"Are you finally happy?"
Scythia looked at the incapacitated Princess with some confusion and a bit of disappointment. She had been expecting something...more.
Using the Alicorn Amulet to enhance her Earth Pony muscles, she had stormed Canterlot Castle, defeated the pathetic Royal Guard, stolen the Princess' power over the sun and moon, and imprisoned her in Tartarus.
The timing had been perfect. Sunset Shimmer, Celestia's pupil, had mysteriously vanished. This robbed the Princess of a magically potent ally. Celestia had been emotionally weakened as well. The mare had made the mistake of allowing sentimentality into her heart. Pathetic. A true ruler would smother her feelings and do what was necessary, not brood over some pathetic brat. Or perhaps she lamented the loss of a valuable asset. This distraction was what allowed her to achieve victory.
She wore the Princess' celestial power as a medallion around her neck. The half-gold and half-obsidian trinket shone with the energy of an alicorn, even in the darkness of Tartarus. Now she had her dark scythe raised overhead, ready to slay the ex-Princess, and ensure the power over the sun and moon, and thus the power over the planet, remained hers forever.
And yet, she did not feel secure.
Largely because...the former Princess had not shown her an ounce of fear, worry, or panic. Even when Scythia had wrapped her body in magic-binding chains, even when she had gloated about enslaving and murdering her precious little ponies, even when promised to force the other kingdoms to their knees by threatening to take their sunlight, the Princess had done nothing but...smile at her.
Either the Princess had some backup, or she was facing death with admirable dignity, like a brave sea captain who went down with his ship.
To be sure, Scythia had wrapped the Princess in twice the necessary chains, dumped her in the deepest part of Tartarus. and had her most skilled guards watch her 24/7. The reports indicated that the ex-Princess continued to face the situation with unnerving calm.
Scythia waited with baited breath for the expected attack. Some escaped faction of the Royal Guard that was planning to retake Canterlot, some mysterious warrior hidden away ready to snatch away her medallion, a trap hidden in the castle. But there was nothing.
And yet, according to her guard's records, the Princess remained unflappable. She even told jokes.
That white mare was planning something.
When she finally arrived to execute the Princess, she had worn her thickest black armor, worn the medallion that gave her power, and had her scythe sharpened. Yet, when Scythia arrived in the dim cave, the Princess remained dignified, greeting Scythia politely.
Despite being dirty from the lack of hygiene and trapped in a dusty cave, despite her magic gone, despite her ever-flowing mane becoming limp and matted, despite her body becoming gaunt from the lack of nourishment, the Princess still smiled at her with that famous smile that was both welcoming and strong.
Perhaps this was it. Whatever trap the Princess had set for her, this would be when it would go off.
When the Princess asked for a last request, Scythia smirked. This would be it.
She imagined the Princess asking for one final slice of cake. Scythia imagined there would be a saw smuggled into that cake by a royal baker. Or perhaps a seemingly meaningless object like candy. No, she would not grant Celestia a material last request. The Princess was so resourceful, she probably could turn a small twig into a deadly weapon.
Celestia instead ask her for something else: the right to ask one last question.
Scythia snorted and allowed that it. There was no possibility Celestia could perform any verbal incantation. Her magic had been stripped from her body. Scythia raised her scythe, the black instrument glistening from the light given off by her medallion. As soon as the Princess asked her question, her neck would be severed from her body.
And yet when the princess had asked her the question, Scythia suddenly lost her nerve.
It wasn't just the question that made the brown mare hesitate. It was the tone.
The question had been full of...empathy. Pity. Scythia felt her blood boil. So the Princess dared to mock her!
"FOOLISH MARE!" The brown-sorceress bellowed. "I have seized your kingdom! Seize your subjects. Seized your power! I could have an entire cities destroyed by sheer will! I have all that I want!" Scythia's rant, however, did not phase the Princess, who continued to stare at her with sagely eyes.
"Are you finally happy?" The Princess repeated in the same sympathetic tone. However the white mare had put emphasis on the word finally.
The word gave Scythia even more pause. "Finally" implied that something she had longed for was in her grasp after having lived so long without it.
She had longed for power, longed for agency, longer for control.
But she never thought about...happiness.
There had been no place for that in her life.
"Mother please," Scythia said with tears in her eyes, "I didn't mean it-," Scythia screamed at her mother bucked her in the eye.
"YOU STOLE FROM ME!" The mare screamed in a drunken rant.
"I WAS HUNGRY!" the skinny filly wailed. "You spend all our money on hard cider-," Scythia screamed as the kitchen chair was slammed into her body.
