[Chapter 12] Fall from Grace
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Pinkamena wandered the frozen wasteland, weary and broken. The blood dripping from her nose had already frozen, blocking the flow of air. She breathed heavily through her mouth as she tried to chase her assailant, but she had already lost track of her hours ago. She fought on against the buffet of the wind and sleet, delirious and in pain at the constant attack.
All around her was black. The darkness of the storm had even blocked out the light from the moon. She had no idea where she was, let alone where she had come from. She was lost.
Up ahead, she caught the trunk of a tree. It was large enough to block enough of the wind and sleet for Pinkamena to catch her breath. She used a low hanging branch to grasp onto to help keep herself up, but it was no use. Her legs gave out under her and she fell back against the tree. Up above, she could see various shades of blue from the light of the moon, radiating in a circular pattern down into the blackness where she lay. Pinkamena reached up to the light, desperately grasping at it in the hopes that it would lead her somewhere far away. Away from the cold of the world. “Please... help me...” she cried.
A figure could be made out approaching from the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. It flared its wings out and glowed with a magnificent light. The figure wore a black hooded robe, resembling the angel of death from one of Pinkamena’s mother’s old mare’s tales. “Is it my time already?” she asked, almost pleadingly as tears streamed from her eyes.
The figure approached Pinkamena so close that she could feel the chill of her mane brush against her cheek. She moved her face next to Pinkamena’s ear and whispered in an ethereal voice.
“No. It is not yet your time.”
A light glowed from atop the figure’s head making the wind die down behind her, just enough to reveal the edge of the Everfree forest.
“Save Rarity,” she whispered before disappearing in a sudden gust of snow.
-----
Twilight opened the door to the Library to see Nova sitting down reading a book about astronomy. Around the library, several books were removed from the shelves and in disarray around the young mare. She looked up with a smile on her face at Twilight, ecstatic to begin her ‘forced’ sleepover.
“You’re back!” Nova exclaimed. “How did it go with your friends?”
Twilight shrugged. “I’m not sure. As far as plans go, terrible, but for the feeling you get after helping out friends, it went pretty well,” She giggled reminiscing about how much she had helped her friends. She was sure that they must have appreciated it more than Twilight could, having missed it for fifteen years.
Twilight shifted her attention to the room, looking back and forth across the room before giving Nova a confused look. “Um... Where’s Spike?” She asked.
Nova’s eyes began to shift around as she began to struggle with her answer. “Um. Well he... took a nap. He got tired after we studied so he went upstairs and took a nap.” Nova pursed her lips as she turned her attention back down to the book to avoid Twilight’s doubtful glare.
“Nova, what are you hiding?” Twilight demanded.
Suddenly, they heard a groan come from upstairs followed by the sound of somebody walking up to the balcony.
“Ugh, my head.” The purple dragon muttered before setting his sights on the unicorns downstairs. “Twilight I’m glad you’re here! She must’ve cast a knockout spell on me or something.” He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Nova.
All eyes were on Nova as they waited for her explanation.
She dropped her head below her shoulders as she conceded her defeat. “Alright, fine. I did cast a knockout spell on you, Spike. It’s just that, I thought I’d be learning about cool magic and stuff... you know, having access to ‘Twilight’s Library’ and all. But Spike is SOOOO BORING!” She groaned.
“What? Twilight said study and that’s just what I did,” He chuckled before looking towards Twilight. “We started with history, all the way from the Pre-Classical Era to now. Then we moved on to advanced Trig.” He looked over to Nova with genuine astonishment in his eyes. “You know that Twilight was around that level around your age.”
He noticed that Nova only stared at him with disappointment and frustration. “You didn’t actually think I’d let you poke your head around Twilight’s spellbooks did you?” He guffawed. “There’s some dangerous stuff in those old tomes.”
“Well it’s no use, I couldn’t find them even with you asleep.”
