“I-I don’t know who you even are anymore!” Sunset exclaimed. “How could you be so heartless and disgraceful to the very subjects that you are supposed to protect and guide?!”
Celestia followed with a chuckle, her demeanor no longer the usual motherly and kind princess she usually held. All that stood before Sunset’s gaze now was a sinister and psychopathic alicorn, eyeing her with a look of malevolence and pure evil.
“Dear Sunset, have you not learned anything?” Celestia questioned with indignance. “If you wish to rule, you must destroy any who stand in your way, and eliminate any who threaten to ruin all that you had worked so hard to gain!”
Sunset wanted to vomit. She had no idea what to do and scavenged her thoughts for any spells that may free her from this inescapable proposition that she knew had nothing but a grim ending for her. She dug into the deepest resources of her mind for anything. ANYTHING that could aid her in this situation.
“I will not ask again, Sunset,” Celestia spoke with demented sterness. “Are you going to aid me in destroying Twilight or will I have to do it myself?!”
Sunset knew that exclamation was no bluff. Celestia was dead serious, and it was now or never. She had to decide between killing her friend or joining the other proteges in death.
“I-I… Sunset trailed off, bracing herself for the worse.
“Yes?” Celestia questioned, knowing she had Sunset pinned in a position where she couldn’t escape.
“I...I’ll kill her,” Sunset surrendered.
“Smart filly,” Celestia complimented. “Maybe you are the one I’ve been searching for for a long time.”
Celestia backed away from Sunset, allowing the unicorn to breathe normally. Not feeling so constricted anymore, Sunset took in deep breaths wiping the sweat from her brow. Celestia’s demeanor hadn’t changed the slightest, but she didn’t seem to hold the same demented glare like before which Sunset was relieved at.
“So, how do you propose I kill Twilight?” Sunset asked.
“Oh my dear Sunset, you’re the smartest pony I know, I’m sure you can figure something out,” Celestia assured, walking out the exit of the giant colosseum.
Sunset merely stood, contemplating on what she had just agreed to do to save her own skin. The one positive was that she still had Celestia’s trust and wasn’t in a scenario where she had only two choices to decide anymore. So much had just happened too fast for her to comprehend, and Celestia was leaving it in her hooves to do the deed. She felt sick for agreeing to such a revolting task, but she literally had no other choice.
It was up to her now to decide whether or not to agree with Celestia, now aware of who she REALLY was behind the facade of a motherly princess that loved and respected all of her subjects equally. She knew she had much to think about, so she took her leave, while her mind conflicted itself on what had just happened.
Two weeks later
Much had happened in the following weeks after the incident in the colosseum. Twilight had been harassed with questions on what exactly had happened in that moment of saving herself from what should’ve been her demise, and the truth was that she had no idea, only that it had earned her her cutie mark, and as Celestia had stated, her full potential had been unlocked, but Twilight had not realized it.
Exactly what Celestia had wanted.
Sunset had kept her mouth shut on anything Celestia had revealed, as much as the magic blocking during the whole occasion. All she had been focusing on was a way to do the deed that she had been tasked with, and had come up with a way to perform the task without any suspicion from Twilight. A forbidden spell that if cast, kills the host. A spell that had been buried away in history for good reason, used mainly for killing imprisoned ponies without any sort of trace or evidence that it was a murder, but a suicide.
Celestia had allowed her to learn the spell, considering the spell was only available in dark necromancy literature, stored away in a hidden library of Canterlot Castle. The spell was relatively easy, and how it was normally performed was in a way of forcing the pony that was the target to speak the words “detola esperium” which translated to “death’s grasp.” Upon speaking the words, the pony would die instantly.
No blood. No sign of struggle. No evidence. It was magic of very dark and grim nature, and if this were only one of the spells that Celestia had originally forbidden her from learning, Sunset didn’t want to know what else lay in those scriptures. For one to even possess the power to force death upon somepony was enough to make her shudder, because that was what she planned to make Twilight do.
She had scheduled the lesson, and the day had come. Upon opening her eyes that morning, she felt an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it only grew more unsettling upon getting herself freshened up to meet Celestia for breakfast. She had been under tight security by Celestia’s guards, showing that she didn’t have Celestia’s full trust, given how she had reacted on that day two weeks ago.
She couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without being watched, aside from personal tasks such as bathing, using the bathroom, dressing, or sleeping. She had considered casting the spell on herself, but knew that doing so would accomplish nothing, seeing Celestia would just do the task herself, and given the fact that she had murdered her own SISTER for royalty, Sunset had no doubt in her mind that would be the end case scenario.