"I FEED YOU PLENTY", the inebriated pony threw back. "And this is how you repay me?!" Scythia's mother yanked the brown filly by her mane, dragging her from the kitchen and into her bedroom for even more abuse, even as Scythia pleaded with her mother for mercy.
"Hey blank flank."
Scythia sat alone in the park. She had been tossed out of the house again. She would have to wait here until her mother would forgive her for being a bad filly. She looked up, and saw a white teenager mare with a green mane looking at her with a disdainful smile.
"Evergreen," Scythia said nervously, "what are you-,"
"I see your rump is still bare," Evergreen gloated, showing off her own pine tree cutie mark. "Still as useless as ever, aren't you?"
"I'm not-,"
"Then where is your mark?" Evergreen gloated with sadistic eyes.
"I'm just a late-,"
"No wonder your mommy hates you," Evergreen finished, enjoying each bit of her cruel words. Scythia felt tears fall down her eyes, which Evergreen watched with no small amount of amusement.
Scythia has sought nothing but power. Power to crush those fools. Power to make them suffer like they had made her suffer. She long reveled having Evergreen's blood flow from her body. Long reveled in making her mother beg for mercy as Scythia had been made to. As soon as she finished the Princess off, she would smite them next.
"I have all that I need," Scythia said spitefully to the Princess.
"Then why haven't you slayed me yet?" the Princess asked. The question had been asked with the same sympathy.
"Because I was granting you your final question!" Scythia threw back.
"And yet you've given me two more," the Princess replied. Scythia felt her scythe go limp in her grasp.
"I'm trying to put your ridiculous ideas to rest," Scythia growled, the strength in her forelegs returning.
"Why should you feel the need to explain yourself to somepony you've already condemned?" Celestia asked her with genuine curiosity. Scythia felt a chill go down her spine. "Or perhaps it is not me you're trying to convince."
"SILENCE!" Scythia yelled, putting the blade up against Celestia's neck. She glared furiously at the white mare, and yet the white mare didn't flinch.
"What is your cutie mark?" Celestia asked.
"I don't have one," Scythia said.
"Then is this truly your destiny?" Celestia asked.
"Fool!" Scythia bellowed. "My destiny is to slay you and gain what I deserved."
"Yet I am still alive," Celestia said plainly. "Destiny says I should be dead by now."
"Not for long," Scythia gloated, once again putting the scythe up against Celestia's neck.
"If it brings you the happiness you need," Celestia with a warm smile, "very well, you may. After all, the happiness of my ponies is what I want."
"I DON'T NEED YOUR PERMISSION!" Scythia bellowed. Celestia continued to stare at her with empathetic eyes, which enraged her further. She continued to press the scythe into Celestia's neck with a growl, but didn't go past the fur.
"Go ahead," Celestia said encouragingly, with a warm smile in her voice. "If it makes you happy." Scythia tried to finished the Princess off, tried to push the blade into the Princess' neck, but she couldn't.
She felt something tapping on her helmet. To her astonishment Scythia saw that the Princess was using her foreleg to pat her on the head. Celestia's leg had been weight down in chains, robbed of their strength, and yet the weakened Princess was forcing her leg to move. Not to attack the sorceress or defend herself. But simply to offer Scythia comfort, even as the sorceress was threatening to kill her.
Scythia's angered drain away. She hyperventilated for a few moments, before falling to the ground in tears, the scythe falling from her grasp. Scythia bawled and bawled. She couldn't control her crying. It got worse as Celestia continued to pat her had.
"It's OK," Celestia said in a soothing tone to the crying mare, "It's going to be OK."
Sweet Roll left the marketplace, her groceries carefully perched on her back. She decided to take the quickest way home, through the park.
It was the perfect time for a trot through the park. The weather was sunny and not too hot, ponies were enjoying the weather, and the grass and trees were a beautiful green. Sweet Roll frowned as she heard the sound of whimpering coming from the bushes. Sweet Roll moved the bushes with her foreleg, and her jaw dropped when she saw what was behind it.
A grey Pegasus colt with a yellow mane. He was so young, he still didn't have a cutie mark. He had a black eye and bruises all over his body. But what moved Sweet Roll the most was the whimpering. The colt noticed her, and gave her an angry glare.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" the colt yelled in fear and anger. "Leave me alone!" Sweet Roll just gave the colt a small smile and extended her hoof. "Stay away from me," the cold whimpered, flinching away from the mare's hoof. "Stay-," he paused as Sweet Roll patted him on the head.
"It's going to be OK," Sweet Roll said in a soothing tone. The colt felt tears roll down his eyes. His muzzle quivering, he finally broke down and cried. Sweet Roll pulled him into a hug, telling him in a soothing tone that everything was going to be fine.
