> Macpone > by Keystroke Cascade > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Act I > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Twas a long and bloody battle but, eventually, the ponies won the day.  Their adversary was tough and hardened.  The changeling army had put the royal guard through a tough time, but had once again failed to invade Canterlot. Twilight and Spike were walking back to Ponyville when they see three mares on the side of the trail, surrounding a cauldron with apples in it. “Who are you weird sisters?” asked Twilight. “We is the Apple sisters” the old one said in a spooky voice. “We is here ta give you a prophecy…” continued the orange one with the stupid hat. “Do ya think I’ll get ma cutie mark for this?” questioned the little one, in an excited voice. “Shut up Apple Bloom, we’re supposed to be scary” remarked the one with the stupid hat, “and my hat is not stupid!  thank’ee very little, narrator.” “uhh, sorry?” replied Twilight, “but what are you three doing here anyway?” “We come with this prophecy here” said the old one, “All hail Twilight, Princess of Friendship.” The orange one was next.  “All hail Twilight, Mayor of Ponyville.” Then; “all hail Twilight, Princess of Equestria” the midget finished. “Yeah right,” exclaimed Spike, “and I’ll raise a toothless alligator that will rule the world.” “Ohhh, but you will...” the sisters said in unison. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “you’ll find out soon enough” said the sisters, as they disappeared into the mist. “Well, that happened” said Twilight. ~ When they arrived in Ponyville, a green unicorn ran up to them telling Twilight that in the battle, Mayor Mare had died and that Twilight was now the Mayor of Ponyville. “Ohmygoshohmygosh” exhaled Twilight as she ran towards the Golden Oaks Library, “I need to tell Dashie.” She all but kicked down the front door as she rushed in and nearly collided with a streak of colour on the other side. “OhmygoshdashieIneedtotellyousomethingthathappenedonthewayhere!” “Hold your horses there Twi, first you have to speak in coherent sentences” said the colourful Pegasus, “now, slow down and tell me what happened.” “Well,” Twilight began, “we were coming back to Ponyville when there were some weird ponies on the road, they stopped us and said I would be Mayor of Ponyville and Princess of Equestria, and guess what happened when I just got back...  I BECAME MAYOR OF PONYVILLE!” she finished in a shout. Rainbow Dash contemplated this. “Hmmm, Princess you say... Well Celestia should be visiting soon if you are now mayor, as it is tradition for the new mayor to host an event for the visiting monarch, whadda ya say we just bump her off eh?” “Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed in shock, “You can’t be suggesting...” Rainbow Dash nodded. “But I couldn’t! she’s my mentor and a good friend.” “Twi, you gotta see the big picture; if you become Princess, you’ll be, like, 20% cooler!” “I don’t know Dash,” rebutted Twilight, “It sounds like a risky endeavour that could end in unhappiness, madness and death” “naw, you’re over thinking things Twilight, what’s the worst that could happen?” “Do you want me to run the statistics for you, because it has about a 37.4% chance of hap-“ She was quickly muted by Dash’s hoof in her mouth, preventing her from talking “Come on Twily, do it, are you a mare, or a mouse?” “Fine, but if we do it, we’re doing it my way.” “And what way is that?” “With SCIENCE!” A few days later… Princess Celestia was at the cake table when Flash Sentry, her most loyal guard, reminded her that she had an announcement to make.  She tore her eyes away from the beautiful triple layered chocolate fudge with strawberry icing on top masterpiece she was eating and cleared her throat (it was a bit horse). “In light of Twilight’s recent promotion to mayor of Ponyville, I have seen it fit to announce my protégée.” This was met by a mixed reaction, some ponies were surprised, while others were to wasted to notice, like Berry Punch. “Now it will come as no surprise that the next in line to the throne will be one who has great strength in ruling so without further  delay, the next ruler of Equestria will be…” She pause for dramatic tension “Princess Luna!” This provoked another reaction from the crowd, mostly positive, however, the most noticeable was Twilight Sparkle, who sprayed punch over Rainbow Dash, who then stared daggers at her.  