Twilight sat, alone and dejected, in her cell. They had done it. They had convicted her. In less than a day, she would be strangled by her own body weight acting against her, gasping in front of the thousands who would be cheering on her death. Half a day after, and her slow choking would be plastered in gruesome detail on the front page of every newspaper in Equestria. And in no more than a week, her body would be returned to her parents for burial. Assuming that it was not desecrated in any way, or that the court casters did not purposefully ignore her body and allow it to decompose to the extent that it would have to be burned on the spot. She wasn’t even sure she wanted her body to be returned to her parents, for how could they bear to look upon a daughter who had done such wonderful and terrible things?
She looked at her surroundings and found them as bleak as her emotions. The cell was about three times the size of a broom closet, meaning she had a little room to move around if she so chose. In one corner sat a small stool, ordinary in every way except that it was bolted to the floor and severely rounded so nopony could get the idea of forcefully bludgeoning themselves to death and denying the court whatever it was due. In another corner sat a bucket, obviously to be used in the event that the prisoner needed to ‘dispose’ of waste, although it was thankfully empty. And in the third corner, she saw… no.
In the third corner shone a single beam of moonlight, dust motes swirling through its path, lending it an ethereal quality. To any other pony, this small beam would have seemed insignificant, serving only as a small source of light and perhaps an unusual decoration for the bleak cell. But to her, this column of light was a mocking presence, reminding her of what had taken place to bring her here, what she had lost, whom it was that she had killed. She stared at the spot where the beam ended for an eternity, before she finally managed to bring herself to raise her neck and look outside. Up her gaze went, traveling over the high walls and past the grate that served as the ceiling, until she had looked beyond it to the top of her cell. Her gaze went further still, searching the cloud cover that hung above Canterlot until she found it, a break in the barrier between her and the heavens, and she looked upon Luna’s creation.
There resided the moon, peeking halfway out of the clouds before giving way to a night sky full of stars. With a sob, Twilight beheld Luna’s last token to her subjects, her last memorial, her last message to a world that mourned her and the unicorn that killed her.
Not many ponies knew, but almost all of the night sky around Equestria, and indeed the entire planet, was only an illusion, detailed and beautiful but still an illusion. Eons before the two sisters had even come to be, ponies had been fearful of the nighttime, as it was both sinister and absolute, with only a few stars feebly glimmering and offering no guidance whatsoever. Besides the glow from a few small villages, no light was alive at night to find one’s way home, and a pony that was lost in this time was most assuredly lost until daybreak. Initially, the Sisters had sought only to keep their ponies safely indoors during this time. However, their subjects were a strong species, and being reduced to shivering and cowering before the cycle of days and nights was not to the satisfaction of many.
Finally, at the end of one day, Luna had struck upon a solution. Looking to the sky, she had seen the small glimmers of stars far away, and had decided to build upon the faint beauty she saw there. And thus, the night sky was born. Gone were the days when ponies would cower in fear from the darkness that would overtake their settlements. From the end of that day onward, the night was a time of wonder, as ponies would look out in awe at Luna slowly completing her night sky piece by piece, drawing out intricate constellations and planning majestic events to take place in the coming years. As a final masterpiece, she had created the moon, a beacon that she knew paled in comparison to her sister’s sun but that she hoped would bring her subjects some final comfort, so that they would know that the night was full of opportunity and wonder instead of just fear. She had finished off her greatest creation by establishing the lunar cycles, modeled after her cutie mark, so that her subjects would also be reminded that they and their dreams were under her protection.
This mighty tapestry that encircled the planet had become most hated by Luna during the time before her transformation into Nightmare Moon, as it was a stark reminder of all that she had done for her subjects, and only fed her sense of betrayal at having her beautiful creations so casually shunned. She had maintained some control of her work even after her banishment, allowing her to escape captivity inside of her own creation. Yet despite Celestia’s knowledge of Nightmare Moon’s capabilities and eventual escape, she still chose to maintain the night sky just as it had always been. She had told Twilight, in a moment of secrecy and trust long ago, that there were two main reasons why she had not sent the moon away to a far corner of space, to be forgotten forever. She had initially wanted to maintain some sense of normalcy for her ponies, since they had just experienced a severe disruption in their system of government, and the moon was just one more facet of the life that they had previously known. But more importantly, she had maintained the sky because she had believed, even all those years ago, that her sister would return. Keeping Luna’s night sky just as it was had been her way of comforting herself, and assuring that when her dear baby sister returned everything would return to normal and be exactly as it was. Luna’s moon and stars had served as reminders of love and beacons of hope.
