Blasphemy and Lies
The air was stale, thick with the smell of maltreatment; it crept through the walls and slivered up her nostrils. It was hard to breathe, the room was empty; nothing but a solid steel door and a rusty old bucket. She sat uncomfortably, the hard stone cold against her flank. She was going to die. That much she was sure of, die for knowing the truth, even though it went against everything she believed in. The week started out so much different, now she was only moments away from judgment
Just the week before had she been in the royal study, searching for a ancient scroll of powerful new spells to learn. It had been like any other day until she dropped the scroll. It had bounced a bit and rolled under one of the tables in the far corners of the room. She quickly went to retrieve it and found a small trapped door, barely big enough for anypony to get through. She picked up the scroll and set about her way, she was planning on just leaving but her curiosity got the better of her. She could only wish that it hadn't now.
As she opened the door she saw that it contained a long flight of stairs, she squeezed her way through the doorway into the marginally larger stairwell. She peeked her head through the opening to make sure no one was looking and closed it. Celestia would be so displeased if she found out what she was doing, she thought that at the moment. Now it turned out to be the understatement of the year. She sighed and continued in her memory, she had lit her horn aglow for light and carefully walked down the stairwell. She felt like she had walked for several minutes before finally reaching the bottom. All that was down there was a small hallway and a lone wooden door. She could see a faint glow of light peaking from under the threshold and walked towards it. She approached the door and gave it a soft nudge with her horn, seeing that it was unlocked she pushed it open and walked in. she could have never prepared herself for what await.
The room was full of books, each one dealing in some way to astronomy. She looked around and saw carefully depicted diagrams of the solar system, maps of the planets and stars, as well as the sun. That was what really shocked her. From what the diagrams appeared to be showing was the earth spinning on what appeared to be an axis point. The maps showed that the earth rotated around the sun, that it was an independent process, unrelated to the princess or magic or anything she had been taught prior.
She was in shock, none of this made any sense. How could the princess withhold such information from them?
The answer came quickly, to the right of her was an old chest, as she walked toward it her heart pounded. She hoped that it would contain some sort of explanation, it did but not the one she was expecting. In the chest were old fliers and schoolbooks, all dated back to before Celestia's reign. The all described the process of the day and night cycle as the diagrams depicted, there must have been thousands of the books within the chest. She looked around and began to notice the sheer volume of books within the room, to her left she noticed yet another chest. She opened it hesitantly, expecting more books. This time however, their were just fliers. Propaganda dating back to year one of Celestia's rule. They all depicted her as the Sun Princess they all knew today. They bashed the old conventions of astronomy and told that magic was the true universal power. She was devastated, everything she had known, believed in; was a lie.
She gripped a book in her teeth and ran from the chamber, she had forgotten her scroll but it didn't matter to her anymore. She ran up the stairwell and once outside the chamber she teleported herself back to her library, there she lay in bed for a long time. She couldn't stop thinking about what she saw, she read the old book five times over and she could only admit that it made perfect sense. She stayed by her telescope most of the night, watching the sky and studying the movement of the stars. Everything made sense, it was all perfectly explained. “The earth rotates upon its axis, as it orbits the sun, thus creating the process of day and night as well as the seasons of the year. All planets within the solar system orbit the sun and each has its own day night cycle.” As she studied the planets she found this was true, and no conventional knowledge could explain that fact. As much as she hated to admit it, everything she had been taught was a lie.
She tried to tell everypony, she showed them the book, what her studies had found out but no pony would believe her. They all called her crazy, said she was a traitor, that she was conspiring against the throne. That's what ended her up here, in this dusty old cell. Word finally made its way back to the princess and upon seeing that her authority and throne had been challenged she had quickly ordered for the heretic to be brought to her immediately.
She remembered the night they came, without warning the Royal Guards had burst into her home. They seized her and quickly tied her up and gagged her. They were gone in less than a minute. She was carried to the Royal Court quickly, less than 20 minutes had passed since she was taken captive. She now sat on the floor of the court, Celestia looking down from her throne. She sighed as she saw who the heretic was, knowing it wouldn't be easy.
“I always knew that you were too smart for your own good my faithful student. I've always thought very highly of you Twilight but I'm afraid that I cannot have my authority questioned, you must be made an example.”
Twilight sat, trying to scream but they had left her tied up and gagged and she could only muffle beneath it. She began crying as the guards dragged her away, towards the dungeon.
“Goodbye my faithful student, your judgment will be tomorrow, all of Equestria will be in attendance.”
Soon after she was thrown in the cell, the guards taunted and kicked her before finally untying her. She lie defeated on the stone floor.
“You're going to burn tomorrow you blasphemous fool.”
“Been along time since we had an execution in the kingdom,”
They left her, bruised and defeated. She cried for some time, now she just sat waiting. She had decided that she would have to die for the truth, that she would not be pressured into agreeing with the lies, that she would not live under a ruler who would lie and manipulate her citizens in order to maintain control. Even if that ruler had once meant the world to her.
The guards came as soon as the sun rose, she stood on her sore legs, a bit wobbly from the beating and lack of use. She tried to stand tall and remain proud however, keeping her head high as she walked toward the castle grounds. She was once again tied up, standing now on her hind legs, her two front legs tied behind her back around a large wooden stake. At her feet were piled many blocks of wood and strips of cloth soaked in flammable liquid. She stood he heart pounding in her chest, wishing she could teleport away, but the princess had already placed a magic lock on her horn. She looked out toward the crowd, it was true, all of Equestria had to be there, she felt kind of special, but that feeling was soon overcome by fear. In the front row were her friends, they looked at her sadly but none of them moved. She didn't blame them, they like all others were confused and lost, she actually felt a little sorry for them.
Celestia approached, the crowd cheered and bowed; she raised her hoof to quiet them.
“Today we have a heretic before us. One who has spread blasphemous lies and tried to soil my good name. She has made threats upon the throne and is thought to be connected with the resistance. Today we bring her before you so she may be an example, threats against the kingdom will not be tolerated as its safety is my first and only concern.”
the crowd cheered, they were clearly swept up in her words, united in the killing of this innocent mare when the true evil stood before them.
“Twilight Sparkle, for your crimes and threats against the kingdom you have been sentenced to death. Today you shall be burned at the stake, have you any last words?”
“I do, I want you to know that I once looked up to you, but now I know that you are nothing but a liar. You are manipulative monster. It's true, the earth spins on its axis to give us day and night, not you. I will happily accept death to avoid living in a kingdom under the likes of you.”
Her words were followed by a short silence, the crowd a bit stunned by what she said. They suddenly burst forth in an angry chant.
“Burn the Heretic!” was repeated over and over. She was called a traitor, a blasphemer, a tear ran down her face, her head hung low. She awaited what came next. Celestia raised her horn, the crowd cheered, the magic began to emanate from her horn. The glow intensify as it grew stronger, soon the same glow appeared at Twilight's hoofs, she could feel the heat from the spell and knew it was only a matter of seconds. She let out a smile cry as the first spark appeared and lit the kindly ablaze. She remained quiet after that, as the fire engulfed her body she did not make one sound or sign of discomfort. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction. One day, she thought; long after the embers from this fire died, long after these ponies were gone from the earth, the truth would be known and she would know longer have died a heretic but a martyr