“Nova!” Twilight barked. “That wasn’t nice of you to do something like that. Not to mention that those are dangerous spells you performed. Where did you even learn a knockout spell? Only Royal Guards are taught those.”
“Well,” Nova began, shyly poking at the floor with her hoof. “My brother actually taught me... But please don’t tell anypony. I don’t want him to get into trouble!” She pleaded.
“Alright, I promise I won’t tell,” Twilight responded. “But you’ve got to apologize to Spike for what you did.”
With a nod, she turned to the dragon and lowered her head respectfully. “I’m really sorry that I knocked you out.” She apologized.
Twilight snickered as Spike blushed in embarrassment.
Nova quickly got the joke. “Shoot. That did not come out right,” she nervously explained. “What I meant to say was that I’m sorry I... overpowered you..."
Twilight bust out laughing this time, unable to think anything else now. “Spike, you got beat by a little filly!” She laughed.
“No, no, no! What I meant was I’m sorry you got your butt kicked by a little filly,” Nova snickered.
“Oh come on!” He shouted. “You aren’t even trying anymore!”
-----
Rarity and Sweetie Belle laid together on Rarity’s bed, tuckered out from the long day of traveling and cleaning. She clutched her little sister tight, doing her best to wrap her tail around the young mare like she did when Sweetie Belle was just a filly. Rarity never closed her eyes, not wanting to waste a single moment with her sister.
Rarity noticed that she had grown well. With all the running Sweetie Belle did, her body had become well toned and fit. Her mane, while rather under-cared for, had grown out and flowed beautifully across her shoulders regardless. If she hadn’t been condemned to a life of crime, she could have become a model or, based on her talents, a pop idol. Rarity slowly ran her hoof through her sister’s hair as she cherished the moment.
Suddenly, there came a knock at the door.
“Not now. They can come back another day,” she thought as she continued to stroke the sleeping mare’s mane, attempting to gently remove the tangles.
Then came another knock. This one louder than before.
“Can’t they just learn to leave well enough alone?” Rarity mumbled under her breath before clutching her sister, pretending to be asleep. The beautiful scent of lilac would have done the job too. She could feel her eyelids getting heavy as she welcomed the feeling of euphoria begin to wash over her.
*Creeeeak*
Rarity’s eyes shot open as she heard the sound of the door open up. In the darkness, she strained her eyes to watch her bedroom door for any intruders. “Sweetie,” she whispered as she began to shake her sister.
“Ugh, yeah sis?” She groaned.
“Sweetie, wake up. There’s somepony in the house.”
Sweetie Belle shot up taking a defensive position in front of the bed. “Rarity, I’ll handle this.” She commanded, trying her best to keep her voice down.
“No! It’s too dangerous. What if you get-”
“Rarity. I’ve been doing this for twelve years. I can handle it.” With that, Sweetie Belle crept towards the door, positioning herself against the wall to where she could peek through the crack in the doorway. It was no use. With the boards still covering the windows, the room was pitch black and attempting to light it up with her magic would only serve to give away her position.
She decided that it would be best if she used the darkness to her advantage. If she couldn’t see the intruders, it was only fair to assume that they couldn’t see her. Not only that, but if they were still in the house, they would most likely be using a light source themselves. Sweetie Belle crept down the stairs quietly, listening for any sound out of the ordinary, though the howling of the wind only made the attempt pointless. Once she reached the ground, she could see the light coming in from the open doorway.
The room was empty. Anything that had entered must’ve left in a hurry, seeing as nothing was taken. Sweetie Belle dropped her guard as she moved forward to shut the door. Just before she touched the doorknob, she stepped on something that had been lying on the floor. It was a plain white envelope, sealed with a dab of wax, just barely enough to keep the flap closed.
She magicked it up and removed the contents, lifting the letter up to her face and using the light from her horn to read it. The reading was hardly legible, as if somepony had been frantically writing.