Now they served as reminders of Twilight’s failure. Gazing upon Luna’s immense gift, Twilight felt the weight of her prison cell come crashing down on her. She felt as if the entire city of Canterlot was being pulled into her tiny cell, as if everypony out there was being dragged in here specifically to torture her with their hateful stares. With a gasp, her emotions crashed in on her helpless mind; she felt tears come unbidden as she relived every detail of the trial, the countless ponies who had been willing to offer their small but effective testimony against her, the pitiful defense not so much erected to protect her as thrown against her, the stony look of sorrow on Princess Celestia’s face as Twilight’s sentence was pronounced fit and just. She felt grief, kept locked away during the trial, stab at her mind, bringing down the countless walls she had erected to prevent herself from breaking during her sentencing. She felt loneliness, as she was forced to confront – again – the terrible truth that after what she had done, most if not all of her friends would outright despise her. She even felt a tiny spark of hatred, at all of the ponies who had spit upon her these past few days, justified as they may have been. Alone and condemned, her mind did the only thing it could do to pull itself away from the burning fire of her own emotions. It retreated into her memory.
With a growing horror, Twilight felt her surroundings fade away as her mind reconstructed, in detail, the horrible night that had brought her here. The night that had changed her entire life. The night that Luna died. Memories flashed by at the speed of light, allowing her only a brief glimpse at one moment before she was forced to look at yet another. She remembered the fading of the day, as the sun had breathed its last rays of light upon Ponyville. She remembered Luna stepping off of her chariot, smiling and asking Twilight how she was. She remembered her own emotions, tinted with fear, guilt and apprehension, as she considered what must be done. And she remembered Luna’s eyes, filled with shock and pain, as the beam from Twilight’s horn pierced her side and burned its way to her innermost organs.
Twilight’s memory seemed to slow down, almost maliciously, as if it wanted to torture her. She remembered it all. Luna’s dying scream as she breathed her last, causing those who had been asleep to wake up, unaware of their impending destruction. The new scream that had shattered windows and deafened ponies all across town, created not of Luna’s own will but rather that of her body, as the massive magical potential she had previously contained sought to release itself through any medium possible. The dull roar that had grown in intensity until it seemed as if the very air itself was seething with hatred, as if a hundred dragons had attacked the town at once. The brief glowing of Luna’s body as her cells prepared to release their magical energy in the most expedient way possible: explosively.
The actual decimation had been as brief as it was devastating. Within the blink of an eye, the entire town seemed to shift from a state of normalcy to a hellish parody of reality. Almost every recognizable structure had vanished. Buildings on the outskirts of the blast burned steadily and created a ring of fire that circled most of the town. Closer to the center of the explosion, there were no buildings to speak of; only foundations remained, some staying solid and some losing their shape as their liquefied forms oozed and moved through any channel available. And in the epicenter there was nothing except a large crater, simmering and glowing, leaving no evidence of the alicorn that had been at the center of all of this destruction. Luna’s innate magic, previously used to maintain herself and kept under strict control at all times, was now gone. Twilight’s fatal wound had unbound this powerful reservoir, leaving behind destruction on a scale unimaginable.
Twilight fought to bring herself back from the brink. The terrible memories continued to circle her, however, snapping at her mind like timberwolves ready to seize upon helpless prey. They came closer and closer to her consciousness, and with each passing second Twilight felt as if her head might explode from the agony of remembering. She could feel herself slipping down deeper and deeper, further along the slope of her own self-loathing and despair. With a final gasp of thought, she wondered if this was how it would end. If she would spend her last hours not as a pony, aware and regretful of her actions, but as a madmare who would rant and rave at anything and nothing, too caught up in her own world of personal torment to care about what was around her.
With a quick thought, she decided to face this loss of herself with a small bit of dignity; she would cower before her own actions and their consequences, but she would not cower before herself. She calmed and allowed herself to fall deeper and deeper into the abyss, the shadows in her mind growing darker and darker by the second. She began to hear a deep laughing, terrible and unearthly…
With a start, Twilight was partially yanked back into reality as she felt and heard the door to her cell slam open. Was it really already morning? Her thoughts, however, returned to the hole that was even now pulling her back. The laughter was now very much alive and animated, seeming to bounce from one side of her head to the other, almost as if it was playing inside of her skull. She sighed; they would have to execute an empty husk, a mare only a shell of her former self. She would have laughed bitterly, if she had but the strength; it appeared that life would not even allow her that one, final solace, of facing her death as herself, after all she had been through. Perhaps she just didn’t deserve it.
She almost let herself go yet again, almost let herself be drowned in the currents of her own mind, before she realized that the mental abyss was no longer wide and open, ready to swallow her whole. Instead, she felt almost at peace. She also realized that the laughing, powerful as it was beforehand, had vanished. That brought her back fully very quickly, and she looked around, wondering what had stopped her from being claimed by the monster that was now gone. She found nothing, until she turned around.
