A pony becomes acquainted with the powers of creation, while the being that gave it to her starts to regret it.
In which we learn that power corrupts, but absolute power really just amplifies. A story built on the idea that everyone's reality is mutable and created through the telling of stories. Every time a new story is told a new reality is created and from the point of view of its characters it has always been there. What if they found this out? And further, had the capacity to change it?
"Why does one enjoy writing? I believe it is based on the joy of creation. When a great visual artist finally finishes a complicated work, she feels satisfaction because she has achieved beauty ex nihilo. It is my opinion that the written or spoken word has orders of magnitude more power behind it. Our words and sentences create, in the mind of the reader, entire universes. Like a dream, these worlds feel complete and full when made by a skilled craftsman, yet paradoxically there is nothing there beyond the words on the paper.
Even though the characters in this world are defined by nothing more than collections of letters, our minds give them thoughts, hopes, and dreams beyond what we may intend. What we believe we control we may quickly find to be developing beyond our expectations. It is for this reason our craft is dangerous. Those who abuse this gift will destroy more than they create. The gift is meant for all, but be careful not to cast your pearls before swine.
Go. Create. Destroy when you must. Remember that only what is written is true."
- Brightstar, Chief Wordsmith of the Allwriters Guild
It is in the nature of the universe to follow the law of conservation of detail. Most Creators don’t waste their time organizing information that will never be observed by their–for want of a better word–sentient creations. This particular mountain never had any definition to it beyond what was on the surface. No one had bothered to look. Now that it was needed, this cave would always exist for just this moment.
In the darkness, centuries of stillness were interrupted by hoofsteps. Their owner had trodden through puddles of cold, still water and over rocks slick with colorful mold until her light revealed a podium, a large book, and a quill. The unicorn reverently approached the crude stone stand and read the words inscribed on the cover.
Only what is written is true. Use this gift responsibly.
–Your Benefactor
She rolled her eyes and opened to the first page. It was blank. Despite long neglect, the inkwell was full and fresh. It felt as if it was waiting for her. In a slow, careful script she wrote one line.
The cold stone cavern was suddenly lit by a warm glow, and a comfortable chair appeared in front of the podium for my convenience.
The writer stopped, and looked up and around. Just as the thought crossed her mind that maybe it was a hoax after all the air was filled with a comforting, yellow light. A plush velvet chair appeared at her side without any indication that the space was ever empty.
Despite herself, she gave a triumphant shout. After taking a seat, she quickly returned the quill to the paper and wrote without pausing. She had been thinking about this for a long time.
Twilight Sparkle was happy. That’s the thought that was occupying her mind as she sat in her study, another book propped open in front of her. She wasn’t even reading the words on the page. She was thinking about how good life had been to her. Despite being technically royalty, she could spend her days in the (usually) quiet town of Ponyville. She had the greatest friends a pony could ask for. When that was too much, she could schedule plenty of personal time and read all the books she wanted. She lived in a library, for pony’s sake! There were some setbacks, and some drama, but everything always worked out the way she wanted before long. Yes, life was good, and Twilight was happy. It was almost enough to make one burst into song.
Something she couldn’t quite identify roused her from her thoughts. As she woke up to reality she noticed it had been unusually quiet for a while now.
She lifted her head and looked around. “Spike?” she called out. One could usually hear him running around, cleaning something or making snacks. When there was no reply, she got up to check his bed, where he could sit for hours on end reading comic books. Empty.
A little worried now, Twilight searched faster. Spike had been known to fall asleep in odd places. He really should be here somewhere; he was far too young to be leaving home without telling her.
She heard a noise and rushed to the front door. The young dragon was walking in with an armful of scrolls.
“Spike! Where were you?” she asked.
Spike looked at the pile of scrolls, then at Twilight with a quizzical look. “You sent me to get these. We were out, remember? Really, Twilight, it’s not like you to just forget things like that,” he said with a little laugh.
Spike walked past Twilight while she stared after him. “No… it’s not.”
***
Sugarcube Corner was not usually open so late, but Pinkie Pie made exceptions for friends. Since she was friends with literally everypony in Ponyville, the rule was more of a formality. Tonight Twilight was pacing in front of the counter.