Celestia sighed, she should have guessed her star pupil wouldn’t have taken it as well as she hoped, oh well, at least she had this great cake… A few minutes later... “Come on Twi!” Rainbow Dash pleaded, “We gotta kill her now, there is no way you’ll become princess after Luna!” “Just let me think” complained Twilight, “There HAS to be another way to fulfil the prophecy without, you know, MURDER!” “Twi, there is no other way, just go through with it, it’ll be fine...” “For some reason, you saying murder is fine doesn’t give me much confidence in our future, but I’ll do it anyway, just ‘cos I love you.” “That’s the spirit!” crowed Rainbow Dash, as they left to go to bed. > Act II > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight was wandering the halls of her house when Spike found her. “Twilight, what are you doing up?” he asked, “AHHH, NOTHING!” Twilight jumped in surprise, before looking around guiltily, “ummm, nothing?” she paused “I couldn’t sleep, okay, so I decided to take a walk” she smiled. “Well I was just going to raid the kitchen for leftovers” Spike said, “well, night Twilight” and he wandered off. Twilight watched him go. 'Focus Twilight, you can do this!' She thought, as the turned towards the hall to Celestia’s room.  She walked down the hall and opened the door, there was Celestia, lying in bed, mumbling something about cake in her sleep.  Twilight took a step forwards, breathing deeply as she surveyed her sleeping ruler.  Silently she raised her twilicane, and brought it down, hard.  It made a padded thunk as Celestia cried out softly, Twilight wacked her again and again untill a sharp crack was heard, and Celestia moved no more. Twilight returned to her room, where Rainbow Dash was waiting. “It is done” Twilight said, still holding the twilicane. “Twi, you gotta get rid of that thing!” Rainbow Dash facehoofed “give it here, I’ll plant it on the guards to put them off the scent.” “Sure, sure...” Twilight mumbled, staring at her hooves. Rainbow Dash walked out, leaving her to her thoughts. When she came back a few minutes later, Twilight was still staring at her hooves. “Lighten up Twi, you’re at least 20% cooler now” Rainbow Dash comforted her. “I can’t believe I did it” Twilight said softly, “she was my mentor... Rainbow, how could I have-“ She was cut short by Dash hugging her.  “shhh, shhh” Rainbow Dash whispered, “It’s going to be fine...” They snuggled together for a while longer. ~ There was a knock on the door downstairs.  “Whoo?” hooted Owlicious. “It’s me, Spike” said a voice on the other side, “you know, Twilight’s number one assistant?” “Whoo” “I already told you, it’s ME, Spike!” “Oh hey Spike” Rainbow Dash said as she walked past, “Lemme help you with that.” She opened the door. “So, whacha been up to tonight?” “Not too much. Speaking of night, shouldn’t have Celestia risen the sun a while ago?” “Oh, yeah, she should have! Maybe you should go and check on her?” Spike nodded and wandered off, a few minutes later, a high pitched scream was heard throughout Ponyville, Spike came running down the stairs. “What! What!?” yelled Rainbow Dash. “th-the Princess...” “She’s been murdered!” > Act III > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight didn’t know what to think, she felt horrible.  After Spike had discovered Celestia, everypony was in shock and Luna had fled to the Crystal Empire, making it easy to pin the blame on her.  The ponies looked towards Twilight for a new leader, and what could she do but oblige.  After her now royal duty of raising the sun, she had events to plan, a long day of meeting with the upper class ponies in Canterlot, before dining with them later tonight. 'Ugghhh' she wondered, stomping through the halls, 'how did Celestia put up with this?' She turned a corner and immediately ran into Spike. “Hey Twilight” Spike began, “I was just going to take Gummy here for a walk.” He held up his arm with the toothless alligator clamped onto it. “Anyway, what have you got on?” “Oh, nothing much, I just have to go to dinner with a bunch of upper class ponies later tonight, speaking of which, I really need you to be there as my Number One Assistant!” “I don’t know Twilight, I might be a while...” he trailed off reluctantly. “Come on Spike, I really need you, there’ll be gem cakes!” “Alright fine, but I’d better get some of those gem cakes later” he called out as he walked out the door. 