--- Traumatic Testimony ---
It was almost nine in the morning by this point in the day after everything that happened thus far, with the denizens of Ponyville were gearing up the day's momentum and getting the town up and running. Just about every local business was either already opened or working on doing that, the young ones were already in school, and the market-street was as bustling and as busy as ever. If not for the continued process of decorating and setting up for the up and coming Summer Sun Festival, the village's activities would be just as plain and dull as any other boring day.
But for Twilight Sparkle, today was far from boring. How could it be? Especially after that eventful evening with the Mare in the Moon, the following discussion with Dash, and now this of all things? Pinkie Pie's claim of Queen Celestia and the Pillars coming to this town for one reason or another seemed almost impossibly far fetched on its own but after the past few days of nightmares and conspiracies Twilight was willing to believe almost any impossible rumor or story. Rainbow Dash being a Black Hoof was enough by itself to justify this mindset.
But whether it was true or not didn't exactly matter at all to Twilight at the moment, however. The sheer idea of that possibility alone was enough to make Twilight's blood run cold. Just the thought of being anywhere near them dragged out the worst of the young alicorn's anxieties and fears, even if it wasn't very likely that they'd even run into each other. And despite once thinking that visiting her family would be a good change of pace, it was now the most horrific thing that she could possibly think of. Maybe she really didn't want to see them again somewhere deep down, or maybe she was just reacting to the loss of her content in this hypothetical reunion, but it was clear that she wasn't ready to confront them again.
But the chilling dread flowing through her wasn't enough to help cool her down. The summer sun was now beginning to shine full force on the land of Equestria, and with that came the trademark heat that came with this time of year. And while it was still early on in the season, the heat was enough to begin getting to the pony hiding underneath that thick layer of fabric. She had gone through these problems in the past, it came with her lifestyle, but right now it felt particularly dreadful. It didn't help that she was already on the verge of a breakdown after Pinkie's unintentionally unfortunate news. Was she overreacting? Most certainly. Was she aware of that fact? Absolutely. But was that enough to get her to stop? Not even close. Emotions were a fickle thing, and at this moment they were enough to overpower logic and reason.
Every step Twilight took on her hectic trek back home felt like it took a thousand years to take, but there was a small sense of joy at finally returning to her temporary residence. She wasted little time in dispelling the defensive wards she had put up before leaving and entering her home, slamming the door shut behind her with a little too much force if the sound of cracking wood was anything to go off of. But she didn't care about that right now, it wasn't even close to being on her list of priorities.
I need to get out of this thing! That was the first coherent thought of hers since this meltdown started, and her horn was swift in following up on that. There was a sharp choking sting that came with tearing the cloak from around her neck and the garment was swiftly tossed to the side. But in her haste, the alicorn had lost control of her own power for a brief moment, and that brief moment was enough to cause the dry fabric that had been gripped by her magic burst into flames.
"Agh! No, no, no!" As quickly as her legs could carry her, Twilight dashed over to the burning garment and began stomping out the small fire. Luckily enough, she was quick enough to stop the blaze from spreading to the house itself, and from further enveloping her ever-faithful piece of clothing. The cloaked was gently hoisted up—with hooves, this time—so that its owner could see the damage. It was certainly a bit crispier then Twilight would have preferred, and the damage itself was minimal at best, but the damage was done. So now, on top of everything else, rage had been mixed into the volatile cocktail that was the alicorn's current state of mind.
"Of course. Why not?!" Something between a growl and a groan marked the damaged garment being tossed to the side again, Twilight stomping away from that particular problem to deal with the more prevalent one: one of the reasons why she had rushed home in the first place. With great distance for just about everything right now Twilight marched over to the calendar, which quickly became the only thing in the world that the alicorn cared about.
