Where Will You Run to When Your Goddesses Are Gone?

"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it."

~ George Orwell

—————

"Just give her some time..." Princess Luna whispered softly, gently nudging her sister's shoulder with a light prod.

Princess Celestia did not respond at all. Instead, she watched Twilight Sparkle with calculating eyes fixed on her, but she couldn't help but shiver in slight fear for what might happen next.

As a filly, Twilight was known to be one of the most destructive unicorns in terms of magical ability as well as emotional rage. She had, in fact, hurt the Princess in one of her temper tantrums just a few months after getting her cutie mark and being accepted into the Gifted Unicorns division of the Canterlot Academy. It had taken ten unicorn guards and the Princess herself to get the angry filly to calm down, but when she did, she was her old self once more.

But Celestia herself knew firsthand how dangerous of a pony Twilight could be. And she didn't want to risk anything, she didn't want to walk away from the traumatized unicorn during her time of need. She glanced over at her younger sister and shook her head firmly. "No," she whispered. "Sister, I have to stay here, for Twilight," she murmured softly. "I shouldn't just leave her..."

Twilight was still staring down at the table, her hooves threatening to fail her. She began to shake uncontrollably.

Luna glanced over at the quivering mare and settled back down, her eyes still fixed unwaveringly on her.

"Twilight Sparkle..." the elder sister began. "I don't want you to dislike me for this... for learning about the truth," she breathed, not daring to speak too loudly, or even use too strong of a voice lest the pony before her break even more. "I don't want you to... hate me..."

It had been three years since she had felt real fear, the last time being when she had been overpowered by pure magic might by the Queen of the Changelings. Then, she had begun to feel the beginnings of true fear, when there was a definite possibility of her being killed, but it wasn't anywhere close to the magnitude of fear she was beginning to feel now.

Loving another pony truly from the heart causes a nearly unbreakable relationship between two ponies, whether any gender, race, or philosophy. That was the Princess's case towards Twilight Sparkle: though she had been alive for almost three thousand years, when she found the gifted little lavender unicorn, her eyes were opened and she was able to find true, pure love for the first time towards another pony in millenia. It didn't matter that the relationship was only a little more than a decade old, but the Princess knew for a fact that they would be almost inseparable.

And now, it was hurting her infinitely more than she could imagine, knowing the bond between them was breaking slowly each passing second.

The unicorn slowly brought her face up, her pupils contracted and her mane already a mess. Drying tears ran down her cheeks, and she was shaking more than ever. "Hate?" she asked in an extremely low voice. It was almost a throaty, guttural growl, and her own mind was breaking along with it.

The Princess found herself moving back a little.

"Oh, Princess..." Twilight chuckled an eerie chuckle. It was almost insane, the tone of it. And yet, it was that tone that came out of her mouth. Her mouth was cracked in a crooked smile. "Princess, how could I hate a pony like you? You're smart, intelligent, crafty, witty, sly..."

Celestia's eyes slowly widened, feeling the split in her heart run down further and further as each quality Twilight was listing got worse and worse.

"...and most of all, you're a LIAR! A sick, sick, corrupt LIAR!!!" her voice built up until it grew to such an intensity that the Princess herself had to rear back and flatten her ears.

This unicorn was quite fearsome, indeed, despite her disposition.

"You will NEVER, EVER get your nation back! You deserve this for all your transgressions, you unprincipled, unethical, criminal HORSE!!" she screamed one last time before she panted, out of breath, staring down at the ground between the bench and the table.

The two pseudo-Goddesses only stared at the small pony with mouths agape and eyes wide. Even Princess Celestia Herself could not believe what had just happened before her eyes, that a small lavender unicorn had just insulted her— no, the entire diarchy itself more than any other pony had ever done so before; even more so than the scathing criticisms she received as Ruler of Equestria to help bring the nation together with Discord roaming about.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle continued to stare at the shiny marble floor underneath the long table. Her pupils were tiny, and she had begun to overheat, making her pant and sweat a little. Her heart was pounding, and she didn't know what she would do anymore, for the rest of what seemed to be her puny, insignificant little life. Her world had ended, and she could trust nopony in the entire world anymore; not the Princess, nor herself, not even her friends.

