The movie playing in front of me was an interesting one, the characters acting their parts perfectly and emoting with clarity. It took place in a courtroom – well, this scene did, but it was the only one that had me in it, so it was the only one that was relevant. The title was something like: The Trial for Tranquility. The director? Princess Celestia herself, guest-starring her younger sister. I did so hate nepotism in the workplace, but she did fine enough, though she didn’t say much that Celestia hadn't already said, so her lines could’ve been cut.

The co-stars were the Elements of Harmony themselves, a motley crew of goodie-four-horseshoes that Equestria placed higher than everypony else, on six separate pedestals. They each testified; somehow each of them had been hurt by the actions of the protagonist of this film. Her lawyer, by the way, was doing her no favors in her defense. That’s what you get for getting a public defender to defend the best pony.

I was the star of this show, I was the best character, and I was the victor. Make no mistake, this was only a show, it couldn’t possibly be anything else. A joke played on me to humor me and my newly assembled empire to the North. As the Sun claimed the land below its light, I could make equal claims that everything under the scar in the sky should be mine as well. We were equals, Celestia and I, but she had tipped the scales and kicked sand in my eyes, bringing those Elements into it.

She was no better than me. In fact, I’d declare that she was the worst of the two of us. She had been killing more than myself, and for far longer. That liberation in the Crystal Empire? How many Crystal Empires had been toppled by Celestia? How many races of creatures wiped out from the world, and their names and records scratched from time. At least in my image of perfection I cast out on the world, mine promised immortality for all.

They had the decency to unpetrify me from my stone prison. It was nice knowing that I had been an honored statue even if it was only for a brief moment. Those should be erected all across Equestria once I got out of here. However, they did not have the decency to remove the multiple anti-arcane barriers around me. Truly, they were of incredible strength. They had even learned to seal the ground below me.

“What could you possibly have to say in your defense, Trixie Lulamoon? Everything levied against you in this court has proven to be irrefutable.” The sun boomed from high above me, on her legal throne of marble, a banner of her visage on either side of her. The room around me was still, the only sound being the fluttering of clicks coming from the press’ cameras positioned around the room.

I smirked, which turned to a silent giggle. I would’ve liked to raise it to a maniacal laugh, but somehow I get the impression that righteous ponies don’t do that. I stood up, which prompted my public defender to rise and gesture for me to sit. I refused, looking down at them.

“Trixie believes the princess has asked her for her defense, not you.” That was another of the seemingly endless perks of this Amulet, it made me taller than everypony, as though I was declaring I was above everypony by simply existing!

I turned to the princess. This was a mare who had been careful about what she had done, who she associated with and what she told them. What she could never account for was the dead speaking or their memories living on within me. I knew how many Crystal Empires had been leveled because of her, because I was every Empire that fell. I was their leaders, their soldiers, the ones left behind. More than that, I was the princess’ associates: Her Generals, her pupils, even that Violet Star. Not only did I have an ace up my sleeve, I was the ace.

“Trixie has plenty to say, but where would you like her to start?” I glared daggers at the princess, who responded with her own sworded glare. “She can start with Emperor Skeleton Key and your massacre of his society. She could start with the battle plans you laid with Point Blank, or maybe… She could start with your manipulation of that poor Violet Star to get me where I am?”

“You will watch your tongue in my court. What you say is contemptible at the least and blasphemous at the most. That being said, start in your story wherever you see fit. Your credibility is diminished completely; nopony would believe a single word you say. I allow you to speak your mind as an extension of mercy. Your last words before Equestria.” She leaned back in her alabaster throne chair – how decadent for a courtroom.

“Blasphemous? That would imply divinity on your part, wouldn’t it? Trixie will speak as she pleases, she does not recognize this as a court because she does not recognize you or your laws as sovereign or divine. However, Trixie thanks you for giving her the opportunity to tell the correct side of history, the one you often seem to overwrite.” I paced around my bubblegum-pink prison before stopping and stomping. The cameras were nearly a wall of vibration with their clicks and a strobe of their flashes. The lights would’ve been distracting, had the pink spheres not dulled their intensity.

