Naivety of Trust: A Darker Life
“S-she just doesn’t see!” Twilight wailed. “If there was-”
“Twilight,” a forceful voice cut across the distraught mare. “I do not have time for your whining.”
Twilight cringed as the voice continued. “Luna has made her choice. As you have as well. I told you to stop meeting with her.” A pause. “You have forced my hoof, I am banning you from the high security wing. I tire of you bringing your problems to me.”
“B-but you didn’t say anything about banning me from the secure wing last time!”
A large wing laid itself on her flank and pushed her to the side as the owner of the voice stepped around her. “Didn’t I?”
“But... But Applejack is down-”
A hoof cut her off as it connected with her muzzle. “SILENCE!” the voice roared. “Are you questioning my authority directly now?”
Twilight said nothing, in fact it was hard for her to move at all. She lay on the floor as her vision flickered with stars and darkness. The power behind that hoof was phenomenal, not to mention shocking, coming from that owner. She distantly thought maybe her jaw was broken, but it was only a passing thought as fear rushed through her as her attacker approached.
Celestia sighed and stepped back towards the fallen mare. Bending down in a fluid motion, she caressed Twilight’s mane as she cooed softly. “Forgive me, Twilight. Let me see it.”
Her horn lit up and Twilight felt a soothing rush of magic invade her jaw, instantly making it feel better.
“Twilight,” she continued when she finished. “My sister is a sore subject with me and I fear that lately I am more on edge about her than anything. I am afraid for you and what her vile words could do to your mind.” She paused as she helped Twilight to her hooves, keeping a wing draped over her. “I am only doing this for your own good. You must trust me to make the right decisions here, this is for the betterment of all Equestria.”
Twilight was silent for a moment as she digested the information. She rubbed her jaw and winced at the contact, it was still bruised. She glanced at Celestia questioningly.
“I did not heal your jaw completely, Twilight. I think a reminder of what happened here is prudent.” Celestia said in response to Twilight’s confused look.
They walked silently to the doors of the throne room as she mustered up the courage to ask about the last thing on her mind. “Princess?” she asked timidly, looking up at her ruler. Receiving a smile in return, she continued in a stronger tone. “Rainbow Dash has been refusing my assistance again. I would like to request she has some time to fly out somewhere... N-not without supervision of course! I’ll keep a close eye on her!” She finished quickly, glancing hopefully up at the alicorn. “I just want her to feel better.”
The alicorn clenched her jaw and stopped at the large double doors leading out from the vacant throne room. “I thought we agreed, Twilight, to not allow her any special treatment until she changed her attitude.”
The unicorn sat back on her haunches at the words. “But, what about her wings? She is going to just let them rot!”
Celestia opened the doors with her magic and urged Twilight through them with a firm push. “Then, she will have to live with that consequence.”
Twilight gasped and stared wide eyed at Celestia. The alicorn stared at her for a moment then sighed and shook her head. “Twilight, you must trust my judgement. I have been ruling for many years and know what needs done. Just wait it out, in the end you will see that I am right on this.”
She closed the throne room doors with a clang of finality, leaving Twilight in the corridor outside with only her thoughts as company. The halls were no longer the bright, happy overtones that she had grown up with. They felt oppressive, dark and foreboding; or was that just because it was nighttime?
The walk back to her room was silent, broken only by the occasional sentry making his rounds. Entering her suite, she made her way to the bathroom and began preparing herself a bath. She missed the library treehouse in Ponyville. The wooden walls were warmer, the tub softer and the surroundings... they felt safer.
With a sigh, she stopped the flow of water and stepped into the tub. What was her life now? There was no more study, at least, not in things she wanted. Her days were already planned out for her, various mundane tasks with little meaning; although, she did get to take care of her friends and see them every day.
But, now, she probably wasn’t going to get to see either Applejack or Pinkie Pie anymore. That seemed rather unfair to her. She’d been good, done what her ruler had asked. She was simply trying to get others to see that what Celestia taught was right!
Because, wasn’t it? Luna had been wrong before, and had ended up on the moon for her actions, so it stood to reason that she probably still held to the wrong views? Celestia had raised her from a filly, there had never been a situation that she had been wrong.