With a sickness plaguing her entire mind, she opened the door to her room, two guards meeting her on the adjacent sides in golden clad armor. Like every morning, she made her way to the same dining room, taking a seat in the same seat as usual. Across from her was the same alabaster alicorn that she saw every morning, her face hidden behind the morning paper. Shaking in her seat, Sunset pulled the chair closer to the table. Celestia was the first to make conversation.
“You seem tense, Sunset,” Celestia acknowledged. “Are you having second thoughts on the task of which you have been assigned?”
Sunset gulped then answered with the partial truth. “No, it’s just…
Celestia lowered the newspaper from her irises, revealing her face. The same one she always wore in the mornings they met up.
“Just what?” Celestia questioned, a hint of indignance in her tone.
“Well, I’ve… I’ve… never killed a pony,” Sunset confessed. “Even if the death is… you know… quick and painless, I… I… just don’t know if I’m… capable of something so… grim.”
Celestia lowered the newspaper onto the surface of the paper, her golden aura dimming away slowly. “Look at it this way, Sunset. It’s either you or her.”
Sunset shivered at that statement, knowing Celestia was being blunt, yet she still held her usual motherly tone which disturbed Sunset even more. Celestia truly was heartless.
“Now, you’d best be off to your lesson,” Celestia stated, holding that same tone. “You wouldn’t want to be late now, would you?”
That comment came out as sarcastic, and Sunset didn’t even hesitate on objecting to the matter. She just grabbed her things, got down off the chair, and carried on out to the Canterlot Courtyard where in the distance, she could see a lavender coated filly awaiting her arrival. A sight that made her stomach turn and nearly hurl out the excrement. She didn’t, and instead made her way to where Twilight stood in wait, a smile upon the filly’s face. Yet another sight that made her nearly vomit. Upon approach, she was greeted.
“Good morning, Sunset!” Twilight greeted with joy.
Sunset attempted to compose herself, suppressing the shakiness in her voice, as much as her hooves. “G-good morning, T-twilight.”
Her attempts had failed, considering Twilight’s face falling to a look of concern. “Are you okay?” Twilight questioned.
Sunset attempted yet again to calm herself, but as soon as she remembered the reasoning for being there, the attempts faltered like ice to fire.
“Y-yeah, just a little... c-chilly! That’s right! C-chilly!”
Another fail. It was far from cold and more a content temperature that was neither too hot or cold. Twilight saw that and immediately raised an eyebrow.
“Sunset, what’s wrong?” Twilight questioned yet again, worry staining her tone.
The urge to vomit once again enveloped Sunset like a blanket to a foal on a cold night. It was nearly unbearable, and she could feel the vile content slinking up her esophagus like a serpent. She quickly swallowed it back down, trying to break any eye contact with Twilight.’
“Nothing!” Sunset said in a panic. “Let’s get to the lesson!”
Twilight remained in a worrisome manner, but agreed nonetheless. Sunset was relieved that Twilight had just agreed rather than questioning further, and with as steady a pace as she could go, moved onto teaching Twilight what would be her demise.
“Considering how… advanced you are in simple spells, today we’re going to be learning something of a higher magnitude.”
Twilight immediately grew curious, just continuing to listen to Sunset’s instructions.
“Now, don’t worry, it won’t be anything difficult, it’s a relatively simple spell, but definitely has more advanced elements compared to things like levitation and transfiguration. Today, you’ll be learning how to control others with magic.”
Twilight winced immediately, taken aback by what Sunset had just said. “That sounds… dark, I’m not sure if I want to know how to control another pony. That just sounds like necromancy.”
Sunset cussed in her mind. Twilight had more knowledge on darker magic than she had originally thought prior to this. She thought quick on how to convince Twilight that the spell wasn’t dark magic, but it was kinda hard not to think it was. With “controlling others” as the main effect of the spell, how could it NOT sound like necromancy? This seemed like something along the lines of something King Sombra or even Grogar, masters of necromancy, would even think of performing.
“Oh, buck it!”
“Don’t worry, Twilight, this form of magic isn’t like puppetry, but more like a silly magic where… the victim gets pranked. It’s nothing sinister, just a spell for fun.”
Twilight’s glare didn’t seem to change.
“I don’t know,” Twilight said unsurely.
Sunset had no choice. If she couldn’t convince Twilight, then she just had to use her ace in the hole. “Come on, Twilight. We’re friends, right? Would I teach you anything that would get you in trouble, or anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable with?”
The ace worked. Twilight’s face changed to a more assuring one.
“Alright, Sunset. I trust you.” Twilight replied.
Relieved, Sunset proceeded forward, her stomach knot growing tighter and tighter. It was time to perform the spell.
