Day: Monday
Weather: Rain, possible thunderstorm later
Time: 9:00amOver the course of the next three years, through deceit, intimidation, and manipulation, I gained full control over the students of Canterlot High! Not only have they been divided thanks to what I revealed about their secrets, they also feared my very presence! However, I'm still not satisfied, despite all that I've accomplished. I may have been ruling over a school full of humans, but my true desire was to become an alicorn princess and rule over Equestria, a dream which still burns in my heart, even after it was dashed by my former mentor. If only I could have gone back to Equestria then, I'd easily have taken over without any problems due to how much I've learned. Unfortunately, the portal wouldn't be open for quite some time, which means I was stuck here. At least, that's what I thought was the case, but a stroke of luck was about to change everything. I don't know how it happened, but the portal had opened, and I had every intention of using it to go back home.
The Other Journal
By Ganondorf8
November 16, 2015
Chapter 13: The Coronation.
" Sunset... what do you mean by her coronation?" Twilight asked.
" The other you, the other Twilight, is a princess in Equestria, and when she became an alicorn, she was given a coronation which all ponies across Equestria attended, provided that they were able to make it. While it was a momentous occasion for everyone, the same couldn't be said about me, and if you look down at the current page we're on in my journal, you'll understand how I felt about it." I answered, looking down where I immediately turned my face away. Twilight then looked for herself, and her expression was one of shock, as what her eyes were exposed to was nothing short of horrific. Various curse words were strewn about the page, and there were even dried droplets of blood, which made her look at me, eyes wide open, silently demanding to know what happened. " My dream was to become a princess, an alicorn, so when I found out that the other Twilight had fulfilled my dream, well, I was furious, as though my entire life had just been shattered to pieces like a mirror. Even now, I still feel animosity towards her for having done what was denied to me."
" She is both your friend and mentor, so why even feel this way?" Twilight asked.
" Jealousy, I suppose, or perhaps frustration that she got it instead of me. Even though we've become friends now, I still harbour some resentment towards her, and I've never mentioned this to her at any time; I just wanted to keep such feelings to myself. When I wrote down what I experienced when I returned to Equestria for the first time, I was so frustrated with Princess Twilight; it felt like she was rubbing it in my face, and secretly mocking me because she succeeded where I failed." I answered.
" And the blood?" Twilight asked.
" I was going through a very difficult phase in my life, so I... slit my wrists out of a desire to mutilate myself, but also because I hated her! I hated that she became a princess, and I remained a mere unicorn, despite everything that Princess Celestia taught me." I answered. I quickly stopped talking and turned towards Twilight out of fear that she would have run away or done something to me because of what I just said, yet she did neither of those things. Instead, she hugged me as hard as possible, and I returned the embrace, her kindness and affection being a beacon of strength.
" I can understand how upset you were, Sunset. Wanting to become a princess had been your goal in life, and you were being personally trained by a princess in order to receive that very title, only to have lost it all. Though, I think you did go overboard when you had a... mental breakdown, as mutilation is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. I have a feeling that Princess Twilight didn't intend on becoming a princess; given what you and the others said about her, there are times where she feels like it's too much of a burden. As such, she inadvertently attacked you emotionally, and you were blinded by this." Twilight said. I remember that conversation well after Princess Twilight came through the portal after the conclusion to the Friendship Games, yet while the two Twilights were badgering one another about what they were looking at, we did manage to explain to Twilight here about the truth behind her Equestrian counterpart. It did prove to be a difficult subject as Twilight had a hard time believing in magic even when she used it unintentionally, but she proved to be a fast learner, and has accepted magic to an extent. " I am curious though as to why you skimmed through roughly a dozen pages before turning to the page regarding this coronation." Twilight said.
" How did you know?" I asked.
" I'm very observant Sunset, so I watched you out of the corner of my eye skimming those pages in dead silence. If you thought you could hide something like that from me, you guessed wrong, and I'm calling you out on it!" Twilight answered. I smiled meekly knowing that I met my match, so why didn't she say anything before? Was it because she was focused more on my outburst, or did she want to know more about Princess Twilight? " So, why skip over so many pages? Surely, the experiences you wrote down are worthy enough to be talked about."