Today was the third of June, and the Summer Sun Festival wasn't until the 21st. Assuming that they'd arrive on the 21st, Twilight had plenty of time. But it was never that simple, the alicorn was quick to correct herself. It took three days to get from Canterlot to Ponyville by train, meaning that they'd be arriving at least three days before the event began, maybe even earlier, there was no way of telling. In all honesty, they could even be on their way now, seeing how a representative had supposedly already gone ahead and paid for their hotel rooms. Pinkie might know what days they'd be here considering her insider information, but Twilight had failed to ask when she had the chance which she was now kicking herself for.
The longer Twilight glared at the calendar, the less and less sure she was about just how much time she had left to make her move. Then there was also the chance that the move she made would be the absolute wrong one to make. The first idea that came to mind was just hiding out until the royal visitation was over and done with, either in her home, with Fluttershy at the edge of town, or maybe even Zecora out in the woods. It seemed like a safe idea until Twilight remembered that Spike would more than certainly ask why she wasn't going outside at all for that long of a time. And if Spike found out that Twilight's mother would be in town, he'd more than certainly want to see her again.
But even if she did hide out like that, there was no guarantee that that the Queen wouldn't find out about her presence in this town one way or another. If she was coming into town with every Pillar of Equestria, then there were going to be royal guards everywhere. Checking every nook and cranny for some possible threat to them. There'd probably even be a few Black Hooves on the prowl, now that Twilight was thinking about it. And thinking of them, Twilight was swift to remember that Rainbow Dash was in town on official business. Official business that Queen Celestia had to have some kind of investment in, all things considered.
That's why she's coming here. It has to be. The alicorn snorted with righteous fury, a sparking flicker of wayward magic forming around her horn and, followed by the simplistic calendar mounted on the wall becoming nothing more than simple ash in some vain attempt at venting these dark feelings. It didn't help much, if at all, and the purple pony groaned again. For crying out loud, she probably already knows I'm here!
That was the worst thing in Twilight's honest opinion right now. Queen Celestia was just as enigmatic as she was ancient, and in the time Twilight had known her it had been utterly impossible to get any kind of read on her. The eldest alicorn presented the persona of a warm and compassionate ruler to the general populace, but underneath all of that was a cold and cunning intellect the likes of which the world had never seen. If life was a game of chess, then Queen Celestia was the undisputed strategical champion of it. And it infuriated Twilight to no end, knowing that Celestia must have had some grand master plan for her all this time, and that she had likely played right into it.
"Twilight?" Spike's voice shattered the silence filling the room, prompting Twilight's head to snap over to his direction. "Did you... talk to them?"
There was a moment where Twilight honestly didn't know what he was going on about, but she was quick to recall the reason why she had even left in the first place. Spike wanted to meet her friends, and she was supposed to bring them here so he could do that in a controlled environment. Something that had completely slipped her mind until just now, given everything that went on at that restaurant table. Part of her felt guilty for letting herself forget that, but there were also more important things to deal with at the moment. But at the same time, there was an opportunity here, one that Twilight was able to see even in her near-deranged mindset. It might not have been the best course of action, and part of her was aware of that, but it would work. And in her frantic state, Twilight was quick to capitalize on that fact and make the decision.
"It didn't work out," Twilight answered snappily, looking back to the nail that once held a calendar to the wall. "Go get your things. We're leaving. Today." It felt horrible to lie to Spike like this, but at the moment Twilight didn't feel like she had any other choice. They needed to get out of town quickly, and this was the best way to do that.
"Wh-what do you mean we're leaving?" A portion of the panic that Twilight was experiencing was beginning to spread to Spike, evidence by his increasingly concerned-looking demeanor. "What about that stuff you were dealing with? What about Fluttershy?"
"Rainbow Dash can take care of it, it's her job." Twilight hastily answered, walking away sternly and beginning to go through the kitchen cabinets for any useful supplies. "Hurry up, we don't have time."
"But what about—?"
