It was a magnificent day, the weather was perfect, thanks to the pegasi. The sky was a beautiful blue color, not a cloud in the sky. Yet it was about to become cloudy whether the ponies liked it or not.
~~~
Twilight was trotting along, expecting the results of the spell were going to come out perfectly. She looked around at the ground before her, seeing what was supposed to be a happy meadow as a scorched mark and nothing more.
“What could have happened here?” Twilight whispered, her eyes growing wide. She looked around, seeing a giant “T” carved into the ground, the scorch marks leading away from it, “‘T’? What in Celestia’s name could that mean?” Twilight wondered, pawing at the ground and thinking of the plethora of things that it could mean. Yet she failed to realize the one.
“Twilight, there you are! I was looking for you!” Spike called out to Twilight, seeing her standing on the hill before the meadow. Spike hobbled up beside Twilight, looking around and seeing the scorched meadow that had left Twilight speechless.
“What... What happened here, Twilight?” Spike asked, wondering if Twilight could have possibly done this. She couldn't have; she’s not a jerk... Or did she just all of a sudden turn into one?
“I... I don’t know the T could mean just about anything starting with T!” Twilight replied, looking at Spike with trembling eyes.
“Twilight!” A voice called from far behind them. Twilight and Spike both immediately snapped back, trying to figure out who in their right mind would follow them out here. They saw an orange speck, quickly growing bigger as it raced towards them.
“Applejack?” Twilight and Spike both thought out loud in unison. As long as it took Applejack to reach them, they grew rather impatient.
“Phew, finally!” Applejack coughed out as she tried to regain her breath. Spike and Twilight just plonked down, waiting for her to rejuvenate, staring at her with wide eyes. Applejack looked back at the giant ‘T’ marked into the meadow, her eyes darting from Twilight to the meadow.
“Sugar, you do know what that 'T' means, right?” Applejack asked Twilight, hoping to high Celestia that she did. I mean, surely she know what it means, right?
“Well, it could be a number of things!” Twilight whined, stamping her hoof.
“No, sugarcube, it means TRIXIE! She’s come back, and she wants revenge again,” Applejack replied, pointing back towards Ponyville, where a series of different-colored lights were going off one after the other.
“Oh... Well come on! Let’s go!” Twilight yelled, lifting Spike onto her back with magic. “Hang on, Spike!”
“Wh-WHOA!” Spike shouted as Twilight started them to the town center.
~~~
“HEY! STOP IT! OW!” Rainbow kept screaming as she was thrown about. Trixie simply chuckled, a slight smile on her face.
“TRIXIE!” Twilight hollered, causing Trixie to avert her gaze from Rainbow. Trixie’s light-blue aura was subtly taken away.
“OW!” Rainbow cried out as she hit the ground like a rock.
“Well well well, who do we have here?” Trixie asked.
“Trixie, I hear you’ve come back for revenge again, and I suggest you leave,” Twilight demanded, pointing the way out of Ponyville.
“Not before Trixie bests you in a contest that Trixie has laid out!” Trixie angrily said, stomping her hoof. Twilight shook her head, knowing Trixie’s pride
“No, I want you to leave. You have interrupted my studies, something that I really don’t appreciate! ” Twilight yelled, hoping that afterwards Trixie would just go away.
“What, is the ‘mighty’ Twilight Sparkle scared?” Trixie mocked, the crowd that had started to gather murmuring.
“Yeah, she’s really scared!” Snips piped up from the back of the crowd, a few ponies in the front nodding.
“I’m not scared, ju-” Twilight was cut off by someone yelling.
“She’s scareeed!” Snail yelled from somewhere in the crowd, causing a few more ponies to chant; She’s scared! She’s scared! Twilight started to blush.
“I... I’ll play to your rules, Trixie,” Twilight replied, the peer pressure starting to get to her.
“Excellent! Let’s start then!” Trixie said as her horn started to glow, and with a POP, a little checklist appeared out of thin air. Trixie marked off a few things, her smile growing wider after reading each one. “First off, nopony is to get hurt.”
“Ok,” Twilight solemnly replied. Trixie marked off another, her smile growing even wider.
