How embarrassing of Point Blank to get his mind splattered across the wall. How could he walk into the room holding a world-class threat and expect anything less than an attempt on his life? He hadn’t even shown up with an entourage to guard him. His memories told me it had been to further ensure my submission. His mind, now mine, was one of incredible strategic maneuvering. He knew how Celestia thought, what her end game was, and what her immediate plans were. However, his tangible mind was likely in some traumatized sod’s mop bucket.

If his thoughts were to be believed, Celestia and that fucking Twilight Sparkle were plotting to make a device that would force the Amulet off me. That’s all he knew, and he believed he was being kept in the dark on purpose. I felt my teeth almost pop with how hard I ground them. They weren’t going to experiment on me, they were going to kill me. Removing the Amulet involuntarily would make it detonate, killing me and whatever stood near.

How dare they!? Plotting against me! Their savior! Their new God! How dare Twilight become a princess beyond that? If anything, I should be a princess! After all I’d done and planned to do, how come I didn’t have wings…? Yes, that was right, Cadence had wings. I could never take Celestia’s wings, that eternal monarch. But Cadence’s? Of course! They would do for now.

Why should I stop at some irrelevant princess’ wings? Why should I have to sleep in some inn, or some alley, when I had the power to seize a castle? Why should I have to quake in my boots at anypony anymore? Why shouldn’t the world be mine? If I should take death away from the world, why shouldn’t everything in it belong to me? I'd give it eternity and ask only for dominion over it. Nopony in their right mind would refuse this!

This train, for instance, a first-class seat free of charge from my rank, was mine. Everypony in it should submit to me. The lavish gold trim windows, decadent red carpet free of any blemish, and the plush booth seating with a wooden finish. All mine. The engine, the staff, the coal, and the very tracks beneath it! All mine! The world should be mine!

My train groaned to a halt in the station and I strode out into my crystalline empire. The very bricks beneath me had a sheen across them unique to the region. The ponies passing me by had a majestic glow to them, as though they themselves were fashioned from something greater than fur or flesh. The gates that brought me here were a series of colorful transparent pillars, casting an awe-striking shadow matching them, occasionally intercepting in a gorgeous fusion.

I felt that force within me rise, starting as a knot in my stomach moving slowly up through my body until it found respite in my throat. Yes, I came here to claim my empire, beautiful though it may be. It almost felt wrong to reduce the place to rubble, it was incredible. A testament to the beauty ponies could foster.

It would make an excellent example of what I meant to do. Destroy the very world and rebuild it in a better image. My divine image. I shall claim this empire for my own and then come for the sun’s. It really was a shame that so much insect life would be lost, but it would get my point across.

Then I felt the sun’s heat on me. I looked up in the perfectly parted clouds to see it there, that glowing orange ball casting its noble amber hue over everything. My face felt warm. Everything came to me all at once. The immaculate lush grass bursting with flowers of every glistening crystal variety. The air was perfect and clear, carrying with it the warming scent of food in the distance. Emotion bubbled up within me: Love.

As I stood in the train station looking at the grand palace, glancing to the surrounding village, I was overcome with an overwhelming love for this land and the world beyond it. Was I really here to destroy this place and reassemble it? No. Black Ice was. I wasn’t in control at all.

I wasn’t in control when I walked into Celestia’s ball, nor was I as I sat there and watched Concrete defend me. Oh Celestia, what had I done? Point Blank had been coming to ensure my submission, sure, but that meant he accepted me within the graces of the EUP. I would have been a soldier under him, not an enemy. It was Equestrian nature to forgive, and he forgave me as his ruler did. I killed him.

It was in his brain matter that my pardon lay, and now it was in that traumatized sod’s bucket. I was an enemy of… the world at this point. Who would grant me refuge? I could make it for myself, but that could only last so long. Beyond that, I could never get Sabrina if I was always on the run. The only directions in front of me were forward to destruction or backward to oblivion. The Amulet felt heavy around my neck, and that noxious lump in my throat spread itself across my body.

Was this sensation Black Ice? It couldn’t be, the first thought I had when I put on the Amulet, after dying, was murder, and the next thing I did was kill. This confounded necklace corrupted me, and Black Ice magnified this. He and it made me walk a line of a bad version of myself and the worst version and caused me to crash between either side.

