my experience with Prince Blueblood that I began to see the true face of high society, and I only began to learn how that seemed to apply to every noble pony after that week I met Fancypants. Fancypants had been the only one to care for my friends. The others had merely followed suit, and put on plaster faces that somehow managed to fool my friends. That was when I saw how the common pony was ignorant to it all. I choose my path because it was the one I needed to choose. I would never be able to deal with my jealousy of high society unless I entered it in such a way that I could do nothing but loath what it had done to me, and I would never be able to change the world for the better unless I got the influence I needed to do so. My own inner evils are exactly what prevented me from helping the proper way, so I decided to use my own flaws to my advantage. I decided I’d embrace them and become a giant twisted sacrificial pyre. Does that answer your question, Luna?”

Luna was silent. She really didn’t know what to say again. What could she say to somepony who was so devoted to a cause that they would willingly do anything to achieve it? It was almost touching, but nothing could excuse the evils her captor had committed. What Rarity had done was wrong, right?

Author's note: I love villains that have a cause. You always end up questioning why they go to such extremes, and it makes you wonder where the line should be drawn when trying to change the world. The same goes for villains who like to watch the world burn, like Discord, but that's when you question the other end of the spectrum. How can society survive when someone is capable of such evil? It's villains like that that either bring out the good in people, or crush their hopes for society. It's like they end up flipping a coin to decide who you really are, except I like to believe that the chances of someone surviving such a toss is better than 50-50.

I'm a little sad I already got a dislike, but I admit my style is different than most. At least that's what I think. The only reason I bring it up is because if I make a mistake in my logic the entire mood of the story will be ruined. This story is driven by Rarity's cold use of logic to predict her friends, so a single mistake in either her friends reactions, or Rarity's own step by step plan, ruins the entire feel of the story. If I make a mistake in the logical progression, please tell me. Of course I'm going to ask you logically back your argument up, but that's because I need to see how I'm wrong so I can edit the plan accordingly. Anyways, that's enough of my insecure ramblings. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Chapter 5

“Rarity, tell me why you needed Spike and Sweetie Bell.” Luna had a feeling that, as much as she would probably deny it, Rarity had saved them more out caring for them than wanting a tool to manipulate. They were two of the closest creatures to Rarity in Ponyville, and the one thing Luna knew about ponies using pawns was that it was bad to get close to them. Rarity was a manipulator in the most extreme sense. She would know that, when you use somepony as a mere tool, you couldn’t afford to know them. The guilt from tearing her other friends to pieces, while well hidden in a mask of cold logic, had already shown, and it was a fair assumption that she was already beating herself up inside even as the first part of her plan unfolded. That was why she’d stayed to watch the package be opened. She was giving herself time to realize that what she was doing was wrong. Memorizing the faces of everypony who passed by as she waited was just another sign of her attempting to stop herself. She was trying to well up enough feelings of guilt to sabotage her own plan.

It was pitiable, Luna didn’t know what to feel about Rarity’s condition anymore. She was angry, but, at the same time, she could do nothing but cringe at what this ivory idol had done to herself. If there was one thing Luna had learned in the eons that were her life, it was how to get a sense of ponies. She may not be a master of her own emotions like her sister, but she was able to see when other ponies were conflicted. It probably came from all the inner conflicts she had with herself. In the case of Rarity, it was clear that there were two opposing forces in the mad mare’s heart. She was cynical, manipulative, and power hungry, but she was also hopeful, caring, and humble.

She had so much hope for society that she was willing to place a bet, with her soul on the line, that this chaos would better the world in the end, and she was caring enough to inflict emotional torture on herself by personally placing herself in situations where she would see the pain she inflicted on the world. Throughout all her machinations, she made sure she suffered, so that she wouldn’t lose sight of her original goal. She was humble enough to see the flaws that were her greatest weakness, and that was what had led her down her path to begin with. It was odd that the very goodness she had possessed had, in the end, simply augmented the corruption that had grown inside her.

All this repeatedly flashed through the princess of the night’s mind as she waited for Rarity’s response. Rarity was silent for a long time before answering.

“I would rather not broach that subject right now, darling.”

“Is that because of the fact that it isn’t part of your plan, or is it because you don’t like thinking about it?”

“I don’t know...” Rarity trailed off into silence again, and Luna cursed herself for possibly going too far. If she was going to appeal to Rarity’s inner goodness, she needed to do it slowly. She didn’t want Rarity to crumble at what she had done. If there was one thing she had learned from being the horror that was Nightmare Moon, it was that everypony deserved a chance at redemption. This was not about waiting for revenge anymore. The mistress of the night sat and listened, because this was Rarity’s last chance at fixing a lifetime of wrongs, and it was Luna’s obligation to give her that chance. It was what her sister would have wanted.

Rarity was still silent. Luna had to change the subject fast, or there was a chance she’d lose her forever.

“Forget about it, dear. Why don’t you tell me how you managed to live for so long? It’s not natural for a Unicorn to be well past one hundred years old. How did you do it?” It was sudden and abrupt, but Luna knew that Rarity wouldn't even notice if it allowed her captor respite from her current train of thought.

Rarity stayed lost for a couple more seconds. She was on a journey of the mind that no pony could truly see or understand. The mind is a sacred place, and only its owner can wander the unique mapping that is gifted to him or her. Sometimes it takes a while to cut through the swamp of obstacles we place for ourselves, and Rarity’s mind was doubtlessly filled with endless traps from the conflicting philosophies inside her, but she finally found her way out.

