Twilight sighed heavily as she walked down the stairs to the lower dungeon within Canterlot Castle. She was tired, heartsore, and angry.
The last several years had been a trial. She honestly couldn’t believe that she was now the leader of a war torn nation. Not only that, she was now in charge of raising the Sun, as there simply wasn’t enough trained unicorns to do it.
Equestria was slowly rebuilding itself. It was hard, though; so many lives had been lost.
What was worse was that there were so many wounded, in such a way as they couldn’t be helped. At least, not in the way traditional for ponies.
No, these wounded were something else entirely; they were human. Not those human alternates in the world beyond the mirror, but real humans.
Creatures without magic of their own. At least those born on Equus had natural magic; that was more of a curse for them than it was a blessing, as that magic was the source of one of the most contemptible spells that had ever been created.
The Human/Pony Conversion spell.
Twilight’s muzzle went from sad to intense rage. To think, all this time, that the humans that had crossed the dimensional divide had been forced by energy drained from suspended infants into becoming ponies.
Not only that, but to find that this spell going wrong was what created the creature that had plunged Equestria into a time of Chaos; Discord.
What made Twilight the most angry was who was responsible for both the botched version, and the horrendous stable one.
The same pony that declared war on territories outside Equestria when they refused to accept her rule; the same one that declared herself a Traitor to Harmony.
The former alicorn of the Sun, Celestia.
Twilight had to stop walking for a moment, as her power was fast coming out of her control. She sat quietly, meditating on all the good things in her life.
Trying to forget what she had learned.
Despite this, memories of what happened all those years ago came to her mind unbidden; memories of what had happened in the past, and how she had found out…
Ever since Starlight Glimmer had stole Star Swirl’s Time Spell, Celestia had tasked her with cataloguing the myriad of books and tomes that contained his various works.
She had been excited at first, until she started reading his personal journals. Finding out that he had been grossly misrepresented by history was a shock.
None of the spells outside of Time study were at all his work. Every single spell outside of his own special talent was created by ponies that studied under him. What was even worse, was that she had found out that his circle of mages had been hiding a terrible secret from the rest of Equestria.
The Fire of Friendship wasn’t enough to destroy the Windigos. That it took the combined efforts of the greatest powers to do so.
Twilight paused as her magic found something interesting in one of his journals. There was a hidden compartment inside one page; a compartment held outside of time and space in a manner that was intimately familiar with.
Concentrating, Twilight focused on the page, keeping the runes on the base of the Mirror of Worlds in her mind’s eye as she did so. The page shivered as it changed its shape. Becoming a pouch, she could now see what was inside it.
Twilight pulled out several tightly rolled scrolls, still as fresh as they were when they were sealed. She gasped as the first one was bound in a ribbon that featured her Cutie Mark.
With great trepidation, she unbound the scroll, and began to read.
To Princess Twilight Sparkle;
If you are reading this scroll, then the future I have seen has come to pass. If this is true, then Equus as you know it faces its destruction. An enemy of our making is on its way, and I am no longer in a position to stop it.
Records will likely show that I died in an explosion triggered by my last unfinished spell. That is patently false; first because that spell was not mine, and second because I did not die.
No, I was forced to sacrifice myself in order to seal the portal to the human world. Not the one that one can travel to using the Mirror of Worlds, but the real human world.
The world where our ancestors came from, fleeing a war they started.
That is a story for another day, and you are free to explore it if/when you save both Equus and Earth.
I know you likely have very little time before either Celestia or Luna- I cannot be certain which as both are equally likely -arrives to my wing.
Please place the remainder of the scrolls into the pouch after you read this sentence, and only take them out again if/when the Moon Princess joins you.
If Celestia does so, burn the journal. Do not worry, the flames will only destroy the pouch.
There will be more on this scroll once whatever next happens has passed.
~Star Swirl~
Twilight gaped in shock for a moment before hastily stuffing the remainder of the scrolls into the pouch. She turned as she heard a pony approach the door. She sighed in relief as she saw it was Luna.
“Princess Twilight, we need to talk. I know you found his letter to you.”
Twilight shook her head to dislodge the memories. She didn’t have the time to go over the past. She started walking again.
It was only a small amount of time later that she arrived in the dungeons. She smiled in brief happiness as she saw the pony on guard. “Captain Radiant Dawn, it is so good to see you.”
The human-turned-pony looked just as happy to see her. “Princess Twilight, it is good to see you as well. I take it that they have finally decided what they are going to do with her?”
“Yes,” the purple alicorn responded. “And despite my personal feelings in this, I did my best to try and get what little mercy I could.” He nodded as he led the way to the only occupied cell.
Lying in the cell was a pony that Twilight once looked up to. Now, all she could see was a monster.
Celestia’s once pristine coat was matted in places, though not with dirt. Her hooves, wings, and horn were bound with bands that held jewels that were the colors of Harmony.
She looked up as Twilight came before her. She waited as Captain Dawn stepped into the cell, then followed him into the cell. Celestia made absolutely no motion to indicate that her former student had entered the cell. Twilight knew that it was all an act.
She was proven right as Celestia finally raised her head. Twilight saw that she had been crying again; even so, there was no sympathy in her gaze.
“if you are here Princess Twilight, it means that the ponies and humans have decided my fate,” the former princess said cynically. “I’m sure that you did do what you said you would, and convinced them to be merciful. Even though I know how much you hate me now, you would never go back on your word.”
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t hate you Celestia; nor do I love you.” She sighed. “I’ve mentioned this before; the Princess Celestia I loved as another mother was a mask; once it fell off and showed me the monster inside, I realized that the Celestia I loved never existed in the first place.”
“Spare me the platitudes traitor,” the fallen alicorn snarled. She cringed in pain as the bands on her body burned her. “I may have told some untruths, but everything I did was for My Little Ponies.”
“I thought you would have learned by now; these bonds were Forged by the Tree itself,” Twilight said coldly. “I guess you still have your pride.” Her gaze hardened. “And spare me the lies; you’ve done all of this because of what happened to Utopia all those years ago. And that lies solidly on your shoulders; the ponies struck first on your orders!”
Twilight stopped her harangue after that statement. “None of that matters anyway; I’ll never get you to see what you have done as wrong, and frankly I don’t care to try any more.”
The next words Twilight said caused a pit of fear to fall in the fallen alicorn’s stomach.
“You will be executed for your crimes against both equinity and humanity- by hanging -in the next three days. This was all the mercy I could get for you; even then, you have three thousand years of this to answer for.”