//------------------------------// // Hanging // Story: The Hanging of Twilight Sparkle // by The Pink Mugsy //------------------------------// The morning was a strange time to die. As she emerged from the Palace security wing and into the early light of the day, the chains on her hooves clinking together, Twilight couldn’t help but notice how the Palace had changed from its resplendent atmosphere to one of mourning. From every window and every doorway, small and large banners flew, embroidered with Luna’s cutie mark and solid black otherwise. The guards posted at every corner had armor recolored from its former golden glow to a black void, deeper than even Luna’s night, empty of any decoration save for a bright white star held in the center of every chestplate. Even the carpet had been changed to a much darker tone, seeming to suck in what little light was in the room. Compounding these details was an atmosphere of depression, a stillness in the air that made a pony realize how empty the Palace felt without laughter, without merriment. How vastly inadequate it was to contain a loss so great. As her guards formed around her, and they began the long walk towards her execution, Twilight felt her heart grow heavy with each and every step. As they made their way through the grand archways, she saw, from various doorways and passages, ponies she had grown up knowing, ponies who had taught her and whom she had sometimes taught. From every face, there was a strange, contorted mixture, from souls who did not know what to think. She could imagine their conflict; they had all practically raised her alongside Celestia, had helped take care of her in her foolish moments and congratulate her in the wise ones. She’d spent more than a few days, at Celestia’s urging of course, talking to them about their duties, and what it was that they all knew and did. Back then, she’d thought it a waste of her time, a frivolous drain on energy that could be spent studying and learning. Now, however, she suspected that Celestia had even then been trying to pull out of her the isolationist streak that had manifested. It had worked, after a fashion. Though she had still kept very much to herself, she had grown so much from simply listening to these ponies, as they talked about their daily lives and what they had observed. Celestia had succeeded. Which only made this parting all the more painful. As they walked, little by little, Twilight mulled over the irony of the situation, bitter as it was. Celestia had wanted her to learn the magic of friendship, had wanted her to grow with it, become powerful through the help of her friends. And it had worked. Every day spent with those precious ponies, she’d grown better and better, learning not just about one of the most mysterious magical sources known to ponykind, but also about herself, and what it was that drove her. She’d explored, and thought, and worked with her friends to create some of the most powerful bonds ever, bonds that everypony, including Celestia herself, were sure would help save Equestria. And they had. But, ironically, the same bonds that had been the salvation of this great kingdom had also been its downfall. She had grown so close to her friends… when they had almost been taken away, she had grown desperate, grown panicked, she had reacted blindly with only her love for them to guide her. She had used the power of Friendship… She stopped her musings when they reached a massive set of wooden doors, inlaid with gold and ivory, one of the numerous portals to the outside world. Two of her escorts moved to either side, readying their horns while looking to their leader. This was it, in a few moments, she’d be outside, facing the crowds. Her heart pounded in her chest despite all of her attempts to stay calm. This was it. Up ahead was where she was going to die. Her stomach coiled on itself, lashing out in a desperate attempt to eject food she had not eaten. Her head felt light, she was ready to faint… The pegasus leader gave a small nod to her troops on either side, and the doors were opened. The bright morning light shone down upon the grand lawn normally utilized for events such as concerts and celebrations. To the right, every spot within a hundred feet of the Palace walls was occupied by ponies of various genders and races. Earth ponies stamped their hooves on the ground impatiently while pegasi brought in additional clouds to seat themselves or their friends on, whilst a few unicorns who had dared to brave the outside world huddled in groups, fearful of the recent backlash against them. Also forming small sectors within the crowd, though not as far back as some of the ‘common’ ponies, were the nobles, their noses held high as their aides fought back the various others who were trying to either talk to them or pickpocket them. Portable security towers had been erected in select spots across the field so as to better allow local forces to keep