The Final Test

by Winged Anomaly

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rainbow Dash, Tragedy, Princess Celestia
Length: 5792

When an unstable Celestia wants to give Twilight unimaginable power, she ignites a spiral of chaos that Celestia never expected... and Twilight never deserved.

A/N: Just to be clear, this isn't an 'I'm immortal, kill self', fic, nor is it yet another conventional 'Tyrannestia' fic. While the story brushes with both those tropes - the first merely in passing, and the second more heavily - I've put a lot of effort into portraying these ideas from a new angle. I'd be very grateful if you would give the story a chance before impulsively downvoting. Thanks, and carry on.

In a dark, alternate Equestria where Celestia has become unstable and dangerous, Twilight Sparkle receives a package in the mail... one, final test. But what comes after will utterly destroy her and the few things she still holds dear in a cascading avalanche of mistakes, betrayal, and exploitation.

Author's Notes: Given I cranked this out in less than a week following the airing of Magical Mystery Cure, I'm pretty happy with the quality. But, as usual, this is unedited - feel free to suggest corrections and such to me.
This story was powered by Evanescence's 'Lost in Paradise'. I literally left the song on loop and wrote up a storm.

Published 2013-02-21 20:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-21 20:30:01 UTC

The Final Test

The Final Test
Ken Atkinson

There's a lot of fire in the hearts of ponies. Sometimes, it can be hard to find – there's a lot of darkness out there, darkness created and propagated by ponies who can't find their way, but in these last few months, it has never burned brighter. With the Changeling threat and the looming shadow of King Sombra's return vanquished mere weeks apart, a giddy sense of purpose and strength spread like wildfire. Ponies began to realize that anything is possible if you simply put your mind to it, and now, several months later, Equestria had swung into a frenzied session of creation, innovation, and unity. But even as new art spilled into galleries and bookshelves, even as strange, new technologies slowly felt their way into daylight, I was uneasy. The Princess had requested a private audience... and she never did that unless there was something she needed done.

“Come on, Twilight,” Dash said in an attempt to reassure me as I gazed out the window, thinking, “Who's to say it's something bad? You're her student – hell, you still send her those letters weekly, don't you? What if she just wants to check up on you?”

“I'm not sure you understand Celestia as well as you think you do,” I sighed, “I'm not just her pupil, I'm like... a tool that she can use to accomplish tasks too complex or risky for her guardsmen.”

Dash shrugged.

“So you're a special agent, then. Not such a bad thing – it's pretty cool, actually.”

Thunder echoed in the distance, and rain began to strike the window with a rhythmic 'tap, tap, tap'. I glanced to the sky – no blue in sight, and the sun was reduced to a misty orb by the dense, black storm clouds. This rainstorm wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

“She's dangerous, Rainbow,” I whispered, “Unstable... she scares me.”

“Hey.”

I felt her put a hoof on my shoulder, and I turned to face her. She was smiling.

“You'll be okay. Don't worry.”

I forced a smile, but it wasn't very convincing.

“I hope so,” I muttered, “She's getting here in a couple of minutes.”

Despite all her brave words, Rainbow's eyes widened.

“Here?” she asked, her voice a bit smaller, “...alright, then. I'll...”

She hesitated and glanced to the door, but shook her head to herself and smiled.

“...stay right here, if you don't mind.”

Not a moment later, somepony thumped heavily on the door. I jumped.

“That must be her,” I said to myself as I darted to the door, and, with one last, deep breath, swung it open. Much to my surprise, a wet mailpony stood outside.

“Package for you, miss,” he said, probably cursing his career choice as I gaped like a fish while he stood in the rain.

“Y-yes, thank you,” I stammered out eventually, lifting the package with my magic while he darted off to find shelter. Frowning, Rainbow shut the door behind me as I turned the package over in the air.

“What is it?” she asked. Wordlessly, I unwrapped it. Inside was a book, and a neatly folded letter. Fortunately, the paper of the package was of the water-resistant sort – all its contents were bone dry. I set the book aside for a moment – a heavy tome that smelled of dust and age – and unfolded the letter. The writing was immediately recognizable, even if there had been no signature: it was that of Princess Celestia herself.