“Yes, darling. I can see how that might peak your curiosity.” Her normal calm and poise returned, but there was an almost imperceptible shallowness to her breathing. “Being an immortal you must have lost many friends over the years, so any improvements in a ponies mortality means you get that much more time before losing them forever.” She was retaliating. The frustrated mare was trying to lash out with whatever little cuts she could make, and Luna knew it. Luna tried to keep her smile up, even though that comment cut more than the news of her sister's death, and even took a few sips from her tea. The lunar maiden hadn't considered that. She'd been so concerned with the loss of her sister she hadn't even realized how truly alone she was now. There was no one left to share the years with as all her other friends would perish, and her grief would only momentarily lapse when she found new ones. What would happen if she lost the ability to care enough to find new friends? What if the grief of thousands upon thousands of lost friends became too much? She had always thought Celestia would be there in the end, yet now she was all alone. The princess of the night drained her cup, only to fill it and drain it again, at such troubling thoughts. There was no point in fighting the drug anymore, since it was her goal was to hear Rarity out, and it seemed to calm Rarity when her hospitality was accepted, although drugging the tea wasn’t really very hospitable.

Rarity lightened up slightly upon seeing her captive finally accept she would be here for a while, so she actually answered the question instead of continuing the barrage of sly insults forming in her head. She couldn’t let the princess of the night get to her. She had lasted so far without losing control, and she wasn’t going to let Luna pry the final piece of the puzzle away. She had come too far to fail now. Decades, and decades, of manipulating foals was not going to go down the drain because of those worthless feelings of guilt. She had know the cost coming into this, and she had know the cost coming out.

“It’s remarkable what advances there have been in medical technology over the last hundred years. War is a perfect excuse to fund new research into how to heal ponies.” Rarity looked Luna straight in the eye as she continued. “It’s also remarkable for developing weapons technology, but I never pushed that. There are enough ways to kill somepony as it is.” That would have sounded odd coming from most villains, but Luna knew that Rarity’s overall goal was peace, not war. It wouldn’t make sense to leave the world tools that could end up tearing the peace she was trying to make apart. The princess of the night just smiled encouragingly and nodded for her host to continue. “At first these advances were enough for me, but no pony is supposed to live as long as I have. I established secret facilities meant to make even greater advances for medicine, but greater advances came at a cost. Testing these new treatments were very dangerous, but I needed them to become reality, so we picked up every terminally ill pony we could find to try and find these treatments. We hoped we’d end up helping them in the end, but there were years of failures until we found anything moderately helpful to any of them. They came willingly for the chance to find a cure, but more often than not they never ended up leaving. I made sure to enact laws on the testing of products after that.” Luna’s stomach had gone queasy at the thought of ponies running around as guinea pigs. “It wasn’t right, but it was necessary for me to continue my plans”

“Why did you need to live for so long though?”

Rarity smiled coyly again as her feeling of control returned. Luna had started to pity her, and that wouldn't help the plan. She could not risk any form of kindness from the princess. Any form of forgiveness or chance of redemption would send all her work crashing into oblivion. She needed Luna against her, and any of the princess of the night's questions that revealed the deplorable things she'd really done would further that objective. “Part of it was because I didn’t trust anypony. I couldn’t pass my plan off to anypony else because I couldn’t guarantee that they’d simply take all my power for themselves. The other reason I did it was for you. I knew it would take you a long time to grieve, and I needed you. I waited as long as I could for you to get it out of your system, so I could make sure my story would return you to the world. I figured the shock of an Element of Harmony being so corrupted and evil would be too much for you. If I had told you too soon you would have either relapsed into endless lamenting as I crushed any lingering hope you had for the world, or you would have gone into an endless rage and turned into a tyrant that would have made Nightmare Moon look like Fluttershy.”

Luna was once again questioning what she was supposed to feel, just as Rarity wanted she bet. The warden of the stars may have fell for it, except this was just another excuse Rarity had come up with to deny any feelings she had. She felt guilty about the murder of Celestia, and had given the princess of the night as much time as she could to end her grief in a natural way, but it came at the expense of a lot of ponies lives. Rarity hadn’t wanted to tell the princess like this, and the extremes to which she’d gone to try and spare the princess the weight of both her grief and and the shock of the ivory idol’s story was rather comforting, and also rather disturbing.

“Maybe we should return to your story, Rarity.”

“Maybe we should, darling.” Rarity closed her eyes and sighed. “Maybe we should.”

Author's Note: There wasn't a flashback in this chapter but I feel it was just as important. I wanted a more in depth look into the psyche of Luna and Rarity, because that will hopefully make the nuances to Rarity's plan more clear. It's more than a simple plan for world domination. It's a philosophical stand, and it reflects Rarity's own thoughts on society. Rarity's planning may be perfect, but, as her own ideals war inside her, she will try to sabotage herself. People do it every day in real society. Those are the decisions you look back on and ask why you made them. It's because on some level you were conflicted with your own ideals in the world and tried to change them. This is why I always liked Rarity on the show. She is the epitome of conflicting ideas, and she must balance them all. She is supposed to be the Element of Generosity, but she can be quite selfish and ambitious at times. She's generous in other ways though. Have you ever noticed she can't say no at certain points in the show? In Sweet and Elite she couldn't say no to anypony simply because she felt obligated to answer them all, and it ended in her ignoring Twilight's dress. That was nice because it mixed the flaw of her ambition with her inability to say no where she percieves she's needed. In Suited for Success she was unable to ignore her friends pleas at the cost of her reputation in the fashion show. She is willing to go to lengths for ponies at the expense of her own happiness sometimes, and yet she clearly has reluctance to even try to help in other situations. I find it all fascinating, and I lament how others tend to spurn her. Anyways, this is turning out a much longer note than I intended, and I doubt anyone really reads these anyways, but I put them here just in case. Besides, I also make them for my own benefit. My Author's Notes aren't so much notes as they are signatures. They're an impression of my state of mind at the end of each chapter, and they show how that chapters affected me. Whenever someone writes they pour their soul into the story, and it changes them. Their style of writing is a reflection of their very being, and writing their story can leave them considering things they wouldn't normally consider as they plunge into the depths of their being. Looking at these notes I can see how my story has changed me, and I can reflect on it. Obviously it can be annoying when I tend to put in a lot of insecure questions or statements, but I feel any author worth his salt should realize he could always improve. Oh... I started rambling again... That's enough for this set of notes...

