Pressures of a Princess

by RarityEQM

Desperate Mares

The furniture had been moved from Twilight's room, and now littered the hallway. Dressers, books, shelves, even the rug. Everything. Everything had been removed to make way for the chalkboards. Three hundred and seventy two chalk boards, in fact, that now wallpapered the room; most of which were splattered with furious scribbling from Twilight's stick of chalk. It was three days ago, since Princess Twilight had requested the chalk boards- and that was the last time any pony had seen her really. Even now, she was at it; violently writing down one lengthy magical equation after another, whittling the stick down to a nub.

"Spike, could you get me another piec-" She frowned. Spike wasn't in the room. In fact, the last time she'd seen him was when they were in her room, during the festival. But that was fine. It was fine. Well, everything WOULD be fine, anyway. She'd see to that- now that she had cobbled together a plan. A plan that wouldn't get completed unless she finished these equations. Everything had to be exact. Everything had to be perfect. She frowned. There was a box of chalk, hidden somewhere among the chalk boards.

"Twilight." A voice peppered the air. Twilight rolled her eyes. Vaguely, she had been aware that somepony ELSE had joined the room with her sometime ago, stepped in and asked to chat, but she really didn't have time to talk. Not now. Not when things were finally coming together.

"Just a sec." She muttered. Chalk, chalk chalk. Where was that chalk...

"That second has lasted for ten minutes, Twilight." The voice said. Twilight gave an irritated groan and glanced around for the speaker. She wasn't in the mood to talk about her feelings, or what happened, or the kingdom or- A hoof rested on her shoulder.

"What!?" Twilight snapped, turning about with a low hiss. She was NOT in the mood to deal with- Princess Celestia. The elder princess stood silently there before her, slowly gazing around the room at the thousands of equations spelt out along the chalk boards, and the exhausted little princess with her mane in shambles. Princess Celestia had seen this before- she'd lived this before. Slowly, she pulled Twilight into an effortless hug. She hadn't expected Twilight to hug her in return- and she didn't.

"I don't think I need to ask how you're doing, but, humor me? Are you ok?" She asked softly. Twilight pulled herself away from the hug and took a deep breath. Slowly, she nodded. Celestia frowned.

"I ...I'm better. I figured out how to do...what I want to do...how to fix this." She explained. Celestia, drew in a ragged breath and closed her eyes. It was worse than she thought...

"Twilight? Please. Please don't do this. Do not travel down this road. I have been there, and there is more pain than you can possibly fathom. Do not let this consume you." She whispered. Twilight's expression remained non-pulsed, however and the purple alicorn glanced around her at the chalk board and mathematics surrounding her.

"I have to fix this." She sputtered. Celestia rapidly shook her head, drawing Twilight in close once more. She couldn't stand this- it was happening all over again. The pain, the endless nights of torment, the false hope and maddening failures of trying to save someone beyond the scope of her power. She couldn't let Twilight fall into the same trap. She couldn't!

"Twilight. There is nothing to fix. Nothing to-" Celestia pled, but stopped short when she noticed but Twilight had stopped listening, lost to her own thoughts again, her eyes glazed over with magic equations and spell components. Celestia frowned. This was a problem that would get worse before it got better. She twisted Twilight about in her arms until she could stare the mare dead in the eyes and took a steady breath.

"Twilight. I think you should go and get some rest, ok? It looks like you've been working on this awfully hard, and I think you might feel better after a little break, ok?" Celestia cooed softly. For a quivering second, it looked as if Twilight was going to refuse her offer- to take offense and argue, but Twilight's shoulders slumped, and the young alicorn gave an fatigued nod.

"...Ok." She whispered quietly, and turned and staggered out of her room without a single word. Celestia slowly looked around at the magic written on the chalk boards. She had a horrible inkling idea what sort of spell Twilight was writing, but the symbols looked foreign and alien to her. Frowning, Celestia stepped into the hallway and drew a sigh, turning her attention to a wandering guard patrolling the halls.

"Guard. Fetch my sister."

"Yes." Spike mumbled quietly, face buried in his claws, his voice ragged and wispy. Zecora frowned quietly, and nodded her head. She couldn't blame him- she really couldn't. He'd spent his entire life with Twilight, and now she'd done something his young mind couldn't quite comprehend. In a fit of desperation, she'd killed another pony. And not just some other pony the one that held Spike's heart. His first crush. His first love. Zecora was struggling to find the right words to say to the boy, but the situation was beyond difficult. He didn't have the wisdom or the experience of life to tell him his heart might yet love again. Or that this pain would pass. Or that Twilight had no choice in the matter. For Spike, Rarity had been the end all, and be all, of love everlasting. It was impossible to see past puppy love crushes when you were that young...and Twilight had slain her right in front of him. Zecora could tell him over and over again that it would be alright. That she didn't have a choice, that Rarity would understand. But she knew regardless, the answer would ever be the same to her question: Do you hate Twilight?

The worst part about all of it, was that there was no way to right this wrong. No redemption to be had. No amount of apologies could absolve either Spike, or Twilight of their torture, and Zecora had no idea how the rest of the group felt. How were they supposed to come to grips with the loss of one of their own? After so many adventures, and bonding, healing and hurt, the concept of losing one of them wasn't just unthinkable- it was devastating.

