The moon was much less trouble to raise the second time around, and soon Twilight’s world was enveloped in darkness yet again, a state in which she felt much more at ease with herself. While Celestia and Luna’s duties that day had proved slightly more challenging than the last, they were still nothing she couldn’t handle. Mostly it was just angry dignitaries, some packages that needed to be sent out to locals, and a few petty arguments in need of resolving. Twilight was able to stop most of the ponies’ little quarrels with ease, although a few stubborn ones had to be magically… encouraged to drop whatever they were complaining about and go home. Overall, it had been a tiring afternoon and Twilight wanted nothing more than to sleep on her silky, soft new royal bed. There was business to attend at the moment, however, and the alicorn knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly until it was taken care of.
Her walk to the infirmary went mostly as planned until she finally arrived at the door. Although just before she was about to enter, the castle doctor made his return, much to Twilight's dismay.
“Your highness! Your peers still aren't well, i’m afraid to say.”
“Yes, I understand that, thank-”
“But i’m doing my best to figure it out, trust me. I’ve been working around the clock.”
“Listen, I don’t have the time to-”
“I’ve known these ponies for a long time. It hurts me just as much to see them this way. But, with time, I think I should be able to-”
Annoyed and impatient, Twilight had turned around and grabbed the doctor in her inky black grasp. She squeezed the stallion’s neck, leaving him gasping desperately for air. Then his eyes turned the same shade of green as Twilight’s currently were, and the gasping stopped.
“You are not to come here again, Doctor. You are of no use to me,” Twilight stared into the eyes the stallion she held on the brink of life or death. She didn’t even dare blink, knowing the spell would fail in an instant. “You are not to care for the princesses anymore either. You are not to check on them, to run more tests, to research any more on what might be wrong with them. They are dead. Now and forever, dead. Do you understand that?”
The limp pony gave an emotionless nod to Twilight. The purple alicorn smiled and promptly dropped him to the ground. The unnatural shade of the doctor and Twilight’s eyes slowly faded, and the stallion at last came to his senses and stood up. He stared at Twilight sympathetically, she glared at him impatiently. He put a gentle hoof to her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry for your loss, your Highness. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” And with that, he trotted off towards his quarters. Twilight gave a relieved sigh as she reached once again for the door separating her and the other princesses. How she was possibly ever able to survive without making ponies obey her every command, she had no idea. It must have been simply maddening.
Celestia, Luna, and Cadance looked much as they did when Twilight had first come to visit them. Further investigation, however, would note that their bedsides now housed countless medical documents, attempting to find the source of such a strange and unheard of condition. The princesses also no longer wore their regalia, that was proved by the lovely silver Twilight was wearing. She looked quite gorgeous in it, she thought. Much better than that dull gold she would wear back when she was the princess of friendship. The other royalty, save for their grand size, could very well have just been normal ponies. They no longer wore crowns marking their status. No, they could have been just any old mares. Nothing compared to what Twilight was. Twilight had recognized the power she held and didn’t fear using it to get what she wanted, what she needed. These ponies, they had power and were foolish enough to give it up, without even so much as a fight. The care and love that succumb their souls to weakness blinded them from what really mattered, what their true potential was.
They had promise, these ponies, sure, but Twilight knew she wouldn’t be able to advance with her plans if they were still hanging around. It was time Equestria had only one alicorn princess to bow down to. It was time for Twilight to do something that should have been done long ago.
Twilight’s eyes became the same sickly green, her magic coiled around her horn like living ink, and she charged up a powerful spell that would stop the princess’ hearts, just like that. She needn’t anything dramatic, blowing them to bits would have caused far too much commotion for her liking. No, stopping their hearts was enough. Though, despite the simple ending result her spell would have, it would take a lot of power and even greater concentration. To end the lives of immortal beings was an exceptional feat indeed. But Twilight knew herself up to the task.
“Yes, yes! Do it now, Twilight. And we shall have our glorious reward! Unsurmountable capabilities! Yes!”
Twilight did her best to ignore the mildly annoying pain in her skull and focused on the still-beating hearts of the princesses. Just one move, and it would all be over. They would stop pumping, forever, and Twilight’s wish would be granted.
But unfortunately, the power-hungry alicorn made one fatal mistake in her master plan. For a split second during the spell, she opened her eyes.
As soon as those ponies, their faces, their condition, entered Twilight’s head, she couldn’t help but keep her gaze glued to them. Upon staring down at the mares, floodgates of memories opened up in Twilight’s mind. When she looked at Candance, she didn’t see a pony standing in her way of victory anymore. She saw her old foalsitter, playing alongside her almost everyday, telling her about the wonders and hardships of becoming a princess, always drying her tears whenever she got hurt, and always cheering her up when she was feeling down. She saw Cadance and her brother, happily married, loving one another more than anything in the world. She saw her niece, little Flurry Heart, and a loving mother who was always there to protect her.
When Twilight looked in turn to Luna, she saw a scared and lonely princess inside the false disguise of Nightmare moon. She saw Celestia's incredible joy, for after a thousand years, she finally had her sister back. Luna needed help readjusting to society, she needed ponies to care for her and to believe in her again. When every other pony cowered in fear of Nightmare moon, Twilight charged right for her. When every other pony cowered in fear of Princess Luna, Twilight was the only one to give the misunderstood pony a chance.
Finally, Twilight looked to Celestia. But before she saw Celestia as her mentor, teacher, or even as the reason for her royal title in the first place, Twilight saw Celestia as one of her greatest friends. Since Twilight was only a filly, Celestia loved and believed in her. Even through hard times and many, many mistakes, that faith in her student never wavered. She guided Twilight, yet also allowed her to figure out things on her own. When it was finally time for Celestia to gift Twilight her wings and the title of Princess, she reassured and cared for her former student just as much. She let her make just as many mistakes, and she did her best to guide her in the right direction. Celestia was the only reason Twilight had any of what she had today, and such a fact was impossible to forget.
“What are you waiting for? Do it already!”
Something was wrong. The pain in her head was increasing, blurring her thoughts, vision, and hearing into a foggy soup of suffering and confusion. But why?
It was the voice.
The voice was doing it to her. Her infuriated friend tore a hole right through the alicorn's head, causing her to break focus and fall to the ground from the unbearable pain.
“I… can’t-”
“What do you mean, you can’t? You can do it right now, Twilight! You can get everything you’ve ever wanted! LISTEN TO ME!”
Twilight was blind to the world, teetering in and out of consciousness with the unendurable pain the voice was causing her, but she managed an answer nonetheless:
I-I don’t want this...”
“YES YOU DO! WE BOTH WANT THIS, TWILIGHT, AND WE’RE GOING TO GET IT! WE’RE GOING TO HAVE ALL POWER IN EQUESTRIA!”
Twilight couldn't help but blow her cover when she screamed out at the top of her lungs, begging for the agony to cease. Despite her pleas, it only grew worse by the second. The fury of her friend seeped through her, became her. Her entire body was burning. Eventually, unable to take it any longer, Twilight passed out on the cold hard floor of the infirmary, beside the other unmoving princesses.
All was silent yet again.