“Sitting here, Trixie is troubled with the thought that empires must trample other empires to remain standing, and she wonders how many have fallen to get you to where you are now. One? Two? Five? Twenty? She doesn’t need to wonder for very long, however – she can just reach into her memories and find the answer. Fifty empires. It’s fifty nations of their own sovereignty that you stamped out in favor of your own.” I and the sun exchanged unflinching stares, each harboring balefire behind our eyes.

“Now Trixie asks the court, which would be…” I pointed to Celestia. “You: What are the names of these nations? Have you even bothered to remember the names who fell to bring you where you are?”

“The court,” she ground her teeth, “would like the defendant to get to the point before the court denies her testimony and moves onto sentencing.”

“The court cannot remember, and Trixie will not stall out her clock any longer with this line of thinking, but she would like to leave this point with a question for all of you. Of the two here, who is on trial? The court documents may say Trixie, and that she’s in the hot seat. But from where she’s sitting, her seat doesn’t seem like the only warm one. How can you try somepony as eccentric and powerful as Trixie, when she is the lesser of the two evils in this room?” I wore a venomous smirk.

Celestia slammed her hoof against the towering marble court bench, sending cracks throughout its face and tremors through the room. “I am not evil, you fiend! You keep saying that I am the one in the wrong, but you’ve neglected to explain how! My patience is growing thinner for you.”

“Yours or the court's? Oh never mind, they’re the same thing. You are the court and your desire is the law, definitely not like a dictator. You forget too, princess, that Trixie has explained herself. When she asked how many empires were crushed in your conquest to be here, she was asking that to compare you and her. See, Trixie has killed an empire and claimed it for herself, but you have done the same thing many more times than her, forty-nine more to be specific. You are that many more times the villain that I am, but somehow worse than that.”

“Enough! I will not be talked down to by a murderous psychopath in my own courtroom!” Celestia rose in a huff and was joined by her sister who said a few words in agreement. The court would’ve been out of session were it not for a humble apple farmer.

“Yer honor, if Ah may?” She started, unsure of if what she was saying was proper courtroom procedure. A quick glance between her and Twilight Sparkle confirmed that she wasn’t out of order with a quick nod. “Now Ah think this here is a court of all of us, not just you and yer sister. We should give her a chance to speak her piece, cause to me, it don’t look like she was quite finished. That’s all.” She removed her hat, holding it to her chest. Who let her in with that, to begin with?

“I agree.” Twilight stood up, prompting her more honest friend to join her with a glance to each of her sides, once more doubting herself and her following of procedure. “She has more to say, and if these are her last words, then let her say all of them.” Her voice grew a touch shaky towards the end – she knew that I had killed her brother and her sister-in-law, but still stood up for me. Perhaps they were kind ponies who meant well, or perhaps they only wanted to hear the thoughts of a god.

“Trixie is happy to indulge the court further in her thinking, especially if it displeases the crowns.” I stood straighter, puffing my chest out with confidence. “However, Trixie thinks it would be best to not speak her mind.” I winked at Twilight.

The two sisters exchanged a look between themselves, before turning it to the sea of reporters then to the six sitting below them on a lower bench. The weight of how their actions would be received forced them back into their seats. It was one thing to up and leave of their own accord, but it was another to leave against the wishes of two of the embodiments of harmony. The public opinion of them was already turbulent, it grew tremendously with my capture, but would likely fall if they up and left without a fair trial.

Perhaps it wouldn’t. After all, these were ignorant insects who thought I was the bad mare. Maybe the public would think less of them for sitting back down and tolerating me. Or maybe they’d think more of them for being even-hoofed, then again, there was a good chance nothing would happen.

Celestia’s mouth was a straight line, and spoke with a tone that was somehow stricter. “Proceed. What do you mean you won’t speak from your point of view? Isn’t that the only kind you can give?”

