• Published 30th Mar 2013
  • 30,099 Views, 1,058 Comments

Twilight's Dollhouse - Kaidan



This funeral was just Twilight’s first. She realizes every pony she loves will die. Now that she is an Alicorn, she will have to relive this crippling heartache hundreds of times. . . Unless she can find a way to keep her best friends forever.

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XVI. Blackest Night

Lyra shifted to get comfortable, wishing for the first time since she became a doll that she hadn’t regained her sense of touch. For what felt like weeks she had been trapped in ice, unable to move, in the dark.

Twilight looked down as she shifted position. “Are you okay Lyra? I thought I might have lost you.” She managed a weak smile.

Lyra looked up and smiled back at her. “Yes, I’m just glad you came back for me.” Her attempt to cheer Twilight up with a smile had failed.

She did little but look down at Lyra and began to frown. There was clearly something on her mind.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Lyra asked. She had been resting in bed with Twilight and Mac when the alicorn bolted out of bed.

“She’s coming,” Twilight said.

“Who is coming?”

Twilight growled, sensing the build up of power from across town. “Luna.” She got out of bed, leaving Mac and Lyra behind.

She flew down from her room to the front door of the library. Twilight paused to retrieve her element from the nearby display. She stepped outside and looked around. It was dark under the new moon, and across the street from her stood Luna and Guard. Twilight grinned. She had prepared a spell that might help with the sarosians.

“Twilight Sparkle, we command you surrender into our custody at once!” Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot voice. There was a hint of malice in it that Twilight had not heard since she cleansed her of Nightmare Moon.

Twilight grinned and looked around, noting the positions of each pony. “No. You had your chance to be there for me, they all did! Now I’ve found a way they’ll never have to die. They may have failed me, but I will never fail my friends!”

“You have failed, Sparkle. All this—the deception, the lies, the investigation—Celestia begged that you be given the chance to confess and be redeemed. I should have brought you to her in chains and beat the confession out of you. You are a monster, now come quietly or else.”

“Or else what? You’ll have your guards arrest me? We both know I’m too powerful for that. If you want me, you’ll have to try harder than tapping the Nightmare for extra power.” Twilight levitated the element of magic where they could all see it. It was radiating an infected purple aura, with streaks of green tainting its purity. She placed it on her head.

What little patience Luna had was gone, and she lowered herself towards the ground, ready to attack. “You are charged with the murder of two Lunar Guards, Colgate, Bon Bon, and the disappearance of at least twenty-eight others.”

“Cut the crap with the voice, and what do you mean two guards?” Twilight thought about it a minute and began laughing. “You mean Echo was in on it the whole time? You’re such a coward you had to use a decoy? Then he got what he deserved! It’s not your place to deny my friends immortality!”

Luna closed the distance between them until Twilight could feel the temperature dropping. “I am not a coward. Were it not Celestia’s wish to investigate and arrest you peacefully, I would not hesitate to strike you down. By the old laws, I can execute you without trial for the confirmed murder of members of the Lunar Guard.”

Twilight laughed again. “Citing laws from your failed regime? What’s your end-game here? I haven’t hurt anypony that didn’t deserve it. My friends are immortal and safe, I could have even granted you true immortality. Instead, you’ll just end up back on the moon. Only this time I won’t send you there alive.”

The aura of magic around Twilight thickened until it repulsed the cold night air from around her. Luna braced herself as Twilight opened herself up to the same dark side of her equinity that once turned Luna into Nightmare Moon.

“So, we’re doing this the hard way?” Luna stated. She flexed her neck, cracking several joints, and slowly backed up to give her guard a clear shot. “Unlike Celestia, I’m not afraid of a fight.” Luna nodded at her guards.

The twenty-two guards aimed at Twilight. They emitted their supersonic screech at her to disable her magic, as Luna charged her horn. Twilight responded by charging her own horn, bringing out a tainted glow from the element of magic.

Twilight braced herself as she cast a spell to amplify the sound waves. Within seconds it had started a feedback loop, growing hundreds of times louder than should be possible. It took all Twilight’s might to weather the storm, and within seconds it had ended.

She opened her eyes and grinned in triumph. Around them lie a platoon of Lunar Guards, bleeding from the eyes and ears, twitching in agony. Their brains had been scrambled by their own secret weapon, amplified and returned to their sensitive ears a thousand times stronger.

