Hoofed by Your Own Petard

by Tortfeasor

The Rest is Silence

Hoofed by Your Own Petard

Disclaimer: Breaking news! I don’t own My Little Pony!

Chapter Nineteen: The Rest is Silence

It wasn’t fair. The finish line was right in front of her. She’d given everything she had, found new depths, and then given those too. All that just to have her goal yanked out from under her as she was about to finally grab it. She fought to control her breathing, but it was a losing battle.

“Hey there Twilee.” Shining Armor said. His eyes bore the dull, unfocused look of a guard under Nightmare Moon’s control.

Twilight staggered back and just barely stayed upright on her hooves. She’d never mentioned her brother to her friends or anypony else. As far as she knew nopony knew that Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor were related. But somehow Nightmare Moon knew. And she’d saved the biggest emotional blow she could throw at Twilight until she was staring victory in the face.

“Big brother.” She croaked. No point in keeping the secret now. Surely the others would understand why she’d wanted to keep something like this to herself.

“I’m really proud of you little sis,” the pony who looked exactly like her brother twisted the knife deeper. “I knew you’d make it this far. And I’m here to take you all to Nightmare Moon so this can all be over.”

“Shut up!” Twilight Sparkle shouted. She’d been angry plenty of times in her life. But she’d never been even remotely close to being this angry. “You might look exactly like my brother, and you might sound exactly like my brother, but you are not Shining Armor!”

Twilight was going to kill Nightmare Moon. She’d killed ponies before, by accident, and even set out to hurt a few when it was necessary. But Nightmare Moon had made this personal, and now Twilight was going to kill her. Rarity had said she thought Twilight might be the most powerful unicorn alive, and now she had part of one of the Elements of Harmony boosting her power even more. She was sure Celestia was more powerful than her, and Celestia had lost to Nightmare Moon, but Twilight was sure Celestia hadn’t tried to kill Nightmare Moon, and she was going to.

“Whoa there killer,” Twilight snapped back to the real world as Rainbow Dash grabbed her by her shoulders. “He might be being mind controlled, but somewhere down there is still your… brother.”

Twilight gasped and calmed down. She hadn’t realized it, but in her anger she’d had her horn crackling with dangerous energy and been ready to reduce her helpless brother to a pile of ashes. Wouldn’t that have been perfect? She took several deep breaths and forced her mind back to the bigger picture. Shining Armor was as much a victim of Nightmare Moon as anypony. Now she knew what so many families all across Equestria were going through and she was going to do something about it. One way or another this was all going to end tonight.

“Come on,” she said to the pony who was not her brother, “take us to the castle.”

They stepped through the gates and as the city vista spread out in front of them Twilight couldn’t help remembering the first time she’d come into the city with her family.

-

Canterlot! The capital of Equestria itself! Twilight was so happy she was literally hopping with joy in a circle around her parents and her big brother.

“Slow down Twilee,” Shining Armor put a hoof in her way. “If you keep hopping around like that we’ll never get to see Canterlot.”

In an instant Twilight stood perfectly still. Her parents and brother laughed at her over the top eagerness, but there was only love behind the laugh. Finally they stepped through the gates and Twilight stood still as a statue again. Only this time she was standing still in awe. Spires and towers glittered in a thousand colors in the bright sun. Golden domes and rainbow tiled roofs adorned magnificent palaces that seemed to outdo each other for grandeur without straying into extravagance.

Canterlot was a dream come true.

“So where do you want to go first Twilight?” Her mother leaned over her with a smile on her face.

“Everywhere!” Came her immediate response. Even though it was her first time in the city Twilight knew this was the place for her. When she grew up she was going to make her mark on this fantastic, wonderful, incredible city.