Ok, I didn’t care if the righteous pony wasn’t the kind to laugh maniacally, I was rewriting the definition of the word so I could do as I want, and how I acted would be the new version! I started laughing and stopped possibly a minute later, it didn’t matter. “You don’t realize it yet, do you? I have the memories of all those Trixie kills! She is every single one of those you butchered, she is every associate and enemy of yours!”

Every pony found a new extension to the word ‘apprehension.’ I could feel it, every single one of their hairs standing on end extending from a goosebump. Their posture shifted from sitting straight to leaning forward. If they silenced me now, their public opinion would definitely evaporate. If the story of all centuries went up in smoke, and the princesses were carrying the matches, they’d be hated for sure!

“We’ll start with the memories of…” I felt my fur singing into a light violet, my eyes burning into a light blue and my bones crunching into a more compact body. “Violet Star.”

Oh that look on Celestia’s face, that aghast pale face was just perfect for a picture! The bags under her eyes, the worried lines in her brow, her biting her lip looking at the now murmuring crowd was a wonderful touch! I may go down in flames today, but I knew if that was a possibility, I’d make Celestia’s downfall afterwards a certainty.

Celestia swatted a gavel down, echoing throughout the room, silencing it. “H-how can we even be certain she’s telling the truth?” She gulped a shaky breath, then grinned. Her quaking stilled as she lowered her head. “She’s had a false identity before, how can we be sure she isn’t just putting on this show to pull at our heartstrings?”

“Because I was a precious advisor of yours, Celestia.” I sniffled, forcing my eyes to water. “You can find me on the records of the school you put me through. You gave me a purpose besides just sitting in my room. You gave me the gift of…” I choked up on the outside, but was cackling on the inside. “Hope as well as knowledge. I spent every day helping this kingdom, that’s also on the records. I’m not just a… show.” I wiped a tear from my eye. “I’m your pupil, your special advisor. How could you…?” I crumpled within my pink bubble.

Rarity, at least I thought her name was Rarity, dabbed a handkerchief on her running pastel mascara. “It’s true, your majesty. Violet Star helped me with a few production problems when I was starting to scale my boutiques.”

Applejack rested her hat in front of her and nodded. “Ahnd she helped me with a disease that was gettin’ at ahll mah trees. Then there was that time Apple Bloom was real sick and hurtin’, we all thought she was a goner, but then Violet Star there helped us whip up a home remedy. There ain’t no way this here is a mirage, no sir.” The urge to laugh was like a festering rash’s itch, but I had to resist.

Twilight nodded with a warm smile, her eyes closed, remembering all the letters she had gotten from Violet. But when they opened, they were full of conviction. “Yes girls, I’m certain we were all helped in some way or another by Violet Star, but those are in the past. How can we know, as Celestia has said, that Trixie is not just manipulating our memories of her?”

They had laid the road to walk directly into my pocket. When I answered this with details only Violet Star would know, they’d believe me and everything else I’ve said! I made sure to quiver my lip and shake my voice. “Applejack, if I remember correctly, your trees were growing bruised apples, and I gave you that recipe for a magical fertilizer that fixed them. And I remember Apple Bloom’s illness came from those apples, and those photos you sent me were just awful.” I threw in a few pauses for effect. “Necrosis, right?”

“That’s right.” She nodded solemnly. “Ah don’t think we need to hear anymore. She checks out to me.”

The six nodded in agreement, along with Luna. Celestia only looked on in fury as her challenge on me backfired. But I wasn’t satisfied with only giving her a knife wound, I wanted to twist the blade. “I was nothing but a loyal servant of yours, Celestia. I have the memories that Trixie has too, we’re the same. What she asked me is what I’m going to ask you now: How did the Elements know I was going to be killed last night? How could they have been there so soon, or have known that Trixie killed me? They would be the only ones capable of stopping her, that’s why they did.” I sobbed.

