The Last Alicorn

by Cerulean Swirl

Instructions

The much missed sun finally found another reason to shine as the soft rumbling and vibrations of the train lulled her into a very shaky sense of sleep, as she kept her heavily bagged eyes on the scenery blurring itself outside. She wanted so badly to fall into a troubled sleep, and to quiet her never ending thoughts, but this was not to be. She had to stay awake. If she was asleep, U would find her and kill her because she had repeatedly dodged his/her demands.

It wasn't that she was doing so purposely, either. She fully intended to abdicate, and was sending for the princesses when her sister in law, her brother, and their daughter were found dead.

And now, as she sat comfortably with her eyes trained outside, she still fully intended to give up her wings and crown. She didn't need to think it over any more than she already had. If giving up the throne and everything that came with it meant that everypony close to her would live healthy lives, she would do it in a heartbeat. She cursed herself for not abdicating sooner. If only she had held the assembly right after she received the first letter. Then half of them would still be alive.

She would never be ready to give up on the ones who had passed, but at least then she'd have the remaining three as company and comfort. But it was no use. They were gone, just as she had furiously told her beloved princesses. And, as she had said, they were never returning.

The pink alicorn, her brother, and their foal were all sent to the hospital for further examination. Even though the rumors were flying about that they were all dead, the paramedics rushing about insisted on taking them back for a final check. After this check was completed, and if the victims were fully deceased, there was to be an Equestria-wide service in the Crystal Empire, and everypony was invited, whether they wished to attend or not. None of this information interested her, though. She had been to one funeral too many, and she knew in her gut that even after the check was finished the result would be death. It always seemed to be.

Shortly after she had received yet another letter from infamous U, the guards at their posts in front of the ambulance heard a disturbance inside, and whipped open the doors to see if everything was alright. Everything was fine, not unless somepony found a carriage in absolute disarray and all other occupants in the carriage to look seriously shaken up to be presentable. She had been removed from the scene along with the moon and sun princess, in their carriage. She had resisted with all her might, the letter's ink tattooing on her bare hoof. Her hooves kicked and her muzzle emitted sounds that neither the sun or moon princess had ever heard out of her before.

At the end of her rage-filled tantrum, the moon and sun princess had finally managed to calm her, though they had not come out of it looking presentable(the moon princess sported a nasty bruise), and several pictures had been captured during. The reporters hadn't seen the younger alicorn in quite some time, and the few shots they had been able to capture weren't anything to the photographs they had just captured. Many were to be featured on the next day's front page.

Once inside the sun princess's carriage(which had been parked gracefully off to the side of things behind a thicket of trees to avoid further inspection), the sun princess tried her absolute hardest not to unload then and there on the lavender princess. Just as she had told the younger alicorn in the ambulance, she missed the princess of love just as much as the younger did. The sun princess had had her fair share of suffering ever since she had taken the throne, sending the moon princess to the moon being among that, and she was just now growing accustomed to it. Welcomed it even. It was part of her responsibilities to Equestria. The white alicorn understood what the younger was going through, and because of this lavender princess had her sympathy.

But just because the younger alicorn was going through a tremendous amount of emotion didn't mean that she could throw a rage tantrum in a very small enclosed area. With almost all of Equestria's paramedics, guards, police ponies, and reporters bustling about just outside. She was always patient with her former student, as she had said, and she wasn't about to stop. She would guide her former student deeper into her ongoing studies about being a princess, and she would not, could not unload her problems onto the lavender alicorn. Not then, and not now.

A one-way ticket to the Crystal Empire was purchased at the Ponyville train station by one of the sun princess's guards. All three alicorns stayed in the carriage while this was being accomplished, and the white alicorn(with some help by her sister) had prepped the younger on exactly what she was supposed to do in the Empire.

The train would leave in half in hour, they said. She was to pack a small bag, just enough things to get her by for a week or so, and then if needed she could send for more things. She would need her crown, a few nice dresses to wear to formal dinners if dignitaries came to visit, and some novels that would keep her busy in her free time.

Her task was simple: look over the Empire and enforce rules and prevent trouble. If anypony asked about the future of their royals, she was to inform them cordially that the royals would be hospitalized for further notice, and that she would be looking after the Empire in their absence. Surely this would water down rumors for at least a little bit, and if such rumors were brought to the castle, she wasn't to reveal anything until the hospital check was completed. She was to be polite but not too personable, and she was to participate but she wasn't to get too involved. She was, as they had said, a substitute for the time being.

