Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship found herself on the ground of a large padded room. On a small table to her right, there lay a quill, ink, and what looked like 10 pounds of solid stationery. Twilight furrowed her eyebrows, and tried to teleport herself out, but her horn sputtered and fizzled out, the bits of fly-away magic burning her skin. She winced and tried again, but the same thing happened. She tried calling out for someone, but nothing but the reverberation of her own voice answered. She walked up hesitantly to the small table and started writing out a letter to her mentor, Princess Celestia.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Hello, Princess! I apologise that I have to tell you like this, but I need help. I am currently trapped inside a padded room
The Princess Twilight looked around for a second,
with seemingly no way out.
I'd like to thank you in advance for your help. I am hoping that I'll get to talk to you in person soon enough!
Your humble student,
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight sighed in relief, thinking of when she'd be out of this room. Princess Celestia would appear any moment now, and she'd be back home in no time. She had to focus on where she was, though. The air was quite stale and cold. She felt a shiver run through her body. She tried reciting a sending spell, but her horn only flickered and died out this time. She tried again, but she felt no magic stirring in her horn. She must have it disabled. But why?
She looked to where an entrance should have been in this room, and only saw a small stony statue of what seemed to be a dragon. It had a small slit in it's mouth and Twilight walked over to it. It bared some resemblance to spike, with medium sized spikes going over the top of it's head and down its back all the way to the tip of it's tail. But Spike's spikes were rounded. These ones were jagged and unfriendly. Very ominous, Twilight thought.
The statue rattled for a second, before producing a purple puff of smoke similar to Spike's green.
She sat down in wait or a few minutes, before another letter popped out of its phony mouth, but made by someone that was not her recipient.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
It read,
I'm afraid that you have been put in containment for the following crimes:
- Murder
Twilight's eyes widened when she had only read to the middle of the paper, gasping audibly. Murder? Murdered who? She thought frantically. She kept reading.
- Harm against an Element of Harmony
Your stay will be prolonged until we have a lawyer for you in Court.
Your loyal subject,
Pinprick Point, Impersonal Letter Organiser
Twilight felt goose bumps rising underneath her fur as she gripped the letter. She was in prison for... murder. It seemed that she'd been framed, because she remembered... She tried to remember what she'd done yesterday, but she had to cringe as her head pulsed with pain. The details were misty, but she remembered being at a friend's place yesterday. And she definitely didn't remember hurting anyone. So there was no way she could have done it. She had to send another letter.
Dear Pinprick Point,
Hello. I don't know if you know this, but I didn't murder anyone. I think you may have gotten the wrong pony. Please send this letter directly to Princess Celestia.
Your princess,
Twilight Sparkle
She popped this letter inside the dragon's mouth as soon as she was finished writing. A bit of ink smudged against some of the words, but they were still readable.
She waited more than a while this time, waiting for the letter. The duration of that time was spent crying silently and shaking in trepidation.
The letter fell out of the dragon's mouth with a measly puff of smoke, and she jumped up at the letter eagerly.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
Did you receive the letter sent to you by Pinprick Point? I read over his letter before he sent it to you. I cannot release you until your given release date, which is not permanent. I am sorry that you are in distress, but I also remind you have not been framed.
Your court date is next week.
Princess Celestia, Princess and Leader of Affairs
Twilight then broke out into a cold sweat, while tears filled her eyes. "I'm not ready!" she cried, the thought of being turned to stone because of a murder she hadn't done made her dizzy and light-headed. What had she done? A pang of fear rang through her and stayed as she wrote her third letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm not sure you understand, Princess.
I would never think of even hurting any of my friends.
You have been mistaken.
Please get me out of this place.
Twilight Sparkle
She wrote a bit informally this time, tears blurring her vision. What else was there left to do but beg? Beg to be let out, beg to see the moon, beg to prove to Celestia that she was right. What was left for her when even Celestia wasn't on her side? She walked over to the dragon statue and slid it inside once more.
She knew that she wouldn't be getting an answer right away, so she stewed in her thoughts for a while.
If I'm imprisoned for harming an element of harmony, Twilight thought, which one? She decided to resolve this by sending letters to each of her friends. All 5 of her letters slid inside the stony throat of the dragon statue.
