Nightmare's Heir

by johnnycajxrt

Death of an Element

As I walked down the road towards Fluttershy’s cottage, I thought about how the meetings with the ponies today had gone. Fluttershy seemed a little too scared to really talk at all. The Apples were nice and at least dropped the issue of where I had been after they saw me being uncomfortable about talking about it. Pinkie Pie had nearly strangled me. Rarity seemed to be as superficial as Blueblood. Finally, Twilight Sparkle had tried to kill me by throwing books. All in all, the trip to Ponyville had been pretty bad, and that wasn’t even counting the argument with mother about Cloudflower.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as I saw Fluttershy’s cottage up ahead. As I got closer, I heard fillies laughing and running around; getting even closer, I saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and a little orange pegasus filly. As I got closer, Apple Bloom saw me and waved me over.

“Hello again, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle,” I said to the fillies, “and who might you be?” I asked the orange pegasus.

“I’m Scootaloo, and all of us are the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” the orange filly responded.

“Well then, it’s a good thing that I came by, I was going to talk to you all at your clubhouse tomorrow, but I guess what needs to be said can be said here, right Apple Bloom?”

“I guess so,” she said, turning to her friends, “okay, crusaders, Prince Francois here wants to tell all of us something important that’ll help us.”

“Thank you Apple Bloom. Now, I understand your frustrations with you not having your cutie marks yet. I had these same frustrations, until I received the advice I’m about to give to you. I don’t want to hear any back-talk, and I definitely don’t want to see or hear about you NOT following this advice. Understand?”

“Yes, Prince Francois,” the three fillies said together.

“Alright, if you really want to earn your cutie marks, you have to do this simple thing. And that is… Stop trying-”

“But-” Sweetie Belle started

“I said ‘no back-talk’ Sweetie Belle. What I’m telling you is going to help. Stop trying to find out what you’re good at and look inside yourself. Do that, and you’ll realize what your true calling is. Like I said earlier, I don’t want to hear about you three NOT following these instructions. Trust me, I will find out,” I said sternly.

“Alright, Prince Francois, we’ll do as you say,” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, we will,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Good, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go speak to Miss Fluttershy,” I said to them as I walked to the front door.

I knocked three times, and in about a minute, Fluttershy opened the door. She seemed surprised that I was here, but at least she didn’t try to run and hide behind the curtains this time. So that was an improvement.

“Oh, hello Prince Francois, what can I do for you?”

“Hello again, Miss Fluttershy. As I’m sure you noticed, mother isn’t with me. I’ve decided to stay here in Ponyville for the night. I was wondering if you had a spare bedroom that I could stay in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, but with me taking care of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, I’m afraid that I don’t,” she said apologetically.

“Alright then, off to Apple Jack’s I go then,” I said with a sigh.

“You’re not mad are you? Please don’t be mad!” she called out as I walked off.

As I arrived back at Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Jack came out to greet me.

“Well, howdy again, Prince Francois. What brings you back here?”

“Hello again Apple Jack, as I’m sure you noticed, my mother isn’t with me. I decided to stay the night in Ponyville and I was wondering if you had any extra room.”

“I’m mighty sorry, Prince Francois, but with it being Zap Apple season, all our extra space in the barn and the house is being taken up by either our Zap Apples or what we use to store them,”

“Alright then, thanks anyway Apple Jack, I’m off to Twilight’s house.”

“Sorry I couldn’t help,” Apple Jack said as I turned around

“It’s alright, AJ, I know that you’d help if you could.”

By the time I got to Golden Oaks Library, mother had raised the moon and it was starting to get a little chilly out. I knocked on the door, and expectedly, Spike answered.

“Well hi there Prince Francois, did you forget something here?”

“No, I was hoping I could talk to Twilight alone for a few minutes. She is still around right?”

“Yeah, she’s here, she’s waiting on a response from Princess Celestia on what’s going on.” The baby dragon said as he led me inside. “TWILIGHT! Francois is here and he wants to talk to you!” he called up.

