//------------------------------// // Tomorrow [Drama, Dark] // Story: Half-Hour Horses // by HoofAndQuill //------------------------------// (The Prompt: I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to break you.) Twilight Sparkle looked up at the gleaming, white brilliance of Canterlot Castle. There on the balcony stood Princess Celestia, as well she should, though she looked older, and more worn than Twilight remembered. She was smiling beatifically down at the assembled throng of ponies below her, though even from this distance Twilight could see a hint of regret and weariness in the Princess' face. The others next to the Princess is what was wrong about all this. Sunset Shimmer, or 'Princess Sunset Shimmer', as much as it galled Twilight to even think that name with that title, stood there smiling warmly at her new subjects. Next to the two princesses stood the Grand Vizier, Discord, and Twilight's own brother, Shining Armor. It was wrong. It was all wrong. Shining Armor stood beside his wife as she was crowned the new regent of Equestria. Twilight grit her teeth. She remembered the wedding, a grand event in Canterlot Castle, over a year ago now. She remembered attending and being happy for Shining's ascent to the royal family, and she remembered being impressed that the new Princess even remembered her name. But it wasn't supposed to be that way. It was supposed to have been Cadance, and it was supposed to be ruined by the Queen of the Changelings. A hush fell over the crowd as Sunset Shimmer began to speak. Twilight Sparkled intentionally blocked it out, not wanting to hear another speech from the impostor. Nopony else remembered. None of the castle guards recognized her, and Shining Armor didn't even want to see her after she had tried to convince him a few days ago. Now Sunset Shimmer was taking over Celestia's rule. She was out of time for doing this the right way. Twilight took another look upwards, at the sole two princesses in Equestria. She took a long look at Princess Celestia's face, before she turned and walked away from the castle. -- Her room disappeared, and then another came rushing back. Twilight winced a little at the unexpected drain on her magic, and then opened her eyes to look around. Perfect aim, this was Princess Luna's room. Or it would be, if the Elements of Harmony hadn't killed her along with Nightmare Moon, years ago. Twilight shook her head quickly, and then rubbed her sore horn with her hoof. She missed being an alicorn. But she couldn't get caught up in this... fake world. She had to remember how things were supposed to be. She took a few steps forward, and then froze as the room filled with light. Sunset Shimmer stood there, wings outstretched and her horn alight, appearing just in front of the only door out of the room. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I thought I felt you teleporting in." She had to fight back the urge to just tackle the Princess. She managed, barely. "Sunset Shimmer! What did you do? What is going on here? Why does nopony-" "Remember you? Remember the glorious Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Sunset Shimmer's voice dropped, becoming thick with contempt. "Why would they? You're a nobody here. You're not a princess, you're not even a mage. Look at your cutie mark, Twilight, you're a librarian. Just some worthless little pony that nopony else even thinks about. Just as it should be." The urge to leap at the princess won out. Twilight jumped forward in a sudden fit of anger, only to be thrown back with a blast of Sunset's magic. The room suddenly smelled of burnt fur, and Twilight's side felt hot and painful. She stood shakily. "Fix this! This isn't how it's supposed to be, Sunset Shimmer! You killed Princess Luna! The Crystal Empire is at war with Equestria, and you MARRIED MY BROTHER!" Sunset Shimmer straightened up, standing at her full height and looking down at the smaller unicorn. "That's right. It's all exactly like it's supposed to be. Princess Celestia's power is all mine, Luna is out of the way, and after today, Equestria is mine, too. And there's nothing you can do about it. Did you really think I was just going to stay in that stupid school forever?" Twilight lit her horn, and then winced again, as the magic flickered and faded away. Sunset Shimmer's malicious grin only grew. "Aw, little unicorn not as good as she used to be? Face it, Twilight. You're not the Element of Magic anymore, your friends don't know who you are, and..." Sunset Shimmer leaned in close, and Twilight shied away from the heat from the Princess's horn. "I. Won." "You... you can't win." Twilight Sparkle still backed away a few steps, and tried to teleport, only for her diminished magic to keep her right where she was. "What are you going to do? Have me executed like... like Prince Blueblood?" Sunset's horn glowed more brightly for a moment, but then she stood up again, and shook her head, her grin settling into a cold smile. "No, Twilight. I'm not. I'm not even going to call the guards. I'm just going to send you back home. Back home to your parents' house, where you can live out the rest of your stupid, meaningless life. You don't have any friends anymore, Twilight, you don't have Princess Celestia, and I have Discord wrapped around my hoof. I don't even need to kill you; you've already lost." -- With that, there was another flash, and Twilight Sparkle found herself sitting in her room at home. Posters for Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns hung on all the walls, with the exception of the graduation certificate she used to have. Instead of trophies for her magic competitions, she only had stacks of old books with due dates stamped on the inside covers. Twilight shuddered, and crawled her way into bed, mindful of her bruised and slightly scorched flank. She couldn't... Sunset Shimmer was right about one thing. She couldn't fight her, not like this. Twilight rolled onto her back, and looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling of her foalhood home. She was tempted to do what she'd been doing for the past week now. She could think about her friends in Ponyville, the ones who wouldn't answer her letters. She could think about Princess Celestia and Luna, and Princess Cadance, and how two of them were dead, and the other wouldn't grant her an audience beyond the Sunlight Court that every citizen could attend. She could think... she could think about Spike. But no. No, tonight was the last night. She wasn't going to lay here and cry tonight. She could fix this. She would fix this. Twilight rolled off of the bed, and knocked aside the stack of books on her desk, replacing it with a piece of parchment. She dipped her quill, and titled her new list. Tonight, she would not cry. Tonight, she would plan. Tomorrow, she would start a revolution.