“Second, no interrupting each other’s spells.” Trixie stated. Twilight nodded. Trixie once again marked off the check.
“Well then, let’s get started, shall we?” Twilight asked Trixie expectantly. Trixie nodded. “You go first then.”
“I’m going to go with... a time spell!” Trixie replied, her horn glowing with a purple aura. A small circle appeared above her head and slowly started to spread, enveloping everything around her. Within just a minute, everypony but her and Trixie was a dark gray, their faces frozen in time.
“What have you done?” Twilight asked, looking around at the blank faces staring at her.
“Oh nothing much, I’ve just frozen time around us for the next two miles!” Trixie cheerily replied.
“Not even I can do that level of magic!” Twilight said, stuck in a trance looking at the faces of the ponies.
"Just goes to show you that I'm better!" Trixie replied, somewhat shaking with glee.
“Undo this! Now!” Twilight demanded, stomping her foot. As her hoof hit the ground, several dirt particles rose up in the air, then froze in midair.
“Aggh, fine.” Trixie slowly responded, her horn once again glowing in the process, spreading the same orb over the crowd. One after another, the ponies began to unfreeze, each one looking around and shaking their heads.
“Now, Twilight, your turn,” Trixie said with a smug look on her face. Twilight thought of several solutions, yet only one seemed feasible.
"Now, what can keep up with that level of magic?" Twilight whispered to nopony. "Oh! I know!"
“Umm...” Twilight mumbled, looking around. “How about a teleportation spell?”
“Heh, beginner’s spell? Let’s see this,” Trixie smugly said, walking over to Twilight and standing by her side.
“Umm... Ok, let’s go...” Twilight said, shuddering while thinking about where she was going to take the two of them. Her face in an expression of pain, concentration, and effort. Her horn began to glow brightly, nearly blinding several ponies nearby, causing them to rub their eyes.
“AHH!” Twilight screamed out as her and Trixie were teleported to... the top of the mountain? She looked out from the summit, seeing the vastly expanding fields of Sweet Apple Acres in the distance This isn't where she was supposed to be! Twilight had been aiming for the Canterlot Royal Boardroom, where Celestia was in a meeting!
Well, that was unexpected... Twilight thought.
“Not bad, Twilight. I will admit, although it could be a bit less... cold,” Trixie humorlessly said. She turned to Twilight with a vicious look in her eye.
“Now that we’re up here... I can finally do what I came to do in the first place!” Trixie yelled, trapping Twilight in a blue aura that lifted her over the side of the summit of the mountain.
“Trixie, what are you doing?!” Twilight screamed out as she looked down.
“Getting ready to kill you, what does it look like it?” Trixie replied calmly, now growing bored.
“Why?!” Twilight screamed out once again, tears now streaming down her face.
“Trixie grows bored of your constant screaming!” Trixie yelled, her spell slowly weakening around Twilight. “And just for good measure, Trixie will put a dulling spell on your magic!” Trixie’s horn once again began to glow, and Twilight began to feel a pain in her horn that slowly subsided.
“Trixie wishes you a pleasant death!” Trixie yelled as her hold on Twilight was released and she started to fall.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Twilight screamed as she fell at a lightning speed, the ground fast approaching.
~~~
Author's Note
Essentially I went through and rewrote the entire chapter. Thanks to Danupert and Pascoite for reading/editing! The two of them are both literary masters!
~~~
“Sir, are you the one that the rumors spoke so highly about?” Trixie asked the blue stallion. The stallion replied with a simple nod, a specific gleam in his eye that Trixie found rather disturbing. Trixie had been looking for this stallion for some time now, seeing as how he was the one in Manehatten with the rumors floating around that he had some special abilities that no other pony had with magic.
“I see you’re one of many that has come looking for me,” he growled in a deep tone that put off Trixie, but just a little bit. She hadn't been expecting such a deep, hearty tone from a unicorn such as himself.
Well, he is of an excellent-sized build. Sturdy shoulders, and that coat... Trixie thought.
“I see you’re checking me out,” he said, smirking at the look on her face. “I take it you like what you see?” When he spoke, Trixie snapped her head out of the slight trance. She blushed, the light red color somehow showing through her glorious light-blue coat.
