Lawmare

by Jade Ring

Chapter 7

The Lawmare and the mare in black sat across from one another, the only sound in the room the cheerful crackling of the fire beside them. Rarity hadn't wanted to leave, but Twilight had insisted. Had assured her that everything would be alright.

The lie had been a bitter one to deliver.

Trixie swirled the brandy and delicately sniffed it. "Making a high-status mare your gilly has some side benefits, I see."

"Don't call her that." Twilight growled. "She's not a whore."

Trixie paused in her sip and raised an eyebrow at Twilight. "I didn't call her one. Or has the meaning of the word 'gilly' also been twisted these days? Typical." She finished her sip and made a sound of approval. "Whatever she is to you, she has fine taste."

"Why are you here, Trixie?"

"To palavar with you, as I said. Or, if you'd prefer a modern parlance, I've come to chat." She smiled a little. "I've been keeping an eye on you, Lawmare, since you returned to the city. I saw something in you that day outside the palace. You were... different. Special. I could tell." She took another sip. "You were just the mare I needed."

"If you're thinking about trying to recruit me for whatever it is you've got planned, you can forget it." Twilight bared her teeth. "The only reason you're still drawing breath right now is because you're going to tell me everything you know about what the Good Mare's planning."

"Investigation was never the role of a Lawmare." Trixie polished off the brandy and exhaled with a smile. "Lawmares cast first and asked questions later. At least that's how it was in my day. When I wore the badge, we were more Celestia's enforcers than anything else." She didn't flinch a bit when Twilight's magic shot across the room and blew her snifter to shards.

"I have put up with a lot today." Twilight Sparkle's vision was tinged with red. It was a miracle that her shot had hit the glass and not popped the mare in black's skull. "My whole world has been turned upside fucking down. I've lost my sisters, my brother, and my..." She almost said ’my faith’ but managed to catch herself in time. "But I will not sit here and listen to you lie about..."

"'I do not aim with my hoof; she who aims with her hoof has forgotten the face of her mother. I aim with my eye.'" Trixie recited without pause, without emotion. Like a reflex. She spoke the words instilled in each apprentice from the moment they rose at the crack of dawn to the moment their heads hit the pillow under the shining moon. "'I do not cast with my horn; she who casts with her horn has forgotten the face of her mother. I cast with my mind.'" She closed her eyes as she spoke, and her shadow seemed to change in the dancing firelight. She seemed taller somehow. Prouder. Her bearing was one of absolute authority, of one who knows that they are the absolute true right of the world. "'I do not kill with my magic; she who kills with her magic has forgotten the face of her mother. I kill with my heart.'"

Twilight slumped in her seat. It couldn't be. It simply couldn't be. But how else could she know the words? Only those who had taken the oath were permitted to learn the sacred creed. "How... how old are you?" Twilight finally asked.

"Not much older than Sunset Shimmer, I suppose." Trixie smiled.

"Then why don't I remember you?"

"Ah, now there's a story." Trixie's horn lit and a deck of cards levitated out from her saddlebag. "Do you mind? It helps me to think." When Twilight waved her on, Trixie began shuffling the cards in her magic. "Now, I don't know the exact length of time, but as far as I can tell it's been somewhere in the neighborhood of two to three hundred years since I cast away my badge." Her eyes flicked towards Twilight's own sun emblem on the carpet nearby. "Did it feel good? Tearing it off, I mean?"

Twilight watched the cards, desperate not to look down at the discarded symbol of what she'd devoted her life to. "No. It felt awful."

"I felt the same way." Trixie sighed as the cards changed patterns in the air. "It was like ripping off a piece of my own flesh. I was shocked that I didn't start bleeding." The cards went wide, creating a wavy pattern in the air. "Yes, I was a Lawmare, Twilight Sparkle. I wore the leathers. I learned the spells. I know the creed. It wasn't my first inclination, of course. When I was a filly, all I ever wanted to do was be a showpony. An entertainer. In those days it was the law that all fillies of age had to try out for the Lawmares. Imagine my surprise when I returned and that was one thing that Celestia had softened up on." She sniffed. "I was heartbroken when I passed the trials. I spent my first weeks in the barracks plotting to run away and join the circus whenever the opportunity presented itself."