It was a sad spectacle, but for Twilight, it was the truth... and she didn't want to face it.

Without another word, she gingerly left the table and hobbled out of the Royal Dining Room to go and sulk in her room upstairs.

But the shaken Regent of the Sun didn't stop.

"Twilight Sparkle..." the Princess said her name aloud, wanting her to come back.

The lavender unicorn almost didn't hear her, but when she realized somepony had been calling her name, she stopped and looked around, her eyes unfocused and her field of vision contracting inwards. She saw nopony until she turned her gaze back towards the Dining Room door.

There, the regal Princess Celestia was cautiously approaching her, her body low and her attitude apprehensive. She wanted to say sorry to her protégé, to try to comfort her and use logical reasoning to help her recover, not for her own sake, but for her student's. At the present moment, she cared for nothing except the forgiveness of the closest pony she had ever held a relationship together with in her life. "Twilight, please, listen to me..."

The Princess was almost begging; from close behind, her younger sister followed, eyes wide as well. This was the first time in three thousand years she had ever seen her elder sister like this, the previous time being when she had been at the incident of their parents' death by Discord's doings. But now, she seemed even more shaky and scared, as her legs had begun to quiver, looking unstable.

But Twilight Sparkle didn't notice the begging that was coming from her mentor. Instead, her mind twisted what her eyes perceived and replaced it with the notion that the Princess was advancing towards her, wanting to kill her. Her breathing became heavy once more and she whimpered, slowly backing away from the towering alicorn before her. Her ears were down and her head was down low. "N-No, don't kill m-me...!" she began to hyperventilate. She had reached her true breaking point, at least a thousand times worse than what had triggered her tantrum as a young filly, and this time, there were no guards who could stop her, no two alicorns who could stand a chance against her.

She was the embodiment of the Element of Magic, after all — she was magic.

But the Princess seemed to put that thought on the back burner as she continued to advance towards her student, apprehensive yet determined to get her to think straight. "Twilight, I am not going to kill you. I just want you to hear my words and use reason to think about this, not your emotions!" she tried to think up of a sentence that would hopefully calm the unicorn down, but she couldn't find any such thing. She began to become more and more desperate, especially after seeing the terrified, distrustful gaze of her student a distance away. It broke her heart, but if she would have a chance to redeem herself later on, she might as well try now.

"NO! Go away, I don't want to talk to you or be anywhere near you EVER AGAIN!!" the unicorn shrieked, backing away faster and faster. She was thinking furiously, knowing that she would have to navigate through the large hallways until she would be able to get to the exit, and, given the current state of her mind, it would be very difficult for her to rationally navigate back. She would have to force herself to stay calm, lest she venture down the wrong hallway and end up deeper into the castle than she wanted to.

It could have been considered a miracle that the Royal Hall was all the way on the other end of the castle and a floor above.

The Princess knew her student's way of thinking, and she shivered a little at the possibilities she could have to keep the distraught unicorn in the castle. However, she knew that if she were to employ any of those possibilities, she would end up having numerous Royal Guards hurt or even killed. There was no way she would be willing to risk the lives of her servants when she knew that this entire situation was thanks to her.

Her horn flashed a glorious golden color akin to the sun, and she reappeared behind Twilight Sparkle, blocking the archway she was supposed to flee to to get out of the castle with a golden force field she stood safely behind. Her horn continued to glow a golden color.

"Twilight, I will not let you leave this castle until I get you thinking straight! Now, listen to me!" she gritted her teeth, her mind beginning to settle into that of a war-hardened commander instead of a gentle, understanding teacher. She almost gasped in shock at the realization, but held it in, knowing there was no going back.

The unicorn, in a horrible mental state, screamed when her teacher had disappeared in a flash of light. Looking around blindly, it took her mind a moment to realize that she had teleported, and immediately she whirled around to be greeted by a ceiling-high flickering golden force field, which the now-stern Regent of the Sun and her trembling sister hid behind. She reared back, her heart pounding even faster.