Rainbow Dash stood, jabbing her hoof at Celestia. “Yeah! And how come General Concrete Pie told us to wait outside her…” The cyan pegasus stopped dead in her sentence, the color drained from her face. “You ordered us there knowing she would die. You let her die! Where is that General anyway? Scared she’s gonna get outed for this? Hey General,” She eyed a section of cameras, “the secret's out.” She cast a fiery glare up at Celestia. “And you!” She jabbed a hoof at her. “You let this happen! You could’ve stopped this! How could you!?”

The courtroom’s air was sucked out of the room. The press didn’t move, they didn’t speak and the cameras were still. They knew that even if what I did was staged, and a lucky guess with Applejack’s claim, that there was no way around Celestia being responsible for Violet’s death.

Celestia looked mortified. She had always controlled the information that went out about her, and if it was needed, she greased the hooves of the media to keep quiet. I should know; Paper Trail had been an important journalist who got a check in the mail every month from Celestia just to keep her secrets.

Then her shame turned to anger, her lips pursed holding in her fury and her eyes raced across the room trying to find the words for a response. “What more did you want me to do?” Her anger liquified into sorrow. No, no, there’s no way she’s doing that. “Violet Star would’ve died either way. She was an incredibly talented mare. Everypony who interacted with her knew she was a prodigy of nearly all stripes. Concrete or I…” She trailed off, blowing her nose into a tissue.

The princess shuddered, trying and failing to hold in her emotions. Her eyes were a reddened river, and her nose reflected this. Her voice was a trembling mess of pitches that threw themselves up or down with her wails. “The General or I couldn’t have stopped her death. We sent Trixie into Tartarus, but she somehow broke out of there! We sent Glass River after her, and he lost! We tried making peace deals with her multiple times, and when we settled on a deal, she stabbed us in the back!” Several tissues made their sticky homes on the flat surface in front of her.

She removed her crown, placing it next to the snotty crumples next to her. “If you should want me to step down from my throne, then say so.” She hung her head. No fucking way! She was throwing the world’s most official pity party, and everyone had come! Unbelievable! “But I did not know what else to do. I didn’t want Violet Star to die either, she and I were closer together than she and her own mother. If I could say anything to her now, it’s that I’m sorry. Equestria is sorry. But you were the only way to catch her. If there was any other way, I would’ve done that instead.” She looked into my eyes, somehow communicating a boiling mixture of fury and genuine, aching, sadness. “You are a hero among heroes, Violet Star. And once again, from the very depths of my heart, I am sorry.”

Fuck. That was it. Luna was tearing up. The Elements were buying it too, the spastic pink one was crying the most… somehow. “Is… there anything more you’d like to say, Trixie?” The princess sniffled.

Internally, I wanted to scream. I wanted to shatter these barriers and stab every single pony in this room with the shards. I wanted to tear Celestia in half and sew her back together poorly with a rusted needle and parade her across Equestria. I wanted to scream that she was manipulating everypony in this room, a princess with a heart like this would surely have a heart with the wars she’s going to wage later. Externally I shifted back into my perfect, about-to-die, form and sighed. “What about Skeleton Key? Was the trampling of his empire justified?”

Celestia had a strange talent for communicating with just her eyes, while every part of her was sending a different message. It was in those eyes that I saw her victory – she had cornered me, and was now moving for the kill. “Skeleton Key was a tyrant who stole his empire from captives, and forced them into servitude to build it. I had urged him then, before the war, to set them free, so that we could make peace and prosper together. Do you know what happened next? Of course you do, but would you mind telling the court, for the record?”

I fell silent. She had already gotten the satisfaction of pushing me this far in my own argument, I was not about to push myself further. Skeleton Key’s next move was annexing and enslaving an Equestrian city nearest the border. Celestia’s eyes were fire, and in mine she saw ice turn to water turn to steam. She repeated this for the court, asked again if I had anything else to say. Silence again.

“Then…” Celestia gulped, looking as though she was pained. “As the monarch of Equestria and the highest judge in the land, I find Trixie Lulamoon guilty of all charges levied against her including treason and serial murder among other high crimes against the state. I motion to sentence this mare to practice a new initiative: Project Event Horizon. All those in favor?”