" Unless you want me to talk endlessly about what I did for the next three years." I said.
" Okay, you've made your point, so why not give it to me in simple terms." Twilight suggested.
" During those next three years, I continued having interviews with other students, and the secrets they revealed to me were used to make their lives miserable, and when the yearly Fall Formal came along, those who tried to compete against me were subjected to utter humiliation as I used Snips and Snails to uncover additional secrets, which ruined not only their chances, but their reputations as well. There were even additional formals that occurred at other times in the year, and I wanted to win those, as well, no matter what I had to do to secure victory. As these secrets continued to swirl about CHS, friendships being destroyed in the process, my actions became more and more malicious, exerting authority over the students to satisfy my own superiority complex." I said, pausing due to my throat feeling parched from explaining myself. I clasped my throat because of how dry it was, and Twilight knew exactly what to do. She reached into her backpack, and took out a container filled with apple cider. Heh, at one time I used to hate the stuff, mainly because it reminded me of Applejack, but once I got a taste for it, I never looked back.
" You really like this stuff don't you?" Twilight asked, surprised that I kept on asking for refill after refill, though she didn't mind as long as my thirst was quenched.
" Applejack was the one who got me hooked." I said, finally having had my fill of apple cider.
" What else happened during those three years?" Twilight asked.
" During that time, I began dating Flash Sentry, and before you even say anything Twilight, I'm fully aware that he's a human, and I'm a pony in the form of a human, but no one ever knew that until after last year's Fall Formal. However, I never loved him in that sense of the word. No, I wanted to take advantage of his ever-increasing popularity, using it to strengthen my own, yet he truly loved me, even though I was using him. He would eventually figure out my true intentions years later and break up with me. I didn't take his action very kindly, and I secretly planned on bringing him down in retaliation. By the time Princess Twilight's coronation came along, everyone was afraid of me, and I felt that I could do anything I wanted because of my status. No one dared challenge me unless they wanted their deepest secrets exposed, utterly humiliating them." I answered.
" How did you know about her coronation?" Twilight asked.
" It was all by sheer coincidence! Princess Twilight once told me that she tried to cast a powerful spell created by Star Swirl the Bearded, the most powerful unicorn wizard to have ever lived in Equestria, yet the spell was incomplete, and it caused some 'interesting' things to happen. For one thing, the pony versions of our friends experienced a change in their personalities. As for what happened in this world, the portal opened, due to excess magic from the side-effects of the spell seeping through the mirror, activating it." I answered.
It was raining that morning, and I was heading outside to have a moment to myself. Then again, considering I had the entire student body under my thumb, taking a break was perhaps the last thing on my mind, but I was feeling frustrated with my lot in life. I ruled CHS with an iron fist, and everyone feared me because of how I rendered them asunder, figuratively of course, as I used their secrets to manipulate them, sent text messages that provided false information, relied on Snips and Snails to uncover even more dirt on them, and did other things far too terrible for me to want to recall, and through it all I was on top of my game. Yet, one thing was missing. I wanted more than what I had! I wanted to become an alicorn, which was the one dream that was taken away from me by Princess Celestia! I wanted to rule over Equestria as her equal, or rather her superior! The desire for me to suddenly leave this world behind and return home was a passionate one, but I was merely kidding myself, as in truth, the portal wasn't going to open for several more months. By the time those had passed me by, my mind would probably be focusing on something else. Nothing prepared me for what I was about to discover.
When I stepped outside, making sure that I was wearing my black raincoat, which had my cutie mark emblazoned on the back, I noticed something odd about the statue that adorns the front area of CHS, the Wondercolt Statue, a symbol of school pride. If anything, it was nothing but a useless hunk of rock that these people worship as though it were some kind of deity, given how I often saw them hanging around it. If I could, I would have destroyed it long ago and replaced it with a statue of myself, a sign that I was in control of the school despite the two sisters technically in charge. Those thoughts would soon disappear from my mind when I saw it. There it was: a faded twinkling coming from the side of the statue that was facing the entrance to the school. Such a slight glow, but one that was easy for me to spot. The aura coming from it... could it be what I thought it was? I walked closer, ignoring the rain falling around me, my feet splashing in the puddles between the entrance and the statue, my eyes fixated on this one point, which most would have ignored, though I didn't; I knew what it was.