Chapter 6

“Darling, do you happen to remember exactly where I was in my story?” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes in what somepony who didn’t know all the horrors she had committed would find innocent and naive.

“I’m not really sure, dear.” It was obvious that Rarity actually remembered. She was just testing Luna’s own feelings on what she’d done. Her captor wanted signs of anger and hatred, but Luna knew that would only fuel the mad mare’s delusions that what she was doing was necessary. Instead, the princess of the night radiated the same calm collectedness that her hostess was so fond of. If the ivory idol wanted to play games with Luna, it was only obligatory that the lunar maiden reply in kind. “I believe you had just let Rainbow Dash charge off to get in a fight with Applejack.”

“No, I believe we were past that. I told you about Twilight, and how she snapped from me unleashing the Cutie Mark Crusaders in her home I believe, but I can’t remember if I got much farther.”

“No, dear, I believe that’s where you were when you finished last. You also mentioned something about Pinkie Pie. What was it again?” It was difficult, but cool detachment was the only reward the ivory idol would get, and the look in Rarity’s eye told the princess of the night it was working. Her captor might realize it was nothing but a farce, but on some level she would question what it would mean if it wasn’t. It was part of the mad mare’s nature by now to consider every possibility. Somepony as manipulative as Rarity had to in order to bring about her machinations. The ivory idol would begin to doubt her plan, and that would make her doubt every horrible decision that was a part of that plan. The goodness inside her had paved the way to her corruption, and it was time the evil in her brought her back to the light. It was only fitting.

Rarity paused, waiting for some sign of the emotions she wanted, before continuing with a sigh. “Yes, darling, I believe that was it. I was off to Sugarcube Corner to observe the next step of my plan.” It seemed Luna had changed with all the things she was learning from this tale of darkness, and Rarity wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. The princess of the night was determined to fight every step of the way, but her methods were beyond anything the ivory idol expected. Rarity had been so sure that Luna’s tendency to let her emotions guide her actions would make her an asset. She had wanted righteous fury, yet the princess of the night matched Rarity’s games with more games of her own. Such cool detachment was more fitting of Celestia, and that was why she had chosen the sun princess to be the one to die. Celestia had cared, but she would detach herself from problems to figure out the best solution to them. Rarity had done that, and she had ended up corrupted because of it. Luna had been chosen because her emotions allowed her to affect others in a way Celestia never could.

Luna’s jealousy had unleashed Nightmare Moon, and led to a fear so unprecedented in history that only the fear that Discord had brought on could compare. When Luna had discovered fun and acceptance on Nightmare Night in Ponyville, her joy had spread infectiously to the others, and it had made that celebration legendary among all others. The righteous fury Rarity wanted, that she needed, was supposed to inspire a new age in the world. It would whip the common pony into a frenzy of idealism. Everypony would want to make the world the best it could be to avoid another disaster like the one Rarity had created, and they would realize that had to actively take part in it. Luna’s fury would empower the world with a zealotry to rival Rarity’s own twisted determination, except, untouched by evil, this passion would fuel the world to utopia.

Why was Luna fighting her very nature while resisting Rarity? Rarity hoped it wasn’t for the same reasons she had twisted hers all those years ago. It would be infuriating if her plan had done nothing but create an endless cycle of monsters like herself. As she began to continue her story, she couldn’t help but wonder about it. What was the lunar maiden doing? Why couldn’t she, of all ponies, tell what the princess was doing? It didn’t matter. Shrugging off her doubts, Rarity began to continue her story.

…..

Sugarcube Corner was a mess when I arrived. I had apparently missed the fight between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie as well, but I saw the after effects. The building was coated with a mixture of flour, jam, cinnamon, milk, and candy. The milk had begun to spoil in the harsh afternoon heat, and the jam and candy left the floor and walls so sticky that it took all the strength I had to tear my hoof from the floor with every step.

I hated entering this cesspool of sugary sweets and spoiling sustenance, but I had to make sure I knew what happened. This chaos could have been anything from Pinkie throwing a party to cheer Rainbow up, to Rainbow trashing the place as a confused Pinkie Pie tried to stop her, to a celebration being held as Pinkie confirmed the phony gift I gave Rainbow Dash that started it all. That hyperactive pink furball was just too unpredictable for me to know for sure what would happen.

What I did know was that, after the fight with Applejack, Rainbow would rush off to Sugarcube Corner to confront Pinkie about the gift I had given in her name. Rainbow would be hurt from the possibility of losing Applejack as a friend, and she would want answers as to why Pinkie had given that gift. I was relying on Rainbow’s temper to carry things through here. The fastest flyer in Equestria was also the quickest to anger, and I was going to use that against Pinkie Pie.

Our curly pink friend was an impenetrable fortress of unbridled joy and energy. Her random and cheery ways drew ponies to her like moths to a flame, and no pony could meet Pinkie without remembering her for the rest of their days. It was that very randomness that I took advantage of to ignite my plan, and it was that randomness that could diffuse it. I had to search the building for clues as to what had really happened. If the fight had resolved smoothly I’d have to resort to a couple of the various background plans I’d seeded to try and get things in motion again. You see, I always left back up plans that would ignite if any of my main plans happened to fail. Every pony I ever met has had a back up plan seeded on them at one point or another, but thankfully many of these back ups were never used. They were wild card plans at most, and were much less predictable than my master plan. But I’m off on a tangent, aren’t I?

I walked through the doors to the kitchen and saw the last thing I wanted to see.

You see, there were a couple ways I had envisioned the fight occurring.

First, there are a few events that were almost guaranteed to happen. Rainbow would barge into Sugarcube Corner and start yelling at Pinkie Pie about everything her gift had done. Pinkie would understandably be confused and ask what gift Rainbow was talking about. Rainbow would tell her about everything that happened, and then Pinkie would try to tell Rainbow that she hadn’t given her the gift she was talking about.