"Now!" The shout echoed in the now dead-silent house, Twilight's nostrils flaring with fury alongside the outburst. She didn't want to hear any excuses right now and didn't pay any further mind to Spike as he slowly scampered back to his room to collect his belongings as he was told. The small shred of her mind that could still think rationally felt horrible for lashing out at Spike like that, and she knew better than anyone that he didn't deserve any of it. But at the same time, Twilight didn't want to take any more chances. Especially not with the looming threat of her mother finding her. Hiding in this house was an option for sure, but how long could she reasonably do that? The better course of action was to leave before anything could happen, she was sure of it. Just as she was the first time around.
I can't see them again. Not now, not ever. Twilight told herself again, as she had many times during the first few months of her self-appointed exile. It's better this way. It's better for everyone... It'll hurt less this way...
With that, she forced herself through this mental block and began focusing on her immediate escape from Ponyville. Food was the first thing she began sorting through, prioritizing things that didn't need refrigeration like bread and fruit. She could stock up on other food items at another town later down the road. Up next were the valuables she had purchased previously to make life a bit easier to manage, like the small set of dishes and silverware that had been acquired just for the sake of making meals easier. They weren't the best, but they could probably get her a few bits depending on who was willing to buy them.
And while she was on that subject, she realized she needed to make a trip to the local bank to withdraw her savings and close her account. She had managed to make a nice little nest egg of bits over the past couple of weeks she'd spent here, which would help them get by once they were back out on the road. Thinking on that a little more, Twilight considered some of Spike's concerns and thought once more about Fluttershy. All things considered, that mare had done far more for Twilight than she reasonably deserved. If nothing else, she should at least say goodbye before just up and vanishing. Surely there was time for that. If nothing else, it might make Spike feel a little better.
Her mind was racing at a mile a minute, her hectic thoughts viciously clawing at one another for dominance and Twilight's attention. Somewhere deep down, she knew she was overreacting. She knew she was going too far, that this was an extreme far beyond what was reasonable or necessary. But at the same time, she couldn't muster up the effort to care. Nor could she call upon the courage to confront this issue head-on. Even after all this time, she wasn't ready to face her demons, let alone her family.
She had to run. It was the only way out. Just like last time.
And then—in an act of pure cosmic cruelty—everything became much, much worse. Twilight's front door was all but kicked in with a thunderous crash, which prompted the young alicorn to freeze in from the sudden surprise. She watched helplessly from the corner of her eye as a pink blur rushed into her home far faster than she could ever hope to react, her manic state only growing more so as a dreadful realization came to her. Her eyes bolted to the discarded cloak on the ground at the speed of light, and Twilight's heart shattered even faster.
She was exposed.
"Twilight! Mr. Knox got arrested!!" Pinkie howled as she widely barged into the house unannounced, clearly far too shocked by that event to notice or care. "Do you know what happened?! What did—?!" The earth pony stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes fell upon Twilight. It wasn't exactly hard to figure out why, of course, it wasn't every day one runs into a seemingly-random alicorn.
"Pinkie, you can't just barge into other people's houses like that!" Rarity lectured of the pink pony as she followed her inside. "It's not—!" Much like Pinkie before her, Rarity fell silent once she caught sight of the disrobed alicorn standing in the middle of the room, plain as day for all to see. And like Pinkie, she was visually overwhelmed by the unexpected alicorn just standing right there in front of her.
Complete and absolute silence followed suit. Rarity and Pinkie's faces were both dominated by this look of absolute disbelief and shock, almost a perfect reflection of the one Twilight was giving them back in turn. And there was nothing Twilight could reasonably do in this hideous moment to undo this damage. Her first instinct was to try and cover herself, to hide her shame along with her wings. But such a thing was a pointless gesture at this point, the damage had been done and the secret was out. Not that Twilight would have been able to even try it anyway, her body had locked up from the sudden shock of this sudden uncovering of her secret, and her horn was just as unresponsive as the rest of her. The eyes gazing upon her form burned like the hottest of flames, searing her soul from the inside out. In this one horrible stroke of bad luck, the veil was finally lifted. Twilight's cover had been irrevocably blown.
And then, the pink earth pony broke the silence. First with a loud gasp, and then with the first question that anyone would ask.
