I am going to die... Celestia thought to herself. Death had never been something to cross her mind. After all, she was nearly immortal. What qualms had she with death? But now, Death was very real. In fact, it was floating right in front of her face. How ironic. Death had become her student, somepony she had loved, cared for. But now Death was all this pony was good for.
Twilight hadn’t spoken for a long time, frozen in contemplation. Finally, she spoke, no longer even needing to use her mouth, her thoughts escaping her head with a catastrophic volume that threatened to break anything made of glass within the Archives.
I TRUSTED YOU, YOU KNOW.
“I-.”
UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE NOW, I SUGGEST YOU FIND IT IN YOUR TWISTED, BLACK HEART TO HOLD YOUR LYING TONGUE.
Celestia, not wanting to incite Twilight any further, kept her mouth shut.
I HATE THIS FORM. I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT. I CANNOT CONTROL IT, I CANNOT STOP IT. I CANNOT EVEN CRY. I TRY TO AND NOTHING WILL COME. THE IMAGES OF DEATH, DESTRUCTION, PLAGUE... THEY WILL NOT LEAVE MY BRAIN. THEY DEMAND I VISIT THIS UPON ANYTHING IN MY PATH. I COULD KILL EVERYONE, YOU KNOW. ALL OF THIS LAND, ALL OF THE PONIES THAT LIED TO ME, DECEIVED ME, PURIFIED IN A CASTROPHONY OF FIRE. WHAT SAY YOU TO THAT, PRINCESS?
Twilight practically spat the last word, looking at her mentor with malice that was unmistakable, even without eyes to express her discontent.
Celestia remained silent, her gaze averted away from the weapon, the perfect weapon, that float before her, holding her in place with her magic.
And then there was a pain in her chest. Pain unlike any describable thing. It was as though a hand were squeezing on her heart itself, pumping it; on the verge of destroying it. Celestia cried out in agony and fear, clutching her chest, as though it would stop Twilight’s grip on her rapidly beating heart.
SPEAK!! SPEAK NOW, YOU MISERABLE FOAL, BEFORE I SMITE YOU WHERE YOU STAND!!
“WHAT CAN I SAY THAT WILL MAKE YOU STOP!? WHAT CAN I SAY!? EITHER WAY YOU’LL JUST KILL ME. DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH!? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?” Celestia cried out, choked for breath. Her chest hurt like nothing anypony had ever felt before.
YES. TELL ME WHY YOU LIED. WHY YOU DID THIS TO ME.
“YOU THINK I WANTED THIS FOR YOU!?” Celestia bellowed through tears of agony and misery. “YOU THINK I WANTED TO WATCH THEM TAKE YOU AWAY TO DO AWFUL EXPERIMENTS ON YOU? YOU THINK IT WAS EASY LIVING WITH MYSELF EVERY SINGLE TIME I SAW YOU, ENJOYING YOUR LIFE? KNOWING THAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED, THEY WOULD FORCE ME TO ACTIVATE YOU!?” Celestia could feel herself slipping, her sanity fading away. Her mind could not take this horrid strain, this realization of just how horribly wrong she was to let this happen.
THEN WHY DID YOU LET THEM!?
“I had no choice...” Celestia said, too weak to scream. Too scared to run, and too tired to fight. She had given up, accepting that her life that was supposed to be infinite would soon be coming to a painful end from a pony she had nurtured. Helped to raise. And she had no one to blame but herself.
You always have a choice. You, the ruler of Equestria. You were scared. You feared the possibility of defeat, of death at the hands of the enemy. Didn’t you?
“Yes. I did. I am the ruler of a land that contains many dangerous, unfamiliar beings. An ambassador of peace will always be met with resistance. Certainly you know this better than anyone.”
Suddenly, the grip of Celestia’s heart increased. It began beating, harder and harder, as though it was aware of the inevitable.
You were my teacher. My friend. I trusted you with everything, and it was all a lie. A lie. A LIE. A LIE.
"PLEASE. PLEASE, TWILIGHT, I DON'T WANT TO DIE. NOT HERE, NOT LIKE THIS." Celestia screamed, all of the sanity she had left as frayed and disheveled as Twilight's mane. Tears and snot ran down her face in streams, and Celestia whimpered, the ruler of the free world reduced to nothing more than a child, begging for her very life.
And I didn't want to be a weapon. Twilight said flatly, crushing her teacher’s heart inward without remorse.