Here’s where I lost control of events. What I wanted was for Rainbow Dash’s anger to leave Pinkie confused and unable to intervene in my plan. Being cloudy headed from her fight with Applejack, I wanted Rainbow to feel rejected from Pinkie at hearing her deny that she had given the gift, and I wanted her to run out. I was hedging things on the fact that Rainbow would be too stressed from both the gift and the fight with Applejack to realize something was wrong. Pinkie would not be able to process Rainbow’s feelings, and, with the cyan blur leaving so suddenly, she would end up questioning what to do to fix things the entire day.

A less desirable route was that what Pinkie said would get through to Rainbow, and, upon the little bundle of joy cheering Rainbow up, they would realize something was wrong and that they were being manipulated. This chain of events was more likely than I thought, looking back, because it hinged on Rainbow’s loyalty towards her friends being stronger than any stress she was personally undergoing. Rainbow believed in her friends, even if what they were saying didn’t make sense at first, and that loyalty could have revealed my plan to the world.

The third route was not even a route I had considered, and it haunted me for a long time. What happened in that kitchen would forever teach me the importance of considering every option. You see, darling, I had forgotten that Pinkie has a couple insecurities. They were very rare, and almost never a problem, but Pinkie needed to be accepted by her friends. When she thought they were mad at her, or that she had done something to drive them away, she became a completely different pony. It could force such a shocking and traumatic change to her personality that it caused an actual physical transformation too. Her mane and tail would straighten and lose all of its volume, and she would almost radiate an air of depression. Sometimes it caused her to act unstable, but when I walked in on her in the kitchen she merely sat there with such a look of dejection that you could tell she was beyond even trying to care. There would be no bucket of turnips, or bag of flour. There would be no game of pretend to ease her shattered heart. She had just given up, and reverted to the sad little pony that had lived on a rock farm long ago.

Of all the things I’d regret doing that day, this was the worst. The only thing that compared was what I did to Fluttershy, but that was different. I didn’t destroy Fluttershy. She was incorruptible, the purest and most innocent pony one could find, and all I would do to her is send her to her doom. I’d destroyed Pinkie’s very being, and, unlike most, I knew what she had truly been like on that rock farm. I had carefully researched everypony I met, and I knew how horrible life had been for her before.

That was the moment I knew for sure there was no going back. There was no way the world could ever be the same after what had happened in that kitchen that day. Any spark of goodness I had died right then and there, for I had done what no other could do. I had committed the greatest monstrosity I would ever make.

Forget the endless deaths I would cause. Forget the corpses that would pile up, and forget the destruction I would rain on the world, for what I had done here was infinitely worse.

I had killed joy itself, and the world was going to suffer for it. I prayed to Celestia I wouldn’t kill hope, because it was the only thing the world had left now.

Author's Note: No ridiculously long rant today. Just you and your thoughts. Sometimes I forget that the best parts of a story can come from not what is written, but from the reader's own thoughts and interpretations. Enjoy.

Chapter 7

It was impossible for Rarity to hide her emotions this time. Where Luna had caught only hints before, the princess of the night now saw volumes. It’s not like the ivory idol broke down and cried, but there were thousands of little tell-tale signs. Her breathing had become shallower, and her pupils had dilated. There was a small tremor in her body, although only somepony that had eons of experience reading body language would notice it, and a couple of small beads of sweat belied how much stress she was feeling. The mad mare’s mind might deny the existence of her feelings of guilt, sorrow, and fear at what she’d become, but the body knew all too well. The old Rarity was buried in there somewhere, and she was fighting to break free.

After several minutes of Rarity silently fighting to control herself, Luna decided to intervene again. “Rarity, you must see what’s happening.”

“I know perfectly well what’s happening!” Rarity’s calm was shattered. There was desperation in her voice, and it broke here and there as she tried to regain control of herself. All of her carefully constructed self-control mechanisms had fallen apart at the memory of that dejected little pink mare, and the ivory idol was desperately trying to reconstruct them for her own sanity. “I have planned it all perfectly! How could I not know what will happen?”

“I’m not talking of your plan, my dear. I’m talking about you. Can’t you see what’s happening to yourself?” Luna gazed at her captor somberly. It was hard to know what to say, yet she couldn’t think of how to show Rarity what she needed.

“Why, whatever do you mean, darling?” The ivory idol’s eye developed the tiniest of ticks. “I am, and always have been, a monster. There’s nothing more to say.” Her captor was still in denial, and the princess of the night was stuck with no other choice than the head on approach. It was a wonder that Rarity couldn’t see it. Luna was willing to admit that many of the signs of white lady’s stress were small, but even her captor must notice that she had started grinding her teeth. The pale mare’s own cold logic should be screaming at her that something was wrong. Luna took a deep breath, and prayed to the stars that what she was going to say wouldn’t make her lose her host forever.

“You care, Rarity. No matter how much you deny it, you wish you had never started down this path. You charge ahead with this twisted scheme because it’s the only chance you see to right every wrong you ever made. You may have began this madness for the good of the world, but it became much more than that. Don’t you see how much your hatred and self-loathing affects you? Just now, when you were speaking of Pinkie, you almost lost control over the horror you feel at what you did.” Rarity was silent. The mad mare’s eyes were closed as she breathed deeply to regain control of herself. “Monsters don’t have the ability to admit they’re monsters, Rarity. They have no good in them to see that they have wronged. You, my dear, know what you have done. There is still good in you. Don’t you owe it to yourself to let it out?”

Rarity shuddered at those last few words before opening her eyes. Her calm and poise had returned, and so had the cold glint to her eyes.

“You’re wrong princess.” The pale lady took a sip of her tea. “There was good in me, but it is gone. All that’s left are the echos of where it was taken from me, bit by bit.”

