//------------------------------// // Part Three // Story: A Mothers Past, A Daughters Future // by Redbook //------------------------------// Just outside the city of Canterlot, on a small hill, stood a gravestone with just an image of a six-pointed star with five smaller stars around it. One midnight mare stood in front of the lonely grave. Tears rolled down her face as she looked down at the grave. “I am sorry, my little star. I never imagined this would have ever happen to you. I had hopes that you would never had to learn our family secrets like this.” The mare dropped to her knees as she started to cry. It was not long before a warm hand was gently placed on the mare’s shoulder. “Sister, I’m sorry that I had to do it. She gave me no choice…” The new mare’s voice stuck as she tried to find the right words to say, but before she could utter them, the midnight mare stopped her. The mare rose and turned around to face the new mare. “I know you are sorry, Celestia. As a fellow ruler, I understand what you had to do, but as your sister, it hurts, knowing that my only sister killed my daughter. So please forgive me for being a little distant for a while.” Before Celestia could do anything, Luna vanished in a flash of light and left her alone next to grave of her last student.                                 *************************** Twilight’s back slid down the wall of the cave as she tried to catch her breath. She had used the last of her magic to do multiple teleports all across Equestria at the same time in hopes to lose Celestia. ‘What is the matter, Twilight? Tired after teleporting to multiple points at the same time? With me, you could have done that without breaking a sweat.’ The voice was sweet and yet still sent chills down Twilight’s spine. ‘What do you think? Appearing in more than two places at once is draining on any unicorn. And no, I won’t like any help from you. I’ve seen what happens when I let you help me.’ Twilight hated talking to whatever was part of her. On the run from Celestia doesn’t give one options on talk to others. ‘Oh, you are such a smart filly. You seem to know that I would be saying something about me helping you. But you will need my help now. All of Equestria and Celestia think that you killed Luna and are now on the biggest pony hunt in history. You are a smart mare, what would be the best course of action to take?’ The voice let a little chuckle slip as it waited for Twilight to come to the conclusion that it knew she would come to. Twilight grew annoyed as she came to the same conclusion as the voice. She was now a wanted mare to the whole kingdom. No place was safe for her to hide long. Celestia was most likely trying to find her magical energy and would not sleep till she was found. ‘I know you know how much this pains me to say it. But you are right. With my current power, I  couldn’t last a week on the run from Celestia.’ Twilight closed her eyes as she try to cast a spell that would keep her hidden for a few days from any normal pony. She moved her body along the wall to get a look outside of the cave. She could see squads of pegasi scanning the area just outside of the cave. Twilight held her breath as one squad flew near by. The voice gave a chuckle. The weight of things was growing slowly on her. ‘Come on, Twilight. We both know that everypony has been given the order to kill you on the spot without hesitation. They all see you as the monster who killed their Princess of the Night. You might as well become what they see you as.’ Even if it was just a voice, Twilight could feel it smile as its words trickled through her mind. ‘So you are telling me to just become what they think I am? To become this monster that kills ponies? I bet I can convince someone that I’m a good pony.’ Twilight didn’t want to believe what the voice was telling her. She wanted to still hold on to the hope that somepony would believe her about her being a good pony. ‘Then let me prove a point then. Show yourself to them and see what happens. I bet they won’t even care what you have to say.’ The voice sneered. Twilight wasn’t going to take this challenge lying down. Twilight did not wasted time in taking down her spell and rushed out into the opening in front of the cave. Twilight waved to a nearby squad of pegasi with speed that would make Rainbow Dash’s jaw drop. They stood before her with unhappy faces. Some of them started to draw their weapons. She held her hands in the air to show that she wasn’t going to fight, but soon they fall to her sides as one stallion walked up to her. “Twilight Sparkle, by order of Celestia. You are charged with killing Princess Luna and sentenced to death by any means,” The tan color stallion with a blue mane and tail said as he placed a hand on his sword. “Flash, please listen to me. I didn’t mean to kill her. There is this darkness in me that too…” Before she could finish, she could feel the tip of his blade near her throat. She looked down at the blade and back up to pony that held it. She could feel a tear slowly roll down her cheek. Flash was the pony she had dated for long time and was soon to marry. “Your words have no meaning to us. We have our orders. As the captain of the guard, it will be my honor to carry out the kill order myself.” Twilight was in shocked as his words set in. His eyes showed no emotion as he turned to put a gap between him and her. He had honor and wasn’t going to kill her unfairly. Twilight could hear the voice laughing inside her head. ‘Oh, the look on your face is priceless. The love of your life is going to be the one to end your life. So are you going to let him kill you or let me out once more and live?’ She didn’t know what to say. The stallion who she loved the most in this word was ready to kill her without even hearing her out. What hope she had for things to work out was gone now. The voice was right, she should just become the monster they think she is. ‘Let’s do it, but under one condition. I want to have more control.’ Twilight sighed as she started to laugh again. ‘I am truly shocked, Twilight. You want to be the one to kill them. Glad to hear it and I will do as you kindly ask.’ The voice did keep its word and Twilight could feel the power start to flow through her. She held up one hand as the color of her coat started to darken. She could also feel the voice become one with her a bit. “I’m sorry, Flash. But things between us are over.” Twilight held out her hand to the side and summoned her sword. “Twilight, it’s been over the moment you killed Princess Luna.” Flash didn’t waste any more time to attack Twilight. He charged at her as fast as he could, but just as his sword was about find its target, Twilight just faded away. When he came to a stop, he heard a scream come from one of his soldiers. He turned around just in time to see the head of one of the stallion’s slowly slide off and roll across the ground. Soon there was another soldier that screamed in pain as one of his arms was sliced right off. Flash’s head was spinning as all around him, body parts were being sliced off. It wasn’t long before his whole unit was dead or on the ground wishing that they were. There was a tap on his shoulder. “Sorry it took me so long to deal with them. I just didn’t want them to jump in when we start our little fight.” The voice was calm and yet was so cold that it sent chills down Flash’s spine. Flash turned around and as he turned he brought his sword, only to have it easily dodged. He remembered Twilight was trained with a sword, but not to this skill. Flash started to push his attack, only to have Twilight block or with easy dodged. She had an amused expression on her face. “Come on, Flash. I thought the new Captain of the Guard was supposed to be better than a little foal with a wooden sword.” Twilight made her advance a little slower, as to keep Flash from thinking that he was about to lose. She giggled as he tried to pick up speed in his attack after her little comment about his fighting skills. Both matched each other blow for blow. Flash was at his limit and still couldn’t land a hit on Twilight, while she wasn’t even close to her limit and wasn’t even trying to land a hit. Soon Twilight was bored with the fight. Her horn started to glow as pillars of earth shot up and snared Flash as he was just about to land a hit. “Let me go! I thought you would at least have the honor to die in a fair fight, but I see I was wrong about you,” Flash snarled at her. “Oh, when does a monster ever have honor? I am stronger and much better than you, Flash. I grow bored with our little fight. So I am choosing to finish this now.” She let go of her sword which turned back into magic and returned to her. Twilight snapped her fingers and the pillars of earth pulled Flash into position where his arms and legs where pulled a little away from his side. “They say monsters can be some of the evilest things in the world. But I think my dear friend Fluttershy would say differently. And I would agree. For I would put them to shame.” Twilight moved up to Flash and traced one of her fingers over his lips. As she did so, his lips became one and once she was finished, he was unable to speak. “Much better. Don’t feel like hearing you try and talk me out of killing you. I made up my mind about it. Just like you did about killing me.” She started to walk around him, like a shark circling its next meal. “And I did think about killing you in a fair fight, but then I realized how boring that would be. So I am thinking about showing you how much you have hurt my heart.” Her horn lit up once more and what sounded like a scream of pain came from Flash’s now sealed mouth. She just broke every bone in his body with ease. Twilight found that she enjoyed the pain she just caused him. Maybe she was meant to be this monster. The air around them was a little warmer and Twilight let out a sigh. She was going to have to wrap up with Flash before her next guest showed up. “Flash, you know how much I hate rushing things, but someone is coming and I don’t want to keep them waiting.” Twilight stood in front of Flash and lean forward to give him a light kiss on the forehead. “Goodbye, Flash. I loved you so much.” She moved so that she could lightly tap her horn on this head. There was the sound of him trying to scream as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Twilight closed her eyes and the pillars that was holding up Flash broke apart and he fell to the ground. ‘Feeling better now, Twilight? He is gone and it was done by your hands. You are now the monster. How does it feel?’ The voice was faint. “It felt good.” She open her eyes to see something white shooting toward her. Her hand held out to create a shield right as a blast of solar energy struck. She rubbed her forehead in annoyance as a white alicorn mare landed in front of her. “Killing innocent ponies felt good?!” Celestia hovered in the air in front of Twilight with hate and anger written all over her face. Twilight just laughed as she took flight and was on level with Celestia. Both mares eyed each other as they summoned swords. “I did. It was all too easy to put them out of their misery. Some I took off an arm, others a leg, and others I removed their heads. And your little pet, Flash. I had more planned for him, but you showed up and so I had to finish him off before you showed up. But now the real fun can start.” Twilight got in a start position for their fight. Celestia let out a roar of anger as she charged right at her. Twilight blocked the attack with some effort. Celestia wasn’t the ruler of the most of ponykind for nothing. Twilight pushed Celestia’s blade away and her horn started to