Sitting down and sniffling, she thought of what she should do to pre-occupy herself. Drawing? She'd never been artistically inclined, like her friend Rarity. Writing? She was good at prose, but she didn't have the affinity for telling stories like her friend, Rainbow Dash. Her specialty was magic, and studying, and hanging out with her friends. Her magic was disabled, there were no books in this place, and her friends might not even be alive. She felt her stomach drop as a terrifying thought entered her head. The later Pinprick Point had sent had never clarified how many people she was in trouble for murdering. She might have killed all her friends.
She pushed the thought out of her mind, silently cursing herself for even thinking of such a thing. She could never hurt her friends. Hell, she's probably not even capable of it. A large cloud of purple smoke appeared at the mouth of the dragon statue, and she ran over to it.
The first letter was from Rainbow Dash.
I said i didn't want you writing me anymore, you sick freak! how could you even talk to me after what you did to our friend?! I hope your proven guilty. because you ARE guilty!
Twilight's ears flattened and she grimaced at the harsh language used against her. She also felt an immense amount of dread. She must have been guilty. This reminded her of something Applejack used to say: If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Everyone around her was telling her she was guilty, and while she may not have remembered it... Maybe she was. Maybe she was only thinking of Applejack because Applejack was the next person to write her a letter.
twilight, why would you write to us after what you did to pinkie?
No, Twilight's breath hitched.
you truly make me sick to my stomach twilight. if you ever do come out of that trial scot-free, dont you ever speak to any one of us again. you hear?
No, Twilight's heart began to pound against her chest. No, no, no. it couldn't have been her.
she was family. dont y'all get that?
how could you do something like that to your own girlfrie
"No, no, no, no!" She shrieked, throwing the letter away from her and stomping on it. Tearing it to shreds. Turning those shreds into confetti. "It's not true!" She cried again, horror and intense sorrow wracking her body. She looked at the pieces of the letter with bleary eyes. Confetti. Confetti? Confetti. A large lump formed in her throat at the thought of Pinkie throwing around the pieces of the letter like confetti. She sobbed loudly, Pinkie Pie giggling and smiling in her vision.
Pinkie Pie was dead? She simply couldn't wrap her mind around it. She'd simply known her for too long. Not only that but, she was the one responsible for it? Her thoughts rang through her head, and she barely understood any of them, fears and abstract thought clumping and exploding like confetti cannons. Confetti cannons. She put both hooves up to her head, attempting to drown out her thoughts. She was slowly but surely drowning out any complex thought in a sea of tears. It started becoming hard to open her eyes, and she drifted in and out of consciousness. Usually, it took her hours to get to sleep, but she started feeling tired in just a few seconds. She paid no mind to this strange phenomenon, letting the calming sensation of falling asleep carry her away.
She opened her eyes, and she was next to Pinkie Pie. She sputtered, absolutely dumbfounded at what she was seeing. Pinkie Pie was still alive? They were both sitting on the floor of Sugarcube Corner, doing some sort of arts and crafts.
"Twilight? Are you okay?" Pinkie laughed, putting a hoof to Twilight's shoulder. Twilight immediately calmed down, instead keeping all her panicked questions in her mind.
"Of course," Twilight choked out, closing her eyes tightly and throwing her arms around Pinkie. "Oh, Pinkie, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!"
"Um, me too, Twi. You know how much I love scrap-booking with you!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
"Pinkie, how did I get out of that room?" Twilight asked curiously, picking up a piece of paper and spreading it over the back before putting it neatly on the book below them. Pinkie just smiled, cocking her head to the side.
"What room, silly? You've been here with me, this whole time."
"I was in containment." Twilight clarified. "Didn't you help me get out?"
"What? No?" Pinkie looked back down at her crafts with a small smile on her face. She turned to look at Twilight again, realising that the other was serious. "Wha-- What do you mean containment?" Pinkie Pie asked. "You aren't some kind of monster." Twilight smiled at this show of what she thought was playful ignorance, but she stopped when she realised Pinkie was serious.
"They thought I had murdered you! Can you believe that?" Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "They had me in containment so that they could take me to court after. But obviously I didn't kill you. They must have taken me out when they realised their mistake." Pinkie Pie sat back down, cuddling closer to her. She smiled warmly as Pinkie leaned her head on her shoulder.
"Oh, Twilight..." Pinkie Pie cooed in adoration.
Twilight went in for a little kiss on the cheek only to feel nothing. She opened her eyes and
Pinkie Pie's head was missing.
