A Silver Sky: Four Little Ponies

---Chapter 5: Justice---

“I think I’ve got it this time, Owlowiscious.”

The owl watched with curiosity as his owner concentrated her magic on a small object. He had seen her obsess and fuss over the item for weeks. Though the owl was incapable of understanding just what Twilight was doing, he had come to understand one thing quite well: He did not like this object. Whatever it was, it had some sort of hold on his owner. She would spend hours bombarding it with spell after spell, then cry out in frustration when her efforts seemed to elicit no change in the object.

The owl had seen his owner obsess over things before. There had been the time she had spent a week without sleep, cataloging everything while her mane steadily became more disheveled and she somehow acquired an eye patch. There had also been the incident involving a missing scroll, which she had turned her entire home upside down looking for only to recall, hours later, that she had lent it to a friend.

As the owl recalled, it had been the white unicorn with the purple mane. Why didn’t he ever see her around anymore?

Twilight smiled at Owlowiscious as he sat on his perch, staring intensely at her. “Good boy,” she said. “Thanks for cheering me on.” She looked back at the slip of paper. It sat on her table, awaiting her latest attempt to restore it.

Twilight had not seen Rarity or Sweetie Belle since that day on the hill. If the white unicorn really had intended to take her sister on a “fashion tour of Equestria,” it was safe to assume that the trip had fallen through. As far as Twilight could tell, Rarity and her sister had gone back to their home, and remained there. Carousel Boutique had closed that day, and had not reopened. The doors were dead bolted shut, and some sort of charm had been placed on the building which resisted Twilight’s attempts at teleporting in.

The only time Rarity had been seen in town since then was during very occasional trips to the marketplace to buy food. She dismissed other ponies’ attempts at engaging her in conversation. Questions about when the boutique would reopen were ignored. According to the rumors Twilight had heard, the only pony she had really responded to had been Cheerilee. When the teacher had asked when she could expect to see Sweetie Belle back at school, Rarity had simply said that Sweetie was “very ill and needed to stay at home.”

Twilight shuddered at the thought of Sweetie locked away in that house with her sister. But she resisted the temptation to speculate about Rarity’s reasons for suddenly becoming a recluse. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the note. Sweetie had risked so much to get it to her. She had to know what it said.

For two months, Twilight Sparkle had run herself ragged attempting to restore the note. She had never imagined it would be so difficult to fix a burned piece of paper. A healing spell had accomplished nothing. Attempting to decipher the message from the fragment which remained had proven pointless.

But today, Twilight felt hopeful. She was sure this attempt would be different.

It was not the first time she had told herself this.

“It’s a spell of my own design!” she told the owl excitedly. “It combines the principals from that time travel spell I used a while back with a localized magic field. See, a pony can only go back in time once in her life, so I can’t just go back and read Sweetie’s note, but what if I reversed time just for the note? Basically have it move backwards through time until just before it got burned?”

The owl cocked his head. To him, everything Twilight said was processed as the same incomprehensible gibberish. But it certainly was nice to see her so enthusiastic.

“So what I’ve done here is set up an isolated field. Inside this tiny space, time is moving backwards. It shouldn’t affect anything but the note. See how it’s floating in place? That’s magical isolation! I was the first to master that technique back at Celestia’s School!”

Twilight allowed herself a moment to bask in her achievement, and then patted the owl on the head.

“I’m not sure how long it’s going to take though. It could be an hour, or it could be days. Once the process is complete, the note will be whole again! But...because of the temporal energy involved, when the spell’s done there’s going to be a bit of a…shockwave.” She rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. “It probably won’t mess up the library too badly, but for your own safety, Owlowiscious, I think it would be best if you went someplace else for the day, alright? I’d hate for you to get hurt…”

Twilight extended one of her forelegs, and the owl, well trained in the body language of his owner, hopped off his perch and gently placed his talons on Twilight’s leg. The pony walked out of her front door, and released Owlowiscious, who flew off toward the forest. As he was trained to, he would return in the morning, though Ponyville’s mouse population was sure to take a hit in the meantime.

