Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis sub Scintilla Crepusculi; passus et sepúltus est,
The Anointed One stood before the Governor. Shackles around her legs kept her from running, and the ring on her horn suppressed her magic, its markings labelling her as the prisoner. And yet, when she looked up at the one who would decide her fate, it was as if she were the one passing judgement.
And Twilight Sparkle felt very much judged and condemned to the worst possible fate. "You've really done it this time, Rarity," she said, trying to keep her voice light despite the gravity of the situation. "Your own people are calling out for your blood after that incident in the temple last week. Did you really have to start destroying property?"
"I destroyed nothing that should not have been freely given," Rarity replied simply. Her horn sparked for a moment before the inhibitor ring nullified her spell, though she was still able to channel enough of her magic to float a handkerchief out from the pocket of her lovely purple dress. The cloth fell to the ground in front of her, and Rarity looked up sheepishly at Twilight. "Oh dear, I had forgotten about that. Would you be so kind as to help me freshen up, please? I would rather face my end with some dignity."
Twilight immediately stepped forward, her own horn glowing as she picked up the cloth and dabbed away the dirt and blood on Rarity's face. Anger flared in her heart when Rarity winced, flinching away from the fabric as it touched the cut on her cheek. "I can't believe those... barbarians... did this to you."
"I'll admit, the trial was rather unpleasant, but there is still much I must endure before the day is done." Rarity frowned. "I am sorry for the pain that your heart shall face as well."
"You could stop this all right now," Twilight pointed out as she wiped away the last of the grime from Rarity's face. Despite her matted fur and the injuries marring her body, she still looked beautiful, and held herself with a dignity and grace that Twilight couldnt help but be captivated by. "The only charge they've actually brought to me is treason, since it's the only one I would be forced to act on."
"That does make sense," Rarity replied. "My other crimes are not ones that the Empire sees fit to punish."
"But that means that all you have to do is publicly renounce that ridiculous title of Princess of Harmony and we can find an excuse to let you go free." Hope flared in Twilight's heart as she formulated the plan in her head. It would be difficult to placate the ponies of this city and sate their bloodlust, but with some careful maneuvering, she should be able to minimize the damage.
Rarity shook her head, and Twilight's heart sank. "I'm afraid I can't do that, darling."
"Why not?" Twilight exclaimed, stomping her hoof on the ground. "Why do you have to be so stubborn? Are you really the Princess of Harmony?"
"You have said so." Even in the face of death, it seemed that Rarity would hold on to her infuriatingly mysterious facade. "Ah, but my kingdom is not of this world, otherwise my servants would have fought to prevent my arrest, no?"
Twilight rubbed a forehoof against her temple. "Ugh, why do you always have to be like this? Do you understand how serious this is? The ponies out there want me to crucify you!"
"I know, my dearest, darling star." Rarity grinned weakly. "It's going to be absolute murder on my style. Holes just aren't very fashionable this season, you see."
"Rarity!" Twilight stormed over towards the obstinate mare, fear burning her soul. "I love you." The declaration was wrenched out of her, a desperate plea to her beloved. "Please, don't make me do this."
They were close enough to be almost touching, and Twilight wanted nothing more than to lean over and capture her lover's lips with her own, to affirm their desires for one another or maybe kiss away the insanity from her mind.
Before she could, however, Rarity shook her head and spoke. "Unfortunately, I am bound by my fate and my purpose. You know what the holy books of my people say must come to pass."
"I don't believe in prophecies," Twilight snarled. "You have a choice, Rarity. You can choose to live, to spend the rest of your life with me, instead of throwing it away on some dumb mission."
"You do not yet believe, my love, but you shall." Rarity moved to raise one hoof towards Twilight, but the chains stopped her. "This is how my ministry has to end, you see. With my death, I shall take away the sins of the world, and open up the doors to my kingdom of everlasting life."
"You're delusional." The words slipped out before Twilight could stop them, but in her desperation, she couldn't bring herself to take them back.
"I thought you loved me for my beliefs," Rarity said quietly, and there was true hurt in her eyes.
A flash of pain lanced through Twilight's heart. "I love you for how kind and generous you are, and how you're willing to help others no matter the cost to yourself. But this, this isn't going to help anyone. Please, can't we just go back to the way things were before, when you made dresses for me and we just enjoyed each other's company in the library?"
"All things must change, Twilight." There were tears in Rarity's eyes, mirroring those burning Twilight's own. "It is right to mourn that which is gone, but the future is so much brighter than you could possibly know."