I wandered to a nearby fountain, flowing with sparkling and radiant water. Bits were peppered across the base of it, their image rippling with the spray. I peered down at my reflection, and in between the waving image saw a pair of eyes I didn’t recognize. They weren’t Point Blank’s, they were my own.

My own vision began to ripple as I looked into this mare’s eyes. I was between the sun’s army behind me and a complete massacre in front of me. Only one of these paths brought me Sabrina. Another single ripple joined the fountain.

I hated Black Ice. I hated this Amulet. I hated the world for putting me here. I hated that stallion that infected Sabrina. I hated Paid Tab for his best not being enough. I hated the rain on our box. I hated the empty funeral ceremony and I hated myself for dying there too. I pursed my lips as several more tears fell. I hated myself most of all. I was evil. I was a Threat to Tranquility. And I hated more that I was going to win.

I felt the sun’s heat leave me as a familiar icy embrace overcame me. I lied. It did feel bad to destroy the Crystal Empire.

***

A messenger pegasus was tasked with delivering a parcel to the Crystal Empire but missed the train and begrudgingly flew herself over. Her wings ached, and her forelegs felt a slight soreness from shifting the package between each of them as she flew. Her eyes didn’t take themselves from the emerald grass below her but flew up dizzily when she ran into something.

This week was not a friend to this mare, and mistake after mistake landed her from the hot seat to the frying pan to the fire. First, it was being sent to warehouse duty, then to menial desk work. Then she was tasked with the demeaning rookie work. Her last chance was this package, which was already running late. She looked up with a sigh, this recipient would probably give her a tongue lashing, and her boss a complaint. The last nail in her postal career.

What she found when her gaze turned up was not a wall or another pony, nor was it a pole or anything of that variety. She only saw the impact where her face has collided with a seemingly invisible wall. A forcefield? That didn’t make any sense, the Crystal Heart kept the Empire temperate, but it certainly didn’t keep anypony outside.

Then she heard it. A sickening crash of metal hitting stone and the shrill, bloodcurdling screams of ponies. Her eyes shot wide, her brain pleaded for her to move but her body failed to respond. She could only look on in horror, paralyzed, as the invisible border before her splattered with the blood and brain matter of the unlucky ponies.

It was a single blink that freed her from her frozen limbs. The first step led to another, led to more, led to a trot to a sprint. She cast a cursory glance behind her and her pace became breakneck. Her mind once again pleaded with her body, this time to take flight, but her wings couldn’t bring themselves to spread. The flight here made them spent. Any more air time would likely result in them failing while she was airborne.

She sprinted past the distant mountains, past the picturesque plains, past the train station in Canterlot and though the town on a path leading to the castle. She narrowly scraped past ponies in her mad dash, stammering an apology as she ducked and dodged from their paths.

Her chest was a tight, burning knot whose quickened pulse only added coal to the furnace. Each time her hoof hit the ground as she ran, it felt as though it might liquify. Soreness was a distant memory compared to what she was feeling, the same way a cup of water compares to the ocean. Each breath was a fiery plea for her to stop, which she rejected.

A cyan blur came from around a corner with impossible speed, crashing directly into the near-dead dehydrated mare. Both of them spiraled in a tailspin, the blur shooting off somewhere distant, and the mare only spun into the bricks. The blur returned as quickly as she’d shot away, looking as though she meant to tell the gulping mess on the ground off.

Through her twisting vision, the mare on the ground recognized her as Rainbow Dash. She only croaked her message and told her to pass it on to the princess. Before she could finish her thought, she became a rainbow blur that tore through the crowd that had formed.

Derpy closed her eyes, finally. Rest.

***

Five stars weighed on either of Concrete’s shoulders, and some of them weren’t hers. In the wake of Point Blank’s murder, Canterlot and the EUP was sent reeling, a ripple effect reaching from that decrepit room to her desk to Celestia’s crown, growing stronger as it progressed.

For the EUP, it meant a kingdom-wide search as soon as news of Blank’s murder became apparent. For the greying General, it meant near the highest rank in the land temporarily, as she knew Trixie best and would know how to lure her out and combat her. For Celestia, it meant something darker and more nefarious than she could’ve predicted.