There stood Princess Celestia, still looking disheveled and sad as before, but now with a hard look of determination on her face. Her horn glowed, and with a start Twilight realized that she could feel a warmth flowing around like liquid in her chest. She looked down and affirmed that her coat did indeed seem to be glowing. Slowly, she reached up a hoof and poked her chest, and almost immediately felt something stir within. With a growing horror, she watched as Celestia’s magic pulled something black and flowing out of her chest. It seemed to writhe and wither as it touched her magic, and she even thought she heard a small screech escape from the black mass that was now leaving her body. With a final pull, Celestia succeeded in removing the substance from Twilight’s body, and for a moment the two stood there, not as murderer and final judge, but rather teacher and student.
Twilight, even after all that had happened, could not fight her old instincts, and gave in to the urge to ask a question. “What is it, Princess Celestia?”
Celestia seemed unwilling to take her eyes off of the twisting evil before her. “Nightmare forces, called into existence during times of great fury, or grief. The same ones that created Nightmare Moon.” With a final, hard look, Celestia proceeded to incinerate the black form before her, causing it to squeal as it slowly burned away. When nothing remained but ash, she let her magic fade, and they both watched as the ashes fell to the ground.
Twilight tried to hold herself back. She desperately wanted to push all hope out of her mind; it was inconceivable that her atrocious actions could really be passed off so easily. Yet, she had to know. “Is … that what caused me to —”
With a voice that seemed equal parts despair and anger, Celestia cut her off. “No, you have just barely played host to these demons. I could sense them from the entrance to the dungeon; in a body such as yours, they can do nothing but rage and scream at the world, and are not very good at hiding their presence. I was unable to save Luna…” at this Celestia’s voice broke, “but I refuse to leave another pony in their hooves. Such a fate is worse than death.” She spoke the last sentence with a conviction as hard as iron, as if using it, depending on it, for a reason to stay sane, a reason to continue to talk to her former student.
With a sigh, Celestia turned to Twilight, her eyes reflecting light in a way that indicated she was close to tears. She spoke only one word, posed as a question, demanding an answer. “Twilight?”
Twilight. That one simple word devastated the purple mare more than a thousand curses, accusations and glares would have. In her times of need and sorrow, Celestia had always referred to Twilight as ‘my faithful student’. A few times, Celestia had used her real name, as if to encourage her to find a solution herself. Always, however, when Twilight was so troubled that not even she knew what could possibly be done, Celestia had referred to her with what most ponies would consider a diminutive, given her position and power. Yet somehow it always gave Twilight hope. It would always remind her that no matter what, she was under Celestia’s protection, and that the Princess would keep watch over her and stand with her when she needed it.
Looking into her eyes now, however, Twilight saw that though it pained the alicorn to do so, she would not attempt to stand by her former student this time.
Twilight was unable to stop herself from asking what came next; she was hardly aware that she had spoken it herself. She had to know if, somehow, someday, she would find some form of redemption. “Princess, can you ever… forgive me?”
Celestia looked at the mare with something akin to longing, hatred, and desperation mixed into one. They held each other’s gaze for several seconds before Celestia spoke. When she did, Twilight wished she had never spoken at all.
“No, Twilight Sparkle. She was my sister, my dearest companion, my most trusted friend, my longest company. For many millennia we have grown close together, Twilight; nothing can describe what it feels like to have that taken away. When you killed her, I… I felt her scream, I felt the magic burning her from the inside out, I felt her agony in her last moments, I felt her sense of betrayal.” Celestia’s voice rode on the slender line between power and pure hatred, and seemed to be unsure of itself, ready to teeter either way. “Never before in my life have I been so devastated, Twilight. We were supposed to continue together, Twilight; we were supposed to keep each other company…” Celestia’s voice now faded to nothingness, her last word but a soft sigh escaping from quivering lips.
For a minute, neither ponies dared speak. Then, something unexpected happened. Celestia stepped in front of her, and Twilight heard two horrible, tragic, terrifying words come from her mentor's mouth.
“Kill me.”
Twilight fell back, aghast at what she had just heard. “Wh… what, Princess?”
Celestia stood resolute, seemingly unwilling to yield any sort of response to her student save a cold stare. “I said kill me. You did it with Luna, and you can do it with me; to my knowledge, you are the only pony alive who both knows the complete spell and wields the power necessary to use it. Why not just end my misery?”
Twilight almost retched right at Celestia’s hooves upon hearing such an idea. “Princess, why would I do that? You… you’re Celestia! I can’t… I can’t kill you!” Twilight was now moving from shock to grief, grief that her own mentor would want her to do this, and it was showing.
“And why not, Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia spoke her name with a biting edge to her voice. “You have removed from this world the only companion I ever have had for certain; not even Discord is guaranteed to stay forever. Tell me, what is there left for me in this world, that I may go on?”
“I…” Words failed Twilight. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine a world without Celestia, without the sun shining down, the respect and affection the alicorn’s presence seemed to summon for everypony around her. She couldn’t fathom killing her mentor. Knowing she needed to provide an answer, Twilight looked the elder pony in the eyes and gave the only one she knew in her heart for certain.