-

Twilight had long since been cruelly relieved of her childish fantasies about Canterlot. The surface was a rotten cesspit of feuding nobles vying amongst each other for goals and gains nopony cared half a rotten horse apple about. The buildings were all built to look magnificent, but that was all. Everything that went on inside was full of corruption and deceit. Perhaps her opinion was a little bit biased, but having experienced firsthand how the ponies of the undercity had to struggle to make ends meet she wasn’t feeling particularly charitably inclined towards the aristocracy.

“Look at that everypony.” Applejack’s voice caught Twilight’s attention and she looked where Applejack was pointing.
There in the windows on both sides of the streets were eyes. Thousands of pairs of pony eyes watching them, and every pair with the dull lethargy of mind control.

“How powerful is Nightmare Moon?” Rarity shuddered. “I can’t imagine the kind of magical skill needed to bend an entire city to her will.”

“Powerful enough to beat Celestia in a straight fight.” Twilight said softly. “Not to mention powerful enough to freeze the moon in place and keep the sun from rising for a month and a half.”

They fell silent after that. The thousands of pairs of unblinking eyes following them proved to be profoundly unsettling. Even more eerie was the silence. For all the ponies watching them from the surrounding buildings the streets were devoid of life except for Twilight Sparkle, her friends, and the pony who was most definitely not her brother. That meant Twilight could only hear the sound of their breathing and the steady sounds of their hooves on the pavement. Not even a breeze rose to stir the mountain air, and the stillness seemed doubly oppressive for the circumstances. It was like the whole world was standing still. Almost as if the world was holding its breath waiting for the coming battle.

She’d long since grown used to the moon hanging overhead, but for some reason this time it put an unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach. Seeing all those ponies stripped of their free will reminded her of what that unmoving moon represented. If she’d chosen her friendship with Shady over her trust of Rarity when this all started would she be one of those blank eyed ponies watching some other group of would be heroines walking up this street?

How had Shady turned out like she had? Ever since Twilight had first met the mare Shady had been nothing but friendly and caring.

-

Twilight was going to do this. Twilight could do this. Twilight was going to do this and earn a mountain of bits to pay for college. First though she had to open the door to the Touchy Hooves Gentlecolts club.

“Hi, can I help you?” Twilight turned in surprise to see a dark pink earth pony with a greenish yellow mane and green eyes standing behind her.

“Oh, um hi.” Twilight laughed nervously. “I’m new here. It’s my first night and I’m not exactly sure what to do.”

“I swear,” the other pony grumbled, “they always want new mares to dance and wait tables, but do they ever tell us about it so we can train them up? No, that would actually make sense! Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Shady, and I’m one of the dancers here.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight took the hoof Shady offered. “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be dancing or waiting on tables.”

“You’ll probably start dancing.” Twilight followed Shady through the door into a darkly lit and not particularly clean hallway. “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that nopony ever taught you how to dance at a strip club.”

“I’m afraid not…” Twilight stopped as they reached the dressing room. The ponies in various states of undress didn’t bother her, but then there were the ponies shooting up every kind of drug Twilight had ever heard of, and was that one stripper actually doing… with a stallion… right in front of all of them? What had she gotten herself into?

“Hey,” Shady prodded her till she had her attention. “This is a rough job, and these ponies definitely aren’t those delicate nobles from up on the surface, but if you don’t want to do drugs or see clients on the side than you don’t have to.”

“I guess that’s one less thing I have to worry about.” Twilight forced her breathing back to normal. “But I still don’t know how to dance or when I’m going out.”

“I’ll see if you can join me for a double dance.” Shady sat down at a mirror and motioned for Twilight to take the adjacent one. “You can watch the other ponies dance and it shouldn’t take you more than a few days to get the hang of it. You don’t happen to know how to walk in heels do you?”

“I’m not going to up and fall over.” Twilight had worn heels to a few things like her high school graduation, but those had been short walks and she’d been able to ditch the heels right away. “But I wouldn’t trust myself to do any dancing in them.”

“One more thing you’ll have to learn.” Shady said. “Don’t worry though. I’ll show you what you need to know to make it around here, and one day we won’t have to work at a strip club anymore.”