"How can my future be bright without you?" Twilight whispered, holding back a sob.
"I shan't be gone long, my dear," Rarity said with total confidence. "I shall return, to judge the living and the dead, and my kingdom will have no end. You shall have a place in it, as all others will."
Twilight could only stare incredulously. "You'll be dead." She flinched as she said the word. "Nopony can return from the dead."
"And yet, you saw me restore Late Riser to life."
"He probably wasn't actually dead, just in a very deep sleep. It's been known to happen."
Rarity sighed. "Blessed are those who have not seen, but have believed," she murmured before groaning. "I don't have a line for those who have seen, and still refuse to accept the truth I grace them with."
Twilight barely managed to refrain from starting up their old argument. "Well, I don't care what your prophecies say, I'm going to do everything I can to save you."
"And I love you for it, dear."
Rarity leaned forwards, and Twilight was helpless to do anything but lean in as well, sharing a quick but passionate kiss with this incredible, delusional mare before she turned away and headed out towards her balcony.
Disgust roiled in her gut as she looked at the very ponies Rarity had been trying to serve, who now desired her demise. "I find no fault in this mare!" she called out.
The crowd jeered. "Crucify her, crucify her!"
Unable to look at them any longer, Twilight rushed back into the audience chamber, which she had emptied of all ponies except for herself and Rarity.
"I take it things did not go as you wished?" Rarity asked, and her serenity irked Twilight even if it set some part of her at ease.
"How could they?" she hissed, glaring out towards the city that she had sworn to serve, and which had now turned on her beloved. "After all you've done for them. I should have all their leaders executed for this."
"But you won't, because you're a good mare, even if you're a little blind to the truth." Rarity reached out to nuzzle Twilight tenderly. "When the time comes, please make sure that I'm not still wearing my dress. It would be quite a waste to stain it more, and I did put so much effort into creating it. Let the soldiers cast lots for it, according to the prophecies. And one more pony will be able to benefit from my designs."
A hysterical giggle issued forth from Twilight's lips. "Of all the things for you to be worried about..."
Rarity smirked. "It's never the wrong time to worry about fashion, darling. Though, I suppose there are greater considerations at the moment."
"You think?" Twilight wracked her brain for a solution. After all, they all said she was one of the greatest minds in the world. Surely she could find some loophole that would... "The amnesty!"
She rushed out again, and channeled a spell to amplify her voice. "It is the custom on this, your feastday, for me to grant amnesty to a prisoner. I can release Rarity, or I can release Tirek." Surely nopony would want that monster walking free.
"Tirek! Tirek! Release Tirek to us"
Twilight's heart sank as her last hope died. "Very well, then. I wash my hooves of all of this. You shall have your blood."
She returned to Rarity once more, and silently embraced her, committing to memory the feel of her body against hers as her tears began to flow freely, staining the ground with her sorrow.
"Forgive them, Twilight, for they know not what they do," Rarity said as she gently nuzzled her, and the gentleness in her voice broke Twilight.
"I'm going to miss you so much," she said as she wept openly. "Please, don't leave me."
"I won't," Rarity promised. "I know you don't understand yet, but you will. Until then, take care of my apostles for me, would you? Coco could use somepony on her side in the courts when she takes over Carousel Boutique, and Applejack is going to feel awfully guilty for denying any knowledge of me, but I need her to be the rock on which I build my church."
"I'll do what I can." Twilight glanced towards one of the side doors. If she unlocked it and "accidentally" slipped off Rarity's inhibitor ring, she could play it off as Rarity escaping from her, and she could live...
Rarity shook her head, her eyes seeing far too deeply into her soul. "Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the princess of this world be cast out. And if I be lifted up from the world, I will draw all to Myself. So it is written, and so shall it be. That's how you like things, no? Recorded and immutable."
"Not this," Twilight replied. "I would burn all of my books for you."
"My, my, I don't think I've ever heard you confess your love to this extent before. Aren't you quite the romantic?"
"I learned from the best." Twilight sighed. "There's nothing I can do to stop you from doing this, is there?"
"I'm afraid not, dear." Rarity smiled again. "Goodbye, my love. Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in Harmony, believe also in Me."
With all her heart, Twilight wished she could do so. "Goodbye, Rarity," she said instead. "I have to call back the guards now, or else the ponies will start to get suspicious. I love you, Rarity."