" Equestrian magic..." I said to myself upon reaching the statue base and pressing my hand up against the part of the statue where the twinkling was coming from. " It really is magic from back home, but how could it be here and now?" I remembered what I read in that book located in the dark magic section of the Canterlot Royal Library; how could I forget such vivid words like those? 'The portal opens once every thirty moons, and leads to another world...' I made sure to keep track of how many moons had passed since I first came here, and it hadn't been thirty, so why has it opened now? Was it a sign that I should go through, and return home for the first time in years? Or was it Princess Celestia's attempt to convince me to come home in order to make me beg for forgiveness? " It doesn't matter how and why the portal had opened; I'm not about to waste such a perfectly good opportunity, yet whether I choose to return or stay depends on what I discover on the other side." I said to myself, running into the portal without a second thought.
Within a matter of moments, I came out the other side of the mirror, immediately struggling to maintain my balance. I dropped down onto my hooves due to being unable to stand up on two of them. I looked down, and sure enough, my legs and hands were gone, replaced with the same hooves I remember having what felt like a long time ago. I then turned around out of curiosity, and the reflection staring back at me was that of my unicorn form, a form I had not seen in practically forever. It also meant that my magic had been restored to me, and a cruel smile wrapped around my lips before being replaced with one of surprise. " I'm home... I'm home again, but I don't remember the mirror being in a room like this. If I had to make an educated guess, I should be somewhere in the lowest basement of Canterlot Castle." I said to myself. My best guess to explain my current location was that Princess Celestia moved the mirror down here so that it was out of her sight, and so she wouldn't need to see it for any particular reason. That meant no one in the castle was aware of my return, but I'd better make myself scarce in case the excess magic coming from the portal began to linger, which could in turn bring some unwanted attention down here.
It then dawned on me that I couldn't exactly just waltz around the castle as I currently was; having been escorted out and banished from the castle because of what happened, I was essentially a criminal who could be arrested were anyone of authority to notice my presence. " I want to see what kind of changes have occurred around here since I left, so getting caught would be the absolute worst thing that can happen." I said to myself, and so I began thinking about how to deal with this problem, and an idea quickly began formulating within my brain. " I read up on some dark magic before that incident with Princess Celestia, so why not use one of those spells to give me the means of moving around without drawing attention to myself? I know I never got a chance to use them, but I'm not in the best position to argue with myself on ethics of all things." I then began to concentrate all of my magic, which culminated at the tip of my horn, and, firing a beam of dark magic that proved both exhausting and painful, I disguised my cutie mark before doing the same to the rest of my body. Upon finishing the spell, I looked at my reflection in the mirror, and was surprised at the result.
" This dark magic is truly amazing. No wonder Princess Celestia decided to keep it locked away! She obviously didn't understand just how incredibly useful it could be, so instead she sealed it away out of fear that her subjects would become corrupted. It's like I said to her a long time ago: I was her superior because I knew how to get things done, and that made me a prime candidate to become a princess! Yet she cast me aside because my way of thinking was too radical, too ambitious. Well, we'll see about that." I said to myself, quietly leaving the room, and trying my best to remember how to get out of the basement. It had been many years since I was last down here, so some things I remembered, while others remained a blur. There were times where I ran into a dead-end or even found myself visiting the same location more than once. It frustrated me. I wanted to let loose my magic as a means of venting, but I restrained myself, as I still needed to learn what had changed.
Eventually, after several more mishaps, I finally made it to the main area of the castle, and I was shocked at what I was seeing. There were various party decorations hanging all over the place, tables lined with all kinds of exotic foods, ponies of all kinds walking about dressed in formal attire, and the Royal Guard out in full force as though a big event were taking place. Surely it wasn't the Grand Galloping Gala!? I never did find much satisfaction when I was forced to attend them when I was Celestia's protégé, so this must be some other kind of occasion. An answer would quickly come in the form of two ponies who just so happened to walk by where I overheard them.
