Friends
Fluttershy was the first to come in.
Slowly, with movements so delicate it seemed as if the wind pushed her limbs, the young mare walked in, and looked first not at Twilight, but at the walls around her. Aside from a very noticeable shaking, she looked just as she always had. On the outside, at least.
Twilight wondered what the yellow pegasus would have to say to her, what this first conversation would bring. She wondered what the mare in front of her would think of her former friend, what Fluttershy would feel about all of the events that had transpired in just the last week. She had always been the kindest of them; always willing to see the good side of creatures, always willing to forgive, she had, in many cases, acted far better than Twilight and her friends.
Yet, Twilight knew that the mare also had her limits. She could only be pushed so far before her temper rose, before her will failed, before her heart broke. What would she remember of Twilight, what would she choose to forgive, if she ever did so?
For a second, Twilight considered asking the pegasus to simply leave her cell. It was selfish, brutally selfish, but all she wanted at that instant was to die with Celestia as her last memory, her final companion before departing the world forever. She thought of simply ignoring the mare, of shuffling into a corner and refusing to look up until they came for her. She even thought of threatening Fluttershy, if only for an instant, just to get her to leave. At that moment, Twilight just wanted to be alone.
But, like the spark that starts a fire, Celestia’s words rose from her memory and burned themselves into her mind. It was her duty to listen to what her friends had to say. She owed it to them, she owed it to everypony. No matter what came, she would listen, and perhaps atone, in some small way, for what she had done. Drawing in a breath, Twilight looked up, and spoke.
“Hello, Fluttershy.”
Slowly, the pegasus turned around, and looked her straight in the eye. Just as it had first appeared, she looked as if the events of the past week had not affected her at all. Her coat was the exact same color, unmarred by grime or dust. Her hair was still in its natural, slightly-curled form. Even her wings appeared well-maintained, unsullied by lack of attention. But while on the surface all appeared in order, Twilight noticed that something about her friend was missing. Her small smile, given whenever she had the opportunity to greet a friend, was gone. It its place was only a line, hard and unmoving, as if she was unwilling to deign to the world even a small amount of happiness. She simply stared at the purple mare, and for a moment, Twilight was stricken to her core. Some accursed part of her had believed that Fluttershy, kind and sweet Fluttershy, would forgive her. Some part of her had grown up around what Celestia had said, had dared to hope against hope. For a moment, she again considered forcing the pegasus out. It had been foolish to believe that any of her friends would look at her with any bit of pity. She had utterly betrayed them all, and she had really expected somepony to forgive her.
If she had managed to turn even Fluttershy against her, what could she expect from the rest of her friends?
Then, Fluttershy blinked, and sat down heavily. “Hello, Twilight.” She said, looking down at her hooves.
At least she had not refused to answer. Already, Twilight was getting more than she deserved. For a moment, neither seemed willing to speak, and break the silence between them. Fluttershy took the next step.
‘How… how are you feeling?”
Twilight almost cried at that. Of course, Fluttershy would be the one to ask that. Of course, she would place even the considerations of Twilight, the murderer, above her own. Even after all that had occurred, even after all she had killed, Fluttershy would stay true to her nature until the very end. She would always care for all creatures, no matter what they had done.
Celestia had asked her to listen to her friends, but there was so much Twilight wanted to say, so much she wanted to apologize for…
Twilight sighed. “Absolutely terrible, Fluttershy. I’ve killed Luna, everypony hates me, I’ve destroyed the very city I loved, and the Elements are shattered.” Tears began to spill unbidden from Twilight’s eyes as she continued to look at her friend, unwilling to break their link. “I’ve undone all the years of training and work that Princess Celestia put into me; I’ve put my parents to shame, I’ve destroyed our friendship, and I’ve even created mass unicorn hate.” Her voice slowly escalated in volume, seeming to grow more and more enraged with each word spoken. “And the worst part is that I’m not happy! I’m not glad that I did what I did! I didn’t celebrate when I killed Luna! I – “
Twilight’s throat choked, and she slowly breathed in and out for a moment, before continuing, her voice lowering. “I… I’m sad, because I wish that everypony would understand that I never wanted this to happen. I’m angry, because I did something terrible, and deserve every bit of punishment that’s given. And I’m frightened, because in the morning, I’ll be gone forever. And Fluttershy, I’m…” With this, she broke her friend’s gaze and looked towards the ground. “I’m sorry. Sorry for having you as a friend. Sorry for making you go through all of this. Sorry for forcing you to forgive me, when I do not deserve forgiveness!” At this last word, Twilight’s hoof rose up and struck hard against the floor, echoing out a single crack that seemed to bounce around the room for a second.
Twilight struggled to make another sound, but she couldn’t find the will. Her lips trembled, unwilling to move any further, unable to give her thoughts freedom. Shaking, Twilight looked up at her friend yet again, eyes still tearing, waiting for her judgment. She had meant what she had said. She didn’t deserve forgiveness, not from anypony. Not even from Fluttershy.
Slowly, the mare in front of her stood up. She walked over to Twilight, her gaze never faltering as she moved to within a hair’s breadth from her friend, their muzzles just barely touching. Twilight could feel her soft breathing, she could practically taste the sting on her cheek as she was struck with a backhoof, could feel her friend leave, dissatisfied and uncaring for how selfish her former friend had been…
Instead, she saw Fluttershy pick up a hoof and stroke her shoulder. She felt her friend’s breath quicken as tears began to form in the pegasus’ eyes. And she heard the mare in front of her say, with all of the care and tenderness of the Fluttershy of old, “There, there…”
Twilight simply leaned into her friend's shoulder, and cried, for how long she didn’t know. She drenched her friend in tears, and clung to her, unwilling to let the mare go. Her time with Princess Celestia had relieved her heart of a small burden, had removed from her soul a dark spot. But seeing her friend, Fluttershy, had reminded her of times gone by, and how she had destroyed those times forever. She was reminded of the time before that night, a time when Fluttershy wouldn’t have hesitated to smile at her…
After Twilight had released her tears, and her chest stopped heaving, Fluttershy lifted her friend’s head up with a hoof. “Twilight, let’s not talk about the past. It… hurts, to think about it. And nopony should hurt, not like this.”
Slowly, they began to talk not of what had happened in the past, before the explosion, or what awaited in the future. They talked only of the here and now.