Twilight smiled, maybe she actually could do this.

-

Thinking back, Shady had still been caring towards Twilight even after she apparently decided to follow Nightmare Moon. She’d wanted to recruit Twilight into their ranks, and had seemed ready to guide her through being a Nightmare Child the same way she’d guided her through learning how to be a stripper.

Twilight shook her head and made herself focus. She needed to remember what was at stake here, and thinking how a decent pony like Shady could have followed Nightmare Moon would only distract her. Besides, thinking about all the different ways the world could have turned out would only drive her crazy.

They rounded a corner and through a gap in the buildings Twilight could see a place she was far too familiar with, the Smart Cookie Memorial Hospital. After her failed entrance exam to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns when she was a filly she’d been cooped up there for far too long recovering.

-

The first thing Twilight had seen when she woke up was more blackness. That was only momentary as she looked around and saw she was in a room, not hers, lit by moonlight and the glow of several monitors. She tried to light up her horn to see more details, it was often the first spell a unicorn learned, and gasped in pain as fire ran from her horn into her head.

Then it all came back to her, the dragon egg, trying harder than she’d ever tried in her life to use magic, then the nosebleed and collapse, and always the cold faces of her examiners. Twilight had known while blacking out that she’d hurt herself during the exam, but she never thought it would be nearly this bad. Taking a deep breath she concentrated and tried to light her horn again. She was ready for the pain this time, but it still forced an anguished gasp out of her and her spell fell apart long before it reached completion.

She rubbed her horn in irritation and sat up just as her door clicked open to reveal a white earth pony with dark pink hair and a cutie mark of a red cross with small hearts in the corners. Even a filly like Twilight could tell she was a nurse.

“Oh my,” the pony quietly said, “we didn’t think you’d wake up for awhile yet. My name is Redheart, I’m a nursing student. I’m glad to see you up Twilight Sparkle. Is there anything I can get for you?”

Twilight paused at that. She’d been so focused on her horn and magic that she’d forgotten entirely to think about how her body was doing.

“I’m thirsty,” she said at last, “and hungry.”

“Well I can take care of that.” Redheart smiled. “And after we get some food and water into you I’ll get the doctor and he can take a look at you.”

Twilight nodded and watched as the nursing student walked back into the halls. She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. But if her magic was damaged enough that she couldn’t do something as simple as making light with her horn then she was going to be spending awhile here in the hospital.

-

Twilight had been out for four days, and had spent another week in observation at the hospital before being allowed to go home. Most unicorns were only unconscious for a few minutes after magical accidents, so the fact that she’d spent several days out had made the doctors very worried. Her parents and brother had turned up the same day she’d woken up and didn’t leave until visiting hours were up and Redheart had to gently, but firmly, prod them from Twilight’s room.

Twilight remembered that she’d hated being cooped up in her hospital room, but that she’d rather enjoyed Redheart’s company. The mare was a nursing student in her first year and had the night shift since it was the slowest, and therefore easiest, and used most of her time to study. For awhile after getting out of the hospital Twilight had been sure she’d grow up to be a nurse. But despite reading a small library about nursing she’d turned out to have no talent whatsoever for it and had given it up like so many other fillyhood dreams.

She wondered briefly if one of those pairs of eyes staring at her was Redheart. Probably not she decided. Redheart had talked about leaving Canterlot after finishing her schooling. Maybe when all this was over, if she was still alive, Twilight would look the mare up and thank her for her help all those years ago. It was definitely an easier thought than thinking that yet another pony she cared about had been hurt by Nightmare Moon.

“You know,” Rainbow Dash whispered, “something tells me we’re not going to be doing any escaping once we have the Elements.”

“I don’t want to hurt anypony else,” Fluttershy quietly said. “I’m sure once we have the Elements if we ask Nightmare Moon nicely she’ll bring Celestia back and let all those ponies go.”