“Alright, I’ll do a demonstration with you as the spell’s target first, then you can try.” Sunset proposed, feeling like she was going to faint and her blood ice cold.
She lit her horn with the same light-blue magic aura and focused on the filly in front of her, feeling the spell take it’s grasp on the lavender unicorn. Almost immediately, Twilight started to object, feeling her limbs seize and all control over her body dying away like embers of a fire.
“Sunset! Stop the spell! It hurts!” Twilight objected painfully.
Sunset ignored Twilight’s pleas, trying to focus less on her best friend’s pleas for mercy, and more on saving herself from Celestia’s wrath. She could feel the grasp of the spell on Twilight at full control, and now all she had to do was make her mutter the two words.
“Sunset! Please stop!” Twilight objected again, tears falling from her eyes. “It burns! Please stop!”
“Just make her say the words. Just make her say the words.” Sunset told herself in her mind. “She won’t feel anything. It’ll all be over in seconds. JUST MAKE HER SAY THE WORDS!”
“SUNSET PLEASE STOP!” Twilight pleaded again.
Something immediately clicked in Sunset’s head and tears had begun to leak from her eyes. She couldn’t do it.
In that moment it all came to the surface. Her fear had caused her mindset to be fogged by the truth of what would follow the action. If she killed Twilight, she would be nothing but a selfish murderer. A mare that killed her one and only true friend to save her own skin. She would be no better than Celestia was and would only be a monster just like her. She refused to become the monster that had fooled and manipulated her into doing this heinous action out of fear for her own life.
She fell to the ground in tears, releasing the spell and freeing Twilight from the pain. She didn’t care about what Celestia would do to her, and refused to kill her best friend over a promise of a seat upon the throne as a royal. She wasn’t heartless like Celestia, and wouldn’t fall to murder to save her own skin.
Twilight recuperated from the spell, and quickly objected to Sunset's actions.
“What was that all about!” Twilight protested. “I felt as if I was being suffocated!”
Sunset only hung her head, not expecting Twilight to forgive her for what she just did.
“What is wrong with you today!?” Twilight continuously yelled. “You have been acting strange since you got here, and I highly doubt that was an unintentional mistake!”
Sunset was caught and with nowhere else to go, she just told the truth.
“You’re right, Twilight,” she started. “That wasn’t a mistake. It was a dark spell that was outlawed centuries ago. This was all a setup to kill you.”
Twilight stepped back, her face pale as a ghost. “W-what?!” she replied with hurt in her voice.
“I had no choice!” Sunset pleaded. “Listen to me, and I’m serious this time.”
“Why should I listen to you, when outright lied to me and tried to kill me!?” Twilight shot back.
Sunset couldn’t object. Twilight had a point, but she had to do something. Then she remembered a particular spell.
“Fine, but please give me one chance to explain myself, and to prove I’m not lying, cast that truth spell that I taught you. Then you’ll know I’m not feeding you lies. I only ask this one favor, then you don’t ever have to speak, look at, or even trust me ever again!”
Twilight hesitated for a moment, but then with a frown and flicker of her horn, Sunset was met with two words.
“One chance,” Twilight stated bluntly.
Sunset didn’t waste time and spilled every detail about everything that she had found out that day in the colosseum. She explained Celestia’s true colors, the proposition she had ended up in, and anything else she found she needed to explain to win back Twilight’s trust. The way the spell worked was that if a pony under the spell spoke a lie, the caster’s horn would flicker, and not once during the entire explanation did Twilight’s horn flicker like a candle in the wind.
Twilight was completely shocked at the truth and immediately resorted to hugging Sunset, now aware that she had only resorted to the result of killing her out of fear for her own life. Sunset was relieved, but at the same time was lost on what to do next. All she did know was that she refused to let Twilight fall victim to that witch of a princess.
“I’m scared, Sunset,” Twilight stated fearfully. “What do I do now? I’m only a filly and no match for Princess Celestia.”
“I know, Twilight, but trust me when I say that I’m going to make things right,” Sunset stated with indignance.
“What are you going to do?” Twilight asked, a pinch of curiosity in her tone.
“That’s not your concern, Twilight,” Sunset stated directly. “All I ask, is that you remember me for who I was, and not for what I did to you today.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, slight sadness filling her voice. “Sunset, what are you going to do?!”
Sunset didn’t answer, dodging Twilight’s questions and pleas, knowing what she had to do to keep Twilight safe.
“Goodbye, Twilight,” Sunset stated proudly, a glint of tears forming in her tear ducts. “It was an honor being your teacher and friend.”
