//------------------------------// // 16. Twilight Sparkle // Story: A Kingdom Divided // by Samey90 //------------------------------// Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche Her hoofsteps were echoing through the hangar, interrupting the deathly silence of the building’s interior. Never before the golden tiara she was wearing seemed so heavy. She was walking slowly, often stopping to examine something closer. The sky wore a deep shade of crimson. Twilight looked at the assault blimp standing in front of the hangar. Its gondola was scorched and full of holes; the balloon patched in many places. But the most horrific thing about it was its load, now lying on the floor of the hangar surrounded by the guards. Twilight looked at the first body in a long row, wrapped in a plastic bag. A crystal pony, his body horribly mutilated by an explosion. His skin lost all its shine, turning into a plain violet fur; his eyes were open, staring at her, piercing her soul to the core. She shuddered and turned her gaze away. It didn’t help her – bodies of ponies, burned, shot, stabbed by the bat pony assassins or ran down by tanks were everywhere. The silence and the aura of death overwhelmed her. She noticed another pony, sitting on the floor in the other corner of the hangar. She recognised her immediately; black armour and white and blue mane were too distinctive to confuse her with somepony else. “Your Highness.” Cloudchaser bowed when Twilight approached her. Twilight noticed that her armour was far from the perfect state – battered, covered in stale blood and mud, with missing part of the hind legs cover. “Just call me Twilight,” the alicorn said, looking around grimly. “We’re all equal here…” Cloudchaser stood up. Her mane, as Twilight noticed, was dirty and greasy; her face was covered in ash, except of two trails made by tears, running from her eyes. She probably had no time to wash or take off her armour since the battle the day before, and didn’t have a proper sleep in at least two days. She was barely able to stand, her hind leg not supporting her weight fully. “It’s her, right?” Twilight asked, pointing at the body bag. She knew the answer – a part of the rainbow mane was visible underneath the foil. Cloudchaser nodded. “I couldn’t save her…” she said, all emotions burned out of her voice. “Griffons were there… We lost a half of our squadron…” She shuddered. The rest of the squadron was now slowly getting back from Ponyville. Against Cloudchaser’s orders, Stormfeather and Cloud Break had made a reconnaissance flight after the fight was over, and found Dust Devil, who crash-landed in the woods. She was badly burned and her ribs were cracked, but she was alive. This was, however, another blow for the new squadron leader – according to Dust Devil, Cloud Kicker “went fucking bonkers” before she died in an airship crash. That, and the fact that Flitter was wounded, made Cloudchaser feel even worse. “It’s not your fault,” Twilight said, looking at Rainbow Dash, lying in front of her. Her body was stiff, dirty and covered in bruises. One of her wings was nearly torn off, but apart from that, she looked like she was asleep – somepony, probably Cloudchaser, had closed her eyes and wiped some blood from her fur. “We need to take her from there, organise a funeral,” said Twilight grimly, swallowing her tears. “She can’t lie here like that…” She walked out of the hangar slowly, calling her guards and giving them orders. Cloudchaser followed her, her head hanging low. “How many ponies know about… that?” Twilight asked. She couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud, to admit that Rainbow Dash was dead. “Guys from the squadron… some crystal ponies…” “Tell them not to talk about that too much. Two weeks, and we already lost three Element Bearers… Ponies can’t know. Not yet.” Cloudchaser nodded. Suddenly, she remembered something. “There’s one more thing, Your… Twilight. Before Dash died, we talked about Lightning Dust…” She told Twilight about the wounded pegasus and the state she was in. By the end of the story, she saw a tear in her eye. “Yes, she needs help,” Twilight said. “I’ll do what I can to provide it. Take care, Cloudchaser.” Cloudchaser sat on the airstrip, watching the princess walking away. At first, she didn’t notice a young colt walking towards her. “Where’s Thunderlane?” Rumble asked, “I’ve been asking everywhere, but nopony knows that…” Cloudchaser looked at him and started to weep loudly, embracing him with her wing. *** When Twilight went back to the palace, the first thing she noticed were three stallions waiting for her in the hall. Big Macintosh and Braeburn, still in their blood-covered uniforms, were wearing grim expressions, while Prince Blueblood, standing between them, looked simply devastated. When he saw her, he trotted to her, shouting, “My nephew! They killed him!” “Who?” she asked, alarmed, trying to keep him away from herself. Even though Princess Celestia