I had never known what defeat looked like, until now. It was eight ponies in a courtroom unanimously mouthing ‘aye.’ Celestia continued. “The motion carries. The Trial for Tranquility is officially adjourned.” I had never heard what defeat sounded like, until now. It was a gavel smacking against a marble bench.

I was led away through a series of fluorescent hallways that all blended together until it became a large white room, also lit by fluorescent lights. I wanted to protest, but it wouldn’t mean anything. To explode, but it wouldn’t change anything. Or even to ask what they were going to do to me, but it wouldn’t tell me anything.

I, a god, lost.

General Concrete Pie was a living embodiment of paradoxes. An earth pony in a military that heavily preferred unicorns and pegasi, much more, she was almost the highest authority of the whole establishment, save for Field Marshal Solstice and the princesses. A commander who believed life to be the most precious thing a pony can have, and used every extension of her authority to protect that. A General that backed herself mentally further into a corner as she pursued her hardest assignment. The further down she went in her psyche, the higher her rank went.

In her eyes, Trixie reflected this too. The more powerful she got, the further away from her goal she became. The further in her mission she went, the further away she strayed from herself. Concrete saw a part of herself in Trixie when she was justifying herself in the Badlands, but that part of her was buried under the new, dominant part of her. Perhaps it remained somewhere within her, but even if it managed to claw itself to the surface, her fate was sealed. Moreover, that better side could not possibly redeem the actions of its infernal one.

As Concrete navigated from her office, whose wall would be repaired that afternoon, to the neverending marble mouth of the royal hallway to a chamber down a sterile white tunnel, all the while her hoofsteps echoed in her ear. Clip clop, clip clop. They grew louder in her ear as she neared her adversary, as did the pounding in her chest and the pace of her breathing.

What was happening? In her hooves she wielded the power of the crowns, but when she looked down at them, she saw iron gauntlets caked in dried blood. She blinked and they were normal, trembling, but normal. She crashed into the wall beside her, back first, and slid down it, her hooves cradling her face. She let out a silent sob in between her shaky breaths. She was a murderer.

Why was this happening? Concrete had entered the hellfire of war herself countless times over the course of decades. She’d been there for successful sieges, entire campaigns starting and ending at her desk, stories of war heroics that centered around her. Why did she feel this way now?

Was it because she didn’t want to kill Trixie? The Event Horizon initiative would surely kill her, but that couldn’t be it. She wanted to destroy Trixie, that much she didn’t feel guilty about. Was it because she knew that beneath all that rubble, the Trixie she once knew was there and she didn’t want to kill her? Possibly, but she understood that she couldn’t decouple the two, letting one live was letting the other off the hook too.

Concrete stood and wiped her nose. With a few deep breaths, she understood where the guilt came from. It was Sabrina, the spark that set off the fire that nearly consumed the world. The General felt pity for the young mare, but she felt a twisting knot forming in her chest. She never did get any justice. Not that there was any for her to receive, as her death was nopony’s fault.

Still, Concrete felt for this filly. She had a heart that bled for ponies like her, and a position to make things right. She knew Trixie didn’t deserve this, or anything remotely close to it, but Sabrina did.

That was it. She would do something good in Sabrina’s name, besides destroying her now evil sister. Only a few loose ends remained before she’d have to face the sun, and provide shade from its glow. With a nod, she opened the large double doors containing Trixie, a simple alabaster room devoid of any decorations, with a door on either side of it from where she entered from. If she was going to head the wars to come, she’d do her best to negotiate as she always had. No longer was she afraid of her position, because it was where she was all along.

A General who operated an ocean of death machines, who forced their restraint. A General who had once restrained herself in her diplomatic actions in favor of those above her and their violent intentions. A military industrial complex was now headed by a mare who wanted to limit it. Nopony would dare stand against the commander that killed the icon of death itself!

The doors sealed shut, taking all the air with them as their dark wood ends met. The sound of Concrete’s hooves against the marble was music to her ears now, and a terrifying symphony to those who could hear it. She marched directly in front of Trixie’s barriers and sneered. “Hello, Trixie.”