“You’re… Celestia. You’re… my teacher. And I am… was… your faithful student…”
Instantly, Celestia’s expression seemed to melt. Something that existed in Twilight’s face, voice, and words had moved as one and struck a chord deep in Celestia’s heart, so deep that all of her rage, pain, and agony was instantly silenced. With a small flicker, those emotions were replaced with something warm, something that wanted to reach out to her student. She remembered back to the trial, Twilight’s testimony, barely an hour before. She remembered exactly what Twilight had said.
'I’m sorry.'
Celestia knew what had to be done.
Bringing her expression back to a mien that she hoped was not as enraged, Celestia continued to gaze at her student as she spoke. “Do you have anything else you wish to say?”
With eyes that were becoming blurry through tears beginning to form, Twilight stooped her head down low to the ground and sobbed once. “No, please Princess, leave me alone. I’ve betrayed everyone in my life; I’ve killed Luna and one of my best friends, Ponyville’s a crater, and now the most powerful protectors of harmony are gone because of me. And you… you want me to kill you. So just… just let me die for what I’ve done.” With that, she turned her back to the alicorn, and prepared herself to feel the door slam shut and to hear hoofsteps walk away.
Instead, what she felt was a large wing extend and wrap around her form, and what she heard was Celestia speak. “Oh Twilight, though I may never be able to forgive you, that does not mean I cannot love you still.” With a voice that sounded close to breaking, she continued. “You have defeated Discord, and then you helped reform him. You gave up your own glory to save the Crystal Empire and defeat Sombra. You repulsed an army of changelings, even when we were all against you. You and your friends made the Grand Galloping Gala very interesting. And… you brought my dear…” At this, Celestia’s voice, gradually growing more and more delicate, finally broke, and Twilight saw a few tears fall to the ground beside her. It took the alicorn a moment to continue. “And, you brought my dear sister, my precious Luna, back to me, if only for a few years. Twilight, if I were to ignore your actions on behalf of Equestria, I would be remiss as a pony, and unfit to rule as a leader.” Celestia gave the smaller mare a gentle squeeze, before drawing her wing back and folding it to her side.
Twilight sniffled, and continued to stare at the ground. “Thank you, Princess, but… you don’t need to make me feel better just because I’ll be dying tomorrow, or because you feel like you owe me something. You were right; I robbed you and a lot of other ponies in this world of something valuable. What I did is terrible, Princess; I don’t deserve kindness.”
Celestia sighed, before reaching over with a foreleg and shifting Twilight’s face so that the two could look directly into each other’s eyes.
“Twilight, I do not think you understand. What you did was indeed terrible; nopony can deny that. Your reasons were unjustified, and I only wish I had taught you better, so that maybe we could have avoided all of this. You will receive your just punishment tomorrow for your actions. But know this, my little pony. Though you may have committed an atrocious crime, deep in my heart, I will always love you. And no matter what, I will always wish for another student just like you.”
Twilight’s heart was uncertain whether it wanted to leap into her throat or sink down to her stomach. “Do you really mean that, Princess Celestia?”
Celestia nodded once, before looking away. “I can never forgive you for the death of my sister. What she meant to me cannot be described in words; to have had her back again, only to be taken away, has torn my heart apart in ways that I never thought possible.” She turned back to Twilight. “But I cannot bring myself to hate a pony who has also done so much for us. Such a pony may still have light in their heart, even after acts such as yours have been committed.”
Twilight sunk down onto her stomach and stared at Celestia, mouth wide. “Thank you, Princess Celestia. Th…thank you.”
Celestia simply lifted her up with a hoof. “You are welcome. Now, would you like to get anything else off of your chest?’
For the next two hours they talked about anything and everything with a freedom that had not been present even in their close relationship previously. Twilight confessed to all of the emotions she had been feeling in the time that she had killed Luna; and though it obviously pained Celestia greatly to do so, the Princess listened and talked with Twilight about them. They talked about all of the adventures Twilight had undergone with her friends in Ponyville, including the one where Rainbow Dash had competed with Mare Do Well; Celestia laughed, and Twilight cried. They talked of Luna’s humorous problems while adjusting to life after a thousand years, including the time she had almost sent a guard out the window with her Royal Canterlot Voice; Twilight laughed, and Celestia cried. Through it all, the two took comfort in each other’s presence, and allowed the fact that Twilight was set to die soon pass from their minds.
Eventually, though, they ran out of events and various ponies to talk about. They spent a few moments in silence, neither willing to move. With a deep breath, Celestia rose to her hoove and walked slowly towards the door.
“Twilight, though it pains me greatly to say so, I have enjoyed these moments. They may not make up for Luna’s death, but they soften the blow, if just a little. Now I must go, however; you have others waiting to meet you as well.”