They shared one final kiss. "And I you, Twilight Sparkle." Rarity straightened herself out and held her head high, every inch the graceful and serene messiah she claimed herself to be. "Now, shall we render unto the Empress the things that are the Empress'?"
Et resurréxit tértia die, secúndum Scriptúras, et ascéndit in cælum.
Twilight Sparkle hadn't left the Praetorium in three days.
The governor had buried herself in her work, trying to drown her emotions in endless ledgers and scrolls. When all the work had been done, she would retreat into her library and read all she could on magical theory, devouring the works of all the greatest minds in history.
And yet, it was not enough to banish the horrors of what she had been forced to witness.
She knew she hadn't been required to be present during Rarity's torment, but if she were the one to give the order, then she would force herself to see it through.
At her own request, the identity of the soldier who had flogged her beloved was kept secret to her. It was better that way, though she now looked at all her guards suspiciously, wondering which of them had hurt her true love. Every cry and scream wrenched from Rarity's lips as she was struck again and again was permanently seared into Twilight's memories.
Even worse, at one point, when Twilight could no longer bear the pain she had subjected her lover to, had been about to stand up and put an end to the cruelty, Rarity had turned to her, and smiled through gritted teeth, even as the whip had struck her on her back yet again. In that moment, Twilight felt like a part of her soul had died.
How could she have ever been worthy to stand in the presence of one so selfless that she cared more for the pain of her tormentors than her own agony? Afterwards, Twilight had even heard her dispensing fashion advice to the crowd as a crown of thorns had been placed upon her head. It was at that point that Twilight's courage had failed her and she had fled back into the Praetorium, her stomach rebelling in disgust and anguish as she had dry-heaved over and over again.
She'd heard afterwards that Big Macintosh had helped Rarity carry her cross to the place of her execution, and had made a mental note to find some way to express her gratitude to him for easing her beloved's suffering. As for the other details of the crucifixion, she had been spared the most gruesome accounts for now, and took some small comfort that Rarity's death had been quicker than normal.
Still, that was little balm compared to the overwhelming pit of despair that was her constant companion in her chest. Even worse, she'd received reports that Rarity's tomb had been desecrated this morning, her body missing from its resting place.
Rarity's own people were looking into the matter, and while Twilight would not hesitate to send her own soldiers to find whmever was responsible for this heinous crime, she'd recognized that they were better equipped to do so. It galled her to have to do nothing about this, and she'd retreated deeper into her work to block out the anger, emptying her heart and trying to purge her sorrows in legislature.
There had been other reports of strange occurrences the day of Rarity's death. An eclipse had blotted out the sun for three hours, and the ground had shaken and damaged the temple. The part of her that had wanted to believe Rarity's wild tales thought that it might have been her little vengeance for her execution.
The truth, however, was that it had simply been coincidence, and it was useless to try to seek out more meaning in these events.
There was a knock at her door.
Twilight frowned. The guards should have stopped anyone from getting this close to her personal quarters, and the knocking, while firm, had not been frantic, so this likely wasn't an emergency. Had she missed a meeting of some sort?
"Come in!" she called out, curious. Perhaps this visitor would distract her for a little while, give her something else to focus on.
The door opened, and Twilight's heart stopped as her jaw dropped in shock.
"I do so love a dramatic entrance, don't you?" the unicorn mare asked as she strutted into the room with a smile. An elegant red dress flowed down her back, hiding most of her body, but the pristine white fur on her neck and face didn't show any signs of injury.
"Rarity!" There was no time for thought, for fear, for anything besides rushing up to wrap her hooves around the mare she had loved and lost, to confirm that she wasn't just some cruel illusion conjured up by her grieving mind. "How are you here? This isn't scientifically possible! You're not scientifically possible!"
"I did tell you I would return, darling," Rarity said, embracing her back as they gripped each other tightly. "As I always try to tell you, love is the most powerful force in the world, more powerful than even death."
At that, Twilight stepped back, taking a moment to look at her. Rarity's whole being seemed to glow with some kind of divine radiance, and even Twilight could no longer deny that Rarity was just a mortal pony.
She pointed towards the holes in her hooves. "Do those hurt?"
Rarity shook her head. "Not if I don't wish them to. And really, there's no point tormenting myself further now that my purpose is finished."
"Your purpose," Twilight echoed quietly. "You... you really are the Princess of Harmony, the Messiah from the prophecies." So many emotions were coursing through her at this moment. Wonder, awe, and shock were first and foremost. That Rarity was truly a divine being, and that even so, she had chosen to give her love to Twilight.