trusted him completely, Twilight still wasn’t sure about his intentions. The rumours surrounding him were too alarming to be ignored. She scolded herself for that. Blueblood was a manipulative jerk, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d never attack the princess of Equestria in front of two soldiers. Not to mention that they were Applejack’s brother and cousin. Applejack… Twilight felt another jolt of pain in her heart. “The POWs we were escorting got a bit… out of control,” Braeburn explained. “One of them shot Lyra Heartstrings with her own gun, they snapped Black Marble’s horn… He’s in the hospital now… And then they stabbed Hot Blood before we were able to shoot them.” “Y-you shoot them all?” she asked, feeling dizzy. “Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied. Twilight wasn’t sure, but he seemed even less talkative than usual. “I want you to punish Colonel Tungsten Heart!” Blueblood demanded. “He shouldn’t have sent only five soldiers with twenty bat ponies!” “Tungsten Heart is now in Ponyville,” said Twilight coldly, regaining her composure. “And we have no time for investigations.” “B-but…” “No buts, Blueblood!” she shouted. It wasn’t as impressive as Royal Canterlot Voice, but it was enough for Blueblood to stand in silence, his mouth open. “I’m going to talk with Princess Celestia now.” She turned back, and teleported to her chamber, where she collapsed on her bed, sobbing openly. She took off her tiara and tossed it into the corner of the room. It bounced off the wall and fell on the floor next to the trash bin. She wasn’t lying there for more than ten minutes, when somepony knocked at the door. “Get out!” she shouted. “It’s me, Twiley!” she heard Shining Armor’s voice. Something about it made her freeze. “Come in…” she said, unlocking the door with her magic. Her brother’s grim expression made her want to teleport somewhere far away from the castle. It took her some time before she noticed that he was accompanied by a pegasus guard, whose armour was destroyed in a way similar to Cloudchaser’s suit. “Cloudsdale was captured by Luna’s forces,” Shining Armor said. “And I got the news from my army in the north that Crystal Empire was attacked by the griffons. They… they got Cadance…” “H-how?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide in shock. “Griffons and bat ponies, Your Highness,” the pegasus guard explained. “Somepony had to tell them about the hidden passage. They sneaked to the Weather Factory and attacked the militia guarding it. When we found out, we were attacked by our own anti-aircraft cannons from one side, and another group of bat ponies from the other. That… that was a nightmare… I barely survived…” “I’m going to call the commanders of the army,” Shining Armor broke the long silence. “We need to prepare the new strategy…” “I’ll tell the Princess,” Twilight said. *** Celestia’s chamber was almost completely dark. Twilight could barely see her lying on her bed, her hooves and wings spread wide, as if she was dead. Her breath was shallow and uneven, greasy mane was hanging, devoid of its magic. “Princess…” Twilight called. Celestia moved slightly and opened her eyes. “I know what you are asking for, Twilight,” she spoke, raising her head. “I have seen the image of Cloudsdale in my dreams. I saw every detail of Fluttershy’s and Rainbow Dash’s deaths, as well as Applejack’s fall into madness. My sister did not forget to feed me with the image of burning Ponyville, and death of every single soldier, mine and hers…” “Princess, we need to–” “No, Twilight. It is the end. I am going to announce my abdication, and surrender Canterlot to the Moon Army.” “No!” Twilight flew to Celestia’s bed, and leaned to her. Their gazes met and she saw her own reflection in the magenta eyes, now almost devoid of life. “We can’t let her win… After what she did… After she killed my friends… We can’t give up!” “Fight will only lead to more suffering…” Celestia replied. “You still have Pinkie and Rarity…” “But what about Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash? What about all the soldiers? Their sacrifice means nothing to you? And how about the foals who died? No one will pay for that?” Twilight didn’t care that she was shouting at the Princess of the Sun herself. All the feelings that welled in her now found a way to get out of her system. “I am the one responsible for their death,” said Celestia calmly. “And if somepony needs to be punished for that, then it should be me.” Twilight sighed, looking at the floor beneath her hooves. “You did nothing wrong, Princess,” she finally spoke. “It’s Luna who started the war…” “But she started it because of my own stubbornness. I thought that after thousands of years of ruling Equestria I knew everything… I was wrong. Now these images keep haunting me...” “It’s Luna who causes it!” Twilight shouted. She was now inches from Celestia’s face, shivering slightly. “She wants you to think that!” “No, Twilight…” Celestia