Her neck and chest were covered in aging, crusted blood. Flies flew around Pinkie's body. It looked to be an old corpse; hours old at the very least. Old enough where blood didn't pour from the stump where Pinkie's head used to be.
"What mistake?" Pinkie's voice suddenly deadpanned from every side of the bakery, cornering Twilight.
"Pinkie!" Twilight shrieked, shoving the corpse away from her. The body flopped on its side like a ragdoll, before twisting unnaturally and crawling slowly towards her. She screamed again and backed away from the body, turning and bolting to swing open the front doors to the bakery. Now, Pinkie's laughter shook the walls of the bakery. Outside the doors, the squishy padding of the room and the dragon statue greeted Twilight. She was inside that fucking room again. She could only hear the sound of Pinkie's laughter. Echoing through the room, her ears, and her mind.
Twilight gasped and shot up from the floor, her nightmare waking her up. As Pinkie's laugher faded from her mind, the silence was thick enough in the room that it felt like it was battering into her eardrums. She decided it was a welcome change.
The dream had sketched her out enough that she hesitated but still got up to check the letters she hadn't read before her impromptu nap.
Fuck you.
That one was from Rarity.
She sighed and put the note down, walking again to the table and grabbing more stationery. She decided she was going to start a diary. However, with no way of marking down the time, it was pretty hard to pinpoint what time or day it was. In fact, she didn't even know how long she'd been asleep for. It had felt like hours, but there was no way of measuring that out. She wrote down a quick entry and placed it back on the small table, opposite the pile of unused parchment.
"I have sent letters to all of my friends, and I've sent a few to Celestia as well. I just had a nightmare about. Her. I hope one of the princesses come to their senses and rescue me sometime soon."
The statue wheezed as another puff of smoke was pushed out of it, along with three more letters. She ran over to it again, and inspected the letters that came out of it.
The first one was just her letter being sent back. This must have been Pinkie's letter. She cringed at the way she carelessly addressed her best friend, pleading for help. What if those had been her last words to her? She sat in thought for a moment.
What were her last words to her? She shut her eyes, and tried to remember.
The furthest the could remember, before she was put into prison, was she woke up, had a few cups of coffee, and then she stopped by Fluttershy's cottage to help her resolve an issue with her and Angel. Then, she went over to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with Pinkie Pie. But what was she doing? What did she do over there? She decided to think about it while she looked ever the next two letters.
I don't know what compelled you to hurt your best friend. I really don't. I want to advocate for you but to be completely honest, I'm afraid you'll lose control around Flurry Heart.
Twilight guessed that this must be from Shining Armor or Cadence.
If you ever get out... I love you. But stay away from the Crystal Empire.
- Shining
Twilight felt an intense pang of hurt and betrayal rip through her entire body. She flipped through her gathering of letters to the next one.
"Twilight, this is your mother. I want you to know that I'll always love you, and I'll fight for you in court. I know you're innocent. You have to be. Me and your father will be at the trial."
The letter felt wet in some spots, like someone had cried over it. Despite herself, she felt a sense of calm fill her body. No one until this letter had been in support of her. She frowned a bit. That must mean it's clear to everyone else that she's guilty. She cast her eyes down, a faint smile on her lips. At least she had one ally. She flipped to the next letter.
"Ain't it lonely?"
Her eyebrows furrowed, her body stiffening. She blinked, and suddenly the letter was different. For the half-second before Twilight had blinked, she could have sworn the stationery was neon pink. She glanced down at the words written on it though, and it was the same off-white the other letters had been.
She really needed to get out of here.
"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
This is Bailiwish. I'm going to be working as your lawyer for this attorney. In obedience of orders to preserve my safety and your own, I will be waiting until the date of trial to meet up with you. Thank you for your time."
Twilight's ears flattened in anger. She breathed in and shouted out loud, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" She fumed, stomping about the room. "That's not even legal! It shouldn't be legal!" She could have sworn that was not how things like this went. For the life of her, though, she didn't know. A law book, that's what she needed. She needed to read like nothing else. Besides reading, the only other thing she lived for was her friends. Her best friend. Her girlfriend.
But that was all gone now. Pinkie was all gone now.
Had she really been the one to ruin everything?
She couldn't remember.
Author's Note
ourgh this took so long to write??? i literally started this in 2020 and then left the mlp fandom and came back
whatever. i have a good plan for this fic. watch out for chapter 2! 