“Don’t be embarrassed; plenty of mares have done it before,” he said, smirking at her the color of her face. “While I am not in the mood right now, I would normally take you back to my room and try to have some fun with you,” he finished, winking.
“I... I just came here for the teaching,” Trixie stammered, her face slowly cooling off with each word. The stallion simply nodded, a slight smile on his face for what was to come.
“Oh, it’s much more than a teaching, it’s an information transfer,” the stallion said, smiling. Trixie gained a bewildered look on her face.
“Information transfer?” Trixie asked, staring at him with wide eyes.
“Yes, a transfer that is only available to me and Celestia herself. Not even Princess Luna has learned this spell yet. What it does is gives me the ability to organize my mind into different sections, each one holding separate information. Then when I want to give a certain pony access to something, I simply cast another spell upon them, allowing them entry to my memories and information,” the stallion said in a matter-of-fact tone. Trixie pondered this tidbit for a moment, wondering if the stallion had the spells that she was looking for.
“How can I make sure that you have the spells that I want?” Trixie asked, looking the stallion in the eye. The stallion was caught somewhat off-guard, seeing as how almost nopony asked that question.
“Well, when you go through and memorize pretty much every spellbook that you can find, you end up with a large basis of them, ” the stallion told her, expecting her to back down.
“Do you have...” Trixie paused for a moment, leaning into the stallion. “Do you have dark spells?” She whispered into his ear.
“Oh yeah, a ton,” the stallion smugly replied. “More than you can count.”
“Excellent. I know what I came for isn’t a lost cause,” she mumbled to nopony. “I can finally get the revenge that I seek...”
“You’re right, it isn’t,” he said, smiling. “Now, are you going to go through with it? It’s extremely painful.”
“Yes, now is the time above all else; I need this,” Trixie said, hoping that the stallion would not deny her access to his riches of knowledge.
“Okay. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he replied, leaning towards her. Touching horns, his glowing, he started the process.
"Ah!” Trixie cried out, causing several ponies nearby to look at her. Trixie started to feel a warmness in her horn. The feeling began to flare up, until it was a searing pain in her horn. The fiery feeling began to slowly find its way down her horn, causing her to shudder in pleasure and pain. No, now is not the time. She tried to force herself to gain control, yet to no avail. She kept shuddering with the pleasure that was racking up, when the pain reached the bottom of her horn it began to feel like it was filling in each of the cracks between her brain, like cementation liquid filling in the cracks on a street. As the pain slowly subsided, she opened her eyes. She was in a long hallway with doors on both sides of her, each one with a different sign above it.
“Memories... Purity spells... Favorite books...” Her voice trailed off.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice echoing.
“I have created a manifestation of your body and placed it inside my mind where the information lies. Please continue,” a voice echoed throughout the hallway, ordering her. Trixie nodded and began to look once again at the signs above each door.
Her eyes focused on three doors. “Well, I know where I’m going.”
~~~
Trixie shuddered, remembering some of the spells she had found, and how dangerous they were. But she had decided to keep them in case Twilight somehow managed to pull a one-up on her. Where could a stallion as handsome as that gotten such spells? Trixie smiled from ear to ear, hearing Twilight’s terrified screams Twilight's screams as she approached the ground at a breakneck speed. Then the screams stopped. The deed had been done. Trixie smiled even wider, her smile somehow going off the sides of her head.
“I did it! I bested Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie shook with glee, her eyes glowing, preparing to teleport her home.With a loud crack Trixie felt something smack her in the head causing her to slide across the summit by a good ten feet. She looked up, trying to make out what had hit her, but her vision had blurred.
“What in the world?” Trixie muttered to nopony at all. Her head now aching, her vision blurred, she slowly began to rub the spot that hurt the most.
“Sister, no! We do not wish the death of anypony!” a voice cried out, one that Trixie couldn’t recognize. She looked up and saw the blurred version of a pony much bigger than she.
“Trixie, you’re coming with me,” a voice whispered, trembling with anger.
“Who... Who are you?” Trixie barely managed to make a sentence, her brain brimming on shutting down to repair itself.