The lunar maiden had to keep trying. If Rarity regained her self-control, she might never get another chance. “You’re wrong, Rarity. You think the goodness in you was torn apart by all the crimes you witnessed yourself commit. Time and time again your heart was ripped out as you saw what you were doing, but that’s exactly why I know there’s good in you. If you didn’t care about what you were doing, you wouldn’t even bother to watch, yet you always found an excuse to see it with your own eyes. You might claim it was to tie up loose ends, or that you needed to make sure things unfolded right, but it was always because you wanted yourself to suffer for what you were doing to your pawns. You kept the goodness inside you alive by twisting knife after knife in the corruption in your soul. You didn’t destroy your goodness. You saved it.”

“What does it matter if there’s any hint of goodness inside me?” Frustration cracked through Rarity’s calm again. “It doesn’t help the plan, and it doesn’t help me! What could I possibly gain from acknowledging the existence of that pathetic little spark?”

The princess of the night attempt to smile that motherly smile only Celestia could pull off. “You have a lot to gain from it, my dear, and you have a lot to thank it for. It was that same spark that led you down this path to begin with. You can claim it was the evil inside you, but I think it was always that little spark. Sometimes we must drive ourselves to the point of self destruction to reach enlightenment. I did it when I became Nightmare Moon. My own jealousy twisted me into a monster, but it was that very same jealousy that showed me how much others cared for me in the end. My sister could have destroyed me, but she tried everything she could to save me, and in the end she did by sending Twilight Sparkle to meet you.” Rarity tried to interject, but Luna wouldn’t have any of it. This was her only chance. “That spark of goodness in you helped me then, and that spark of goodness is trying to help you now. You set yourself on this path of destruction for the same reason you set the world on it. Only by showing yourself the horrors of what your inner evils could truly unleash could you gain the strength to fight them. You risked your soul to attain the very enlightenment you seek to give to others, and all you have to do to reach it is let that goodness out.”

Rarity was silent a long time after the princess of the night finished. She sat there thinking, while Luna pretended to enjoy her tea to give the ivory idol time. Finally, Rarity spoke.

“I’m sorry princess, but I can’t do that. To atone for what I’ve done now would destroy everything I’ve tried to build.” A single tear rolled down the elegant mare’s cheek. “If I tell my story to the world and try to right my wrongs, the public would lose the sheer overpowering hatred they’d need to reach that enlightenment themselves. I would be depriving them of the greatest gift I could give so that I might receive it myself.”

It was happening. Luna could see it. A certain sparkle had reappeared in Rarity’s eyes. That cold glint of malice and cynicism was gone, and a soft warm glow had taken it’s place. There was still pain there, and there always would be, but it seemed Rarity hadn’t killed hope after all.

“There are other ways to reach enlightenment than through hatred, my dear. Anger can cleanse the soul of impurities, but it can also burn the soul to a blackened wisp, and leave it a twisted shadow of what it was. I want you to come with me and help bring the world you want into being, and we’ll do it without destroying the world.”

Luna fought through the drugs effects to lift her hoof towards Rarity.

“Come with me.”

Rarity looked at the offered hoof, and a range of emotions flew across her face. Fear, sadness, guilt, and hope, all of them were truly and clearly shown. There wasn’t even an attempt to hide them made. Rarity reached out and took the hoof.

“I can’t,” she said, pushing it away.

“What you say is all true, but I cannot let all my work go to waste. All the pain and suffering I caused will be meaningless if I give up now. It was wrong to walk this path, but it would be even worse to abandon the small amount of purpose I had going into it. Besides, you’ll find I’ve outwitted you one last time. You may have broken through the cold wall of logic I used to hide myself from the world, but a true manipulator always considers every possibility. You see, I knew there would always be a chance I would lose the will to continue, and I knew what it would mean for all the crimes I made if I never gave them their purpose. I told you I made back up plans for every contingency, and this was no exception.” Now it was Luna’s turn to be silent. “To be honest, I never thought it would happen during the final step of all places. I thought I would have overcome any weakness I had long ago, and I certainly didn’t expect you of all ponies to wake me from my delusions. I thought you would be emotional and impulsive, a perfect final pawn, but it seems I underestimated how much you truly care. I made sure that I would be dead by tomorrow, whether it was by your anger or through my own machinations.”

“What are you talking about? What did you do?” Luna whispered the words, unable to process that she had been beaten even in triumph. Surely there would be a way to reverse whatever Rarity had done.

“I’m the most powerful and influential pony in the world, darling. When I say come, the world rushes to comply. Earlier today I held the what was to be the most premier party of the year, and every noble from around the world, good and bad, attended. It was the type of party the common pony speaks of in awed whispers, for they will never experience its charms, and it was there I played my final card. I made sure the world would rise in the morning without the foul corruption so many nobles and myself embodied. You see, the very medical advances that kept me alive led to a couple of interesting breakthroughs in poisons. I’ve been saving a certain one of these breakthroughs for my final coup de grace. I poisoned the entire attendance in my toast to the future, and I used a poison that has no known cure.”

Luna tried to rise and get to Rarity, but the drug was still inhibiting her movements.

“Don’t even try to cure me with magic, princess. This poison resists magical cures. That’s why I choose it. There may be a few herbs scattered across the world that can cure it, but it acts so silently that no pony will have time to find them when symptoms begin. In fact, they will most likely just think they’re tired and take a nap to the sweet oblivion of death.”

Luna felt anger and frustration well up inside her. She had come so close only to fail, and there was nothing she could do.

Rarity levitated a new pot of tea over from the cart beside her, and gave the princess of the night a fresh cup to drown her sorrows in.

“There is one thing you could do for me, darling.” Rarity looked Luna in the eye and smiled genuinely for the first time in decades. “You can listen to my story, and you can mourn for one no other can.”

Author's Note: Sometimes there's more to redemption than doing what is right. Sometimes doing what is right is completing an act which is wrong. The greatest of evils can strengthen the world as they fall, and sometimes those great evils we fight are merely righteousness in disguise. Does evil redeem itself as it strengthens us falling, and what if a villain sees the errors of their ways in the end? What does it mean if we can justify their actions even as we feel overwhelming disgust with them? Doesn't the ability to see why the villain did what they did make all the difference? Things to think about.