"So why didn't you?" Twilight asked, trying to look past the cards and focus on the mare in black. "Any apprentice is free to walk away anytime during their first year. Before you speak the creed."

"Isn't it obvious?" Trixie's smile was bitter. "I came to enjoy it. To relish my new life as a Lawmare. It was a challenge and a thrill. I was learning magic beyond anypony else. I had sisters who cared for me and pushed me in equal measure. I found happiness. I earned my badge. I took to the roads and dispensed justice in Celestia's name. And then..." The bitterness cracked, and something else snuck out. "I found something else that made me happier." She blinked rapidly, and Twilight realized that the mare in black was trying not to tear up. "I found somepony else."

Rarity's face flashed in Twilight's mind.

Trixie laughed as the card's flight pattern changed again. "I never dreamed that I would be one of those fools who falls in love. But then I met him. On the roads, of all places. He was a tavern keeper in a little village due east from here, maybe two weeks by hoof. He was such a charmer, my Tapper. Always flirting with anypony with a nice enough flank. But when he talked to me..." She smiled. Genuinely smiled. "There was something between us. Something I can't put into words. Do ya kennit?"

"Aye." Twilight smiled herself as she thought of the mare just a few rooms away. "I kennit."

"I didn't let him take me to bed until I was certain it wasn't just an act. I always made sure my tet would pass through his village on each patrol, trying to catch him off guard whispering the same sweet nothings to some other mare while I was gone. But I never did. He was always there, waiting for me." Her eyes sparkled. "And then he asked me to marry him." She giggled and sighed at the memories. "Oh, to go back to that day. My tet acted as my bridal party. We held the reception in his bar. It was all very classy."

For the first time in what felt like ages, Twilight managed a small laugh. "I'll bet."

"He finished that patrol with us and came back to Canterlot to live with me. He left his brother in charge of the tavern." She closed her eyes. "Hear me very well, Twilight Sparkle; those were the happiest days of my life. Coming home to the perfect bedmate..." Her lip trembled. "...Coming home to him... and to my little star."

Twilight's eyes widened. "You had a foal?"

"I did. A healthy, perfect little colt. And when I held him the first time, I knew that I could never go on patrol again. He was my new purpose. Holding him and looking into Tapper's eyes... I no longer needed to be a Lawmare. I needed to be something else; a wife and a mother. And a showpony!" She laughed and the cards seemed to dance with a laughter all their own. "Oh, we had it all worked out. He'd run the bar, and I'd handle the entertainment. It would be our own little family enterprise." Her smile began to fade. "But I had responsibilities to finish. My apprentice was nearing her final trial. I knew I couldn't leave until that was finished." She sighed heavily. "So, Tapper took our little one on ahead to the village. I was supposed to follow not long after, on the same day as my apprentice's last trial was finished."

Twilight leaned forward, enthralled despite herself. The cards whizzed about on the edge of her vision. "What happened?"

"Twilight; a question, I beg." Trixie looked into the fire. "Do you know the last time an apprentice failed her final trial?"

The purple unicorn shook her head.

"It was my apprentice. And what's worse? Her last cast was too much for her horn to take. It shattered, Twilight. Her horn shattered." Trixie glared at the flames. "I should have killed her. As a mercy, I mean. But she yielded, and I was forced to send my own student into the west without her magic to protect herself. Poor Tempest. It only strengthened my resolve to leave. How could I face a world of such cruelty by day and not bring some of that darkness into my perfect little world at home? I went straight from the arena to Celestia. And do you know what the worst thing about it was? She didn't even try to get me to stay."

A thought occurred to Twilight. "Princess Celestia knows you by name. She mentioned as much to me the first time I saw you preaching. She didn't mention..."

"Oh, please Twilight." Trixie sniffed. "She put me out of mind the moment I gave her my badge. For all of her talk of remembering us who serve under her, she forgets those of us who leave the instant we leave her sight." Her gaze hardened. "I spent years in her service, Twilight, and she didn't even ask me why I was leaving."

