//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Double, Double, Toil and Trouble 
// Story: In Place Of A Princess, You Shall Have A Queen! 
// by Seahorn 
//------------------------------//

30th of the Seventh moon, 1517 A.E. (After Equestria)
Celestia took a deep breath. "Pillar, for the last time, you're clearly tired. You can do the field testing another time." Swiftly ignoring her mentor's advice, Pillar's face showed a force of will like no other. She cranked up a handle on her contraption: a long line of carts with metallic wheels, and it started moving. Slowly at first, but it continued to pick up speed to the point it was thundering down the test track faster than an earth pony could ever run. 
Betting on Pillar had turned out to be Celestia's greatest gamble so far. Although Celestia couldn't link Pillar's cutie mark to her adeptness at engineering, she was clearly gifted towards this profession. Pillar had improved her models on magic motors and batteries immensely. They were now able to exert a force of up to 100 mechanical ponypower (which was also a measurement invented by Pillar), or, in this case, pulling a 'train' laden with rocks faster than an earth pony could ever run.
Celestia could clearly see the potential of such an invention. With the current specifications, this 'train' was able to carry   the weight of approximately one hundred ponies at the speed of a cruising pegasus for at least six hours straight, and this was just the prototype. This wasn't the first of Pillar's successes, either. She had refined her prosthetics, and years of testing had proved that it could be very helpful in improving the daily lives of earth ponies who couldn't use magic. She also was tenacious, working tirelessly to perfect or improve her creations. 
As the train stopped to a halt near the end of the test track, Celestia greeted her student with a happy smile. Her ever-observant mind, however, was planning for her future. Her own virtues were admirable and so far, Pillar had been the only one to reactivate Celestia's elements of harmony. In time, she might be able to handle the other three, since the elements of harmony, except for one, didn't require adeptness at magic.
Celestia, in her youth, would have been furious about somepony other than the alicorn sisters being called a 'Princess'. Before modern times, when politics were violent and ponies much less civilized, she would crack down on such ideas as high treason. It was often followed by imprisonment, torture, and execution. Yet times changed, and the years without her sister weren't kind to her. 
She hoped that with Pillar, maybe she could share her burden and sorrow. Maybe she could share her loneliness.
And maybe Pillar could save her and her poor sister from the grim fate of hatred and separation.




17th of the fourth moon, 1519 A.E. (After Equestria) 07:20 a.m.
Pillar opened her eyes to the sound of chirping birds outside her room at Canterlot Castle. Her mind and body was frazzled from lack of sleep, her innards were twitching from anxiety, yet a smile crept up to her face. This was it. The day that would reward her. All her lessons, all her sleepless nights of practice, all her sacrifices. It was her day of ascension.
After jumping out of her bed, she washed her face, and began to comb her mane. Despite her trials and tribulations, Pillar was never a pessimist, but she was also not a fool. She knew that if she went into her “test” without at least looking like a princess she would be expelled from the castle grounds before she caught sight of her “judges.”  
The unicorn nobility of Canterlot hadn't looked at Celestia's plan of Pillar's ascension very kindly. There had been many rumors about Celestia intending to choose a new princess to aid her, but it was always assumed that since a thousand unicorns had moved the heavens before the Alicorns, they would be the ones to receive the honor. When it turned out that her candidate had been an earth pony engineer, the resulting uproar was quite massive. The unicorns knew better than to directly insult Celestia, so most of the harsh words from the press were directed at Pillar. 
It was a nightmare for Pillar to go through, yet she endured it through Celestia's unrelenting support and her thorough determination. In the end, the situation was resolved by a compromise. Pillar would go through a test that a committee of 'independent' judges would lay out, and if she was able to pass them, the nobles would acknowledge her as a princess.
As she tried to swallow her contempt towards them, there was a knock on the door.
“Yes?” she answered.
“The princess has asked her personal student for an audience at the dining hall, Ms. Pillar. However, You don’t need to go if you feel too uneasy to do so,” said the voice.
Pillar breathed a sigh of relief. Of course her mentor was there for her. Always there. Watching, helping, guiding, but never forcing. She was the only pony she could truly trust in this world. She envisioned what her parents would think of her now if they hadn’t passed away, yet she quickly dispersed those thoughts. Today wasn’t the day for introspection, but for action.
“I’m going, don’t worry.”



