//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Dreams of an Absolution // by VerseForty //------------------------------// She never wanted this to happen. She never believed it would happen. But, now she was sitting in jail, heart crushed and alone. All she wanted was to stop him, to see him again. "Was that too much to ask!" she asked to herself. Of course it wasn't and everypony understood that. But, what she did was all too extreme. She herself could have been hurt or worse. But that wasn't the point anymore. To her nothing had a point anymore. Not without her best friend, her #1 assistant and possibly her only love… "Oh Spike…" she began, but then began to sob on the floor of her cell. Her whole life was over now. She would soon be gone, forever banished from Equestria. It wasn't like she didn't deserve it. She basically stole the Elements of Harmony, disrupted the balance of the world, oh and nearly killed everypony in Ponyville (not to mention Princess Celestia). And that was just what she was in jail for. She destroyed nearly half of Canterlot, threw one of her friends into a coma, and lost the rest. She had nothing. Absolutely nothing! These thoughts just made Twilight cry harder. She didn't want this. She just wanted everything to be normal again. Not that it ever would be. Tired of hearing herself think Twilight forced her mind to go blank and tried to concentrate on her crying. All that was left to do was to wait for the end… Many hours later the door to her cell opened. She was so focused on crying she didn't even notice somepony came in. She continued to cry openly until she the pony who came in spoke. "Twilight Sparkle" the voice said in a way that showed no emotion. Twilight knew who it was and she wished it was somepony, anypony, else. She looked up to see the ruler of Equestria, and her previous mentor, Princess Celestia standing before her. She immediately looked back down still crying. The Princess didn't say anything more. There was no need, she knew everything that happened and knew what must be done. Even though she never wanted to do this it needed to be done. If anyone was hurting as much as Twilight right now it was her. After a few moments of silence (with the exception of Twilight's low sobbing) the Princess spoke up. "It's time to go." Twilight stopped crying at that statement. She believed that she was just going to be sent away without a second thought. The Princess noticed this and stated, "You do know I must inform my loyal subjects about this incident. And it must be shown publicly with the criminal and witnesses both in attendance." Those words cut into Twilight like ice. Even though she knew all that the Princess said to be true it still hurt to hear these things from anypony, especially the Princess. There was no use trying to prolong this from happening. She slowly picked herself off the floor. Without a single second to compose herself, Twilight was taken out of the cell. The pair walked through the corridors (or sometimes what remained of them) for about 10 minutes. Not really paying attention to where they were going, Twilight took this time to see what she had done. The normal regal white marble hallways were now black and soot covered. The pillars were cracked and scattered around on the floor. The worst of the corridors was destroyed with about a 15 feet gap between one end and the other. She couldn't help but wince every time the Princess looked around the halls, seeing all the damage and destruction she had caused. She wished that everything would be fixed and nopony would be hurt. But that couldn't happen, and it never will. When they finally reached their destination Twilight was surprised. She immediately noticed that this was one of the only places in the castle that wasn't destroyed. The marble was still as white as the rest of the castle was normally. The other thing that stood out was the golden door. That immediately alerted Twilight to where they were. They were at the courtyard. It was one of the biggest places at the castle. Large enough for all of Canterlot (and most of Ponyville) to fit and still have room for a stage the size of a small house. Princess Celestia wasted no time opening the doors. And to Twilight's surprise she was right. She mentally cursed herself for having to be so smart, so right, that was most of the reason she was here. The crowd was in an entire frenzy from why they were here, to what happened. The entire crowd fell silent when the Princess stepped out, only to start up again when Twilight walked out. "Silence," The Princess said to no avail. "Please quite down…" Still no response. "SILENCE!" The crowd fell silent from the yell of their leader. "Better. Now my faithful subjects, I know you have all noticed the sudden… difference in the area. As some of you may know the mare Twilight Sparkle is up for banishment from Equestria for accounts of theft and destruction of magical items, destruction of the royal castle, causing endangerment to a member to the royal family, and trying to disrupt the laws of magic and the universe." Twilight winced at all of these accusations, knowing that all of them were true. "I know that this will be a very difficult time for us, but I believe we can get through this time of crisis. Now I know this may be confusing at first but please bear with me." The crowd seemed to mumble in agreement with the Princess. "Now I have invited some first-hand witnesses of the events that transpired lately." Then the door opened behind them. To her shock the ponies that walked through where none other than her best friends (well ex-best friends). Of them were Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. She almost immediately began to cry seeing these four ponies here. They all tried to avoid eye contact with her as they walked beside the Princess. "These four ponies have witnessed firsthand the destruction that happened. They were brave enough to come here personally to testify their stories." This pushed Twilight over the edge. Her once closest friends came here of their own accord to see her at her lowest, to see her cast away. "Well, why wouldn't they, I mean you did almost kill them and all of Ponyville and worst of all Fluttershy is in a coma! A coma Twilight! Heck I wouldn't be surprised if they personally banish you!" "Now I will let you all begin to tell what happened." Princess Celestia said stepping back so the other four mares could speak. "Thank ya' kindly Princess." Applejack said with her country accent ever the more prominent. "It all began about one month ago to the day…"