Discord was nowhere to be found. At first ecstatic upon feeling the sheer power about to be released on the world, his glee had turned to despair when he looked upon the remains of Ponyville from outside of Fluttershy’s house. Slowly, the two of them, previously enjoying a nice cup of tea inside of the house, had walked outside and looked upon the hellfire that Twilight had created. Fluttershy herself had been spellbound, horrified and unable to pull herself away from what lay before her, but just on the edge of her hearing, she could hear Discord. His tone had been one of utter disbelief, as he slowly shook and whispered, “No. Not her. Not one of them. They’re not supposed to die. They can’t die. It didn’t happen… It couldn’t happen…” And then, in a flash, he had vanished, and nopony had yet to see him.
A veil of silence had fallen across the Crystal Empire. The great kingdom still commenced its day-to-day operations, and indeed, on the surface it appeared as if nothing was amiss. Deeper, however, there had been rumblings that reached even Fluttershy's ears. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, always joyful and in the public eye even in their day-to-day duties, had retreated into the Crystal Palace as soon as Twilight was first implicated in the explosion, and had not been seen since. Countless rumors flowed back and forth: Cadance and Shining had killed themselves, the duo were considering a rebellion, Celestia had ordered the two arrested for fear of reprisal, the two had turned their backs on Twilight, the two were even now marching on Canterlot with an army, prepared to rescue Twilight. Perhaps the grandest lie was that Cadance had used the Crystal Heart in some sort of spell, to try and rescue her beloved sister-in-law. Laughable as that scenario was, however, it had been made terrifying by the one fact that had stayed consistent in all of the stories, the one piece of information that seemed never to change: The Crystal Empire's legendary glow was slowly, but surely, fading.
What was most disturbing of all was the news of the creature that had been found inside of the blast zone, next to Twilight's library. The first few days of the cleanup, various ponies had claimed that they felt something... sinister lurking in the site. Many had been unwilling to even set hoof in that general area, so unsure were they of what exactly it was that gave them such fright. The general apprehension had continued until finally, one night, Fluttershy had decided to go out and see for herself. Her fear was overridden by a desire to help any creature that might be out there; perhaps some poor animal was only hurt, and simply wanted to be taken care of?
She had seen a lot, in the days after Luna's death. Ponies had died before her very eyes, even as she was giving care to them. Foals had come crying to her, asking her where their parents were, and she'd had to make them understand chance and the gamble of life, at an age where such things should not be understood. And she'd had to deal with the loss of so many of the ponies she had seen every day. She had grown seasoned, if only in experience and not in feelings, and she had expected to find a sight that would shock her but not shake her to the bone.
Walking through the partially-cleared debris, she had expected to find a hurt animal, or a savage one. She had expected to find a creature to care for.
She had never expected to find him, though.
Out of the ashes of Twilight's house had risen a ghoulish creature. Standing a little taller than a normal pony, and just as thick, the beast had appeared to be a demon of the night. Its scales grew out of a normal pattern, seeming to fall over each other as they overlapped, and a few even looked to be ingrown, cutting into the flesh underneath. Its claws were horribly curled into wicked, distorted shapes, and almost looked to be drawing blood from the way they grew. Serrated spines on its back promised death to any creature unlucky enough to fall on them, although they seemed to weight badly on its frame, causing it to sway a little as it moved. Its face, however, had been the most disturbing. On the left side, a scar ran from its mouth all the way past its eye, giving it a gruesome smile. On the right, most of the scales seemed to have been torn off, leaving the impression of a fractured mirror. Its eyes had been a dark, reptilian green, and seemed to bore into hers as it rose up.
Slowly, it had started to move towards Fluttershy, and she had found herself frozen in place. She couldn't even make a squeak, so terrified was she. As the creature had stopped in front of her, and towered over her, she could not help but continue to stare into those eyes. As it sniffed the air, seemingly testing whether she was alone, she could not help but flash back to her times in the town whose wreckage they both now stood in. As it stared at her, as if waiting for her to make the first move, she couldn't help but think back to the first time that she had met another scaled creature, a creature whose color resembled that of the beast that stood before her, mottled as it was. A creature who had lived with her dear friend Twilight. A creature whose name had been...
“Sp – Spike?”
It was then, that she noticed the fog of pain that seemed to exist in the creature's eyes. It was then, that she had noticed the way its body seemed to be proportionally distorted, almost as if all of the gruesome changes it exhibited had been forced upon it by a wild and uncontrollable force.
It was then, that the creature had spoken.
“Fluttershy...” Deep, rumbling, the monster had seemed to grow hoarse just speaking her name. The beast that used to be known as Spike had doubled over in pain, clutching at his throat as tears rose to his eyes. Fluttershy had moved forward entirely on instinct, attempting to cradle the baby dragon who now stood taller than she ever would.
“Oh, Spike... What happened to you? How?”
Slowly, he had opened his mouth and formed ragged words, seemingly in pain with every syllable. “Twilight... Luna... explosion... magic...” At this last word, Spike had groaned, letting out a sound so anguished Fluttershy had felt like weeping. She remembered this baby dragon as he had once been, happy and quirky, playful and helpful. She remembered all of the times she had seen him defy his nature, all of the times he had shown that he was more than just a nasty, scaled brute. But, clearer than any other memory, she recalled the day she had first met him, how happy and excited he had been to find a pony who wanted to know so much about him, who was willing to listen...
Eventually, she had found the strength to speak.
“Spike, let's get you somewhere with doctors, you shouldn't be out here...” She had begun. Perhaps, if they were able to get to Celestia, some of the damage could be reversed. Perhaps, there still was hope for him. Perhaps... “Maybe you can see Twilight again.”
It was then that Spike had surprised her. In one swift movement, scales cracking against each other as he moved, he had risen from his position and planted himself a small distance in front of her, keeping eye contact the whole time. At first, she had been shocked at this blatant refusal, but then had been stopped when she saw the tears in Spike's eyes, the shaking of his hands, the fear in his posture. Slowly, he had told her why he did not want to see Twilight. Slowly, she had understood.
Twilight cried softly, barely managing to form words through tears as she looked at the pegasus. “Oh, Spike... Spike, my number one assistant, my baby dragon, my brother.” Twilight began to openly sob, her words growing more incoherent with every sentence. “Fluttershy, I betrayed him, I hurt him. I've been a terrible friend, a terrible student, and now I'm torturing the dragon that was always there for me. I've failed, Fluttershy. You... you must hate me.”
Fluttershy simply shook her head and gently shushed Twilight. She waited for the unicorn to compose herself before speaking. “Nopony should be unhappy right before they... leave. You haven't been a terrible friend, Twilight. You haven't failed. I don't hate you. I... I forgive you.”