Zecora had heard of the bitter victory that surrounded the group and had expected the members of Twilight's circle of friends to start popping up in the next few weeks, but Spike had been the first. Zecora was at a loss for what to do, but she knew she had to do what she could. So, gently, she handed Spike a cup, and stood up to tend to her cauldron. If anything, she could at least help him physically take a little pressure off.

"Please hold still, while I make this brew, I think it will help relax you." She explained. Spike shook his head.

"I can't. I have to go back to the castle. I'm sure the princess needs something done." He mumbled. Zecora raised an eyebrow. Spike hadn't referred to Twilight once by name since he'd arrived. At first Zecora thought it was just a slip of the tongue, but now she was sure it was a deliberate way for Spike to distance himself from her.

"I think you may need some time alone, it would do you good, to be on your own." She explained quietly. Spike stared into the distance for a moment, pondering the Zebra's words, before he quietly looked up at her.

"...Can I stay here?" He asked softly. Zecora smiled.

"What do you make of it, Luna?" Celestia asked, as the two peered at the various chalk boards in Twilight's room. Luna had always been the more studious of the two in magical studies, even when they were fillies, if Celestia couldn't figure it out- Luna always had the answer, and she hoped that remained true, even to this day. Luna winced. Even though Twilight had been sent off to rest, she still felt uneasy standing in another pony's room. The rows upon rows of chalk boards weren't helping matters either.

"Lots of this seems as if it's based off of Star Swirl's work. That symbol there...and there...those are spell prints he designed specifically." Luna explained. Celestia gave a grim nod and let her gaze linger across the scrawl across the chalk boards. The question she wanted to ask was burning at her tongue, but before she could spit it out Luna quelled the fire.

"It is not a resurrection spell." She said quietly, and watched Celestia's frame visibly relax in relief. Knowing that Twilight was no so far gone to attempt a forbidden spell was a load off- but Luna remained visibly tensed, which gave Celestia cause for pause.

"...what is it, sister?" She asked. Luna frowned, peering slowly at each chalk board. The spell had parts of Star Swirl's incantations inscribed in it- but also Twilight's own brand of magic- the new magic she'd discovered recently, that transformed her into an Alicorn. Nothing written on the subject matter, only Twilight herself knew exactly what it was, and Luna was struggling to decode what she could.

"It seems to be a very powerful spell. Even for an Alicorn. Even for Twilight. I have my doubts she'd be able to cast it without a catalyst in place, or some sort of boost to magic. This symbol here, indicates a launching mechanic...opening a door way...I think it's a time travel spell, but there'd be no way Twilight could make something like this work. It is much, much more powerful than Starswirl's original writings. I can't make out her glyphs, but ....hmmm...?" Luna frowned. Celestia cocked her head to one side.

"What?" She asked. Luna shook her head in confusion.

"It looks like Twilight's collaborative spell ends...right here? Midway through the board. The rest doesn't look like a time travel spell. It looks more like a summoning. How very strange. Well, basically, this string of glyphs, opens a portal, and this one tears through time. The rest of this is a summoning of some sort. As if she planned to open a portal and pull something out of it, and into this
worl-" Luna froze. Eyes wide open and mouth agape.

"Luna? Luna! What is it? What is Twilight's plan?" Celestia barked. Luna quickly shook her head, instantly throwing herself into a row of chalk boards, wildly reading everything Twilight had written down.

"No...No this cannot be...I thought she was opening a time portal to the past, but she's not. She's reversing time itself!" Luna gasped. Celestia frowned. That wasn't possible. Not for her, not for Luna, not for Cadence. There wasn't any unicorn on the planet powerful enough to do something like that.

"She is going to create a portal." Luna explained, mouth dry, eyes wide. "She needs a severe power boost to achieve this spell's desired effect. Or even simply to cast it I just...I don't understand what she's summoning...this symbol...this can't be right." Luna frowned, tapping her hoof against the chalk board.

"This is a symbol for the night... She is going to summon me? Twilight wishes to summon the mistress of the night to help her? I would do no such thi-" Luna paused. Now Celestia's face had paled, and her mouth slack.

"No, you wouldn't. But Twilight knows where to get such power. She's seen it before. In Nightmare Moon." Celestia said dryly.

"Impossible...impossible, sister! Twilight would never..."Luna began but Celestia frowned.

"Luna. You have to trust me, when I say a desperate mare will do desperate things. We must find Twilight immediately. Summon every guard in Equestria! Find her friends, find Spike, we HAVE to stop her!!" Celestia barked, hoping against hope, that it wasn't to late, and knowing full well, that it already was.

Author's Note:

And heres where things hopefully, kick off...

Comments

[Mooncalf]

"What raises the dead debases the living." -The Dig

A rather dark read. Not my usual fare, but dark is not to be dismissed too quickly, as long as it's written well. This was written well, and quite emotionally stirring. The premises have been explored before (I'm reminded of The Monkey's Paw) but doesn't mean they can't be explored again. If nothing else, I'd read it for the writing. Luna's analysis of the spell was very elaborate and well executed. I'm curious where the story will go; there are a few typical endings, but I may be surprised.

I actually can understand why it's so heavily downvoted. Some people will downvote things just because they don't like it, rather than because it's bad. And dark stories aren't liked by everyone. C'est la vie.