As she entered the dining room, she once again marveled at her mentor’s sheer brilliance. Celestia’s multicolored mane, flowing without any wind; her wings, neatly tucked into her body, carefully groomed; her crown, glistening on top of her tall form, all simply speaking “regality.”
Yet her kind smile, which never seemed to fade, told everyone in the room (in this case, Pillar) that she was meant to be loved, not feared. In Pillar’s eyes, She couldn’t be defined as a creature. More like an idea, an embodiment of Harmony itself. An idea that Pillar, however hard she may try, could never aspire to be.
“Welcome, Pillar. Have a seat,” said the princess. Pillar happily obliged. For a while they ate in silence, until it was finally broken by Celestia.
“Are the tests that they proposed troubling you?” she said, her ever-watchful eyes gazing at Pillar.
“A-a little bit, yes.” she replied, her voice trembling and eyes fixated on the table. Celestia frowned deeply, then sighed.
“Pillar, it is they who do not understand that all ponies have great skill apart from magic. For earth ponies and pegasi, your inventions, most notably the train, have been crucial in moving and widening their aspirations at life. The voices of unicorns that can be heard may not like you right now, but there are ponies in this land that already love and adore you,” she said, comforting Pillar.
“Making sure that ALL ponies in Equestria live happily is why I rule, something I couldn’t have acheived without your help. You deserve princesshood, Pillar. Don’t let yourself ever doubt that,” said Celestia.
“But that won’t help in today’s tests! The judges don’t care! If they did, they wouldn’t have come up with testing me in the first place! They would demand impossible tasks, only available with magic! They would place impossible restrictions on my tools! They would.. They would...” Pillar couldn’t continue, as Celestia’s firm embrace surrounded her, yet still somehow managed to be gentle.
“Don’t worry. Personally, I don’t want them intervening in the first place, but as I said, a princess must make everyone happier. But trust me, they wouldn't want to anger me any further. Just think of this as a visit to the dentist, to check if there’s anything wrong, and last time I checked, you were completely fine.”
Her words were so assuring to Pillar. The princess was right. She hadn’t come to this moment for nothing. She would pass in flying colors, and she would finally become what she had always dreamed. And even if she failed, the princess would never bully or look down on her, like so many others did when her family first moved to Canterlot.
No, this was going to be a perfect day.



17th of the fourth moon, 1519 A.E.(After Equestria) 11:00 a.m.

The two massive doors of the audience hall of Canterlot Castle were opened as a tall, gleaming-white alicorn and a noticably smaller earth pony came trotting in. The seats were already packed to the brim with ponies, most of them being unicorns. Although there were some pegasi and earth ponies, they were mostly in the sidelines, either standing up or crouching down.
The loud murmurs in the halls were instantly silenced by their arrival, and all of the prominent nobles in canterlot instantly bowed in a gesture of courtesy, yet Pillar could all too well see the icy glare of contempt on their faces. She shuddered, as she knew they were directed at her; Her fate would be judged by those who loathed her and wanted to get rid of her.
After a few moments of silence, the leader of the judges stood up. Unfortunately for Pillar, she recognized who he was, instantly. Him and the mare sitting next to her were the two ponies she hated most throughout her entire life. They had ruined her peaceful life by driving her parents out into the blizzard that fateful night. Now that she had built a new one, they simply had to ruin that, as well. She swore to herself never to let that happen again.
Regardless of Pillar's cold expression, the lead judge began. “Your highness, it is a great honor to be a part of this council in determining Equestria’s future. Yet, it grieves me to no end that this is what matters have come to. Perhaps, if the nominee was a magic user, such drastic actions may have not come to pass,” he spoke.
“Oh, Lord Providence, I deeply share your heartfelt grief. Perhaps there wouldn’t have been a need for such drastic actions if this council would have simply accepted my judgement and authority as monarch of Equestria in the matter of choosing my equal?” Celestia replied with a snide grin. Pillar couldn’t agree more. She even wondered why there was a council in the first place. Wasn’t Celestia more powerful, wiser, and more caring than any noble currently sitting in this room?
Oblivious to Pillar's thoughts, Lord Providence went on. “The custom of Equestria dictates that when the ruler and his or her advisory council disagrees, there is a compromise to augment such differences. As such, we have concluded that an examination to showcase whether or not the nominee-”
“student.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“I am Princess Celestia’s personal student, and I wasn’t nominated by the council, I was chosen by her. As such, I want you to address me properly for such an important occasion,” Pillar stated with confidence. Even if she wasn’t a master like Celestia, trolling the nobles was certainly an enjoyable pastime.