Rarity,
I really need to see you. It’s really important. Meet me at the ruins of the old Castle in the Everfree forest. Please come alone. I need your help.
-Pinkie
That was it. There was no time or explanation for the suspicious meeting, which put Sweetie Belle on edge. Whatever was going down, it made chills run down her spine.
“Rarity, come down!” She called up.
In no time at all, she had rushed down the stairs, relieved that her sister was safe. “Thank goodness you’re alright,” she sighed as she hugged her sister. “Do you know what it was?”
“I think you should take a look at this.” Sweetie Belle said as she handed the letter to her sister.
Rarity materialized her glasses on her face and read through the letter.
“I don’t think you should go. It’s really suspicious,” Sweetie Belle suggested. “I mean, showing up that deep in the Everfree, alone? Something just doesn’t add up."
“Nonsense, dear. Have you seen Pinkie as of late? I saw her the other day. The poor girl was so hurt, but I told her that if she needs anything, I’d be there to help her.” Rarity informed. “She was really scared. I could see it in her eyes. I don’t blame her for being sneaky about this. Plus, she called me Rarity. That can only mean she’s starting to remember me.”
“Well I’m not letting you go alone. It’s dangerous out there regardless of the circumstances and I’m not going to lose you again!” Sweetie Belle positioned herself in between the door and her sister as if to suggest that she wasn’t going to let her through.
Rarity smiled at her sister’s concern. “I can see that you won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. I haven’t the slightest where you got that from,” she joked. “Alright, so be it.” Rarity held her forearm up to Sweetie Belle as if she was expecting to be escorted over there. “Shall we?”
-----
Twilight had finally loosened up with Nova, having felt that sitting through one of Spike’s lectures about the molecular biology of pathogens was enough punishment. With Spike’s help, she had found some of her old, less dangerous, spell books that she was willing to lend to the excited filly.
Nova took to them quickly. Performing many of the spells after only a few minutes of studying and attempting them. She was a talented magician, if not a little bit cocky. “No, no. That looks too easy. Do you have something harder I can try?” She asked after examining the page that Twilight had turned the book to and handed her. She quickly closed the book and pushed it aside.
“Nova, that spell took me two whole days to master,” Twilight argued, pushing the book back in front of her. “Just try it. It’s harder than it sounds.”
“Alright then. Prepare to be amazed!” She boasted.
Twilight chuckled at the familiarity of her statement.
Just then, there came a knock at the door. Spike rushed over and opened it, seeing Rarity and Sweetie Belle standing in the doorway. He quickly led them in out of the cold as he never took his eyes off Sweetie Belle.
“Sweetie Belle! I’m so glad everything worked out!” He cheered throwing his arms out in a bold request for a hug. “How did you escape?”
The young mare rushed over to him, throwing her hooves around him and squeezing him as tight as she could. “Thank you sooo much! I couldn’t have done it without your help,” she said, remembering the bold sacrifice he made to help her escape. She turned to him and planted her lips on his cheek, giving it a big kiss before releasing her hold on him.
The dragon hobbled around while mumbling incoherently, woozy from the sudden rush of blood to his head.
Rarity turned her attention to Nova, surprised that she was still around. “Twilight, what is she doing here? I thought you made it perfectly clear that she should go home.”
“She never left,” Twilight groaned. “She followed me into the Everfree and when I finally found out, the monorail was closed. Now she's stuck here alone and I’ve got to take care of her.”
Satisfied with the answer, Rarity changed her tone to ask what she really came over for. “Twilight, dear. I need your help with something.”
“Sure Rarity. What is it?”
“I think Pinkie remembers me!” Rarity exclaimed holding up the letter. “She has sent me a message requesting that I meet her alone, but I was thinking that it might help her to remember if we both went together.”
Twilight looked at Rarity in surprise. “Let me see that letter for a second.”