Luna stood there with her mouth agape. “I did not realize you’d come to possess such power.”

Twilight smiled widely, showing off her teeth. “Well, Luna, having second thoughts?”

Luna bowed her head. “Part of me still didn’t want to believe you had fallen so far.” Luna lowered her head and began to channel magic. For all the evil Nightmare Moon had wrought, Twilight had once gone out of her way to save her. Now, Luna had failed to save the one pony who had redeemed her from exile. Tears began to fall from her face as she realized there really was only one way this could end.

“What you have done here is inexcusable. There will be no trial.” Luna raised her head and opened her eyes. They had turned jet black and began to radiate energy along with her horn.

Twilight barely had time to wipe the grin off her face before a bolt of black magic closed the distance between them. She raised the first counterspell she could think of, forming a blunt shield in front of her. She was flung backward by the force of it colliding with poorly focused shield. Twilight recovered and cast another spell to slow down her inertia as she sailed through the air. A large branch snapped in two as it stopped her in mid-air and she fell to the ground.

She looked back up at the alicorn advancing on her. Twilight charged her horn and fired the doll spell at her. Luna batted it aside effortlessly, and turned back just in time to see a branch hurdling through the air at her. It caught her in the side, sending her sprawling across the dirt.

Twilight flew up and dove down at Luna, firing as many bolts of energy at her as she could muster. Each one swirled into a black void around Luna’s horn, being absorbed by her. Soon she was on the defensive as Luna redirected her own magic back at her.

She was more prepared this time, but her shield still barely held. Twilight landed on her hooves and looked around for Luna. A solid beam of energy shot out at her from her left side. She joined it with her own beam of purple energy. The two pulsed against each other as they lowered their guards and poured all their magic into a focused beam of energy. They stood locked in place as the deadly torrents of energy battled between them.

“This—is how you use—what Celestia taught you? To destroy?” Luna asked.

Twilight gritted her teeth and pushed the beam of energy further towards Luna. “No, I’ve—used it to give—eternal life!”

“You do not grasp the true meaning—of immortality!” Luna launched a surge of arcane energy into her horn, blasting Twilight back against the library. “To live forever trapped in a cage of stone, or banished to the moon. Do not ever presume to tell me you are giving eternal life!

Twilight tapped the energy of her element, reversing the gravity around Luna. Before she could recover, Twilight reversed it again and amplified it, pinning Luna to the ground. She walked over, straining under the effort of mimicking the gravity on the surface of the sun.

“I’ve—preserved their minds in dolls—that will never rot! Never wither!” Twilight screamed. “We—will all live forever—happy! young!” She increased the gravity more, causing the ground to depress under Luna. Her entire body was glowing a dark blue as her magic kept her from being crushed instantly.

Twilight almost stopped the spell when she noticed the darkness fall over them both. All the stars were vanishing, and the new moon had grown into a full moon. It continued to grow brighter and brighter as Luna tapped it for energy. “Wha—”

Twilight was cut off as Luna opened a conduit of arcane energy between herself and the moon. Like lightning, pure energy shot forth from her horn and the celestial body, passing through Twilight. She struggled to shield herself but it had already burned its way past most of her mental defenses.

She tried a last ditch attempt to teleport and disrupt the energy flow. Every nerve in her body was on fire and her muscles tensed, overloaded by the energy. Retreating into her mind, Twilight was able to find a small bastion of power she could still control. It was the element of magic, giving her just enough focus to teleport out of the conduit of pure arcane mana.

Twilight succeeded, but the backlash threw her into the wall inside her kitchen. Twilight rolled over and fought to regain her footing. She could see in the reflection on the refrigerator most of her mane and tail had been scorched away.

Twilight wondered why Luna hadn’t followed her in. She tapped into her element of magic again, finding it nearly depleted. She tossed it aside and grabbed the largest knife she could out of the nearby cabinet.

Walking outside, she found Luna still struggling forward from the exertion. Twilight began laughing as she walked towards her. “So, that’s all you’ve got? The mighty princess of the night and her moon?” Twilight walked towards her and waved the knife towards the moon, which was still outshining every star in the sky.