the peace should trouble arise. And in the center of it all, seemingly the focus of the entire crowd, was the royal seating, to hold Princess Celestia alone. Twilight craned her neck to see if she could spot any sign of the Princess, but she discovered nothing save an empty seat and a pair of stoic guards. Twilight swept her head to the left as she moved out of the shadow of the doors and heard them close behind her. There, in front of her, was the platform where she was to be hung. It was a simple thing, not more than a raised platform with a mechanism underneath for releasing a trap door and scaffolding overhead for holding the rope. They’d had to build it new, she noticed; the wood did not look aged a day, and there were still shavings on the steps from where it had obviously been recently sanded down. The crowd finally quieted, as the ponies who had noticed the doors open shushed those who hadn’t. They all looked towards the mare they despised, the mare they had called to death. Twilight heard another door open behind her, and looked to see three lines of Royal Guards moving out of a side passage. Two of those lines formed a corridor to the steps of the platform, while the third moved out in front of the crowd, forming a barrier between them and the action. The same pegasus who had escorted her earlier came out again, this time in the lead of two unicorn guards. She said a few words to them, and with nods of affirmation they made their way to either side of the virtual wall between the crowd and Twilight. Their horns lit up, and in a second a semi-translucent field formed an elongated dome across the entire line, arching up and over to make a bubble against the Palace wall. Twilight wondered whether the force field was to protect her from the crowd, or prevent her from escaping. With a sigh, she began to move forward. Hooves clinking, she started the short yet long trek towards the steps of the platform. As she moved closer to them, a few ponies took the opportunity to jeer at her, to verbally attack her. She watched as these few ponies sparked a few more, and those a few more, until soon the whole front of the crowd was roiling and angry, crying for the chance to reach her. A few made aggressive moves towards her path, but were immediately stopped by a length of spear across their chests, courtesy of one or more of the guards in what was now obviously a crowd-control line. It was only a short distance to the platform, but Twilight died a hundred times over in that brief span. She watched the crowd as she moved; some of these ponies were no more than young fillies or colts, and yet they were spewing such hatred. Even the unicorns, initially afraid of the action around them, had resurged into their roles as angry and hurt ponies, once they realized that the virtue of her being so close pulled attention off of them. Finally, she reached the steps of the platform, and moved the short distance up. She made her way to stand on top of the trapdoor and waited, as the double line of guards that had established her path fell in with their brothers at the front of the crowd and helped them to control a mass that was now at the height of its anger. She watched with a cold knot in her stomach as a guard came onto the platform and threw a piece of rope, already tied with a noose at one end, over the scaffolding and secured the back end onto a nearby post. Her lip trembled as the guard tugged experimentally on the noose, and was rewarded with a crackle of glowing blue magic arcing from one section of the loop to another, briefly revealing the runes that were burned onto the surface of the rope. There was a reason that hanging was considered the worst possible punishment in Equestria. Alone, gravity and mass took their toll much too quickly, and would have been unsuitable for a serious crime. However, with a simple, measured force spell applied to the rope, a hanging that would have otherwise been quick could easily be turned into a drawn-out affair wherein the victim choked, with even the fundamental physical laws unable to grant them mercy. It was true hour-long affairs were never desired, and it was now illegal to extend a pony’s suffering past a certain time, but even so, her death would not be quick. Twilight swallowed hard as she felt the noose slip over her neck and lightly tighten. The action against her throat exploded the icy ball that was resting in her stomach, causing it to strike out in cold, terrified shards that spread and enveloped her body completely. She felt herself begin to hyperventilate. This was it; in seconds, it would begin. Her mind went numb with terror, screaming for her to do something, anything, while it fought against itself to try to understand what exactly it could do. Her trial was over, she was completely surrounded, even the noose around her neck was magically augmented to not only extend her suffering but also prevent her tampering. Another fraction