“–and I had no idea how it got there. I didn’t remember anything on that list. The next item said ‘Get a cake for my pet owl’s birthday party.’ I know his name!” she said.
Pinkie Pie just laughed in her high-pitched, slightly annoying voice. “Oh, Twilight, I forget things all the time! Just yesterday I forgot that my party cannon was still loaded with lobsters from the whole harpy incident. That colt sure was surprised!”
Twilight paused, then sighed. “You’re right. I guess things like that just happen sometimes.” Pinkie was a good friend, but sometimes her inability to take things seriously wasn’t very helpful. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was Twilight who was making this molehill into a mountain. She bought the cake and started to walk out the door.
“Twilight?” There was something in Pinkie’s voice that froze Twilight in her tracks. She half-turned around.
“You be careful out there,” Pinkie said.
It wasn’t just what Pinkie said that made Twilight so anxious. She was just concerned for her friend’s safety, right? But Pinkie’s voice had a tone that was so unlike her that it was terrifying. It was flat and serious, not just her usual still-a-little-bit-goofy serious.
“Um... sure,” Twilight replied. She smiled awkwardly, and then left a little faster than was polite.
Those words repeated in her head as Twilight tried to sleep.
***
Apparently the next day really was Twilight’s owl’s birthday. It was written in her calendar and everything. She spent the morning in a constant state of paranoia. After all, Pinkie had been known to make eerily accurate predictions. As the afternoon party approached without anything terrifying or world-threatening happening, her previous fears had almost been forgotten. Spending time with her friends was what mattered most today.
She had no idea what was coming.
The turnout was massive. Even if it was just her pet’s birthday party, everypony wanted to be seen at a party hosted by Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Applejack approached her from the crowd, snack in hoof. “Twilight, I gotta say, you’ve outdone yourself with these apple crumbles. I couldn’t have done it better myself!”
“Thanks, Applejack,” Twilight responded. “Coming from you, that means a lot.”
“Don’t mention it. Say, do you remember what happened this morning?” Applejack asked casually.
The question caught her off guard, and Twilight had to think for a moment. “Nothing happened this morning. Nothing terrifying.” ‘Nothing terrifying?’ That’s kind of a weird thing to say, she thought to herself.
“Nothin’ at all, huh? I mean specifically, what was the first thing you did this morning?” Applejack looked expectant and a little disappointed.
Suddenly Pinkie Pie’s warning to Twilight the previous night came back to the forefront of her mind. She tried to keep apprehension out of her voice. Her first reaction was that Applejack was trying to interrogate her for some reason. She pushed the thought away. That was not something her ‘loyalest and most dependable’ friend would do. “Why is that important? Did I do something wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Nah. Never you mind.” Applejack turned and started to walk away, but was interrupted. The alicorn had teleported into her path, concern showing on her face.
“Applejack, you can’t just say something like that without explaining. What happened this morning? Is somepony hurt?”
Applejack looked Twilight blankly in the eye.
“Nothing happened, Twi. Nothing happened because I said so.”
“What? What does that mean?” Twilight was losing patience with what she was sure was deliberate obfuscation. Applejack tended to speak nonsense when she was lying, and something smelled rotten.
“Well ain’t you just a little bundle a’ questions.” Applejack gestured to herself “I didn’t say so. Well, not me me. Earlier I–“She stopped talking.
You know what, let’s just leave Twilight in the dark a while. Let her suspect her friends. Won’t that just tear her up? Anyway, it’s no fun throwing her under the carriage so quickly.
“Hey, I gotta go. My, uh, lunch break’s over.”
Applejack dropped her pastry and disappeared into the crowd before Twilight could say another word.
***
For some time afterward, Twilight wondered what it was that Applejack could be hiding from her. She seemed innocent enough. A surprise party, maybe? It was several hours before she thought about the first question Applejack asked, and she realized that she didn’t remember this morning at all. Twilight had visited Pinkie, had trouble getting to sleep, and then remembered nothing until the middle of the party, as soon as Applejack started talking to her. Why had she not noticed?