Rarity handed it over and Twilight quickly read through it. A confused look spread across her face as she twisted the letter around and held it up to the light, inspecting it for anything they could have missed. “That’s it?” She asked, puzzled. “This looks really suspicious. Why can’t she just meet you at her place or speak to you at yours?”
“That’s what I said!” Sweetie cut in, matter-of-factly.
“Sweetie, please,” Rarity scoffed. “I had explained it to Sweetie Belle earlier. You saw her yourself Twilight. Does it really seem that far fetched that she would act in such a manner?”
Twilight handed over the letter, thinking on it for a moment. “Well, I guess you’re right. Though I have my doubts about it,” she admitted. “I’ll go with you for Pinkie’s sake, but I’ll be there to help you if something goes wrong.”
Twilight turned to Nova who was waiting impatiently for an invitation to join the group. “Yeah. Don’t get your hopes up, Nova.” She teased before turning to Spike. “Spike, can you watch her while we’re gone? Have her study that spell to keep her busy,” she said, pointing to the book in front of the filly.
“What if I master it before you get back? Is there another-”
“You won’t.” Twilight laughed as she wrapped a scarf around her neck. “Spike. Make sure she doesn’t pull any tricks on you again.”
He struck a pose of being at attention before saluting Twilight. “Don’t worry. I won’t fall for that again.”
Twilight nodded as the three unicorns headed out the door
Spike returned to watching the filly as she began to read the book, determined to prove Twilight wrong. She focused on the spell as her horn began to glow with a bright light. “Almost... there...” she grunted as she shut her eyes tight to concentrate harder. Suddenly, the spell fizzled out with a pathetic popping noise as Nova panted in exhaustion.
“You were close!” Spike cheered. “That’s amazing. You know you remind me a lot of Twilight. You know, she has a brother too? He’s actually the Captain of the Royal Guard.” He chuckled at the similarities. “Isn’t that funny?”
Nova just stood with her mouth hanging open in shock.
“Uh, what?” Spike asked curiously.
-----
The trio of unicorns wandered into the Everfree forest, following the same path Twilight had taken only a few hours prior. None of the ponies had anything to fear. Twilight had already proven the path to be harmless, twice. Rarity wasn’t concerned about her surroundings either, not with Twilight and Sweetie Belle by her sides. Sweetie Belle however, was the most cautious of the trio. It wasn’t that she was scared, but that habit was hard to break. All around the forest was quiet. Still, she felt like there were eyes around, all on them.
Soon the forest became too dark to see. All three unicorns lit up an illumination spell, bathing the forest with a bright white light. The density of the trees caused their lights to cast shadows all around the forest. As they proceeded forward, it became hard to tell if there were things moving or it was just an irregularly shaped tree or bush. Off in the distance, the rustling of leaves could be heard.
“Come closer girls,” Twilight whispered, inching closer to Rarity. “Keep an eye out for anything dangerous.”
The shadows had begun to dart back and forth, putting everypony on edge. They each attempted to follow the shadows with their eyes, but with all the movement around, it was hard to keep up. The feeling of paranoia had become almost overwhelming.
“What’s that!” Rarity alerted.
“Look that way!” Twilight whispered.
“Over there.” Sweetie Belle pointed out.
They had been circling each other trying to follow the suspicious shapes until they each had their back to each other.
“Let’s get out of here girls. I don’t want to be in here any longer than we have to,” Twilight worried.
Off in the distance, Sweetie Belle could see two orbs of light, like light reflecting off of a pair of watching eyes. Just as quickly as she spotted them, the reflections disappeared as the sound of twigs breaking could be heard.
It was a tense couple of minutes, but they finally maneuvered their way through the thicket to the other side where the clearing could be seen. They joyfully rushed over to the frozen ravine.
Around, the blizzard had died down significantly, revealing the moon up above through the gaps in the clouds. Twilight began to walk forward, the crunching of snow disturbing the quiet. Something struck her as odd however. Up ahead, there were no hoofprints or signs that anypony, at least those that couldn’t fly, had been there. Twilight knew of a few paths that would lead to the clearing, but from here, this was the only path to the castle. She quickly brushed the thought aside. “We are probably just early,” she reassured herself.