Ever the polite one, Trixie responded. “Hello, fascist.”

Concrete’s smile grew as she stared at her enemy. A caged rat who managed to bite the hand that couldn’t catch it until now. The General felt her face grow hot, and a cascading feeling of warmth fell across her body. She enjoyed seeing this mare trapped in a bubble, the rage in her eyes and the fury in that clenched jaw. What almost sent her over the edge was that round blinking device on the back of her neck.

Concrete strutted around the bubblegum sphere, practically prancing with delight. She licked her lips, she enjoyed the new leaf she turned over in herself. “Oh come now, Trixie. I’m no fascist, you of all ponies should know this. I’m a monarchist, among other things. I have a heart too you know? This whole time, I spent giving you the benefit of the nation’s doubt, even getting you a pardon. And this is how you repay me? Unfortunate. I’m almost too mad to tell you about a scholarship I intend to open in your sister’s name.”

A muffled, echoey laughter came from inside the bubble. “Oh, you were almost too mad to tell me, huh? Well Trixie is almost too mad to tell you her plan to break these barriers and paint this room red.” An explosion came from within the sphere, sending the room into tremors. But alas, no damage was done to the barriers.

“Oh, it seems you weren’t angry enough. It doesn’t really matter. Even if you were, it won’t change the fact that in that room there,” Concrete extended a hoof to the door to Trixie’s left, opposite the one she came from and perpendicular to the one Concrete entered, “A team is assembling a vessel to take you to the bowels of space. Do you know what’s going to happen then, Trixie? You’re going to die where nopony can see you, and you’ll be hated for the rest of civilization.”

“Really? How’s that? Trixie went to hell and came back stronger than ever, she liberated an entire empire in a single day by herself. How could you possibly kill her? Plus, isn’t the death penalty illegal by that pardon you gave her?” Trixie leaned against the side of the sphere, inspecting her hoof.

“Oh, that’s because we’re not killing you. We’re sending you inside a black hole, and even if that does manage to kill you, I’m sure nopony would throw a fit about that.” Concrete chuckled. “On top of that, even if all of our theories are wrong, which I doubt, you won’t have the Amulet to protect you like you did any other time.”

Trixie took her turn in laughing, falling to the bottom of her barriers. “And how do you plan that? You’re gonna get Trixie to take the Amulet off? How would you get to her? These barriers keep you from her, as much as it does the other way around.” She cackled louder. “And who’s to say that Trixie doesn’t escape a black hole? Nopony was able to escape hell either, but here she is.”

Concrete nearly leapt with joy. “I’m so glad you asked!” She produced a remote control with a single button. It looked like something out of a cereal box, but it was the key to this whole operation. “Do you see that blinking red light on your neck?”

Trixie’s eyes darted down to the gem around her neck and back to the General. “Yes, it’s the Amulet’s jewel. What’re you getting at?”

Concrete couldn’t help but laugh, her face was starting to hurt from all the glee. “Oh, you didn’t notice did you? When you were a statue we put Twilight’s newest prototype on your necklace there.”

“Amulet.”

“Doesn’t matter!” She nearly sang. “With this remote, it’ll forcefully remove itself from your neck! Then all that power will be unleashed on that tiny brooch of yours in there. And then you know what happens, Trixie?”

“Sorry, she can’t hear you over all that oinking, fascist.” Even through the anti-arcane screen, Concrete could hear her teeth grinding.

“You will lose everything. You will have nothing anymore. You won’t own anything. Nopony will care about you, your sister will stay buried in the earth where you couldn’t save her from, you will be a lesson to everypony on what not to be.” Concrete trotted in place before stopping dead in her tracks and gravely stared at her. “I’ve taken everything from you. Your Amulet, your sister’s resurrection…” She dragged her hoof across her cheek. “Even your last breath is mine!”

“Wrong. Trixie’s last breath is only hers to take, and the Amulet’s only owner is her.”

