• Published 12th Jul 2012
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Lines and Webs - Airstream



In a world of peace, there must be Order. No matter what the cost.

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Of Revelations and Resolution

There was a brief moment of silence. Rainbow Dash spoke up first, shifting uneasily. "Well, I figure the best way for us to start off is for us to tell you what we saw. Then, you can explain things from your point of view, and we should be able to come up with a picture of what really happened. Does that sound fair?"

Twilight nodded, still keeping to her hooves. "Fair enough. What did you see?"

Pinkie Pie cleared her throat. "I was the first one outside when the fight between you and Morning Star started. I yelled at Allspice to get out of the shop, and I ran towards the center of town to find Rarity and chase you both down. I figured it would be a good idea to have another unicorn on hoof once we caught up to you, except you were moving too fast for me to keep up. By the time I reached Rarity, you had already headed uphill to the ridge."

Rarity spoke next. "I was working on an order, and finalizing some of the adoption paperwork we needed to apply for a foal. You know me, I was 'in the zone', as it were, so I was quite unaware of the struggle outside until Celestia's statue tore through the side of my shop and nearly took my head off. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle was over at Sweet Apple Acres helping with the cider pressing, and Golden Heart was attending a conference in Manehatten, so there was nopony in the Boutique but me. When the statue came through, I was a bit startled, and definitely in shock. I ran outside to see what was the matter, only to see you and Morning Star trading magic on top of the ridge. Pinkie Pie was near hysterical, and Applejack and I took it upon ourselves to keep ponies calm and in line. I have to admit, I did not actually see it when you...well, you killed Morning Star."

Rainbow cut in. "What the hay was that about, Twilight? I thought you loved him! I mean, the whole time you two were together you were nothing but awesome! And all of a sudden one day you two tear Ponyville apart and then you flat out murder him in front of the entire town? What happened?"

Twilight struggled for an explanation. "It's not a full explanation, but what it boils down to is that he tried to rape and kill me. But this is your version. What happened next?"

Her friends' eyes widened. Rainbow appeared to be at a loss for words. "Um-I, um, I was the next one there, or maybe it was AJ, we couldn't tell. Either way, we saw you totally covered in this black magic stuff after he hit you with that ray, and that's what killed him, or at least knocked him over. I kept the Pegasi back after seeing that, and it's a good thing I did. Derpy Doo almost flew right in front of that blast you sent at Celestia."

"That there's what I don't get, Twilight. If what y'all said about Morning Star is true, then I can see why you did what you did. But why in tarnation did you take Celestia down like that? And how?" Applejack said, her expression well and truly confused.

Twilight shuddered under the weight of the chains. She realized that her situation was rapidly becoming untenable. As she talked, she idly began to scan for weaknesses in the structure. Where was Luna? Wasn't she supposed to be helping? Though she could very well be keeping Celestia busy, the unicorn mare reasoned. If that was the case, she needed to end this soon.

"There's a lot to tell, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm brief. Celestia has done something terrible involving me and my family. She's trying for the birth of a fourth Alicorn. The one who is supposed to bear it is me."

"That sounds wonderful, Twilight!" Fluttershy said quietly. "What's wrong with that?"

"The process is lethal. It involves the mare in question transferring a large part of her energy to the foal in question. Mine would kill me easily." Her friends opened their mouths to object, to defend the Princess. Twilight held up one hoof. "Please, I don't have much time. Just trust me when I say that this procedure is the one that gave us Cadance. I've seen the graves and followed her family line. That's why her last name is Cadenza, her family was the noble House of Aria, and Cadenza means-"

"The final lines of a song." Rarity completed. "It makes a certain sort of poetic sense. My apologies, Twilight. Continue."

