//------------------------------// // 9: The Last Princess of the Conversion War. (Warning: Spoilers for NegotiationVerse) // Story: Words of Advice from the many worlds of Twilight // by Joe Toon //------------------------------// “So, you girls ready?” “Sure thing, Sugarcube. Though Ah gotta ask; why are you inviting the both of us to this trip? Ah mean, Ah get RD here considering how excited she was to see other versions of you Twi, but why am Ah here?” “Because Applejack, you and I haven’t actually done some alone time together. Compared to the rest of the girls, you and Rainbow are the least among the six of us that I’ve spent some quality alone-time bonding. I thought this world hopping might be the perfect opportunity to get together with the girls individually and you just happened to be chosen for today’s schedule. I took great care scheduling it today in your day off.” “That’s… actually mighty thoughtful of you, Twi. Might Ah also ask why RD is here then if this was supposed to be just the two of us?” “I’m here because Twilight owes me a trip today for missing out my Dream Walking session with Princess Luna.” “Something that I apologise for. Which is why I’ve decided to make up for it by inviting her to our little excursion. So, are the two of you ready?” Both mares nodded. “Excellent! Onward to Equis 113!” Twilight declared as she clicked the seal. For a moment nothing happened which caught the attention of the three. Twilight looked at the dial with horror as she saw the dreaded word “ERROR” blinking in bright bold letters. “An Error,” Twilight muttered in fear for the worst, “There’s an error. But that would only mean…” Before she could continue however the dial recalibrated itself with new words popping on the dial; “REROUTING: WORLD EARTH 113.” What? “Woah Nelly Twilight! Y’all weren’t kidding about this place, It’s a mighty fine view!” “I know right? I even flew all the way up and somehow teleported back where I started!” As the two mares bicker, the alicorn had already made her way to the tree with a hint of worry in her eyes. What was that error all about? Why did it redirect us to another world? Could it be she was teleported to another world like Sunset Shimmer? All her thoughts were interrupted when she finally arrived to see a bed next to the tree and a familiar purple coloured alicorn lying on it. “Applejack… Rainbow Dash?” her counterpart weakly spoke out as she stared at them with disbelief. “Well, how do you like that?” Applejack smirked with surprise, “She really is here!” “I told you so!” Rainbow Dash replied, “Pretty freaky seeing her here, right?” “… I’m dead, aren’t I?” Everyone paused with a frown at the bedridden mare. “It seems Feathershy was right all along,” tears streamed from the counterpart’s face as she winces a grim smile, “Hell is real, and this is my punishment! To be tormented by the friends I’ve long lost. I guess God has truly condemned me for what I have done all those years ago.” “What in Tarnation are you on about, other Twi?” Applejack narrowed her eyes to look at the mare, “Sheesh, is every other version of Twilight this friendly?” She turns to look at her world’s Twilight, “Twi, how many versions of yourself have you met that doesn’t look at us as if we’re a manticore?” “It hasn’t happened as often,” said Twilight, “With the exception of the knight, the stepmother of nightmare moon, and the cavepony; every version I’ve met so far have been either friendly, passive or indifferent.” “Wait, did you say cavepony?” the cyan pegasus raised an eyebrow. “Who and what are you?” All eyes returned to the mare in question. It was then Twilight noticed something from her counterpart; she looked frail. Her body was a lot skinnier than her (but not to the point of seeing her ribs), her mane appeared discoloured and a little grey, and most notably were her eyes; or rather the expression they held. Fear, Anger and Sorrow wrapped together with eyes that Twilight knows all too well; suffering Regret that almost drowned the princess just by looking at her pained eyes. Twilight cleared her throat and gave a comforting smile, “I suppose it should be protocol by now. We are from another reality of your world. I am Twilight Sparkle (but of course, you would know that by now), Princess of Friendship and Celestia and Luna’s Successor as ruler of Equestria.” “Get out.” “I beg your pardon?” “GET OUT!” her bedridden counterpart shrieked with a fury that in all Twilight’s years of seeing herself in the mirror have never seen so much hatred. “Why are you here?! Haven’t I suffered enough already?! Must I be constantly reminded of my sins before you’re satisfied?! Are my efforts and imminent death not atonement enough?!” The three mares’ eyes widened at the proclamation of grief. A thousand questions flowed through each