Well, maybe that... Well, no, that didn’t count. Twilight continued to contemplate the situation as she scrubbed herself down. It was a little awkward, not using her magic, but Celestia was always happier the less she used her magic. It was probably a smart choice too, she continually informed Twilight of all the things that could go wrong when using it. Twilight knew too, she’d made plenty of mistakes with magic, before and during her time in Ponyville.
Maybe it was just her. Her doubt was holding her back from not questioning Celestia’s reasoning in everything. Her friends and Luna were the source of that doubt, there was no question of it. They were continually feeding her information and opinions contrary to what her teacher, ruler, was telling her. Maybe it was a good thing she had to give up her time with Applejack. If she just had a little more faith in Celestia, she’d be a lot happier.
Stepping out of the tub, Twilight tried to crush the niggling doubts and arguments that kept popping up in her mind. How could Celestia really be as magnanimous as she said if her friends were always locked up? How was having her education restricted fair? What about...
Twilight knocked her head against the bathroom door forcefully. No! Those thoughts were the problem she kept getting in trouble! She had to control them better, and keep her mouth shut.
She stepped out of the bathroom. A clanking from the small kitchen informed her Spike must be making some dinner. She smiled as she thought about him, he was such a great assistant. If there was anyone who could help her sort out her thoughts, it would be him.
Moving to the kitchen, she found him adding vegetables to a pot on the small stove.
“Hello, Spike,” she greeted. “How was your day?”
The small dragon waved to her, almost dropping a potato. “Hello, Twi. It was the same old same old. More sorting and storing of various texts they keep bringing in. It’s like they’re emptying all the universities and schools of every textbook out there.”
Hardly listening to him, Twilight considered how to ask her questions in a way that wouldn’t seem, deviant. After a moment of fidgeting, Spike spoke again. “Something wrong, Twilight?”
She sighed. “I suppose so.” She moved to help Spike peel and cut the rest of the potatoes.
As she carefully picked up a knife with her hoof, Spiked turned to look at her and saw her bruises.
“Woah,” he exclaimed. “What happened to your face, Twi? It wasn’t-”
“I’m fine,” Twilight cut in. “Really, it was just a little, uh, mistake. You know, not quite used to this whole no magic thing.”
Spike frowned, but said nothing, allowing her a little more time to consider her question.
“Spike, do you like how life is now?”
The small dragon blinked and stopped slicing his potato. He gave her a confused look before finally responding. “I, well, I guess so. It’s not bad, although I’ve noticed you’re not as happy as you used to be, which makes me a little worried.”
He paused for a moment, but Twilight said nothing, knowing he was gathering his thoughts for a much longer response. She grinned inwardly as she saw him take a breath, he was so predictable.
“I’ve not ever had any reason to not trust you Twilight. You do weird things for sure, but you’ve always taken care of me and I owe you for that. But,” he paused, letting the word hang. “But I just don’t know about how things are now. You always taught me that knowledge was key in how our society worked. That without it, our world would regress into something... Well, bad.
“And, that’s exactly what Celestia has started to do. You’ve not been in the libraries recently, or around books, but nopony ever gets to read anything anymore, not without explicit permission from her highness. Needless to say, that almost never happens. All the texts for history and, well everything, are being removed from public access. It seems to me Celestia is-”
“Okay, I get the picture.” Twilight interrupted.
She frowned, it was a little disconcerting that Spike didn’t agree with what Celestia was doing. Did he not trust her either?
Twilight shook her head. What was this either talk? She trusted Celestia for sure! Spike was just wrong, he didn’t know the princess like she did. He just couldn’t see the bigger picture. Yes, that was it. Celestia knew what she was doing, all she had to do was follow the princess and eventually Spike would come around too.
Dear Princess Celestia,
You were right, about Luna, about Applejack, about everypony. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner, but I do now. It was naive of me to not trust you from the start, and I apologize. I will try to do my best to be a better pony.
From now on, I will not question your choices and wisdom regarding my friends. I will tell her that I cannot meet with her anymore, that it’s the wrong thing to be doing, maybe my new conviction will change her own mind.