'Dearest Twilight – the final spell in this book is an incomplete masterwork, designed to alter the threads of fate itself. The book itself is the last notebook Star Swirl the Bearded kept before his untimely demise, and while many do not believe anypony could possibly complete the magical prodigy's work, I believe that you, after all our time together, are ready. Return the book to me the moment the spell is complete, and you will be greatly rewarded.'

“...from Princess Celestia,” I finished reading. Rainbow had one eyebrow raised, incredulous.

“Can you... do that? I mean, I know you're, like, a superpowered caster, but can you just... make magic?”

“It depends, it really depends,” I muttered as the steam engine in my head roared to life, the cogs and gears meshing and ticking faster and faster, “I mean, it's possible, but that possibility relies on my ability with the elements in question. Magic is broken down into elements and sub-elements and sub-elements... down and down and down, and endless spiral. I don't know all of them, I can't, but I'm strong with some of the most important ones, and if I'm strong enough, if I can just be strong enough...”

“Twilight, if you can't do it, then don't,” Dash said, worried, as I opened the book and started flipping through pages, “I won't have you hurting yourself to please Celestia.”

“But don't you understand!?” I cried, panic twisting in my heart as the weight of this request began to dawn on me, “Without the Princess, I'm... nothing! I'm just another unicorn fillie with a knack for magic, and what good's that going to do me if Celestia kicks me to the curb!? I'll be nopony! A failure! The scholar that could've been but wasn't...”

Rainbow took my chin, and gently brought my gaze up to hers.

“Hey. You'll be okay. If you can't do this, then Celestia will forgive you. If she doesn't, then we're going to have a problem, okay?”

I smiled weakly as I imagined Rainbow Dash exchanging fisticuffs with Princess Celestia.

“Somehow I doubt you'd walk out of that alive,” I replied, “But... your confidence... helps. Thank you.”

“That's what I'm here for,” she said, smiling, but jumped and frowned when a thunderclap split the darkened sky.

“Wish I could be out there clearing up that mess,” she muttered absentmindedly as she glanced out the window, “But the crops've gotta drink some time.”

I smiled to myself as memories of Dash flooded into my mind, freeing me from the weight of the magic for a time.

“Think you'll be able to handle leaving the weather up to nature if the Wonderbolts wind up taking you on?”

“I dunno,” she laughed, “It'll be tough, that's for sure. I suppose I've never been much of a hard worker, but... well, the weather's been my life for a long time. Sitting back and letting other ponies handle it isn't going to come natural, that's for sure.”

“So, what you're saying is, you don't like other ponies messing with what you love?” I replied with a smile. Her smile was slower, but more heartfelt.

“And that's why I'm worried for you,” she said quietly. I immediately flushed scarlet and looked away.

“You know... when I first met you, I'd have never guessed you were such a romantic, but when you kissed me for the first time, I...” I trailed off with a nervous laugh, “I'd... better get to work. This might take a while if you have things you need to do.”

Dash shook her head, and stubbornly crossed her arms.

“Nuh-uh, you can't chase me off that easy. I'll be here until I know you're going to be okay.”

I opened my mouth to sternly reprimand her, but hesitated, thinking about how I actually felt. In the end, I wound up saying, “It... means a lot. Thank you.”

And with that, I returned to the book, and turned over the final page. The spell stared back at me – nothing more than words on a page, but still pulsing with energy and life. Carefully, methodically, I mentally read the spell to myself. When the power of magic is involved, you can't be too careful – Celestia only knew what could have happened if an unfinished spell with power on this magnitude were unintentionally cast. When I was finished reading the lengthy piece, the words trailing off into silence, I sat back and thought for a moment. The spell's structure was simple enough – core, catalyst, infusor and executor, but a few phrases were missing from the latter. Clearly, Star Swirl had come this far, only to realize he was unsure of how to cast the spell while properly controlling its energies.

The question was, did I?

I sat back on my haunches and stared out the window for a time, my mind turning over and over inside my skull as a racked my memories and experiences for something, anything that could give me an edge... what did I have that Star Swirl the Bearded didn't? That's when it clicked. Star Swirl was a great magical scholar, vastly more well-versed in magic than I... so the answer must not lie within magical knowledge. What did I have that Star Swirl never did? As I thought over my knowledge of his life, the answer was easy. I had love. Star Swirl the Bearded was a genius, but a recluse – he never let anypony close, and as such, was tragically lacking in his knowledge of...