It was simple enough; she knew she could accomplish this. The only thing that troubled her currently was the prospect of actually staying in the castle. The white alicorn did say that as part of the request, she would be staying in the castle and the few servants and all guards staying there would be briefed and would cater to her every whim. The older alicorn said that her sister-in-law's and brother's bedroom would be locked up, as was their daughter's so that the younger alicorn wouldn't be tempted to enter these rooms and become more depressed than she already was.

Little did the lavender alicorn know, the sun princess had taken the liberty of not mentioning that each guard and servant that had residence in the castle were being strictly advised not to let the mare near the bedrooms of the current occupants at all costs. In fact, the guards were instructed not to guard the particular locked rooms so as to not give the younger alicorn hints to where these rooms actually resided. Instead, she was to be followed by at least two guards at all times, and they were to be posted inside her chambers day and night, to prevent accidents or even non-accidents.

All servants were strictly commanded to wash every sheet, pillow, cushion, blanket, towel, and anything used by the royals that had been living there. The mare was not to be told that this was occurring or why, so that she would not reminisce on how the former occupants dried themselves on the same towels or even slept on the same sheets or pillows, even though such a thing was clearly not possible. There were at least three dozen extra guest bedrooms in the castle, and they each had their own sheets and other cloth items.

There were to be three full meals a day, all held in the grand dining room, and she had access to every amenity available in and around the castle, including the extensive library, indoor swimming pool, bowling alley, movie theater, shooting range, flower garden, grounds, and of course the giant bathing area, which included an enormous bathtub the size of the swimming pool and at least 25 different kinds of bath salts, mane shampoos, mane conditioners, and fancy coat washes and soaps. The only place she was not guarded was of course, the bathroom, but a female servant was required to supervise so the princess would not try to drown herself in an attempt to join those who had passed.

She would be handling simple tasks around the Empire and not delving too deep in the kingdom's larger and more important matters. She would answer questions that the subjects asked, and she would meet with dignitaries if they so happened to visit.

And as part of these responsibilities, the white alicorn's gaze hardened as she said so, the mare was absolutely, in no way shape or form, allowed to unload, rant, inexplicably rage, or uncontrollably sob to the subjects. The mare was already seen as a basket case by most of the more recent articles in the media, and ever since the deaths of the Elements had been in the papers ponies now knew to steer clear if danger showed in her face.

If, however, the mare needed a place to sob or rant, she was to do it alone, behind a closed door. The older princess also secretly advised the guards that were to be following her former student around all day to be very careful when the mare went into her bedroom alone. Even though guards were to be posted in her chambers whenever she was occupying them, the sun princess thought it best that she be alone when things got to be this way. They were suggested that if they should hear any strange noises, to come into the room immediately, and if there was a situation, to contact the elder, and to stay with the younger until the elder arrived.

All the duties that her beloved princess bestowed upon her buzzed through her mind like an angry hornet. She knew what was to happen now. She would be guarded very closely, because she figured that after everything that had occurred, her beloved sun princess would conclude that she would wish to join her friends who had passed. And attempt to even pass herself.

But she would never do something like that. No matter how bad things got, no matter how many tears she cried or how much snot filled numerous tissues, and no matter how many times she let the rage spill out of her, she would not take her life. Even if she convinced herself it was the best and only option. She would not. Not since she had some unfinished business to accomplish here in this world.

U's most recent letter had left her extremely angry and unbearably sad, as all of them often did. But now she was faced with two other choices, one being, of course, the one that had continued to pop up the more she received each letter. One that had been a dying plea, and one that could take her a lifetime to complete. She couldn't imagine it, and yet...at the same time she could.

Three options. Much like the white alicorn's three reasons, each had their own paths and consequences, some more complicated and some not so difficult. These were what kept her awake as she traveled, the only choices that she could make to push her life forward or to drag her back.

The first was definitely the hardest. It went something as follows: she could stay where she was, and ignore the letters, and allow the princesses to make an Equestria-wide search for the killer. While they did this, she would wallow in her own pain and suffering and not do anything to try and avenge the deaths, and also slowly watch more close to her die painful deaths, all the while receiving more notes. This, the more she pondered, wasn't even good enough to be an option. She shunned it from her mind.

The second was to obey the plea. To find the ludicrous murderer by the name of U and to give them all the punishment and more that they deserved. To make their death as slow and as painful as she could possibly make it. To make the price of all the deaths be put on U's head. This was the option that pleased the angrier side of her the most. It would satisfy her, but it would also never leave her mind.