“What a lovely bird!” a voice said, and Twilight turned her head to see a unicorn approaching her library.

“Oh! Thank you!” said Twilight. “But I’m afraid the library is closing early today. I have a very delicate magical experiment going for the next few hours, so…”

“Really? Oh, how fascinating! What sort of experiment?” asked the unicorn. She was a mare, perhaps ten years Twilight’s senior, with a jet-black mane and a strangely maternal smile.

“Oh, nothing,” Twilight said. “Just a little time spell…”

“Time magic? Don’t sell yourself short, dear! That’s quite advanced, especially for a pony your age. Why, even some of the matriarchs of my family never quite got the hang of it.”

“Your family?” Twilight asked. She suddenly felt as if she was supposed to know who this pony was.

“Oh, I’m sorry, darling. Where are my manners?” the unicorn said. “My name is Indigo Dream. “

Twilight let out a pleasant gasp. “THE Indigo Dream? Of the Dream dynasty of Canterlot mages?” Suddenly the purple unicorn was beside herself with excitement. “I wrote a paper on your family for my Great Figures in Conjuring class back in school! Your ancestors invented the Come-To-Life spell and most of its known variants! Your great-great grandmother revolutionized the teaching of magic to foals!”

Indigo let out a tiny, subdued chuckle. “Yes, my family has always had a…special relationship with foals.”

“I can’t believe you’re here in Ponyville! You’re so important and rich and powerful and…wait, why are you here in Ponyville?”

“Well, I’ve been looking for you, Twilight Sparkle,” Indigo said. “I think you need my help.”

“It won’t be long now,” Fancypants said. He levitated a glass of brandy to his lips as he stared out the huge window which dominated his office, and offered a magnificent view of the city of Canterlot. “Gaze, you sent her the signal to proceed, correct?”

The grey pony nodded. Silver Spoon stood at Fancypants’ side, doing her best to avoid looking at Gaze. Something about him terrified her.

Perhaps it was his constant silence. Perhaps it was the total lack of emotion on his face. Perhaps it was the way he could vanish and reappear without the usual flash of light that accompanied a unicorn teleport. She had asked Fancy about Gaze shortly after meeting him, but the only description he had offered was, “He is my eyes.”

Silver could feel those eyes staring at her, and she did not like it. Was he on to her, she wondered? Could he have heard her speaking to herself? How far did his ability to hide himself go? Could he be watching her in a room she thought was empty?

Silver shook her head quickly, as if she were drying her mane after a bath. It was a little habit of hers, which helped her clear her thoughts.

“Silver? Are you alright, my angel?” Fancy asked.

“I’m fine, Sir Fancypants,” she said. “I’m just…anxious, I guess. I can’t wait to find out what you’re going to do to Mi- um, to Rarity.”

Fancy smiled. “Oh, you’ll know soon enough. Of course, what will occur today is merely the opening salvo. I fully expect her to survive it, though not unscathed. And when she does…that is when I will strike her. At her weakest point.”

“And the friend you sent to Ponyville?”

“A loyal Circle member who owed me a favor,” Fancy said. “Normally I would not send someone of such high standing, but it’s not every day that I need to impress the Princess’ favorite student.”

Silver looked up at Fancy. “You mean Twilight Sparkle?” Everyone in Ponyville knew that name.

“I’ve heard from reliable sources that she’s taken an interest in Rarity’s indiscretions. It seems she’s made multiple appeals to the local guard. All quietly hushed up, of course, but that sort of information has a way of finding its way back to me.”

That’s it.

Diamond’s voice was speaking to her again. Silver Spoon’s first instinct was to reply, but she caught herself in time. The last thing she needed was for Gaze and Fancy to think she was insane. Instead, she just let the voice speak.

I asked you before who you wanted to be. What did you choose then? You chose to save Sweetie Belle. You chose to risk yourself to help another pony. Is that who you want to be? Or do you just want to be Rarity’s slave again?

Silver could not reply. But she already had an answer in mind.