I hope this turn doesn't disappoint any of my few readers out there. This was the only route I ever really considered for Rarity's redemption. The question is... Do you believe she's redeemed herself? Nothing in the plan has changed, but it's not the same anymore. Does she need to atone, or is simple enlightenment enough? I feel that by reaching the very enlightenment she sought to give others her very crimes became the way she atoned. The punishment is the crime itself if you will, and who knows. Maybe by the time her story is complete she'll have found another way to redeem herself. The story is not done yet after all, although I doubt I'm going to reach the 50k word requirement for NaPoWriMo. Maybe if I move past the mere murder of Celestia and continue with flashbacks into what happened afterwards. Who knows what I'll decide, but I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 8

“There has to be a way to change your mind.” Luna was being far more insistent on the whole ridiculous concept of curing Rarity than the ivory idol had thought she would be. “Surely, there must be a way to save you. Why don’t you care enough to try? You just found the very gift you’ve been so crazy about giving to the world. Why are you so insistent on losing it? You will die without having ever truly using it.” It was rather frustrating that it was only after the lunar maiden had shattered Rarity’s delusions that she decided to become the emotional mare Rarity wanted.

“Darling, I told you to let it go. What is, is. What was, was. This is what has to happen. I am old and dying, and I refuse to draw my life out any farther with that technology born from the suffering of others. I do not have another life, or another plan, to right the wrongs I have made. I have given my soul to better the world, and now it is time I give my life.” Rarity levitated more tea to the princess. “Here, let this sooth your troubles away. All I want from you now is to hear the rest of my story.”

“No! I refuse to believe we can’t change things. You came into this thinking sacrifices were necessary.” Luna smashed her hoof on the table. Rarity hoped the mistress of the night didn’t realize what that meant, but the pale lady’s fears were unfounded as the lunar maiden continued. “You sacrificed your friends, my sister, and all of Ponyville. You killed joy itself to further your plans, and you almost killed hope too. Don’t you see, Rarity, you are the world’s hope. The world has only held together because of you, and it is their belief in you that has given them any hope of a better future. You can’t do this. If you die like this, the world will lose hope in the goodness of others. They will lose hope, just as you lost hope when you began this path. I didn’t try to save you just so you could die before your second chance.”

“Darling, you don’t understand. This is the only way I can atone. You think I should live, and that I should help others for real instead of as a means to an end, but that doesn’t excuse anything I’ve done.” Rarity pulled a chess board from the cart that held the tea pot. She didn’t just use this cart for drugging guests after all. Sometimes she really did entertain them. “You and Celestia could never understand the concept of sacrifice. You wanted everypony to win, and sometimes that’s not possible. Let’s play a game to decide if I’ll live. If you beat me, I’ll tell you the locations of the only herbs that might save me.” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes as innocently as possible. “I doubt you will find them in time, much less brew them properly, but I will give you a chance. However, if I win, you must spread the tales of my crimes to the kingdom.”

The princess of the night mulled the offer over. Celestia had been a master of the game, and she had passed on her skill to Luna, but it was obvious Rarity was pulling some sort of trick. Still, it was the only way.

“Agreed.” Luna picked up the bag of pieces and began laying them on the board. “Would you prefer white or black?”

“Black, darling, I am a queen of darkness after all.” Rarity smiled.

“I thought you said you were a pawn of the light?” said Luna, turning the board the appropriate direction.

“Perhaps I am both, my dear, but I'll let you figure it out. Now, please be quiet so that I can finish my story.” Rarity didn’t even pay attention to the board as she began the rest of her tale. She didn’t need to, because it was all part of the plan.

…..

There was only one last pony to take care of. Fluttershy had never been much of a problem to my plan. She was sweet, and innocent, and naive, and she was much too timid to actually interfere, even if she actually noticed what was going on. I had saved her for last, because I didn’t need to do anything to her, and I doubt I even could if I had wanted to. Fluttershy was incorruptible. That mare could talk with Discord, and she would come out completely untouched by his corruption. Her only weakness was in how she let the evils of the world push her around. She would sometimes push back, but I always found her timid acceptance more charming. It was born of an undying trust that her friends would always lead her right. She couldn’t comprehend somepony trying to manipulate another down a twisted path, and it just filled my heart with joy to see that. It allowed me to dream she could be right, and one day there would be an end to the machinations of society. I hoped to be that end.

I knew, by the end of their wild chase, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike would end up at Fluttershy’s. The girls had been drawn to the shy mare ever since that incident with the cockatrice, and I knew those three would, in their enthusiasm, drag Spike along with them. I wondered if they had bound and gagged Spike to do it. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did it just to complete the experience. Oh, the imagination of foalhood was a marvelous thing.

Fluttershy was busy caring for her animals as I approached. She looked up at me, and she smiled that adorable little naive smile. It killed me inside to think about what I had to do, but it had to be done. At least, I thought it had to be done at the time. I don’t really know what was necessary anymore.

She was so isolated from town she probably hadn’t even noticed the chaos brewing in town, and she would be horrified if she did. I told her everything that was happening in town. Obviously I couldn’t tell her how I had made it all happen, but I doubt she would have believed me anyway.

It was heartbreaking to see the look of absolute horror on her face from my story. I don’t know whether it was good or bad that my heart was almost incapable of feeling after seeing what had happened to Pinkie, but right now I’m glad I was able to still feel at least something. Fluttershy deserved at least some sorrow for what was going to happen. I wish I could have given more, but I had already given so much that day.

Fluttershy was timid and shy, but, if there was one thing that brought her out of her shell, she would always find the courage to try and help her friends in the end. It might take time, but it would happen. I saw it blooming in her face. Her little pout turned into a grimace of determination, and her eyes scrunched up as she gathered her courage. It would have been adorable if I hadn’t known where it would lead her.