Twilight stared at the mare that had just spoken words she thought she would never hear. She simply couldn't believe what had happened in the last three hours. First Celestia, and now Fluttershy... “Why? Why... would you forgive me? Even Princess Celestia couldn't do that...”
In response, Fluttershy gently brushed Twilight off of her and stood up, slowly walking towards the door. She knocked, and a few seconds later, it swung open, waiting for her to step through. She looked over her shoulder, and for the first time, she saw pain in Fluttershy's eyes. She saw what her friend had experienced, how the decimation had affected her, how Twilight's betrayal had destroyed her. She even thought she saw where Fluttershy herself had been crying, although she could have sworn the mare had never given any indication of it when she was talking to her. Her voice had maintained its gentle tone the whole time.
Fluttershy only spoke three words.
“Because Spike did.”
Pinkie's entrance was as brief as it was powerful.
She came in with a scroll rolled up in her mouth, looking as if the world itself had fallen on her shoulders. Her eyes were absent of the life they had always held. Her mane and tail hung straight, and seemed to give her almost a mourning veil. Her gait was not the happy prance that Twilight had always seen, full of life and always willing to have fun. It was that of a pony who had given up, who had been broken. It was the walk of a pony who had been betrayed. Twilight remembered the only other time she had seen Pinkie this way, the day they had decided to throw her a party. Then, they had had hope, to bring her back from the brink. Now, Twilight doubted that the Pinkie she knew was anything but a dead memory.
Perhaps, though, there was still a chance. She had not expected Princess Celestia, or even Fluttershy for that matter, to be as gentle and forgiving as they had been... Perhaps there was still a chance that she could make things right between them. She had expected to depart from this world hated by all; although she couldn't ask them to agree with her, perhaps she could ask them to relieve themselves of the burden of emotions locked away. It was the least she could do, after everything that had happened.
Pinkie sat down, and for the longest time, the two mares simply stared at each other. Twilight wondered if the former party pony would ever say anything, if she truly had any hope of getting through to her friend. Already, Pinkie had been quiet for far longer than Twilight had ever seen before. Had she really destroyed her friend that much, that her personality, the very core of her being, had been altered? Had she really robbed Pinkie... of her happiness?
As if in answer, Pinkie simply dropped the scroll from her mouth and unfurled it with a hoof. Twilight was tempted to look, to see what exactly it was that Pinkie had brought in with her, but was unable to drop her gaze from that of the mare.
Their eyes stayed locked, until slowly, Pinkie looked down at the paper at her hooves, as if she was seeing it for the first time. For a few seconds, she simply stared at it blankly, her eyes unblinking, appearing for all the world like a forlorn statue.
Then, softly, solemnly, she began to sing.
Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile,
yes I do.
It fills my heart with sunshine all the while,
yes it does.
Cause all I really need's a smile, smile, smile,
from these h-happy f-friends of... mine...
Pinkie's voice broke and faded at the end, as if she was unwilling to continue, as if her very words were causing her to fall into despair. Her tears began to fall and wet the paper, smudging it in places. Twilight noticed that she was stroking the scroll, almost as if it was a loved one, long lost and unable to return. She didn't want to intrude, she didn't dare break in upon whatever her friend was experiencing... but she had to know what could cause such pain. She had to know what was written, that her joyous friend would shed tears over.
Slowly, Twilight moved forward, until she could see fully what was written on the scroll.
She gasped, and fell back, hooves shaking. Grief stabbed at her heart, and her mind was filled with memories of all the time she had spent in Ponyville. Her stomach churned, and despite her promise to Celestia, she only wished for this night to be over.
On the paper, all of the crimes she had committed were written.
On the paper, was a reminder of all that she had betrayed.
On the paper, written in careful detail and precise hoofwriting, so that not a single word was mistaken and not a single bit of space was missed, were written three thousand, five hundred and fifty names.
Applejack and Rarity came in together, and together, they gave Twilight what she had always expected.
Applejack looked, for the most part, unchanged. Her coat was the same orange, solid and unmarred by any blemishes. Her tail and mane looked washed and at least normal, maintaining their normal, casual positioning. The only thing noticeably changed about her was the absence of her hat, which now was nowhere to be found. Twilight supposed it had been put away in mourning.
Rarity, on the other hoof, looked for all the world as if she had completely disavowed the dedication to elegance that she had once had. Every inch of her coat looked dull and tarnished, showing that she had not washed for perhaps days. Her mane was disheveled at best, haphazard at worst, with tangles and strands freely sticking out, resulting in a near-total distortion of what her mane had once looked like. Her face was severely marred by stains running down from her eyes, clear trails indicating tears that had been shed. Twilight felt a pang of guilt surge through her chest; she had taken the livelihood of her dear friend, but what else had she taken, that would cause Rarity to spiral like this?
They came in, supporting one another, and looked at Twilight. For a moment, she wondered what the last two of her former friends would have to say. As brief or as long as they had been, each visit from the previous ponies had changed her, had lifted her up and brought her down. Each visit had torn her apart, or helped to put her back together. She was unsure how much that counted, in the hours before her death, but perhaps she could take some small comfort in this series of happenings. More than anything, she wanted to follow Celestia's last assignment: listen to her friends. She was determined to see this last mission through to the end, determined to understand and deal with whatever the two ponies in front of her had to say.
But no amount of determination, no amount of sorry will, no amount of understanding could prepare her for what happened next.
Applejack slowly removed herself from Rarity's grasp and moved forward, her eyes never leaving Twilight's. She approached the unicorn, never blinking, never once wavering. She stopped scant inches in front of Twilight, her face unreadable.
She raised her hoof, and in one quick motion, brought it down upon Twilight's cheek.
The unicorn's mind and senses went numb as she stumbled to the side, reeling from the blow. Celestia had said that some of the things her friends might have to say would hurt; was this what she had meant?
In response, she felt another hoof impact her side, sending her onto the ground this time. The blow came from Rarity, who now stood alongside Applejack, their eyes full of hatred. Twilight could almost feel their emotions burning into her, their anger, their sorrow, their fear all manifesting in unspeakable wells that somehow reached through their eyes. For a moment, the two simply stood over her, unmoving yet again. Then, Applejack spoke.
“Why, Twilight?” The words that everypony else had seemed to be asking this night, the words that even Twilight herself was unsure how to answer, now took on a whole different life in the mare's voice. Gone was the logic of the question, asking for an explanation, or demanding an answer. Gone was any potential pity, to be reserved for the answer alone. Gone was the friendly tone of the Applejack she had known, and in its place was the voice of somepony who had lost what was most important to them: family.
