//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: Revelation // Story: Forgotten Bygones // by Catpaw616 //------------------------------// "Death?" Starlight gasped at the words. She stared at Twilight, who had a wide smile on her face. "How else do you get rid of pests?" Twilight rolled her eyes. She turned to Starlight. "I've given you a chance to live. But I guess you love making things worse for yourself." Starlight stared at her, completely dumbfounded. Was this the same pony that had forgiven her? The same pony who had mentored her? Even if she was under a spell, she sounded almost as horrible as Chrysalis. Or even worse... "You... you can't be serious?" Trixie quivered. Her eyes were wide and her pupils shrank. "You're bluffing!" Twilight stared at Trixie while she smiled. Her eyes gleamed with happiness and pride. Starlight couldn't believe what she was seeing. Twilight was enjoying this. "You're insane!" Discord gasped in disbelief. "How would you ever forgive yourself if you killed us?" Twilight started to chuckle. "Why should I care?" "B-B-B-Because you are literally going to commit a murder! What would Celestia and Luna think about that?" Trixie told her in complete shock. Twilight scoffed. "All of you are stupid if you think that I'll let those two scare me. They won't be angry. In fact, they would rejoice at the fact that I eliminated three traitors." "Wow. Just when I thought you couldn't be more braindead." Discord huffed. "Besides, how would you know what they think? You never killed a criminal before." But Twilight shrugged. "I couldn't care less. And honestly, I only care more about her suffering than Celestia and Luna. That's my true intention." she said with a sneer. All of their ears perked up, immediately catching on to what she just said. "What did you just say?" Discord asked in a soft, but menacing tone. Twilight smiled even wider. Her eyes sparkled with sadistic amusement. "Oops." Twilight said as she feigned a gasp. "A slip of the tongue." Suddenly, Starlight got in front of the two. Her horn had glowed brightly. "Who's her?" she demanded. Twilight simply laughed for a few moments. Until finally she spoke. "Why, you're dear friend Twilight, of course." After hearing the words, the three took a step back in shock, clearly shocked by what she just said. "You're not Twilight?!" Starlight demanded, although her voice sounded like she was in disbelief. The alicorn now laughed even harder. "You fools! Did you seriously not expect it? You didn't expect the uncharacteristics?" Trixie's legs were now starting to shake a little. "B-B-B-But it was because we thought the spell said that as time goes by, ponies who are infected get more hostile—" "That applies to all the infected ponies. Except Twilight Sparkle." The alicorn said. "Her case is different." "How?" Discord asked her, completely shocked. "The spell that she had was gone but—" "But it wasn't gone completely." The alicorn pointed out. Then she smiled once again. "The spell was still inside her, although it wasn't much. But it only got stronger all because of a little friend named guilt." "Guilt?" Trixie tilted her head. The alicorn nodded. "The fool felt bad about releasing me into the open world. Felt bad about me controlling your friends. In her mind, I kept persuading her that she 'deserved to suffer again'. But she was stubborn as always. Soon, push came to shove, and I eventually, I forced her to do it." The three looked dumbfounded at the alicorn, trying to take in what she said. "So Twilight never wanted to cast the spell in the first place." Starlight muttered. "Were you controlling all of them the whole time?" Discord snarled at the alicorn. The alicorn shook her head. "The mind-control is generic. But if one felt guilty for their actions, my power becomes stronger on that creature. To the point where I can even control them!" Trixie and Discord narrowed their eyes. Meanwhile, Starlight couldn't take in all the information. She leapt onto Twilight and they both rolled on the floor, until Starlight had pinned her to the ground. Her horn then started lighting brightly. "Get out of my friend's body. Now." She threatened. But Twilight kicked her off, and blasted a beam at her face. Starlight gasped in pain and she stumbled backwards. "Starlight!" Trixie and Discord rushed over to Starlight's side, and immediately scanned her face. "Yes, suffer." Twilight now started laughing. "Suffer just like her!" After they were done, the three gave Twilight the death glare. Twilight stomped her hoof. "Ok, with that out of the way, now onto my favorite part. Killing!" she said happily. "Isn't it so exciting? Seeing your friends die and do absolutely nothing—" "Like Tartaruas you like!" Discord snarled. Without a warning, Discord leapt at the alicorn and raked her cheek with his claw. But once he clawed her, she teleported away. She reappeared at the other side of the room, wiping the blood off her cheek. She faced the three with a glare. "Oh now you've done it!" Twilight's horn brightened, and in a few seconds, they saw a flame ignite on one of the books. Then the other, and the other. Then eventually, the flicker turned into a flame. Since it happened on every shelf in the room, the room was on fire. The three looked around the room in alarm. Meanwhile Twilight simply laughed. "Fools! You should've stayed in the dungeon. Now you shall be burned alive by the flames." She laughed at them. Just then, Starlight sparked an idea in her mind. And if it worked out, the idea would save Twilight for good. Starlight turned to the princess. "Don't think you have escaped us yet." Starlight told her confidently. Twilight chuckled "How so?" "You know what I did in the past, right? Back when I became a dictator?" Starlight asked her. "Uh.... Starlight?" Trixie looked confused at Starlight. Discord had the same expression. "Of course I know what you did. You stole the cutie marks off of ponies and you ran a cult." Twilight rolled her eyes. "But what does that to do with me 'not escaping?'" Starlight smiled curtly. "You explained it yourself." Before Twilight could react, Starlight activated her horn and launched a familiar-looking beam at Twilight. While she was in the beam's aura, she cried in pain when she felt her cutie mark taken off. "What are you doing?!" Twilight screamed. "Without your cutie mark, you can't use magic. Meaning you will be useless." Starlight explained to her. And she couldn't help but smile. "It's funny how the tables have turned. You are in our mercy." "Um, as much as I love to sit around and chat, I am inhaling smoke as we speak. So can we please get out of here?" "I got her Cutie Mark." Starlight told him. "And the pony." She said as she grabbed a very weak Twilight. "What do we do with her now that her magic is gone?" Trixie asked her friend, now starting to cough. "Whenever she wakes up, we punch her in the head. Until the spell completely goes away. Starlight told the three. She now looked at the defeated, cute-markless alicorn. "I guess it is a fitting punishment." Starlight said, echoing her Twilight's from earlier. As the flames got closer, the group had teleported away. After the Twilight fiasco, Starlight and the rest of the group teleported back to the castle, and laid Twilight in her bed. "You got her cutie mark?" Trixie asked Starlight. Starlight nodded. "I will keep hidden at all times, until she is completely free from the spell." "How long will that take? And how will we even know?" Discord asked her. Starlight sighed."I don't know." she told them. Starlight looked at the unconscious Twilight that lay in bed. She suddenly felt bad for Twilight. Who knows what she went through? The voice convincing her to cast the spell again; seeing her three friends get punished, mocked in the dungeon, and almost had to go through the three of them getting killed. Soon, her sadness turned into anger. "This spell is a curse. A stupid, dangerous curse that no one should be allowed to go near." Starlight muttered. And she also couldn't help but insult the person who wrote the spell. Whoever wrote this spell, I hope you got what was coming to you.