I heard her moving around upstairs, and then saw her coming down the stairs, never taking her eyes off me, obviously not over her original mistrust of me. “Alright Prince Francois, let’s step outside and we can talk.”

As we stepped outside, she closed the door a little harder than necessary, we walked a few feet before stopping, then she spoke, “Alright, Francois, what do you want to talk about?”

“You’ll notice that I didn’t go back to Canterlot tonight, the reason being is because I know that you don’t trust me-” I started.

“Don’t trust you?” She said, cutting me off. “Of course I don’t trust you! You tried to do what Nightmare Moon did and take over Equestria! I really don’t understand why Princess Celestia allowed you to stay back here.”

“It’s because my mother has expressed to her how much she misses me being here, and she sees that I truly am sorry for what I did and that I wish to make amends for it. If you don’t trust me, fine, but understand that your teacher may not look favorably on that,” I told her. “I also don’t understand why you don’t trust your friend’s judgments either.Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Jack all trust me and see what Princess Celestia sees,” I continued.

She got an indignant look on her face, but I saw her look soften somewhat. “Is that all you wanted to talk about, because if it is, then we don’t have anything else to talk about. The fact remains that I don’t trust you and it’s going to take a lot in order for me to do so.”

As soon as she said that, I decided that the only way to neutralize this unicorn would be a sneak attack, and a plan formed in my head, but I kept my act up. “No, that isn’t it. I don’t have anywhere that I can stay tonight. Fluttershy is taking care of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity is busy with a big order, Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie have no room, and I can’t walk on clouds, so I can’t stay with Rainbow Dash. I noticed that you have some extra room in the library, I was hoping I could sleep here tonight.”

Twilight thought for a moment before saying, “As a favor to Princess Luna, I’ll let you stay, but only for one night, and only if you pick up all the books that I’ve used today and put them back in the right places.”

“Deal,” I said, starting to move towards the library door. Twilight blocked my path.

“No help either, Spike has been busy all day and he will be going to sleep soon.”

“Fine, no problem Twilight, can we go inside now? It’s getting a little chilly and I need to start picking up your books,” She nodded and started to move towards the door. As we came inside, I looked around and saw just how many books there were out of the shelves, I sighed and started to pick them up, looking at the titles and then putting them away.

“Hey, Twilight?”

“Hmm?”

“A couple things before you go off to bed. First, thank you for letting me stay here, even if it’s just as a favor to my mother. Second, where are your advanced magic books? I’d like to read up on a few things before I go to sleep.”

“The advanced books are on that shelf over by the window,” She said pointing. “And if that’s all, then good night.”

“Good night, Twilight, see you in the morning,” I said to her.

I got to work, but it didn’t take very long, luckily, the books were all stacked in the same subject, so I had all the books in the shelves within an hour.

As soon as I was finished, I walked over to the shelf with the advanced magic books, and after looking for a minute, found the one I needed. After searching through the book, I found the disguise spell I had been looking for. I stepped outside, checked to make sure nopony was around, and used the spell to make myself look like Rarity, then made sure that a couple ponies saw me outside of the library, then went in.

As I went back into the library, I listened to make sure that Twilight wasn’t up. As I silently opened Twilight’s door, I was overjoyed that the unicorn was fast asleep. Sneaking over to the bedside, I started working my magic for the spell that I had created to take out the guards before storming the castle, the Sound Proof, Airtight, bubble-head spell. I snuck up to Twilight’s bed and said to her right as her eyes started to flutter,

“You were right not to trust me!”

As I casted the spell. Her eyes went wide with horror as she started to scream, but not a sound was heard thanks to my spell. The sheer terror and betrayal was the last thing I saw in her eyes before she passed out, then completely going still a few minutes later. I kept the spell on for about ten minutes more to completely make sure that she was gone, then removed the spell.

As I went downstairs, I thought about how too easy that was. I had just single-handedly taken down Celestia’s top student, the bearer of the most powerful element, and the biggest obstacle in my path to taking the throne other than my Aunt.

As I drifted off to sleep, I dreamed of taking down my Aunt, as well as that stupid in-law of mine, Shining Armor. Though, I’d have to do something special for him, something that would teach him not to screw with me.