The elderly judge seemed to disapprove of this improper behavior, but whatever he was thinking, he didn’t show it.
“As I was saying, it was determined that an examination to showcase whether or not the student is worthy of her crown and ascension is the best course of action. So without further ado, we shall commence said test.”



In front of Pillar stood three unicorns, each armed with nothing but their horns. Yet pillar knew that they were the  elite unicorn members of Royal Guard, trained with precision and discipline. She wore a clear visor which  with wires stretching to her flank, where a black box-shaped object was connected. She also had two mechanical prosthetics with claws, which were sticking out of her front hooves.
“A long time has passed since Equestria has seen any direct threats to the princess’s life, yet one must always be ready for such an occasion. You will have to prove yourself in being capable of defeating any such threats alone, or at least buy time for the true princess to return and resolve matters once and for all,” said Providence.
You mean meatshield, thought Pillar, yet she kept those thoughts to herself.
The judge went on, “Also, as our beloved princess herself have demonstrated many times, such exercises of force must not be lethal. Equestria is built on the solid foundation of harmony, and a single unneeded loss of life will render that useless. Am I making myself clear?”
“Crystal,” she tried to reply with as little emotion as possible.
“Then we shall begin,” called the judge as he gently slipped back into his seat. By his sly grin, Pillar could tell he was quite clearly anticipating her to fail in embarrassment, to learn her place in the hierarchy as nothing more than a lucky student that somehow earned Celestia’s favor.
Yet Pillar would not flag or fail, as today was her day, and she would fight muzzle and hoof until she got what she deserved.
The unicorns took the cue and advanced slowly, arming their horns up to a bright crackle. Although they would be firing no more than stun spells, the moment she was knocked out, so would be her lifelong dream. They glared at each other for a while, ready to act at the drop of a pin.
Suddenly, a wild bolt of energy flew towards her, quickly followed by two successive blasts. She quickly dodged, spotting the split-second alert on her visor before the blast as the unicorns’ magic signature rose to aggresive levels. Before they could recharge, she quickly pounced on one of them, using her claws to grab and slam his horn into the ground. One down, two to go.
As the incomplete blast was fizzed out, she swerved again to avoid two more blasts exploding where she was two seconds ago. Turning around, she used her robustly-built earth pony body to her advantage, using sheer mass to charge the two unicorns. Knocking off their balance, she used her two prosthetics to grab each of them by the throat, effectively beginning to choke them...
Only, she didn’t. She was a princess in training, and they were her soldiers. Turning and smiling to her judges, she said “Is this enough?”
Dead Silence.
After a long pause, One mare smirked, “Less of a princess and more of a raging bull.” As if on cue, the entire room was filled with angry hissing noises, loud thumping of hooves, and many cries of shock and disgust. Pillar was furious. Hadn’t she followed their instructions down to the letter? She didn’t kill anypony, defeated the attackers, all without a hint of magic. What more could they want?
Celestia, however, knew better. She could see that the emotions in the eyes of the judges were not outrage, nor anger, but fear. She could afford to be gentle with a lot of enemies in the past. She was powerful, and could take liberties to both neutralize the threat and comfort her people at the same time. Yet, this had the side effect of making ponies, especially younger ones, to think that was the norm. And Celestia learned from experience that when things deviate from the norm, ponies didn’t take it well.
Of course, Pillar didn’t have this experience, and she had to use every inch of her willpower to stop herself from going berserk and strangling every single one of the judges for real. However, Celestia was again to the rescue, as she addressed the council’s unrest with a stern tone.
“Mares and Gentlecolts of this council,” she started, “Although miss Pillar’s methods may not have been akin to your tastes, her requirement was to subdue her fake assasins without killing or seriously injuring them, and she has demonstrated this ability perfectly. Therefore, she gets to pass on this round. Remember, this is a direct and formal agreement between the council and the crown.
The crowd grew dead silent once again. She implied it rather subtly, but they all knew what it meant. If they continued to veto the original agreements, it would be going against the direct will of Celestia, which would count as treason. Although she hadn't pressed such charges in a long, long time, her hard expression and tone told everyone in the room that her patience was wearing thin.
The silence was broken once again by Providence, who gave all the other judges an ominous look. He then whispered to the next stallion; “Gather all the others at lunch break. We shall discuss this together,” After that, he bowed respectfully to Celestia, “Your will is ours to serve, your highness. Miss Pillar is qualified to continue with the testing.”



