//------------------------------// // Derision // Story: Shards of Hatred // by ChaoticHarmony //------------------------------// ---- Shards of Hatred ---- ---- Chapter IX: Derision ---- Twilight Sparkle slowly trotted down the street, her hooves clicking in the oppressive silence that she proved instrumental in forming. Her ears jerked upwards as the sound of a window shutter snapping closed, her horn following the sound and shooting a jet of blackish-green light into the wood. The jet of pure hatred shot straight through the wood and into the sky above, invisible against the black blanket of the nighttime sky. She smiled a smile that contained no warmth; a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, which were like chips of emerald-colored ice. The street was abandoned, just like she wanted it to be. Yes, show them fear. Show them what happens when you dare oppose hatred. The voice from before whispered in her mind, venom hissing from its every word as they each lifted from its lips of crystal and stone. Instill in their hearts what it really means to be afraid, Twilight Sparkle. She didn’t resist the voice’s call anymore, only embraced its hate-filled words. An unfortunate barrel clattered to the ground only to be obliterated by another blast of magic from her horn. Oh come now, Twilight, surely you can do better than dusty old barrels. “I already have.” Her voice matched her smile, cold and without any emotion. “That’s the reason the streets are cleared now.” A thrill of excitement rushed through her as she thought about the fear in the stallion’s voice as he was about to be crushed, the way he begged to be spared. “I never thought that a single death would send everypony inside like this.” Why not go make a house call? The voice’s push was strong, like iron arms pushing her to its will. Even though she was a servant of the voice, she still had a mind of her own. “No, I have a better plan.” Twilight smiled as she sensed the voice’s reluctant curiosity. “I’ll assume that the silence means you’re interested.” As if some invisible force was pushing down on her, Twilight found herself on her knees with black dots swimming across her eyes. “Why… enter the buildings… when they have to… step out eventually.” The pressure relaxed only slightly enough for Twilight to catch her breath, leaving her hunched down and with strained muscles that struggled to make her stand despite the immovable weight that pressed down on her back. “What better way to instill fear than to walk the streets that they so badly wish to enter?” Yes, a good plan. You may proceed. Twilight found herself able to stand again, the pain suddenly lifted from her body as if it had never existed. Her ears perked up again as the sound of hooves on tiles sounded out above her. Jerking her head around, she cast her gaze skyward in search of her newest victim that had the audacity to cross her path. Her horn glowed with a dangerous light as her eyes darted back and forth across her field of vision before finally settling back onto the streets themselves, where an unfortunate rat had decided at that moment to make a dash for the other side of the street. It never made it all the way across. Luna pulled the hoof from her mouth, allowing her breath to slowly leak out of her lungs and back into the air. We are relieved that the agent did not see us. Edging back to the end of the roof, Luna peaked out to see Twilight Sparkle, her sister’s student of all things, obliterating a tiny animal that let out a pitiful squeal as it died. Part of Luna wanted to leap down upon the shadow’s tool, but her sister’s words before their magical connection was severed stilled her eagerness to be rid of the evil that emanated from the mare. As if their connection was still whole, the words floated up again as clear as they were the first time. Luna, do not approach her. I will deal with this. Alone. Luna shuddered violently as a wind gusted over her, but not from the cold. The magical telepathy spell did more than just transfer the words a pony wishes to tell; it also transfers emotions and pain. When Celestia had said those words to her, she could feel shock and anger, as well as an icy coldness that was as hard as crystal. Luna cast her gaze to the sky, the many different stars that dotted its surface bringing her no joy on this night. Digging her hooves into the roof tiles, the princess of the night cast herself into the air, silently following Twilight Sparkle as the mare trotted down another street. As she flew, Luna could hear another squeal from some unfortunate animal erupting from where Twilight had just gone. It is only a matter of time until she finds something that is not just a rat. Oh Tia, please hurry. Suddenly the air around her burned with the smell of fire, her night being beaten away by an intense light of gold from overhead. Luna looked up to the nearly blinding light and saw the form of her sister shadowed against it. “T-“ She shoved a hoof against her mouth as she called out to her