“Aww! You’re adorable.” Another hoof joined Concrete’s other cheek. “You’re in my barrier about to be killed by my orders, which will end you, and you can only retort by saying you own two things that are going to vanish by my hoof!”

“Is there anything more you want to say, fascist? Trixie would love to stay and chat, but a conversation with a pig in a black leather uniform is getting annoying.”

The General huffed, causing all her medals to clink in response. “Such a potty mouth on you.” A voice spoke in her ear, telepathy from Twilight Sparkle who was in the room over. General Concrete? It’s done. She nodded, and made her way for the door. “There is one more thing I want to say to you Trixie: It’s over. I won.”

“No, Concrete. The sun did.”

The doors shut behind Concrete. The sun was always protected by an unyielding wall, and now was no different even if the sun was hotter now. That burning star being surrounded by the wall was as much to keep threats out as it was to keep the sun in. Nothing had changed for the wall, it only grew taller in response to the Mare Who Split the Sky.

It was a perfect day in Canterlot, the kind where the breeze was light and the air was sublime. The sunlight was just the right amount of warmth, dewdrops clung to blades of grass like a song clung to a pony’s mind. Celestia took in a deep breath, taking all of it in. Though two things irked her about this otherwise perfect day: The song sung by a dying pony in a bubble and the fissure she put in the sky.

Whenever the sun hit its highest point, it passed over that necrotic streak, making something of an eerie eclipse. An ugly eclipse was closer to what it really was. But it didn’t matter, it had stood for long enough mocking her. She had wanted to take it down, and had the ability to, but she wanted to wait for the right moment to do so.

Celestia had told Admiral Seafoam to make today the most perfect day, suited to her tastes of course. Trixie was in place beside her, inside a tiny box that would be propelled by every court wizard into space, and had a spell transcribed upon its back wall to maintain the speed given to it. It was purposely shoddily crafted to inflict the most possible pain to its prisoner while it travelled. The extreme heat and frigid cold of space, coupled with the lack of air would prove a fitting appetizer to an entree of spaghettification.

Perfect described everything about this day. A warm smile found a home on the monarch’s face as she peeled the streak from the sky, and the pleasant baby blue returned. Only one more thing to do.

She took in one more deep breath, savoring the freshness and liveliness in the air. A glance to her left saw her in the company of her top military officials, Stellar Solstice within a hoof’s length of her. To her right, her sister and the Elements along with every noble in Canterlot. It was a thing of beauty, she’d have a painting made of this moment and a mural commissioned in her royal hall so she could gaze into perfection whenever she wanted. Well, to look at perfection outside a mirror.

With a single flick of her hoof, that cube containing her lifted itself up and within an instant was hurled into the sky, picking up speed until it was no longer a shape, but a blur. She stared into the plain blue sky backlit by her beautiful sun and smiled as she saw Trixie go forward into the final frontier.

She had her doubts about the program actually producing a black hole, or that it would collapse and explode right after. But even if it was only going to produce a tremendous amount of force, it would put an impossible distance between Trixie and the Amulet, in space no less. They would never find each other again, or make their way back to Equis beyond that. Though, she trusted Twilight and her math, who was certain it would work.

With Trixie gone, it was the best day Equestria has ever had, and that meant celebration.

What more was there to say? The trip up had been miserable, but the view was pretty nice. The trip still was miserable, but at least I had the view and my perfect self to take my mind off of it. The singing heat when I neared the sun – the actual star, not the phony pony who falsely claimed to be it. Or the burning, piercing cold that crept into the barriers and snuck its way under my skin.

I wished I could just die already, but then again, the last moments were with myself and my own thoughts, so this ‘initiative’ could take as long as it wanted to.

I chuckled to myself; they called it a blanket of stars, but they didn’t seem to be very warm. I kept laughing, the pitch climbing as it went on. It was such a clever play on words, because blankets were meant to be warm, and yet, I was still very cold despite being covered on all sides by a blanket. I laughed as the device on my neck whirred, and I laughed when I heard a click and then I stopped laughing as my barriers dissolved.