“That’s something that you’ll find out soon enough,” the voice replied. Trixie’s eyes began to shut, but she was able to make out a certain orb of light right before her eyes closed. “Know that this shall be your last day.”
“I—” Trixie’s was stopped by the screaming of the other voice that she had heard before.
“Sister, we need not do this!” The other voice screamed.
Who is that? They sound so familiar, but I can’t name them... Trixie thought.
“Sister, no!” the other voice screamed, growing closer.
“Back away, little sister,” the closest voice commanded. “You’re going to regret what you have done,” the voice continued. Trixie felt a horn touch hers, and as the other pony , she felt a calming sensation, one that knocked away all the pain away. This newfound calm slowly found its way down her body, wiping away any worries she had, but bringing with it a sleepy numbing, one that made her just want to fall dead. She felt as though her entire body was just shutting down, limb by limb, muscle by muscle.
“I... I—” Trixie’s voice was stopped as she swam into the sea of unconsciousness.
~~~
“Sister, have you realized what you’re going to do? This is going to be the first execution in over four hundred years!” Luna yelled at Celestia, who had a grim yet calm look on her face.
“I know, Luna. It needs to be done to show the ponies of Equestria that even though I am a benevolent ruler, I can bring extreme justice upon anypony that breaks the law,” Celestia calmly replied. Yet it was so much more than that. Trixie had committed the worst thing that anypony could do—she had killed another pony, more specifically Twilight Sparkle, the pony that Princess Celestia held closest to her heart.
The grief that Trixie had caused Celestia was worse than anything she had ever experienced before, worse than when her parents died over seven hundred years ago, even worse than Luna’s banishment.
“Sister, we both know that it is much more than that,” Luna said, as if reading Celestia’s mind. Luna always had been good at reading other’s emotions.
“Yes, yes it is, Luna. What Trixie has done is an unspeakable crime, and she did it to someone that I loved as my daughter, Luna. A daughter that I have been teaching since she was just a little filly,” Celestia said, her eyes stinging with the dried tears of many hours ago. She hadn’t bothered to clean up. “Look around you. This is where we would practice together, where I would teach her the purest spells that I know, the spells which she has used a number of times to heal her friends,” Celestia went on, doing a sweep of the room with her foreleg.
"Really?” Luna asked, her mind consumed with wonder. Celestia gravely nodded. She looked away for a moment to her left, where a very faint scorch mark lay, almost gone by the years cleaning from the maids. Several tears streaked down her face.
“No, that has been enough tears for one day,” she whispered to nopony. Celestia’s eyes glazed over, enveloping her inside of a flashback. Luna just sighed and waited, knowing that it was going to be a while.
~~~
“But Princess! I don’t think I can do that spell!” a tiny version of Twilight angrily squeaked, stamping her hooves.
“You won’t know until you try, Twilight,” Celestia urged, nudging Twilight forward about a foot.
“Do you really think that I can do it?” Twilight asked, looking back to Celestia for some reassurance.
“I do,” Celestia solemnly replied, nodding her head, her eyes gleaming.
“Okay... Are you sure?” Twilight asked once again, making sure that Celestia meant it.
“I said I did, didn’t I?” Celestia smiled, gently nuzzling the unicorn.
“How do I know that I can trust you?” Twilight nervously asked. There she went again, doubting everything her teacher said.
“Twilight, I am your teacher, your mentor, you have to trust me from personal experience,” Celestia said in a matter-of-fact tone, once again nuzzling her student.
“Okay... Here I go!” Twilight excitedly said, turning around to perform the spell. Celestia looked at her, expecting something exciting to happen. What could a filly of her raw ability accomplish?
“Ah!” Twilight cried out, her eyes beginning to glow. She slowly lifted off the floor, until she was a couple feet in the air, just at the Princess’s head level. Twilight began to spin as a small orb formed around her, which slowly began to expand.
“You can do it, Twilight!” Celestia yelled, making sure the filly could hear her. She could’ve sworn she saw a smile. The orb suddenly shrunk down around Twilight, as if it was suffocating her. With a loud POP, the magical orb exploded, sending Twilight flying into Celestia, the both of them keeling over.
Celestia urged a loud groan, now experiencing a throbbing pain in her chest.