"This way girls.” Twilight led the others to the edge of the overgrowth, weary of the edge of the cliff. Something up ahead, however caught Twilight completely off guard. The rope bridge had been reattached; something an Earth pony couldn’t have done on her own. “Girls... I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe we should turn back.”
“Twilight, this bridge held us all over fifteen years ago and who knows how long it’s been up before that,” Rarity attempted to convince her. “If it stayed up since then, it should stay up now. What are you afraid of?”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. This bridge wasn’t up the last time I came here. Somepony has been here and it wasn’t Pinkie.”
Sweetie Belle put her hoof up to interject. “If that’s the case, then somepony lied to my sister and tried to get her alone here. I don’t know about you guys, but that’s not okay with me.”
“Girls, girls,” Rarity cut in. “I think you girls are letting your fears get the better of you. I mean, really? Tricking me to get me alone in this far away from Ponyville? Who could I have possibly made enemies with in this short of time?”
“But the bridge-”
“What about Nova? You said she was following you didn’t you.”
“Yeah but...”
“And you passed by here, am I correct?”
“Still, that-”
“Twilight, Nova was the last one here,” Rarity finally revealed. “She could have strung up the bridge, thinking you went in here.”
“Well... she did say she lost me at one point,” Twilight finally accepted.
“There’s a chance that Pinkie is in there right now and I am not willing to risk turning my back on her after all she’s been through,” Rarity continued. “I won’t ask you girls to stay, but I hope that you do decide to join me.”
Twilight and Sweetie Belle both sighed. It was a logical explanation. Perhaps they were letting their fears get the better of them. Rarity always did have an attention for details. “Alright,” they said in unison.
One by one, they slowly traversed the rickety bridge. Each slat of wood complained and moaned as they put their weight on it, threatening to give out at any moment. After several tense moments, they had all crossed and began to head through the giant oak doors into the grand hallway where the elements once resided. The arms of the monolith had collapsed from the snow and wind that assaulted for many years, being left unprotected by the broken walls and missing ceiling, leaving only the large centerpiece standing.
There hadn’t appeared to be anypony around the room. The trio wandered around, inspecting any possible hiding place that Pinkie might be watching from. Sweetie Belle walked to the back of the room to the arched windows. She noticed that up a zigzagging flight of steps, there was a large building. In the window, she could see flickers of light coming from a fire; possibly a torch.
“Girls, I think there’s somepony over there,” she called back to the others while pointing off to the building. They all agreed, heading over to the side door that lead to the staircase.
The path was narrow. At one point, it might have been two or three times as wide as it was now and had walls on either side. Now only stood a snaking set of stairs barely a couple yards wide. They cautiously made their way up each step, lowering their center of gravity with every breeze that would blow through. Down below, the cliff sunk down into a frozen valley. After several flights, they finally reached a point where the walls hadn’t fallen down into the pit and it reconnected with the building up ahead; the ancient throne room.
The room almost hadn’t changed except for the back which had been claimed by the rockslides a long time ago. For the most part, most of the columns, walls, and even the pedestal where the throne once sat, were intact. There was a lit torch hanging on the last column before the ground disappeared right next to the pedestal.
Rarity noticed something strange, however. Right atop the pedestal was a small white and purple figure. As she approached, it became clear just what it was. Pinkamena’s Rarity doll lay on the ground dangerously close to the edge of the room. Rarity walked up to it and picked it up before a loud noise interrupted them.
Pinkamena was standing at the entrance, woozy from the cold and her injuries. She looked around the room, strangely surprised to see the three unicorns standing before her. Tears started flowing from her eyes as she dropped a note on the ground as she spotted Rarity holding her doll. “Why did you do this to me!” She cried. “Why did you take her and hurt me! I knew you were all out to get me. Violet! Starlight! I trusted you!”