"YOU'RE AN ALI—HRMNN?!" That was all Pinkie was able to shout out before Twilight was able to seal her mouth shut with a magenta glow. Rarity had yet to say anything, but the distressed alicorn didn't give her the chance to do so and held the unicorn's mouth shut as well. Thankfully, Twilight was mindful enough to make sure she didn't actually hurt either of them with her hasty method of keeping her quiet, but it probabbly didn't feel too good for them either.
Though that wasn't something on Twilight's mind right now, at the moment she needed to keep her secret from spreading out any further. This was accomplished, in part, by a pulse of arcane light that emanated out from where she stood. The glittering magenta wave traveled along the ground and the walls, which served to lock every window and shut every door before applying the silencing spell to the whole of the home. For all intents and purposes, the inside of this house no longer existed to the outside world. Nothing would be able to escape now, but most importantly sound. Pinkie would be able to scream her little heart out without risk of further dooming Twilight Sparkle.
"Quiet! Both of you!" The alicorn commanded, looking to each of the silenced ponies in turn with a look of absolute urgency. It was only now that she noticed that she was still holding their mouths shut, forcing herself to back up a considerable amount as she released her grasp. "S-sorry... just don't make a scene... please."
"You're an alicorn!" Pinkie continued in a noticeably quieter, yet still frantic screech. "Why are you an alicorn?!"
"Pinkie, I don't think we're in any position to be asking those kinds of questions," Rarity warned in a meek and whimpering tone, not taking her eyes off of the alicorn in the room. "We just walked in on something I don't think we were meant to see..." To say that Rarity looked afraid was an understatement. The white unicorn looked as if she was about to pass out from fear, more then certainly anticipating some gruesome end by the hooves of the alicorn. At least, that's how Twilight interpreted this demeanor at the moment, it didn't help that her actions just now made it seem very likely that she wasn't going to let them leave.
"I-I-I'm not going to hurt either of you," Twilight swiftly shook her head in defiance of Rarity's unspoken claim, further backing off in some attempt to deescalate the situation. "I just need you to not tell anyone about this ever! Please."
"B-but you're an alicorn!" Pinkie shouted again, fighting a losing battle when it came to keeping her voice at a reasonable level. It wasn't loud enough to escape the house, but it was still far too loud for Twilight's liking. "Tha-tha-tha-that's not normal!"
"I know it's not, just shut up and forget about it!" Twilight pleaded again, practically on the verge of tears at this point. She didn't know what to do in this scenario, and she wasn't in any state of mind to try and figure it out. "Just... ple—!"
Pinkie suddenly let out a loud and shocked gasp. "Are you Queen Celestia's long lost daughter?!"
"Wh-what? No! I'm not—!" Twilight wasn't even allowed to finish before Pinkie throw out another absurd theory.
"Are you from another dimension where everyone's an alicorn?!"
"No, I'm not! I'm—!"
"Are you from the FUTURE?!" Pinkie's third crazed theory was her last, her mouth once more being clamped shut by Twilight's magic. "HHRRRMMM?!"
"Stop it! Just stop it!" Twilight begged through an enraged sob, already on the verge of tears from all of this. She was desperate at this point and needed to make it absolutely clear just how much she needed these two to stay quiet about all of this. So desperate, in fact, that the young alicorn was far beyond being distraught by this unexpected bout of exposure. Which allowed her wrath to flourish without anything else to stunt its growth. "For once in your life could you just stop and let someone else talk?!"
The flustered outburst was soon followed up by twinge of regret, spurred on by the expression of hurt on Pinkie's face. The pink mare said nothing, silently rubbing her now-sore snout as Twilight's words sunk in. This short exchange was what allowed Rarity to find her courage, putting on a brave front as she stood up to Twilight for her behavior. It seemed that lashing out at Pinkie Pie like that was the line Twilight needed to cross in order to awaken the unicorn's fighting spirit. And based on the look in her eyes? She looked ready to actually try and fight Twilight. To the death, if need be.
"That isn't necessary, Twilight. Let her go. Now."