"Of course she didn't." Twilight almost scoffed. "You were dead-set on leaving, weren't you?"

"No, Twilight. Listen. Hear me. Hear me very well." Trixie's eyes seemed to burn as they bored into Twilight's. "She let me cast away my badge, thanked me for my service, and sent me away. Nothing else. Not a word." Trixie's teeth clenched, and tears emerged from the corners of her eyes. "Not a single word."

Something in the mare in black's tone made Twilight's blood run cold. "What happened?" She asked once more.

"I arrived at the village expecting to find my husband and my son waiting for me. All I found was death." The dancing cards began to flit about the room like a swarm of angry bees. "Death and ruin." Sparks lit from her horn, catching one card by the corner and making it smolder. "The bandits who had done it were still nearby. Before I let the last one die, I made him tell me when they'd destroyed the village. When they'd killed my husband... and my son..." She saw the question coming and snapped. "It had been the day before I left Canterlot for the last time! The day before! The blood of my loved ones was still on the ground when I went to Celestia! When I told her I was leaving her service! And she didn't say a word!" The cards burst into flame, and the room was briefly filled with dancing balls of fire.

On reflex, Twilight started to say something in Celestia's defense. After all, how could she have known...

(the glass)

...and Twilight said nothing. She just kept listening to the mare in black's tale.

"Celestia knows. Celestia always knows. The one, single, inescapable absolute of our land." Trixie spat into the fire and listened to the sizzle. The cards miraculously reconstituted themselves and resumed their dance in the air. "I think I lost my mind then. I just started wandering. I barely ate. I hardly slept. I had no set path. I just... wandered. In time my hooves carried me to the snows and up the hellish slopes of the North Mountains. I didn't care. Nothing mattered. I just wanted to die." Her eyes narrowed. "But part of me wanted to live. To survive. Because there was work to be done." She looked back to Twilight. "Do you believe in ka?"

Ka. Fate. Destiny. The weave of the world that made certain things happen. Twilight pursed her lips. "I do... but not as much as others. Sunset is..." She caught herself. "...was more of a believer than me."

Trixie nodded. "There was a time that I didn't believe in ka. That was until the night that I died. Or, rather, the night I was supposed to die." Her gaze drifted to the fire once more. "I don't know how long I wandered those frozen wastes. I do know that, in time, my body led me to a cave and then told me to lay down and sleep. I knew it was death guiding me, leading me to my own grave. I didn't care. I just didn't want to hurt anymore. So, I fell to the snow, wrapped myself in this cloak, and drifted off. I prayed for oblivion and afterlife in equal measure. I got neither."

"How could you possibly have survived?"

"Ka." Trixie whispered. "The cave I'd stumbled into was full of magical crystals, remains of the once great Crystal Empire. They preserved me, kept me breathing for centuries. I only awoke because she found me."

Twilight nodded slowly. "The Good Mare."

Trixie returned the nod. "Princess Cadance still doesn't know what guided her to that cave while on her morning walk. I say it's ka, but she's not much of a believer. Do you know what she does believe in, though?" When Twilight didn't say anything, Trixie smiled. "She believes in getting what's hers. We shared a common goal, she and I, so I pledged myself to her service and swore to deliver her what was rightfully hers by blood; Canterlot, and the throne of Equestria."

"Is this the part where you try and convince me to join your little crusade?"

Trixie shook her head. "It's like I told your brother; your convictions are too strong. All who serve the Good Mare do so for a reason. Me? It's revenge. Shining Armor? It's love. But you? You have no reason to join her. Even with your badge cast aside, you're still a Lawmare, through and through. But the days of the Lawmare are over, Twilight. You know it, and I know it. Otherwise you wouldn't have thrown away your badge. So what role is there in this drama for the Lawmare in all but name?"

A card flew close to Twilight's face, and she flinched. "So why are you here? Why are you telling me all of this if not to sway me to your side?"