Twilight looked at Celestia with a mixture of hope and fear. “Others? You mean…”
“Yes, Twilight. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, even Pinkie Pie are all here to meet you.” Her eyes looked to a point far in the distance. “Although I do not guarantee that what they will have to say will warm your heart, I believe it is your duty to hear what they feel. Do you agree?”
“Yes Princess, I’ll stay and take whatever they want to give me. I deserve it…”
Celestia nodded. “I will let them know they can come in, then.” She moved to the door, opened, it, and slowly closed it behind her.
But before it shut, Twilight could have sworn she heard something. She didn’t believe she had heard it; not even Celestia would be so capable, after what she had done. She refused to believe what her heart was desperately hoping to be true.
She refused to believe that, just before closing the door, Celestia had whispered something.
“Goodbye, my faithful student.”
I'll say it again: I picked a very convenient time to discover you and this story, and I am glad I didn't have to wait long for the next installment.
However, unless it is going to be revealed in a later chapter, I feel the need to say I am confused by what Twilight did. Was Luna harboring Nightmare Moon's presence again, and Twilight killed her to keep Equestria safe? Or was Twilight inflicted with some of the dark forces, and attacked Luna out of spite?
Dayum
Hnnngh, my heart!
Considering how Twilight 'fractured the Elements of Harmony' and Rainbow Dash's name is missing from the list...
She's probably dead.
dammit, twilight
This is good, I like it. Still wandering what Luna did to make twilight kill her though.
Also, turns out Alicorns go nuclear after that die. Who knew?
I'm absolutely loving this story, as well as the building suspense here
Ok, now I'm confused. Wasn't it mentioned that the blast was Twilight's color and magical identity or whatever at the trial? It was Luna's energy that caused the blast, why wasn't it HER color?
We also get a confirmation that no justice is available in Equestria and no real justice is being had here. We have undoubtable proof that Celestia was biased to an extreme degree and could not in fairness act as someone to watch over the proceedings of the trial. Therefore we just have a revenge scheme pretending to be justice because justice cannot truly be had without a fair trial. The defense attorney alone made it an unfair trial.
You also still have me wondering if the character acted out of character by not giving the reason Twilight acted the way she did. Twilight is not the character who just randomly says "Luna, you die now." Then kills her. I believe the answer of why is what will make of break this story. Leaving it ambiguous will make it easy for me to say "that's not Twilight Sparkle, that's someone who looks like her and replaced the doppelgänger after it killed Luna."
I am unsure if you would be looking for something like this, but I believe this old 1990s song is a perfect tribute for this story. Reading this story reminded me of Richard Marx's "Hazard".
It can be found here.
Right in the feels.
Wait.... Is that really the answer? She killed Luna because she had to test the complete spell that would kill an alicorn? No. No No NO! I refuse to believe that. You better have a damned good reason why Twilight did that more than just 'the nightmare's influence.' OR else.
*hits opposite hand with crowbar repeatedly in the menacing manner that a thug would with a pipe or baseball bat*
Graghhhhh! Are we ever going to HEAR what that was about? Is Twilight's motivation going to be left completely up to the viewer?
Confused now. So Twilight did it to stop Luna from something, or because of the Nightmare?
I'm a little more confident in this story from the last chapter and I'm glad I followed it. But I'm still holding out for a decent explanation on why Twilight killed Luna. Surely there was a reason and it was more than "I want to test this spell".
I'm still holding out for Twilight lives somehow (That isn't escaping or mass murder)
3901977 If I said that Twilight wanted to "Just test out some spell," I would want everyone that has ever read this story to punch me. Repeatedly. With all of their strength.
Really, though, no, I can assure you that isn't the explanation. Again, uncertain if I even will give an explanation. BUT if I do, I swear to you that it will not be "She wanted to test out a spell."
3901832 If I do give a reason,
that won't be it.
3901769 When a person is killed, is their blood used to identify the blood type of the killer? Or the bullet used?
3901832 Indeed… It's best you explain, before my companions get any more impatient than they already are...
*Daleks take aim and slowly surround the premises, chanting 'explain'*
Still love the story, though!
I have a feeling that I'm going to cry my eyes out at the end of the story.
3902048 I'll feel bad, but at least I'll know I've succeeded with the story.
3902005 Like 3901769 said, the explanation of why she killed Luna will make or break this story.
If you don't want to explain why (Which I assume means Twilight is going to die) in the story, perhaps an epilogue with Celestia finding a note written to her by Twilight explaining the reasons (If it was she that did it, not something controlling her)
But I NEED to know why, it is the difference between making Twilight OOC or not, and finding this story believable. The way it stands right now it just seems like it was marked "Kill Luna Day" on the calendar so Twilight blasted her one.
Anyways, looking forward to more.
3902054 Whatever happens; I've liked it so far.
3902076 "Kill Luna Day"
I like that.
da feels
and also kill luna day would look like this on the calendar
Eugh. Hanging.
