Ponid-19

Twilight broke through her inhibitions, though it took all of her strength. In her eyes, Celestia was still the devoted mentor who had worked tirelessly to create something out of her life. But she had to shake off her former bindings of care and love and formulate new barriers of disgust and enmity. As much as she believed in friendship, she also believed in the freedom of everypony in Equestria, and that had to outweigh her own morals. She needed to stand up for everyone, because they were too sick to stand up for themselves.

Her eyes burned with tears and rage as she charged at Celestia, dodging multiple blasts of the sickness along the way. She didn’t say anything, nor did she engage in petty cursing as her former mentor had. Rather, she fought with honor and duty on her mind. Their horns gleamed in the sunlight and clashed over and over again, each mare trying their best to run the other one through. Twilight had never fought to kill before, and there were times when she questioned her decision. But then she thought of young Flurry Heart. She loved the filly more than life itself, and she had been distraught at the sight of the little pony bedridden with the devastating illness.

She didn’t know the full extent of Celestia and Cadance’s cruelty to the young one, but that didn’t matter. She knew she was fighting for her niece, her friends, and all of the ponies that she cherished so dearly. Ironically, it was Celestia who had taught her how to care for and respect everypony. She had learned friendship at the hooves of the very one that she now defended it against. Every time her horn found a bare patch of Celestia’s skin, her heart did battle with itself. The stabs weren’t satisfying, but rather an obligation to everypony else. She found no pleasure in harming the one who had harmed Equestria.

But Celestia would not let up, and so the battle continued. The other ponies, not wishing to be viewed as only spectators to this historical moment, ran across the room and set Luna and Starlight free. But then they were confronted by Trixie, who grabbed young Kite String and galloped out of the room with her. This earned the complete ire of Rose Garden, who tore after the traitorous magician. She chased her throughout the upper levels of the castle, and did not care how much damage she did. All she knew was that her daughter was in danger, and she needed to rescue her. All of her motherly instincts kicked in, and she found that her hooves seemed to float over the carpet.

“GIVE ME BACK MY FILLY!” She screamed in a voice that would make the hounds of Tartarus quake.

“Ha! Not until you promise to be a good girl and do whatever Celestia and I say!”

“NEVER! YOU’LL GIVE HER TO ME…OR I’LL DESTROY YOU!!!!!”

Kite String shivered in fear. She had never heard her mother speak that way before. She always thought of the matron as being kind, gentle, and very sweet. She remembered the times when she used to tuck her into bed and read her old pony stories. She remembered the smile that her mother had painted onto her face in a beautiful display of love and absolute care. She remembered the times when she’d scraped her foreleg, and her mother would comfort her and bathe the wound with tenderness and gentility. That had all been replaced by the fire-breathing monster that stood before her.

“I’ll NEVER give Kite back!” Trixie thundered, causing the filly to flinch even more, “I’ll just have to destroy YOU!”

Trixie used her magic to knock over a nearby suit of armor. But in the heat of the moment, she forgot that she had never won any awards with real magic. So, the armor fumbled down around Rose but failed to hit its target. Trixie was aghast with embarrassment and realized that Rose had the upper hoof. She could never win any type of hoof-to-hoof combat with the Earth Pony, so she simply turned and ran off again.

“Oh…you WRETCHED thing!” Rose screamed before galloping off after her.

They made their way back into Celestia’s room, and by this point, Twilight had Celestia down and was on top of her. Her horn pointed at the wicked ruler’s heart, and she threatened her. Both ponies were coated with a thick layer of dried blood and sharp scratches. Both breathed heavily. But Twilight’s breaths seemed to be less laborious than Celestia’s. Perhaps this was because she had finally found the upper hoof. She growled at the Princess and shoved her horn closer and closer to her chest.

“You…shall…die!” Twilight said between pants.

“No…I…won’t!” Celestia retorted, “Equestria needs me. Without me, who shall raise the sun every morning?”

“Oh, I’m sure I can manage that,” Twilight said, “as long as I have my friends around.”

“Then perhaps I should just kill your friends!” Celestia roared.

She then began weaving her evil magic over Ponyville, and Twilight watched helplessly as a dark cloud of vile sickness raged in the sky over her home. She knew she had to do something, so she recklessly ran her horn through Celestia’s heart. She felt her mentor cough and sputter up droplets of blood, and the life giving magic that kept Alicorns alive for thousands of years quickly scattered. She knew she had hit her in just the right spot and that she only had moments to live.

“You deserved every inch of that horn,” Twilight said darkly.

“Perhaps…” Celestia said as she began drawing her final breaths, “…but I still managed to take something from you. Your friends are dying as we speak. Heh…I might not have won this battle…but I am victorious in the war. Twilight, may your reign be filled with misery and heartbreak.”

With those words, Celestia dropped into death’s embrace. Twilight backed away and began weeping, though she did not know why. So many conflicting emotions coursed through her body. She was thrilled that the conspirator had been defeated, yet she was terribly sad that the pony she saw as a second mother was gone. She also wept for her friends, as she saw no way of saving them. There wasn’t a method for getting the antidote to them on time. At least…not as long as the storm cloud raged over Ponyville.

By this point, Rose Garden had Trixie by the tail and was threatening her life. “You stole my precious little one from me!” She growled, “give me one good reason why I shouldn’t absolutely demolish you!”

“Mommy, NO!” Kite suddenly squeaked at her mother’s side, “don’t hurt Trixie!”

“Whatever do you mean, darling? She foalnapped you!”

“Yes, and that was very wrong,” Kite said matter-of-factly, “but how are we to emulate Princess Twilight’s examples of friendship and trust if we don’t give ponies a second chance? Trixie deserves a punishment, but I don’t think she deserves one as bad as Celestia had. After all, she didn’t make a disease and enslave Equestria. She just helped.”

Rose saw the wisdom in her daughter’s words and she dropped the vicious prestidigitator. “Alright, Trixie,” she growled, “you get off with your life for now. BUT, you’re gonna be our servant for the rest of your life. You’ll do what we say, when we say it. Then, you’ll know what it’s like to be tied to something you can’t control!”

Trixie scoffed. “The GREAT and POWERFUL TRRRRRRRRIXIE is NOPONY’S servant!”

Rose gave her another threatening look and raised a hoof.

“Alright, alright, alright!” Trixie begged, “I’ll do what you say, just please don’t hurt me!”

Rose sighed and slowly made her way over to Twilight, followed by Smooth Boulder and the others. Twilight’s tear stained eyes were grateful, yet very pained at everything that had occurred. All they could do was offer her their shoulders to cry on, which she gladly took. She saw no way out of this hell, and nothing else could be done. She had defeated Celestia, and Trixie wouldn’t be an issue anymore. She could give Starlight and Luna the antidote. But her friends were still at Celestia’s mercy, even beyond the grave.