"This is absolutely necessary," Twilight snapped back, releasing her hold on Pinkie's muzzle to turn and face the unicorn that was standing up to her. That small feeling of remorse she had previously was bolted out in a flash, with the only rage left in its place. They were the ones who had just intruded upon her home and learned of one of her deepest secrets. What right did Rarity have to decide what was necessary? "Neither of you can talk about this. Ever. I need to—"
"You're an alicorn, act like it," Rarity spoke up once more, eyes ablaze with righteous fury as she continued to defend her friend. "Have some dignity, for Harmony's sake. Yes, we shouldn't have barged in as we did, I will give you that, but that doesn't excuse snapping at Pinkie like that over an honest accident. I don't care who or what you are, Pinkie doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. You should be ashamed of yourself."
Once again, everything fell silent when Rarity stopped talking. And at that moment, the fire burning within Twilight's glare was doused completely. Rarity's words had hit the purple pony hard, perhaps harder then the unicorn had intended them to. For the whole of the six years that she had spent with this body, never once had she been spoken to in quite that manner. Never once had anyone just blatantly told Twilight that she should act in a way that fit her current status—that she should act like her fellow alicorns—especially not in such an aggressive way. It put more than a few things into perspective, to say the least. After everything Twilight had been through in these past years, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. The glass wall that had been holding back almost every fear, worry, and anxiety that had passed through her head in that time had been violently shattered. Leaving all of those once bottled up dark feelings free to flow through her all at once.
For the first time in years, Twilight felt utterly defeated. Broken, to put a word to it.
Meanwhile, outside of Twilight's sphere of attention, Rarity had calmed herself down in order to consolidate Pinkie Pie, who was in the middle of her own internal crisis at the moment. Based on her mournful murmurings, her breakdown was centered around this situation as well. Or rather, she dismayed by the fact that this was all her fault if the constant murmurings of "I should have knocked" were anything to go by. And Rarity was quick on the scene to try and get the Earth Pony to calm down, reassuring her that she didn't have any way of knowing that this would happen. That this was just an unfortunate accident and nobody was at fault for causing it.
The counseling was doing the trick, and the pink pony was slowly making a turn for the better. And the more her current mood improved, the more she noticed how Twilight's was becoming worse. Twilight was as stiff as a board, her legs spread out slightly in an attempt to keep herself standing. Her face was twisted into a horrific, wide-eyed grimace. With her bottom lip quivering ever so slightly, and with an impossible torrent of tears flowing from her unblinking eyes, it was easy enough to see that she was far worse off right now than Pinkie was. She didn't make a single sound, the only thing Twilight did was silently sob. It was the only thing she could do at the moment.
"Twilight?" Pinkie asked hesitantly, walking closer to the distraught alicorn. "Are you... alright?" Her self pity was all but gone by now, or at least pushed off to the side for the time being. After all, it should have been obvious that Twilight was the victim in this scenario.
"I didn't ask for this..." Twilight murmured back, slowly shaking her head as she continued to dwell on her own fears. Her filter was all but gone at this point, she didn't care anymore. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks in droves, tears that had been bottled up for six long years now. It was finally time to let them out, and Twilight didn't have any say in it. "I didn't ask to be turned into... this..."
This was when Rarity finally started to emphasize with Twilight's plight, seeing just how torn apart the alicorn was by all of this. But the unicorn chose to remain silent for the time being, not knowing exactly what to say or do. For a short moment, she considered just taking Pinkie and walking out the door right now. But at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to just up and leave Twilight in this state. For as angry as she was at Twilight for snapping at Pinkie, she couldn't bring herself to do something like that.
"I wasn't even told why, Pinkie..." Twilight continued, absentmindedly drifting back to one of the earth pony's previous questions in her vulnerable state. "She never told me why... she just did it..."
"Did... what to you?" Pinkie asked regretfully, trying with great separation to see why her newest friend was hurting this much.
"Alicorns aren't born, they're made..." Rarity solemnly repeated her words from the discussion at the restaurant, "Made by the Queen... the only one who can anymore..."