Your Faithful Stu Subject,
Twilight
Twilight cantered quickly through the security wing towards Luna’s cell. It would have been extremely rude of her not to come at least one last time and tell her why she wasn’t going to meet with the ex-princess anymore.
As she approached the two guards in front of the door, one of them raised an eyebrow.
“A second visit today? A little unorthodox, Miss Sparkle,” he said.
Twilight nodded. “Yes, but this is going to be my last visit. I just wanted to tell her goodbye.”
“I see.” The guard frowned, but began opening the door. “I should be asking if you have written permissions for a second visit, but you obviously don’t have them on you so that would be a waste of both our time.”
Twilight laughed nervously, but let the issue drop. She guessed the only reason he was letting this slide was so that he wouldn’t have to listen to any more shouting matches in the cell after this. Now that she thought about it, it was probably rather irritating for them with how much the corridors echoed down here.
Yes, the princess had told her directly not to come down here anymore. But, she hadn’t said when that order was to take effect. Besides, this was just a quick little goodbye visit, Celestia would understand the need for courtesy.
Once the door was open, Twilight stepped inside the cell and faced Luna. She was sitting upright on her bed and staring curiously at the purple pony.
“Hello again, prin- Luna.”
“Indeed.” Luna nodded politely.
Twilight took a deep breath. “I came to say goodbye, I won’t be visiting you anymore.”
Luna blinked, but was quick to respond, “I see. Is this because of earlier?”
“I- well partly,” Twilight said slowly. “After discussing our conversation with the princess, she forbade me from seeing you again.”
“Isn’t that a little presumptuous of her?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I don’t think it is. I trust Celestia to make the right choices and me talking with you has been making me question that trust.”
Luna frowned, but quickly pointed to Twilight’s jaw. “Did she just do that to you?” When Twilight didn’t respond, she continued, “Let me guess, a lesson on disregarding what I say.”
“And I deserved it,” Twilight countered. “After every visit with you I bring what you say to her and it continually upsets her. It was gracious of her to stay her hoof this long.”
The imprisoned alicorn merely shook her head. But her next words died on her lips as her eyes flicked to the door.
Turning, Twilight saw a mass of white. Her eyes shrank as she looked up into the furious face of her ruler and princess.
“Celly, she,” Luna began, but was cut off forcefully by Celestia.
“Silence!” the white alicorn hissed, igniting her horn and throwing Luna back onto the bed.
Turning to the unicorn, she grabbed one of Twilight’s back hooves and dragged her forcefully from the room. As Twilight cried out in alarm, she saw the sad features on the dark alicorn’s face before being whisked out the door and thrown out onto the corridor’s stone floor.
The cell door closed with a tremendous bang, yet the noise barely registered to Twilight as a hoof connected with her middle. The blow lifted her off the ground and pushed her further across the floor. She felt her insides churn and her breath leave her as she landed.
Before the shock wore off, another strike slammed into her ribcage. She would have screamed, but there was no air in her lungs. Instead, she gasped in pain as she felt something crack. Yet, before she could even do more than register that it did hurt, something grabbed and pinned her against the wall.
“I told you to not come down here, Twilight,” a familiar voice growled in her ear. “Your listening skills seem to be a little underused.”
Celestia threw Twilight back to the ground and kicked her again. “Disobedience, Twilight, has consequences. While I take no pleasure in harming you, I see no other way to teach you this.”
She brought a hoof across Twilight’s muzzle, causing it to give out a sickening crunch. The unicorn merely whimpered and lay there. There wasn’t much she could have done even if she tried anyway.
Twilight knew she had made another mistake. As she felt a foreleg crack, she tried to accept the pain. She deserved this. She should have waited for Celestia’s permission. She should have asked permission. She shouldn’t have assumed she could make the choice for her ruler. Her being afraid her chance to say goodbye would be denied was not unfounded, but if that was what was to happen, who was she to be upset about it?
As she hit the wall again, she told herself she deserved this. She had to be a better pony. She couldn’t let herself be taken by these doubts again. It was wrong of her to doubt her ruler. It was wrong to let her mind wander down those... those dark paths. Celestia was all she had. Celestia was all that mattered.
