I stared at the sky as the sun rose. The moon soon blotted it out, snuffing out its light as if it were no more than a candle.
This seemed like the sort of mischief I would cause. Yet, this time I was not responsible. The thousands of disjointed gears in my mind began to churn. Something had caused this chaos, and I was determined to find the party responsible.
With minimal effort, I teleported myself up and into the Canterlot throne room. I stood amid a veritable sea of blood, entrails, and other such ichor. It reminded me of the days of old, when I had been master over ponykind. The days in which my talons had slain countless equines, for nothing more than my own pleasure. Those days were long gone. I had reformed since then. Back then, I would have gazed upon this scene with joy. Now, it just made me feel sick.
I began to walk the length of the room, picking out faces I recognized among the dead. There was Princess Celestia, one half of the royal duo that had first overthrown me. What she had done to me was unjust. She should have killed me, and yet her mercy stilled her hoof when she had the chance. There was Cadence, who had overthrown the Changeling Queen with her husband. Now both she and her aunt lay upon the floor, their bodies still warm on the cold stone.
I saw Rainbow Dash, the self proclaimed fastest flyer in Equestria, and Rarity, the finest seamstress in all the land. There was Pinkie Pie, who's cupcakes I had sampled on many an occasion. There was Applejack, one of the strongest earthponies I had ever encountered. There was Fluttershy... I could hardly stomach the sight. She had been the first to believe in me. The one who's kindness had touched my heart of ice, and melted it with the heat of compassion. Now she lay before me, her body still smoldering. Her flesh had been blackened to a crisp, her soft mane incinerated.
Who could do such a thing?
Besides myself of course.
What sort of devil had slain so many, without cause or provocation?
I assumed it was the same being who had smote the sun with the moon.
At the end of the hall, standing upon the balcony, was a single figure. She stood with her face away from me. A pure black form silhouetted against the piercing white corona of the sun. Based on outline alone, I knew it to be an alicorn. As she turned her head, I caught a glimpse of her eyes. Those were the same eyes I had looked into as my flesh became stone. In a moment, I stood face to face with Twilight Sparkle.
She was beautiful. Her form was tall, slender, and elegant. Her mane flowed like a waterfall of pinks and purples, all rippling in a nonexistent breeze. She looked much older now, so different from the child I had faced off with in my past.
She was terrible. Flecks of dried blood splattered against her hooves and coat. Her eyes now seemed vastly different. They were the eyes of a twisted mind, perhaps one to rival my own. Yet, whereas my chaos sprang from a lust for pleasure, hers seemed to stem from cold, calculated logic. Those were the eyes that I had seen before on Celestia, when she had battled against my rule.
I looked into those eyes, and said the only thing I could.
"Why did you do it?"
She didn't reply to me, at least not with words. Her voice entered my mind directly.
Showoff.
"It was what needed to be done. They were sloppy and inefficient, filled with bureaucracy and disharmony. Now that I've ended them, Harmony can rule once more."
"You're a monster."
She decided that our talk was over at this point. She blitzed across the room, and swung for my jaw. That might have worked on others, but not on me. By the time she struck, I was at the end of the hall.
"They won't submit to you."
She swung again, and this time, I caught her hoof in my claw.
"They'll never accept you as a goddess."
Twilight imbued her hoof with more force. It was enough to push me a few paces back.
"They won't have a choice."
She tore down one of the pillars and cast it at me. I touched it, and it exploded into a million multicolored marbles.
"You've lost your marbles Twi."
She didn't take too kindly to my pun, and proceeded to hammer me with a torrent of blows. She was stronger than she looked. I felt my bones shatter, then reform, then shatter again. So this was the true power of magic. With a wave of her hoof, she hurled me across the room. I landed on my feet with ease.
I realized this was not my battle. When I had rejected the law and order of the world, and plunged it into chaos, it was Harmony that mended the wounds I had dealt. So it had been in every generation. Harmony always triumphed over her usurper. So it had been, so it would be.
"They will never love you as they once did."
The student struck at me again. She struck only air.
"You can't force them to love you Twi."
She glared at me with dead eyes.
"You cannot force them to love you, not with all the power you wield. They do not love you for your power, they fear it. They see you the same way I do. They see you as a monster incapable of understanding the truth of magic."
At this she spread her wings, as brilliant shafts of purple lightning cracked through the throne room.
She was beautiful, yet terrible.
"I do not use magic. I am magic!"
With a smirk, I gave her my reply.
"No. You're not."
I managed to issue one final phrase before I vanished from her sight.
"Friendship is magic."