glow as she summoned fireballs to fly at Celestia. They were easily deflected and hit a nearby forest. Twilight grinned as the massive fire started. It wasn’t like Celestia to let anything dangerous like a forest fire happen to her little ponies. Celestia pushed her attack again and again. Not giving Twilight a moment to counter attack. The two mares for the longest time were evenly matched in fighting skill. Twilight cracked a grin as Celestia jumped back to look around to see the fire that raged. A golden glow around Celestia’s horn appeared as a storm was summoned to put out the fire. “Why would you put out such a lovely fire like that one?” Twilight asked sadly. “I was really enjoying how the flames where moving toward a few towns and homes.” She took joy from the anger that was burning bright in Celestias eyes. She knew any moment the white mare would launch another attack. “How can you take joy from the suffering of others?! That is not the Twilight I know!” Celestia’s mane started to change from the peaceful colors she normally had to those of a raging fire. This just caused Twilight to grin. The ruler who would just set back and let others take care of her dirty work was now going to get her hands dirty and lose control of her temper. “That Twilight is dead. She was killed by the monster you made her. And are you losing that world-renowned cool temper? Stop holding back and let out the true power of the sun you hold.” Twilight moved in to a ready stance as the last of Celestias normal mane colors was replaced by the new flaming colors. “As you wish. I won’t hold back any longer.” With that Celestia charged at Twilight faster than any known pony could. Twilight was ready for the new challenge from the most powerful mare known to ponykind. Each swing of Celestias magic sword sent waves of force as Twilight blocked them. After what seemed like hours, Twilight jumped back and started to chant a spell. There was a plus of dark magic as black chains formed around Celetia. The white mare glared at Twilight as she fought against the black chains. “Those should hold you for a few minutes at least. With you tapping into the power of the sun more and more. But by the time you reach that point, I shall have a little fun.” With a wink of an eye, Twilight vanished in a flash of black light. Twilight popped into a nearby town. It just maybe had a hundred ponies that lived in it.  “This shall help me kill a few minutes before Celestia breaks free of my little chain spell.” She looked around and grinned as a few ponies came out of their homes to see what had appeared in the middle of their little town. “Now, where shall I start my little fun.” Twilight looked over at one house with a few ponies at the window. She gave them a smile as she held out her hand. The horn on the top of her head lit up as a fireball formed and shot at the house. In Twilight's, mind the explosion was very lovely. The screams of ponies in the house were drowned out by the screams of ponies that started to run for their lives. Twilight wasted no time in firing a few more fireballs. The horrored look on their faces brought a tear to Twilight’s eyes. A sigh left Twilight’s lips as she could feel the chains holding Celestia starting to break. “Isn’t she just full of surprises. I thought those chains would hold her for another two minutes. I guess she is really tapping into that beautiful anger of hers. Hope she puts it to good use.” As the chains broke off Celestia, Twilight snapped her fingers and blades appeared at the necks of all the surviving towns members. She closed her eyes as the blades cut off all their heads. The sound of their heads as they hit the ground was music to her ears. Off in the distances was a bright flash of light and what looked like a shooting star. It wasn’t long before it crashed into the ground not far from Twilight. The heat from Celestia was enough to burn a few houses that hadn’t caught on fire yet. “So the princess of the sun does have some fire left. I thought after all these years of sitting on that throne had taken it away from you. Shall this be the last fight? Let’s call it the oldest fight in history. Good vs. evil. Me the ultimate evil and you the ultimate good.” Twilight opened her eyes to see what only a few ponies had ever seen. “It has been many centuries since I took this form. I chose to suppress its powers, because the last time I unleashed it, I burnt half of this planet. So if you wish to fight me in this form, so be it. I shall not hold back any longer. Too many innocent ponies have lost their lives to your wicked deeds.” Celestia's voice was calm, as if she didn’t feel any emotions at all. Before Twilight had time to react, she was sent flying into the side of the house on the edge of town by a blast of pure solar energy. She placed her hand on her forehead and let out a little moan of pain. As she started to pull herself out, she was blasted again. Celestia started to walk toward where Twilight was. As she neared it, there was a low rumble and what sounded like a scream of some primal animal. From the hold that Celestia blasted Twilight into came a blast of blackest light anypony had ever seen. There was a figure that hovered in the middle of it. It made a few motions that looked like they had swung a sword a few times before slashes of dark light shot at Celestia. She just waved her hand and wall of fire formed and blocked the attack. “So the beast awakens from within. Let’s see your true form, monster. As you said, let’s end it.” Celestia dropped her hand back down as the black light faded. Before her now stood a mare whose coat was darker than midnight, mane smooth as silk, and a horn as long as Celestia. The mare looked at her purple eyes surrounded in black. “I must thank you, Celestia. Twilight’s light side was still holding on. But don’t