Raising her hoof again, Applejack dealt another blow to Twilight's stomach, and this time, held her posture, limb outstretched. She leaned down, and brought her face close to Twilight's while still staring directly at her. “Why, Twilight? Why, why, why mah sister? She never did nothin' to you, she never hurt you, all she ever wanted was ta' get her cutie mark! And you took that away from her... you took mah sister away from me.”
Twilight gasped as she opened her eyes, focusing on the earth pony that she used to consider her friend. Tears were beginning to lens the hatred and despair she found there. “ Applejack, I'm... I'm sorry....”
“Sorry?” Applejack seemed almost amazed by Twilight's words. “Y'all ain't sorry, not after what you've done. Sorry is lettin' the chickens out and needing to go round 'em up. Sorry is causin' an accident and hurtin' somepony. Sorry is accidentally insultin' one of your friends.”
She brought one of her forelegs forward and began to ram it into Twilight's chest with every word.
“Sorry”
punch
“is”
punch
“not”
punch
“killin'”
punch
“mah'”
punch
“sister.”
With each impact, a little more of Twilight's hope died. With each word, a bit more of the despair she'd had coming into this cell came back.
Applejack's face had now lost all traces of composure. Tears ran freely down her cheeks, and her lower lip trembled as she spoke. “Ah' loved her, Twilight... she was more than a filly, more than a helping hand... she was mah' sister. Ah was supposed to watch out for her, after our parents passed away... Ah was supposed to see her get her cutie mark, see her finish school, see her have her first date, see her get married... and now, ah can't do any of that...”
Applejacks face melted into a cold, hard fury. “You've stolen the one filly that was like a daughter tah' me, Twilight. Ah can't kill ya, that wouldn't be right... but Ah'll never forgive ya.”
With that, the orange mare removed herself from the unicorn, and shuffled to the edge of the cell. She nodded to Rarity.
The white unicorn slowly approached Twilight. Her face remained set in a rictus of sorrow, the grief clearly etched into her every feature. Her eyes seemed to stare past Twilight, into a space beyond the cell. They remained fixed forward, as she began to speak, with a tone that could have frozen a dragon.
“My dear Sweetie Belle...” Her words were concise and full, keeping in perfect measure and perfect monotone. “I'll never see her live her life, I'll never get to see her off, I'll never get to hear her sing...” Rarity's eyes focused on Twilight. “She always sang around the house, you know. I... I never could convince her to show it to anypony else, she was always so scared, so shy... and she was always convinced that her special talent was something else, no matter how many times I told her to just try and show her voice. Oh, my dear Sweetie...”
Rarity's eyes spoke volumes as she continued. “I... I should have been there for her, at the end. I shouldn't have left the Boutique. I shouldn't have let her spend the day Crusading. I should have...”
Her voice seemed to waver, for a second. It seemed as if the air itself would split, so sharp and clear her speech was, so close to the knife's edge.
“I should have died before her.”
It was then, that Rarity was lost to Twilight forever. Her eyes lost any indication of kindness, any indication of warmth, any indication of a pony named Rarity. Her muscles visibly relaxed, as if she no longer cared, as if she had prepared for just this moment. Her voice became a sharp blade, cutting through any possible defenses.
She looked down upon Twilight, and the purple unicorn did not recognize the pony that stood in front of her. Gone was the Element of Generosity, ever-graceful and concerned with other ponies. Gone was the fashionista who adored making dresses but adored making her friends happy even more. Gone was that Rarity she had known in all of her years in Ponyville.
In her place was simply a unicorn who wanted one thing:
Vengeance.
“I may have outlived her... but I will make this right.”
Slowly, she raised her hoof up, and it was obvious what was going to happen. A pony's body could only take so much force, before it broke. Down her hoof would come, crashing into Twilight's skull and ending her life once and for all. Down would come all of the hatred and bitterness of a mare who had lost her life, and her family. Down would come Twilight's judgment.
The world seemed to slow down for Twilight. Her breath caught in her throat, and she watched as her friend prepared to end her life. In a way, she welcomed it. After all she had done, she'd gotten more than she ever deserved from Celestia and Fluttershy. And now, she would get exactly what she deserved from the mare she had known as Rarity.
At least she had listened to her friends...
Suddenly, the door to her cell swung open, and two guards came in. Rarity's eyes went wide, as she was seized in magic and lifted from the room, limbs frozen in place. One of the guards glared at the unicorn as she was moved out, before motioning to Applejack. Slowly, the mare also walked out, giving Twilight a final kick before leaving. The guard stared down at Twilight for a moment, his expression seeming to indicate a thought process wavering between spitting on her and helping her, before he too turned around and walked out, closing and locking the door behind him.
Twilight slowly got to her hooves, and stared at the door, uncaring of how her body hurt from the last kick, or that the last of her friends had now gone away forever.
Applejack had turned her back on her.
Rarity had... had been willing to kill her.
Twilight collapsed onto her stomach, uncaring of the pain, and cried herself to sleep.
Twilight awoke some time later, her body sore and her mind aching from the crying she had gone to sleep with. She looked around, and wondered what time it was. The sky was a featureless gray, so it had to be early in the morning. That meant that her execution would be happening soon. She sighed, and raised herself up, before turning around to try and stretch. When she turned, however, what she saw nearly caused her to drop back to the ground.
There, hovering in front of her, wings flapping easily, was Rainbow Dash. The pegasus looked as if nothing at all had happened in the last few days; her coat was a solid color, her mane was its usual, casual self, and even her eyes held no trace of despair, pity, or hatred. All they held was the inner mirth Rainbow had always been known for, the only pony they spoke for was the prankster that loved a good joke as much as anything else.
Twilight could only stare, mouth agape.
Rainbow chuckled. “Hey, egghead, watch out, you're gonna catch flies in there, ya' know.” She said, as she fluttered closer to Twilight. “I mean, come on, you're a dork, but you're not that much of a dork.”
With a light thump, the mare landed on the ground and trotted over to Twilight. She wrapped a hoof around the unicorn, and practically shouted in a jovial tone, “How you doin', Twi?”
For a moment, there seemed something off about the mare. For a moment, Twilight felt as if something was not right. But then, her mind seemed to be overwhelmed, and she finally decided that what she was seeing in front of her was real, as real as anything, or anypony, ever had been. Springing to her hooves, she threw herself around Rainbow Dash, heart practically bursting from the joy she felt at seeing her friend. “Rainbow Dash! Oh, I'm so happy you're here! I can't believe you came! How did you get past all of the guards?”