This... this was an open declaration of war. Not only had this fraudulent horse lied to her about everything she knew, everything in the history books she had read about, and every sort of love they shared, but now she dared to challenge her to a battle?!

She pieced her shattered mind back together, giving herself a new mindset and reason to be in the situation she was in, and immediately her gaze became emotionless and stern like her mentor's. Only, there was the small hint of a sly smirk on the edges of her lips, making the Princess on the other side of the boundary flinch.

"Do you really want to fight... me...?" Twilight's smirk became even more crazed and insane. Her mind became even more deranged, her deep longing to kill the Princess (which had been created upon hearing the lie) beginning to manifest itself clearly now. She wanted to get revenge for everything and everypony the Princess had lied to, and she would do it quickly and easily. After all, she was the Element of Magic, and she knew that this fight with the bogus Sun Goddess would be short, with her being the victor.

The Princess's gaze was unflinching, but deep inside she somehow knew that she was in grave danger. She glanced back at her sister for a moment, whispering, "Go..." before turning back without making sure her sister had left. She knew she had, however, as the powerful aura emanating from her sister disappeared from her side. She focused her mind and gaze back on the fuming unicorn before her, on the opposite side of her carefully constructed solar force field. It would take an extraordinary amount of magic to take it down; though she had lost her grasp of the Elements of Harmony a few millenia back, she still had shards of them within her, giving her more power than any other alicorn. She had a feeling that Twilight was underestimating her.

The lavender unicorn's gaze was unflinching as she glared rebelliously up at the teacher who had nursed her for so much of her life... and lied for a thousand times longer. She would regret everything she had done, and she would be the pony to make this dictator realize the gravity of what she had been doing for so long.

She made the first move, leaping forwards with her horn glowing a brilliant magenta. Her lips were still curved into that sinister smirk of hers, and she muttered to herself...

"Go."

—————

Princess Luna flew into the Royal Hall as fast as she could, panting. There, she could see that the five ponies were already almost done with the decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Happy laughter echoed throughout the hall, most loudly from Pinkie Pie, but to the Princess, who had arrived on the most urgent of urgent matters, had no time to attend to such simple things.

And so she addressed the situation with her Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Mares and gentlecolts! There is an extremely urgent situation taking place within this very castle. We have been called here to warn every pony of the danger that lies not but a few hundred pony-lengths away from this room," she spoke calmly, though inside she was on the verge of breaking. She only disguised it with one of the best poker faces known to ponykind, second only to her elder sister's.

All five ponies stopped what they were doing immediately and gave their full attention to the Lunar monarch who stood before them. Upon hearing her words, they broke into conversation amongst themselves, with Rarity being the first to speak up and ask a question.

"Princess, what exactly is the danger? And might I ask... where could Twilight Sparkle possibly be during a situation such as this??" the alabaster mare queried a bit nervously, glancing behind the taller pony in hopes of seeing Twilight Sparkle just behind her. Yet, she saw nothing.

Princess Luna shivered and didn't respond. Her gaze only hardened even more. "Once again, leave this castle at once, I say! We are in danger!" she called out in a louder Royal Canterlot Voice, making the five ponies flinch and gallop out of the Hall in doubtful panic, after the Princess, who had left out the front door already.

The five made it out a few seconds later, standing around near the alicorn. Up above, clouds were completely covering the sky, but it was evident by the lighting that the sun was almost about to dip below the horizon, making way for the moon above. Ironically, this Summer Sun Celebration coincided with a full moon once more (the other time being the day Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria), which made Luna's legs quiver. She wasn't a fervent believer in astrology, but she felt that it meant something bad, but she just couldn't put her hoof on exactly what it was.

Only one thing was for sure— something was going to happen very soon.

The prodding of a hoof woke the Princess up from her thoughts. She opened her eyes and turned her gaze to the pony, who happened to be Applejack. "Yes?" she asked. "What did you need?" Her eyes only made contact for a moment before they became transfixed on the entrance to the castle once more.