Trixie took a deep breath. "Because I see something of myself in you. They called me the finest spellslinger of my generation, too. They called me 'the Great and Powerful Trixie.' But nopony remembers. They forget. They always forget. Even Celestia forgets. She certainly never told you the truth about me, did she?" When Twilight said nothing, Trixie pressed on. "I'm telling you all of this because I want to spare you my pain." She leaned forward, the cards circling her horn like a halo. "Run, Twilight Sparkle. Run. Take your gil... your lover and run. Leave Canterlot far behind. Tonight. Now. While you still have a chance. Go and find someplace to be happy. There are still places in this world where a mare of your skills, your convictions, is needed."

"Why so soon?" Twilight cocked her head. "Are you going to tell me next that the armies of the Good Mare are approaching Canterlot as we speak?"

Trixie practically cackled, and the cards bobbing in the air seemed to cackle with her. "Oh, Twilight. The Good Mare's army is leagues away from here. Her plan is for the Royal Guard to seize the city from the inside. The Royal Guard, of course, that your brother delivered to her like a bridal gift. Then she can just casually stroll in and take what she believes she's owed."

"Not even the Royal Guard would be able to last a minute against Celestia." Twilight scoffed. "She'd be ready and waiting when Cadance got here."

"You know that. And I know that." Trixie grinned wickedly. "Twilight, I'm not telling you to run because Canterlot's about to belong to the Good Mare. I'm telling you to run because, in a matter of hours, there won't be a Canterlot at all."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "But Cadance... You promised her..."

"I told her what she wanted to hear. I needed her resources, her weapons. It's not enough that Celestia dies, Twilight." Trixie winked, and her cards flew back into her saddlebags with expert precision. "I'm going take everything from her. Just like how she took everything from me."

Twilight's magic lashed out but struck only empty air as Trixie winked away in a flash of light, her last cackle echoing in the silence she left behind. She jumped to her hooves with a cry of frustration, reeling in her first instincts to trace Trixie's signature and follow her to wherever she'd sent herself. "Rarity!"

The alabaster unicorn ran in and looked around. "Where is she? What happened?"

"Never mind that." Twilight floated her hat onto her head and started for the door. "I have to go see Sunset. Then Lyra and Moon Dancer. You..." She stopped, remembering Trixie's words. "You and the girls need to start packing."

"Packing?" Rarity crossed the room to her lover. "But why?"

"Because you're leaving."

"Leaving Canterlot?” Rarity put a hoof to her mouth in shock. "But why? And where?"

"Anywhere. Away from here." Twilight took Rarity's hoof and kissed it. "Do you trust me?"

Rarity smiled. "Of course, darling."

"Good. I'll be right behind you. I just have to make sure..." She debated telling Rarity more but decided to hold her tongue for the time being. "I shouldn't be long." She headed for the door again, but something again gave her pause. Her gaze drifted down to the discarded badge still sitting on the floor. "I... I actually have to make one more stop. It won't take long. I promise."

"We'll be ready when you get back."

"Good." Twilight shook off the weird feeling and looked back at Rarity. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Twilight winked... and vanished in a flash of light.

//////////////////////////////////////

Lyra's magic held the robe aloft. She watched her wife's eyes carefully, reading them for any tell-tale signs of deception. Any giveaways at all. "Well?"

Bon Bon cocked her head in confusion. "Well, what?"

Confusion flitted through Lyra's brain. Bon Bon seemed totally unphased by the robe's revelation. Didn't even seem to know what it was. If she was lying, she was doing a damn fine job of it. "Why was this under your side of the bed?"

"I don't know. I've never seen it before." Bon Bon's muzzle wrinkled. "Why would I have a black cassock anyway? Nightmare Night isn't for months. Besides, you know I always go more cute than scary."

Lyra's eye twitched. There were few ponies she really knew in this world. Ones that she could read well enough to know what they were really thinking. She'd always considered Bon Bon to be at the top of that list. And Bon Bon... didn't seem to know what she was looking at. The significance of it. Maybe... "Bonnie... I need to ask you something. And I need you to tell me the truth. No matter how much you think it might hurt, I need you to tell me the truth."