Applejack quietly snorted. “I rather doubt that Fluttershy. I don’t think there’s a good bone, hair, or feather in her body. But you’re right about one thing. If we’re going to escape Canterlot once we have the Elements it would mean hurting a lot of innocent ponies. Have you figured out how to use the Elements yet Twilight?”

“I don’t have any idea,” Twilight admitted. “All I could find in either of the books we got in Manehatten was that Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon. But neither of them said anything about how Celestia used them. For all I know you just put them together and they fire, or you have to do some special dance, or maybe you can only use them on a Tuesday after reciting the legend of Maredessyus and painting yourself with polka dots.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “So what you’re saying is we have our work cut out for us, right?”

“I’m sorry girls,” Twilight sighed. “This really isn’t going to plan. I’m afraid we’re in real trouble this time.”

“We, we trust you.” Fluttershy smiled. “You’ve gotten us this far after all.”

“Thanks Fluttershy. I guess we’ll just have to deal with using the Elements or getting out of Canterlot once we’re in the castle.”

The future, to put it bluntly, was not looking good at the moment. Nightmare Moon had the elements, an army of innocent pony shields, and she had Twilight and her friends exactly where she wanted them. It hadn’t been long ago at all that Twilight was as confident about the future as she’d been in a long time.

-

“We are so proud of you two!” Twilight’s parents positively beamed. “An officer in the royal guards, and a graduate from one of the best colleges in Canterlot. We always knew you two were destined for great things.”

“Come on,” Twilight blushed. “It’s just the Canterlot Fourth Level Magical College. It’s not like I’m graduating from anywhere special or anything.”

“That’s a great school.” Her father waved a dismissive hoof. “All those fancy schools with the fancy names are just country clubs for the rich and the nobles. They only let in a few charity cases for good PR. As soon as you get into an interview and they see what a smart, talented, and wonderful pony you are anypony would have to be crazy not to hire you.”

“You too young stallion,” her mother said. “An officer means responsibility where other ponies can see you. I’m sure you’ll do wonderful wherever they station you. Why before you know it they’ll make you captain of the Canterlot Guards!”

“Mom.” Shining Armor’s embarrassment showed much more under his white coat. “They’re only making me a second lieutenant. I’m one of those charity cases who gets to look in the windows of the fancy places. And it’s only probably because I knew Cadance all those years ago. My ‘responsibility’ at this point is pretty much not to screw up. If I keep my head down and don’t make any waves I might, might get another promotion in another few years, but captain of the Canterlot Guards? Maybe if I stay in the guards till I’m a hundred or Twilight suddenly becomes I don’t know Celestia’s apprentice or something.”

Twilight couldn’t hold in her laugh at her brother’s joke. Her, Celestia’s apprentice? That would be the day.

“It’s not that farfetched.” Her mother shot her a gentle but stern look. “It was pure luck that your father and I met, but once we’d met we had to make it work. All you two need is the right circumstances and the ability to make the most of your lucky break. We know you two can make the most of even the tiniest break. Who knows Shining Armor, maybe you’ll run into Cadance again and all of a sudden you’ll have promotions coming faster than you know what to do with them.”

“And Twilight, a diploma is just a piece of paper. Once you get your first job and ponies realize what you’re capable of I’m sure you’ll have ponies fighting each other for the chance to offer you a job.”

“Thanks dad, but I kind of doubt that I’m going to climb the corporate ladder without a cutie mark. All I want is a decent job I enjoy that will let me pay off my loans and pay my bills.”

“Don’t be like that Twilee,” her brother playfully shoved her shoulder. “You know why I always say you don’t have a cutie mark. You’re so talented at so many things that your cutie mark couldn’t decide what to be.”

Twilight smiled. Her brother always knew what to say to make her feel better. With her family at her side she felt like cutie mark or no she could take on the world.