" Can you believe this is really happening?"
" Never in all my years would I have thought to live to see the day that a new princess would be crowned!"
" To think that Twilight Sparkle has managed to achieve such a monumental goal simply by doing something which has never been done before. She has made Canterlot proud of her accomplishment. Even Princess Celestia is beside herself with happiness, as she should be; Twilight was taught by her personally. Her Highness deserves to see one of her prized students finally become an alicorn especially after having so many failures before."
" Do you mean?"
" Remember Sunset Shimmer?"
" Ah, yes! She was the last student Princess Celestia had under her wing until Twilight came along. Whatever happened to her?"
" They say that she disappeared a few years ago after having a falling out with Her Highness, and has never been seen since. A shame, really. She had an awful lot of potential as a unicorn, but her arrogance doomed her, according to what my daughter told me whenever she came home from school."
" She ended up being a real failure!"
" I wouldn't go that far, but rather I'd say her ambition went far beyond her will to control it."
" I'm standing by what I just said about her, and you know it's true, as Princess Celestia has never openly stated anything regarding Sunset Shimmer since the day she disappeared. She was a failure, through and through. Twilight Sparkle, on the other hoof, has shown tremendous skill which rivals that of Sunset, but the main difference is that Twilight never allowed arrogance to blind her. Sunset became just like those other students who Her Highness attempted to groom, yet while they left of their own accord, Sunset simply ran away because she couldn't handle it." The amount of anger building up inside of me had already reached a fever pitch when the younger of these two ponies insulted me, but what the older one said completely pushed me over the edge. I was so distraught over his words that I was ready to reveal myself and make him regret saying those words, regret ever being born! The two ponies then continued on their way, leaving me to vent out my frustration by using my magic to damage part of a nearby wall, cracks appearing in it that slowly spread along. I managed not to shatter into pieces, restraining myself at the last moment.
" How dare she! How dare Princess Celestia not acknowledge my existence since I left?" I said to myself, the rage within me making my eyes blaze, my hatred almost impossible for me to keep under control. But then, something else bothered me: namely, my family, who probably forgot all about me, given how little they cared. They probably think I relocated to another part of Equestria where I refused to keep in touch. That's when the elephant in the room reared its ugly head in the form of the one those two ponies were talking about. " So she found another unicorn to become her prized student, and that one succeeded instead of me? No doubt Princess Celestia was so desperate in crowning a new princess, she probably allowed this Twilight Sparkle to have an easy time of it. Still, despite my apprehension, I need to see who this new princess is; I want to know how I can make her life just as miserable as those in the other world." I said to myself.
Following the ponies who had insulted me, I soon entered the royal hall, a place which I haven't set hoof in for a very long time. However, rather than make my way to the front of the gathering which lay before me, I decided to stay in the rear, in case Princess Celestia saw through my disguise. After waiting around for a few moments, I saw her making her way up to the podium along with her sister, and Princess Cadance, whom I had only met on a couple of occasions. Princess Celestia, my former teacher. Just seeing her in her full regalia made me sick to my stomach; she was flaunting around her presence, and I resented her for it. I was expecting her to be miserable over what happened between us, yet she was happy because my apparent successor had done the one thing I couldn't.
" We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion. My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has done many extraordinary things since she first started to live in Ponyville." Princess Celestia said, her words bringing everypony in the room to attention, and I begrudgingly went along with it in order to maintain my disguise, yet I was secretly worried. Why haven't the Royal Guard caught onto the fact that I'm wearing nothing but a raincoat in a place where regalia was all around? " She was able to bring the real Princess Cadance back to us when she was replaced by the Changeling queen, aided in the protection of the Crystal Empire, and even helped reunite me with my sister Princess Luna. Today, Twilight Sparkle did something extraordinary which has never been done in the entire history of Equestria. She created new magic, by taking what had originally been created by Star Swirl the Bearded and finished it, proving without a doubt that she is ready to be crowned Equestria's newest princess." Princess Celestia said.