"You know I'd never lie to you." Fear and worry began to creep into Bon Bon's eyes when she heard the seriousness of her wife's voice.

Lyra opened her mouth, meaning to start by asking her where she'd been disappearing to so early in the morning, but the question was interrupted by a series of hard raps at the front door. Both mares turned and stared at the wood dumbly. "Who goes there?" Lyra called out.

"The Royal Guard!" A stallion's voice rang out. "We've received an anonymous tip that a follower of the Good Mare lives in this house!"

Everything clicked at once for Bon Bon. Her eyes flew from the door to the robe, to the pained look in her wife's eyes. "Oh! Oh, Lyra, no!"

"Bonnie..." Lyra started, lowering the robe. Her horn stayed lit. "Like I said; I need you to tell me the truth."

"Lyra, no!" Bon Bon gasped. "You can't believe... Lyra, I would never...!"

"Open this door, Lawmare!" The stallion shouted as he pounded on the door once again. "You know it's treason to shelter enemies of the state!"

"Lyra, listen to me." Bon Bon bit the inside of her cheek to keep her mind clear. Panic was starting to set in. "I've never seen that robe before. I know how this looks, why you'd be suspicious, but I swear to you... I swear to you, I would never betray you. You know me." Another round of pounds on the door made her jump. "You know me. I'm your wife. I don't know what's happening here, but I'm not a traitor. You have to believe that, at least. You have to believe me."

Lyra stared hard at her wife, her horn still lit. She ignored the strikes on her door becoming hard kicks as the guards outside began trying to batter their way in. She searched Bon Bon's eyes, the way she held her body, everything about her, trying to find some clue that she was lying, some tell that she was deceiving her.

She found none, and so she made the only choice she could.

Bon Bon's eyes widened as Lyra's horn glowed brighter.

The wooden front door exploded inward from one last impact, and the trio of armored guards raced into the little house, lances at the ready... just in time to be blinded by a flash of light. They blinked rapidly and shook their heads to clear their vision, but it was too late.

The two mares were gone.

/////////////////////////////////////

"Dinky Hooves."

The apprentice jumped, but her training helped her not to lose focus and drop the plate of cookies she'd absconded from the kitchen. The lilac unicorn turned towards the voice's origin and cocked her head. "Sai Moon Dancer?"

Moon Dancer let her saddlebags slide to the floor as she knelt to be at the filly's eye level. Her eyes flicked towards the platter of treats. "Taking advantage of the Lawmares' absence?"

Dinky bit her lip. "Say sorry." She murmured.

Moon Dancer laughed quietly and ruffled the filly's mane affectionately. "Many of your forebears have done the same." She grimaced. "And worse." She looked down the hallway towards Dinky's destination. "How many of you are here tonight?"

"Just me." Dinky relaxed slightly, now confident that she wasn't going to catch hell for this when Sunset Shimmer returned. "Everypony else went home for the weekend."

"You didn't want to take a little leave?" Moon Dancer cocked her head. "See your family?"

"It's just my Momma and me." Dinky shrugged. "She understands. Sai Sunset told me before she left that I needed to work on my defensive charms, anyway."

Moon Dancer stiffened slightly. "You don't think you'd rather spend this time with your mother?"

"She understands." Dinky insisted. "And it's not like she's going anywhere." She watched, confused, as Moon Dancer's kind face seemed to shrink in on itself slightly. "Sai Moon Dancer? Are you alright?"

Moon Dancer quickly got ahold of herself and stood tall once more. "Apprentice Dinky. I'm not your master, but I am a Lawmare. As such, you should obey my commands. Say true?"

Dinky snapped to attention. "Aye."

"Good. I want you home by daybreak." She saw the filly's mouth opening to question her but silenced her with a bark. "Are you hard of hearing, maggot?!"

"No sai! By daybreak. Aye." She gave a little bow, turned, and rushed down the passage to start packing her bag.

"Dinky!"

The filly stopped and turned back.