-

Twilight frowned. Her brother was a soulless puppet serving the evil pony who’d overthrown Celestia. Her parents were hopefully safe, but even if they were they couldn’t possibly help her. And it felt like she had the entire world against her.

Well maybe not the entire world. As much as she missed her family she’d made lifelong friends on this adventure. The possibility that her life would be distressingly short from this point was a thought she refused to consider. She wished though that she could have had more time with her friends. As long as she’d been an anti-social loner it hadn’t seemed so bad not having friends. But now that she’d made such good friends and knew what she’d been missing out on it seemed like she’d just started living and now she was staring down her end at the hooves of Nightmare Moon.

Twilight had never spent much time exploring the surface. Most of the times she’d come up she’d either gone to the library or spent her time in one of the many parks near the library enjoying the chance to stretch her legs in the bright sunlight. Canterlot’s surface was proving surprisingly large. It made sense she supposed. While only nobles lived up here there were plenty of commoners who worked on the surface, and then there were all the tourists coming to visit, and the various monuments, museums, and public buildings needed their space as well. Oh well, one more thing she’d probably never have the chance to do. It wasn’t like that list was growing by the hour or anything.

She was surprised at how quickly and completely all the damage to Canterlot had been repaired since Nightmare Moon took over. The last time Twilight had been in the city there had been rubble in the streets, bodies lying haphazardly where they’d fallen, and fires had raged uncontrolled through the city. In just a month and a half though Nightmare Moon had driven the ponies under her command to rebuild the city to its former glory. Twilight noted with distaste as they passed through a circular intersection that the statue of Celestia in the middle had been replaced by a statue of Nightmare Moon.

“I see the décor has been… improved.” Rarity noted without any hint of an attempt to hide her distaste. “I wonder what other changes Nightmare Moon has made since she took up residence?”

Rainbow Dash went further and paused to spit on the statue. “Nothing good I’m sure.”

Twilight had briefly worried that Rainbow Dash’s action would cause the ponies watching them to become angry and attack. She needn’t have worried. The watching ponies just stood there unblinking. Had she even seen one of them so much as blink since they entered Canterlot? This was intimidation on Nightmare Moon’s part, and Twilight had to admit that it was working.

They turned down the last boulevard to take them to the castle itself and Twilight could see a hilly park, and on the other end the royal library. How different her life would be if Nightmare Moon had never come. She’d have a nice normal job working at the library. Maybe she’d have made some new friends. If Shady hadn’t turned out to be an insane cultist Twilight could have tried to find her another job away from Touchy Hooves.

She could imagine it now. A nice apartment on level five of the undercity, some decent roommates for a change, and a job she wasn’t ashamed of. It wouldn’t be anything spectacular, but then Twilight had never been a pony who particularly enjoyed the supposed glamour of the rich and famous. She supposed Rarity and Pinkie Pie fit into that glamorous world, but then they weren’t exactly average as far as rich and famous went, and Pinkie Pie wasn’t normal as far as anything went.
No, she’d been over this before, this was no time to concentrate on what was or what could have been. Every step brought them closer to Nightmare Moon and the Elements. She needed to think as hard as she could to find a way past Nightmare Moon to the Elements and then a way to use the Elements.

She was coming up totally blank.

As angry as she was at Nightmare Moon she knew that even with the shard of one of the Elements she was hopelessly out of her league fighting against a pony who had beaten Celestia herself. Rarity was a powerful unicorn yes, but she was hurt and exhausted from fighting Trixie. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to be able to do a sonic rainboom indoors, and Twilight wasn’t sure what good it would do against Nightmare Moon anyways. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were useful in a fight, Pinkie Pie especially so, but as powerful as she was Nightmare Moon could just hold them with magic and probably try even a little bit. Fluttershy would be safe off in a corner but wouldn’t be any use fighting Nightmare Moon.

They were in trouble.