Rainbow Dash just gave her a brash grin. “Hey, Twi, I thought you were supposed to be the egghead for all this stuff, remember? Pony of Loyalty, Wonderbolt-in-training, performer of multiple Sonic Rainbooms, any of that ring a bell? You really gotta keep up with this.”
Twilight could only shake her head in disbelief. Even after all she'd done, Rainbow had somehow managed to stay her friend. Even after all she'd experienced, nothing had prepared her for this. Could Rainbow have really forgiven her that easily? Just as with her previous friends, she had to know... “You mean, even after all that I've done, you don't hate me?”
Now, Rainbow's expression seemed to melt a little bit. “Twi...” She said slowly, their eyes locking. “I can't hate you. You've gone through enough, and you're still my friend, no matter what happens. Loyal to a fault, remember?” She chuckled, while she brushed Twilight's cheek with a hoof. The intimate action, normally something that would have been very uncomfortable for Twilight, became her lifeline, her assurance that what she was hearing was real, as she continued to let the pegasus speak.
“I... I know what you did, Twilight. Yeah, you hurt a lot of ponies, but we both know what you did it for. Who you did it for. I can't blame you for that, Twilight. I can't hate you because you tried to defend somepony. Ah heck, I can't even stop liking you. Twilight, I don't care what happens today; you'll always be a friend in my book.”
Tears had begun to form in Twilight's eyes, and now, they spilled over. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, her mind simply couldn't understand it. First, Celestia and Fluttershy had come in, giving her more comfort and kindess than she had ever expected or deserved. Then, Pinkie Pie had come in, and reminded her of all the things she'd done, all of the ponies she'd taken away from this world. Finally, Rarity and Applejack had come in, to take vengeance for the family that she had taken from both of them. The former had been willing to commit murder, the latter had been willing to watch. It had shown her how truly deep she had cut, how much devastation she had caused.
And then Rainbow had come in, and offered her forgiveness, and friendship.
Slowly, Twilight reached out and hugged her friend. She blubbered helplessly for a few seconds, her mind unable to provide words for the happiness she felt. Finally, she managed to push out a few, weak words. “Oh, Rainbow Dash... thank you, thank you for forgiving me... thank you for being my friend, Rainbow. Thank you for staying loyal.”
She could feel Rainbow Dash laugh and pat her on the back. “Hey, Twi, I'm here for you, got it? I mean, come on; Rarity tried to kill you for Celestia's sake. I don't think anypony else should abandon you.”
Twilight felt her heart grow cold. A moment earlier, she'd had hope. She had been thinking of what she could possibly say to Rainbow Dash; after all, forgiving and loyal as her friend could be, she still owed the mare some sort of an apology. She had been thinking of how she could make it up to Rainbow. She had been thinking of a multitude of ways in which she could show her friend how much she truly cared about her, so that when she left, there was no possibility of Rainbow Dash, seemingly immune to the harm Twilight had brought to this world, feeling bitter afterward. But now, she wondered only one thing.
How had Rainbow Dash known what the others had done?
She asked as much, and Rainbow Dash merely shrugged. “I got a way of knowing these things?”
Her answer didn't make any sense. Twilight felt her suspicion grow. Something was off about Rainbow, and the more Twilight thought about it, the more disturbing it got. She looked at her friend closer, as she pulled away and sat down. The mare's response had been enough to dispel any potential trust for the time being, as she studied her friend closely. She couldn't help but feel as if there was a veil around her mind, obscuring some things that should be perfectly obvious. Could it be one of Discord's tricks, Chrysalis' changelings?
Twilight studied Rainbow closely. Her mane was the exact same coloring as ever, just as her tail and coat were. Her cutie mark was perfectly positioned and colored, not even a little out of place. Even her eyes seemed to be the same size and hue. So what was it that so disturbed Twilight about her?
Then, she noticed it, as her eyes were roaming across the mare's chest. A gleam of light, barely there but noticeable nonetheless.
She tried to focus on it, and that was when Rainbow started to deviate.
“Hey, Twi... What are you looking at me like that for?”
Ignoring her friend, Twilight stared more intently. Whatever that had been, it was no trick of the light. Slowly, more shimmering and gleaming bits became noticeable. Slowly, they started to gain structure.
On the edge of her consciousness, Twilight heard Rainbow Dash's voice growing more urgent. “Hey Twilight, you uh... you wanna stop staring at me? Please? It's making me kinda nervous, and...”
Twilight leaned forwards. There was most definitely an object there, right on Rainbow Dash's chest, gaining substance with each and every second.
She didn't notice the color begin to fade from the room.
“Twilight, stop? Please? I'm your friend, remember? Can't you trust me?”
It looked like a necklace, the more and more it revealed itself. It seemed to wrap around Rainbow's form, and slowly, it began to take on color.
“Okay, Twilight, please, stop, right now. This is totally not cool."
It began to gain color, and it was immediately apparent that what was visible was not solid gold, as it might first appear. There were tarnishes, and splotches, patches where the object looked to be charred. Like it had been burned.
“Twi... please, you're... hurting me...”
Twilight didn't notice the blackness begin to overtake Rainbow's hooves.
The main body of the object was now coming into focus, but it was so dark and blurred that it was a complete mystery what it actually was. Twilight focused more and more, her eyes narrowing a little bit each second.
“Twilight, no... aghh... it hurts, Twilight.... why are you doing this to me?”
Twilight couldn't hear anything anymore, so concentrated was she on the object that was appearing around Rainbow Dash's neck and down her chest. She focused a little more... just a bit more concentration, she could almost see it fully...
As if a light switch had been flipped, the object snapped into focus, gaining full definition in the blink of an eye.
Twilight jumped back, as she felt the veil torn from her mind in an instant. The veil that had addled her thoughts. The veil that had blemished her memories.
There, in front of her, resting on Rainbow Dash's heaving chest, was the Element of Harmony. Fractured.
It was almost terrible in its destroyed beauty. The cloud-like golden clasps on either side were charred and damaged, and even partly torn off in some places. The holder for the lightning-shaped gem had been grossly warped and distorted, resulting in a twisted and malformed thread that seemed to choke the lightning bolt. And in the center, glowing with a dim red light, was the Element. Its light seemed to writhe in and out of the air around Twilight, and was made even more disturbing by its lower edge, which had been completely shattered and seemed to almost drip light, as if the magic contained inside was trying to take a form it could no longer follow.