Her limp body hit the floor. The little pony inside her cringed as it braced for the next assault, but it never came. Instead, a soothing feeling spread through her broken limbs. She was vaguely aware of somepony carrying her in their magic, but her thoughts flickered in and out as she tried to comprehend what was happening.
Then, her vision focused. She was on a bed somewhere, in a lavish room. Celestia was there, bending over her and doing, something. She could feel her breathing becoming easier, and her hooves laying in their correct positions. It wasn’t long before her ruler’s soothing voice reached her ears.
“There you go, Twilight. Now, I want to remind you that the punishment was for your own good.” The alicorn kissed the unicorn on her forehead before continuing, “I love you as a daughter, I just want you to know that.”
She walked out, leaving Twilight to snuggle into the blankets with a smile. Yes, Celestia would always take care of her. The princess would help her become a better pony, even if it hurt.
Princess Celestia was her light.
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I just want to know what in the heck caused all this. This is completely OOC for Celestia and I really want answers.
3973006
exactly. Personally I hate stories where you just shift characterization for the sake of your own story.
Christ, this is a perfect example of an abusive relationship.
Thanks for continuing this. I really enjoyed the first chapter's exploration of Twilight's actions with a twisted version of the object of her devotion, and with this we get a further glimpse into their (in this fic) disturbing relationship.
3973385
I imagine she cares for Twilight in a simialar manner to Luna. The way she sees it her lack of action caused her to lose her sister and she's terrified of the same happening with her faithful student.
3973581 Fair enough, but saying she 'loves Twilight like a daughter' after beating the expletives out of her, does not bode well for alicorn family life.
3973592
I'm sure Twilight would forgive her if she got some books back.
I wouldn't.
3973619 In any case I want to see what happens next.
i dont like this ending i dont know if i can do this but i want to ask for an alternate ending where she listens to luna and frees everypony and maybe a little corruption to use dark magic against celestia but it shouldnt end with her winning
3973883
There won't be an alternate ending to this... but there might be more chapters. I don't like dark endings either, but as of now I have nothing planned.
3973109
I tagged it Alternate Universe for a reason.
3974051
still this is shown as an alteration of Celestia's behavior
Beautifully written; it's painful to read and it definitely makes me feel how easy it would be to impose a 1984 type society on Equestria.
Twilight's inner conflict is also noticeable and very realistic for someone in an abusive relationship - it's one thing to be trapped physically, but also trapped mentally. And in that sense, Twilight has the worst treatment of them because she is both.
9505083
I would also agree too. People would say,”Why would you stay?” Or ,”You should leave before he or she kills you!” It’s impossible to leave something like an abusive relationship. They are not only trapped but they fear for their children’s lives and or they don’t have a support or they think it gets better. The victim trust their abuser whenever be female or male. They are also people saying men can’t be abused but when men are abused nothing is done or they are told to man up.
The abuser can be a teacher, a parent, boyfriend, girlfriend, your friends, and probably people like your boss or a stranger. Abusers use control and threats to their victim. They tell them who to talk to, what to wear, where they can go and when to go, their money, and about anything for their victim to stay quiet. They threaten to hurt themselves if the victim leaves and even threaten the children or others if they can. They isolate their victims from their family and friends. Anyone can be a victim. Abuse doesn’t discriminate against anyone.
Twilight trust her mentor and thinks I can change my behavior so she doesn’t hurt me anymore. Abusers like celestia can make their own victim believe it’s their fault. But actually it’s not the victim’s fault. Luna is probably anyone with a rational mind here because she is telling twilight to look at what her mentor became. Luna tells twilight to not accept this dictatorship and twilight’s own abuse by her mentor’s hooves. Celestia is obviously an abuser she even breaks twilight’s leg.
Abusers are someone who been probably abused and are repeating a cycle over and over again. But it doesn’t excuse the abuser’s actions. Abuse is a cycle that repeats until it is stopped. Abusers will control,hurt,steal,and do anything including killing pets and threats to keep the victim in control or get their way. The abusers will lie they say that they will get help or they will stop. But abusers won’t stop.