17th of the fourth moon, 1519 A.E.(After Equestria) 1:00 p.m.

After a series of tests were conducted, Celestia announced,
“Let us continue after the lunch break, and we can meet here again an hour later. Pillar, would you care to participate in another meal with me?”
Pillar, even with all her weariness from testing, almost squealed yes. Instead, she kept her composre.
“Of course, princess.”
With that, all of the judges began to disperse from the audience hall, eager to take a small break from what had been a tiring ordeal themselves.
Pillar followed Celestia up the winding stairs and hallways into the dining room. When they entered, she could see that the meal had already been prepared for them, more specifically, for her. She could clearly identify her favorite food; cabbage soup with celery and radish, along with some fresh salad. Unlike her fellow young adults, she didn’t possess a craving for sweets.
Once they sat down, for a while they ate in silence, both contemplating the day’s events up until then. It was Celestia who broke it.
“Pillar, I am sincerely sorry for what I thought was a reasonable compromise. Maybe I was too naiive. I thought the nobles were merely worried about an earth pony becoming a princess. No... They are actively trying to disqualify you.”
She shook her head once and said, “I’m truly concerned, Pillar. You are no doubt strong and intelligent. Through our training and your ingenuity, you managed to overcome each obstacle so far. Yet... I fear that you may face ever more difficult challenges, until you wear down from exhaustion.”
She paused, and felt Pillar’s little hoof gently touch her own.
“Don’t worry, princess. I’ve prepared my whole life for this day, and even if they try to, I won’t let them take it away from me. Sure, the timber wolves they suddenly put out onto the arena were... Scary, but I managed to subdue them all with a quick sleeping dart. They can try to make me quit, but I will never, ever, ever let them.”
Celestia was stunned. Unlike the nobles, she knew Pillar had some steel in her, but even she had underestimated her greatly. From the day Pillar first walked into the castle as a crying filly, Celestia was the one usually comforting Pillar’s soft heart. But as the years went by, the constant loneliness and disdain towards her hadn't broken her like any other mare. Rather, it shaped her into a formidable pony, ready to face whatever the world would throw at her.
All of it actually reminded her of Luna. They both appeared weak and malleable, but possessed a steely core inside them that was impossible to break. If only she had noticed that back when....
No, Celestia thought, What’s done is done. I can be here for this one. I can protect her from going down the same path, you remember the plan, she can even help bring back my sister from darkness.....
Crashing her train of thought, she came back to answer Pillar. “I’m sure you can pull through. Which reminds me, what do you plan to do when you become a princess?”
Pillar was taken aback by this question. She had been so focused on her goal of becoming a princess that she hadn't considered what actions and responsibilities she would take on after becoming one. After thinking about it for a while, she realized that she knew the answer already.
“I know that a princess should work for everypony in her kingdom, yet I want to do something... Something for the ponies like me who are unfortunate enough to have neither wings nor horns. All they can do is farming or less complicated tasks with their mouth, and can’t even use healing spells for diseases...” She said that last part in a particularly dark tone.
Celestia understood. After she had found filly Pillar in that cold winter day, Celestia had promised to find someplace safe to pay their respects. However, as the day was getting gradually warmer, she had to burn them right where they lay, as the Hoof Pox was highly contagious, and traffic was starting to build up. Even after growing up and eventuallly becoming the princess’s personal student, losing one's parents that way is not an easy memory to forget.
She simply nodded, then the meal continued on in revered silence. The castle bells ringing three signaled that they had to return to the testing arena, and as they trotted back to the audience hall, Celestia silently wished Pillar the best of luck, both for the present and the future.





The rest of the afternoon tests went by smoothly. Pillar completed each and every one of the judge’s requests, from filing papers without magic, to defeating hydras and cockatrices straight out of the Everfree forest. During the cockatrice test, a few of the judges themselves were turned to stone when a random look was shot towards the stands, not the enemy in front of it. While the judges implored that it was a princesses’ duty to protect Equestria’s citizens from such dangers, Celestia merely scoffed, saying that she couldn't protect insane citizens with a death wish that had let angry cockatrices wander into their resident homes. Although she didn’t show it, Pillar was snickering heavily inside.
Yet the end of all the trials was near. The sun was coming down, the promised end of all of today’s trials and tribulations. Even though she was thoroughly exhausted, Pillar smiled to herself as the lead judge came up to her for a new request.