'Phew' Twilight breathed out. 'Now I just have to-' A sudden worry interrupted her chain of thought. 'What if Spike knew! What if he was planning to get rid of me and replace me with that ridiculous crocodile!' Twilight knew she had to take action, she looked out the window and saw two identical shady-looking business ponies, next to a peculiar wagon that had lots of bells and whistles (literally).  She trotted out to them and asked “what be your business here, strangers?” The two looked at her before replying; “whatever business we can find, be it good, or... questionable, why do you ask?” Twilight gulped. “I have a little problem that needs dealing with.” The Twins leaned in as Twilight elaborated. ~ Rainbow Dash was in her room, pacing, waiting for Twilight.  There was hoof beats outside the door and Rainbow Dash waited for it to open, in walked a weary looking Twilight. “Hey Twi, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash attempted to brighten her mood. “We need you to look your best for dinner tonight, ya’ know, show those fancy ponies how to really wear a dress!” Twilight sighed. “I don’t know Rainbow, everything about this just feels... Wrong, in every way possible. I can barely sleep and now I have to listen to the demands of all of these stuffy ponies.” “It’ll be okay Twi, one day, we might just take over the world, so one small step at a time.  Now you go out there and demonstrate your leadership!” Twilight smiled weakly and started walking towards the dining hall. “Fine, fine” About half an hour into the feast, guests were still arriving, as one of the business ponies hurried up to Twilight.  He whispered in her ear, informing her that he and his brother had managed to take Spike by surprise, but Gummy had still managed to get away.  Twilight planned to meet with him again tomorrow to discuss the matter further, and he hurried away. Twilight sighed, all of these high-class ponies sure were boring, she got up to get some wine and when she turned around the glass shattered on the floor.  The room grew quiet as she looked at where she had been sitting.  There, in her chair, was the bloody, battered corpse of Spike. Her mouth dropped. “I- It can’t be...” There was a pause. “Who has done this?” She suddenly demanded. The other ponies looked at her like she was crazy “huh? Who dun what now?” Rainbow Dash almost ran into her with a lampshade on her head.  Twilight ignored her. Wwhat is this apparition that appears before me, why doth it have the gall to appear at this moment?” Rainbow Dash looked around nervously. “Sorry folks, but her highness is feeling unwell at the moment, perhaps everypony should leave.” The other ponies looked at her and started walking out, talking amongst themselves in hushed tones. “Do you think she’s OK?” “What is up with her, is she crazy?” “If she starts talking in third person, I’m out!” After they had all left, Rainbow Dash slapped Twilight. “Twi, snap out of it Twi!” Twilight blinked and shook her head from the sudden impact.  Her panicked eyes met Rainbow's. “Rainbow, I saw him” she said, on the verge of tears, “he was sitting right there” she gestured to her chair. “I killed him Dashie, I killed him...”  She sobbed in her embrace. “Shhh, it’s gonna be fine, everything is gonna turn out fine...” Twilight pushed her away and stood up with a firm resolve. “I’m going back to see those Apple sisters tomorrow so I can talk to them about this.” > Act IV > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the middle of the storm, three figures were circling each other; their laughter was like grinding metal. “Three times the cat cried, four times the hedgehog whined!” They screamed into the night. Then in a flash of fire and smoke Trixie appeared ‘outta nowhere.’ The Great and Powerful magician made her appearance look as good as possible in the middle of the night. She looked down to the shrivelled bodies of her followers. “Good job ladies, now the cauldron is ready to sing.” Then Twilight came in to the field. “What are you ponies doing?” She shouted into the wind, as the storm was getting stronger. The Apples were not answering her; they were too busy screaming into the cauldron. The storm getting ever stronger couldn’t hold it, a bolt of lightning struck the cauldron. When the smoke cleared it revealed three much younger ponies. “Sorry 'bout that, we only do this every fifty years. Anyway, say what you want to speak, and we