There’s someone else who needs your help. And Twilight could be the key to saving her. To saving all of them.

Fancy was still talking, but the voice had drowned out his speech in Silver’s head. Silver was rather glad to not have to listen to his rambling anyhow. Still, she made a point of looking up at him with an attentive expression, occasionally nodding to simulate engagement.

Find Twilight Sparkle, and you can save them all. But there's something else you'll need to do first.

Silver knew the voice was on to something. But she tried her best not let her body language betray her excitement. Gaze was still watching.

“It’s half past three,” Fancy said, looking at a Grandfather Clock which stood near his desk. “She should have made contact a few minutes ago.”

“So what happens now?” Silver asked.

“Now Twilight Sparkle gets everything she’s been hoping for,” Fancy said. “And so do I.”

“I need your help?” Twilight asked. “Um, I’m not sure I understand. Did the Princess send you? Is Equestria in danger again?”

Twilight thought of her friends, and frowned. “Because right now, the Elements of Harmony aren’t um, exactly…easy to assemble…I can probably get Laughter here on pretty short notice…” She shuffled her hooves nervously.

“Oh that’s quite alright, sweetheart,” Indigo said, “I came to see you, not the Elements. I need to talk to you about your friend Rarity.”

“R…Rarity?” Twilight asked. Could this pony know…?

“My family does a lot of charity work,” Indigo said. “One of our organizations is a network that helps with cases of missing or kidnapped foals…”

Twilight winced. “This…this isn’t about Sweetie Belle, is it?” she said, frightened to think what else Rarity might be up to.
Indigo shook her head. Her smile was gone now. “I’ve heard about your reports to the Royal Guard, of course,” she said. “But I’m afraid this goes far beyond what Rarity has done with her sister. In all honesty, this is one of the more disturbing cases I’ve come across. That’s why I’ve come all the way from Canterlot to handle it personally.”

Twilight gasped. “You…came from Canterlot…?”

“Well yes, dear,” she said. “Why so surprised?”

“The note,” Twilight whispered. The note’s remaining text flashed through her mind:

TERLOT
ELP YOU
OO!

“Canterlot…help you…” she whispered. “Sweetie must have meant that someone from Canterlot was coming to help me!”

“What was that, sweetheart?” Indigo asked.

“Nothing!” Twilight said. “Miss Indigo…I’m at your disposal. Tell me what you need.”

“I need your testimony, dear,” she said. “I get the impression that your word means a lot in this town.”

“I guess…” Twilight said, “Indigo…how serious are these allegations? What’s going to happen to Rarity?”

Inidigo’s mouth formed the tiniest hint of a smile.

“Justice,” she said.

*******

Carousel Boutique was a fortress.

Every morning, Rarity would reinforce the protection spell she had cast to keep Twilight’s teleportation out. She didn’t quite have the skill to create a physical barrier, but using magic to block magic was relatively simple. Next, she would check the locks on the windows and doors.

Unless it was market day, she would emerge from her house only once each day, and always at the crack of dawn, before anyone else was likely to see her. She would walk to her mailbox, take out any letters, and place some outgoing mail of her own in the slot.

Rarity’s Inspiration Room stood unused. Bolts of fabric and unfinished dresses lay beneath two months’ worth of dust. Sometimes, when she walked by the room, Rarity would look into it and feel a sense of nostalgia, but it quickly dissipated. She no longer needed that façade.

On this morning, like all others, she took her mail with her into her parlor, sat down at the desk, and began to read. Afterward, she would spend hours crafting return correspondence, meticulously rewriting each letter to make sure it sounded just right. After that, she would spend the afternoon home tutoring Sweetie Belle, before retiring with her to the bedroom.

The white unicorn was partway through her first draft of the day’s second letter when she heard four small hooves making their way down the stairs.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said without looking up from her work. “You slept late again.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry…” Sweetie said groggily. “Who are you writing to?”

“As I told you the last hundred times you’ve asked me,” Rarity said, “I am securing our future.”

Sweetie walked up to her sister.

“Yeah, but what does that mean? Who do those letters go to?”