This, along with Spike’s scrolls and the forgotten birthday, led her to believe that something was definitely up. Whatever it may have been, Twilight turned to her go-to solution: books.
She was up very late that night. Sleep wasn’t possible with this many unanswered questions. She didn’t even really know what she was looking for. She tried every kind of counter-magic she knew. That would’ve worked against any memory altering spell; she certainly wasn’t a stranger to those.
The other likely option was that she was having some kind of nightmare. That would explain the memory gaps.
She stopped turning pages. She just realized that the last thing she was conscious of was Applejack’s strange questions. What did she do for the rest of the day?
If it was a dream, she should be awake by now. Everything felt too real. What were the other possible explanations? Maybe Ponyville is being taken over by changelings again.
“Your friends aren’t changelings, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash flew down from an open window.
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on, but something tells me you do. Care to explain?”
A voice from behind her said, “Not if you ask with that tone of voice.”
Twilight spun around and was nose-to-nose with Rarity, who said, “Your manners always were a little... lacking.”
It was their voices. Something was just a little bit off, as if they were reading a script. Twilight looked at the locked front door. “My friends don’t read minds, or appear in my house in the middle of the night. Usually,“ she added under her breath. “Who are you? And–“
“What have you done to my friends?” Rainbow Dash yelled, then burst out laughing.
Twilight closed her mouth as Rarity gave a coy smile and said, “Questions, questions, questions. Isn’t it frustrating? Princess Twilight Sparkle, who always has the answer, is completely at a loss. No, I promise you, you’re looking at the real Rarity. That’s Rainbow Dash, and over there in the corner is Applejack.”
“Howdy.”
After Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin, Rarity continued. “Haven’t you ever wished you could make the world exactly how you wanted it to be, make people act exactly how you wanted them to act? That was a rhetorical question; I know the thought has crossed your mind. You always wanted it. You lament how ugly the world is, how stupidly illogical most ponies are. Not like you, of course. You’re special. And now you have that crown to feed your disgusting ego. You say you’re not better than everypony else. You even try to think it. But deep down, you know it couldn’t be anyone but you. It’s only proper that you have the title to match the ability.” She was now so close to Twilight’s face that she could feel her warmth on her cheek, smell her perfumed mane. “Don’t be afraid to take what you want,” Rarity whispered in her ear.
Frozen in place, Twilight couldn’t help but realize everything she said was true. She tried, oh she tried, to be fair, to be loving, to be a friend. But maybe that wasn’t the kind of pony she was meant to be. She could be so much more than that.
She grit her teeth and shoved what she was now certain wasn’t Rarity away. Don’t listen to them, she thought, they’re just trying to get to me. That was the old me. I know better now.
She ran across the room. Rainbow Dash was blocking the stairs. Twilight had long passed the calm reasoning phase, and anyway she was sure this wasn’t really Rainbow Dash. With a blast of magic, she threw the pegasus aside and ran upstairs. For all her flaws, Twilight’s decent with a spell; I’ll give her that much.
“Spike! Wake up! We need to send a letter right a–“
She stopped when she was met with Rarity reclining in her bed and Spike leaning against her side. He was nonchalantly picking at his claws.
“Not gonna happen, Twilight,” he said without looking up.
“Spike... you too?” Twilight couldn’t hold back the tears now.
Rarity just never stopped smiling. “Give it up, darling. Come join us. It’ll be fun.”
Of course I could make her give up. She could do anything I want. Some part of me wants to see that happen. But Twilight Sparkle doesn’t deserve love. She deserves to know what it’s like to have everything she thought she knew crumble around her.
Instead, she screamed in frustration, blasted the windows off of their hinges, and flew into the night.
***
Rainbow Dash’s cloud home was not far away. She flew in through one of the many windows to the bedroom. “Rainbow! Wake up, someone is–“
The bed was empty. The entire house was. Twilight stamped her hoof on the ground, which didn’t have quite the effect she wanted it to, and took off again.
***
Flying as fast as she could, it didn’t take her long to get to Canterlot. On the way, she realized something that should have been obvious from the start. Discord! This kind of taunting, ominous mischief was exactly his style. Preoccupied with this idea, she missed the fact that the grounds of Canterlot Castle were completely empty. Even at this time of night, there should have been guards. The doorway was wide open and the hallways were vacant.