wanted to buy time, to simply speak, to demand to know the exact reasons why this was happening, even if only to prolong her fate. And a small part wanted to simply cry, to ball up and weep, to huddle in Celestia’s hooves one last time… Twilight’s heart went still, and the crowd went silent, as the alabaster monarch approached from above. She flew in without a sound, and yet almost immediately everypony’s eyes went to her, as if they could sense her presence. Sneers and jeers were forgotten as every single pony in the crowd bowed before her, all save Twilight, her neck beholden to the rope around it. All the unicorn could do was reach out with her heart, terrified as it was. The alicorn landed and, without a word, swept her gaze across the crowd. Her face was a mask of neutrality, but her voice held all the power and might of the sun she controlled, carrying across the crowd. “This mare has suffered already. She shall die soon; is that not enough for all of you? If anypony so much as raises their voice against her, I swear by the power of the sun and the body of my sister that they shall be put to death alongside her.” Celestia’s tone dared any and all to challenge her, as she met Twilight’s eyes. “Now, let your retribution begin.” The guard that stood with Twilight on the platform nodded and turned towards her, his eyes unreadable as he approached and asked the question that had been made standard for all executions in Equestria centuries ago. It was another holdover from the olden times, when decisions of conviction had been made in much more informal settings. “Twilight Sparkle, have you any final testament?” Twilight’s mind flashed to any number of things she could say. ’I’m sorry, Forgive me, Luna was going to take away my friends, I couldn’t bear to leave them behind' all flashed through her head, begging release. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to make these ponies understand why she had done what she had done, why she had accepted her fate so readily. She wanted to pull aside the reporter from days earlier and tell her exactly why she had done it, why she had been willing to sacrifice Luna, how much her friends had meant to her. And yet, no sound escaped her lips, not a word of explanation managed to make itself known to the world. She couldn’t imagine anypony, save Celestia, would understand. The words were too many, the emotions too powerful. Given hours, or perhaps days, she still would be unable to explain how deep her feelings ran, how close her friends were and had been to her heart. There was only one thing to say, one simple word aimed at whom, even she did not know. Perhaps it was meant for Celestia, as a final parting to the pony who had given her everything. Perhaps it was meant for the crowd, a farewell, calm and collected, to those who hated her so. Perhaps it was a last kiss to her parents, as she knew that her final words would reach them regardless of circumstance. And perhaps it was a final wave to her friends, standing as they were at the edge of the crowd, watching on while the unicorn who had brought them together and torn them apart was taken away forever. The air was still, the crowd holding its breath perversely for the pony it wanted silenced, as she said only one word. “Goodbye.” The guard seemed taken aback, but continued on with his duty. “Is that all?” His voice indicated that he thought she was misusing a very valuable opportunity. She only nodded. He cleared his throat. “Very well then. Twilight Sparkle,” his voice rang out across the entire field, seeming to echo across the walls and across the hearts of everypony, “in the name Equestria, and by the permission of Princess Celestia, depart this world in peace.” With a single jerk, he pulled the lever that stood upright next to him, and Twilight felt the ground give out from under her. She felt the rope tighten fully around her neck in the split-second before her descent stopped. Her body reacted even faster than her mind did. Even as she processed how quickly she had fallen, and when she had stopped, her hooves were already moving, flailing, fighting against an invisible and unknown enemy. Her jaw clenched and unclenched, trying desperately to move or dislodge the rope, or at least make room. Her horn sputtered and shot small sparks, as the talisman on her horn blocked her inadvertent use of magic. All of her reflexive actions had no effect on the rope that was glowing as it cut off her air supply and slowly strangled her. When her mind finally registered what was happening, it grew no better. She had thought she was ready for this, but she knew now she wasn’t, it was terrifying, it was horrible, yet another part of her mind huddled in on itself as it tried to deny what was happening. She so desperately wanted to apologize, to beg, to do anything possible to stop this thing that was cutting off her air, but the only sounds she could make were gags and gasps. The world