shook her head. “I can’t stand it anymore. Luna showed me how bad ruler I became recently… I need to give up…” She rested her head on the pillow, looking so weak and vulnerable that for a moment Twilight wanted to admit that she was right. Right, as she always was, for thousands of years. A strange spark appeared in Twilight’s eyes. She licked her lips slowly, and spoke, “You are right… You need to give up…” *** “Princess Celestia gave me full control over the military operations against Princess Luna,” Twilight announced, storming into the chamber where Shining Armor, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie and Cloudchaser were sitting around the table with the map of Equestria. On another table stood the radio – they were in contact with Tungsten Heart and Spitfire in Ponyville. “Why?” Spike asked. “Something happened to her?” “She needs to focus all her magic forces to protect ponies from Luna sending nightmares to plague them,” Twilight explained. She rubbed her hoof and for a brief moment rested her gaze on Rarity. “Luna wants to fight us with nightmares?” Pinkie exclaimed. “She totally flipped! I mean, not like thousand years ago, because then the Elements would’ve worked and we wouldn’t be at war and Fl–“ she suddenly silenced, her mane straightening a bit. Now Twilight was looking at her. After what she witnessed in Celestia’s room, she could imagine what Pinkie was feeling – during the major battles, her Pinkie Sense was causing her body to twitch constantly in various ways, as if she had a seizure. Each twitch meant one death. Pinkie Pie, who was the happiest pony in the whole Equestria just two weeks ago, was now a wreck. An empty shell, desensitized to anything. Now Twilight could say that she understood that feeling. Celestia’s surrender burned a similar hole in her psyche. “As long as the Princess is able to fight her back, I don’t worry about it,” Shining Armor said. His magic was faltering slightly when he was moving the markers on the map. “I can see only one way to win this…” He started to speak louder, so Tungsten Heart could hear him clearly. “We have to retreat from Ponyville and gather all our forces here, in Canterlot. I’ll conjure the shield around the town and we’ll wait for Luna’s forces to bleed out while trying to overcome it. The forces attacking Detrot must also retreat and try to regain control of the Crystal Empire.” “Retreat?” Tungsten Heart’s voice was clear, despite the static. “After we fought so hard to reclaim it?” “Yes, Colonel,” Shining replied, putting an emphasis on Tungsten Heart’s rank. “We’ll need every soldier here, and since they got Cloudsdale, it doesn’t matter if they get to Canterlot from there or from Ponyville.” “What about the civilians living in the refugee camp?” Cloudchaser asked. As Twilight noticed, she had finally taken a shower after their conversation, and got rid of her battered armour, wearing an Equestrian Air Force uniform instead. “We need to evacuate them to Appleloosa…” said Twilight, casting a nervous glance at Rarity. “By now, we have to cut all the connections between the camp and Canterlot – I had an information about Luna’s spies living in it…” “What spies?” Spike asked. “You’ve never told me–“ “I have my sources,” Twilight replied. “You will take care of this, Spike. Seeing my personal assistant preparing an evacuation should raise their morale. We want to avoid panic, after all.” “Twilight, darling, I can do that too…” Rarity said. “No, Rarity. After everything what happened, I’d rather keep you and Pinkie here. It’s too dangerous…” “Well, thank you!” Spike exclaimed, glaring at Twilight angrily. “Don’t worry, Spike,” Twilight said. “Cloudchaser’s squadron will help you, while the Wonderbolts will take care of Canterlot till they are back.” “Squadron…” Cloudchaser muttered, shaking her head. “Nice name for the seven ponies, of whom two are too wounded to fly…” “Five will be enough,” said Twilight. “They won’t chase the civilians, they’ll focus on the city…” Spike nodded and left the room, followed by Cloudchaser. Shining Armor was now discussing the details of evacuation from Ponyville with Tungsten Heart and Spitfire. “Rarity, can I talk to you in private?” Twilight asked. “Of course, darling,” Rarity said. Twilight looked at her closer. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination or she really seemed happier than she should be in such a situation. Of course, she looked depressed – they both cried upon hearing the news about Rainbow Dash’s death. There was, however, something about her that differed her from, for example, Pinkie Pie. Twilight couldn’t exactly put her hoof on it. She looked into Rarity’s eyes. “Are you okay, Twilight?” Rarity asked. They were now walking upstairs, to her chamber. “What? Yes, of course I’m okay. I’m just… You know, the responsibility… The fate of Equestria is in my hooves, and I’m a bit lost, and…” “Definitely, you should take a rest,” Rarity said, flipping her mane. Their gazes locked again, and, for a split second, Twilight saw it. The spark in those blue eyes. Just like… Just like before everything. When they were living happily in Ponyville, before Princess Luna rebelled against her sister. When Sweetie Belle was alive. They went to Rarity’s room. Twilight lit her horn and locked the door, simultaneously conjuring a soundproof barrier around the chamber. Things can get loud, she thought. She sat on the armchair next to the desk and said, "I was wondering, who could tell Luna about that passage to the Weather Factory…” “Probably some pegasus from Cloudsdale…” Rarity replied. “Somepony who knows the town well.” “Exactly…” Twilight glared at her. “But even that pegasus couldn’t know that, due to the small amount of pegasi in our ranks, the factory was guarded by, to put it bluntly, a bunch of useful, trigger-happy idiots.” “I don’t exactly follow…” “Well, Rarity, you probably heard about a group of ponies calling themselves ‘The Fireflies’?” Yes, that was it. Rarity was avoiding her gaze, grabbing the armrests of her armchair with her hooves. “I haven’t heard much about them,” she said. “I’ve heard that they help the refugees in the camp. They provide food for them, and–“ “They spy for Luna.” Twilight looked at Rarity coldly, licking her lips. “And their leader is a pegasus…” “Firefly?” Rarity chuckled nervously. “That’s impossible. I heard one of her speeches; she’s clearly missing a few marbles.” “Yet, you liked it so much that you’re visiting her at least twice a week…” Twilight replied, piercing her with her gaze. Seeing Rarity’s surprised look, she continued, “Really, Rarity, I thought you were wiser. Using a chariot pulled by the Royal Guards to get to Firefly’s place? Please…” “I… I can explain!” Rarity exclaimed, seeing that Twilight was now aiming her horn at her. “Better make it good, friend…” Twilight said. She was smirking, but there was no happiness in her voice. Rarity could swear that her lavender fur darkened a bit. Ignoring her dry throat, she spoke, “F-firefly helped me deal with… with everything. She… you don’t know what she’s been through…” “I guess it’s quite an interesting story, but it still doesn’t explain, why you decided to share with her the secret of our army…” Twilight replied. There was almost no emotions in her voice, except of barely concealed fury. “I didn’t, for Celestia’s sake!” Rarity snapped. “She’s not interested in that… The only thing she ever said about war is that–” “–she’s waiting for the Princesses to kill each other,” Twilight interrupted. “Yes, I heard that too, and I can’t really believe it. Who’d like to wait for so long? Why not help them a bit?” “No, she’s not like that! I’d say that she’s above such things. And I visit her so often, because Sweetie Belle is with her and…” she paused, seeing that Twilight’s angry expression softened a bit. “Sweetie’s with her?” Twilight asked, suddenly sitting next to Rarity’s armchair and gently wrapping her hoof around her. “Oh Rarity, I’m sorry. It seems that you didn’t betray us because you wanted to do so, but simply because you became crazy with grief after your sister’s death…” “Sweetie’s alive!” Rarity shouted. “They’re with Apple Bloom in Firefly’s place.” “Yeah, right…” Twilight muttered. “Listen, Rarity as much as I hate to say it, Sweetie and Apple Bloom are dead. Don’t you remember what Lightning Dust told you?” “Of course I remember…” Rarity said with a sigh. “But they survived!” Twilight shook her head. Rarity felt her hoof tightening around her neck. “I know it’s hard for you…” It was that kind of monotone voice Twilight was often lapsing into recently. “But I’ll have to take care of you. Not only for our cause, though it would be bad if you started telling everypony about our secrets… But for your own good…” Rarity saw Twilight lighting up her horn just in time to slip out of her grasp, falling backwards with her armchair. A magic beam flew inches from her mane, leaving a scorched mark on the wall. Rarity rolled on the floor, standing on all fours and quickly firing two beams at Twilight. Two small explosions rang in her ears when the alicorn conjured a magic shield which absorbed Rarity’s beams as if they were nothing more than sparks. Twilight’s next attack left Rarity no time to dodge. She only managed to create a shield which weakened the spell a bit, but it still felt as if she was hit with a brick. She staggered and leaned against her bed. “Stop it, Rarity,” Twilight panted. “I don’t want to hurt you, I only want to help…” “I don’t need your help!” Rarity shouted, grabbing a blanket from her bed and throwing it at her. Twilight fired a spell automatically, setting it on fire, but the contents of Rarity’s box with sewing tools, levitated by the fashionista, were already flying in her direction, followed by the box itself. Rarity knew that she was no match for Twilight in duelling. Levitation, however, was something completely different. The burning blanket fell