“Congratulations, Miss Pillar, you have proven yourself successful at proving yourself in every situation that a princess might face during more turbulent times, yet there is only one test that remains to be done.”
She lightened up a bit. While her magical battery charges were still strong - courtesy of Celestia constantly filling them up during breaks - her physical body was beginning to wear out. After this long test was over, she could really look forward for a nice warm bath in the tub, and a good few nights of sleep.
“As the new princess of Equestria, you must help lessen your mentor’s load on her daily jobs, as well as help her deal with numerous threats to the nation.”
“Of course,” replied Pillar, wondering where this was going.
“As such, you are to prove yourself capable of rasing the moon. Since the sun is at the horizon, this will be your final test. As our beloved princess lowers the sun, you must be capable of raising and maintaining the moon.”
Celestia was horrified at this request. Although she hadn't told anyone about it, raising the moon wasn’t just a simple task that you could do if you had enough power at your disposal. Not even the alicorns had the magical capacity to move something that massive by pure force. The celestial bodies were intertwined with the magical field itself. Only alicorns, who had a special affinity the star’s energy, were able to move it. Pillar being an earth pony, it would be impossible to do so. The judge didn’t know this. He only devised it up because he wanted Pillar to fail with a lack of magic after all she had been through.
Celestia stormed up to the lead judge, fire dancing in her eyes.
“Thank you for your concern, my lord,” said Celestia, through clenched teeth. “But I’m sure I won’t need any help in moving the sun, or the moon, as I have continued to do so for the past one thousand years.”
The judge was visibly shaken by his monarch’s hostile attitude, yet he spoke up again, giving a glare of pure loathing towards Pillar.
“Your highness, you also don’t need any help in protecting Equestria, ruling Equestria, or making its citizens happy. For all honesty, a second princess should be an honorary position, reserved for those whom are only regarded with the highest esteem and prestige. Instead, do you intend to make ‘this’ your equal? This lowly, insignificant earth pony?” he exclaimed with great agitation.
Celestia seethed with rage. He knew nothing about what was to come, or rather come back, in thirty years. “Take great care in your next words, my lord,” threatened Celestia, “Are you directly insulting my decision to bestow my personal student of my highest honor?”
Before the judge could say another word, something stepped in between them. “Alright, that’s enough,” she turned to the judge and asked, “If I am able to raise the moon, then am I definitely qualified as a princess?”
With a sly grin, he answered. “Sure, there would be no more doubts, no more accusations, no more harsh words. You will be a full princess of Equestria, and I will grovel on my hands and knees before you.”
“Deal it is then,” Pillar answered coolly, as she prepared to unleash the full remaining power of her batteries onto a single point of her prosthetic, and try to move the moon.
Celestia was once again horrified at this sight. She remembered that it was her magic that was used to charge Pillar’s batteries. Normally, if a magic user tried to move a celestial body, it would simply disregard the magic. Yet, if the body was disturbed by an alicorn’s magic, without the proper affinity to the sun or moon, she didn't know what would happen. More importantly, at this point, her insane sister was banished to the moon. Although she didn't know for certain, such powerful magic might seriously injure her.
Yet it was already too late to stop Pillar. She was reaching out to the heavens with the alicorn magic, and in moments it was going to reach the moon. Without much time to think, Celestia began to block Pillar’s magic with all her might. In an instant the would-be interaction stopped inching closer. To watch Pillar's hopeful and determined expression was agonizing, but she couldn’t let her try this. Truth be told, Celestia was even a little embarrassed that she could so easily block Pillar, not even needing to ignite her horn to do so.
As she thrust Celestia's magic up into the heavens again and again, Pillar was beginning to get frustrated. Sure, moving the moon was no easy task. But why wasn’t she able to even touch the darn thing? Alicorn magic was the most powerful magic in all of Equestria, and she had calculated that on full throttle, her prosthetic was capable of exerting more power than Celestia used during her daily raising and lowering of the moon.
Then suddenly, it hit her. The only thing that can block alicorn magic of this magnitude, only could be narrowed down to one thing: more alicorn magic. She glared at Celestia as tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Why? Why after all these years, was Celestia betraying her? Four hours ago, Celestia had wished her the best of luck at the lunch table. Two days ago, she was practicing with her, trying to help her get through the arduous test. Fifteen years ago, she rescued her from the icy cold, beneath her parents’ dead bodies, to give her a second chance at life. Why was she denying her now?
No.