Unless they get the rope length just right it'll either yank her head off and leave a mess or not kill her and let her hang there and suffocate while totally lucid.
I don't see Dashie's name...
Twilight killed Best Pony and Best Princess! Burn the witch!
I think if you are committed to showing this as a just and acceptable result for her actions, you need to show us 1) why Twilight did what she did and 2) why the suspension of normal judicial proceedings is acceptable in this case. As mentioned above if you do not do these things you end up with a farce of Justice, not real justice.
As a second, but related point, I can understand why the normal townspeople don't care and are out for blood, but I am unsure why you didn't have Twi explain the reasons to Celestia. Celly is a victim here, and victims need closure. Or if closure isn't going to happen, at least some sort of explanation. And regardless of age, I doubt very seriously that Celly would go accept a "I can't change it so I don't care what her reason was" line of thought.
Finally, please don't give into the temptation to not properly explain things. I know that it can feel like fun to keep people guessing, but if you don't solve the mystery, what's there point of having a mystery? Specificity is good. We are reading this because we are interested in the universe you have built and want to know more about it. Having us guess about the most important plot point just make this seem like a shock fic, a "Hey come watch twilight sparkle's thoughts as she chokes to death", pornographic fix.
However, if this is your intention, bravo and keep up the grand work!!!!!
Honesty to God a really great deep story, hopefully you do not conclude this story as some sort of dream or false reality but actually make a honesty to god sad story ending.
After reading this chapter, I can't help but think that Twilight had absolutely no reason to kill Luna. From the way it was presented, it sounded like Luna just greeted Twilight after arriving in ponyville, and she just kinda nuked her.
That was... very powerful.
-SS
3902428
False.
In general, hanging by the neck until you are dead is a 'mostly' humane way of execution because the 'short drop and a sudden stop' will usually break the poor sod's neck. Only if they slowly lower the person/raise the rope will they be sure of them slowly choking out.
(which, by the way author, is another point I forgot to bring up. Unless the ponies are unimaginably cruel, the standard hanging would not leave Twilight to a slow and painful death of choking. Rather, it would snap her neck and kill her instantly with minimal pain [for what it is]. An improper hanging will lead to what you described in the chapter. Not a true hanging)
Wow... this story is amazing... I feel as though I am on an emotional roller coaster that goes up and down and swerves from side to side. I don't necessarily wonder what will happen next in the story, what is more important is what emotions will I feel next? I decided to hop on this metaphorical roller coaster even though I knew it was leading down into the hellish fires of tartars in hopes that maybe the it would take me out, but in anticipation of dropping farther and farther down into the abyss.
Side comment: Written like a true poet, huh?
3902027
Umm what? If a bullet is used to somehow set off a bomb, does the bomb give any indication what bullet was fired? Luna acted as a bomb of energy that should have overwhelmed any traces of Twilight's energy except for whatever she used to survive herself.
I'm also now seeing so many legal issues that popped into my head for how Twilight could technically be found less guilty for the deaths of the 3,548 citizens. Then again, I don't know of a crime called "mass slaughter" I only know the homicides. Technically, if Twilight did not know Luna would explode with energy on death, then she cannot be found guilty of murder. If Twilight should have known and there is evidence Twilight should have known that the death of Luna would explode then Twilight is guilty of 3,548 counts of negligent homicide, not murder.
The more interesting fact is if there is no evidence Twilight should have known that Luna would explode. Then you have a proximate cause issue that would get Twilight found not guilty for 3,548 counts of Murder, Manslaughter, or negligent homicide. You can only be guilty of something that is foreseeable. The best analogy I can make that could lead to a similar question is if Bob kills Sam. Unbeknownst to Bob, Sam is carrying a large amount of nitroglycerin for no apparent reason. Nobody has any reasonable belief that Sam is carrying nitroglycerin. Bob shoots Sam in the subway and Sam falls over causing the nitroglycerin to explode and kill people. Bob survives because he was using a pillar for cover. Bob shooting Sam was the actual cause of the people who died of the explosion. However, the big question is: was it foreseeable that shooting Sam would cause a big explosion? Based off the the lack of knowledge that Sam's nitroglycerin was there and would go off, the answer has to be no. Therefore, legally Bob cannot be held accountable for their deaths under a murder doctrine. We can assume Twilight, being the smart individual who did not use an area attack herself and was shocked at the energy release, did not know that Luna upon death would release the energy. We then have the should she have known question. Considering this is the first indication of anyone killing an alicorn, there is no indication that any reasonable person could foresee that the death of Luna would cause the explosion. Therefore we see a foreseeability issue with these deaths.
On a side note: yay legal education I'm currently working on and legal philosophy.