"Don't remind me," Twilight hoarsely murmured back, not wanting to think any more of Celestia or what she did.
"Okay... well, why don't you just tell her you don't wanna be an alicorn anymore?" A spark of optimism was born in Pinkie's voice as she suggested the idea, once more donning a familiar smile as she took off with that idea like a dog with a bone. "We were talking about it earlier, remember? It's reversible! And she's going to be in town for the Festival! I could even sneak you into the—"
"Do you not think I already tried that?!" Twilight lashed out again, a small flare of frustration returning to her. "I've been like this for six years. That was the first thing I thought of!... And it won't work... Not for me." Her body convulsed in disgust as she was made to linger upon the horrible truth, forcing her to sit down. "The spell is absolute... undoing it would put me right back where I was before she cast it... Just like Poesia. She's right back where she was before the spell was cast."
"... So you'd be six years younger?" Rarity asked pensively, thinking back on the young-looking pegasus from the photo. "I can... imagine how that would be a setback. But if being an alicorn upsets you this much, then growing up again shouldn't be that big of a deal."
"I wouldn't even get the chance..." Twilight closed her eyes as her tears continued to flow, shaking her head ceaselessly as if to try and refute the reality of her situation. For a moment, she stopped herself from telling them the ugly truth, but she didn't hold out long. They already knew she was an alicorn, and Twilight wasn't exactly in the best headspace right now, she couldn't hold this back any longer. She needed to tell someone. Anyone, just to maybe try and alleviate some of this dreadful pressure building up inside her.
Silence followed suit. Rightfully so, in Twilight's opinion. But she knew it wouldn't be long before one of them asked what she meant by that cryptic explanation. And Twilight wasn't sure if she would be able to survive her own outburst if one of them dared to ask that painful question. So it was with a heavy heart and gritted teeth that Twilight decided to nip the bud before it could bloom, and she hesitantly began to recount the tale of how she became what she is now.
"Six years ago...I was trying to get into the school for gifted unicorns. It'd been my dream for basically my whole life. I worked every waking moment to meet the requirements to get in, and against all odds I did. All I had to do at that point was pass the entrance exam. They custom make exams for each individual so that they can actually prove they're worth being enrolled. And all I had to do to get in was hatch that stupid egg..." Her tone thus far was mostly one of sorrow, but apparent frustration and regrets began to worm their way in as she kept going on. "Just a stupid egg. A kind of egg I'd never seen before, but still just a dumb egg. It shouldn't have been hard..."
"And you... couldn't do it?" Pinkie slowly asked, walking along the metaphorical razor's edge and hoping she wouldn't set Twilight off.
"No... I did. I hatched the egg and passed the test... But not without screwing up royally..." Twilight mournfully sighed once again, the events of that day repeating vividly in her mind without end. "Do you know what a magic-overload is?"
It was obvious enough that Pinkie didn't know much about the unicorn-exclusive ailment. After all, as an earth pony, she wouldn't exactly ever need to worry about going through one herself. She didn't have any magic to lose control over in the first place. But Rarity, meanwhile, looked like she knew very well about what Twilight was talking about. Her snow-covered ears perked up at the words before dropping down as their owner's own bad memories began to fester and stir within her mind.
"Yes... Sweetie Belle had one a few years ago. A major one, as well. She was hospitalized for nearly a month... we were worried that she wouldn't recover at all. It was horrifying..."
"Well... that's kind of what happened to me... At the last possible moment, I pushed myself too hard and lost control." Twilight continued grimly, tightly shutting her eyes as she continued to vividly remember every single agonizing sensation that she went through in those short few moments. "And it... killed me... it literally killed me..."
Once again, everything went still. Not a single word was spoken in responce to what Twilight had just admitted. The secret that she had done everything in her power to forget and bury for the past six years, laid bare before two random strangers in a moment of weakness and vulnerability. And Twilight hated herself for letting herself get to this point. This could have all been avoided if she had just done something different. She didn't know what would have prevented this horrible outcome, but she knew deep down she could have avoided this.