on the floor, revealing Twilight lying limply, knocked down by the heavy, wooden case. Apparently, her shield could be penetrated by physical objects. “Nice try,” said Twilight weakly, getting up on her hooves. She shook her mane off of her face and to her horror, Rarity saw that one of the needles pierced Twilight’s right eye, its end protruding from the pupil. When Twilight tried to blink, spraying blood and vitreous fluid all over her muzzle, Rarity felt the contents of her stomach slowly moving upwards. “As I said, nice try,” Twilight said a bit louder, unfazed by her injury. “Treason, attempted regicide… You should pray to Celestia that the judges would consider you insane, or else…” In one swift motion, she pulled the needle out of her eye, and threw it at Rarity. It bounced harmlessly off her leg and fell on the floor. “Celestia will forgive me when she learns about what you did, d–darling!” Rarity shouted, trying to contain retching, when she looked in her friend’s eyes. “I wouldn’t be so sure…” Twilight smiled widely. The pupil of her good eye shrunk to pin prick, while the other one stayed widened. This was too much for Rarity, who shook violently and threw up on the floor. Twilight waited patiently till she was done, and continued, “I don’t know if you noticed, but Princess Celestia is no longer in charge here…” “She’s not in charge of the war…” Rarity panted. “But she’ll surely have something to say about her faithful student getting insane!” “Insane?” Twilight smiled even wider. Smaller cuts on her face almost disappeared; her eyeball was also regenerating, though it still couldn’t move. “No, Rarity. You’re insane. You live in a delusional world where your sister is still alive, some crazy pegasus called Firefly has good intentions and I am a psychopath trying to get you. Now, be a grown mare and let me help you…” Rarity was ready. When Twilight said her last word, she fired another magic beam at her. It collided in mid-air with a magenta ray and exploded, scorching the floor below. Rarity jumped on her bed, when another spell burned some hair in her tail and left another mark on the wall. She levitated a desk, but Twilight was too smart to fall into the same trick twice; she grasped the desk with her own magic, trying to push it at Rarity. For some time, they were struggling, trying to gain control over the desk. Finally, another bolt of Twilight’s magic sent it flying across the room, where it hit the door and fell apart. Twilight followed it with her gaze, surprised, and Rarity saw her chance. She jumped off of the bed, tackling Twilight, and punched her in the still regenerating eye. She shuddered when she felt vitreous fluid on her hoof, but punched Twilight once more, in the base of her horn. Then she hit her again, and again. Twilight spat some blood, mixed with the shards of teeth, before another punch broke her nose. After a few more blows, her jaw gave up. Twilight gave out an undecipherable groan and went silent. “How do you like that, darling…” Rarity panted, when Twilight hung limply in her hooves. “More than you think…” she heard Twilight’s raspy voice. Then, a powerful kick to the stomach sent her flying into the puddle of her own vomit. She groaned, holding her stomach with her forelegs, and threw up again, almost choking. Twilight stood up slowly, her face bruised, covered in blood, saliva and vitreous fluid. When she smiled, Rarity saw that her jaw was already in one piece, and her teeth were regenerating. “And now, Rarity, time to sleep…” she muttered, aiming her horn at her, her moves still uncoordinated after the generous beating she’d received. “No!” Rarity screamed, prompting her body to make one last attempt to escape. A magic beam hit her hind leg, leaving it numb, but she managed to jump to the door, firing a spell at it in mid-air. Luckily, the door had been already damaged by the desk, and Rarity managed to burst through it like a bullet, chased by magenta beams. She skid to a halt on the corridor and began running away, limping. “Not so fast!” Twilight shouted, landing in front of her. Rarity thought, a bit too late, that she should have broken her wings when she had a chance. Beaten, tired, with a numb leg, she knew that she had no choice but to fight. She lowered her head and charged her horn. Twilight did the same. Suddenly, Rarity saw somepony walking behind Twilight’s back. “Rarity? Twilight? What are you doing here?” they heard Pinkie Pie’s voice. “My Pinkie sense just went crazy again, it was terrible, I’m telling you, terrible! Burns, going blind, getting beaten, I’m afraid that something could happen to…” Twilight didn’t listen to her, but suddenly fired a spell at Rarity, who answered with another bolt of blue magic. “…and then I thought that there could be some spy or a changeling trying to kill one of you, and I was scared because I couldn’t hear anything from your rooms, and…” The two bolts collided in mid-air, melting into one. To Twilight’s