Ripples

by BronyWriter


Twilight

Keep walking.

One hoof in front of the other.

Go back home.

She's still alive, even if Rarity is not.

No more friendship reports.

No more meetings with Celestia.

No more Elements of Harmony.

Nothing.

Twilight Sparkle trudged back to her library home, a sleeping Spike balanced on her back. It was good that he was asleep. He could be happy in his dreams. Sleep would protect him from the horrors that life had dumped on him out of the blue. He loved Rarity, and now she had been taken from him forever.

Twilight reached the library and slowly pushed the door open with her magic. It was time for bed. Sleep would also ease her pain. Rarity would still be dead in the morning. She would still be banished from Canterlot and no longer the protégé of the princess, but sleep could be a brief respite from those sorrows.

Twilight fired up her horn and gently lifted Spike off of her back. She placed him in his basket, and tucked his blanket over him. She leaned in and kissed him on the head as he nuzzled his pillow close. She hoped that his dreams were bringing him joy. Luna would not be so cruel as to give him nightmares about Rarity now.

The purple unicorn sighed and trotted down the stairs to her writing desk. She had been here when they came for her, dozing off as she was writing an essay for Celestia about... huh, she didn't even remember what it had been about. The parchment was still sitting on the desk, but Twilight didn't bother looking at it. She encased the paper in her magic, and with a simple spell she turned it to ash.

The unicorn sat down on the stool in front of the desk and laid her head on it. In truth, even after all that had happened she still wanted to write Celestia, to ask for her help through this dark time. The sun goddess had always been there, had always been there to dry her tears or provide a solid rock for her.

Now that was gone forever.

She considered that now would be a good time to drag herself back to her bed, to join Spike in sleep in the vain hope that the morning's sun would be brighter that it had been the day before. Maybe she would wake up and discover that it had all been a dream, and that she...

If it was all a dream then Rarity was still an at-large serial killer. If it was a dream Twilight was faced with a conundrum, having now seen her fate should she not turn Rarity in. If she woke up to Rarity knocking on the door, as vibrant and full of life as she had been before Celestia put her down, should she turn her in?

Should she have done that from the beginning?

As she thought on she began to understand that... yes, she should have. As many as nine more ponies had died since they hit Rarity with the Elements. A sob escaped her lips and she raised her hooves to put her head in them, but she had to hold back a scream when her eyes landed on them. They were covered with blood!

With a whimper she fell back off of her chair. She quickly picked herself up and ran towards the sink in the bathroom. She turned the water on with her magic and began scrubbing them off. "No," she whimpered, "I... I'm sorry! I just wanted to help her!"

Despite her best efforts, the blood did not come off. It stayed there and Twilight wondered if it would not be a permanent stain on her. She hoped that she could hide it if it was.

It wasn't coming off! It wasn't going away!

With another whimper, Twilight fired up her horn and shot a cleansing spell at her front hooves. She flinched in pain as the top layer of her hooves was literally disintegrated, but the blood remained as bright red on her hooves as it had ever been. She bit her tongue as hot tears dripped from her face. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I thought I had cured her! I thought she wouldn't hurt anypony anymore!"

She looked down at her hooves again and, to her surprise, she saw that each tear that dripped on to them dulled the red and began washing off the blood. She gasped in surprise and began rubbing her tears into her hooves. "I-Is that what you want?" she whispered. "I'm sorry! I'd do it differently if I could go back! I'd make it so that you wouldn't have to have die! I'd turn her in and..."

Her eyes widened as she realized what she was saying. "I'd let her die." She wiped her eyes with her foreleg and collapsed onto her haunches. "I'd tell Celestia and let her die."

The purple unicorn let out a whimper of pain and began sobbing quietly. She laid on her side and curled up into a ball on the floor, crying her eyes out. "I'm a bad pony!" she cried. "I just didn't want her to die! I'm just as bad as she was!" Twilight whimpered and slammed her hoof on the floor. "I'm sorry, Rarity! I just didn't want you to die!" She wiped her eyes again and subtly shook her head. "I'm so selfish."

And so Twilight continued sobbing on the floor until sleep overcame her, and she began dreaming.

* * * *

Twilight awoke some time later to the sound of birds chirping and the sight of Celestia's sun coming over the horizon. She lifted her head off of the floor and blinked away the traces of dried tears that clung to the fur underneath her eye. The unicorn took a deep breath and with a great deal of effort she pushed herself off of the floor. She lifted up one of her hooves and examined it. It was still a little sore from her spell, but the blood seemed to be gone.

Twilight shook her head and exited the bathroom. The first thing that she noticed was that Spike still seemed to be asleep. Yes, it would be best to just let him sleep in as late as he wanted. Let him avoid the pain for as long as possible.

On a whim Twilight trotted back over to her desk. Despite everything, Twilight still wanted to write Celestia, to apologize if she could. Maybe Celestia would show her mercy and things could start to go back to the way they were before all of this badness had fallen over Equestria. Twilight sighed and levitated a quill, ink, and parchment over to her, and began writing.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go like it did. I thought that the Elements would help her, I really did! I know now that what I did was wrong. I should have turned her in and... and let you serve justice once I knew what she was doing. I'm sorry that I killed nine ponies. I'm sorry that I was such a failure! I'm sorry that I made you so mad, I wish that I could take it all back, I really do! Please don't be mad at me anymore, I'm sorry!

Twilight groaned and incinerated the letter. "No, she hates me now," Twilight sobbed. "She hates me just as much as she hated Rarity."

No. Maybe if she put it differently she could make it so that Celestia didn't hate her anymore.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I know you hate me. I know that I deserve it. I just want to to be like it was before, but I didn't want her to die! She was my friend! I know that what I did was wrong, and I'll accept my punishment. I just don't want you to hate me anymore, even though I know that you do.

A fresh wave of tears began dripping onto the parchment, smearing a few of the words. Twilight's legs began shaking as her sorrow took the strength out of them. It seemed as if the weight of everything crashed down on her at once, and she felt alone.

"Spike," she whimpered. "I..."

Twilight began hyperventilating and she once again collapsed onto her haunches. "Spike! Spike!" she wailed. "Spike!

The baby dragon shot out of bed and ran towards his adoptive mother. "What is it, Twilight?" he said wildly.

Twilight began sobbing and wrapped Spike into a tight hug. She almost revealed her weakness to him, but a realization hit her that what Spike needed from her was not weakness, but immense strength to get him through this time. He was still a baby dragon who did not fully understand what had happened yet. She nuzzled the dragon and took a deep breath. "I... I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," she lied. "I know how much you loved her."

At the mention of his dead love, Spike's eyes began filling with tears and he began crying into Twilight's shoulder.

And so the two held each other, pouring out their sorrow while similarly providing each other with strength.