“...the magic of friendship,” I finished out loud, muttering under my breath as I lifted a quill with my magic and began to write – new ink sinking into ancient pages for the first time in centuries.

“What did you say? Do you have it?” Rainbow asked, approaching from behind and putting a hoof on my shoulder.

“I think so,” I replied quietly, focusing intensely on the words, my mind a razor edge as I carefully printed the last few lines... done. I blew on the fresh ink, helping it set more quickly, and closed the book when it was finally dry.

“Finished,” I whispered, “For better or for worse. I hope I haven't done something wrong, that felt... too easy.”

A blast of lightning flickered through the windows like a camera's flash, and I winced as I watched the rain fall outside.

“I'm certainly not looking forward to running this to the Princess in this weather,” I sighed as I wrapped the book in the oiled paper once again. Dash smiled.

“Well, you won't be getting soaked alone,” she said, “I'm coming with you.

I shook my head, “I appreciate the sentiment, Rainbow, but-”

“No 'buts'. If Celestia is as unstable as you say she is, you're going to need someone like me to back you up.”

I thought for a moment, then shoved the package into her hooves with a coy smile.

“You get to carry the book.”

***

The storm only intensified during the carriage ride to Canterlot, and by the time Dash and I burst through the doors of the throne hall, we were soaking wet and chilled to the bone. Fortunately, I saw as I frantically unwrapped the package once again, the water hadn't managed to penetrate the oiled paper – leaving the book dry as a stone.

“Celestia,” I called weakly into the chamber, “I think... I think I fixed it.”

Celestia rose to her feet, and waved away the guardsmen she was discussing tactics with. The gold-armored ponies saluted and disappeared down various side passages as Celestia approached, a hungry grin on her face and her eyes wild.

“You've done it!?”

I nodded slowly.

“I... probably. I haven't cast it yet, it could be dangerous – I'd like you to take a look at it first, before we test it. Is that too much trouble?”

Mutely, she lifted the book with her magic and flipped to the final pages, pacing as her eyes flickered back and forth, carefully examining the text I'd added.

“Yes,” she muttered eventually, “I can't claim to know what Star Swirl the Bearded intended, but I believe this will effectively control the spell's energy. Your use of the eighth and twelfth paradigms is textbook, but integrating your knowledge of Life Magic and the sub-elements of Love and Friendship, that was ingenious. I'm very impressed, Twilight. Very impressed. I do believe you're ready for the next step.”

“Next step, Princess?” I asked as I tried to shake the rainwater from my mane in a vain attempt to dry myself off. Celestia responded by presenting the book to me again. An eyebrow raised, I accepted it, watching curiously as Celestia stepped up to her throne, and lifted a plain, polished wood box from out of sight.

“Words on a page are nothing,” she said, her back still turned, “They hold some power when brought to life by a caster, but for a spell on this level, that just isn't enough.”

Carefully, almost reverently, she opened the box... and lifted out the six Elements of Harmony, once again in their spherical forms and pulsing with magical energy.

“But with these,” Celestia whispered in reverent awe, “Anything is possible.”

Suddenly, her gaze met mine, her eyes piercing and intense.

“Do it. Cast the spell. With the Elements of Harmony, I will infuse the words with power, and we will have done what has not been done for centuries: we will have created magic. We'll be legends, Twilight... isn't that what you've always wanted?”

It wasn't quite, but I nodded anyways.

“It is, my Princess.”

A smile found her lips as well.

“Then your dream is one last spell away.”

“Stand back, Rainbow,” I said as I opened the book to the last pages, “I'm... not sure what will happen.”

And then, layering my thoughts with the energy I'd spent my life trying to master, I took the words – the energies of the Elements swirling around me in a tornado of light – and brought them to life. But what followed... I think I felt something, like an impact, then motion, as if I was skidding across the floor. Everything went bright then black then bright again, and I thought I could smell the acrid stench of singed flesh. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and my ears stung with a shrill, high-pitched screech. I was – weak. I could barely move, and even though my eyes were open, I could barely see through the blurring of... tears? Slowly, my vision began to resolve again, just in time to see Celestia's hoof impact the ground a few inches short of my face.