"Well, ahm... We didn't really get a reply from ya earlier, 'fore we left the Hall, so ahm... would y'please care to explain to us all what exactly is happ'ning inside?" the cowgirl spoke her mind, along with the four other ponies'.

Five pairs of eyes were fixed on her, but she took no notice. She began to murmur.

"Princess Celestia... Twilight Sparkle... war..." she whispered, her deep turquoise eyes still fixated on the entrance.

"What was that?" Pinkie Pie asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Um... I think she said something about..." Fluttershy gulped, before getting down low, her entire body quivering. "...w-war..."

"War? I don't believe so! Such a thing hasn't happened in Equestria for... ever!!" Rarity muttered disbelievingly. "You would all be foals to think that this 'war' is happening inside!"

"Oh, c'mon Rarity. Wouldn't it be awesome though?! Guns, explosions... ka-BOOM!! Right in the head!" Rainbow Dash nudged her shoulder with a smirk, before flying in a tight loop above the rest of the ponies. "I'd finally be able to put my amaaaaazing flying skills to good use!"

Underneath them, the ground began to quake, making the five reel backwards, with Rarity screaming, Pinkie Pie gasping, Fluttershy clinging to the ground and crying even more, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash turning their gazes to the castle.

"Obe'site heggínsipp... Difuv khatte eres auxilt..."

—————

Inside, Twilight Sparkle had broken through the solar barrier with a single lunge, her horn charged with pure magical energy reinforcing her body and using it as a ram, breaking through the solidified magic. It shattered like golden glass, raining down to the ground, where, instead of shattering, it melted and seemed to boil and evaporate into the air.

At this, the alicorn, Princess Celestia, reared back, eyes wide. She hadn't expected her barrier to be broken as if it was a wall of glass, as Twilight had done. She hadn't meant to provoke the poor unicorn. "T-Twilight! No! Stop!" she pleaded at this sudden display of power, but there was no hope for stopping this fight now. Her summoning of the force field as a means of defense had shoved the poor, broken unicorn off the edge, and there was no way she could fly down to save her — after all, the unicorn didn't want to be saved.

"There's no stopping now!!" the mare landed on her front hooves, panting, before lunging again. This time, she summoned a volley of magical energy within her, shooting four in rapid succession towards the alicorn, who was already a distance away from her.

The Princess had no time to reply with her rational mind. Her instincts kicked in and she brought another shield of arcane energy to life, absorbing the four bolts efficiently and effectively before she cast it away. She gritted her teeth, dodging away from the enraged unicorn into a smaller room that was the guards' sleeping area.

Luckily, Princess Luna had also evacuated the rest of the castle, and a multitude of guards stood tall and firm at the path leading out from the castle towards the city. They had cleared out the area, and Luna and the five friends stood safely behind the rows of guards blocking the path.

Back inside, the two ponies were fighting each other in a cramped space. Bunk beds lined the sides of the narrow, yet high-ceilinged room, and at this point, Twilight was hurling everything she could within magical reach at the alicorn who was once her teacher in an attempt to pierce her skin.

"You deserve every last bit of this, you deceitful perjurer!!" the raging Twilight shrieked, throwing an alarm clock and a paperweight at her before leaping forward, catching the dodging alicorn off guard. She clung to the unblemished, pure white back of her mentor, who yelped and tried to buck her off. But the smaller pony clung to her still, believing she had gotten her pinned, before she felt the first true physical agony she had ever felt in her entire life.

Up until now, she was convinced that Equestria was a happy place, a place filled with ponies working together for the common pursuit of happiness. Everything had been so happy and so easy, to say the least, but now her eyes were opened, and there was no forgetting what she was experiencing: pain, immobilizing pain that rendered her unable to do anything at all.

The alicorn had flown up at high speed right into the ceiling, causing a nearly spine-breaking blow to be administered to the unicorn's back. She streaked back down to the ground and landed neatly on her golden-shoed hooves, watching the falling Twilight with narrowed, merciless eyes. The unicorn fell helplessly to the ground, flailing her legs and screaming, a full forty feet from the ceiling, until the ground below unforgivingly "caught" her. Her body crumpled to the ground, her legs failing her the moment she landed, and her screaming was sickeningly cut short.