Before she even touched the ground in the throne room, she launched into an explanation to the alicorn on duty. “Princess Luna! You and Celestia have... got to help me! I think it’s Discord. He’s done something to... all of my friends!” Twilight panted.
“Yes. We know. There has been some strange behavior here as well.” Luna got off her throne and approached Twilight. “We’ve been working on this all day and still know almost nothing. But we do know that it isn’t Discord.”
“It isn’t? But nothing else makes sense. I don’t have any idea where to start looking.”
“If anyone can fix this,” said a voice from the other side of the room, “we can. Together.”
Twilight turned to see her mentor and idol, Celestia, and ran to embrace her. “Thank you, Princess. I knew you would always be there for me,” said Twilight.
“Didn’t I say I would? Now, Princess Twilight, I think the library would be a good place to start, don’t you?”
Twilight was so happy she almost fainted. Everything was going to be all right.
***
The hallways were unlit, and the moonlight passing through the stained glass windows cast strangely colored shapes on the three alicorns as they passed by.
“You said you knew it wasn’t Discord. How can you be so sure?” Twilight asked.
“As soon as the odd behavior began, we asked him to stay nearby. Without the Elements, we can’t force him to, but to his credit he kindly agreed to stay. He hasn’t left the castle all day,” Luna answered.
There was flash and a cloud of smoke as Discord appeared in the air in front of the elder alicorns.
“Yes, and it wounds my fragile heart to know that I was the first one you thought to blame. Don’t you trust me by now?” He floated over to the third alicorn. “Oh, Princess Twilight, thank goodness you’re here. Surely you can talk some sense into these two. We’re friends, right?” He clasped his hands together and pouted at her.
Twilight closed her eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh to match Discord’s theatrics. “I’m sure they were just trying to be on the safe side. Why don’t you help us figure this out? That way you can get out of here faster,” she said.
Discord quickly recovered from his ingratiating position. “Hah! How shrewd. I can’t make any promises, though. Believe it or not, I’m just as in the dark as you are.”
As they continued through the dim stone hallways, Twilight considered how important Princess Celestia was to her. She spent so much time studying under her that Celestia seemed to be more approachable than her own parents. She certainly loved her like a parent. Right now, she had no doubt that they could solve anything together.
The Royal Canterlot library never failed to impress Twilight. Bookshelves dozens of feet high and spanning multiple stories were all sharply lit by beautiful, cold moonlight. Their hoofsteps echoed over the stone as Twilight sent a point of light into the air, where it hovered over the huge statue in the center of the room.
Agreeing that they can find answers faster separately, each of them walked down the nearest likely-looking aisle. Almost half an hour passed with nothing but the turning of pages to break the silence.
As Twilight pulled a few more books off the shelf, Celestia appeared around the corner. “Twilight? Do you have a moment?”
“Of course. Did you find something?”
Celestia said nothing but knelt down, eye to eye with her star protégé.
“Not yet, but I’d like to know more about your friends’ behavior. Can you tell me exactly what they said?” Celestia asked.
Twilight took a deep breath. “They said they were making things happen. ‘Nothing happened because I said so.’ And they insisted that they really were my friends, as if I would believe that. My friends don’t appear out of nowhere and erase ponies’ memories and... Rarity...” She shuddered, as if to shake free an unwelcome thought. “I just want my real friends back. I would do anything.”
Revisiting those memories, the night’s events finally caught up to Twilight, and adrenaline was replaced with fear. Alone in the dimly lit aisle, Princess Twilight Sparkle buried her head in Celestia’s mane and started to cry. “Please. Anything,” she repeated.
She couldn’t see The Sun Princess’s triumphant smile.
“It’s funny,” Celestia whispered into her ear, “the silly things ponies say when they’re desperate. You’ll see your friends again, but only briefly.”
Twilight pulled back, confused. “What? Do you know–“ her stomach dropped out from under her when she looked into Celestia’s eyes and was met with a scowl, and a coldness she had never seen before. “No. No no no no NO!” She backed into a shelf and sent books tumbling down around her.
