The Town of Friendship

“What the hay?” Twilight could barely choke out. Her voice shook, and her mind whirled. Had everything special between she and Shining Armor been a lie? Was he working for Queen Lilly all along, attempting to sabotage her? She couldn’t say anything else, and her stomach churned with pain. She felt like vomiting, but she forced herself to keep it down. She saw the blood of her treasured siblingship run red on the dirt in front of her, destroyed by a brother who was either the most evil pony aside from Lilly, or had been duly brainwashed.

“Surprised, my sister?” Shining taunted sarcastically before answering his own rhetorical question, “I can see that you are. But this is the way of progress, my dear, and now you must become the machine’s latest victim!”

“Shining Armor, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but for the love of Celestia, please stop!”

Shining leapt down from his perch and stood in front of his sister. The look he gave her was not the loving, kind, wonderful one he used to give her. Instead, his face bore the marks of a battle hardened soldier, and his eyes pierced into her soul. His anger was apparent, but he took great pleasure in toying with his prey before delivering the final blow.

“Why would I stop” He asked her, “when Her Majesty has been gracious enough to give our family a new lease on life?”

She gritted her teeth. “What new lease?! I was forced into prostitution! Mom and Dad were killed! You know that!”

“I do…BECAUSE I KILLED THEM!”

Twilight backed away from the horrifying creature in front of her. He was no longer fit to be her brother, and she wiped away all of the bonds that they had shared. It tore her heart apart to do so, but she now saw him as an enemy, and she remembered the promise she had made to Mud Hooves. She prepared to attack Shining Armor, but he took the opportunity to strut around her arrogantly.

“Not only did I kill them,” he boasted, “but I ensured that they died in the most embarrassing, mortifying way possible!”

“What did you DO?!”

“After I went into Her Majesty’s service, I discovered something about this world: it’s unfair and unjust. I wanted to right this wrong, so I decided to speak with my commanding officer about it. He introduced me to somepony who’s doing something about that.” He stopped and gave a loving look to Lilly before continuing. “She took an immediate liking to me, and assigned me to my first Purge. It just so happened to be our home.”

Twilight shook with rage. This monster that inhabited the shell of her brother had taken her family and destroyed it. She swore she could hear the screams of her mother and father as they died at the hooves of their own offspring. I’ll never forgive you for this, she growled internally, never in a million years will I forgive you. You coward…You liar…You dog!

Shining chuckled and then continued. “I drug our father out in the street and beat him. Oh, his crunching bones felt so good underneath my hooves! He was the same idiot who refused to allow me to go out after a certain time!”

“SO YOU KILLED HIM BECAUSE HE SET A RULE FOR YOU?!” Twilight screamed, finally letting all of her pure anger loose.

“Eh…he was expendable.”

Twilight had to stop herself from tearing her brother’s eyes out. Her sharp hooves were ready for combat, and she had completely rid herself of any type of love she once had for him. “You’re…a…monster,” she said softly, but with all the fury of a sister betrayed, a daughter broken, and a pony with nothing to lose.

Shining chuckled again, then continued. “I’d always wondered what it would be like to have sex with our mother…”

“Oh, my Celestia, no!” Twilight said, “you didn’t! Please, for the love of CELESTIA, tell me you didn’t!”

“Oh, I did,” Shining said, licking his lips, “and it felt so good. I did her on our own parents’ bed. I still remember her shrieking and screaming. She wouldn’t quit, and I loved every second of it. I enjoyed scaring her. I enjoyed harming her. I ENJOYED raping her!”

Twilight’s mouth shook and she couldn’t control herself any longer. With a scream of rage, she attacked her brother. She sliced and swatted at him, but he was much larger and held her off. He swiped her side with his horn, and smiled as blood welled up from the wound. But she quickly turned back and stabbed him with her own horn. He howled in pain, and she couldn’t help but feel a lot of satisfaction.

“You are evil!” She screamed as she continued her assault, “you deserve to die!”

“Everypony else deserves to die!” He bellowed back as he countered her horn blow with one of his own, “after all, they’re the ones who can’t do anything without Lilly’s help!”

“That’s not true!” Twilight said sharply, “everypony has the capability to accomplish their dreams if they’re willing to work hard and make friends!”

“BUCK working hard!” Shining cursed, “you should just be able to lay around while Queen Lilly gives you everything on a silver platter!”

“We’ve tried your brand of socialistic bullcrap!” Twilight screamed, “and look where it’s gotten us! Nopony’s happy! Everypony either fights, mines, has sex, or some combination of the three! Nopony’s allowed to chase their dreams! Nopony’s allowed to accomplish anything! We can’t even start a simple fruit stand! Nopony’s allowed to fall in love or experience friendship or fun! Our foals are starving! The only ponies benefitting from any of this are yourself and your disgusting mistress!”

“THAT’S MY WIFE YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!” Shining Armor howled.

Twilight stopped short. “She…she’s your wife?”

“Yes, she is! We’re happily married with two foals of our own!”

“So, then you should know what kind of horror everypony else is facing!”

“Everypony else is expendable!” Shining screamed, “the only ponies who matter belong to our royal family, and I will be DAMNED if I allow you to mess up my happiness!”

Twilight realized that she might be breaking through a stone wall, and she went for it all. “If you don’t like somepony else destroying your happiness, then what gives you the right to exact the same kind of punishment on everypony else?”

“I HAVE POWER!” Shining yelled, “and power is the only thing that matters in this world! I had power over our father when I beat him to death in the street. I had power over our mother when I had my way with her and then sliced her throat open. I HAVE POWER OVER YOU! That’s what makes me happy! POWER!”

He then went for her jugular vein and the lethal blow, but Starlight suddenly dove in front of Twilight and took it herself. The purple pony could only watch as their leader, and one of her best friends in the world, bled out in front of her. She quickly bent down and tried her best to stop the bleeding, but Starlight knew it was too late. “Twilight,” she coughed.

“Yes, Starlight? I’m here.”

“You…you’re…the…leader…now…”

With those words, Starlight rolled her head over and breathed her last.