Finally, she pulled herself up, and she asked if I’d come with her to help. I told her she didn’t need my help, and that if anypony could stop the madness it was her, and then I gave some pathetic excuse about looking after the girls to make sure they didn’t get into trouble. The last of my friends looked at me, and she smiled before giving me a hug. She told me she’d come back as soon as she could, and that we’d all go out to eat and laugh over how crazy the day had been afterwards. I almost broke and told her everything then, but Pinkie had been the point of no return. I think, if anypony would have truly understood, it would have been her. She wouldn’t understand how I’d manipulated and used everypony she loved, but she would understand how I was doing it for the future, and she would find it in her heart to forgive me. I don’t think anypony else would be capable of that, even you Luna.

…..

Rarity looked at Luna smiling. The ivory idol may not have enjoyed that particular memory with the timid mare, but, as she told her tale, other happier times had come to the surface. Her cold logic had repressed all the happiness she had felt before. What good were memories of a world that no longer was? The pale lady hadn’t truly thought of her friends in ages, and she relished the joy they had brought her.

“Luna, you speak of atonement and redemption. Fluttershy would have simply let bygones be bygones.” The game had been in deadlock for a while now. The mistress of the night was a master of defense, and she made sure none of her pieces would ever be taken without the loss of whoever took it, but Rarity was just as adept at making sure her pieces would never be taken. All it would take was one foolish move, and a cascade of death would lead to the victor. “Nopony else will ever truly have the heart to truly forgive what I’ve done. You say my death will kill the hope I’ve instilled in others, but I die so that hope might live on. My death shows that, in the end, even the greatest of evils will wither away. All you have to do is fight to survive. You say I am hope itself, but the funny thing about hope is that it never dies. It keeps on fighting until the end. Only when there is no one left to hope will hope truly die. I will die to pass on this lesson. I cannot force enlightenment on others. I can only hope they’ll see. I can see now that my true gift to the world is to make sure hope lives on, and for that to happen I must die.” Rarity moved a bishop to an empty square. “Check.”

Luna took the bishop with her rook. “I don’t believe in that, my dear, and you just made the mistake that will decide this all.”

The game flew into a series of moves so fast that they were almost impossible to catch. Piece after piece was taken until the board was almost bare. Rarity captured the last of Luna’s rooks with her queen, while leaving herself open to a pawn.

“Another mistake, my dear, and it will be your last.” Luna knew she had the ivory idol now. There was no way she could come back from losing her queen.

Rarity just smiled, and moved her last bishop. “Checkmate.” Luna had boxed her king in among her various pieces to protect it from Rarity, but moving that pawn had opened up a slit in her defenses and blocked the princess of the night’s only escape. Luna sat and gapped at the board.

Rarity tossed her black queen behind her, and tapped the pawn proudly. “Like I said before, darling, I may seem a queen of darkness, but I am always a pawn of the light.”

“No! I can’t believe it!” Luna smashed the board with her hoof, and the pieces scattered across the room from her fury. Stunned, the lunar maiden looked down and realized she could move. The fresh pot of tea hadn’t been drugged. The princess of the night looked at the mare who had been her captor, mind racing. She was free to find a cure, and the ivory idol could do nothing to stop her. There were spells she could use to help her. The mistress of the night might not be able to cure the poison with magic, but certain spells in the canterlot library could buy her the time she needed. Divination spells could tell her the herbs she would need, and how to brew them. Her wings were free to take her soaring to the most desolate places to find the cure, but something was stopping her. Rarity looked at the mare and waited.

“I pass my hope on to you, Luna. Do with it what you will.”

Author's Note: I think I'm going to end the story after Rarity finishes the next chapter of her story. As much as I find it interesting to consider her life after the initial murder, I can't help but feel the story is coming to a close. Flow is important in a story, and a good author knows his story writes itself as much as he does. A story evolves as it's written, and no matter how much you plan ahead things will change. I didn't expect Rarity to reach her epiphany until the end, but the natural rhythm of the story compelled me to write it much sooner that I intended. You may wonder why I bother telling you this, and it's because I believe life, like a good story, also has this flow. My philosophical rant for today is about how you shouldn't try to fight the flow of life. You can fight it to the bitter end, but sometimes it's best to go with it, or, even better, twist it to your advantage. Rarity fought the flow, and the world payed the price. If she had taken a more passive route things could have turned out remarkably different, but she choose a route of darkness and pain because she didn't believe in the current flow of things. These dark routes can be enlightening, like hers was, but they also can leave you twisted and scarred. Take them if you must, but be careful not to lose yourself along the way.

Chapter 9

The princess of the night was still. She was still processing that she was no longer a captive audience. Rarity waited for the lunar maiden to make her choice. The plan had changed when the ivory idol had realized that Luna wasn’t going to furiously denounce her for her crimes, and it had changed even more when the mistress of the night actually succeeded in awakening that spark of goodness Rarity had long thought lost. The pale lady refused to manipulate the princess anymore. Instead, the hostess would give her a test. The ivory idol would give the princess of the night a chance, and a choice, to decide the fate of the world. It was what any good hostess would do, right?

The princess needed to see that Rarity’s death was necessary. The lunar maiden had to wake up from her delusions that everything her captor had done could be washed away by some impossible form of atonement, and that required her to make a choice. Should the princess of the night save Rarity, and do what, hopefully, she knew deep down was wrong, or should she grant the ivory idol her last request, and let the pale lady give her gift to the world?

It was rather exciting for Rarity to not rely on her machinations, but to rely on the choice of another. Before her actions had created both the conflict and the answer. The ivory idol had led her followers down a path she had chosen, not one of their own design.

Conflict was the nature of the world, and it was through conflict that enlightenment and growth was attained. When a pony faces some sort of inner conflict, the very philosophies that guide them are brought into question. Whether they know it or not, what that pony decides to do shapes them in an indescribable way.