“I wish I could say I’m sorry, Princess,” Celestia calmly said as she stood up, “but I’m not.”
Blind panic struck Twilight and she tried to run, but Luna stood at the other end of the aisle.
“You have no allies. Your friendship is a lie,” she said, matter-of-factly.
Twilight jumped into the air and tried to flap wings that were no longer there.
The animalistic form of Discord overshadowed her. “No wings. No magic. What’s left? What are you now, Princess?” He shouted it with perverse joy, to contrast the flat mocking of the other ponies.
Twilight tried to summon the most powerful blast of magic that she could, but could not even produce a spark. Discord was right. Her magic had faded, along with the light in the center of the library.
Celestia was slowly approaching from the left, and Twilight had tears streaming down her face.
I wish I could’ve been there. To see the mighty Princess Twilight Sparkle reduced to a hopeless heap. Maybe someday she’ll get to relate it to me in person. Maybe she’ll describe how painful it was to feel nothing but despair beyond redemption. I hope that despair turns to hate when she learns who did this to her. A hate that will fester for eternity. What would that do to a pony?
Twilight ran out of options and ran out of fight. For a few seconds she stood, trembling, holding on to blind defiance. She slowly closed her eyes.
Then, she gave up.
***
For a few seconds, Twilight was content. Her subconscious had chosen to stop feeling what was too terrible to bear. It seemed to her like an eternity had passed before she realized that she was lying in something soft and cold. She opened her eyes.
Stretching out in all directions were waves of white sand. The sky was an unbroken black, except for one tiny pinpoint of light. Farther away, spires of jagged rock rose into the sky, growing in height until they became mountains. It was impossible to judge distance, but they could have been massive. Despite the lack of illumination, she could clearly see Celestia standing a few paces away.
“Alright. You win. What is it you want?” Twilight asked, dejectedly.
Celestia smiled. “I won a long time ago, and I already have what I want. I just wish I could enjoy it in person,” she gloated in her soothing, regal voice.
One by one, every friend and ally that Twilight had ever known appeared in a circle around her. They were silent and motionless, but I allowed some small part of their former souls to shine through. There was obvious pain in their eyes.
“So you sent all of us to the moon? Is that it?” Twilight shouted.
I smiled as I read those words. They are my words, but isn’t that just what Twilight would think? Where’s the imagination in that?
“That would have been oddly poetic,” Celestia said, “but no. Obviously I wouldn’t bring you anywhere if I knew it was at all possible to escape. This is far beyond the moon, past the sun and all the stars. It didn’t even exist until now. Your friends will be elsewhere; you’ll get this one all to yourself.”
Celestia leaned down next to Twilight’s ear. “Your precious Celestia has a very special place prepared for her.” She laughed as she walked away. “Oh, by the way, you’re immortal now. Enjoy your stay!”
As Twilight struggled to her hooves, her friends faded, forever separated by distances too massive to fathom.
“Who are you? What are you!?” she shouted at the retreating form of her mentor.
The empty shell that used to be Princess Celestia stopped, and without turning around said, “What’s the matter, Twilight? Not enjoying your exile?”
The last word that Twilight Sparkle ever said to another living being was:
“Trixie?”
The historian stopped reading and looked up over his glasses at his young assistant. Between them on the desk was a giant book, its pages yellowed and worn.
“Well, it’s certainly very... imaginative. Where did you say you found it?” the old unicorn said.
“I didn’t. A peasant in the Eastern Mountains found it in a cavern that was exposed by last week’s earthquake,” said the assistant as the historian flipped through the next few pages. “There are a few pages describing in graphic detail where Celestia and the others went, then a paragraph saying how the author was turned into a, quote, ‘unbelievably powerful alicorn.’”
The historian rubbed his stubble. “I see. Did you know that the Defiler used to be called Celestia? Before she was exposed, I mean. If this is an eyewitness account of the banishment of her and her apprentice the Charlatan, then this could be thousands of years old. The wording is very strange, though. I wonder if the author was completely sane. Either way, we’ll have to ask Her Great and Powerful Highness if it’s accurate. She’ll know what to do.”