will answer” Twilight demanded them for more prophecies, the Apples laughed shrilly and then spoke as one. “Twilight beware of Flash Sentry, no pony born of a mare will harm you” and “beware of trees for they are woody and have splinters” Twilight laughs, how stupid these thing these crazy ladies say, everypony is born through a mare, Flash Sentry is not a problem and trees aren’t scary. In a sudden flash the Apples were gone. Then came up Rarity, she came to give Twilight a message, Twilight saw her and waved her over. “Did you see any crazy old ladies just then?” Rarity muttered something about her mother being a crazy old lady, but not anyone today. “I have some news my princess” Rarity continued “it appears Flash has fled to Crystal Empire” Twilight laughed off the news “Good riddance I say, better that traitor leave then be around here!” When Rarity left, Twilight had a plan. "I will go to his castle at five, no fifi, no fith ah that’s right Fife, yes I will go there and give a surprise gift. A very sharp blade." ~ Mrs Sentry was in the sitting room when she heard the news. “What! He left for Crystal Empire? That idiot, what does he think he is doing? Here I am raising a family and what do I get? A husband who flees at the first sign of trouble, he is just, so, so-!” At this point she was throwing furniture around then her son intervened. “Mother please by careful, that chair was made by me remember” (he always had priorities). It was Flash Sentry’s cousin, Ross, that finally calmed the mare down. ”You don’t know what’s on the pony’s mind, I think he made the smart choice” Mrs Sentry snorted at the word smart. “Smart? that silly foal has not one piece of smarts!  Did you know that when he proposed to me, he forgot my name? He probably thinks that walking into Mordor is a good idea! Smart? Ha!” She kept talking about stupid things her husband had done. Ross had other things on his mind. “Anyway I’ve got to go. Not that anything is happening, it’s just this might look bad.” He looks at the scrawny runt of the boy. “See you later.” He walked out. The young boy asked his mother if she could fix his chair, Mrs Sentry ranted on about how chairs don’t grow on trees, and then her son reminded her that the wood from the chair actually does grow from a tree. Then a masked pony walked into the room. “helloooo, I came here to find your husband do you know where he is?” He sat down on the half broken chair, which, of course, broke even more and Flash’s son snapped like a twig. “You broke it, you will DIE!” He threw a piece of wood at the creeps face it fell short and hit his boot. The stranger laughed, lunged at the boy stabbing him. He cried like a girl for about two minutes. The Murderer looked at the boy and kicked him in the stomach to silence him. Looking around he realised that the Lady ran off, then he hears a scream and a thud, his friend downstairs had found her. ~ Luna and Flash Sentry were at a bar in Crystal Empire talking about the problem with Twilight. Luna stated how the country is going to the pit, and that Twilight is to pay.  Flash Sentry asked for a solution, the answer given was to storm the castle. Then his cousin Ross arrived back from Equestria and looked tired and battered. “Ah, Ross my cousin, how are my children and... What’s her name… Mrs Sentry?” Ross looked troubled he thought for the moment and replied “last I saw them, they were fine, last I heard they, um, weren’t as good” Flash Sentry didn’t quite understand, so he asked if Ross would explain. Luna tried to change the subject but Flash wanted to hear it all. Afterwards Flash was just sitting at the bar with a half empty ale at hand, just staring at the bench. Luna confronted him and told him to take it like a pony, in the nuts. He downed the rest of his drink. “Twilight took away my family, now I will take away her crown.” > Act V > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the walkway of the castle, the Doctor was led by a maid through the walkway.  They saw Rainbow Dash sleepwalking, the maid screeched with excitement. “See? I told you she would be up I-” she was cut short by the harsh shush of the Doctor. They watched as the Queen walked to the wash room, where she plummeted her hooves into water and made a great effort to cleanse them of something.  