Twilight walked up to Pinkamena cautiously as she tried to calm her down. “Pinkie, what’s wrong? What happened to you?”
Pinkamena winced in horror as she backed away from the advancing unicorn. “Stay back!” She screamed. Please don’t hurt me!” As she backed up, she tripped over a loose stone, falling to her back. She quickly curled up into a ball, covering her head with her hooves.
“Pinkie, what’s wrong-”
“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HIT HER!” Shouted a voice from up above in the rafters. A hooded pegasus rushed down, landing right in between Twilight and Pinkamena. She walked over to the cowering mare, who was now shaking uncontrollably at the sight of her assailant. “Why can’t you do anything right?!” She berated Pinkamena before turning around quickly and pointing her covered hoof to Rarity. “Why can’t any of you do anything right! You were supposed to come alone!”
At that moment, Twilight rushed over to Pinkamena, who was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably, to comfort her . “Pinkie, shh... Everything’s going to be alri-” Twilight was interrupted by a swift kick to her ribs causing her to fall over, winded and in pain.
Both Rarity and Sweetie Belle rushed over to help out their friends but the figure darted back to the entrance away from the group to prevent herself from getting surrounded. Rarity rushed down and helped Twilight up. “Are you alright?!” She panicked.
“Y... yeah, I’m fine. Just winded is... all,” she stuttered.
Sweetie Belle rushed over to block the assailant from any further attacks on the others. "Who are you! What do you want with my sister!” She demanded.
“Stay out of this Sweetie Belle, I don’t wanna have to hurt you,” the attacker ordered.
Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth as she dropped her shoulders and swept at the ground with her front hoof, ready to charge. “Well thats too bad because I want to hurt you!” Sweetie Belle snarled. She lunged at the attacker, tackling her to the ground hard. They began to scuffle against the floor, each desperately trying to gain control over the other.
While the two fought it out, Rarity and Twilight helped Pinkamena up and took her away from the scuffle over to the pedestal so she wouldn’t get caught in it. Rarity gingerly handed the doll over, which Pinkamena quickly grabbed and hugged tightly.
In the scuffle, Sweetie Belle was quickly losing control of the pegasus. In a last ditch effort, she grabbed onto the hood with her teeth and pulled just as the attacker broke free, ripping the hood right off of her head. Sweetie Belle was shocked at who stood before her.
The orange pegasus snarled as she breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath.
“Sc... Scootaloo?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “But why?!”
Scootaloo spit on the ground as she licked her lip, checking for blood. “Your sister ruined everything for me. I was happy. Even though I had nothing, I was happy not knowing that. Rarity brought me back to reality, but I hate it! I hate her!” Scootaloo kicked her back hooves at the air in frustration. “Pinkie was supposed to hurt her,” she shouted as she turned her attention to Rarity. “She was supposed to blame you for taking her stupid dolls and attack you, but I didn’t know she’d be as worthless as the rest of you.”
Twilight was growing more frustrated by the second. “That’s enough!” she cut in, stomping her hoof on the ground. “This is ridiculous. It wasn’t Rarity’s fault at all. You should just come back with us and forget about all these ridiculous thoughts and maybe we’ll forget about all this.”
Scootaloo started gritting her teeth in frustration as Twilight berated her. Something inside her had snapped. She didn’t care about anything anymore, only seeing her hatred through to the end. “You just don’t get it! I have nothing left!”
Sweetie Belle walked forward to try and comfort the mare. “Please stop this! You have us! You have a home. You have Rainbow Dash-”
Scootaloo felt her hoof flying through the air as a knee-jerk reaction to Sweetie Belle’s words. In an instant, Sweetie Belle was on the ground. Scootaloo looked down at the writhing mare in horror, not for what she did, but that she enjoyed doing it. There was no going back now. A sinister grin spread across her face.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called out in shock.