" What!? This Twilight Sparkle is being crowned a princess because she finished a mere magic spell!?" I said to myself, completely irate over what I had just heard. I worked as hard as any unicorn to be accepted in the same manner as this upstart, yet she ascended without any true challenge!? If there was any compassion in my heart leading me towards forgiving Princess Celestia, it shattered to pieces upon hearing those words. That's when she made the announcement introducing the newest princess in Equestria, and I almost gave myself a heart attack when I saw who this pony was. " No... it can't be... not her..." I said to myself, as I stared at this Twilight Sparkle. She... she was the same foal who was playing in the park the day I was shown the mirror. That little foal who had a carefree life, and would most likely have not amounted to anything was making her way up to the podium as a princess!? She then received her crown atop her head, and this was enough for me to want to protest against such garbage, but I knew that doing so would reveal my hand, and I'd be banished, or even worse, as a result.
" Congratulations, Princess Twilight!" Princess Celestia announced.
" Thank you." Princess Twilight said, the crowd of ponies cheering her on, except for me. I was simply livid.
" Care to say something?" Princess Celestia asked.
" Oh, well, I didn't exactly prepare anything elaborate; I wasn't expecting this to happen to me, but I'll give it a shot anyway, since everypony seems to really want to hear what I have to say about all of this." Princess Twilight answered, clearing her throat before she began speaking again. " When I first moved to Ponyville under the recommendation of my teacher Princess Celestia, she sent me to study friendship, because until I discovered what it truly was, I merely chose to focus on my studies, and thus never really cared much about the concept. Now, especially after all that I've been through in these past moons, I can now say from the bottom of my heart that I wouldn't be standing here before you all as the newest princess if not for the friendships which I forged. Each one of my friends showed me something that helped me to further understand friendship, and I shall forever be grateful to them for all they have done."
" An excellent speech." Princess Celestia said.
" Today, I truly believe that I am the luckiest pony in all of Equestria." Princess Twilight said. The crowd then erupted into applause again before the four princesses and an assortment of ponies made their way over to a balcony, where this upstart of a pony repeated her speech again to an even larger crowd who had been waiting outside. I couldn't believe this was really happening! That should have been me saying that speech about becoming a princess! I should be the one getting all of that praise, not her! Never had I felt so much fury inside of me, and I wasn't going to let this injustice stand. This Twilight Sparkle was going to rue the day she ever decided to steal what is rightfully mine. Steal... That gave me an idea of how I could cement my place as the princess I deserved to be, but first I needed to return to the other world. Turning my attention towards Princess Twilight, my jaw dropped over seeing the ponies who were standing next to her, for I recognized each and every one of them.
" Those five... It's them... the same five from the other world. They are close friends to this Twilight Sparkle!? This has just made things even more interesting; while I've already driven them apart, courtesy of my manipulations, I now have an additional reason for wanting to make their lives utterly miserable." I said to myself. I made sure to make a mental note in my mind with regards to what Princess Twilight's crown looked like. That done, without anyone noticing, I slipped away, because sticking around was bound to cause me nothing but heartache. That's when I discovered something that I didn't count on happening...
" I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, er, hooves, if I had to witness some complete stranger claim something which I was denied." Twilight said.
" If I were like I am now instead of what I was back then, I would have actually enjoyed the spectacle of it all. Canterlot is well-known throughout Equestria as having some of the best social gatherings imaginable. Even the most famous of ponies visit in order to experience such occasions. Sure, it all looks overdone at times, what with all the attention to detail that goes into such formal affairs, but everyone enjoys themselves immensely." I said, looking up at the ceiling and thinking back on all those events I attended back when I was Princess Celestia's prized student. How I wish that I could have gotten more enjoyment out of them, not simply having felt miserable because the events were taking away precious studying time. Truly, my priorities back then were deplorable at best. Thanks to my time living here in this world after I reformed, I've grown to enjoy social gatherings, and I hope one day I'll be able to experience them again in Equestria for the right reasons.
" What did you mean when you said that something happened which you didn't count on?" Twilight asked.
" It had to do with the mirror." I answered.
" Did it shatter?" Twilight asked.
" No. I saw a few of the Royal Guard taking it away with them." I answered.