The search wasn’t going to bring anything, and Concrete would’ve been surprised if they found even half of a clue. Trixie could disguise herself as anypony, even a completely made-up one. With so many names on file, it would be impossible to sort out who wasn’t real. But it kept the ponies of the land content with the way things were being handled. A search was better than doing nothing, after all.

Concrete had hoped to contain the news, but such a figure dying in such a cruel fashion was impossible to keep from the public. A flare shot up in a night sky was visible to everypony, not just those who can best answer its call. The local guards were straining to contain the panic, and the seams of society itself threatened to tear apart.

Celestia had forgiven Trixie, and this too, was a flare shot up that everypony saw. It was unpopular, exceedingly so in light of recent events. It marked an exponential turning point for Equestria, those on death row no longer feared the gallows and instead faced prison for the rest of their days. They’d come to grips with their life there, and if this decision was any indication, would likely get out eventually.

It marked a time when harmony and mercy were words that would encapsulate the kingdom. At least, domestically. The heavy-hoofed policy of Celestia would likely become exponentially more aggressive in light of a superweapon. Would. The princess spent most of her time locked away in her chambers, unresponsive, her gaze fixated on the sun. To anyone else it might as well have been a mirror, but to her, it was a mockery. She was known as the sun, but she was nowhere near as majestic or powerful. All life existed on Equis because of the sun, but life persisted without her.

Indeed, wherever the light touched was not hers and that infuriated her. All the power in the world in exchange for some policy that was irrelevant to her. The trees in the forest didn’t matter to her if she could own the very ground that the entire forest sat upon. She’d give them anything to look the other way as she took the world, and Concrete knew what she was doing in that room. Plotting from a corner, searching for any fleeting plan that led her to victory.

Concrete stared at Colonel Glass River’s sword as it sat plainly on her desk. She was a chess piece to be certain, but she was far beyond a pawn, the five stars on her shoulders declared that. She could do whatever she wanted, save for a few unreasonable options, but at this point in the kingdom, even that might not be met with surprise or even disdain. The options before her were as numerous as all paths on every map, and she could take whichever one she wanted to.

Yes, the five stars weighed on her with all the heft of the world. The path she was determined to take was to lure Trixie out of hiding, and use one of the contingency plans the princess had laid out. A trap must be laid, and the Elements must descend on her. Twilight Sparkle especially had a gruesome addition that even Concrete herself was entirely against when it was proposed. Now? The General knew the word forgiveness, the word mercy, but she no longer applied them to Trixie.

Her door burst open to reveal two elite royal guards, clad in gleaming black-coated gold armor and Rainbow Dash between the two. Concrete rose, and the two exchanged salutes. “What is it, Private Dash?” Concrete croaked.

“The Crystal Empire is…” She ground her teeth. “Is under attack, General.”

Perfect. Concrete knew exactly where she was, and she knew precisely what to do next, though it would not blow over well with anypony. The General walked to the window, the valley becoming more clear in her view as she approached with a very slight limp. She looked down at the tranquil hills and the trickling river, and closed her eyes. She turned back to the cyan mare. “You know who did this, only one mare could possibly have. What I need you to do is get your friends together and wait in Twilight’s old home here in Canterlot, she’ll know where it is and what’s going to happen next. Do you understand?”

Rainbow Dash only nodded, but her head drifted in uncertainty. “So we’re not going to do anything right now?”

“No.”

“Well why not!?” She took a leering step towards Concrete.

“I don’t expect you to like this order, but I do expect you to carry it out. If we send anyone there now, they will die.” The General glanced at the sword on her desk. “And our job after will only get harder. Go, if you want to do something, then do what I ask! You’re wasting time. Dismissed!”

“But–”

Concrete stamped her hoof, and the room trembled. Dash gulped and instantly took off to find and assemble her friends. At least, that’s what Concrete had hoped. She had no doubt that Rainbow Dash would carry out what she asked, but the past weeks have shown her that anything could happen. She expected deviations from her plans, certainly, no plan could survive contact with the enemy and their plans wouldn’t with hers, but Dash was no enemy, and this plan was to counter the enemy before she came around.

A preparation to snag her where she stood, send her to trial, and banish her. The death sentence was still illegal after all, but that didn’t mean creativity was. Celestia, Twilight, and Concrete were all in agreement. A new graduate of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was going to be the bait. The General couldn’t believe herself.