A sudden flash of magical light followed, and Twilight immediately knew where Sunset had teleported to, as much as what she planned to do. An agonized scream followed, but nopony could stop what was about to happen now.
A flash of light-blue light emblazoned Celestia’s irises, her protege standing before her with an indignant stance in the elongated throne room.
“That was quick,” Celestia mocked. “That is, if you-
Celestia was quickly silenced as Sunset seized up the alicorn’s body with the spell she was supposed to use to kill Twilight, fire burning in her eyes. Celestia didn’t have a chance to block the magic, and she was unguarded at the moment, so nopony could stop her from ending the life of a mass killer who had ruled over Equestria for far too long.
“What are you doing?!” Celestia objected.
“What I should’ve done long ago!” Sunset replied with vigor. “You should’ve stuck to your original teaching ways, princess. Had I never learned this spell, this wouldn’t be happening.”
Celestia struggled to break free of the hold of the spell, but having no control over herself, she couldn’t break free of the spell’s grasp.
“I realized it in the moment I nearly killed Twilight!" Sunset started. "I realized that you had led me to becoming no better than what you what you are! A monster! Now, I see the truth that you tried to hide from me, using your control over me as a way to manipulate my mind! You underestimated my ability to see past all of the corruption that you plagued my mind with, and now, it will be your undoing!"
“Fool! If you kill me, you’ll be no better than me!” Celestia taunted back with a chuckle. “Not to mention that you’ll end up imprisoned for my murder. So foolish, Sunset! Thinking you could ever get the upper hoof on me! Me! The one who taught you everything! The one who changed you from an outcast to one of the most trusted Royals in Canterlot! You are NOTHING without me!”
Sunset only responded with a smile and look of confidence as she spoke her final words to the matriarch.
"You're right,” Sunset muttered. “Which is why I won't be the one to carry on your madness! Even if it costs me my own life, Equestria will be ridden of somepony's rein that has lasted for far too long! My sacrifice will mark a new beginning for Equestria and all who inhabit it!"
Sunset seized Celestia from responding at her own will at the closure of those words, not wanting to hear another word from the witch. The spell coursed through Celestia’s body, and once Sunset had full control over Celestia’s body, she didn’t hesitate, forcing her once-mentor to utter the words that would end all of the tyranny.
Celestia couldn’t fight it, and with only two words, the sadistic alabaster was put to rest.
“Detola Esperium,” Celestia muttered forcingly, and with one swift intake of a choked breath, the demented matriarch fell limp on her throne.
Sunset quickly followed up, not allowing any chance of one of Celestia’s guards foiling her plan. She cast the spell yet again, only this time, she focused it on herself, and upon feeling the spell take hold of her, she ended all that Celestia had caused upon Equestria.
“Detola Esperium,” she spoke out, and with little to no hesitation, Sunset felt her body fall limp, and at long last, she was free.
The news broke not long after, and Twilight was devastated, even though she knew that Sunset had done Equestria a big favor in ridding it of a demented princess’s rule. The case remained unsolved by the Canterlot Homicide Unit, seeing there was no evidence to go off of. It was closed as an unexplained death case, and remains unsolved to this day.
Twilight grew up to be a Major in Magic, graduating with high honors, and now runs what-used-to-be Celestia’s school, which has long since been converted into a new school. She visits Sunset’s grave whenever she gets a free day to do so, and still remembers Sunset as her teacher and best friend, just as Sunset had asked her to on that fateful day.
As for the throne, Twilight's regular foalsitter and only alicorn in Equestria, Princess Cadence, took over as the Princess of Equestria at Twilight's request. Given their relationship, Twilight was enlisted as her protege, given Twilight being a major in Magical knowledge, and to this day, remains the protege of Equestria's new and better leader. While Cadence was converted into an alicorn by Celestia, she never knew of the former matriarch's true nature and has proven herself as a fit ruler.
Celestia was buried under a statue dedicated in her honor of ruling Equestria, seeing nopony ever knew the real truth behind the facade of a kind and motherly princess, and Twilight never did tell anypony what Sunset had told her, seeing they would never believe her. Too many were blinded by the false image of a matriarch that loved and respected her subjects equally, when in reality, behind all the smoke and mirrors, she was nothing more than a power-hungry witch that killed anypony who ever threatened to remove her from her place on the throne.
Twilight knows the truth and keeps it to herself, knowing that her teacher and best friend she ever had still watches over her and was proud to call herself a student and friend of the unicorn known as Sunset Shimmer. The one who she will always remember as the true savior of Equestria, at the cost of her own life. Something Twilight could accept and would never forget as long as she remained alive, continuing the legacy of Sunset Shimmer in honor of her sacrifice.