He was interrupted by the loud, clear ringing of bells from the square outside.
“Ah. Well, it’ll have to wait until after Praising Hour. Grab the effigies on your way out,” he said.
The unicorns left the room in darkness, leaving the book open on the desk.
***
The throne room of the reigning monarch was dozens of floors above the city streets. Its yellow and gold circular patterns in the smooth marble and the absence of any furniture besides the high-backed throne suggested that its occupant was the only important thing in the world. Sunlight let in by a wide vista was nearly matched by the cold radiance of the alicorn in the center of the room. Poets had tried for generations–mostly under duress–to describe her terrible beauty. How it was something that mesmerized you, but carried with it promises of destruction should you approach casually. The air around her shimmered and her mane gave off an icy blue glow. She held her head in a manner that suggested that all the world was beneath her. In a way, it was.
A guard entered, his head reverently bowed almost to the floor. Without looking up he said, “Your Great and Powerful Highness. The fires are nearly ready.”
The Queen didn’t respond; she didn’t waste her words on ponies that did not deserve them. However, she did break her aloof expression with a scowl when the guard raised his head to look directly at her.
When she spoke, her voice reflected her millennia of unchallenged authority. “Her Great and Powerful Highness does not remember giving you permission to erect yourself. Bow, or be destroyed.” There was no anger or force behind the words. There did not need to be.
But the guard did not move. “Hey now, is that any way to speak to your Benefactor?” he said.
The Queen narrowed her eyes, and with a low popping noise turned the stallion into a cloud of crystalline dust.
A male voice echoed through the room, coming from all directions. “Why did you do that? I would have preferred to speak more naturally if you don’t mind.”
A white unicorn that the monarch didn’t recognize appeared in front of the throne dressed in a guard’s uniform. “I’m sorry we never had a chance to meet in person. In pony? Whatever. I’m the reason you have all this, Your Highness. Your Benefactor? I thought you would remember that,” he said.
The Queen paused for a moment. “It has been a long time.”
“In a manner of speaking. Look, I’m here to give you what you want, just like I did all those years ago,” the stallion replied.
“Her Great and Powerful—“
“Yeah we get it. You’re great and powerful. Can we skip the formalities?” the unicorn interrupted.
The Queen’s face contorted, as if what she was about to say would cause her physical pain. “Trixie... already has what she wants.”
“No, not quite. You’d think you’d pay more attention to what you write in a reality altering book. That’s okay. I’ll just drop off what I came to deliver and leave. But first I have a question for you.”
Trixie remained silent.
“Do you remember the last three thousand years?” the unicorn asked.
The pieces had already started to connect in Trixie’s head. When she realized that the details of that time period were lost to her she started to feel something she hadn’t in a long time – fear. She didn’t notice that the white unicorn had disappeared until he was replaced by another figure. Trixie wasn’t even sure it was a pony at first. Large patches of the figure’s coat were missing, and what skin was showing was covered in teeth marks. What was left of her mane looked like a dead animal draped over her hanging head, and purple feathers were bent in every direction out of her outstretched wings. Twilight Sparkle raised her head.
Twilight didn’t recognize the alicorn on the throne. It wouldn't have mattered if she did. Anything resembling sanity had long since left her mind. Every emotion had been replaced by hate, and every memory by pain. For the first time in eons, she saw another living being, and its very existence taunted her.
Trixie then learned the answer to her rhetorical question, asked in writing millennia ago. Her whispered “No.” was drowned out by a scream fueled by thousands of years of impotent rage. In the next few milliseconds a shockwave and ball of lightning expanded outwards from Twilight. The floor under her feet started to dissolve like the sand she had spent most of her life walking on. The Queen’s attempt to protect herself shattered without resistance as the throne room was vaporized.
***
Even miles away, the fireball that consumed New Canterlot was visible to the white unicorn. It was just an experiment, yes, but it was still a shame that this had to turn out so tragically. Brightstar had told him not to worry about his first Story. They're always a little rocky.
He turned and disappeared into a wooded mountain trail with a large book strapped to his back. Maybe next time he’ll do better.
