//------------------------------//
// Imprisonment and Release 
// Story: Recovery 
// by Harmless Bokoblin 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle stood, completely immobile, not that she had much choice in the matter. Jet-black chains encircled every limb on her body, including her wings, while the most powerful magic suppression ring available was secured on her horn. She didn’t cry, whimper, or even groan, Instead, she smiled. Twilight knew exactly what she’d done, and yet, she did not care in the slightest. After all, what were a few mortal lives to a being who would withstand eternity?
Her smile didn’t falter when her former mentor entered the cell, nor when Luna and Cadance followed shortly behind.
“So you’ve finally come to punish me hmm? Take away my Immortality, maybe? Or perhaps execute me outright. Not that any of you have the spine to do so…” Twilight cackled, though stopped when none of them reacted in the slightest.
“Twilight Scorpio Sparkle, Former Princess of Friendship and Alicorn of Magic, you are correct in the fact that we will not do what you have described. It is not, however, out of weakness that we grant you mercy. Rather, it is out of respect for the mare you once were, and who we hope you could be again.”  Celestia spoke, no trace of the friendliness that would usually accompany speaking with her student.
“That mare died when you tore her heart into pieces, and then proceeded to burn said pieces for good measure. I saw through  your lies, Celestia, and now that I have seen the truth, there is no chance that I will go back to being your lapdog.”
This time, it was Luna who spoke, “Twilight Sparkle, hark to thyself! thee would destroy all thou hast worked for in some petty attempt at revenge!?”
Twilight attempted to stifle a giggle, but it came out regardless. “What I worked for? I didn’t work for any of this! It was your precious sister, the puppet master who wanted all of this, who made me into… This!” Luna’s glare could have melted steel, but Twilight cared not.
“Twily, please. I just want my sister back…” Cadence began, but was quickly silenced by Celestia.
“It is too late, niece. If she is to regain who she once was, she must do it of her own accord. Twilight Sparkle, for the murders of Stalwart Shield and Gleaming Blade, you are sentenced to one hundred years of isolation inside of this cell. You will not be visited by anypony, or anyone. You will not interact with anything. You have no need to eat, nor sleep, nor breath. This cell will open exactly one hundred years from today. I hope that you will have learned from this.” Twilight laughed in her former mentor’s face, smiling while the Alicorns filed out of the room.
“Thinks she can break me. Hah. I’ll wait… I’ll wait…” Twilight drifted off into thought, plotting her eventual revenge.
Fifty Years Later
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please, just let me out!” Twilight Sparkle, the once proud Alicorn, who mercilessly murdered two guards for simply getting in her way,  was reduced to tears. Her ribs were showing clearly through her skin, and her once luscious mane was overgrown and spread all around her.
“Please…”
One Hundred Years Later
“Sister, it is time.” Luna entered Celestia’s chambers, the princess of the sun looking out at the violet sky, the sun setting and moon rising.
“Luna… I can hear their pleas for mercy, and she gave them none. In my sleep, I can see her laughing face, the madness in her eyes. I know I gave my word, but I do not wish to set her free.” Celestia did not turn from the window while speaking, and Luna sighed
“I know Tia’, I know. But we had given our word, and as such we must let her free. Who knows, perhaps she will be repentant.” Luna motioned with a wing for her sister to follow, and, with a heavy sigh, she did.
✨
The door, long abandoned and allowed to rust on the outside, swung open, and in strode the Alicorns of the Sun and Moon. Whatever they’d been expecting, the pitiful sight that was before them was not it. Twilight Sparkle, the murderous, mad Alicorn, was standing in a pool of her own tears, her form withered and emancipated. Her face was gaunt, her bones clearly visible through her fur. Her horn was very long, and extraordinarily sharp from a century of not being shaved or cared for.
“Ti-a?” Celestia covered her mouth the her hoof, while Luna gagged and looked everywhere but at the violet Alicorn.
“Oh mother… What..?” Celestia watched as Twilight’s head rose, her withered neck barely holding up the gaunt skull. Those violet eyes, once filled with vibrant life and endless curiosity, were now empty and void of life.
“Ti-a..?” The word was barely a whisper, but it was a whisper full of hope and dread. Celestia’s stomach dropped, and she didn’t know what to do, what to say. She’d imagined that Twilight would laugh at her, call her a fool. She’d thought that her student was gone forever, only a monster left in her place. She’d been wrong, so very, very wrong.
“L-Luna… What do we do?” Celestia looked to her sister, who simply shook her head in disbelief.
“I had thought… I’d… Tia’, we’ve made a horrible mistake.” Luna continued to avoid looking at the Alicorn of Magic, instead looking to her sister.
“Ti-a…?” Celestia’s horn glowed, and the chains vanished. Twilight attempted to take a step forward, but collapsed.
“Ti-a…” Twilight crawled towards her former mentor, dragging her useless hind legs behind her.
Celestia gently picked Twilight up in her magic, tears streaming down the Solar Alicorn’s face. No matter what she’d done, Twilight did not deserve this. What made it even worse was that it was Celestia who’d decided that this punishment fit her crimes.
“Ti-a…” Twilight extended an emancipated hoof towards Celestia’s face, trying to reach her longtime mentor and friend.
“D-Don’t worry Twilight… I’m going to help you. Don’t wor-“ Celestia choked back a sob, and levitated Twilight behind her, leaving the prison that had held her student for a century.