Ponid-19

“You…monster!” Starlight coughed as she was hurled upon a metal table in Celestia’s room. The guards strapped her down and then bowed to their commander as they hurried off, presumably to arrest other ponies. Celestia, on the other hoof, towered over Starlight. Her evil smile gleamed in the light, and fire seemed to shoot from her mane. But this was no Daybreaker. It seemed to be the true Princess of the Sun, which made Starlight all the more concerned. If Celestia had not turned into Daybreaker, then there was no telling how evil she might become! Either that, or…

“You’re a Changeling!” Starlight gasped.

“EAGH!” Celestia shouted, emulating the sound of a buzzer, “wrong! But we do have a lovely consolation prize of death with a one-way trip beneath the ground!”

“How do I know you aren’t a Changeling?!”

Celestia sneered. “Because, ‘Dim Light Glimmer,’ the Changelings have all accepted and embraced harmony. They were transformed by that goody two-horseshoes former student of mine! That, and I would be able to answer any query you might have that only the real Celestia would know the answer to. Go ahead, ask me anything.”

Starlight thought long and hard, which wasn’t an easy task considering the fact that her blood was solidifying. The question would have to be one where the answer was easily accessible to both herself and Celestia. It would also have to be so hard that any type of evil Changeling would rid themselves of a disguise in frustration. Her eyes twitched as she racked her rapidly deflating mind for some kind of inquiry. Then, she suddenly found it.

“Alright,” she said weakly, “what’s…Twilight’s favorite book?”

Celestia’s sneer grew even more wicked. “That’s easy: Mystic Mare and The Secret of The Cave. Try again?”

Starlight’s shocked look was tempered only by her need for relief from the stabbing pain coursing through her. This was definitely not a Changeling. Their beloved Celestia had turned inside out, and it seemed that some eternally negative and vastly antonymic version of herself had taken over. The old Celestia was kind, warm, generous, and benevolent. This Celestia was cruel, cold, selfish, and calculating. Her own cunning defined her eyes, which now flashed a very deep red. Her teeth seemed to sharpen themselves, and for a moment, Starlight became fearful that she might bite her.

Celestia’s golden crown gleamed and her rainbow tinged mane flowed faster than it ever had before. But the normally comforting sight was now one of complete fear, and the sickly mare tried to escape. She pulled and pulled at her metallic bonds, but none of them ever gave way. She was simply too weak to continue onward, and so she acquiesced to their tightness. She lay her head back and prayed that Celestia would show her some mercy and kill her before the disease could.

“Please…” she said, “…kill me. I can’t take the pain…”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Celestia cackled, “why in the hell would I kill you, when I can have so much more fun watching you slowly harden alive! Oh, yes, it might take a few days, but the reward will be WORTH IT!”

“Why?” Starlight asked, “why are you doing this to everypony? You used to be so wonderful…”

Celestia’s look turned sour with disgust and she slowly made her way over to a window. “Fine, I’ll tell you,” she said, “you know…I used to love everyone. I used to care about this job and about Equestria and about the future. But…I just decided…I don’t anymore! When Luna was banished to the moon, I got to rule Equestria all by myself! It was such great fun! Oh yeah, I’ll tell her and everyone else that I hated it, but that’s not the case. I loved every single glorious second of it!

Ponies came to ME for advice on everything, I got to make EVERY SINGLE LAW, and all the cake at royal events was MINE! But, the icing that sat on top of this particularly delicious pastry of subtle dictatorial totalitarianism was that I got to patrol ponies’ dreams.”

“I didn’t know you did that!”

“That’s because I never told anypony. I siphoned away Luna’s dream magic, and used it to play my own little game. I saw everyone’s hopes, painted against a beautiful landscape of hope and joy. Then, I realized…I hated them. I hated these hopes. I hated these dreams. Because, if ponies are free to accomplish what they want to do with their lives, that means I’ve completely lost control of them. I wouldn’t be dictating their destinies; I’d be playing the role of out-of-touch ruler!

All I could think of were rebellions and uprisings, and I couldn’t have that. So, I faked a love that lasted for over a thousand years. That love caused me to become involved in so many lives, guiding so many hooves, and ensuring that they would forever do homage to me! While this was happening, I secretly paid a team of magical scientists to create a virus unlike any other! They sold the lives of everypony in Equestria for a meager sum! I couldn’t believe how easy it was to sway them! Then, I met a little blue unicorn-“

“-ME!” A new voice suddenly said.

Starlight turned to see the traitor herself trounce into the room as if nothing bad had happened. She was wearing a gold chain with Celestia’s crest on it, along with a small robe. Her smile was one of cockiness and complete victory, and she spat on Starlight.

“Trixie, what have I told you about interrupting me?!” Celestia asked sharply.

“A million apologies, my liege,” Trixie said, “but I came in at the most exciting part of the story.”

Celestia rolled her eyes and continued. “Yes, I met Trixie. At first, she was completely useless. But then I managed to think of a role she could play in my grand scheme. She would go around Equestria, putting on fake magic shows and posing as a nuisance. That added an extra layer of protection against the virus development program. Once everything was completed, I simply asked Cadance for permission to infect Flurry Heart. When that bastard Shining Armor began digging around into our affairs, Cadance hid Flurry.”

Starlight felt tears begin dripping down her face. “How? How could you have infected YOUR OWN NIECE?!”

“Oh, shut up, bitch!” Trixie said, smacking Starlight with a well-placed hoof.

“Thank you, Trixie,” Celestia said, “as for your rude question, Starlight, my reasoning was simple: Flurry Heart is beloved throughout the kingdom. She is a kind and sweet little filly. Her father has taught her well. But her mother…oh, her mother LOVES power and money, and I promised her lots of it if she allowed her daughter to become ‘accidentally’ infected with the disease. Once Flurry began showing symptoms, we simply took her around the Crystal Empire and exposed her to everyone. We also had a mole in the town, who ‘escaped’ and took the disease to Manehattan and beyond!”

Starlight managed a growl. “So…you wanted to harm ponies and their dreams, hm? You wanted to take away individual liberty?”

Celestia and Trixie both nodded.

“You infected a nation…and maybe even the world…just so you could have more?”

“Oh, we’ve done more than that,” Trixie said wickedly, “the world is only beginning to feel the effects of our plans.”