I awoke the next morning to a loud scream coming from upstairs. I jumped up and looked around, Spike came running down the stairs in a panic. “Prince Francois, come quick, something terrible has happened!”

We hurried upstairs and we saw Twilight’s body in the same position it was in last night. I walked over to her, put my hoof to her neck, and felt no pulse. I turned to Spike and shook my head. He fainted and I ran outside and called for somepony to call a doctor to get over here quickly because something terrible had happened.

When the doctor showed up, he said exactly what I expected him to say.

“She’s gone, it looks to me like she died due to asphyxiation, but there’s nothing blocking her throat and no marks on her neck that says she was strangled. It probably magic that took her life. I’m estimating time of death, sometime last night. I’m getting the authorities involved.”

“Thank you doc,” I said as he left. I turned to Spike, “Spike, how are you feeling? I know this must be a huge shock to you,” The dragon just shook his head and kept pacing around as if he were trying to wake up from a bad dream.

We stayed until the police ponies got there and I told them that after I had cleaned up the library, I had gone to bed and hadn’t heard anything until Spike had screamed that morning. After interviewing us, the police ponies left to go and find more witnesses, while Spike and I went to go break the news to Twilight’s friends.

We had them all gather at the library, they arrived in the order I expected due to their distance from the library. First Rarity, then Pinkie Pie, then Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, and finally, Fluttershy showed up. They chatted for a few minutes, but they fell silent when Spike and I came downstairs.

“Everypony, thank you for coming,” I said

“I’m afraid that I have some bad news for you all. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle, died last night. The medical examiner said that she died due to asphyxiation, and that it was probably some sort of magic spell that did it. The police are currently investigating all the unicorns in town, as well as trying to find anypony that was out last night that could be a possible witness.”

They all stood there, in shock at what I had just told them. For a while, nopony moved, then, Pinkie’s hair deflated as she started to cry a waterfall of tears, Fluttershy and Rarity fell to their knees and started sobbing, Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash remained standing, but tears welled up in their eyes.

“I know how hard this must be on all of you, but we need to stay strong. If Twilight were here, she’d want us to stay strong for her and find the pony that did this.”

“Wh-what’s going to h-happen t-to the b-b-body?” Fluttershy finally sputtered out.

“I don’t know, honestly. It depends on what her parents and brother want to do.”

At that moment, four police ponies galloped into the library, “THERE SHE IS! GRAB HER!” one of them said as they all tackled Rarity, but her into shackles, and started to take her away.

“What are you doing? Let me go! What have I done?! Ahhhhh!!” Rarity said as they started to drag her outside.

“Officers, wait!” I said. They stopped and looked back at me

“What’s going on? Why are you taking Miss Rarity away?” I asked

“We have three witnesses placing her outside the library last night, around the time of the murder, she’s being charged,” One of the officers answered.

“Rarity, don’t say a word to them, I’ll come down to the station and help you any way you can.” I said, feigning concern for her.

The other four ponies stood there in shock as their friend was taken away in shackles for killing another one of their friends. It was so much for them to take in, Fluttershy actually fainted. After waking her up, we all decided that we would head down to the station together, once Rarity was allowed to have visitors.

As they left, I smiled inwardly, the PPD would be busy trying to gather evidence against Rarity, I would be getting off scot-free, and be free of distractions while I planned out how to take down my aunt… Well, at least the unwanted distractions. I wondered how long it would take for Cloudflower to open up to the idea of a sexual relationship, but that didn’t really matter. As much as I felt I needed to give that mare a good rutting, I needed to keep up the act while I was in Ponyville.

“Spike? Are you still here?” I called out

“Yeah, I’m still here, I’m in Twilight’s room,” I heard him call back.

I walked upstairs and saw him sitting on Twilight’s bed, “Hey, do you think you’d be up to sending a letter to Celestia?” I said to him.

“Sure, as long as you write it, I’m still in too much shock that she’s gone, just like that,” he said snapping his claw.