seemed to grow deafeningly silent as she continued to fight, as her consciousness continued to go on in the hopes that something would happen. She began to have desperate dreams, desperate plans. Somepony would come and rescue her; surely Celestia wouldn’t leave her most precious student hanging and gasping. Surely Fluttershy would convince everypony to forgive her, surely she would tell one of her animal friends to cut Twilight down, surely she would do something to help her friend out. It couldn’t end this way, she kept telling herself. And yet, as the seconds ticked onwards, and she continued to choke, she realized the finality of what was happening. She would die, on this platform, and on this rope. Memories flashed before her as she jerked back and forth, as her chained hooves tried and failed to reach the rope again and again, as her tail, hips and every part of her being tried to pull itself up against gravity, her attempts more feeble every time. She remembered her first opera as a filly, of all the things to remember. It had been such a lovely show, and she had been so excited to see it, and yet, all she could recall was one part, the song of a choir, chanting and humming in haunting tones and unknown words. Why she remembered it now, she could only guess. She imagined, in her delusion, that she could hear it, playing softly in her ears as the world grew dark around her… Celestia watched as her student fought against the rope that was slowly killing her, watched as the unicorn’s lips fought to bring air to a throat that could not accept it, and lungs that desperately needed it. The crowd watched on in silence as Twilight’s body jerked, weaker and weaker, and she could tell that they were no longer held under silence by her order alone. Everypony in this crowd had wanted her dead, absolutely everypony. And yet, she saw more than a few ponies look away, more than a few glance in her direction with a small part of fear and a large part of confusion. She almost laughed at the irony of it all; after all that they’d gone through, all they’d cried out for, some of them were doubting their decision. As she watched her student breath her last breaths on this mortal plane, a memory came to Celestia, unbidden, a memory from a day not long in the past… Celestia walked along the hallway, making barely any noise as she slowly moved one hoof in front of the other, ears perked, listening for any audible clue. It was late in the evening, Day Court was over; she had taken this opportunity to meet a very small filly, and to console her. She turned a corner; there, a small sniffling, almost unnoticeable if it weren’t for the absolute stillness in the Palace otherwise. She turned, looked into a doorway, and found her. A young Twilight sat there in a puddle of ink, her mane splotched and runny. All around her, the room was in disarray. Black liquid dripped from the ceiling, while down the walls seeped a watery mixture that looked to be flowing from multiple bricks at once. Mops and brooms lay scattered, their bristles black with ink and many thrown haphazardly in corners or stuck in the rafters above. Various paintings in the room had been rendered virtually indistinguishable, their colors blotted out entirely. And all of this was to speak nothing of the smell. Celestia stood there, and took it all in, an eyebrow raised. Twilight looked up at her teacher, tears in her eyes. “Princess Celestia, I’m... I’m sorry,” she said, eyes obviously on the verge of tears. Celestia only arched her eyebrow further, a quizzical frown on her face. She already knew what had happened, but she wanted her student to tell her face-to-face. “What happened here, Twilight?” The small filly let out tears as she spoke. “I was trying to paint a picture, like the ones on the wall. But, I couldn’t paint it too well, so I thought that I could use magic to help. But, when I tried to use magic, the ink ended up spilling all over the floor! So, then I…” sniffle “I tried to use magic to help me clean up the mess, but when I did, I couldn’t keep control, and it started spreading the ink, and then everything got soaked, and you came in, and…” Twilight sobbed for a second. “And I’m sorry, Princess Celestia!” Celestia chuckled internally. Most fillies would have given up once the ink had started to stain; heck, most fillies wouldn’t have even thought of using spells like that. It was a sign of just how much determination her apprentice had, how much she was willing to push forward. Celestia kept a passive outward mien and, with a simple spell so as to prevent her coat from getting dirty, trotted over to Twilight, laying down next to her in the ink while wrapping a wing around her. “Twilight, spells like that are very complicated for a filly your age. What made you want to use them?” Twilight continued to sniffle. “I thought, that if I could use them, I could show you how far I’ve gotten with magic! I wanted you to be proud