worry, she is still in here. Just drowning in the sea of blackness. For a student of yours, she was easy to toy with. But you helped a lot by sending her boy toy to attack her.” She held out her hand to give it a look over and smiled. “After he showed that he was willing to kill her, she caved in to my words and, with my help, became the monster you’ve just seen.” Twilight looked around, and before she looked back at Celestia, Celestia glared back. She started to walk on the air toward the other mare. The air between the two started to spark. Celestia started to move toward her. Neither mare was backing down. Celestia fired a few fireballs from her hand at Twilight, and she just knocked them out of the way. Twilight took her turn and fired off a few orbs of what seem like black light. Celestia just held out a hand and a bright light caused the attack to fade away. “It would see we are almost evenly matched here. We could keep casting spell after spell till this part of the land is nothing but ash. But we both know that would be pointless and just a waste of time.” Twilight now stood a few feet away from Celestia with a wicked smile. “I agree. How should we end this? I am guessing something based off something other than magic skill. How about a little sword fight?” Celestia held out her hand to the side and summoned a sword made of pure light. Twilight nodded her head and held out her hand to the side as she summoned a sword made of pure darkness. The two mares moved into position to start the final fight. Each one eyed each other down for a bit. There was a clap of thunder in the distance and with that, each one charged at each other. When their blades clashed, there was shock wave that would send any other pony flying. The two seemed evenly matched. Twilight tried to pick up speed, but Celestia kept up and even a few times tried the same trick. Soon Twilight lost track of Celestia, so she landed back on the ground and try to spot the white mare. Before she could turn around, a blade of pure light thrusted through her chest. Twilight let out a grunt and sighed as her coat started to change back to normal. A smile formed on Twilight’s face as she turned her head to see Celestia with a tear. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I wished there was something else we could have done.” Celestia’s voice was steady, but Twilight could hear the sadness she was trying to hide. “Please, don’t be sorry. I let it win over me and it caused me to do something I can never take back. Now, I must pay the price for it. So, I should say thank you.” Twilight smiled as blood slowly ran down mouth and ran down Celestia’s blade. “Luna would be proud of you.” With that, Celestia slowly pulled out her blade from Twilight as more blood spilled to the ground. The young mare turn around to face the white alicorn. Twilight pulled Celestia into a hug. “Celestia, can you do something for me?” The younger alicorn whispered into the older one’s ear. Celestia nodded. “Please, tell my mother that I love her?” Before Celestia could say anything, Twilight faded away. The white mare threw her hand into the lavender mist that blew away. Celestia cried openly now as she tried to understand what her old student had asked of her.                                         ********************* It was a few days later when the first report came in of Luna’s body  missing from the stone bed she was placed on for funeral that was to be held after dealing with Twilight. But hours later, she walked into the throne room with a lost look on her face. “Sister, please do not tell me that my daughter has killed you too?” Luna asked trying put pieces together. “Luna? Is that really you?” Celestia was in shock. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She rushed over to Luna and embraced her hug to make sure she was real. “I am sure it is me, but please tell me what is going on? Last thing I remember was Twilight killing me.” Luna looked around some more still not understanding what was going on. “She did kill you and many more after that. I don’t know how, but she must have brought you back to life.” Celestia started to cry as she tried to hold Luna closer. “How did she do that? Where is she? I must ask her.” Luna pulled away and started to walk away to find Twilight. “Luna, please come back. I must tell you.” Celestia looked down as Luna turned around to look at her. “What is it? I must find my daughter to make sure she is okay.” Luna stood there waited for her sister to say what she need to say so that she can go and find Twilight. “I’m sorry, sister. I’m sorry.” Celestia’s head didn’t let her gaze leave the floor. Luna rushed over to Celestia and grabbed her by the outfit, a panicked look written over her face. “WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY DAUGHTER?” “She… She is dead.” Celestia’s voice was just below a whisper. Luna backed away with horror written over her face. She looked around the room in hopes that Twilight would walk into the room and tell her Celestia was just joking. “No. No. No, it can’t be true. I demand you tell me where she is this moment.” Celestia could not meet Luna eye to eye. She just knocked herself free and turned around to looked away. “She will be buried the day after tomorrow. I need to cancel a funeral while I get another ready. So please, leave me be.” Celestia’s voice dropped to a cold calm tone. Luna tried to reach out to Celestia, but Celestia moved out of the way. Luna realized that her sister had nothing left to say and nothing was going to change that. She turned and walked to her room. The days till and after the funeral were not easy on both sisters. Celestia told Luna what happened, and Luna almost took down half of the castle before Celestia stopped her, but Luna never forgave Celestia for what she did to her daughter.