Princess Celestia flinched, her mind reeling back to its normal state when she heard her pupil's helpless screaming stop. She whimpered and galloped over to the lavender mess of a body which was lying on her side, prodding her ribcage with a hoof. "T-Twilight...?" her voice cracked.

For a few seconds, she seemed dead. But the unicorn's sides were heaving for breath, and a small glimmer of hope flared up within the Princess's heart, until...

The twisted smirk reappeared back on the once-librarian's face and her head turned to glare at the Princess. "Gotcha..." she rasped, suddenly blasting a concentrated bolt of pure, blunt energy straight into the Princess's chest.

With eyes wide in agony, the Sun Goddess careened through the air in a long arc, blazing through the door leading into the hallway before hitting a pillar. She bounced dully off of it and landed on the ground in a weak mess. Her eyes were unfocused and wide in pain, not only from the paralyzing hit from the pillar and the fall to the ground, but mostly the solid bolt of energy Twilight had shot into her chest, hitting her bluntly and rocking all her organs within. Her heart was pumping unsurely and irregularly now, and her head was swimming in pain she had never felt in a thousand years.

What she could see through her blurry vision terrified her. Just a silhouette against the bright lights within the sleeping area, Twilight Sparkle slowly advanced towards her with a distorted smile on her lips. Every step seemed to come in slow motion to the alicorn, and she tried to recover from the major blow she had received, which had shaken her to the core.

She could do nothing, and the unicorn glared down at her with disgusted, narrowed eyes. Her horn glowed magenta, illuminating the immediate area around the two. It enveloped her upper chest and lower neck, and the Princess found herself being pulled up by those places until she was level with Twilight, which made her breathing even more difficult.

"Look at you..." Twilight's pupils were contracted, and she gazed piercingly into her former mentor's dull, unfocused eyes. "You're supposed to be the great, mighty, all-powerful Goddess, Princess CELESTIA!!!" she spat mockingly. "Who are you now, huh? Beaten by a little twerp like me... don't make me laugh!"

"I'm sorry..." the Princess's voice was hoarse. She coughed, a small tear rolling off the corner of her eye and down her cheek. "I deserve this, for lying not only to all the ponies out there, but to you..."

Something inside Twilight softened, but she pushed it away, shaking her head vigorously to clear her mind. "Shut UP!" she shrieked in rage, dropping her to the ground. "Don't you even TRY to make me pity you, because I DON'T, do you understand?!" she huffed, her breaths becoming ragged and uneven once more.

The Princess closed her eyes to try to rest and recuperate. She could only hope that Twilight didn't kill her, but if that was what she was destined for, then so be it. She opened her mouth to speak. "I'm simply telling you the truth, not for the sake of gaining your mercy, Twilight Sparkle," she heaved, forcing her whole body to relax. Ancient thousand-year-old magic began its complicated works within her, healing her cells and melding together broken bones to heal her. In case she were to fight Twilight again, she needed to be at full strength to defend her life.

"You're a liar..." she growled in reply, watching every small movement of the alicorn before her. She could feel the spirit within her regenerating somehow, but she ignored it, keeping on guard. She would kill her eventually, and she would make it as slow and painful as possible. Her mind was still fixed on the belief that she needed to pay for her transgressions to the ponies of Equestria.

By now, she had stalled enough that she was almost in tip-top shape once more. She breathed a deep breath, feeling her lungs fully functional again, but she felt a tinge weaker: ancient magic did have its repercussions, especially a major healing spell like that. She was much farther from death at this point, however.

Now, she gingerly got up to stand, taking a breath. Twilight began to creep back, still glaring up at the tall alicorn standing in front of her. "I still hate you..." she growled up at the Princess.