The mare addressed her friends, getting into the swing of her lecture. "I'd only found out about Celestia's refinement of my family line, along with several others, including your own. There were still missing pieces, and I was waiting on a letter from Fillydelphia. The day I found out, Morning Star found my notes after coming in early. Things got very ugly, and he basically told me exactly what his job was. I was supposed to fall in love with him from day one. And Celestia made sure that I did. This crystal," she said, indicating Radiant Zenith's gift, "Allows me to review dreams and subconscious ideas while I am asleep. I got it in the Everfree from a very nice unicorn. The past week I've reviewed my dreams from the time I meant Morning Star to the present day and even further back. Almost every dream that I can find has Celestia's hoof in it, starting from the time I first arrived in Ponyville.

After the fight with Morning Star, I used a different kind of magic called Breaking magic to defend myself against Celestia. You all would have seen it again in Fillydelphia. In addition, the night I fled into the woods, a magically charged cut on my face opened up and splashed blood over one of my reference books, which activated the construct inside. We made it past you, and arrived in Fillydelphia after disguising ourselves and ditching the train outside of Fillydelphia's checkpoints. We made it to the Professor's house, and he gave me the final piece of the puzzle. I was angry enough that I unbound every spell in the books I had brought back from the Everfree, and created a weapon. That was the weapon I used on all of you. I'd like to apologize for that, by the way."

There was muttered acceptance, and Twilight felt her friends eyeing the pendant around her neck with newfound respect. She felt the extra boost the moonlight had given her running out, and she realized that if she was to make a move, she'd need to do it now, before more Guards arrived.

Pinkie Pie volunteered her hoof. "Twilight, we want to believe you, but this all sounds really impossible. I mean, you're talking about the Princess! She's ruled Equestria ever since it was founded, and she's never hurt anypony at all, least of all you!"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Not that it doesn't warrant thinking about, Twi, but this is the Princess. And to be honest, you've got nothing to back the story up with. This isn't like the Royal Wedding. We've been around Princess Celestia pretty much constantly for the past few days. If there was something wrong with her, the Elements would have picked it up."

"You mean the same Elements that turned you into nothing more than extensions of Celestia's will?" Twilight countered.

"Now hold on, sugarcube. That there weren't no different than when you used them with us to help Luna, or defeat Discord. Celestia gave 'em a bit of a boost, but that's it. It didn't feel anything like the kind of magic you're describing." Applejack said defiantly.

"That's because they are extensions of Celestia's will! She's trapped the Power of Harmony inside, somehow. It answers to her, now." Twilight said desperately. Something was very wrong. Looking more closely, she saw that her friends' eyes were dilated, and their Cutie Marks...the Marks had changed. They were no longer the ones she knew so well. They mirrored the Elements, nothing more. Twilight staggered, the force of the chains becoming nigh-unbearable.

"Whoever told you that, darling?" Rarity asked.

"Why does it matter? You think you know the Princess? I thought I did too, until all of this information came to light."

Pinkie Pie held up a hoof. "Twilight, you set your library on fire. None of the evidence you claim to have had exists anymore. Right now, it's your word against the Princess, and to be honest, from what we have seen, you're the one who's been acting evil."

"And why didn't you come to us with this earlier? Didn't you trust us?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight felt weak and shaky. "No, it's not that, it's just-"

"Just what, Twilight? We watched you take apart an entire division of Royal Guards on your own! We were there when you pulled some kind of rock monster out of the earth and told it to kill us!"

"It was meant to keep you from following me, not hurt you!"

The Pegasus sprang to her hooves. "Well, it sure bucking hurt other ponies! That construct was responsible for most of the military dead, her and Spike. But the civilian deaths? That monster of yours tore right through the city. Most civilian deaths are on you, Twilight."

Rarity interjected. "And what did you do to Spike? The dragon I know wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"He came with me to protect me! He'd been working on the project with me for months!"

Rainbow Dash flared her wings. "Months? You sat on someone that not only affected you, but everypony you knew, for months? And you're wondering why we are having just the tiniest bit of difficulty believing what you're saying?"

Twilight snorted. "Oh, that's rich coming from you, Rainbow. All of you, actually. I've done a whole lot of supporting you all over the years, and when it comes time for you to support me, you back off, again. This is shaping up into my brother's wedding all over again. Who was right about Cadance? And who didn't believe me?"

There was a moment of silence. Applejack spoke. "That was low, Twilight. I thought we'd buried that."