A voice suddenly reared its ugly head inside her, and she was suddenly able to push back her mentor’s unbreakable seal. All her pain, anger and hate seemed to evaporate as she embraced the voice's call. Celestia was shocked as her element of magic suddenly began to glow a bright purple. Alicorn magic, combined with destructive emotions began to form a 'Nightmare' inside Pillar, the corrupted spirit that took her sister away from her. Worse still, she was getting ever closer to the moon.
Left with no choice, she applied even greater pressure towards Pillar, and could only hope that she could stop the spell in its tracks, and prevent the nightmare from taking her student away. She could apologize, plead, reason, or even beg for Pillar's forgiveness, but she could not lose her sister or her student.
Unfortunately, the Nightmare, which wasn't yet powerful enough to withstand Celestia's magic, had other plans. Under the influence of the nightmare, Pillar felt... liberation. Liberation from all the gloom that surrounded her since childhood. She would do anything to please it, anything to keep the pain from coming back again. It whispered in her ear, contorting her very soul, to follow her heart's desire, to vanquish the ones who had given nothing but pain in her life. Pillar, relishing in the relief the nightmare provided, turned and pointed her prosthetic towards the one pony she hated most with a wide, devilish grin.
And then everything exploded.





After the initial blast, everypony in the hall slowly came to, and began shaking themselves off of all the dirt. The explosion was considerably dampened by Celestia's last-second shield spell, but it was still enough to throw everypony off their hooves. Celestia herself got up shaking from all the magic she had drained to contain such a powerful explosion. Her mind was racing, conjuring up a thousand words of reassurance to the judges and a thousand more apologies for Pillar. What she heard next, however, she wasn't prepared for.
"Murderer!" Shrieked a high-pitched female voice, which demanded everypony's attention in that instant. A mare, presumably his wife, was holding a limp body of the head judge. Embedded deep in his head was a steel chair leg, about a pony's hoof in diameter. Everypony was silent for a moment, then the entire crowd began to shout and panic. "Murderer!" "Oh, Celestia have mercy!" "Arrest her!" "Let's get out of here!"
Pillar was dazed. Did she really kill him? No, it wasn't her. She wasn't thinking straight. She was angry at him, sure, but not enough to kill him. No, there must be some other reason. Maybe something had gone wrong when Celestia blocked her. Maybe the chairleg just flew out of nowhere. Maybe-
Celestia's booming Royal Canterlot Voice brought her panic-induced reasoning to a complete halt. "SILENCE!" she bellowed, and the entire hall instantly went quiet. However, for the first time in many centuries, Celestia herself didn't know how to assess the situation. She knew Pillar was influenced by the nightmare, but at the same time, she couldn't determine how much of it was of her own volition. Celestia also knew she couldn't shield Pillar from this mess, either. Everypony saw what she had done. She had to take her into custody, at least, and had to think more clearly, however painful it may be.
She slowly flew towards the pony under scrutiny, the pony that called her by her name for so long. "Princess candidate Cater Pillar, I hereby charge you with ponyslaughter. Disarm yourself, and you will be escorted by the guards to the dungeon."
"No! Princess, I can explain! It wasn't me! It was something else! Please, you, of all ponies have to believe me! please!"
"WE SAW IT ALL!" a voice cried from the stands. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN PONYSLAUGHTER?! THIS IS MURDER!" It was the judge's wife, and the second pony Pillar most hated in the world. 
Ignoring Pillar's plea for now, Celestia painfully replied, "Her motives are unclear, and she was trying to move the entire moon right before then. The evidence that she commited murder is very lacking."
"OH I'LL GIVE YOU A MOTIVE!" Providence's wife retorted in rage. "This little swine's family was on our property with the pox! So we had to let them go in a blizzard, and they died! Tell me, this is why you tried to kill him, isn't it?" Celestia looked shocked to hear the story. "Is this true, Pillar? Is this why you killed this stallion?"
So Cadance had told them everything, and she had the gall to say she was sorry to me, thought Pillar. Tears began to flow down her cheeks, yet her lips began to curl up at the same time. She began to chuckle, and then laugh maniacally. Whatever she did, they didn't care. When she tried to help ponies, they would call her a murderer. Even Celestia, her one saving grace through all her troubles, had turned her back on her. "What's the point?" she said to a confused and angry crowd. "You just want me to be gone."
With those words, using all her remaining strength, Cater Pillar threw herself out of a two story window of Canterlot Castle.