“Allies,” Rarity said.

“Oh,” Sweetie said. “You know, sis, it’s been a while. Maybe Fancy forgot about you. Maybe we don’t need to hide like this anymore…”

“Fancypants did not become the richest pony in Equestria by forgetting his enemies,” Rarity said. “And we are not hiding. We are preparing. At the end of the Gathering, I told Fancypants I wouldn’t run. And I meant it.”

Rarity looked at her sister with a determined expression. “I know this has been hard on you, Sweetie Belle. But I need you to be patient. Running from Ponyville prematurely would just expose us. And I need you by my side. I need you safe. It shouldn’t be much longer now.”

“You really think so?” Sweetie asked, excited at the prospect of being allowed outside again.

“Yes. And when the moment arrives, I need you to follow my every instruction. I know you don’t approve of everything I do, Sweetie, but this is about our mutual survival. I have to know you’ll follow my lead.”

Sweetie nodded. “Don’t worry, sis. You can trust me.”

Rarity smiled. “From what my allies have been telling me, Fancy is likely to move soon,” she said. “If he does so now, then it’s all been for nothing. But if he tarries for just a few more days, things should finally be in place. Then we can leave.”

“You mean I can go back to school?” Sweetie asked, her expression brightening.

Rarity shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, but it’s not that simple. You and I have both outgrown this backwards little town. Soon, we will move on.”

“Just…just like that?” Sweetie asked, crestfallen. “But…my friends…sis, please…I miss them so much…”

For the first few days after Rarity had begun her hermitage, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had come to the door of the boutique on a daily basis, and loudly asked if Sweetie Belle could come out and play. On all occasions, they had been turned away by Rarity, only to return the next day.

It had all culminated on one cloudy afternoon, when the two fillies had spent hours banging on the door, screaming at the top of their lungs that they would not leave until they saw their friend.

But Sweetie did not come out. She couldn’t even hear her friends calling out to her. She was in the dungeon, bound to a chair. On that day, her sister had not tied her up for any sexual purpose. She had done so to keep her from her friends.

After that, the fillies stopped coming. It was a week before Sweetie was willing to speak to her sister again.

“Your friends will be fine,” Rarity said. “Leave them to their small lives. You don’t need them.”

“Yes, I do!” Sweetie protested. “I love them! Sis, please, just let me see them one more time!”

“It’s not worth the risk,” said Rarity. “Besides, I need you to make a clean break with your past. You can’t afford to look back.”

“But…” Sweetie stammered. “Friendship is important. You always said so…”

“Friendship…” Rarity said. She looked across the room at the burn mark on the floor.

The white unicorn closed her eyes and was silent for a moment. Then she opened them again, with a look of resolve.

“Friendship…has its uses,” she said. Her voice shook slightly.

“But in the end, it doesn’t truly matter,” Rarity said. With that, she got off her chair and walked up to her sister.

“I’ve found that ultimately, only two things are truly important.”

She ran a hoof over her sister’s back, starting from her tail and moving up to her head. With her other forehoof, she reached under Sweetie’s chin, gently pushing it upwards so the filly was looking at Rarity.

“The first is pleasure…” Rarity said, as she kissed her sister deeply on the mouth.

“And the second,” Rarity said as she broke the kiss, “Is family.”

Sweetie whimpered. “This isn’t how families normally act…” she said.

“Of course, it isn’t. Most ponies are afraid to ever act on their desires…” Rarity said, “But you and I, we’re different. The pain we’ve endured, and the things we’ve seen: Haven’t they made us stronger?”

“But I don’t desire you…” Sweetie said.

“Don’t you?” said Rarity. “I’ve heard the moans you let out sometimes when I have my way with you. The orgasms you try to hide from me. They don’t happen often, but when they do, I notice. And I savor them, little sister. You make such beautiful music when you come for me.”

Sweetie looked away from Rarity. “That’s because sometimes…sometimes you don’t hurt me. Sometimes you’re just…gentle…and…sometimes I guess I get tired of fighting you.”