Moon Dancer's muzzle was quivering, tears gathering in her eyes. "You give your mother the biggest hug when you see her. Do ya kennit?"

Dinky nodded quickly, then hurried on her way. When she came back a few minutes later, saddlebags bulging with books and scrolls for home study, Moon Dancer was gone. As she left the barracks, she thought about how odd it was that Moon Dancer was so concerned that she hugged her mother.

Almost as odd how a fully badged Lawmare had been so forgetful to leave her saddlebags behind.

/////////////////////////////////////

The palace was oddly silent as Twilight made her way down the corridors towards Celestia's chambers. True, it was the dead of night, but the castle never really slept. Not really. The cleaning staff was always about. And the guards were downright dogmatic when it came to their patrols.

So why didn't she see or hear anypony?

(The Royal Guard, of course, that your brother delivered to her like a bridal gift…)

Trixie’s words echoed in her mind and put her on edge. Her horn lit on instinct. After everything she'd been through today, she was taking no chances. No more surprises today, thank you very much. She was here for a reason, and heaven help any who tried to stop her.

But why was she here, anyway? Why, to warn Celestia, of course. Personal feelings aside, she was still the princess. Still the ruler of the nation. She was in danger. And not just her. The entire city. The seat of power. The source of stability in the whole of Equestria. Trixie was planning on bringing all of it down. If they were to stand even the ghost of a chance of stopping her, they would all have to be united. She would tell Celestia what Trixie had told her and then advise the beginning of a systemic evacuation. Given the minions of the Good Mare's willingness to use those explosive crystals of theirs, it seemed the safest course of action. That way, should they fail in stopping Trixie's machinations, then at least the innocent ponies would be safe. Now if she only knew where to start searching for Trixie's lair...

(the glass)

No. Twilight grimaced at the intrusive thought. The glass was poison. She knew that somehow. Deep down. She had little doubt that Celestia's intentions were noble, but her reliance on the grapefruit's nature had clearly altered her mind somehow. How long had she had it, Twilight wondered. How many decisions that had once seemed so obvious, so wise, were really only made because Celestia's bauble had willed it so? Had it been Celestia's decision to allow only females to be Lawmares? Or had that been the glass too? Had Celestia seen her sister becoming a monster and done what she'd done for the good of the land...

...or had she only done so because the glass told her to?

The implication made Twilight shudder and she quickened her pace. She could see the great doors to Celestia's chambers now... but no guards were posted. Her steps faltered. There were always guards at Celestia's doors. Had they made their move already? She slowly crept closer, lighting her horn the slightest bit and using her magic to seize one of the great golden handles. She pushed the door in ever so gently...

An unfamiliar pink glow came from just inside the monarch's chambers.

Twilight inched closer, pushing the door in further as she did so. The glow became more pronounced, stronger, the closer she came to the portal. Something urged her on, began to eat away at her apprehension. Her pace increased, and she soon crossed the threshold and stared in horror.

There was an alicorn in Celestia's chambers... but it was not the Princess of the Sun.

Twilight stared in shock, frozen, as she took in the mare's pink coat, her mane the color of spring, and the regalia she wore wrought from gold and shining with crystals. She was visibly younger than Celestia. Shorter, but still taller than the average pony. Her eyes showed no sign of surprise to see Twilight. Cradled in one gold-slippered foreleg was Marelyn's Grapefruit.

Princess Cadance, the Good Mare, smiled at Twilight Sparkle and opened her mouth to speak.

Twilight’s mind reeled. Of course! It was so obvious now! Shining Armor knew about the tunnels. Of course he’d told his bride! She didn’t need an army to lay siege to the walls. All she needed to do was creep inside like a shadow on a cloudy night and take what she believed to be hers in one fell stroke. While she’d been kept distracted by Trixie’s tale of woe, the Good Mare had snuck in and struck like the heartless assassin she was. She was holding the grapefruit, wasn’t she? How else could she lay her filthy hooves on it unless she’d already killed…?