of me…” At this, Celestia did allow herself a small chuckle. “Proud of you? Twilight, I already am proud of you. Most unicorns don’t learn those spells until they’re already adults, and almost none of them learn to control fluids like you tried to do. Although I am curious as to how your cleaning spell went wrong…” She looked around the room at the various cleaning tools chaotically strewn about. Twilight only blushed. “I… tried to get them to do the job themselves.” Celestia’s feeling of surprise made it onto her face. Fluid-control spells were hard enough for a filly to master; it was a question of controlling a substance that could take nearly any shape and form, never an easy task to master. But semi-intelligence spells were another breed of magic entirely; they were almost never used because of their intricacy, and the skill required to set them up properly. What was most surprising was that the spell had worked at all; when they failed, they almost always failed without the tool in question giving so much as a hint of movement, as the setup required a very fine dictation of when the object should and should not be active, and under what motivation, lest it accidentally destroy itself. The fact that the cleaning tools had even moved at all meant that she had surpassed those limitations, and had simply made a mistake in the routine of the spell. This was indeed a very special unicorn before her. Twilight’s blush went away as she frowned again. “And I… I made the paintings very dirty, Princess Celestia.” She said, eyes downcast. She sighed for a second, and looked up at her mentor again. “You… you can execute me now.” Celestia couldn’t contain her confusion. “Execute you, Twilight? Why would I do that?” The filly frowned. “I read it in a book, ‘Early Examples of Severe Criminal Law in Equestria, Sixth Edition’. Everypony was always being executed for crimes! And these paintings… they’re really expensive!” Celestia looked around at the artwork on the wall, and couldn’t help but shake her head. Twilight really did surprise her quite often, and not just with what she read. She would often explore texts even if she didn't know whom they were for, just because they were there to read. Celestia had learned that Twilight had a habit of using diction from all manner of books she’d read, even if she had no idea what it meant. She wondered who had given Twilight that particular text; she’d have to speak to them about what sorts of things a young pony, even one as powerful as Twilight, should be learning. She turned her head and looked the unicorn in the eyes. “Twilight, do you even know what the word ‘execute’ means?” She frowned. “Not really… The book kept on saying stuff about hanging, and violence, and reform. I… didn’t get very far, it was really boring.” The alicorn smiled. “Exactly, Twilight. The book was boring because it’s not meant for a filly like you. I don’t think you would want me to execute you if you actually knew what it meant.” Twilight frowned. “But, what does it mean, Princess Celestia?” She simply shook her head. “I don’t think you need to know that right now, Twilight. You’ll have to learn about that much later in life.” The unicorn frowned, and tossed her mane out of her eyes a little. She would just ask one of her teachers later; she was sure somepony would answer her question. “So, does that mean I’m not going to be executed?” Celestia nodded. “Yes, my faithful student, it means that you’re safe. Although...” she looked around at the room again. “That doesn’t mean you’re safe from cleaning up this room; you did make the mess, after all.” She raised a hoof at the first sign of her student’s protest. “Everypony should always take responsibility for their actions, Twilight. Even if they are good or bad, a pony should always make sure that they are held accountable.” Twilight’s brow furrowed for a second before she gave up and resigned herself. “Okay, Princess Celestia, I’ll clean up the room. Without magic this time.” Celestia nodded. “Thank you, Twilight. And don’t worry about execution, my faithful student. I promise it’s something you’ll never have to worry about. I promise I will always love you.” Twilight looked up at her. “Always, Princess Celestia? Even if I fail? Even if I do something horrible?” Celestia nodded reassuringly, a smile on her face. “Always.” And with a final breath, Twilight’s hooves stopped struggling, her body ceased its movement as her brain shut down and granted her respite from the torture of gravity. With a final breath, Celestia watched as her student, the filly she’d raised all these years, the unicorn whom she’d hoped would eventually take a place by her side, died, and was lost to the world. With a final breath, all of the ponies in the crowd watched the object of their hatred expire, their hearts variously glad, angry, and troubled. With a final breath, as the morning sun continued to rise, Twilight faded from Equestria forever.