Clink.

The Amulet hit the bottom of the cube. The cold, which was intense before, was now unbearable. I gasped but found no air to breathe. I threw myself to the floor, only able to stare beside me to the Amulet. Any moment it was going to go off, any moment it was going to explode and create a black hole and suck me in.

I waited.

My vision doubled, but I still waited. Nothing.

The tightness in my chest was an impossible knot, my heart was a jackhammer, and my eyes a kaleidoscope. And yet, I waited, but then it clicked. Arkon had told me that the Amulet would explode, and Black Ice must’ve told Celestia that at some point, who told Twilight. But he had lied.

There was no explosion, there was no black hole, and there wasn’t going to be. Arkon had lied.

I wanted to cry, but the lack of gravity kept the tears suspended in my eyes, which then froze from the temperature. I would’ve screamed but there was no air, and I wouldn’t have heard anything anyway. I could only sit in the last moment of mortal, unspeakable pain.

My last breath was gone. I was running on the fumes of it. The physical pain must’ve been lonely and called for its emotional sibling, who came instantly. Everything came crashing down on me at once. What Concrete had said was right, but there was something she never could’ve said; she had forgotten it. Then again, I’d forgotten it too.

I hated myself. I was so short-sighted, yet so greedy. I always reached for more, just this much more, this longer, that empire, that mare. I probably could’ve resurrected Sabrina as soon as I put the Amulet on. I realized then, I didn’t need to kill Paper Trail. But the Amulet had made my first thought after putting it on to be murder. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now in my final moment, it was so clear.

The Amulet was murder objectified, it hungered for power and justified its gain to whoever wore it. Arkon thought in their delusions that some otherworldly threat was there, and the Amulet let him see it clearly. I was a showpony on the streets, who in the ashes of my burned down life found the Amulet, and it showed me a solution. Black Ice was a serial killer who direly hated all life, and the Amulet didn’t need to justify anything to him because him and it were on the same wavelength.

I wished I'd never picked up that Amulet. I hadn’t needed strength to bring Sabrina back, I'd needed the inner strength to forgive myself and move past it. I wished I could’ve seen it sooner. I really wasn’t a bad pony, but I had done things that placed me well above the definition of one. What Concrete said was right – I couldn’t save her. Maybe I never could. I should be ashamed of myself.

Maybe that was a good thing about Sabrina being dead. She wouldn’t know what I did. And if I met her after I died here, I could only hope she didn’t know. But if she did, I’d be spending all my afterlife trying to get her to forgive me, and myself after that. If she did forgive me at all.

I curled up in a ball, my eyes frozen in place, each individual hair of mine a stiff, frigid needle that burrowed itself into my freezing body. I could feel my blood turning solid, and the individual crystals of the new ice that replaced it shredding my inner lining. To say it was painful would’ve been a lie. I could only sense this, doing or registering anything was outside my power. How ironic, I was on the top of the world, peerless in power, and now I didn’t even have the strength to feel myself dying.

This journey wasn’t for nothing, I guess. I learned to let go. Finally… Closure. If there had been one last thing I could say, it’d be: “I’m sorry Sab—”

Author's Note

Here it is folks, the last chapter of Event Horizon! It was my first large story I've written in my entire writing career, and I'm happy with how it turned out and even happier that all of you have read this far along with me!

Were there mistakes? Imperfections? Scenes that could've been better? Interactions? Character development? Absolutely, and I've learned so much from the writing of this story that I feel confident moving forward with regards to these. Another thing that could've caused this, other than lack of experience, of course, would be the writing of each chapter weekly or biweekly. Yes, I wrote each chapter from a loose plan, also written that week or two week span. I've since learned my lesson, and if I post a story, rest assured that it will be completed! This is better for both of us, I don't have to rush and can write better, and you all can read better fics on a timely schedule!

That being said, Event Horizon isn't over. There's still an epilogue for you all to read, and I'll explain more when you get to the end of that!

Thank you all so much, again!