sister, silencing the relieved cry that was directed to a pony who was most certainly not her Tia. The alicorn who was burning away her night had a look of the utmost fury and rage, yet at the same time seemed utterly calm. A face that Luna had seen only one time before, during the time of Discord’s rule. A face that even the troublesome god of Chaos had feared to see. It was the face of the sun’s wrath. “Twilight Sparkle!” “Twilight Sparkle!” She floated there, encased in the warm embrace of her magic that flowed with eons of power behind it. Below her stood her most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, looking up at her with an expression of bemusement and spite that Celestia had never seen on the studious mare’s face before. As she slowly descended to the street, the goddess noticed something that sent a thrill of shock coursing through her body. Twilight’s eyes were emerald green and filled with hatred, along with trails of black clouds leaking out of them. She is far gone. How could this have happened to her? She only had a split-second’s notice before a bolt of light split the air right where she had been before, singeing her feathers as she only just avoided the spell. “Hello, Princess.” Celestia had heard many voices in her time, from gruff to coarse to even sandy, but the only word that she could use to describe the way Twilight said her title was hissing. “It’s so nice to see you again.” On the word see, Celestia was forced to dodge another magical attack, this one whizzing past one of her hooves. “I was wondering when I’d get to talk to you again.” The princess created a golden shield of magic as her hooves touched the cobblestones, the field of power shuddering from the force of the third blow. “Twilight Sparkle, cease this madness at once!” Celestia threw the words at the mare, trying her best to keep from retaliating with attacks of her own. “You know that this is not you!” The princess stepped forward only to be driven back by a few more bolts of light. “For the love of Equestria think about how your friends are feeling right now!” “Oh please, Celestia, spare me the ‘it isn’t you’ manure, we both know that this is me.” Twilight trotted forward and smiled another of her joyless smiles. “This is the real Twilight Sparkle, with no inhibitions as to the ‘friendship’ that you spout so pointlessly.” The shards of icy anger that had been slowly thawing out in the face of challenging her beloved Twilight in a duel began to freeze over once again. “I don’t care about any of them anymore.” “What about Spike?” Celestia’s voice broke as she threw the words desperately at the student she wished wasn’t lost. “How could you leave him out like that? Alone and co-“ “Don’t you talk about Spike.” Twilight’s voice grew, if possible, even colder. “Don’t you dare mention his name.” Despite the anger in her pupil’s voice, Celestia felt a single, brief thread of hope pass through her as she recognized the reluctance that was concealed by the cracked sheet of hatred. “I hate him too, end of story.” “No, Twilight, you don’t hate him.” Celestia dropped the magical shield and reached out to her student with a shaking hoof. “You love him, just like you love the rest of your friends.” “Can you hear yourself right now?” Twilight smacked away the hoof with contempt and snorted. “Here we are, about to rip each other’s throats out, and all you want to talk about is love?” The green eyes narrowed viciously as Twilight’s voice became slicked with dripping venom. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were anything but a fool, Celestia.” “How did this happen to you, Twilight?” The lavender pony shook her head and let out another snort. “Nothing happened, Celestia, I have always been this. This is just me, free of all the restraints of love and friendship.” The words friendship and love were so distorted with contempt and disparity that it was hard to believe that they were even said in Equestrian. “Twilight, please, listen to me. We can go back to the castle together, we can fix you.” Celestia took another tentative step forward. “We can go see Spi-“ “I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY HIS NAME!” Celestia found herself smashed flat against a wall by an explosion of green-black magic. For a few seconds, neither of them moved, emerald eyes locked with gold. Then, Celestia’s horn glowed with a brightness similar to the sun as she teleported out from underneath the intense weight of the pressing spell. Princess Celestia opened her eyes to see her once-kind student rubbing her hooves into her eyes. “All right, Twilight Sparkle.” She banished the voice of emotion from her mind, the voice that screamed for her not to do what she was about to do. “Since you refuse to stop in your actions, I must stop you myself, such as my duty as Princess of Equestria demands of me.” Taking in a deep breath, Celestia lowered her horn and sent a bolt of superheated light speeding towards the still-stunned mare. Forgive me, my most faithful student.