She gazed sadly down at her student, whose mind was clouded with pain and agony— all because of her. She could have told the truth sooner at the expense of her nation's sanity, but she didn't fully want to weigh the consequences of each: either have had the whole nation hate her, or the current outcome that she was facing. She gulped and gazed out at the window to her beloved nation.

Outside, the sun was well below the horizon, and clouds obscured the stars and the moon from showing. It would have been pitch black had it not been for the lights of the city, and—

"Are you even listening to me?!" Twilight's angry voice shattered her thoughts. She growled, her horn glowing. "We aren't done here yet! That was just a little break..." she smirked.

The Princess didn't flinch, but she did tense her muscles, ready to counter in case Twilight tried anything more. She turned her gaze towards her and shook her head disapprovingly. "You really are the most stubborn mule..." she scoffed.

Twilight growled and leaped back, her horn glowing again. Though her insanity had eased off a little bit, she was still ready to use force to make Celestia realize what she had done wrong. There would be nothing anypony could do to stop her from achieving her goal.

—————

Outside, more ponies had gathered, many of them carrying lanterns to light up the dark night. A mass of townsfolk had heard the news of what was happening, and more than five hundred had begun to gather for the sake of quenching their thirst to see what the situation was.

There had been reports of shaky ground and flashing lights from within the dark castle. Many of the town's guards had come to the scene to keep things under control as well, and "DO NOT CROSS" tape was placed in front of the gate to discourage ponies from going in.

Inside the gate, standing on the paths, were the different divisions of Royal Guards, ranging from spellcasting unicorns to high-flying pegasi, each specialized in their own thing to make for a very effective fighting force. Behind the rows of guards were the five ponies and Princess Luna, who was overseeing the entire situation, including locking the area down and keeping the safety of the city ponies the top priority. There would be no injuries under her watch.

"I can only imagine what is going on within those walls," Rarity shivered. It had taken her a while, but reality was dawning on her, and she was beginning to accept the disappearance of Twilight Sparkle as a sign that she was in there, fighting the Princess herself.

Why? Why would she be doing such a thing? She was the caregiver to the entire Equestrian nation, the matriarch to all ponies to give their thanks to for every day. She couldn't even begin to comprehend the reasons behind Twilight's act of aggression towards her, which only Princess Luna, the Royal Guards, and the five friends knew about.

"Ah can't believe Twi would be doin' somethin' like this! We've got to reason or somethin' with her when she gets back!" Applejack narrowed her eyes in determination, but deep inside doubt was also beginning to take hold. If she gets back... she thought to herself.

Pinkie Pie was clinging to Fluttershy, both of them traumatized by the new information they deduced. "Oh my gosh, Twilight's going to DIE! She's gonna die, she's gonna die, she's GONNA DIE!!!" Pinkie's fast-paced whimpers turned into full-fledged wailing. This was no joke: Twilight was definitely on the verge of death, or so it seemed, in a battle against the Equestrian Princess.

Underneath her, Fluttershy had no more tears left to cry, so she was reduced to whimpering with her hooves shielding her face. "Oh, Twilight...!" her soft voice couldn't properly convey her anguish. "Please stop!"

Rainbow Dash was above the other ponies, hovering over the five below. She was seeing something, and her eyes were fixed on the entrance where she was seeing it.

Barely visible flashes of light began to emanate from the entrance. They seemed to unevenly alternate; first golden yellow, then three extremely rapid flashes of magenta, then one long glow of yellow, then suddenly, an extremely bright flash of magenta that lasted for several seconds and slowly faded away.

What greeted the ponies watching made many scream. The guards flinched but stood their ground. Princess Luna's heart skipped a few beats. What they saw was unbelievable.

The helpless form of Princess Celestia streaked through the air, smoke leaving a trail behind her as she tore across the yard, touching down and then skidding across a few times before she came to a complete stop a few pony-lengths in front of them. Numerous scratches, burns, missing areas of royal white, and visible bruisers covered the alicorn's visage and form.

"SISTER!" Luna shot forward, appearing by her elder's side immediately. She whimpered and tried to help her out, but was pushed back firmly by a hoof from her sister. Her eyes sparkled, and she smiled. "I'll be alright..." she wheezed for breath.