of their minds but before they could ask, the bedridden alicorn continued her vindictive tirade. “Haven’t I done enough?!” she gasped with tears trickling each side of her face, “Haven’t I paid my sins with everything I have left?! I HAVE GIVEN EVERYTHING TO FIX WHAT WE’VE DONE TO THEM; SHOULDN’T THAT BE ENOUGH?!” Her livid expression died down into sobbing, “Why now he seeks to send me one final monument to our sins?” None of them had a clue on what was it was she was ranting about. Nor did any of them feel the confidence to approach the grief-stricken alicorn. None but Applejack that is. She stepped forward to the bed and gave a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Shh. It’s okay Sugarcube,” she cooed, “Ah don’t know what happened in your world, but whatever happened there probably never happened to us.” “And how would you know that?!” past her tear-soaked eyes, the grieving alicorn glared daggers at Applejack, “Other than the fact that you two are still alive and still friends with the successor to that witch only tells me in your world you probably succeeded in turning us all into monsters!” “Still alive?” Applejack took a step back, visible shaken. “THAT WITCH?” Twilight gawked. “Of course, you’d still worship her like the God-Queen she makes herself out to be,” scoffed Twilight’s counterpart, “Even after all the blood on her hooves, both back on Equis and on Earth you’re still her precious little student who can’t see past what she has done to us all.” “Okay, Time out! Time out!” Rainbow Dash gestured a T symbol with her forehooves before pointing at the alicorn, “Look, clearly you haven’t been listening to us when we said that we are from another version of Equestria! Whatever happened in your world, didn’t happen to us! So why don’t you just tell us what happened to your world and then we can compare notes!” Twilight’s counterpart gave a bemused look before replying, “Very well. I shall humour you with my story.” She took a deep breath and continued, “Several years ago, Celestia took it upon herself to bring the entire continent of Equestria into another planet called Earth. When we arrived, we found that the planet was already populated by another sentient species of bipeds called humans.” “Wasn’t that the same species you told us about in the mirror?” Applejack whispered to Twilight to which the latter nodded. “A mirror?” “…We’ll tell you later,” Twilight replied sheepishly, “So you were in a world of humans?” The other Twilight closed her eyes and sighed as her voice croaked, “We never should have been there. Earth, Humanity, they were on a brink of war against each other when we arrived. We could have mediated peace or even just stood on the sidelines as they were about to destroy each other.” The three widened their eyes in disbelief when they heard that. “But no, she wouldn’t accept any of that,” the bed-ridden mare continued with renewed venom in her voice, “To her Humanity was a blight; an affront to harmony and friendship. And so, she thought of a “Brilliant” idea of converting the humans into ponies to have them all follow the mindset of Harmony. All for the betterment of both species and create a New Equestria!” Her words hung in the air as she paused for a moment to calm herself down. The alicorn took a deep breath before she continued with melancholy this time, “Not all ponies were on board with this idea: Lyra Heartstrings, Flash Sentry, Moondancer, Carrot Top, Derpy Hooves, Braeburn,” she stopped for a minute before gulping the bile in her throat as regret was made clear in her voice, “Fluttershy. They all denounced the Princess’ plan to “Help” Humanity and called it wrong. “Soon after we succeeded our first conversion and the humans got wind of it, every nation on Earth declared us as hostile. When war was finally declared, everypony who even had a sliver of sympathy for humanity took the first boat out of Equestria and aid the humans in any way they could. Fluttershy especially. They were right of course. We called them traitors and cowards, but they were right all along.” Tear began to flow from her eyes as her voice croaked from the memory, “For Fifteen years, they were right about Celestia! They saw what she was while the rest of us blindly followed her, never realising we became the very monsters we swore to defeat. Our blind faith in her killed my brother, my parents, Luna, Cadence, Flurry Heart, Pinkie, Rarity. It destroyed Ponyville, The Crystal Empire, Equestria, our nation, our identity, our friendship! All for a stupid lie!” Applejack stepped forward, giving the grieving mare a brush on the mane with her hoof and smile sympathetically. “What lie, Sugarcube?” Twilight’s counterpart sniffled as she wiped some of her tears off, “We didn’t come to Earth as liberators; we came as conquerors. Our world’s sun was dying and only she knew that. So, taking a chance for the survival of Ponykind, she teleported the Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire to a new planet. And when we arrived, she wanted all humanity to convert to our way of Harmony by any means necessary. By force if needs be. No compromise, no negotiations, just convert or face extermination.” Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was Celestia they were talking about. Celestia; the wisest and most benevolent being she knew. Not cold, not cruel, and never xenophobic. “That can’t be… The Princess did all that? She is the most caring creature we’ve ever known! She wouldn’t… She couldn’t have done those things!” Her counterpart scoffed, “Naïve! I too thought the same until the day I negotiated our surrender to the Humans.” She looked to her ghosts whose pupils shrank to pinpricks at the mention of surrender. “Ask yourselves this; how many creatures did you think we left on Equis when we arrived on Earth?” A moment of silence. It took a while for Twilight to process what her counterpart implied, then it hit her as she gasped, “No. She didn’t. She couldn’t have! “CELESTIA LEFT THEM TO DIE!?” All eyes turned to Rainbow Dash who was enraged, “All of them?! The Dragons?! The Griffons?! Zecora?!” Tears welled on her eyes as her voice croaked, “Gilda?” The bedridden mare hung her head low, “Yes. All of them. They were left behind.” “Monstrous,” was all that Twilight could say, “That is just monstrous.” She turned to her counterpart who shared her expression of pity, “Your image of her must have shattered when you found out the truth. I can’t even imagine what it is like to find out when the pony whom you look up to all your life would do such a thing. I promise you this, I will never let that happen in my Equestria.” Her counterpart raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean you won’t let that happen? Didn’t it already happen in your world?” “Um, hello?” Rainbow jumped in (literally) and waved a hoof to the alicorn’s face, “Equestria to Twilight, weren’t you listening? We are from another version of your world. None of that happened in ours.” The mare’s eyes widened, “It… It didn’t?” “Um yeah, our egghead here has even been to the Human World several times through Starswirl’s mirror portal.” The pegasus pointed at Twilight, “Not to mention she was given this sweet gadget to travel to other versions of Equestria.” Twilight’s counterpart’s jaw dropped. She then reclined back to her bed and gave a weak laugh, “Twenty Years ago I would have bombarded you with endless questions. Now, I can’t help but laugh at the circumstances.” Tears trickled down her face as she continued, “To think my world drew the short straw which led me to this road. A road where I lost everything. And yet here you are, a version of me who had the privilege of keeping everything you love intact. A world where you still have your friends together.” “Why’s that?” Applejack asked after piecing together the mare’s confession, “Ah know ya mentioned that ya’ll lost Rares and Pinkie, and that Fluttershy joined the humans; but what about us?” The weary alicorn gulped bitterly as she looked at her two friends’ doppelgangers, “Would you truly like to know?” There was a hesitation from the three of them. Twilight broke that moment with a question, “What happened to them?” She winced as tears flowed freely once more, “After we lost the war, the two of you denounced me and joined a terrorist organisation led by Agent Sweetie Drops. Their purpose was to liberate Equestria from the taint of humanity through acts of terror. They killed humans and ponies alike, even tried to assassinate me on a few occasions.” She turned to them and saw the shock in their faces. They couldn’t believe it. Taking their silence as a cue, she turned away and continued, “In the end, we cornered them to a mountain cave where their last stronghold was. “We offered them surrender, but they refused like always. And by my order, they…” She stuttered, “They…” She swallowed it in, “They…” The dam broke. She looked back to the two, openly weeping and leaned to her side, begging to receive their hugs; to which they gave. “Forgive me! I ordered your deaths, please forgive me!” Her wails were too much for the three of them and they all joined in her sorrow. “It ain’t your fault, Twi!” Applejack sobbed in her embrace, “It ain’t your fault. There was nothing you could have done!” “They were not your friends, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash spoke softly as she caressed her mane as she wept, “They died the moment they left you in the dust. No Element of Loyalty would have left her friend to deal with all the problems of the world on her shoulders, and no Element of Honesty would hide from the truth of what happened.” The alicorn continued her wails of grief as she poured out decades of sorrow. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” she continued her mantra of apologies as she wept her heart out. Twilight stood there crying but had no words to say to her counterpart. She knew nothing she could say to her would bring her comfort, but left Rainbow and Applejack to her, knowing that only they could console her torment. After a while, the mares calmed from their tears as each shared stories of what happened to their respective worlds. “So let me get this straight; you started a school of Friendship, became headmare of the school, retired and passed on all responsibilities to your First Pupil, to become Ruler of Equestria?” “Yeah, pretty much.” “If only I could have the luxury to do any of that. After the war, I spent decades trying to fix what was left of our peoples, both humans and ponies within Equestria.” “I still can’t believe that Flash Sentry guy hit you and had the gall to show up decades later!” “Well, at least ya still got Spike. Though I feel mighty sorry for the little feller, bein’ the only dragon left. Ah can’t even begin to imagine how that felt for him.” It was then a familiar beeping noise rang out, indicating that the time was slowly ending. “I’m afraid we have run out of time, Princess,” Twilight gave her a reassuring smile, “Maybe I’ll visit you again in the future and we can have more chances to share our stories.” A sad expression came to the mare on the bed as she turned away from the group. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, your highness. I have been diagnosed with an incurable disease, and I don’t have long to live. In fact, I will not live to see tomorrow.” The three of them gasped and before they could protest, she stopped them, “This is my payment for all the suffering I’ve done. For my involvement with the creation of the “Newfoals”, this is my atonement. I have accepted my fate. Please don’t make me regret my decision to accept my last act of contrition.” She gave them a sad smile and observed the landscape around them. “This place,” she gazed at the tree her bed sat next to, “You said it had a name?” “H-his meeting place,” Twilight stammered, holding back tears. Her counterpart did a double take and gave a pained yet hearty laugh. “If Feathershy could see me now. Maybe this is what I’ll see on the other side,” she mused to herself. She turned at Twilight, “Do you have a pen and paper? Or do you still use ink, quill and parchments?” Twilight smiled as she opened her saddlebag and passed her the parchment and quill. Her counterpart quickly wrote down a letter, rolled and sealed it before returning them to Twilight. “Please pass these on to your Celestia. I think she might find it useful. She might even find a way to answer some questions I never got to ask my Celestia.” Twilight held the scroll tight with her forehooves, “I promise.” What happened to her was just unfair, but I am glad we came to her in her final moments. Her counterpart gave a gentle smile as she turned to their friends, “Rainbow, never forget to be awesome, alright? Applejack, stay close to your family, never let them go no matter what.” “(Sniff) You don’t have to tell me that, Egghead. And you didn’t have to make me all sappy!” “Will do Twi! In another life, maybe we’ll be friends again.” Twilight and the alicorn shared a glance and gave each other a reassuring smile. “I promise you, princess! I’ll make sure Equestria never falls!” Twilight opened her eyes and turned to Spike as the young dragon sat there, holding her hoof as gently as he could. “S-S-Spike?” “Yes?” he asked, holding her hoof. “... do you think... they can ever... forgive me?” He was silent for a bit before a small smile appeared on his lips. He gently picked up her light body and took her to the windows. The stunned look on her face made his smile increase. Below them, spanning all over Canterlot were lit candles. Human. Pony. Both races who held in vigil for one mare. One mare who did everything she could to make up years of misery and death. One mare who gave so many their humanity back. One mare who had given Equestria a second chance. A row of mourners who were there to light Twilight’s soul beyond whatever lay after death. Be it heaven or nothing, she would die surrounded in a city that loved her. Tears dripped down from her eyes as she wept into his shoulder. He gently took her back to her bed and helped her lay on it, covering her with the sheets. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Twilight smiled one last time as she slowly closed her eyes to fall into another deep sleep. “I’m ready...” These were the last words she ever spoke to Spike. An hour later, she passed away. She hadn’t looked so peaceful in years.