Hell's Belles

by Silent Whisper

why am I calling these chapters they're so f***ing short

“Okay, slow down,” I said, propping my head up with a hoof. “That sounds a little dramatic. What exactly do you mean by ‘Equestria will fall?’ Doesn’t it almost fall on a semi-monthly basis?”

“Well, yes,” Sugar Belle sputtered, rearranging a few of the pieces of parchment. “But this is different. This is permanent. And there’s nothing the Princesses - former or current - or any of those close to her can do about it. It’d put them in danger.”

“Danger how? Is it changelings? Comic book villains? Thousand-year-old ghosts slighted by some ancient by-law of nature? Be more specific.” I watched as the fork wobbled in her magic as she tried to get control of herself, and stealthily scanned the kitchen for more pancakes.

“It’s like this,” she finally said. “Remember how Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer went back in time to fight or whatever, and Starlight Glimmer created all those alternate realities?”

“Yeah,” I said. I didn’t, but whatever.

“Well, it turns out that all of those universes had Twilight Sparkles of their own in them, and when our dear Princess returned to Equestria and broke the paradox and time spell forever… they came with her. It’s basic quantum entanglement.”

I nodded. Not because I understood what she was talking about, but because this felt like a point in the conversation where one is supposed to nod.

“I’m pretty sure she had the strings of time and fate wrapped around her very soul at one point,” Sugar Belle rambled, setting down the fork and tracing lines on the torn paper. “Anyway, some… friends and I have been dealing with most of the alternate Twilights, who, I might mention, were all too thrilled that this world happened to be the one where everything went right, but were much less thrilled that this world already had a Twilight as the head of all things.”

A thought occurred to me. “When you say you’ve been ‘dealing with’ the other Twilight Sparkles, do you mean-”

“More or less exactly what you think that means.” She shrugged and pried a splinter loose from the table.

Huh. That was probably problematic. “Isn’t that, you know, murder?” I asked, pressing my hooves together.

“Is it really murder if there’s already a Twilight here? I mean, remember when there were a million Pinkie Pies and you killed all the alternate ones?”

No. “Yes.”

“It’s no worse than that, when you think about it. And all these Twilights wanted to be the Twilight. They had a rough upbringing, with all the various end-of-the-world stuff going on, and Swee- I mean, one of my friends said that they’d probably had their very beings warped by the time paradox thing, so…”

“Evil Twilights?”

“Evil Twilights.” Sugar Belle picked up the fork again and spun it in the air. “Now, this one worthless treasure is supposed to be a failsafe, right? It’s a little piece of enchantment that’ll help whoever is next in line for the throne raise the sun and moon in Princess Twilight’s stead if something happens to her.”

I hummed as I felt the pieces fall into place. They might’ve been from different puzzles, but they were fitting together enough at the moment. “And one of the Twilights that you didn’t murder - I mean, take care of - wants that magic so they can rule Equestria? And probably kill the real Princess Twilight?”

Her horn glowed as the fork began to glow red-hot. Was she baking it with her magic? I wasn’t sure if it’d be rude to ask. “That’s about it, yeah.”

“So…” I bit my lip. “What you’re saying is that Twilight is trying to kill Twilight with Twilight’s magic.”

“Yup.” The fork started to melt in her mana field.

“Huh.” I leaned back in the chair and watched the molten fork-metal as she shaped it into a tiny pie shape. A pie with a frowny-face. Its glow dimmed as it slowly rotated in her magic, and she set it back down on the parchment, which immediately caught on fire.

I snuffed it out with my own magic - I’d had to clean up after a few of Apple Bloom’s experiments went Apple Boom - and looked up to find Sugar Belle watching me intently.

“Well?” She finally said, a concerned motherly look in her eyes. “Do you have anything else to say to that?”

A sigh escaped my lips as I scooted back my chair, away from the smoldering table. “It’s too early for this. I’m making some coffee, and when I get back, I expect there to be pancakes on the table and some answers to whatever questions I come up with along the way.”

Comments

[wishcometrue]

I nodded. Not because I understood what she was talking about, but because this felt like a point in the conversation where one is supposed to nod.

Mood.