The third was to actually fulfill what U wanted. To hold a public assembly in front of her castle(or at the Crystal Palace), to invite the remaining ponies that she loved and cared about, and in front of everypony remove the golden and star shaped crown from atop her head and to make the announcement. She was then expected to believe that once this was accomplished, the never ending death stream would cease, and U would take his or her place on the throne. Just like that. That and not breathe a word for the rest of her natural born life to anypony. And leave her to be normal again; to leave her as a shred of the pony she used to be. To leave her in a torn up stupor, to leave her in the state that she was, which landed between not wanting to get up in the morning to frequently breaking things.

No.
She would do as she had always told herself to do, even know she had absolutely no idea where to start.

But yet, she did. She would bring in all the former villains of Equestria and question them once more, of course doing it when she wasn't tending to the needs of the Crystal ponies. She would show them the letters, and try to be as patient and as non threatening as possible, when in reality the entire situation was making her want to go and destroy an entire building or cry an entire ocean.

She would call in different ponies from around Ponyville, like bystanders, workers, acquaintances, and even members of the police force.

She retrieved her saddlebag from the empty seat beside her and opened the clasp of it with her magic. From it, she levitated a simple notebook, inkwell, and a spare quill. She wordlessly levitated the notebook open to a fresh clean page, dipped the quill in the inkwell, and began to scrawl.

---

To Question
-Former villains: Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, Maneiac? Trixie? Changelings if can find.
-Citizens of Ponyville: Derpy, The former Cutie Mark Crusaders, Roseluck, Cheerilee, Big Macintosh, Bon-Bon, Lyra, Spa ponies, and any other acquaintances I know. Any information is helpful!!!
-Prince Blueblood?
-Royal guard?
-Police force
-MEDIA

---

"Attention, all passengers and honored guests!"
A voice broke her frantic concentration, and her attention shifted from her notebook to the conductor pony standing just a few seats away from her at the front of the train car that she occupied. The pony's attention was not on her, but on the general audience.

"We are coming into the Crystal Empire! The time is about three fifteen in the afternoon, and the weather today is cool but very sunny. Please gather all personal belongings, remove all trash from the seat that you are sitting in, and be ready to depart from the train. Thank you!"

She closed the notebook then and there, and put the cork back on the top of the inkwell. The quill went back in it's plastic wrapping, so ink would not leak all over her other possessions. As she returned the notebook and everything back into their places, one thing caught her eye. A very smelly, greasy, and crusty sealed something.

The rage began to boil once more, but before she could relish and feed the rage, she felt the train begin to slow, then come to a screeching halt.

"Everypony off!" came the familiar call of the conductor pony.
Sighing heavily, she shut the clasp on her saddlebag, hiding the letter from her once more. She secured the saddlebag on her back, and looked out the window of the train once more. A sigh found its way out of her mouth.
Welcome back.

Author's Note:

Enjoy! :D Thanks to everypony who has Favorited, commented, and kept reading! :D

Comments

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

I just thought of something: I know that U has been knocking off everypony near and dear to Twilight, but surely this nutcase isn't stupid enough to try and kill Celestia or Luna?! They control the sun and the moon, for Pete's sake!

Even U isn't stupid enough to mess with that!!!

Is he/she?

[Cerulean Swirl]

4857397 I don't know. Is he/she?
Maybe yes, maybe no.

[Cerulean Swirl]

4857330 And it shall continue. Keep yourself posted.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

4857795 Oh, I hope not. Equestria (and probably the whole world) would be pretty much royally (pardon the pun) screwed if either one of those two were killed.

And that's interesting.

4857806 Good to know.

And I shall, trust me.

Weird thing when I tried to access this chapter, though. When I hope my favorites to check the updates, I noticed that, when it came to this fic, when I checked the chapter list, all it showed was Chpters 1 through 3. But, when I clicked on the link to Chapter 3, I noticed that the number box for Chapter 4 was there. So I clicked on it and read the chapter.

Then, when I clicked on the story title again, it showed Chapter 4 in the chapter menu where it wasn't there before I read the chapter.

Weird, huh?

Oh, well, it's okay now, and that's really all that matters, huh?

Anyway, looking forward to the next chapter! Will Twilight actually abdicate, despite her promise to Applejack? Or will she not, and U continue their kill-spree against her and her loved ones?

Guess we'll have to stay tuned and find out.

[staryoshi06]

I have an idea.

What if it was Twilight itself that was killing them (craziness or multiple personality?)