“I'm sorry,” I heard her say as the ringing started to die, “But this was the only way. You would never have agreed if you knew the price.”

Her voice seemed to come from a very long way away.

“What... do you mean?” I managed to force out between numb, disobedient lips.

“Oh, Twilight. The first condition of immortality is death.”

My world shattered.

“But... what... the spell...” I tried to whisper as my eyes flooded with tears that, this time, I acknowledged.

“There's a reason Star Swirl never finished that spell, Twilight. Its energies are too powerful for any mere Unicorn to safely wield – too powerful for even me to control. But Twilight, you are the strongest caster in recorded Equestrian history – a prodigy. Even as you are, you managed to finish the spell, but if you were an Alicorn... then, then I stand a chance of harnessing this power... but becoming a god comes at a cost, little Twilight. The spell's uncontrolled energies have simply done what I would have had to do myself otherwise.”

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!?” I heard Rainbow shriek in panic, and Celestia didn't waste any time in whirling to confront her. As she turned, the Princess' hooves splashed in what I was able to identify as blood. My blood. Oh, Spirits, I really was dying...

“Do not interfere, Rainbow Dash, your little amour and I are doing what must be done!”

“I don't care,” Dash screamed between sobs, “You fix her or I'll bucking KILL YOU!!”

“As much as I'd like to see you try,” Celestia growled through clenched teeth, “If you do not immediately stand down... I destroyed my own sister because the little hay-fiend wouldn't stop obstructing me, and don't think, don't think for a SECOND that I would hesitate to do the same to you!”

“BUCK YOU,” Dash roared, and I heard her charge. I tried to force out a cry, a plea, begging her to stop, but by the time words found my dry mouth, Celestia's magic had flashed violently and Dash collapsed to the floor. Life rapidly draining from her mortally wounded body, she skidded forward a short distance – just long enough for our gazes to meet; long enough for me to see the terror in her eyes.

“It's okay, baby,” I choked out in her last moments, “I love you, and I'm so, so sorry...”

And she was gone.

“No...” I whispered to myself in despair. Rainbow had always been strong when I couldn't, but with her dead, with her so horrifically executed right in front of me, I just didn't have any reason to cling to life any longer.

“You really are a monster,” I coughed as the darkness came for me like a swooping bird of prey... and it was over.

***

When I opened my eyes, I stood in a strange, ethereal place, cold and alone.

“Hello?” I called out, and only the echo had the courtesy to reply. I glanced down, and started when I saw that the gently glowing clouds stretched down much like they stretched in all other directions – I was standing on nothing. Carefully, hesitantly, I tapped the mysterious surface with my hoof, and it felt solid enough – even so, it was a number of minutes before I had worked up the courage to start walking. I didn't make it far – a moment later, Celestia herself materialized before me in a flash of blinding white light. I was relieved for a moment... then the memories of what had just happened flooded back.

“You,” I snarled between clenched teeth, “You... bucking VILLAIN! You MONSTER!!”

Celestia's mouth remained a cold, hard line.

“Come, now. This is for the greater good.”

“Is it!?” I cried, “Describe how!! What does this death accomplish!? How do you intend to justify m... murdering my lover!?”

Suddenly, she was angry. Furious.

“Don't be a fool, Twilight! I didn't take you on as my student to have you idiotically flailing about while the answer is right in front of you,” she snarled venomously, “Control. Over. Fate. Do you really need any more information!?”

I shook my head as tears welled in my eyes once again.

“No, I don't.”

And with that, I turned and started to run... but screeched to a halt when a bolt of magic glanced from the mysterious floor mere inches from my right.

“You may be too powerful to die, Twilight, but if I kill you here, your spirit is destroyed. No crawling back from that.”

She snorted.

“Besides. Where would you go?”