Sweetie had noticed a change in her sister’s behavior in the last two months. She had grown less sadistic toward her, and more loving. She still forced herself on Sweetie almost daily, but her fascination with pain seemed to have lessened. It was almost as if Rarity was trying to win Sweetie over through a strange sort of kindness.

During those two months, Rarity had not been with any other foals. The burden of sating her sister’s urges had fallen entirely on Sweetie. Yet in a way, the foal welcomed this. At least this way, Rarity was not hurting anyone else.

It was this, more than any loyalty to her sister, which had kept Sweetie from running away. She knew it would just result in her sister finding another foal. And she couldn’t bear the thought of her weakness bringing pain to someone else. Not again.

Sweetie slumped down on the ground. “Just because I’ve enjoyed it…a little…sometimes…that doesn’t mean I want to do this sort of thing with you! It’s sick! You know it is! I just…sometimes I need to feel good…”

“And I make you feel good, don’t I?” Rarity said, as she placed a forehoof gently on Sweetie’s midsection and pushed her down. Sweetie offered no resistance, and was soon lying on her back.

“Anyone could make me feel good if they…touched me that way…” Sweetie said, still avoiding eye contact with Rarity.

“Oh, now, don’t be absurd…” Rarity replied. “You know there’s more to it than that. There’s the emotional intensity of our bond. The love we feel for each other, in spite of all our little…disagreements. Don’t tell me that doesn’t make a difference, Sweetie Belle.”

“Sis, I don’t want to talk about this…”

Rarity kissed her sister on the belly. Sweetie squirmed.

“You need to hear this, sister,” Rarity said. “It’s important that you understand. You and I are bonded by more than blood. We are united by a common pain. The pain our father gave to me. The pain I have given you. I know you hate it. I know you resent me for it. But it’s necessary. That pain opened my eyes to the world as it really is. And it led me to discover the greatest pleasure a pony can ever experience.”

Rarity began moving downward, planting kisses on Sweetie Belle as she moved toward her pussy. At the same time, the older unicorn began rubbing her own cunt.

“Someday, you will know it too, little sister: the absolute joy of ravaging an innocent little foal. The price we pay for knowing that ecstasy is that we must first experience that pain ourselves. This is the gift I give to you, my only love.”

“But I don’t want it…” Sweetie said. She was near tears. “I don’t want to be like you. I just want to be normal…”

“We’re better than normal,” said Rarity. “We’ve gone beyond the dull, pedestrian lives other ponies live. I know it’s scary and painful now, my love. But just wait. One day, this pain will transform you, as it did me. Then you will understand, Sweetie Belle. You’ll come to appreciate the joy I am offering you.”

Rarity moved down to Sweetie’s cunt and gave it a long, slow, lick. The filly squealed softly.

“Oh my!” Rarity said. “You’re rather wet today…”

“Shut up…” Sweetie said. “I don’t like it…I’ll never like it…”

“It’s alright, my darling, it’s alright…” Rarity said. “Take your time. One day, you’ll awaken to my gift. It will happen subtly at first. You’ll begin to look at foals differently. You’ll feel a hunger, a rapturous need. And when you do, I will help you satisfy it. We’ll find some sweet, beautiful young filly…or a colt, if you prefer…and we’ll make her ours. You and I will annihilate her innocence together, and make love to each other while she screams.”

Rarity cried out as she rubbed her cunt faster. “Yes!,” she cried. “It will be so wonderful…we’ll break them together…you and I…we’ll make them hurt! Oh Sweetie, we’ll make them hurt so MUCH!”

Sweetie slowly backed away as her sister lay on the ground, lost in the throes of her orgasm.

She waited until Rarity’s breathing had slowed to respond.

“Please, sis…” she said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone…”

“Neither did I, once,” Rarity said. “But that was a very long time ago.”

The two sisters sat in silence for a moment, and then Rarity stood up and casually walked back to her desk.

“I’ll begin your lessons in half an hour,” she said. “Have your quill and parchment ready by then.”