Before she could run to help her sister, Scootaloo had positioned herself to charge. In a trained motion, she dug her hooves into the ground and raised her wings. With one powerful swoop, she propelled herself forward at lightning speed directly at Rarity.
Seeing the incoming attack, Twilight positioned herself in front of Rarity to protect her, bracing for impact.
Just before impact, there was a bright flash of light and a light blue blur darted from the left, intercepting the missile. Nova caught Scootaloo, wrapping her hooves around her body. The two mares were sent careening off course, knocking both Twilight and Rarity back off the edge and just hitting the doll loose from Pinkamena’s grasp before falling over the edge. Rarity was able to catch herself with one hoof, dangling from the edge, but Twilight wasn’t as lucky. All three mares plummeted down to the frozen valley below. The wind was whistling past their ears and all the air had escaped the unicorns’ lungs leaving them breathless.
“Let go you little bitch!” Scootaloo screamed at the top of her lungs, kicking and struggling against Nova’s grip. She had wrapped her hooves around her wings, leaving her immobile as the ground rapidly approached.
Nova shut her eyes as she waited for the end. There was a sickening thump, echoing all the way back up to Rarity. Both mares lay motionless on the ground.
Twilight still continued to fall, only shortly behind the other two. She was able to position herself to where she would get the most wind resistance and angled her fall towards a large bush. She hit her mark perfectly, the bush cushioning her fall leaving her with only a few deep cuts and bruises and severely winded. Slowly, she crawled out towards where the others had landed.
“N... Nova!” she weakly cried.
-----
Up above, Rarity was left dangling on the edge, desperately trying to pull herself up. “Help!” She cried.
Sweetie Belle rushed over, grabbing on to her sister’s hoof and pulling with all her might. It was no use. She couldn’t pull her to safety. She looked over to Pinkamena who was busy searching for her doll. “Please help me Pinkie!” She begged.
Pinkamena continued to search for her doll, getting frantic. “Rarity!” She called out.
“I’m over here! Please help me!”
Pinkamena rushed over to the edge, first seeing Rarity holding on for dear life, and then the doll. The doll was hanging by its mane, having snagged on the jagged edges of the broken floor. Instantly, she dove down to the ground, reaching as far as she could in an attempt to rescue her friend.
“Pinkie! Over here! Please!” Rarity pleaded, witnessing Pinkamena’s delusional rescue.
The threads of the yarn were beginning to tear. There wasn’t any time left. Pinkie looked into the eyes of the doll, crying as she tried desperately to reach her. As she gazed into the eyes, she could see a small glimmer, drawing her attention to the reflection of the mare struggling for her life next to them.
Sweetie Belle, was losing her grip. It was only a matter of time before her sister slipped from her hooves, but she tried desperately to hold on. Her eyes seemed to know that it was a losing battle, pouring out a relentless stream of tears, but she refused to believe it.
Rarity could feel the hold getting weaker. “I’m... I’m sorry,” she said.
“No, Rarity! I won’t let go. Please don’t say that!” Sweetie Belle sobbed.
Rarity blinked away the tears in her eyes before staring into her sister’s eyes one last time. “I love you.”
Sweetie Belle could feel her grip just about to give out. All seemed hopeless. “No...” she whimpered.
At the last second, a pink hoof came flying in, grabbing Rarity and pulling as hard as she could. Pinkamena put all her friend’s weight on her grasp to let Sweetie Belle regain her grip. “You got her?” Pinkamena asked Sweetie Belle. She gave her a quick nod before turning her attention back to Rarity. “Okay, on three,” she began. “One. Two. THREE!”
Together, they pulled as hard as they could, lifting Rarity up the side of the cliff and back onto solid ground. Pinkamena watched as the doll finally tore itself loose from the rocks and fell.
“Goodbye Pinkamena.”