3902626 You're assuming that Luna's blast was the biggest thing that happened, and that it happened an instant after Twilight's blast. That's all I have to say as of now, because this homework isn't going to complete itself . But I think I will take this up with you later.
3902735
I have only what you give me and you gave me this:
"Twilight’s memory seemed to slow down, almost maliciously, as if it wanted to torture her. She remembered it all. Luna’s dying scream as she breathed her last, causing those who had been asleep to wake up, unaware of their impending destruction. The new scream that had shattered windows and deafened ponies all across town, created not of Luna’s own will but rather that of her body, as the massive magical potential she had previously contained sought to release itself through any medium possible. The dull roar that had grown in intensity until it seemed as if the very air itself was seething with hatred, as if a hundred dragons had attacked the town at once. The brief glowing of Luna’s body as her cells prepared to release their magical energy in the most expedient way possible: explosively."
The first line indicates that time is going slower and in more intense detail, indicating a brief time. Then we are given a description of what Luna's body does upon death. It starts ticking like a time bomb with a nice roar of warning and then boom. The last line indicates that her cells were releasing the magical energy. No where in there is the line "And Twilight remembered casting the spell on the body that accidentally/intentionally set off a chain reaction after she died." Based off this 1 paragraph of description: it's death leading to release of her "massive magical potential" releasing the energy explosively like a bomb. Nowhere in there does it indicate Twilight's energy was involved in any way other than the cooking of her internal organs. If you're using information I don't have, then there's an obvious reason we'll disagree but my arguments are based off the reasonable inferences or reasonable doubt based off what's there.
No, sorry. but no. Even if she is sentenced to death, I can not believew that Ponies would be so cruel as to condemn her to death by strangulation. Offical executions by hanging were done in such a way that the inital drop would likely break the condemned person's neck (there are even charts describing optimal knot placement with respect to various weights). It was a sign of a bad executioner that they failed to kill a man on the first drop.
So are you saying that the Princess is cruel enough to either allow an incompetant hangma..er, pony try to end her student, or worse, to deliberately ensure her death is more painful than it needs to be?
... And now I'm sceptical about whether or not you'll be able to come up with a good enough reason for Twilight's actions. See, the only reason she should be regretting her actions... well, the only reason she should be claiming she's betrayed _everyone_, is if she herself believes her actions to have been in error. And whilst I won't go so far as to say Twilight is infallible, for such an ... immense act, she would have done some considerable research, such that the reasons she found were sufficient to justify that to herself, even in the heat of the moment, should not be the sort of thing that can be so casually dismissed. Soo... yeah. This upcoming justification kinda needs to be a real doozy.
3902027
I'm going to have to query that. Yes, what you say is correct, but your defence is not a perfect fit.
Now, I'm going to assume the unicorn investigators were competent enough to tell the difference between Twilight';s beam spell, and the Lunar Annihilation.
That first point of evidence is still questionable, however.A 'blast' does not sound at all like the beam described in Twilight's memory - it seems far more likely that what they're describing is the explosion that resulted from Luna's death... which really should _not_ be coloured with Twilight's magic, being at worst an explosion of Lunar magic that is very slightly contaminated by Twilight's.
3902909 I'll respond to the majority of these comments later. But I just wanted to mention: Did I not say, early on, that hanging is considered, in Equestria,
I'm just setting stuff up early. And I haven't even revealed what I actually have planned for that little snippet yet...
3902550 Sorry to contradict you, but actually a 'proper' hanging, as you describe, is typically performed using a gallows. It mentioned last chapter that Equestria rarely uses the death penalty, and hanging is the least common method chosen. I doubt they've invented the gallows; humanity only did it because we hung people often enough to make building a specialist structure for the procedure worthwhile, otherwise we'd have gone to the nearest big tree with a wagon and goaded the horses to pull the wagon out from under the condemned individual.
Gallows are a very complex piece of equipment, with a mechanism to operate the trap door by a lever. I really can't see ponies having the desire to develop it, or the motivation to build one.
3903011
First off, the gallows were invented primarily to make the event more of a public spectacle. Yes, they had the side-effect of making hangings easier, but they still were more of a stage.
Hanging from a tree, as you suggested, would still break the individual's neck assuming the wagon is tall enough (which they tended to be)
Provided, of course, they weren't trying to torture the individual by making the rope just long enough so that on their tippy-toes they could almost stand, leaving them to choke themselves.
In general, 80-90% of hangings involved the breaking of the condemned's neck, even before the gallows were invented.
Or, at least, 80-90% of the 'official' hangings, as opposed to bandits killing their hostages...
Reading this chapter brought to mind a very powerful quote I'm rather fond of.
"What can change the nature of a man?"(mare in this case).
And considering the source, that's high praise.
Yep. Something is definitely wrong with this situation. And Celestia knows it.
So either she's planning something and doesn't plan to kill her student, or she just doesn't care and wants to watch somepony die to ease her own pain, even though it's making her feel even worse about the entire thing.