surprise, Rarity’s beam was stronger, sending the joined spells in her direction. She quickly darted to the left… “…so I went up there to check on you two, but I’m glad to see you both… Oh!” Pinkie’s eyes went wide when the bolt hit her chest. She backpedalled slowly, her mane deflating, and sat on the floor. She looked at Twilight and Rarity, opening her mouth to say something, but suddenly she caught her chest and collapsed on the floor, her body shaken by violent shivers. “No!” Twilight and Rarity screamed simultaneously, and ran to her. “She’s alive!” Rarity exclaimed, placing her hoof on Pinkie’s chest. The heartbeat was slow and uneven, but it was there. Twilight examined her friend with an alarmed look on her face. “She might have had a heart attack…” she muttered. “What spell did you use?” “Just something to knock you out…” Rarity replied. “Shit…” Twilight aimed her horn at Pinkie’s chest, scanning it with a spell. “Hope we didn’t do much damage, but we need to act quick!” “I’ll call the guards, she needs a doctor…” “One more thing, Rarity…” Twilight raised her head and looked at her. “Yes, darling?” Suddenly, Rarity felt something heavy hitting her in the back of the head. She collapsed on her knees, next to Pinkie Pie. “You didn’t think I’ll let you go, did you?” she heard Twilight’s voice whispering into her ear. Another hit, and everything around Rarity disappeared in darkness. *** When she opened her eyes, darkness was still around her. Unable to see, she focused on other senses. Her whole body was in pain. She could feel her numb leg again, but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling – as if a large group of ants was crawling under her skin. Her head was aching, as well as her stomach. There was also a dull pain in her horn – she thought that it could the effect of overexertion. Fighting insane alicorns wasn’t something she was doing on a daily basis. She winced at the smell. She could feel that her fur was sticky from the sweat and dry vomit. Her throat was dry, the stomach was rumbling, and she needed to relieve her bladder badly. She was lying on something cold, possibly a metal table. Her hooves were spread, she could feel something metallic around them. She tried to move. The chains clinked, but they were firmly attached to something, leaving her almost no freedom. She tried to use her magic, but it only made the headache worse. The pressure in her bladder rose. “Twilight!” she shouted. Her voice, weak and raspy, echoed through the room, but nopony replied. She called again, with the same results. “Twilight, please…” she whispered, lying her head on the table helplessly and closing her eyes. She thought of Sweetie Belle – even though she was now trapped in a robotic body, every time she managed to get out of the palace to spend some time with her was like a piece of normalcy in the crazy world around her. She started to recall them, then the happy times she spent with her friends before the war. An hour passed. She clenched her muscles in a desperate attempt to maintain the rest of her dignity. Hadn’t it been for the chains, she’d cross her legs, or make some kind of a potty dance – she almost laughed at that idea, even though her perspectives were rather grim. This was apparently the castle dungeon, Twilight probably went insane, Pinkie could be dead… And, what was even worse, she could soon be dead too. More time passed. She quickly lost the track of it, overwhelmed by darkness. She tried to fall asleep, waiting for Twilight to come, but she couldn’t. What if she was just left there to die of dehydration or starvation? She sobbed, but soon stopped. She decided to stay strong, she didn’t want to give Twilight satisfaction. After spending what she felt like about five hours lying on the table, her bladder suddenly gave up. She didn’t feel it at first, thinking about random things, just to occupy her mind. Then she felt her tail soaking, urine dripping from the table. She only sighed, partially with surprise, partially with relief. She knew it’d happen sooner or later. In her current state it didn’t matter that much. “Hello, Rarity,” she heard a voice above her. “Twilight? How’s Pinkie?” she asked in a panicked tone. “Currently, everypony in the palace are talking about how she shielded me from my poor friend, who sadly went crazy and tried to kill me. This friend is now officially in the psychiatric ward of the Canterlot General Hospital, together with a pegasus called Lightning Dust. Pinkie is still unconscious, but she’ll get better.” The bright light blinded her. When she dared to open her eyes, she saw that Twilight’s wounds disappeared completely. Her right eye, however, was still a bit lazy, and Rarity smirked, seeing that she managed to at least scratch her. Twilight trotted to some device standing in the corner, turned on the monitor, and levitated a syringe, a small, electric drill, and a long piece of optical fibre. “Too bad, I can’t say the same thing about you…”