My Little Pony: Chaos in Equestria

by Snake Staff

Twilight's Confession

Twilight’s eyes went wide as saucers. “What?!” She took a step back, suddenly afraid. “But-But I can’t…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the insane mare she had blasted back in Ponyville. “Oh Celestia…” Twilight thought as what she’d done finally sunk in. She’d killed somepony! Until now, all the other urgent tasks on her mind had kept her focus away from that fact, but now that she was being asked to fight… to kill… Twilight sobbed, sinking to her knees. Celestia’s face softened.

“Twi? Twi? What’s the matter, sugarcube?”Applejack said gently, lowering her head to be level with Twilight’s. “What’s wrong? I know being asked ta fight ain’t easy or nothin’, but-“

Whatever Applejack was going to add was abruptly cut off by another sob from Twilight. She stared up at the princesses with fearful eyes. “Ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseforgiveme. I’m sorrysorrysosorrysorrysorry…” Her voice was drowned out by the sound of her sobbing again.

Celestia looked at the rest of the ponies before her. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just shook their heads sadly. Cadence looked at the floor with a pained expression but didn’t speak. Shining Armor seemed puzzled and sad. “Twilight,” Celestia said gently, placing a hoof lightly on the smaller pony’s shoulder, “What do you need to be sorry for?”
Shining Armor added his hoof to Twilight’s back. “It’s ok, Twily,” he whispered. “We’re here for you.”

“All of us.” said Cadence, adding her hoof.

Applejack added her’s. “We sure are.”

“Right on.” came the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice as her hoof joined the others.

Luna joined in. “Indeed.”

Twilight’s fearful sobbing slowly began to subside. A short time later, she began to speak. “I-I-I-” she looked up, her eyes red and full of tears. “I killed somepony,” she whispered, before sobbing again, face to the floor. “It was… It was in Ponyville. Three ponies were attacking, they were killing… So I-I challenged them. Tried to get their attention. Then one mare yelled to kill me and raised her spear, and I… and I…” she broke down sobbing again. The other ponies kept their hooves on her reassuringly as she cried some more.

Finally, when her tears had run dry and her eyes were bloodshot, Twilight looked up again. “I killed her,” she managed, between wracks of pain and dry sobs. “I didn’t mean to. I was just so… just so… angry!” Twilight made a snarl as the memory of her hatred came back to her. “Pinkie Pie had just been taken. She had already killed… killed so many. So when she wanted to kill me too, I couldn’t… couldn’t take it. I hit her with as hard a blast as I could muster, and… and… and…” Twilight doubled over again, her stomach threatening to void its contents yet again as she relived the pony’s gruesome death scene. “And I sent her flying back, and she hit a wall, and-and her skull cracked.” Twilight put a hoof over her mouth as she wretched yet again, struggling to contain the bile she felt rising in her throat. She couldn’t vomit on the princesses. On her friends. On her brother. She needed to be strong. She had to keep it down.

“Twily…” Shining Armor whispered, apparently at a loss for words. He looked at the princesses imploringly.

Celestia was the next to speak. Her voice was firm, but warm. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “Look at me.”
Twilight reluctantly took her eyes off her hooves and looked up at her mentor. She saw solemnity in her eyes, but not condemnation. Still, she had to suppress the urge to turn and bolt and hide under the covers somewhere.
Celestia put her hoof under Twilight’s chin. “It is good that you feel the way you do. Killing is never something to be taken lightly. That you so obviously do not is another proof of your worth, if any were needed. But…”
Twilight saw a flash of something unfamiliar on her teacher’s face. Sadness and… regret? “But what would Celestia have to regret?” Twilight wondered.

“But it is sometimes the only choice,” she said, her expression making it obvious how much she hated saying what she was saying. “Sometimes harsh things need to be done, if all we know and love is to survive.” Celestia’s face contorted still further into an expression Twilight was almost certain she’d never seen before – shame. “Do you really think I have never killed anypony?”

“Sister…” said Luna, a worried expression on her face, as she put a hoof on Celestia’s back. Celestia looked back at her sibling with her face hung low. Luna nodded sympathetically.

Twilight, meanwhile, was in open shock. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes were wide. “Celestia?! Celestia killed?!” The thought of her teacher, her friend, her paragon having actually shed the blood of somepony else was just… inconceivable to Twilight. For their part, Applejack and Rainbow Dash appeared equally shocked, the latter backing up slightly. Shining Armor and Cadence, however, just looked sad and grim as they pulled each other close.

“I’m sorry I had to reveal it like this, Twilight, but it’s true. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked. Finally, I had no… no choice. For the good of Equestria…” Celestia let the words hang, her face bitter.

Luna gave her sister a gentle tug, her face a barely-controlled projection of calm neutrality. It was clear to all that the conversation was affecting her as much as her sister. “Cellestia, perhaps…”

“No, I need to say it,” the white alicorn replied with a more steely voice, raising her head. “I’m sorry, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, but it needs to be said. I need you ready to fight. Ready not just to sacrifice your lives for Equestria, but even your own needs. I need you to be ready not just to die for all that you love, but to kill for it.”

Celestia let those words settle into the three ponies’ minds for a bit. They stared at her with an almost stupefied incomprehension. Yes, they had seen death. Yes, they had fought evil. But they had never been asked to kill evil. And by the very figure they had all been taught to revere since fillyhood. To say that the request was shocking would have been to undervalue it by orders of magnitude. World shattering was more accurate.

After they had had a minute to digest the implications of what they were being asked to do and Twilight had resumed her feet, Celestia spoke again. Her tone was almost all steel and urgency, with almost nothing of her characteristic warm voice to be heard. “So, my little ponies, I’ll ask you: will you fight for Equestria?”

Silence reigned for several seconds. Nobody seemed to want to be the first to speak.

“Yeah! You bet! We’ll show those Chaos chumps what happens when you attack our home!” Unsurprisingly, this came from Rainbow Dash.

Applejack was next. “I… I don’t like it,” she muttered almost below hearing. “But after what happened… to Granny and Big Mac… and Pinkie and Flutterhsy and Rarity…” She held her head up high. “I’ll do it.”

Twilight stared. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It was like someone had poured extra-strength glue down her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Suddenly she felt a pat on her back. Then another. Then another.

Mustering her considerable reserves of courage, Twilight managed, “I will.”

And that is how Twilight found herself marching with the bulk of the Royal Guard to Manehatten in not two days time.

Author's Note:

It's been a long time, hasn't it? My apologies. I hope I can finish the story this time.

Comments

[Silver Tail]

Been waiting for this to update. Keep up the awesome work!

[Berzerker_Mohawk]

“Cellestia, perhaps…”

a little typo there ^, and there's a small error in the amount of spaces along the third paragraph, I don't know if it's meant to be there, but it doesn't seem like it. I'm glad that I'm finally getting back at reading Fanfics after being busy with other things. This chapter was short and nice. Keep working, it's quite enjoyable