3902735
I believe that the Aura of a magic-user is located in their horn, and that their magic capability is without color until they actually channel it for a spell.
And that Twilight blasting Luna was akin to adding dye to a vial of water; thus the resulting magic overload bore her aura signature.
I consider this a brilliant hypothesis, even considering the fact that I'm biased towards myself as natural human nature.
3901769
Twilight Sparkle's "Due Process" was violated every single step of the way; I'm considering (only considering, busy person) compiling a list out of morbid curiosity and because it keeps coming up in comments. (Legal procedure was broken in at least a dozen ways before her trial probably even began).
Yes: In America, this case would be thrown out of court, and likely not even be re-admissible ever again.
Twilight wasn't given a meaningful defense, and investigations typically stretch on for weeks. More importantly though, she was sentenced to die immediately, so she cannot even file an appeal.
As I've said before; regardless of whether Twilight committed premeditated (first degree) murder or not, she would still be innocent in the eyes of the law until proven guilty, and her situation is not conducive to being proven guilty at all.
But what? I mean, to what end? The powerful emotions of this story are not so easily denied. Blah-blah court ethics, really. Not to sound crass or anything, because I'd defend Twilight given half the chance... But the court scene just adds sorrow to an already horrific heart-burning tragic waste of life... And that is the emotional centerpiece of this story for me, it's not going to go away no matter how much we point out law systems that don't even necessarily apply to a Monarchy, least of all Equestria. It's horrible because we can see a situation like this happening (as indeed, it has,) in our country, despite all our laws. That it is happening here is an issue you'll have to resolve in your own mind. But obviously you can still conjecture, there's lots of other comments about that.
Twilight Sparkle having an evil clone would be ridiculous, why would she confess if she was simply being framed?
3901962
3901963
Join the club P: We have want-it-need-it spells.
3901977
I was like. "Kill Celestia and free yourself!" I felt a little bad.
3902428
Yes indeedy, hanging is a graphic affair. Perhaps not quite as dirty as you make it out to be, but certainly performed in ways that are less-than-instant and rather mangling.
3902486
When I was pre-reading this, I thought the same thing. "Is this only part of the memory?" Conjecture away.
3903331
Celestia with her own emotions? Perish the thought.
3901832
I'm still a supporter of the, "Luna threatened Twilight," it seems to fit with what we can read-between-the-lines of in the story itself.
Twilight Sparkle was the legal guardian of Spike, a minor; the law is much more forgiving for actions taken in defense of a minor (at most she'd get "crime of passion", and only because of her confessions on record, it'd be "self-defense" otherwise). Twilight could have made a strong case for herself if she wasn't prevented from doing so.
Twilight, I wish I could have you as a sister, you're adorable, please don't hate me for supporting the progression of this story to it's ending.
I want to say "au revoir, Twilight Sparkle" again, so there.
3903611
The doppelganger line was me being hyperbolic about the fact that she is acting so out of character, the only logical conclusion is that it was just someone who looked like her, rather than being her.
She seems extremely guilty about it, so i'm guessing she realized a fault in her actions, she was somehow forced to, it wasn't her and she's accepting her fate, or maybe shes just sad that she had to. In any case we'll find out next chapter
3903741
3903784
She does seem in-character to me, sure she did something horrible, but we're not exactly sure why; otherwise decent people are provoked into horrible things all the time.
So I don't see it as OOC.
I'm not sure her guilt indicates she was at fault, just that the horror of it is sinking in.
Or as you say, maybe it's just that something caused it and now she's accepting it rather than living with her knowledge.
Maybe we'll find out, maybe.
somehow i imagine this scene was meant to redeem celestia, i just find her more antagonistic here. i still sincerly hope the crystal empire rises too the occasion when this is over, hell i still hope cadence disowns celestia as family, but maybe i'm just bitter here.
I liked this one.
Celestia's response, I feel, can be justified. She is clearly not going to hate Twilight forever and will eventually forgive Twilight for killing Luna, but it is going to take some time. The position is wildly conflicting because that isn't something you can forgive someone about and even if you are unsure about forgiving someone, you still aren't forgiving them for that event.
Anyways~ Great story, good chapter, can't wait to see what her remaining friends will do - since RD isn't there for some reason...
Rainbow Dash was mentioned as a memory, and wasn't on the list to see Twilight.
Twilight also "killed one of her best friends."
I don't like where this is going.
I'm still trying to figure out why Twilight killed Luna. Celestia says Luna felt betrayal when Twilight attacked her, so she did see Twilight as an ally/friend and likely wasn't consciously planning anything evil. It's probably not anything to do with NMM either since Celestia was so quick to remove the part of a Nightmare that had entered Twilight while she was jailed.
Its spike
I just want to say that hanging isn't done to choke the victim to death (though that can happen if an error is made). It's done to break the victim's neck.