She was once my sister.
Well, sister in law anyways. I had been married to her brother Shining Armor for several years when it happened.
"It" being her transformation into an Alicorn. It was an exciting time for all of us really. A mortal being lifted to our level? Such a thing was unheard of! Not even old Starswirl had reached that high. It had long been held that his feats had set the record. That they had created a sort of magical ceiling above which no magician could be raised.
She broke through the ceiling.
She shattered Starswirl's concrete legacy like glass and kept on soaring. It was amazing.
I had experienced just how powerful her magic was firsthand, when she saved me (and my entire wedding party) from the Changeling army and their dark Queen. She had been reluctant to trust me at first, but that was long since past. We had grown closer together, to the point of being like sisters. It was wonderful really, having someone so close.
That was until she became a goddess.
At first, it was great. She was on my level now. There was so much we would do together now that she was a god. It would be great.
Well, I thought it would be anyways.
She always seemed to be busy now. As it seemed that everypony all the world over constantly required assistance from their new goddess of magic. Everypony everywhere had some sort of minor dispute that could only be solved with her magic.
She was slowly suffocated by her workload. I began to see less and less of her. It was as if she was dead.
Then, as suddenly as she had vanished, she resurfaced. There had been an incident in Ponyville. Some unicorn had attempted to use some sort of amulet to increase her own magical abilities. Apparently, it was not the first time this item had been used for nefarious purposes either. Something needed to be done. The talisman, as well as the unicorn who had abused it, were summoned to Canterlot to stand trial for their crimes. Following the trial, it would be decided what should be done with this troublesome amulet.
Although it was a trial, and would likely be a bore, it was still exciting to me. I would get to see my sister in law for the first time in months. Even if it was only for a few moments, it would be a joy to spend it with her.
I had no idea I would be spending my final moments with her.
She was adamant that this matter fell within her domain.
"After all, I am the element of Magic. Shouldn't I be the one to decide what magic the mortals can use?"
My Aunt was just as firm with her.
"Twilight, you are not the only Alicorn. We're all equals, and the matter will be decided among all of us. End of discussion."
Hours later, my aunt lay dead at the hooves of the student she had so lovingly created. The same pony who had rescued me from an army of Changlings had murdered my aunt in cold blood. My heart shattered like the glass that riddled my aunt's corpse.
They say that when a heart breaks, it can grow back.
My heart grew back, but it had regrown into a twisted shadow of itself.
All the love I had felt for her had died. In its place was anger. She had betrayed me. She had betrayed us all. She was no different from the Changling Queen. Both impersonated that which I loved, and both stabbed me in the back. My husband and I were instrumental in felling the Changling Queen. We would again be instrumental in felling this Monster.
At least, we should have been. My husband could not believe what had happened. He could not understand why the sister he had known and loved would turn on those who had nurtured her. He could not understand because he had not seen. He hadn't seen the blood, the glass, the corpse... He had not heard. He was deaf to the screaming of my aunt as her student murdered her. He had not heard the cracking and splintering of bone and marrow.
He was blind, deaf, and paralyzed.
I resolved that I would carry out my mission without him. Though our magic was bound to one another, I was still a goddess. I still stood as her equal.
"You are nothing to me. You never were."
She had struck the first blow of our battle. She clouted me across the cheek with the back of her hoof. I felt it sting. I tasted blood.
"My brother was wrong to have married you."
I flailed wildly, lashing out with both hoof and spell to no avail. She wasn't my equal anymore. Perhaps she never had been.
She was my superior.
My two forelegs snapped like twigs. I fell to the throne room floor, kneeling before the one I had called "sister". I could fight no longer. With my body and will broken, I bowed before her.
I coughed up blood. I struggled to breathe.
I watched as she drew the glass shards from my aunt's corpse, and melded them together into a crudely fashioned sword. The blade was lifted above my head, and hovered there for a moment.
I did not cry. I did not scream. I faced my impending death with silence. With a face set like stone, I merely dribbled a constant stream of crimson from my lips to the floor. I resolved to be strong. My aunt had died screaming and begging. Her sister had fled in terror. Only two goddesses remained; Myself and the Usurper.
I would not cry. I would not scream.
The blade fell upon my neck.
I died proud.
I died as a goddess.
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It isn't angst. If it were angst, I would be complaining about my own lack of skills, or lamenting the fact that this fic isn't more popular. I simply don't think of myself as great. Average at best.
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Not sure how to take that. I'll take it as a compliment I suppose.
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it was the only thing i could post at the time
i was too awed for words
it was like
an orgasm of awe
in my soul
<3
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I truly love this story my hat is off to a devoted devourer of light and hope. May you spring forth and multiply. ^^
I can see you becoming something akin to the GrimDark ending of Not My Destiny of you can keep this up ^^
hmm this chapter reveals a few more infos about the whole thing.
Like the overburdened twi or that the incident with the illegal magic was in ponyville.
I wonder what else is unsaid or unknown and what exactly was the incident?
This story.... I am literally at a loss for words to describe this. The way you write, it provides so much information with so few words, and yet sets the tone perfectly.
Their will be blood, and in this case cadence spilled the most. Thank you for killing in the most bloody way possible ;D
That was . . . SO BEAUTIFUL
I can't describe the story in words...
So amazing and perfectly written...
A GOOD FIC.
A GOOD READ.
You do realize Cadence was the same situation as Twilight, right? She was a pegasus that was turned into an alicorn.
Cadence was always my favorite princess, and now I love her even more.
6404044 Ehhh questionable canon. It was from one of the chapter books which aren't confirmed canon to the show.
Is this going to be it? I certainy hope the rest of the chapters are not going to be 'Twi kills X'
Do not get me wrong. I am okay with it. I am merely wondering.
'Sister in law' is usually rendered as 'sister-in-law'. I like how you write tragedy and the imagery you had Cadance use, as well as how you wrote her final thoughts.
My pedantic side would argue that Cadence was the one who saved Twilight during the wedding, but that doesn't really affect the story.
Celestia is dead OH LAWD SHE DIED!