“Pri- Princess?” Twilight feebly asked. She took her turn to look up at Princess Celestia, seeing her face with a mustache and a top hat on.
“Princess, you look silly!” Twilight burst into laughter, rolling on the ground. Celestia rushed over to the mirror, looking at herself she began to smile.
“I guess I do!” Celestia giggled, growing into a series of uncontrollable laughter.
~~~
“That was by far the most memorable,” Celestia whispered to herself. And that scorch mark is still there, Celestia sadly thought as she slowly began to regain her vision. Luna lightly nudged her, causing Celestia to snap her gaze to her.
“Sister, we all know how much Twilight meant to you, but is it worth the life of another?” Luna questioned Celestia, looking at her accusingly.
“Yes,” Celestia replied, a very dark look in her eye.
~~~
“Please... I beg of you...” Trixie weakly asked, seeing the dozens of ponies surrounding the stage.
“You deserve no mercy. What you have done is the most unspeakable of crimes,” Celestia boomed, making sure that her voice could be heard throughout the crowd.
“I’m sorry... I’m so, so sorry...” Trixie whispered, her eyes tearing up. Surely she’ll believe me, right?
Celestia didn’t say anything, looking up to nod to the guard to give her the scroll. Her magic grabbed the scroll and unraveled it before her.
“Trixie Lulamoon, you have been sentenced to death for the murder of another pony,” Celestia bellowed, the scroll hovering in front of her. She looked over to the group of ponies in the front they had with them a baby dragon. Spike, Celestia thought. They each had tears running down their faces. Rarity had giant streams of mascara, covering it in the black liquid. Spike looked completely grim; he was the only one without tears running down his face. Applejack was standing next to Big Macintosh, her facial fur matted down from crying previously. Big Macintosh’s face had a blank expression. Fluttershy was practically screaming. Rainbow Dash trying to console both herself and Fluttershy, yet to no avail. Pinkie Pie was completely silent, something unusual for such a loud pony.
“Sister, we’d better hurry this up... The crowd isn’t liking this...” Luna whispered to Celestia, who simply nodded.
“Does anypony have any words for Trixie before we depart?” Celestia asked the crowd. Big Mac stepped forward.
“I may not be the loudest of ponies, but I have something to say, Princess Celestia,” Big Mac bellowed in his deep, yet extremely loud voice. Celestia nodded. “Trixie, what you have done here has upset us all deeply, and while I don’t like to see others deaths, I think that you deserve what you’re getting here. Twilight may not have been my best friend, she was still an amazing pony. I say good riddance.”
The crowd was taken aback at Big Mac’s little speech. They hadn’t been expecting something so dark coming from a stoic pony like him, one who rarely spoke.
“Very well. Is that all?” Celestia addressed the crowd. Nopony else stepped forward. “Then we shall be off. Luna?” Celestia looked over to Luna, her horn glowing. Luna’s horn began to glow along with hers, and with a loud pop the two princesses, Trixie, and the guard were teleported away.
~~~
“Well, Trixie? Do you have anything to say?” Celestia asked Trixie, having the guards bend her over the chopping table for the guillotine. The guillotine hadn’t been used since before Celestia’s coming of power. She was honestly surprised that it had even managed to stand for almost two thousand years. The wood was rotting almost everywhere, looking ready to collapse at almost any time.
“Yes, I do,” Trixie weakly replied, her face stained with the tears built up for the past few days. These last few days had been hell for Trixie, her consciousness full of regret, not knowing when the Princess was going to come for her. She believed that she regretted it, but the satisfaction that she had gotten from killing Twilight was undeniable.
Celestia hadn’t bothered to have her cleaned up because she was going to be put to death in the first place, what was the point?
“Then you may say them,” Celestia ordered, expecting them to be absolutely horrible. I do feel bad for her, but it must be done. In order to set an example for the rest of Equestria, and for Twilight.
“I’m... sorry, Princess. I guess the only thing that I can say is that I was so blinded by my rage at Twilight that it drove me to kill her, no matter what the costs,” Trixie said, looking up at Celestia with pleading eyes. She’s expecting me to break. She wants me to take mercy upon her, after all she’s done?