“I understand Spike, I’ve had somepony that I care deeply about taken from me as well,”

“What makes it especially hard is that I’ve had a crush on Rarity since we first came to Ponyville. I know that she couldn’t have done this, but now I can’t even see her at the boutique.”

“I understand Spike, when my mother was taken from me, I didn’t have anypony to talk to or see. Give me a minute and I’ll write the letter.”

I levitated some parchment over to the desk and started writing,

“Dear Aunt Celestia, something terrible has happened down here in Ponyville. Your student, Twilight Sparkle, died last night and Rarity has been arrested for killing her. I know as well as you that Rarity could never do such a thing.

I know that I just got back, but I would like to ask a favor. Don’t tell Shining Armor or the Sparkle family and allow me to break the news to them when I get back to Canterlot today. Signed, your nephew, Prince Francois.

PS, please tell my mother that I’ll meet her after visiting hours are over at the jail, instead of at noon.”

I handed the letter to Spike and he blew green fire onto the scroll, sending it to its destination.

“Thanks, Spike, I know that this is tough for you, but do you think that you can stay here alone for awhile while I go to the police station to visit Rarity and speak to the lead detective on the case?”

“Yeah, sure, you go ahead,” he said vacantly as I walked out of the room.

As I walked out of the house towards to Ponyville Police Department, my head continued to dance with images of me sitting on the throne, having taken Equestria from my aunt.

When I got to the station, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Apple Jack, and Pinkie Pie, were already there and while they went to go visit Rarity, I went to speak to the lead detective to see what kind of case they had against Rarity. I was directed to the desk of Detective Colt Phelps

“Detective Phelps?” I asked a tan stallion with a short black mane as I walked into the offices.

“Yes?” he replied.

“Hi, I’m Prince Francois, I’m here on behalf of Miss Rarity, I was told to talk to you to see what kind of case you had against her,” I said, extending my hoof to shake.

He took it and we shook, “Sure, the file’s right here, I gotta tell you Francois, it’s gonna be pretty hard to get her off. We’ve got three witnesses that say they saw a pony that fits Rarity’s description outside the library late last night, around when the M.E. says the murder occurred. She doesn’t have anyone to corroborate her alibi because the one person that lives with her was staying at a friend’s house because she apparently was busy with a large order of clothes. Like I said though, nopony can attest to her whereabouts last night at the time of the murder. Plus, because of the M.E.’s report, only a unicorn could have committed the murder because there were no marks on her that suggested that she was physically attacked.”

“How does the M.E. know that it was a murder? Maybe she died from natural causes,” I suggested.

“Because the adrenaline level in her blood was too high for it to be natural. She was in distress when she died. The M.E. says that this case seems pretty cut and dry. We have witnesses placing her at the scene around the time of death, she has no alibi that can be corroborated, she had the opportunity because you and the dragon were sleeping,” The detective said.

“And what, pray-tell, Detective, do you have as a motive? What possible reason could she have to want her best friend dead?”

“From what I’ve seen, jealousy.”

“Jealousy? What could she possibly be jealous of?”

“Well, for one thing, there’s the dragon assistant that she’s used before to dig up gems for her.”

“That seems a bit of a stretch, don’t you think detective? Spike has a crush on Rarity, he has since he and Twilight first came to Ponyville, he’d do anything for her!” I retorted

“While it may be a stretch, it’s the motive that we can see, and I think that a jury will agree. We have motive, we have opportunity, she has no alibi that can be corroborated, and we have witnesses placing her at the scene at the time of the murder. It looks pretty simple to me,” The detective said conclusively.

“Okay, what about me? I’m a unicorn, I was staying in the library with Twilight. Why have I not been arrested?”

“From what the ME has told me and from what I saw at the crime scene, there were no signs of a struggle, which means she knew and trusted her attacker. From what I’ve heard around town, you only got back to Equestria yesterday, correct?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“I also got a report that she started throwing books at you when she first saw you, right?”

“...”

“So it’s pretty obvious if she was attacked by you that we’d see some defensive wounds on her as well as a bruise, black eye, etcetera on you,” Phelps said almost patronizingly.