“You sho—” Luna coughed up a little blood. “Should not be alive, nopony can survive that—much energy.”

“Oh Luna, my cause is righteous. Surely you did not expect to beat me?” Twilight closed in on her prey steadily. “Now that I know I’m more powerful than you, I have nothing to fear.” Twilight jammed the knife into Luna’s shoulder.

Luna screamed in pain and collapsed on the ground. As her blood stained the dirt beneath her, Twilight noticed the moon also turning blood red. Soon, everything as far as the eye could see turned a deep crimson.

“It’s over, Twilight. Celestia is coming,” Luna said.

Twilight turned towards Canterlot, looking again at the moon. In ancient times, a red moon signified that war had been declared on Equestria. Twilight wouldn’t have long now to prepare before she had to face Celestia herself.

“Good, no more hiding from what you’ve done Celestia. Do you hear me?!” Twilight screamed. “You let my family die and wouldn’t even comfort me, you are the true monster! The immortal sun goddess! Raising me like your own foal and discarding me like worthless trash!”

There was a loud popping sound behind Twilight. She turned around and Luna was gone. The princess had teleported away, no doubt to Canterlot.

Twilight ran back towards the library giggling. “Yes, plenty of time now. I’ll send everypony to the Everfree. It’ll all be okay!”


Rarity flinched as they heard another loud explosion from outside, shaking dust loose from the rafters.

“Is—do you think that’s Celestia? Come to save us?” Sweetie asked.

“I don’t know, Darling, but I hope so,” Rarity said.

They had gathered the remaining unfrozen ponies near the prison and were trying to free the dolls trapped inside of it. Sprocket as the most mechanically inclined of the lot was trying to pick the lock with a few bent pins.

“We have to get out of here!” Vinyl yelled. “Whatever is going on, it’s our best chance to escape!”

“The tunnel isn’t finished,” Octavia said. “We were close, but there are least four feet to go.”

Another loud noise from outside shook dirt loose from the ceiling. “Got it!” Sprocket yelled. He had picked the lock to the prison and managed to get the trapped ponies out.

“About time,” Dash whined. She crawled out of the lockbox and began biting at the rubber bands around her wings. “Sounds like Scootaloo made it!”

All the ponies gathered began to cheer. The door to the basement swung open, and a brilliant wave of lavender magic washed over the room. Large runes etched into the wall began to activate.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Vinyl said.


Scootaloo had finally made it to the castle. Unfortunately, it was gargantuan for a pegasus as small as she was. She didn’t want to waste time trying to convince the guards, but had little choice.

She flew down to the guard at the front doors of the castle. “Hey, you! I need to talk to Celestia immediately!”

The guard rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple times. “What the, hey Steel, you seeing this?”

“Yeah, Flint, but I don’t believe it. Is that a toy?” Steel said.

“No, my name is Scootaloo, I’m an orphan living in Ponyville and a friend of Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty! Twilight has been imprisoning us in dolls and I have to talk to Celestia immediately or more ponies will die!” Scootaloo shouted.

“I—what on Equestria is the regulation for this?” Flint asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s above our paygrade. Better just take her to Celestia. She might still be in the main hall holding the night court for her sister,” Steel said.

“Awesome! Come on guys, we don’t have much time,” Scootaloo said. She landed on top of Steel’s helmet as they galloped inside to find Celestia.

It was a short ride to reach her, reminding Scootaloo how much she missed being able to walk and fly like a normal sized pony. It had taken two hours when it should have taken twenty minutes to cross Canterlot to the castle due to her size.

The trio burst into the throne room, causing Celestia to tilt her head and put the bite of cake on her fork down. “Guards, what is the matter?” Celestia asked.

“Princess!” Scootaloo took off and flew towards her.

A thousand years of grace under pressure and regal composure began to slip, her eyes going wide in shock. There appeared to be a talking, flying doll, rapidly approaching her. Celestia dropped the cake from her levitation and her mouth fell agape.

“Celestia! Twilight’s gone crazy and she’s trapping everypony!” Scootaloo said.

“Wha—guards! Send for word from Luna immediately,” Celestia ordered. “Ready the Solar Guard, and bring the Knight-Captain here at once.”