"No, she WON'T be!" a voice rasped before Luna could answer. She immediately stood up and stood in front of her sister in an attempt to stop her.

Twilight stopped advancing towards them when Princess Luna got in the way. She flinched a little, blinking over at her with a cocked head. "How is that supposed to help protect her?" she sneered.

Luna didn't reply, but waited until Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and finally Fluttershy were by her side. All five of Twilight's friends stared down at the Princess, and then up at her with mixed gazes of disbelief, anger, nervousness, and fear. Princess Luna's eyes, however, were clouded, as she stayed close beside her hurt sister.

Princess Celestia gazed up at Twilight helplessly, as if she was saying she couldn't take any more. She had two broken ribs and a bruised lung, which made it hard and quite painful to breathe. Her legs failed her, and this time, she didn't want to rely on her second ancient healing spell. She had given up all hope and lost all faith in herself, but still had a feeling that Twilight would give her a chance.

She flinched at her thought, pushing it away. No— she couldn't be that selfish. She didn't deserve a chance, and she would have considered herself justified if she were to be killed at Twilight's hooves. If not, then... she would do anything to make it up to the ponies of Equestria, with Twilight Sparkle herself on the top of that list.

Twilight gazed down at the Regent of the Sun and quivered a little. The crazed side of herself dissipated, leaving behind an ordinary lavender unicorn librarian, whose mane and tail was frazzled, whose coat was scratched and missing hair in some spots, and whose psyche was shattered and barely recognizable anymore.

She made eye contact with Princess Celestia, whose cheek paved the way for a tear rolling down until it detached from the surface, falling onto the pavement below. Her usually bright eyes were dull and full of pain now.

That, along with the gazes of the six other ponies, was enough to make her realize what she had done. Now, she began to openly cry in front of the other ponies, her legs buckling underneath her until she fell to the ground. She buried her face into the lawn she was laying down on, crying and sobbing uncontrollably. Her ears were down and tears streamed uncontrollably from her cheeks. Every now and then, she would gasp for breath between cries.

Princess Celestia gazed softly at her student, unable to help but inhale sobbingly. She had made Twilight Sparkle cry. How would the rest of the nation fare when she was forced to tell the truth, or if the truth began to spread? It wouldn't just be a simple bout of crying.

But she couldn't think of that now. Selfish thoughts aside, she felt her heart break, seeing her very own Twilight Sparkle sobbing in such a distressed manner. She knew that deep inside she still loved her, and that gave her a glimmer of hope, but that hope would have to be held back for a long time.

"I shouldn't be able to show my face here ever again," the lavender unicorn suddenly blurted out amidst her sobs. She sniffled and shivered, looking away. "Do something, Princess, please, banish me, punish me... kill me!!" she begged so heartbreakingly.

Princess Luna fixed her deep turquoise gaze on the poor unicorn, an emotion beginning to shine through: forgiveness. She knew for a fact that Twilight was truly sorry, and that if she did, she would do anything, anything to fix the situation. But she didn't want to weigh her down with any repayments, or at least, just yet. She seemed to have learned her lesson; that was the most important thing.

But Twilight seemed intent on punishing herself. Not receiving a reply, she whimpered and galloped back into the castle as fast as her hooves could carry her, through the side door and through to the Royal Canterlot Forest. She wanted to get away from everything, she wanted to jump off the mountain to kill herself, or alternatively, scale the dangerous cliff all the way down and live a life of seclusion and eternal anguish in the Everfree Forest. She would find out soon.

Princess Celestia was beginning to slip away into unconsciousness. Her younger sister and five other ponies had advised that she get some sleep, and after a bit of coercing, she finally gave up on resisting. Before she closed her eyes for a while, she whispered, just loud enough for the six immediate ponies surrounding her to hear, "Twilight Sparkle... I forgive you..."

Meanwhile, the five friends glanced amongst each other, most of them with dried tears on their cheeks. They wondered what would happen to their lavender friend, and where she had gone.

Without her, what would they do?