Twilight closed and opened her eyes once, then twice. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?" she screamed at Celestia.
The white alicorn looked at her. "I... released all of my previously trapped old students, who are all very powerful unicorns most of whom are power hungry and ruthless, onto Equestria, where they will now bring chaos and destruction as they search for more power or a way to take revenge against me?" She awkwardly smiled.
Twilight stared, incredulous.
Celestia's smile got a little wider. "I got it right, right?"
"Princess, are you aware of the consequences this will have?" Twilight's tone was flat and emotionless. "Do you realise you might have just doomed all of Equestria?"
"Oh, don't be so drastic." Celestia ruffled Twilight's mane with a hoof. "I'm sure you'll be able to take care of it."
Twilight blinked again, and her mouth wordlessly opened and closed a couple of times. "PRINCESS, THIS IS SERIOUS, OKAY? WE CAN'T JUST STAND HERE! WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!" she snapped.
Celestia looked at her, cocking her head to a side. "Then do something, no?"
Twilight clutched her head in her hooves. "YOU..." she screamed, pointing at the other alicorn.
Celestia looked behind her, over her right shoulder, then did the same with the left one. "Me?" she finally asked.
It might have been some form of imprecation belonging to some forgotten language that her brain had recovered from the wreckage of her scattered mind, but in all likelihood the howling sound that erupted from the purple alicorn's throat was nothing more than the condensed product of her own frustration, born from a rage too primal to be carried forth by simple words.
Celestia walked towards her only good student with a worried expression, lowering her head towards her. "Are you alright, Twilight? Do you need a mint or some other thing? Maybe some syrup for your throat? That didn't sound healthy, you might want to go see a doctor about it."
Twilight stared at the eyes of the alicorn above her. Then beyond them, and beyond the likely empty head they were attached too, at the ceiling above. The beyond even that, at the sky above them. Then the emptiness of space, and finally the nothingness beyond the boundaries of existence. Her own eyes slowly unfocused, and her breathing slowed down. Her mind, a crumbling mess just moments before, was now a placid pool, undisturbed by even the slightest ripple. She pondered the infinite pointlessness of reality in the face of infinity and eternity, and found herself at peace with all creation.
"Are you alright there?" Celestia asked, looking at the transfixed pony from the side of her face. She pushed a hoof to Twilight's cheek, receiving no reaction from the mesmerised alicorn. She pushed a little harder, and inadvertently caused Twilight to fall on the ground and smack her head on the floor.
The calm lake of stillness in Twilight's mind was shattered like glass, and chains erupted from it, shooting upwards. They pierced through the skies and reached the solitary bubble of emptiness where the alicorn's consciousness had retreated, and there they took hold of her limbs and fiercely dragged her back down through all layers of creation, to crash at the centre of the raging inferno of madness and despair that lied at the core of her being.
Twilight snapped up and looked at Celestia. "What was happening oh yeah the world is about to end and unicorns are currently probably wreaking havoc across the city and it's your fault guess I have to fix things well then what am I waiting for let's go fight against an army of some of the strongest magic users in all of history whose powers I don't even know I'm sure this will be a most entertaining month or two and maybe we'll even have a couple villages standing by the end of it," she blurted out.
Celestia smiled. "I see you've finally made up your mind then. Go now, my student."
Twilight grabbed one of Celestia's hooves with her own and gave a twisted smile. "You're coming with me."
The two vanished from the room in a flash of light.
You know, a good number of them might well have been salvageable. Who knows what this particular Celestia considered irredeemable. The issue now will be in sorting out the benign or indifferent ones from the destructive ones.
And then, differentiating between the truly malevolent ones, and the ones that simply wish to pursue an entirely justified grudge against Celestia in particular. Can anyone else hear the words "class-action lawsuit" on the wind?
I do not think Celestia is going to grow much from this experience. Now Twilight and her friends have their work cut out for them stopping the more violent ones and dealing with what appears to be a very indifferent Celestia. Discord must be thoroughly enjoying what is happening.
Step 1: Summon Discord.
Step 2: Threaten Discord with an angry and/or crying Fluttershy.
Step 3: SNAP
I think it’s time for Twi to learn the family honored tradition of alicorn tossing.
And the student becomes the master.
9464452
Leading to an Equestria (or at least an education system) ruled by an oligarchy of solar students, while Celestia is left to do the jobs she can actually handle. I like this idea.
9466310
The sun goes up and down according to the timetables, and she gets a nice stipend along with a cozy cottage somewhere. I've seen a fair few Celestias that would jump at a deal like that.
I'm excited to see how Twilight deals with this.
9464452
I love that udea Celestia gets Sue, and Luna supports them. Say Celestia is locked with the worst ones as she so incompetent to rule.
And so the world was doomed. The end.