After the day she had endured, it was no surprise how Twilight reacted. Her sisters were dead. Her mentor was broken. Her brother was a traitor. Her monarch had lied to her. She'd forsaken everything she had ever stood for, cast away the symbol of her position, and nearly lost the one good thing in her life that the universe had been kind enough to give to her.

And it was all because of her. Cadance. The Good Mare.

Twilight shrieked with fury as the killing bolt left her horn. Her aim was deadly accurate, and the blaze of magic struck the Good Mare directly in her breast. Twilight felt the grim satisfaction of the kill as she watched the pink fur turn red, then black as the spell burned its way right into the mare's heart. The Good Mare's eyes widened with shock, but she didn't scream. She spoke but a single word.

"Twilight..."

But it wasn't the unfamiliar voice of the Good Mare that said her name. It was a voice she knew all too well. A voice that had offered guidance, compassion, and love. A voice that had been there all of her life.

Twilight swooned, and her vision seemed to swim and grow hazy. She shook her head and steadied herself... and stared at the reality of what she'd done.

The Good Mare was gone. Princess Celestia stood in her place, tall and regal and perfect... save for the bald and scorched hole upon her breast. She started to lift a hoof, perhaps to reach out to she who had betrayed her so totally, but lost her balance and collapsed to the plush carpeting.

Twilight was beyond words. She could only manage a choked gurgling cry as she practically leapt to her princess' side. She wrapped her forelegs around the alicorn's neck and almost vomited at the heavy, dead weight. Still she tried to lift her, tried to get her standing again. She was Celestia. The pillar of Equestria. The rock of order. She had to rise! She couldn't die! Twilight couldn't really have...

"T...Twilight..." the corpse whispered.

Twilight looked into the fading eyes of the mare she'd sworn to serve. The mare that had guided Equestria since time immemorial. The mare who had battled gods and monsters... and now had been felled by Twilight's own hoof.

"I...It's alright, Twilight." Celestia grimaced, and Twilight realized that she was trying to smile. "I... I knew it... it would be you..."

(Celestia knows... Celestia always knows...)

She went slack, and her last breath left her body with a quiet hiss. Marelyn's Grapefruit slid from her grasp and landed on the carpet with a soft thump.

Twilight stared at the glass, remembering what Celestia had told her that fateful day so long ago; that she was going to do something nopony had ever done. Twilight had wondered, from time to time, what she had meant with those words. Now she knew, of course.

All those years ago, the Wizard’s Glass had told Celestia that Twilight Sparkle would be the death of her. And instead of taking steps to alter that fate, Celestia had accepted it. Had guided her and taught her like she was no different than any other Lawmare. Had held her close and loved her as a daughter, knowing and believing all the time that it was her own doom she cradled.

The glass seemed to wink at her.

With a cry of rage, Twilight seized the cursed bauble in her magic and hurled it as hard as she could away from the fallen princess. It smashed through a stained glass window and vanished into the dark of the night. Twilight paid it no mind. She just stayed there, silently sobbing into the cooling fur of the mare that she'd killed. The mare that she'd loved. Her teacher. Her mother.

Her princess.

She stayed there until the guards came for her.

Comments

[Thranx]

So Trixie was a Lawmare, around Sunset's time too. Why didn't Celestia warn Trixie? Was it out of malice or because the glass told her that Trixie's mate and foal would die, she wills it? Is the glass even connected to Ka or is it the manifestation of Ka? For all we know, the glass might be the anti-Christ of Ka. Though this doesn't mean Ka is a force of good, maybe just a force of nature, if it exists. Now Celestia is willing to die because of this. Is she enslaved by the glass or was she just a firm believer of Ka and interprets everything the glass showed was part of Ka?

[DMDash71]

Didn’t see that coming until it was happening. Celestia = Gabrielle. Well done.

[TCC56]

Well. That was unexpected.

[ponepony]

... or had she only done so because the glass told her to ?

All hail the all knowing algorithm!

I'm guessing Twilight goes nuts then murders every single pony in the Crystal Empire before attack and dethrone Cadance, the god empress of love?

Also welcome back!