Shards of Hatred

by ChaoticHarmony

Imprisonment

“So, what you’re saying is that my sister picked up a piece of Sombra’s crystals after we destroyed him.” Shining Armor was sitting down at the base of the dais, looking up at the pony who sat upon it. Her wings drooped along with her neck and she hardly looked like she was an all-powerful princess in charge of an entire nation. Well, perhaps she did, considering that she only looked like that because of her position as a ruler.

“You did not destroy him, if what Rapid Boots told you is true, which I have every reason to hope it is not but have no reasons to doubt it being so.” Celestia looked up, her face serene but her eyes holding a weariness that Shining Armor would most likely never feel; it was the weariness brought on by millennia of being an apotheosized freak of nature. “You merely banished him into the air, from which he was able to reform with relative swiftness, but otherwise your statement is correct.”

“Banished, destroyed, whatever. The thing is, she got possessed from it and now she’s acting evil and k-kil-killing,” The stallion shuddered violently as the word passed his lips, one he would have never thought to associate with his own sister, “other ponies.”

“Yes, Shining Armor, she is. She very nearly ended my own life as well,” Celestia turned to look at the glass pedestal beside her thrown that contained a light-pink crystal, her own reflection staring back out of the glass surrounding the gem with an accusatory glare. “She would have taken it too, if my sister had not been there to save me.” Another heavy sigh passed through her, echoing slightly against the walls as she tore her gaze away from the reflection-Celestia and gave her attention back to the former Guard Captain. “I suppose I am partially to blame. I was the one who showed Twilight the magic of hatred at first.” At that, the stallion below stood at instant attention.

“Magic of hatred? That doesn’t sound like something I’ve ever heard of before.”

“Not many ponies have, Shining. Myself, Luna, King Sombra and now Twilight are the only ones who know of its existence.” Celestia bowed her head at the halfway-formed-in-his-head-retort that Shining Armor was planning to reply with. “What I mean is, we are the only ones who know what it looks like and how to emulate it.”

“Okay,” Shining paused for a moment, seeming halfway on the verge of asking how it is done, but after thinking better of it switched to a different tact, “so where is Twily? I wanna go try and talk to her. Maybe I can snap her out of it.” A golden aura of magic held him down as he attempted to stand. “What are you doing!?”

“Calm down, Shining Armo-“ Her order was cut short by the sound of the large double doors being slammed open followed by the sounds of five pairs of hooves galloping towards the end of the hall. Celestia lifted the golden shield, now finding herself staring down at six ponies instead of one. “What is it, my little ponies?” Though the words were welcoming, there was a coldness in her voice that wasn’t accidental.

The five ponies who had been standing in shock shook out of it as one, each of their faces making a different mix of fear and awe, a look that Princess Celestia had grown tired of long ago. One of the five, a mare with an orange coat and a blonde mane, stepped forward and bowed slightly before opening her mouth. “Well, Princess Celestia, Ah was— Well Ah suppose we were all wondering if you could take us to Twilight.”

She froze as the words left Applejack’s mouth, words mirrored in every single face that stared (and in one case glared) up at her from below. “I can’t let you see her.”

“Why the hay not?!” Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings as if she wanted to fly right up to the Princess of Equestria and give her a piece of her mind. “Princess.” The pegasus tacked the formality onto the end a tad too late, mostly due to the cold stare that the Princess directed at her.

“Because, Rainbow Dash, she is recovering from a… condition, and she cannot see anypony right now.”

“Well, um, maybe seeing us might… help her, maybe.” The ever-shy Fluttershy squeaked as Celestia directed her stare to her instead.

“Perhaps, but it is not a risk I am willing to take.” She winced at how everypony besides Shining Armor recoiled at the sound of her voice, hating that the mares she had seen as friends now held her over themselves as a ruler instead. However, she told herself that such obedience was necessary at times, especially ones like the present. Despite that, she still dropped the coldness from her voice as she opened her mouth again. “Do not fear, my little ponies, your friend Twilight is in good hooves.”

“And whose hooves are those, exactly?” Shining Armor refused to lower his eyes as Celestia allowed herself to grow cold in a futile attempt to calm the riled-up stallion. When she didn’t answer, took another step forward. “Who did you give my sister to, Celestia?” A round of gasps came from the other ponies in the room, ones that were thoroughly ignored by the ponies to whom they were directed.

“My sister’s hooves, Shining Armor.”

She opened her eyes to a sheet of darkness that covered the room. “Where am I?” The calm words echoed back to her as if they had been turned back by the black wall when they met it. She winced at the underlying feeling of fear that was hidden in the question, hating the fact that she, Twilight Sparkle, was worried by being in the darkness when her heart was already as black as anypony’s could ever be. Who brought me here? In a futile attempt to illuminate the room, Twilight pulsed a small amount of magic into her horn to produce a light spell. Despite her attempts to bring light to her situation, no familiar glow of purple came. Better yet, where is here?

“You are in our domain now, Twilight Sparkle.” The black wall before her twisted and shuddered before coalescing into a pony, complete with both a horn and wings. “We hope that you are comfortable, for you shall remain here until your… er, restoration is complete.” The voice stuttered for a moment as the pony speaking searched for the words she wanted to say, her mixture of old Equestrian and modern speech patterns unmistakable.

“Let me go, Luna.” Twilight’s voice was deadly soft as she tried again to unleash the magic that strained to leave her body to strike at the Princess of the Night. “I will make your death slow and agonizing, just like I was going to do to your pitiful sister.” Her attempts to attack the dark form in the shadows suddenly stopped as a red-hot pain stabbed into her side, producing a scream from her lips that would have curdled the blood of a manticore.

“We are sorry, Twilight Sparkle, but you will find that we are less forgiving than our sister.” A deep blue mane covered in dots of white, star-like flakes flowed in the sudden light that sparked from the tip of the princess’s horn. “It would be best not to anger us.”

“Anger you?” Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at that, the bubbles of hysterical hilarity started in her stomach and poured out through her mouth in waves of laughter stifled only by her need to breathe. “Can you even hear yourself? I don’t want to anger you, Luna.” The sharp, stabbing pain returned, this time on the other side of her body.

“You will address us by our proper title, servant of Sombra.” Luna’s eyes sparked with rage as she advanced on Twilight, bringing the first true thrill of fear to the mare’s mind. “You might not be in your right mind, but you will have manners.” The pain was lifted as the alicorn’s eyes returned to their usually intense glow.

Twilight hung there for a moment, her breathing ragged due to the fading remnants of agony that lingered near the magical wound. “Oh, I should have manners, should I?” She spat on the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain that was surely to come. “I’ll have you and the rest of Equestria bowing to me once Sombra claims your land. If anything, you should address me as your Queen.” She grinned at the Princess whose ears tilted back in anger.

“You should not have said that, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight couldn’t help but let out a laugh, one that soon turned into a scream.