“Celestia, please promise you can rescue everypony, please,” Scootaloo whined.

“It’s okay, my little pony. Now, tell me what has happened a bit more calmly.”

Scootaloo landed on the armrest of the chair. “Well, Twilight tricked me to come to the library and poisoned me. Then she captured me as a doll, and Dash too. She has a whole town in her basement of dolls. Rarity, the crusaders, Vinyl, Lyra, Big Mac. . . She plans to get everypony and make them be her friend forever!”

Celestia was still processing this shocking news. Part of her refused to believe her pupil had this in her. After years of trials and tests, after raising her to the status of princess, how could she have this evil inside her?

“You are sure?” Celestia asked. She immediately felt it was a pretty stupid question. Tiny replica dolls of ponies that disappeared without a trace isn’t the kind of thing you could make up.

“Yeah, an—” The room took on a red tint. Scootaloo looked up through the skylight to see a blood red moon hanging low in the sky. “What does that mean?”

Celestia stood up and levitated a dusty trunk out of an alcove in the corner. “It means, Scootaloo, that we’re at war. It means Luna needs my aid. May the creator have mercy on Twilight if what you say is true.”

Though the chest was dusty, the contents inside still gleamed as brilliantly as the last time Celestia had worn them into battle. The golden raiments of the sun goddess hadn’t been used since banishing Nightmare Moon a millenia ago.

Now, Celestia slipped into the golden breastplate with sterling silver designed engraved on it. Her cutie mark adorned it, protecting her chest from all weapons magical and non-magical. She put on large boots, a larger regalia that protected everything below her knee. Celestia’s mane was tucked under the helmet, and her horn slid through a hole in the top of it.

Scootaloo watched in awe at the transformation. Celestia had once been white with a flowing pink, blue, and green mane. Now all that was visible was a golden deity, barely a hint of white fur showing. Her flowing mane had vanished, replaced by a golden ethereal mane and tail. The entire room seemed brighter from her mere presence.

There was a loud popping sound in the room. Scootaloo turned to see a bloodied and bruised Luna in the center of the chamber. A large wound in her shoulder was spewing bright red blood onto the tiles. Scootaloo and Celestia flew over to aid her.

“Lulu! What happened? Are you okay?” Celestia cried out. She stopped in front of her sister and began to charge her horn.

“No, Tia, stop! Leave it for the doctors.” She held a hoof up to wave her away. “you’ll need your strength for Twilight, she is not the filly we once knew.”

Celestia dropped her royal visage for the first time in millennia. Her facade cracked as her eyes narrowed and she grimaced. In one moment she was crying, the next her body was tensed up, her ears flat against her head. She was quick to regain her composure. For that brief moment, the pensive leader had shown her subjects the emotional turmoil within.

Scootaloo backed up as waves of heat began to radiate off Celestia, threatening to melt her. “Twilight tried to kill you? Was she behind the disappearances also?” Celestia asked.

Luna nodded weakly. “Yes to both, dear sister. She has fallen even—” Luna choked back a sob. “Even further than I did.”

Scootaloo was blinded and realized it was the noon-day sun shining through the windows overhead. Celestia had raised the sun, despite it being nearly midnight.

Celestia motioned for the guards. “Take Luna to the infirmary at once. Dispatch all guards to Ponyville.” Celestia grabbed the nearest guard, Steel, by the scruff of his neck. “And do not misunderstand me. When I say all guards, I mean every. Single. One.” She released him and he ran off to carry out her order.

Celestia motioned to Scootaloo “Take her to the infirmary too. Do not let harm come to either of them.” Celestia was so carried away in her disappointment, pity, and anger at Twilight’s betrayal she did not realize the fear she was invoking in her subjects. Ponies who had never seen her raise her voice at the rudest solicitor were now backed against the walls as she channeled the pure essence of the sun.

She walked towards the door to the main hall, tears dripping from her cheeks to the floor. The nearest ponies raised their eyes and saw a look of determination and sorrow. Clad in her battle armor and with the sun high in the sky, her true meaning had been revealed.

Twilight, I’m coming for you.


Author's Note:

Twilight's Dollhouse: Population 31

Oh Snap! Remind me to never piss off Celestia.

Tomorrow (Monday) chapter 17 will post.

Revised chapter 15