As I let my eyes wander across the infinite void splayed before me, I realized, with a chilling, deadening finality: She had me. It was do what she said, or die. It was a hard decision, honestly and truly, but if I let her put me in charge, then there was a chance I could interpret her commands to the betterment of others, but if she killed me and found another, there was no guarantee they'd do the sane. So there I had it. If I gave up and forced her to kill me, for once and all... who knows what horror she would unleash. No, I would suffer on for the ponies under Celestia's rule. Damn it, Rainbow had always said I was too helpful for my own good. As memories of our time together flooded back, it tore my heart in two – and for a moment, I wanted to give up again, but I knew I had to keep going. I smiled at the irony as I realized it was for 'the greater good'.

“Alright, Celestia,” I whispered as I turned back to face her, “I'll do what you ask.”

The Princess forced a smile, but her eyes burned with cold, ferocious ambition.

“I knew you would. Alright, hold still. This shouldn't take long... but it might hurt.”

I tried to calm my thundering heart as Celestia readied her magic, but something occurred to me.

“Wait,” I said, and the Princess hesitated.

“What is it?”

“I have one condition,” I said, trying my best to appear strong in front of Celestia, “Bring back Rainbow – please. I don't know how I'd manage without her.”

She shrugged.

“Afraid you'll have to manage. Rainbow Dash is quite dead.”

“B-but, you can bring me back,” I stammered, my composure lying in pieces around me, “Why can't you bring her back the same way?”

Celestia sighed in frustration, “It doesn't work like that! You're a Prime Caster – you're too powerful for death to properly receive you, how do you not know this!? Your fillyfriend was just an ordinary Pegasus. You're trapped in between, but death has taken her. Accept it – she was foolish and now she is dead. Now hold still and be silent.”

I tried not to show it as my spirit shattered and disintegrated, instead standing tall and strong as Celestia's magic enveloped me in a luminous, glittering embrace, gently lifting me above the invisible plane. For a moment, nothing happened. Then that moment stretched into a minute, and that minute stretched into several. My pulse began to quicken as the pain Celestia had mentioned grew greater and greater in my imagination... then something began to happen. My fur began to stand on end and my flesh began to... prickle. It felt like tiny needles were gently prodding me all over my body – it almost tickled, honestly. But in the next moment, if they were needles, they were driven in deep. I cried out as my flesh seemed to catch fire, the pain rapidly worming its way deeper and deeper until my entire existence felt like it was being rent apart.

But that's when a deeper pain set in... a deeper and altogether more troubling pain. It's difficult to describe... it was a pain of my being, not of my body, like my soul itself was being traumatized. But that's when I felt it happening – felt my identity, felt the very fabric of who I was, begin to tear. Who I was, on a fundamental level, was changing... and I hated it.

“Celestia,” I gasped, “Celestia... wait... no, I don't WANT THIS ANYMORE!!”

The pain and the horror continued for a few more moments – then the magic suspending me vanished, and I collapsed back to the plane, limp, broken, and different inside.

“Of course you want this, Twilight,” Celestia said, standing over me, “You've always wanted this. This is what we've worked towards from the very beginning... your great reward. Now stand, spread your new wings, and feel the power flow through you.”

I tried to, I tried so very hard, but I was just too weak.

“I... can't...” I whimpered from where I lay.

“You're an Alicorn now,” Celestia growled, “And Alicorns don't have time for weakness. Get. Up.”

Even in this vacuum of hope, I still feared what Celestia would do to me, so I found the strength and struggled up onto my hooves. And then, with a flash of white light, just like that... we stood in the throne room again. I laughed dryly, though it was more like a cough.

“That simple, eh?”

Celestia nodded.

“That simple.”

Then, she pointed to where Dash lay, cold and motionless, in a pool of both her and my blood.

“Say your goodbyes, but be quick. We have a lot of work to do – fate won't bend itself. If we move fast, Equestria can conquer the known world in a week.”

I'd have whirled on her, confronted her about her malicious plan, but somewhere deep, down inside, I'd always known it was what she wanted. So I didn't dignify her statement with a response, instead kneeling next to Rainbow's body in respectful silence, and gently closing her glazed-over eyes.

“You were right,” I whispered to her, tears gathering in my eyes again, “It was too much for me, I was foolish, so foolish... and now you're gone. Now we're both gone. I should've just dropped the book and caught the next carriage to Manehattan, we could've run away together... but we didn't. And I'm sorry. I love you... goodbye.”