“Even so, that doesn’t mean that it was Rarity.”

“Well, the DA thinks that it was, otherwise he wouldn’t have placed a warrant for her arrest and charged her with the murder.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see when the trial happens won’t we?”

“Sure will, anything else I can do for you?”

“No, that’s it detective, thanks for your help” I said as we shook hooves as I turned to leave. I smiled as I left; knowing that I had the police department completely fooled and it looked like I was going to get off scot-free.

I then went to go see Rarity to let her know what was happening. As I walked into the visitation area, I noticed them over in the corner. I walked over and waved to Rarity. I then turned to the other four ponies, “Hey guys, can you give Rarity and I a minute? We need to talk alone about what I heard from the lead detective on the case.”

“Alright, c’mon girls, let’s go back into the lobby,” Apple Jack said.

“Good luck Rarity, we know you’re innocent, you could never do something like that to your best friend,” Rainbow Dash said as she left, but I noticed her eyes lingering on me for a few seconds, almost as if she suspected me.

“I hope you’ll be okay in there Rarity, I’ll come visit you every day,” Fluttershy said.

“I’m going to get my party stuff ready for your welcome back party,” Pinkie Pie said.

After the ponies had left, I turned to Rarity and told her everything that Detective Phelps had told me about the case, as expected, she raise the same objections I raised, and I responded the same way that Detective Phelps had. She seemed dejected after I told her everything, but she stayed strong because she needed to for her friends.

“Rarity,” I said finally, “I know this is a tough time right now, but I promise it will get better. I’m a prince, I have some sway, and I expect once Aunt Celestia starts to trust me again, I’ll be able to get a pardon for you even if you get convicted of this.”

Me and your friends know that you could never do something like this, and their case against you is pretty weak. So don’t expect to be convicted, and I will personally make sure that for the short time you are incarcerated, you will have no trouble while you wait for your trial and almost definite acquittal.

“Alright Miss, your time is up, it’s time to head back to your cell,” A guard said to Rarity.

“Rarity, stay strong and you’ll get through this; we’ll come see you tomorrow,” I said as she was taken away.

The other four ponies had apparently gone home, as it was getting late and visiting hours were over. As I walked out of the police station, I was grinning widely. I had the total trust of at least four of them, and had eliminated the strongest of them. It was only a matter of time before the throne was mine and Celestia received the same punishment as I did two hundred years prior.

I made sure to put on a frown and a concerned look when I got to Sugarcube Corner to meet mother so I could get back to the Castle. As I approached, I saw the remnants of tears in her eyes.

“Mother, are you alright?”

“Yes, Francois, I’m fine. I just remember how it was Twilight Sparkle that helped me fit in after my banishment…” then going on to explain what had happened on Nightmare Night the previous year.

I was surprised by this, especially considering the way that Twilight had acted when she saw me, I would have thought that she would have acted the same way towards mother.

“I understand mother, It’s been hard on everypony here, especially since Rarity has been arrested and accused of killing her.”

“WHAT?!” Mother exclaimed.

“Yes, Rarity is sitting in a cell at the Ponyville police station awaiting trial for Twilight’s murder. Did Celestia not tell you?”

“No, she didn’t, but then she was extremely distraught when she came to tell me that Twilight had died and that I needed to come get you after I had raised the moon.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be too worried about Rarity being convicted, the case they have on her is very circumstantial and relies on the testimony of three ponies that claim to have seen a mare that matches Rarity’s description outside the library last night while Spike and Twilight were sleeping,” Upon me saying that, she relaxed.

“Well then, I will sleep better knowing that she won’t be convicted. Come now, Francois, let’s go home.”

“Sure thing mother, did you speak to Cloudflower this morning?” I asked

“I did, actually. She seemed disappointed, but she understood why you stayed in Ponyville and she looks forward to meeting with you tomorrow morning.”

“Okay then, thank you mother, and I apologize again for blowing up at you yesterday when you pressed me about her.”