She sat with a note of amusement escaping her nose. She cut a cigar and lit it, exhaling a puff of virulent smog as she chuckled to herself. Violet Star would have to die to catch Trixie, but it would be a certain end. Concrete’s orders have always been made with death in mind, and knowing that it was inevitable that soldiers under her should die. But never did she give a direct order to kill a civilian, until now. If history should remember it as a terrible, wicked act, then history should be thankful it could record anything after this event.

***

I lied again. It felt great to destroy the Crystal Empire. With each death I grew far stronger, far smarter, far better. The screams, the smells, and sights! Oh, how beautiful the Empire was, but how much better it looked in red. The clear majestic sky was a candle to the inferno of a red, misty one. My favorite addition couldn’t be to the Empire, no. It was my new pink wings! They even faded to blue, how delightful.

I strode past the hissing rubble, hopping into every crimson puddle I came across and skipping when I exited them, making sure to paint every brick in my miracle. I had used the trains to level most of the buildings, crushing most of the ponies with their tremendous force and flattening them under the rubble they brought. Only a brilliant mind such as mine could devise such a tactic.

There was no sound but the fires, no joy but my own, and no life except for my superior one. There was no regret in the air, at least, not anymore. I’m sure that as the weight of the crystal beams bore down on each inhabitant of each home, they regretted their living here. No matter, they were gone and I was here.

The Amulet no longer felt heavy and I no longer felt cold, for I was strong enough to carry it and warmed enough by my own actions. I could stroll right into Canterlot and take it if I so wanted to. I could resurrect Sabrina now if I wanted to, but I couldn’t resist the siren call of more. More power, more memories, more. Why would I bring her back in a world that fears me and actively tries on my life, when I could make the world worship me. I would not bring her back as her sister, but as her god!

Yes, it’s true! I no longer hated the Amulet! I couldn’t find contempt for it anywhere within me, save for the small corner where I tucked who I used to be. A weak street rat who couldn’t make a right decision for her future if her life depended on it. She did make one right decision, however: Buying this Amulet. I suppose I could thank her by giving her what she wanted. After I killed that one mare he was talking about. Who was it?

Oh yes, Sunburst had a fair admiration for a mare who recently graduated, that Violet Star. Could I be the only one thinking that? Ha! I’m the only capable of having thoughts like this, no one expects me to kill her. They’re insects and I am their new god, they cannot possibly think like me!

I began walking away, stepping over bodies who squashed beneath my hooves. The ones beneath my false leg splattered. The sounds of mortality, it was a beautiful piece of art, a thing of music and image all at once. That a pony can live their entire life, they can love and hope and fear and dream and hate. They can have favorites, hates, day-to-day happenings, they can have hobbies, jobs, degrees! All of them for nothing.

It was a work of art, and I had painted it with a canvas of a city. I had made a masterpiece displaying to all who view it how feeble and worthless their lives were. That this is fate regardless of how rigorously they pursue their qualities. You be the smartest pony, have your head filled with theories and explanations galore. The strongest pony, whose life was dedicated purely to tending to your body and improving it at every conceivable turn. Or the most loving pony, whose life mission was to provide an equal playing field to everypony. All of their heads popped with the same sound, a song of death. Melody of mortality. They all died, and their lives were all worthless.

I started walking only to catch myself. What was I doing? I could fly now! I looked down to the rubble and the thought of rebuilding crossed my mind. I felt magic swell to my horn and I blinked. In the time it took for my eyes to swiftly close and open again, the Empire stood in a new majesty. Banners of my figure covered every wall, black and red dominated the crystal’s colors, matching the Amulet.

It was a shame that nopony would see my art, though I was a performer at heart after all. A travelling performer. I wouldn’t need to leave examples of me wherever I went, I could take it to them directly.

Not an ounce of rubble, a single speck of misplaced debris, or a drop of blood or fragment of bone. It was perfect, just like me. But like perfection, it was fleeting and must be improved. Perfection was to constantly best yourself, and I intended to do just that. One more, only one more star to snuff out.

Author's Note

Whew! What a ride, huh? Things really are in the end game now. As usual, thoughts and critiques below!
Proofread by Krixwell! Give em some sugar!