“I'll have somepony come in to fetch the body,” Celestia said as she came up behind me, but I shook my head as I lifted her body onto my back with my magic, struggling to carry her out of the chamber in as dignified a way as possible.

“You've done enough,” I growled bitterly as I pushed my way through the doors and outside, where it was still thundering rain. There was nopony waiting outside – no tickertape, no cheering townfolk, no band, no friends. I had ascended, changed, sacrificed... and nopony even knew. Just the empty square, pouring rain, and a long flight of stairs that I slowly began to descend, all alone. But I was unaccustomed to the weight of the burden, and I tripped on the final step, sending both of us tumbling to the sopping ground in an unceremonious heap. I suppose that's about when my inner strength gave out too – I just lay there and cried, howling to the rain in utter agony, my nostrils filled with the stench of death and blood-matted fur. After a short eternity, I heard the clatter of armour on the stairs behind me, and a moment later, two gold-plated solar guards stood next to Dash's body. They stared at me for a moment, pity and fear in their eyes, before mutely lifting Rainbow into a small cart.

“Wait,” I gasped, “Please, just a little longer...”

One of them winced and looked away. His friend just looked pained as he knelt to meet my gaze.

“I'm sorry, miss Twilight,” he said quietly, “But it's the Princess' orders.”

I weakly reached out to Rainbow, trying to see her one last time... but on some level, I understood. I collapsed back to the mud, and nodded weakly.

“Okay. Go.”

The first one started wheeling the cart off at a brisk pace, eager to escape whatever atrocity Celestia had unleashed this time, but the second hesitated after a few paces. I was shocked when he turned back to me and held out his hoof, offering to help me up. Slowly, hesitantly, I accepted it, and let him pull me upright.

“I don't know what she did to you,” he said quietly as he tried to brush some of the dirt and leaves from my mane, “But I am deeply, truly sorry.”

I smiled for what felt like the first time in an age, even if it had only been a few hours.

“Thank you.”

He seemed about to take off again, but again, he hesitated, glancing around nervously and leaning in close.

“She's gone mad, maybe with power, maybe with loneliness, it doesn't matter. Sometimes, she seems normal, but when she snaps, she snaps. She needs to step down, but she won't listen to an Earth Pony like me. But you're an Alicorn, you're powerful... maybe she'd listen to you?”

Listen? No... but I froze as another idea forced its way into the forefront of my mind. In the course of less than an hour, Princess Celestia had taken everything from me. She had ended my magical studies. She had lured me into a trap. She had murdered my Rainbow Dash. She had stripped away my very identity, changing me into something... alien. I had nothing left to live for... but she had given me one thing. Power. A lot of power. Maybe enough power to end another Alicorn's life, permanently.

“Yeah,” I said absentmindedly as I started up the stairs again, “I'll talk to her.”

He might have said something else, but I didn't hear. All I saw, all I heard, everything I felt and sensed was pure, focused hatred. I imagined my magic tearing Celestia to shreds in a million different ways, taking the case one deliberate step at a time, until I stood before the towering throne room doors once again. Without even intending, I blasted them wide with some kinetic magic as I started forward, standing on the threshold in a combat stance, my magic ready.

“CELESTIA!!”

It must've been so dramatic. The doors fly open, and there I stand – mane matted flat with rain, eyes wild and furious, framed by the storm and blown by the wind... and when she laid eyes on me, I thought I saw a flicker of fear.

“Twilight,” she said, voice flat and uncaring as usual, “You were out there for a while. Spending some last moments with your lover, I suppose.”

I couldn't help but crack a toothy, joyless grin.

“Oh, you really are cruel.”

Before she could reply, I unleashed a pulsed blast of pure Death Magic. She sidestepped the attack, but the magic's impact blew the throne to splinters and easily shattered the ancient stone of the wall behind. Maybe I really did have enough power to kill her.

“Think about what you're doing, Twilight!” she cried out as I fired again and missed, shattering one of the towering stained-glass windows and letting in even more of the storm.