She was sure they would have to get through Nightmare Moon herself to get anywhere near the Elements of Harmony, and the more she thought about it the more she realized they were going to need some kind of miracle to have even a chance against Nightmare Moon. Maybe Fluttershy would be right and Nightmare Moon would just do what they asked… and maybe the Elements would just fall right into their laps on a solid gold platter with a hundred piece orchestra accompanying.

“Are you ready little sister?” Twilight was jerked out of her morose thoughts as the pony who’d brought them here spoke in her brother’s voice.

“I thought I told you not to talk.” She nearly growled. “Girls, let’s do this. However this all turns out I can’t imagine a better group of friends to go through all this with.”

“Agreed,” Rarity said, “it’s been an honor fighting Nightmare Moon alongside all of you.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, “I never thought I’d meet any ponies who’d stick by me like you girls did.”

“I’m gonna miss all of you!” Pinkie Pie bawled. “We never got to have that party they’ll remember for a thousand years!”

“There there Pinkie Pie.” Applejack gently patted her on the shoulder. “As long as we stick together we’ll be fine whatever happens.”

“It’s been nice.” Fluttershy actually looked at all of them eye to eye. “I really liked getting to know all of you. Rainbow Dash was my only friend for so long. It was, um, nice to have more friends while it lasted.”

The gates into the castle itself were like the gates into Canterlot, massive, but it was more for show than any real protection. The pony pretending to be Shining Armor took hold of them with his magic and opened them with a deep, slow groan. Twilight Sparkle had never been in the royal castle before, but she strode forward with purpose. This was all going to end tonight and it would be up to her to distract Nightmare Moon long enough for the others to get and use the Elements of Harmony. If she thought about what she was going to do she would probably panic and run to curl up in some room somewhere. So she walked forward even faster and only thought about what strategies and spells she could use against a pony immeasurably more powerful than her.

Even as focused as she was Twilight couldn’t help notice how impressive the castle was. Trixie’s illusion had tried, but failed, to do the real thing justice. Torches in mirrored recesses made the hall as bright as a noon day that hadn’t been seen for a month and a half. Twilight’s hooves clicked on marble tiles polished until they reflected almost as much light as the mirrors. The midnight black tiles with flecks of diamond made it seem as if she was walking on the night sky. She imagined that when Celestia ruled here they would have been white as clouds with flecks of golden sunlight throughout. As far as places to meet her end went there were definitely worse options.

She could have easily spent a lifetime she didn’t have looking at the tapestries that adorned the walls. The stories of Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, and all the other heroes of Equestrian history played out in intricate detail on the walls for her. Somehow the pictures made the history seem more real than all the books she’d read in school.

Twilight wondered if she and her friends would make it up there. She was sure in the future that ponies would read about the story of how Nightmare Moon courageously vanquished the last few ponies who futilely clung to Celestia’s day and brought about at last unchallenged eternal night. Not quite how Twilight wanted to be remembered, but then the victors wrote history.

They came to an ornate set of doors that could only lead to the throne room and Nightmare Moon herself. Not waiting for her false brother to let them in Twilight yanked the doors open and stormed into the throne room. The doors slammed shut behind her almost as soon as she was through and Twilight turned to her friends to make sure one last time that they were all ready for this. Only to notice that she was all alone. In her single minded determination to get to Nightmare Moon she’d gotten ahead of her friends and walked right into Nightmare Moon’s trap all alone.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle.” She gulped and turned to see Nightmare Moon herself sitting on the throne. “I’ve been waiting to meet you for quite awhile. I believe you’re here looking for something I have.”

Comments

[i_am_the_jam]

I guess no one knows that memory spell...

[Evilpresident]

Whoo! Backstory! I really liked the flashbacks, it gives Twilight's story some backbone.

[Juicer]

“How powerful is Nightmare Moon?” Rarity shuddered. “I can’t imagine the kind of magical skill needed to bend an entire city to her will.”

To minimise Mana expendature maybe she used her moon as a focus to a spell akin to Tsukuomi