Then, the sadness. "Your kingdom is not of this world," she said hollowly. "You'll have to go back and rule it, won't you?"
"As I said before, my ministry is ended," Rarity replied. "It is time for my apostles to do their good works. I'll be paying them all a visit to say my proper goodbyes, and then I fear I shall not see them until they come into my kingdom."
"Until they die, you mean," Twilight said, and in her voice was the acceptance of the tragedy of their love. "Just like with me."
"Well..." Rarity raised a hoof into the air in a thoughtful gesture. "I suppose that while my followers must believe that I am gone forever so that they can establish my Church, you are not truly one of my disciples, no? So long as nopony discovers us, there's no reason why I cannot visit you in life."
Hope blossomed in Twilight's heart for the first time in three days. "You mean...?"
Rarity smiled, and it was Good. "We shan't be parted for very long, my love. I would not deprive us of the happiness that we shared in our time together, and you never did finish reading me that story of the general returning to his wife after the siege of Trot."
Twilight snorted. "Like you don't know how the story goes, Miss I-Have-Divine-Knowledge-Of-All-Things." Her breath caught in her throat as the implications of that statement washed over her. Rarity knew everything, could answer any question that Twilight had. It was a terrifying and exciting thought.
Rarity didn't comment on Twilight's silent revelation, instead saying, "Ah, but I do so love hearing the story from you, darling. What is knowledge without the ability to share it with others, anyways?"
Twilight forced a smile. "So you'll share all your knowledge with me, then?"
"And ruin the fun for you?" A false gasp issued forth from Rarity's lips. "Oh, heavens no, I wouldn't be so cruel. Besides, some things you aren't quite ready to know yet."
At that, Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And when will I be ready?"
Rarity shrugged. "In due time. Though, you'll have to spend time with me to find out when."
This time, Twilight's smile was more natural. "I think I can do that. So, what happens now, Your Highness?" The title sent a thrill down Twilight's spine. What she was speaking was treason, and yet, if Rarity's kingdom truly was not of this world, but something greater than any mortal empire, then she supposed it didn't matter.
"Well, as I said, I need to pay a visit to my apostles, and let them know the wonderful news." Rarity looked down at her hooves. "And then I shall have to return to my kingdom for a time, if for no other reason than to get a body that doesn't have these dreadfully unfashionable holes in them. Rest assured that I shall return to you soon, however. I would not deprive you of my blessings for long, even if nopony else must ever know of our little tryst.
"Until then, would you please be a dear and release Fluttershy from your dungeons?" Rarity's smile faded as her expression grew sombre. "I thank you for saving her from herself, but I think visiting her to assure her that I am still alive will ease her guilt."
"Did you really tell her to betray you to the authorities?" That had been the story Twilight had managed to get from a distraught Fluttershy, after she had come to her to apologize. She'd already returned the thirty pieces of silver given to her, and had been ready to ask Twilight to execute her for her misdeeds. Twilight had nearly done so out of anger, but she knew Rarity wouldn't have wanted it, so she'd had her put in the dungeons until she could figure something out.
"I did," Rarity replied. "It was necessary for the prophecies to be fulfilled, you see. Exactly thirty pieces of silver, just like it was written all those years ago. And now she will be in a position to preach the wonders of repentance and forgiveness."
"Efficient," Twilight commented. "So, I guess I'll see you around, then?"
"I will always be with you, dear." Rarity stepped forwards towards her. "But yes, for now, I must take my leave with this form." She pressed a quick kiss against Twilight's lips. "Until tonight, my love. Go in peace, to love and serve Harmony." With that, her horn flashed, and she vanished in a burst of teleportation.
For a moment, Twilight simply stood rooted in place, staring at the spot where her beloved had been. Then, slowly, a smile crossed her lips, and she began to laugh in joy.
Truly, Rarity was a divine being, sent down to teach the ways of Harmony, and by the power of her love and sacrifice they were all saved. Despite that, she was still the mare that Twilight had fallen in love with, would continue to be that mare even as she ruled a kingdom beyond mortal comprehension, and Twilight knew in her soul that she was the luckiest mare in the world to be gifted with both halves of this wonderful being.
And so, with joy in her heart and love in her soul, she knelt down, and began to pray with the words that Rarity had taught her.
"Mater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum..."