Twilight had seen the Element like this before. The night that Luna had died.
“Twilight... help... ”
Broken out of her reverie, Twilight looked up at her friend, unsure of what to expect. She was terrified at what she saw.
Rainbow Dash was dead. Her flesh was burned and black, the fur blasted away, leaving charred flesh underneath. Her right eye was completely burned out of its socket, allowing Twilight to stare into the depths of the pegasus' skull. Some of the flesh had sloughed off of her face, resulting in a grim spectacle of muscle and bone hideously looking back at her.
And yet, Rainbow Dash was alive. Her left eye, blackened and destroyed as it was, still stared straight at Twilight, as if it knew she was right there. Her body stood tall, even as it broke down before Twilight's eyes. Her jaw and neck muscles worked, providing a terrible demonstration of the mechanics of speech as the pegasus tried to make words.
Slowly, Rainbow Dash took one step towards her.
It took another.
Twilight was unable to move, her mind was frozen in fear even as her body tensed and screamed that she had to get out of here. Was this some sort of trick? Had Discord infiltrated her dreams? Had the Nightmare Forces returned to her body for good?
Rainbow took a third step, and reached out for her.
“Twilight...” Was all that she had time to say before she vanished.
With a thunderous roar, just like the one that had come from Luna's body the night that she had died, Rainbow Dash was blown away. Her hoof never reached Twilight as her body disintegrated before the unicorn, flaking off and being sucked away like so much ash in a strong breeze. Twilight watched, stricken, as her friend vanished before her very eyes.
Then, she looked around, and realized where she was.
The town of Ponyville lay around her, and burned. Wood was aflame as stone from the houses simmered with heat, all of the pieces unidentifiable after having been blasted away by Luna's violent death. Cracks of molten earth appeared like wicked runes carved into the ground, glowing and pulsing as they flowed and seeped into any dip in the land. Here and there, a few structures that had somehow managed to remain standing slowly sagged to the side, guaranteeing their eventual collapse as they were subjected to the intense heat. The sky itself appeared to be on fire, as it was slowly tinged with a deep red smoke. As if in counterpoint to the destruction, everything was absolutely, deathly silent.
Twilight looked at the devastation all around her. This was what Ponyville had looked like after the blast. This was what her actions had wrought... it was almost too much to bear. This must surely be a nightmare, for what other purpose would her mind have to take her back here?
Then, she noticed the glowing.
The area around her was tinged with a deep, pulsing red, rising and fading as steadily as the slow beat of a heart. It was coming from the direction she had been facing. Where Rainbow Dash had blown away.
Slowly, Twilight turned around. There, hovering exactly where it had been when it rested on her chest, was Rainbow Dash's Element, damaged just as before. It had blown away with Rainbow Dash previously, and Twilight had assumed it to be just part of the illusion. Now, however, she felt as if the Element in front of her was more powerful that a mere nightmare, or a trickster's illusion. It felt as if it wanted something... or to show her something.
As if on cue, the Element rotated in place and began to drift forward, away from Twilight. It moved into a street intersection, and turned to the right, beginning to float forward a bit before stopping in place and staying there. For a minute, Twilight did nothing, and considered simply trotting away. After all, this could be nothing more than some sort of morbid prank pulled by Discord, or a trap set by her own inner demons. But still, if this was some sort of twisted trick, designed to bring her down to the pits of sorrow, why wasn't she being flashed with images of death and despair? Rainbow Dash had been devastating enough to see, destroyed as she was. It made no sense for a anypony to go through all the trouble of creating this illusion for her, only to have it remain comparatively calm. Twilight sighed, a little voice in the back of her head saying she was going to regret this. She took a step forward.
The Element moved forward, as well.
That was it, then. It wanted her to follow it, and follow it she would. She trotted forward at an easy pace, taking care to always keep her eyes on where the broken gem in front of her was heading. Perfectly in sync, they began to progress through Ponyville, bit by bit, passing burning piles of wood and stone as they moved deeper into the small town. As they passed by the wreckage, Twilight's mind was filled with horribly sweet memories of the time before that night. Somehow, despite having never seen Ponyville in such a state, she was able to recognize streets, foundations and small side walls that had not been completely knocked down. She could almost hear the voices of various ponies as she walked, could almost see them as they talked, laughed and danced. She could almost see them, going about their daily lives before the night that had turned them all to ash.
And then, she realized that she couldn't almost hear them. She couldn't almost see them.
They were there.
As she trotted, continuing to follow the Element, she watched dumbfounded as spectral silhouettes of ponies appeared in the red glow of the gem. They chatted and smiled, laughing and moving from invisible carts or stands to other places, and faded away as they left the light that was revealing them. They were almost completely translucent, appearing only as faint red outlines with small darkened splotches indicating differently-toned sections of their coats or manes. Twilight watched in amazement as the ponies she had obliterated were momentarily brought back to life before her eyes, ponies that she had thought lost forever.
What kind of power was capable of this? Was she dreaming, was this a trick, or was it something... more?
She continued to move on, watching Ponyville come alive in front of and around her even as it died behind her. She followed the Element down small pathways that had formerly been side streets and across largely destroyed roads. All the while, no matter how convoluted their path became to avoid wreckage, she felt as if she was getting close to something important, something waiting for her.
She was right. After a bit more travel, the Element seemed to slow a little, allowing her to gain some ground upon the floating object. Then, without any warning or indication, it stopped, still pulsing and still maintaining its same orientation.
Twilight looked around at the area they were in. It appeared to be one of the main streets branching off of Ponyville's center, allowing a clear view all the way to where Luna had died. As they had gotten closer and closer to this point, the ponies around her had slowly begun to appear less and less frequently, until they had vanished altogether right before reaching this part of town. Now, Twilight partly wished that they had stayed around. At least it would have given some sign of life to the scenery around her.
Suddenly, the Element whipped around to face her, its pulse becoming more rapid as the glow that emanated from it grew brighter and brighter. Before long, Twilight had to shield her eyes, as its light became blinding and began to bathe the entire area. She began to hear something, as well... a small voice, unnoticeable at first until it seemed to grow louder, a voice that seemed to be strangely crackling and buzzing. As if it was coming from the Element itself.