“It’s alright, my son,” then turning to her guards, “Back to Canterlot, boys.”

As soon as we landed in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle, I walked over to the nearest guard and asked him where Shining Armor was because I had some bad news I had to give him. He told me that he had already gone home for the night, which meant he was in his room with Cadence and Dusk. I thanked the guard and started walking to their room.

Walking down the hallways of the castle again made me think about how satisfying it had been to kill Twilight Sparkle; the sheer look of terror in her eyes as she heard her final words, the way she struggled uselessly against my spell before succoming to lack of air, and how easy it had been to keep the Ponyville Police Department off my flank. I even thought of how Rarity was faring in her jail cell. How delightful I felt, knowing that the Elements couldn’t be used against be this time.

I was snapped out of my pleasant memories as I saw the door to Shining Armor, Cadence, and Dusk’s room up ahead. As I knocked, I made sure to put on a sad face and force a tear or two, just to make it convincing.

“Who is it?” Shining asked through the door.

“I-It’s Prince Francois, Shining… I-I’m afraid I have some bad news for you,” I sobbed through the door.

The door opened revealing a very tired and very annoyed-looking Shining Armor, but his expression softened when he saw the tears in my eyes.

“Francois, what is it?” He asked, worried.

“Y-you may wanna sit down. Get Cadence because she needs to hear this too.”

“Um, alright, come on in and sit down and I’ll go get her.”

I walked in and sat down on the same chair I had sat in two days previous when Shining had thrown me out. Cadence and Shining came out of their bedroom moments later.

“Francois, what a surprise to see you here,” my cousin said as she saw me.

“Alright, Francois, what do you need to tell us?” Shining said as he and Cadence sat on the sofa.

“There’s no real easy way to say this… So I’ll just say it; Twilight died last night.”

They sat in stunned silence for a few moments, then Shining Armor fell off the couch onto his knees and started sobbing. Cadence was able to keep her composure slightly better than her husband, but she too sat on the sofa, head in her hooves, crying.

“H-how d-did this happen?” Shining finally said.

“I don’t know the details, but Rarity has been charged with her murder. I-I don’t know how anypony could have done it. I was sleeping on Twilight’s couch when it happened-”

“YOU WHAT!!” Shining yelled unexpectedly, tears still streaming down his face.

“I was sleeping on her couch. She let me stay at the library because I had nowhere else to stay in Ponyville,” I explained.

“And do you expect me to believe that you didn’t hear anything, or even did it yourself?!” Shining said accusingly.

“That’s enough, Shining!” Cadence yelled out, “I know you’re upset about Twi, but that doesn’t give you the right to speak to him that way!”

“Cadence, you can’t expect me to believe-”

“He has been nothing but nice and cordial to everypony since he came back, and you’ve treated him with nothing but hatred and shunned him for a mistake he made TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!!! Let it go, forgive him and let him see our daughter,” Cadence yelled at her husband, finally snapping after his treatment towards me. She was rewarded with stunned silence from both me and Shining. The silence was then broken with the sounds of Dusk crying.

“I’ll go take care of Dusky, good night Francois,” Shining said quickly as he left the room.

“Umm… I’ll just see myself out and head back to my room. I just wanted to tell you the news. If you want details, talk to Detective Colt Phelps at the Ponyville Police Department,” I said to Cadence, who was still fuming at her husband.

“Alright then, good night dear cousin. Hopefully that got the message through that thick head of his,” she said, calming down.

“I can only hope, see you and Dusky tomorrow.”

As I walked out, I breathed a sigh of relief that Cadence had stood up for me in there, because I had been hoping he would have been a little too overcome with grief to start throwing accusations around like that.

As I walked down the hall to my room, I fantasized about teaching Shining the last lesson he learned before I would send him to Tartarus to be reunited with his sister:

DON'T FUCK WITH ME!

Author's Note:

Sorry about the re-post... I'm going to kick my brother's ass for deleting this chapter.

Comments

[Merchent343]

Siblings can be annoying.

[johnnycajxrt]

3329234

Very much so...

[Lord erigon]

you just lost my interest