The unicorn was having none of it. "I thought so too. But apparently my lessons in friendship didn't stick with any of you, because here we are right back before we started." Her head started to pound. "Here I am trying to be honest, asking for some loyalty and a bit of kindness. I'm sure not getting any from you."

Rarity stepped forward, her stance aggressive. "You need to show us that you can reciprocate that before we give that to you, Twilight. We've seen you do things we never thought you'd do."

"I've known you all for ten years! Ten years! Yes, I bucked the cart in Filly. And I regret that every damn day. But now I'm asking you to stand by me, to believe me until I can prove it to you!"

Rainbow Dash shook her head wildly. "No. Not until you stop withholding information, Twilight. Who was the first one who told you that something was wrong?"

Twilight's mind worked overtime before settling on her first real warning. "It was Discord, alright? There, I said it. I talked with Discord during the Summer Sun Celebration, and he gave it to me in the form of a riddle. I used a spell of his to sever the connection too. Happy?"

This was probably the wrong thing to say. Twilight watched her friends' faces set in stone.

"The Princess was right, Twilight. You don't realize it, but Discord messed with your mind. All this because of that evil, evil god." Rainbow Dash said, getting to her hooves.

Fluttershy nodded. "We knew this wasn't like you, Twilight. Now we know why."

The chains got heavier and heavier. "No, you don't understand. He didn't do anything, he's still sealed away. I could speak with him, because we'd both been 'touched by Harmony', or something like that. You could all speak to him if you tried. I'm still me, but you all aren't acting like yourselves!"

Pinkie Pie stared at Twilight strangely. "What do you mean by that?"

Twilight sniffed. "I-you're not the ponies I knew. I don't know any of you, anymore. And that breaks my heart. I'm not asking anymore, I'm begging. You have to listen to me! I can prove it if you just give me a chance!"

Rarity maintained eye contact with Twilight. "We wish we could, darling. But Rainbow Dash is making sense for once, and not you." There was the sound of metallic hooves. "And now we have to end this."

Applejack stared at a spot behind Twilight, and spoke with relief in her voice. "Thank goodness you showed up when you did, Princess. We couldn't have stalled her much longer."

Twilight tried to move, finding her body responding sluggishly, as if she was under water. As a last gesture of defiance, a lance of brilliant purple energy crackled from her horn before Rarity managed to produce a heavy inhibitor ring and slide it over her. Applejack moved just a bit slowly, and was punished with the severing of her long braid, which collapsed to the ground in a heap, the auburn farmer looking at it in shock. Twilight kicked out behind her, Rarity having moved there to escape from the magical retaliation she was sure would come. She was rewarded with a cry of pain as one hoof caught the fashionista on the chin, and one in the eye. Rainbow Dash blurred forward, snatching the crystal from around her neck while Twilight was distracted. She got away just in time to avoid being gored by the purple unicorn's horn. Desperately, she turned to try and fight Celestia, but she was far too late.

An incredibly powerful heat spread across her back, causing her muscles to go completely limp. Twilight slumped to the floor as her friends moved in around her, taking up the links in their teeth and hooves. Twilight caught sight only of the white bulk of the Princess, and shuddered at her voice. "We've got Spike chained in the caves below, and the Pegasi she was here with have been killed or captured. Keep the links tight, I'm taking us up to the throne room."

Twilight tensed, knowing that this was it, that any moment now Luna would appear and free her, that together they'd take the Element and go. She scanned the skies, waiting for the Alicorn to appear. She felt the beginnings of a teleportation spell tugging at her coat. Where was she? Where was Luna? The wind picked up, and the group of ponies rose into the air. Desperately, she looked around once more. The spell was almost ready. Twilight struggled weakly, but could do nothing except watch as her last hope for salvation disappeared from around her. There was a sound like thunder, and the garden stood empty once more.


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Scant minutes later, from the high throne room overlooking Canterlot, there was a brilliant flash of light that threw the shadows into sharp relief, and a short, ecstatic, and desperate cry. And once more, Equestria knew peace.

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