“I can understand that, Trixie. I too, have experienced rage like that before,” Celestia said, staring understandingly. Trixie smiled triumphantly, her eyes beginning to fill with tears of joy.
“Beryl,” Celestia said, turning to the guard. He had been on her guard for a while now at her beck and call.
“Yes, Princess?” the guard asked, expecting her to be merciful and at least change the punishment. If only he knew the pain that I’m feeling.
“Drop the blade.”
~~~
Celestia had never shown remorse. Not until today, when Trixie was put to death.
The guillotine had broken as soon as the blade hit Trixie’s head. The scene kept replaying in her mind... The blade dropping... Trixie’s screaming... The head dropping... She shuddered. She never wanted to do that again.
“Is everything okay Tia?” Luna asked Celestia, fearing for her sister. Luna had never seen Celestia act so... dark. Not even when she was banished to the moon,
“No, Luna. Nothing is okay, nothing at all,” Celestia quietly replied, her eyes starting to sting with the tears building up. I have never cried this much, not even for the past one thousand years.
“Tell me sister,” Luna ordered. “I can help you no matter what.”
“The price of immortality, Luna,” Celestia said without hesitation. Celestia had wanted to get this admission off of her chest for a long, long time, and now was the time.
“What do you mean, sister?” Luna asked, desperate to know what she had to say. What in Equestria could she mean?
“The price of immortality,” Celestia repeated herself. “The price of immortality is...” she went on, still thinking, “you make friends. Those friends disappear. You build special connections with those other ponies, but you have to keep reminding yourself ‘these friends are going to wither away with the rest,’ Luna. But with Twilight it was different, the connection was much different. It was... stronger,” she finished.
“I know what you mean, Tia. I remember before I was banished as Nightmare Moon, all of those friends that I have lost. All of them gone in what seemed like the blink of an eye,” Luna replied, her eyes beginning to sting also with the tears brimming as she remembered her old friend, Moonfall.
“I didn’t love Twilight like I loved my other friends... I loved her like my daughter, and she was gone before my eyes,” Celestia continued, not afraid to let the tears flow down her face now. Luna looked at her sister, and something clicked.
“It’s not just Twilight’s death, is it? It’s also something to do with Trixie’s too, isn’t it?” Luna asked, expecting her sister to shut down completely and send Luna out of the room until she could recover. Celestia nodded, still trying to regain her breath from holding back silent sobs.
“What is it then?” Luna repeated. Her own eyes dropped a few more tears, thinking about what she was going to answer.
“I feel horrible, Luna. Never in my reign have I had to do anything like what I did to Trixie. It was horrible. I shudder every time I think about it,” Celestia solemnly replied, hesitant to tell her sister how far she had to dig to even find the penalties for murder.
“I understand,” Luna said, even though she didn't, not really.
She has no idea what it’s like to order the death of another pony. Celestia sat there, wallowing in her thoughts. “Luna, we both know what it’s like to be lonely, don't we?” Celestia asked her sister, who nodded her reply.
“Well, when you’re stuck on the moon for a thousand years, you get kinda lonely,” her sister said with a dry laugh. Celestia had a small smile on her face.
“But there’s one thing you need to remember, Tia,” Luna went on, looking her sister flat in the eyes with a cold expression.
“Do tell what that would be,” Celestia replied, looking her sister dead in the face, her expression going cold also.
“You’re going to lose friends, no matter what. You’re a goddess, Tia. You’re immortal. I don’t care what happens to you or me. We have each other, and we always will. Sure, we may get tired of each other at some points or another, but we’ll always be there for one another. We might make new friends along the way, but you have to remember that they’re going to die along with the rest of the world, while you still look fresh as a ripe apple,” Luna said softly, her expression weakening. Celestia got up and walked over to her sister, leaning down and nuzzling her. The two deities embraced for a moment in silence.
“I know we have each other. I love you, Luna,” Celestia quietly whispered, trying not to break the silence as much.
“I know. I love you too, Tia.”
Author's Note
Once again, thanks to Pascoite for reviewing. I know that this progressed REALLY fast, but I was kinda rushing it to see how well I could do! If you have any complaints or anything, PM me or comment below!
-MrJ