Slowly, without knowing why she was doing it, Twilight forced herself to look at the raging inferno in front of her. As she looked upon it, the voice became clearer and clearer by the second, taking on a quality that seemed very familiar. To her surprise, the light of the beacon in front of her collected itself and began to shrink and lower, becoming almost fluid-like as it bent, flowed and compressed. For a moment, it looked for all the world like a massive, floating sphere of glowing red water. Then, its bottom part began to twist and flow downwards even more than the rest of the light, as if it was reaching towards some central point. As the light began to dim, Twilight was able to see a small shape lying on the ground, the 'point' to which the light was flowing. As it twisted and turned, flying above her head in an incomprehensible spiral, she could see the object more clearly. Almost without knowing she was doing it, she began to move closer.
The voice was becoming almost crystalline now, ringing with sharp melodies and tones in an incomprehensible sequence. It was murky at first, but by the second she could feel it becoming clearer and clearer...
The light was almost gone now, only a small pool left as it flowed at an increasing rate. Twilight moved as close as she could to what she could now see was a pony, a pegasus. As she looked up briefly, she noticed that there was no longer any trace of the Element, as if it had been immolated in the very light it was generating. The glow itself, she could now see, was moving closer and closer to the chest of the pony in front of her, before twisting and vanishing into the black body. The body seemed to be gaining more and more definition, and she could now see that there was most definitely something familiar about its cutie mark...
The voice now was clearly speaking in clear language, but it was still difficult to make out. Twilight strained her ears just as she strained her eyes, watching as the last of the light made its way into the pony's chest. And then, just as the last flicker vanished, she was able to understand what was being spoken. What seemed to be coming from the light itself.
Twilight
It was Rainbow Dash's voice, clear and controlled, sad and powerful at the same time. Twilight gasped, as she saw the pony in front of her come fully into view. Its mane and tail were completely burned off, and every bit of its flesh was blackened. The feathers of its wings were completely gone, leaving behind what looked like burned, fleshy extensions protruding from its back.
It was Rainbow Dash, just as Twilight had seen her before. Something was off, though. Something was wrong with her body.
Slowly, Twilight took tentative steps forward, moving closer and closer. She could see the same red glow from earlier, pulsing from the front of the damaged Element. It almost caused her to stop and cry, seeing that precious crystal, one of the six that had originally united her and her friends, broken. As powerful as each Element was, alone they could still be destroyed. Alone, they could still be overwhelmed and tossed aside. Alone, they could still die.
She was getting closer. Something about the pegasus' body was most definitely off. She was hunched around a small package, what remained of her wings folded out and over whatever it was she held in her hooves. A word struck Twilight, as she looked upon the scene, moving closer and closer. The position almost seemed... motherly, as if Rainbow had been protecting something to the very end.
She moved even closer. She could see now, what it was that her friend held in her hooves. The body that had been charred and burned just as much as the elder mare's, that had been cooked such that their skin melted together and formed a grim parody of bonding. The little body she cradled.
Tears began to roll down Twilight's face, as she looked upon the Element of Loyalty in her final moments.
Slowly, the world around Twilight began to vibrate, at first only slightly, but then building. The sky grew brighter and brighter, as the ground began to shake violently, almost throwing her off of her hooves. Cracks appeared in the earth and spread, growing into rifts and splinters of ground that fell down into a black, growing abyss. A roaring came, as Ponyville to the left and right of her fell away starting from the horizon. Wreckage was swallowed up by the inky blackness that claimed anything falling into its depths, and overhead the sky itself was turned a blinding, monotone white.
Twilight stayed, unmoving and uncaring, as the world collapsed around her. She stayed, resolute, as everything around her simply vanished. Even when she stood upon a lone tower of rock, the only other object being the bodies in front of her, she stayed staring straight at the two ponies who would forever be locked in each other's embrace. Even as she fell, she continued to stare at the spot from whence she fell, tears continuing their path down her face. Even as she was swallowed into the blackness below, she saw, in her mind's eye, what Rainbow Dash had stayed to do, even at the very end. She saw Rainbow Dash protecting the little filly who had looked up to her all her life, who relied on her for guidance, who had been like a sister to her.
She saw Scootaloo, safe in Rainbow Dash's hooves until the very end. She saw Rainbow Dash, her head turned down to look at the little filly, her mouth open in a final word of comfort, a final promise that everything would be all right.
Then, she saw nothing, as oblivion took her.
Twilight awoke gasping and sputtering, her entire body sweating as she vividly relived all that she had just seen. She felt sick to the pit of her stomach as she recalled Scootaloo, curled in Rainbow Dash's hooves, looking up at the mare she considered a sister.
Had it been a dream? It seemed so, filled as it had been with terrible, nightmarish images and disruptions of reality. But at the same time, during the entire ordeal she had felt something... powerful, lurking behind the scenes. No mere dream, no matter how detailed, could replicate that feeling of innate magic, that feeling of absolute power. Even now, she felt traces of it lingering in her mind, as if she had just had a particularly powerful spell cast upon her and was still trying to deduce its effects.
Compounding her confusion was a sense that everything was alright, that she was at peace. Or, more appropriately, that somepony else was at peace. She couldn't help but remember Rainbow Dash's words to her, earlier:
I can't hate you. You've gone through enough...
Could Rainbow Dash really have reached out to her from the grave? Could the power of her Element have been that potent, that in-tune with her, that it had transcended death itself in a final moment of... loyalty?
Twilight's thoughts were cut off abruptly as she heard her cell door being unlocked. She watched as two guards came in and motioned for her to move out of her cell. She heard them speak, as they informed her of what was to come.
It was time for her execution.
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Damn that was intense.
And don't feel bad about being "late" it was just a few weeks. I've read stories that have left me on a cliffhanger for months.
This is Tragedy and I bow to you
Again, something about this entire thing is just...off.
Celestia seems to know what's going on and doesn't blame Twilight for what happened, but she doesn't care anymore and just wants to watch somepony die. Applejack and Rarity are horrible ponies now, and random ponies seem to be completely fucking despicable.
The answer to what the hell happened better be good.
a dark, aid story it is. though I do not get why hanging would even exist for an equine. its kinda awkward I would think, since four legged.
when will you have the sad, sad conclusion to all of this madness?
I feel sick to my stomach after reading this.
I felt some feels
Man... Twilight why did you do this? Who were you trying to save? Ugh...I cannot wait for the conclusion, but I got the feeling it is going to end bittersweet and I am going to love to hate it...
By the virtue of this story taking place Twilight's point of view, we know how bad she feels. We know she had some sort of mission to complete and we know she is truly sorry for the death she caused.
However there's nothing to suggest the others do.