"So you... actually died?" Pinkie had already begun to cry at this point as well, though not nearly as much as Twilight had been thus far.
"Yeah... I'd be in some grave right now if Celestia didn't step in when she did..." This was enough to steer Twilight's hatred away from herself, and back towards the ancient alicorn who had done this to her in the first place. "I should be grateful... she gave me a second chance... and so much more..." The alicorn's horn began to spark and sizzle as her anger continued to rise, with her breaths becoming shorter and more frantic. "She saved my life... and trapped me in it. Because of her, I either get to die another horrible death or live forever... and watch everyone else turn to dust around me until I'm all alone!" She looked over to both Pinkie Pie and Rarity in turn, a bitter mix of pleading and rage covered every corner of her expression. "How could anyone make that choice?!" She stood back up and stomped away, her wrath taking full control as the air around her began to warp and distort from the raw heat being produced by her horn.
"I should be dead right now, but I'm not! Because Celestia decided I was useful and brought me back!" A bolt of magenta magic tore through the air and absolutely decimated the outdated couch in the center of the room, a clear indication of Twilight's pent up rage. Pinkie and Rarity both flung themselves away from what was left of the tacky piece of furniture in shock, both of them now fearful over the alicorn's continuing outburst.
"And she wouldn't even tell me why! There was a reason she did this to me, there has to be! You don't just turn someone into a god without a good reason!" Twilight screamed again, just in time for another wayward bolt of magic to lose itself from her horn and tear apart a segment of the floorboards, leaving behind a smoldering jagged hole. "But I don't know what it is! And that's not fair!" The tantrum didn't last very long, and soon the alicorn was reduced back into the sorry, whimpering state she had been in just moments ago, falling back down to a seated position in defeat. The magic around her fading away just as pathetically. "It's not fair..."
In her pitiful state, Twilight hung her head low as she sent out another pitiful wave of magic around the whole house. The silencing spell was undone, and the magical locks that had been placed upon the doors and windows were abolished as well. It was now that she remembered that she had an audience witnessing all of this, and she slowly turned her head to gaze upon the two on-guard ponies.
"Sorry about that... you can go now..." She lazily gestured towards the front door. "Just... just go. I don't care what you do after that. Just... leave me be..."
There was a moment of caution and tension between the two mortal ponies before Rarity began to usher Pinkie Pie towards the door. Neither one let their eyes leave the utterly defeated alicorn just sitting there on the floor wallowing in her own self-pity. Of the two, Rarity was clearly the one who was focused more on getting out of this situation safely, and the way she was half-scowling at Twilight got that point across well. Pinkie, on the other hoof, was clearly more worried about Twilight's well being right now then she had any real reason to be. And before Rarity pulled her out the door, she managed to get the unicorn to stop for a moment so she could say one last thing.
"Hey, Twilight?" Pinkie wasn't given an answer, much to her visible dismay. "We won't say anything... I promise... but if you ever need to talk about... anything, you know where to find me..."
For now... Twilight couldn't bring herself to spit out that retort. She didn't have the energy to say or do anything at this point. All she could do is sit there in shame, unable to escape the past she so desperately wished she could change. Luckily for her, Pinkie was at least able to take the hint and finally left with Rarity. Twilight had no way of knowing what would happen with them next, if they'd keep quiet about all of this or not. The alicorn certainly didn't deserve to have them keep her secret for her, not after how she had just acted. But in the end, it didn't really matter, did it? The young alicorn was all but ready to leave Ponyville behind her for good.
But not yet. Right now, after all of that, she was tired and wanted to rest. And so, she mustered up the willpower to drag herself over to the irreversibly damaged couch and flopped herself down upon the pile of splintered wood and shredded fabrics. Tears still continued to roll down her cheeks, emotional and physical exhaustion beginning to seep in after that outburst six years in the making. And the pain that came with letting it all out at once was one that was truly unbearable.