This is what Rarity had missed before. The conflicts the inhabitants of the peaceful land of Equestria faced were usually so small that they wouldn’t even realize they had changed for the better from them. Rarity had mistaken this for ignorance. She thought everypony was merely following the philosophies the princesses taught them without a second thought, but the truth was they did learn them on their own. They learned them through the little conflicts of everyday life in a peaceful land, and Rarity had destroyed that peace to try and teach them something they already knew. She had deprived the world and its inhabitants of a choice as she led them down the path she wanted, and deprived them of the growth she wanted. In the end, all it had brought her was an end to her own inner conflict and her own enlightenment. This was the ivory idol’s chance to make things right.

It was time to let the world make a choice, and to let it grow for itself.

Hopefully, it would heal from the destruction Rarity had unleashed upon it.

Luna, for her part, was struggling to move. She knew she could move, and that she could save Rarity if she did, but something was stopping her. Rarity didn’t want to be saved. The pale lady wanted to die for what she thought was a noble cause, and the she didn’t believe there was any other way to solve things. There had to be another way to right all the wrongs the ivory idol had done, so why couldn’t the princess of the night think of any? The lunar maiden believed there was a way, yet she could not think of a way. It was maddening. It was infuriating. It was sad.

The mistress of the night wanted her anger to fuel her. She wanted it to inspire some crazy idea that would give Rarity the second chance she deserved, that everypony deserved, but she just couldn’t find one. Her anger and wrath kept washing away amongst the waves of her sorrow, and finally there was none of it left. That was when the princess of the night realized there was no other way. No matter what miracles the ivory idol could perform before her time came, she would always be shadowed by the crimes of her past. Her crimes had made the world what it was today, and there was no way to remove that taint. It would be there until ages passed, and the pale lady was forgotten from the annals of history.

Slowly, Luna sat down. She looked at Rarity, and gave a shaky smile. Her voice was just as shaky.

“Sorry about that, my dear. It seems you’ve won, so I suppose you better tell me the rest of your story before your time comes.”

Rarity smiled as the world finally set out on its path to heal. There wasn’t much time left, but there really wasn’t anything more to tell.

…..

It’s odd how the end of this tale is the easiest part to tell. It’s simple and predictable, and there is nothing to be gained from it. All the heartache and pain of destroying my friends was nothing compared to the simple act of killing them. They were already dead.

Spike and the Crusaders were still busy gallivanting about the house. After Fluttershy had left, I told Spike to send a letter to Celestia telling her the town was in chaos. He heartily agreed, and jotted a quick note before firing it off. All I had to do now was wait for the sun to set. It was then Celestia would come.

I watched as the sun slowly descended into the horizon from Fluttershy’s cottage. It was calm and peaceful. After that day I doubted there would be anyplace in the world like that again. The world could fake the calm and poise of this peaceful little place, but it would never truly be at ease. The only pony who would sit calmly and watch as the world burned was myself, for I had orchestrated it all. At least, that’s what I thought at the time, but I can see now just how much it still managed to hurt me.

I would sit there and enjoy the tranquility, and when the sun set I would draw my weapon. As a fashionista, my style was always drawn to the pristine beauty of gems. They fascinated me, and I had learned as much as I could about them to make the best use of them for my creations. It was only fitting that the gem to end all gems would be the start of my greatest creation.

You see, I had found that it was possible to store magic inside gems, and that doing so gave an almost hypnotic beauty and sparkle to the gems. I also discovered on my own that overcharging a gem leads to explosive results. You might remember a certain fire ruby Spike gave me from one of our letters to you. That ruby would decorate the cloak of chaos I wove about the world. It was the most generous gift I had ever been given, because it was given as Spike fought his own greed. That was what made it so beautiful, not the fact that it was one of the greatest gems I had ever seen. I had hidden that gem in town, and with a little spark of magic sent to its location it would ignite in a furious howl. I thought it was only fitting that such a beautiful gift would complete today’s events.

There would be no bold challenge to declare what I believed in. There would be no zealous murder before a crowd to show them the truth. There would simply be death, and the world would follow the lies I told them. Spike and the others would rush out at the sound of the explosion, and we would pick through the ruins together. They looked for survivors, but I knew there would be none. I planted evidence to mislead any investigation into what happened, and when my companions were done desperately searching the rubble we left for Canterlot to spread the news. I made sure to tell you myself, so that I might see with my own eyes your reaction, and the rest, as they say, is history.

…..

Rarity gave an enormous shudder. Finally, it was all done.

“Take good care of the world, Luna, and thank you for giving me one last lesson.” The ivory idol smiled weakly, but it was there. “Maybe I should write a letter on it...”

With that the pale lady slipped away. Luna stared for what felt like hours, wishing it was nothing but a nap, and then she slowly rose to her feet. That same somber gait she had carried as she entered into this tale of madness took her to the window. The curtains parted to show one of the most beautiful nights Equestria had ever been graced with, but, as with all great things, it was time it came to an end. The princess of the night gathered the magical energies of the universe, and she cast a spell she never thought she would have to use. Slowly, the dawn came, and with it would come a new world.

Author's Note: I guess I could give one more philisophical rant, but I would hope by now you've learned the lessons this story offers.

I really liked writing this story. The roles I set Luna and Rarity in bounced perfectly off each other as the story evolved. We've seen Luna is tempermental, but she also has wisdom gained from eons of life. Her emotions shielded her from the cynicism that grew in Rarity as Rarity gained her own wisdom. It was idealism versus cynicism, and each helped balance the other. Rarity regained some of the hope she had lost, and Luna lost some of her delusions on what was right and what was wrong. They brought balance to each other

So I guess this is it? I never actually thought I'd complete a story I started writing. Maybe someday I'll write the story of Rarity's path after that first day, but I don't know when that will be. I just hope you enjoyed this story, and, even more important, I hope you learned something.

Oh, I almost forgot. Thanks to the few people who bothered reading, and thanks in particular to Rarityshy who's comments are probably what allowed me to keep writing this. I doubt I would have found the energy to even try to finish this for NaPoWriMo otherwise, so thanks.