Rarity and Applejack did nothing wrong all their lives until the ones they loved the most were killed by one of their closest friends. They didn't have the virtue of knowing why or the comfort of the the fact that Twilight's actions seemingly (and this is just my interpretation from what the story has presented thus far) had to be done. To them it was just a senseless act of destruction, that ruined their homes, killed their sisters, one of their friends and made a monster out of another.
In short, I personally don't begrudge them for their actions here. I don't think they can be classed as horrible or evil considering the circumstances. No matter how twisted their plan of killing Twilight was, can you really say they are in their right frame of mind? And no matter how sorry she is, or how vital the mission could have been, Twilight has killed thousands.
My God I fucking love this story.
I think I'm going to go and try not to cry while taking a shower now....
4013130
In your story everyone mourned Twilights death, in this one they are screaming for it
4013332
Yeah, but Twilight is the tragic figure in all this. It's the story of a hero, falling into becoming, in the eyes of society, a villain.
4013149 Wait, what contest? When I wrote this, I just had an idea. I can assure you I was not aware of any contest.
4013141 I am afraid I can't make any promises, but whatever I decide to do, I promise I'll try.
4013186 Hopefully, it will be out either next week by Wednesday or the week afterward.
Rainbow said that Twilight defended someone. What happened?
Part of me wants to see Twilight live and the other half wants Twilight to get hung.
Keep up the good work.
4013130 No, dear sir, I bow to you.
i think twilight
you have two more people to talk to discord and luna.
4013375
This actually inspired me for an idea, but I put it up in my adoption list on my blogs. If your interested in seeing click here. It's number five
4013290 I'm very glad you like it!
4013141
It feels really off to me because after the conversation with Fluttershy about how she feels. It almost feels like Twilight woke up one morning and said, "Well Luna's coming over. I wonder if I can kill her? Eh, let's do it!" My problem is that the Twilight who's in the cell feeling guilty does not feel like the same character as the one who would be willing to kill Luna in the first place.
4013374 Only time will tell what truly happened on that fateful night...
4013390 Very nice, I'm really happy that that inspired you! Hopefully someone that's good will adopt that (that might have been the path this story would have taken, but I didn't feel I could write that convincingly.)
4013412
Awesome. Free free to adopt yourself or any other ideas of mine if you wish.
4013325 I hope that those are not regretful tears, at least.
4013287 While I may be writing a story to get to people's emotions, I don't want to write a tear-jerker for the sake of a tear-jerker. A bitter-sweet ending with a powerful resolution is a bit of what I'm playing for.
4013235 Well, I am glad I impacted you in some way, dear sir.
4013089 Glad you liked it, I know that some stories make it worth the wait and that two weeks isn't a long time but I still like to be on some sort of steady time schedule. Being off-time slightly bugs me.
My guess as to her actions was some kind of dark force, I'd say darker than Nightmare Moon like pure evil dark, managed to possess her for a brief moment and made her kill Luna and cause the destruction that took the lives of thousands upon thousands of ponies.
Though if I were in her place I'd accept death too for that, even if it wasn't me in control.
4013141
How do you mean?
If there is in fact a group breaking twilight free, i ask that you use my oc as one of the helpers in her freedom. if you have no problem in helping me get my story out there. that and breaking someone out of jail or execution is something my oc would do.
What kind of spell was that, anyways? Was it some kind of… Citywide Transmutation Circle? It definitely had to have used more power than Twilight had… she couldn't have stood a chance against Luna, not before her alicorn transformation… She had to have used the energy of all those around her in order to create the weapon necessary to kill Princess Luna. She used them, and made a Philosopher's Stone of sorts… and it was designed to kill Luna… It wasn't made on the spot, not even a mind like Twilight's would've even conceived such a spell within the wee hours of morning. This was a pre-meditated weapon. She fully intended to use this spell on Luna, at least MONTHS prior to current events in order to design, test, and perfect it. The only question remaining is… why? What would have warranted the design of, let alone activation, of such a spell? A weapon designed to kill a creature whose power is borderline godly in nature… This warrants further research!
Something happened that dark night, something that was meant to be unknown.
The mystery of what happened has been rattling in my mind all night, let's hope it's as tragic as the story implies.
4013961 I assure you, dear sir, I'll try as hard as I can to make it tragic!
4013799 I would be happy to use people's OC's, if I felt the need for it, however I can tell you this right now: There will be no breakout scene. Or any escape attempt.
4013674 I may explain that some time in the future, but for now, it seems like all Twilight has to look forward to is her death
4013586 I will reveal no secrets!
Your story continues to baffle me. I love it.
3860191 Thank you very much!
3860253 I do not know, at this point, if I will do a sequel explaining what happened. I like explaining what happened, but I also have other ideas, so whether a sequel will come or not, I do not know. It is a possibility, though. However,as to why twilight killed Luna, like I said, I have a plan, and it may take the form of an extra chapter/ extra mention somewhere. I am uncertain at this point.
3861251 Well, I am trying to keep everything at least rational. Yes, the hanging is the climax/end of the story, but there is auxiliary stuff for those who want it. However, sadly, that's not the main goal of this story, to explore her reasons. Sorry if you don't want to read it!
3860472 I may do a prequel, I may do... other things. It is uncertain at this point.
3861351 Why thank you, and I completely understand if you can't read it because of emotional issues with the story itself. I know that these kinds of stories are not for everybody, I don't expect that every single person will love this story and would not be critical/preferential of the story. That would be boring.
4014129 And I continue to be baffled by the praise that people give it. Thank you.
4013186 - I think they are hanging Twilight because if it goes right, its a very quick and humane (ponyane, equane?) way of execution. Despite Twilight's horrific crime, Celestia would not allow one of her subjects to suffer something horrific like being burned at the stake or torture.
Friends have degrees of patience that must never be tested.
Regardless, some are capable of seeing past this.
Something's about to happen.
Perhaps the darkness lingers still...?
Awaiting further releases.
I love your writing style so, so much.
Powerful, with the right amount of beauty, and a master's touch.
I fear for my own well-being and sanity should I choose to read your next installment of this story. It's ok though; I'll have tissues at the ready.
I Tend to find that there are few stores I feel a deep emotional attachment to. However all the ones where that attatchment is created have one thing in common. Superb writing, excellent plot and perfect emotional torment for the reader.
Brought me to tears - amazing chapter, most eagerly awaiting the next one.
4014623 I'm so glad you like it! Thanks for the compliments, hopefully the next installment will be not too long in coming.