-----
Down below, Twilight crawled across the snow, leaving a trail of red along the way. Her whole body ached from the cuts and bruises she sustained from her landing. Every bone in her body felt like it was broken. She pressured on against the pain, reaching out for the filly that lay on the ground ahead of her. She was still breathing, but it was weak.
“Nova,” she moaned, reaching out and grabbing her hoof. She sat up and pulled the filly up to her lap, wrapping her up in her arms. “P...Please speak to me.”
Nova’s eyes fluttered open, only slightly. She began to smile as she realized that Twilight was okay. Her voice was low and muffled. “I... I told... you I’d learn... the teleport.... spell,” she joked before wincing in pain. “I’m s...so sleepy now.” “I... I wish I had more time... to tell you everything.”
“Don’t say that!” Twilight cried, ignoring the freezing tears that dripped down her cheeks. “You’re gonna be fine. We’re going to get you to the hospital and you’ll...
Nova shook her head weakly. “Tell mom and dad, and our brother... I love them very much.”
“Our?” Twilight asked, confused.
Nova held up her hoof revealing a creased photograph to Twilight. She took it and stared at it in shock and horror.
“I love you... sis.” Nova whispered.
Nova closed her eyes and lowered her head in Twilight’s arm. Her breathing had stopped completely now. She was gone.
The air had become completely still. Twilight, lowered her face down to the filly’s chest crying relentlessly. Around her, steam began to rise from around her body, creating a draft. Miniature eddies of steam and snow began to swirl around her, slowly at first, but then quickly gaining speed. Small bursts of black electricity began to spark around her as the snow around her began to dissipate. Twilight lowered the mare to the ground before backing up in a rage. In front of her, Scootaloo was laying still, conscious but only just.
The eddies had begun to form a whirlwind around Twilight as she focused her rage on the battered pegasus. Scootaloo couldn’t move, mostly because of her broken bones and injuries, but partly from fear. Her eyes grew wide as she observed the beast she had unleashed.
Twilight began to spit and snarl as violent magical energy completely enveloped her. As the energy reached a certain intensity, Twilight began to lift off the ground. At first, it had appeared that she was losing control, but her actions were precise. Her motions were done specifically to cause what happened next. Twilight roared with the intensity of an explosion, causing the ground to rumble and crack around her. Twilight’s body became enveloped in purple light and her eyes glowed pure white before a frightening explosion of blinding light spread across the valley.
When the light faded, Twilight was floating above the ground. Her whole body had appeared to be made of light that took on a hue of her color. Her mane flowed much like the Princess’s, but violet and pink in color. However, around her, the Elements of Harmony circled, but they were not the crown and necklaces that they had once been, nor were they the orbs of stone they used to be before she discovered them. The elements had each appeared as a glowing gemstone, each one a different shape and color. Above her floated a purple star shaped stone.
Her expression appeared to be calm but fierce and her appearance was frightening. Around her sparked the same black lightning, but more actively and around what appeared to be an invisible sphere of energy. Twilight focused on Scootaloo. Her horn began to glow with a black aura as red and black electricity began to arc around it.
“You will pay!” She shouted in an ethereal voice.
As Twilight prepared to fire, a blinding light obscured her view. “TWILIGHT! STOP!” Boomed a familiar voice. The light faded but her vision appeared to be blurred, like she was seeing the world through blue tinted glass. Around her, everything was frozen in time. Even an arc of lightning stood still before her. She could see Scootaloo cowering in fear, but she did not feel the rage from before. In fact, there were no discernible emotions that she could feel; only the feeling of euphoria or enlightenment.
A blinding light approached her from the top of the cliff face, landing directly in front of her. Slowly, it began to take the shape of a pony. It soon became clear that the figure was a unicorn and before long, she was standing in front of Twilight, in full detail; the mare from her vision not too long ago. Her pink mane seemed to flow in an invisible breeze, but not quite like her alicorn counterpart.
The mare was Princess Celestia. The real Princess Celestia.