Sweetie wanted to say something. Dozens of angry retorts, accusations, and proclamations of defiance entered her mind, but every one of them seemed to vanish from her thoughts before she could give them voice.

Finally, she gave up.

“Okay, sis,” was all she said.

Sweetie began to walk in the direction of her room. Rarity dipped her quill in the ink bottle, preparing to resume her correspondence.

Neither of them had time to process what happened next. It happened very quickly.

Rarity’s ink bottle fell to the ground, spilling ink all over the floor. A moment earlier, Rarity had knocked it over, startled by a voice from outside her front door.

Now there was an urgent knocking at the door, and a voice repeating what it had said a moment earlier:

“ROYAL GUARD! OPEN UP!”

Rarity stood motionless.

“No…” she said. “I only needed a few more days…”

“Sis? Sis, what’s happening?” Sweetie said, as she rushed to her sister’s side.

“OPEN THIS DOOR OR WE WILL BREAK IT DOWN!”
Rarity began shaking.

The sisters heard a loud crack: the sound of hooves connecting with the front door of their home.

Sweetie looked up at her sister, who stood with a look of horror on her face.

It was finally happening, Sweetie realized. They were finally coming to stop her.

So, why am I so scared? Sweetie thought. Isn’t this what I wanted?

CRACK. The door sounded like it was giving way. Another kick would shatter it.

Rarity closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She stopped shaking.

Then she turned to her sister.

“I love you, Sweetie Belle,” she said.

Every outward sign of fear was gone. Rarity took a moment to look in a nearby mirror, and adjusted her mane with her forehoof.

Then, the white unicorn walked toward her front door.

The last kick had reduced the door to splinters. Three royal guardsponies stepped into the house.

Behind them, Rarity could see Twilight Sparkle and Indigo Dream.

Rarity felt a flash of rage. Fancy had sent a Circle member. Just to let her know he was behind this.

Outwardly, however, she was the picture of refined calm. A proverb of her own devising entered her mind:

I will face my end as I have lived: with elegance and grace. When I am gone, let them say, “She walked to the gallows with her head held high.”

“Welcome to my establishment, gentlemen,” she said, addressing the guardsponies directly. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Rarity,” a guard replied, “by the authority vested in me by her Royal Majesty, you are hereby charged with the crime of first degree murder.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. It was the only external sign of the shock she was feeling.

“Murder?” she asked. She looked at Twilight.

“Rarity,” Twilight said. She looked as though she had been crying. “Even after all this, I never thought you’d be capable of…”
Twilight turned away.

“I’m sorry, Indigo!” she said. “I can’t face her right now…”

“Shhh, it’s alright, sweetheart,” said Indigo, patting Twilight on the back. “I just need your testimony. You don’t need to face her if you don't want to.”

Twilight tried to say something, but found herself unable to speak. She simply nodded.

“I think there’s been some mistake,” Rarity said. “I am not a murderer.”

“STOP LYING!” Twilight screamed, still looking away from Rarity. “ALL YOU’VE EVER DONE IS LIE TO ME!”

“Twilight, dear…” Rarity said, still fighting to retain her mask of confidence. “You’re letting your emotions get the best of you…”

Twilight turned around. “Stop playing dumb! We know! We all know!” she yelled. “I’m ashamed that I ever called you my friend. You’re disgusting!”

“You’re in hysterics, darling,” Rarity said. “Really, now. Accusing me of murder? The very idea.”

It was Indigo who turned to Rarity now.

“You can stop playing dumb, Rarity,” she said. “We have more than enough evidence. Eight months ago, you fooled this town into thinking there was an accident in the Everfree Forest. But there was never any accident, was there?”

Rarity did not speak, but responded with a tiny smirk. It was meant to send a message. It told Indigo that she was not buying her performance.

Indigo Dream responded with the same expression. Her message was also clear: The performance isn’t for you.

A magical field materialized around Rarity’s legs, binding all four of them together. She fell to the ground.

“You’re under arrest, Rarity,” said the lead guard. “For the murder of Silver Spoon.”

[NEXT: Alone/Books and scrolls/A question]