The Doctor and the maid watched in horror as she was screaming into the water. “What is she talking about?” asked the maid, as now the ladies words were now incoherent. “I think she is trying to get blood off her hands, but I see no blood” muttered the doctor. “I think this is beyond me.” Now, the lady with raw hands walked straight past then in a trance. “she will go straight to bed now” whispered the young maid. The doctor said his good-nights then went off to bed himself. ~ In the fields of Equestria, near Appleoosa, the four war leaders were discussing the positions of Luna and her army. ~ Twilight was walking through a room with a good vibe. “I can’t lose, Flash Sentry is surely born of a mare. I can’t lose I can’t!” A servant came up. “There be ten thousand of them!” Twilight looked annoyed. “Of what? Pokémon? Geese?” “No ma’am, soldiers ma’am” Twilight wasn’t bothered by this he told the servant to go and get Big Mac. When the old pony came into the room Twilight asked for his armour. “Back ’n my day we didn’t use armour! We walked fifteen miles in the snow to the battle with bare hooves and chests! we fought like stallions and we liked it!” After he got his armour on, he went off to see some swords at the armoury. ~ Luna and his army were in the forest cutting down branches and using them as camouflage, Luna was excited. “Yes, with these branches we have +5 stealth! They’ll never see us coming.” ~ Twilight was getting ready for battle, when a sound that can only be described as intense pain was heard.  Twilight looked around trying to find the source. “What was that?” she asked Big Mac, who didn’t hear anything. “It must have been a twig snapping.” Twilight told him he is going deaf, But he didn’t hear that either. Then a maid came downstairs screaming. “The lady’s dead! The lady’s dead!” She then fainted and fell the last two steps. Big Mac muttered about back’n his day ponies would see if the mares were alright. Twilight who still unfazed from the whole drama told Big Mac that he didn’t check either, Big Mac then muttered something about his bad back. Then a messenger stepped over the maid to get to Twilight. “Ma’am I have some news, the forest is moving towards the castle, I-” He got cut short, Twilight slapped him and told him that if he was lying, he would hanged and used as target practice. Then Twilight and her followers charged out. ~ Luna and her army were preparing for battle. Luna was talking to the youngest soldier, a kid named Joey, who looked only eleven but was apparently seventeen. “Ma’am, can I ask you a question?” Luna told him he could continue. “Can I wear shorts instead of these pants?” Luna asked why and Joey replied with “I like shorts! They’re comfy and easy to wear!” Luna couldn’t argue with that fact. She went off to talk with the leaders. ~ The battle has begun, Twilight is in the upstairs main room about to enter a battle, then a wild tree appeared.  It was actually young Pippington, he asked where he could find the traitorous demon called Twilight.  Twilight told him that person was her, young Pip blushed a little. “Oh, sorry I thought you would look much scarier.” Without warning they engaged in combat. As soon as they made contact, young Pip knew he wouldn’t make it out of this alive, Twilight had him cornered then she pushed him out of the window. The final words heard of young Pippington were “I teleported bread!” then he fell on his neck. He was one of the many who didn’t live to see the next day. While Twilight was watching the poor fellow fall to his death, she didn’t notice Flash enter the room, luckily Flash forgot what he was doing and walked past her. ~ Twilight walked onto the battlefield, took a quick leak then set of to find Flash.  Then in a deep booming voice from behind she heard her name, she looked around and saw Flash Sentry. She called out “Come at me bro!” Sentry replied “come face me tyrant!’ they kept yelling insults at each other. Then Twilight had enough and charged at Flash, the fight only lasted a few seconds, Flash Sentry arched his sword overhead and lopped Twilight’s left leg off. She fell to the floor in a scream of agony but that was cut off, literally, as Flash sliced off Twilight’s head and attached it on a spearhead for the world to see. Underneath it read: “Twilight tyrant of Equestria, killed by Flash Sentry thane of Fife and one with no mother” Luna stood up on a stump and was about to make a speech but everyone had a life and just went back to normal stuff. Nobody forgot the story of Twilight, the tyrant of Equestria.