“I've studied under you my entire life!” I shouted in reply, unleashing blast after blast, “Did I ever strike you as the kind who doesn't think things through!?”

She was vastly more agile than I had anticipated, and she hadn't even unfurled her wings yet.

“Twilight!!” she called with even more urgency while I paused firing for a moment, “I gave you so MUCH!! Why are you doing this!?”

I laughed humorlessly, and decided I'd let her sit on one spot for a little bit too long. The next blast knocked out one of the support columns; it collapsed in a pile of shattered stone as a section of the roof caved in, nearly crushing the Princess as she finally took to the air.

“Why am I doing this!?” I asked mockingly, “Why!? 'How do you not know this!?' You have DESTROYED ME, CELESTIA!! The last pleasure I have in this word will be removing you from it!!”

Finally, she launched a counterattack. The shield I put up was weak, instinctual, but it was more than enough to redirect the beam and knock a hole in one of the doors.

“What will you do once I'm dead, then!?” she asked, upping the ante and intensifying her assault. Most of her badly-aimed magic beams were easy enough to sidestep – a few had to be blocked, but she was already tiring. All I felt was the constant surging of more power, more power... I laughed maniacally, and paid no heed to her question.

“You really should learn to fight if you're going to be making enemies, Princess! Or should I call you Queen!? You murdered Luna so long ago I thought you'd have claimed the title by now!!”

“It had to be done!”

Her voice was layered with panic. It wouldn't be long now.

“Just like Rainbow HAD to die, though she posed literally no threat!? Just like you HAD to do this to me, all for the sake of conquest!?”

And, at long last, she met her limit. One of my beams separated her left wing from her shoulder. She shrieked in agony and plummeted to the floor, impacting the hard, stone surface with a weighty 'thud'. The landing must have broken something important, because she made no attempt to rise to her hooves – instead lying in place and breathing heavily, her panicked eyes watching me like a hawk as I stepped up to where she lay and leaned in really, really close.

“They called you a god,” I said with a malicious smile, “I guess it's time to see if gods can die.”

“WAIT!!” she shrieked in a desperate panic, and somewhere deep inside me, a fragment of what I had once been heard, and hesitated. My smile was gone as I found myself divided.

“What do you want? Out with it – you only hesitated once when I begged you to stop, and I plan to give you the same number of chances to convince me I'm in the wrong.”

“Wh-what would Equestria do without me!?” she stammered, her voice shrill with abject terror, “The three races need unified rule or they would tear each other apart!”

“Well, I guess we'll have to give them the chance and see what will happen. Goodbye.”

I prepared to fire one, final attack, but she was screaming again.

“WAIT, WAIT WAIT!!”

“You had your chance,” I laughed, charging my horn with as much magical energy as I could muster, “If you'd been more merciful, maybe I would have too.”

My horn was glowing with the light of a dozen angry suns – the spell was more than ready.

“Signed, your faithful student... Twilight Sparkle,” I snarled, and unleashed the pent-up energy in one devastating blast. At the last second, Celestia threw up a magical barrier. It was weak – flimsy, really, but it knocked a chunk out of the spell's power. The wound it inflicted was ugly and clearly mortal, but not immediately lethal. She had a few moments, at most. I thought about firing off another spell, but... that was when she spoke.

“What... what will you do? When I'm gone...” she asked in a quiet voice – one very different from her usual manner, but one I remembered... just hadn't heard for a very long time. And for the first time, I thought... and sat back on my haunches.

“I've got nothing,” I said, just loud enough to be heard over the thundering storm as it screamed into the chamber through shattered windows and broken stone, “I suppose I'll just... end it. Kill myself.”

Weakly, Celestia nodded, tears gathering in her eyes. Tears? In her final moments, she was changing back into the mentor I had once known and loved... piercing hooks of regret tore into my heart. What had I done? Who had I so mercilessly murdered?

“I know it's too late now, but, Twilight...” she whispered, “I'm sorry... and I am so proud of you...”

As all the memories of the happiness and the good times we'd shared rushed back, I suddenly felt like a tiny fillie again, scared and alone in a big, strange world I didn't understand...

“Celestia...?” I asked in a tearful whisper, but she was gone. It was over... for better or for worse.