Party Every Day

by Esle Ynopemos

6: Assasination [Romance]

((Prompt: The sentence that destroys and/or heals Twilight Sparkle.))

Canterlot was beautiful. Its tall marble towers and lush gardens and breathtaking vistas all made it almost universally hailed as the most attractive city in Equestria. The cool, crisp air from the mountain kept the city from ever getting too hot in the summer, and magical warm springs kept it warm in the winter. All of the open-air architecture and friendly, inviting spaces made it easy to forget one simple fact:

Canterlot was a fortress.

It stood on the side of a lone mountain, overlooking miles and miles of its own approach. The alabaster spires could field swarms of armored pegasi at a moment's notice, and there was always at least two unicorn shield-specialists ready at all times to deploy a magical bubble around the whole city. In the wake of the changeling invasion, the Equestrian Intelligence Agency's funding had been tripled, ensuring that anything spoken within the borders of Canterlot would soon reach Celestia's ears.

No force in the known world could possibly threaten the seat of Equestrian power, whether by land, by air, or by infiltration. Which was why everypony was shocked the day that Princess Twilight Sparkle was assassinated.

The assassin knocked on the princess's chamber door. She got no invitation to enter, but she pushed the door open anyway. “Twilight?” she called.

The dry scrape of quills on parchment echoed from the same corner it had the last time she had come. The assassin stepped fully into the room and looked to see Twilight at her desk. “Hello, Pinkie,” the princess said, not looking up from her work.

Pinkie grinned. “Hey Twilight, let's go out and play tag in the garden!” She covered the chamber in the blink of an eye, and tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “You're it!”

The princess still did not look up from the stack of papers on her desk. “I'm busy,” she said. “Besides,” she added, spreading her wings, “It would be a bit one-sided.”

“I can tie a hoof behind my back to make it fair,” Pinkie said, bouncing on three hooves.

Twilight did not respond.

Pinkie's grin dimmed slightly. “Come on, Twilight, it's a beautiful day out!”

A brief sigh escaped the princess's lips. “Pinkie, this stuff is important. Maybe later, okay?”

Pinkie's ears sagged. “Oh... Okie dok...” She paused. Her lips slowly hardened into a thin line. “No, actually not okie dokie, loki!”

Twilight's eyes finally raised from the papers. “Excuse me?”

“'Later' is supposed to be in an hour or two,” Pinkie said, her voice rising to a level of agitation Twilight had never heard come from the pink mare. “It doesn't mean 'tomorrow' or 'next week' or 'in four months!'” Pinkie's chest heaved.

“Pinkie, I...”

“Four months, Twilight!” She was shouting now. “You still haven't given me a chance to throw you a coronation party yet! I quit my job with the Cakes so that I could come out here and make sure you didn't get lonely!”

“Pinkie, I told you not to do that,” Twilight said, trying her best to calm her friend down.

Pinkie's eyes slipped to the floor. “I... I can't...” she sniffed. “I'm sorry, Twilight, but I can't do it anymore. I thought I could make you happy, but...” And then the assassin dealt the killing blow. “I'm going back to Ponyville. Goodbye, Twilight.”

The princess reeled back in her chair, mortally wounded. She gasped for air, her papers flying off of the desk as her killer slowly turned around and plodded back out into the hallway. With the last of her life, the princess watched a pink tail disappear behind the door.

And in a bright flash of light, Princess Twilight Sparkle was destroyed.

In the hallway, Twilight Sparkle was reborn. Watery tears filled her eyes as she grimaced at Pinkie Pie. Like a vengeful phantom, she stuck out her hoof at the pink pony, shaking. She tapped Pinkie on the nose.

“You're it,” she whispered.

Then Twilight Sparkle turned and flew out the window.

Comments

[bahatumay]

I see what you did there, and I like it.

[Hobbestc]

[Technopony145]

...what?

[Connor Gorden]

Please tell me that's meant as a happy ending? Please tell me pinkie forgave her?

[Esle Ynopemos]

5970906 I'll tell you. Will you believe me?