Prompt #450: "TwiLight"

Corruption. Crime. Murder. Lies. Injustice.

Every day, at least one of those words appears in the papers. And I have to say, they’re not wrong. I’ve seen it myself. Those in power favoring the easy over the right. And in this society built on bigotry, those who live in it begin to conform, to accept, to make it a part of themselves. At least, most of them. There are a few who see the true nature of this world, who seek to change it for the better. Sadly, however, they have no real power to back their words with. But in order to get this authority, one must immerse themselves into the very world they despise.

But it wasn’t enough.

I had a great opportunity presented to me, but I needed more than petty diplomatic power if I was to make any real change. In order to do that, I needed something anonymous, something that would allow me to express my disgust with the way things are run without jeopardizing my public appearance. I could, in essence, have it both ways. And that’s when I found it.

I can still remember when it happened. I had been studying the newest edition of the Equestrian Encyclopaedia, when I caught something in the corner of my eye falling to the ground. It looked like a book. I thought maybe Spike had thrown it off of the roof for some reason, but he was inside. Curious, I ventured out to take a look. Lifting it up, it was a fairly simple, with a black leather cover with white font on it. After reading the title, I nearly dropped it back to the ground.

I brought it inside, though I didn’t tell Spike about it. I wasn’t sure if this was some sort of prank, maybe one of Pinkie’s. Maybe it was real. I had no way of knowing, and that drove me crazy. I must have read the enclosed rules a dozen times, but I was nowhere closer to figuring out its authenticity. And then it hit me. I could take it with me on my next trip to one of the larger cities. All I would have to do is look on the front page when I got there, and I could test it.

A few weeks later, I got my chance. I arrived in Manehattan, and promptly made my way to the nearest news stall. Sure enough, there was the picture of a pony who was currently on trial for killing a couple of hikers. I made sure I wasn’t followed and waited outside the courthouse, in an alley across the street. About what I thought was an hour into the trial, I thought of his face, wrote his name down, closed the book and waited some more.

This was it. In just a moment, I will find out if this ‘Death Note’ actually does what it proclaims to do. After 2 minutes had gone by, I had all but given up and was about to fly away. But then I heard something. It sounded like… sirens! It worked!

I was glad that it worked, but at the same time I couldn’t shake the feeling of having just killed somepony. As the sirens got closer, I started running down the alley. As soon as I was out in the open, I took off, having gotten much more comfortable with flying. When I was a few blocks away, I landed in a park to catch my breath, coming down next to a fountain.

I saw my reflection in the gently rippling water and thought: ‘I can do this.’