> Breakdown
>  by DKN117
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Pinkie Pie: Party Of One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heaven is on the way
You can feel the hate
But I guess you never will

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was no laughter.

She understood now. Really, she thought, she hadn’t truly needed Spike’s confirmation; on some level, deep inside, she’d suspected all along. They didn’t love her; they just put up with her because they had no other option. Yes, that was it. They were all false friends, using her. She didn’t need them; she had real friends, who understood her.

She didn’t need those pretenders anymore. So why did not having them hurt so bad?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. “Who could that be?” she wondered aloud.

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Preparations for the pink pony’s party were performed. The inside of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres had been turned into a party palace for Pinkie’s 18th birthday. It had been tough work keeping Pinkie from finding out, and there had been a few close calls. But now, everything was ready, and Rainbow Dash had been sent out to retrieve Pinkie and bring her to the barn, where the rest of the Mane Group was waiting.

“Oh, I can’t wait!” Twilight said giddily. “Pinkie Pie’s gonna be so surprised and happy!”

“Hey, I hear ‘em coming” Applejack said. Everyone got ready.

The barn door opened, and a pink-hued figure was tossed in. Some of the attendees shouted “Surprise!”, but to those more observant it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. Pinkie’s colors were darkened and faded, and her mane & tail were limp and straight. But most concerning was her expression: Pinkie looked furious. Her teeth were bared slightly, and her eyes were fixed in a truly frightening enraged and contemptuous glare. The happy grins on the faces of some of the partygoers rapidly faded as Pinkie’s hateful gaze focused on them.

“Yeah, I found her like this” Rainbow Dash said as she walked in.

“I figured she’d be more excited…” Applejack said quietly to Twilight.

Applejack then flinched as Pinkie’s glare focused on her, eyes burning into her soul.

“Excited?” Pinkie snapped. “You thought I’d be excited about an anti-Pinkie party?!”

“W… What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, sounding confused and distressed. “This isn’t an-”

“Don’t you play dumb with me, you insensitive, obsessive-compulsive bitch!” Pinkie shouted. “You all have been making excuses and ignoring me all day! Avoiding me, lying to me, running away from me! I finally figured it out, and interrogating Spike gave me proof! That you don’t want to be my friends anymore!”

Several of the would-be partygoers let out shocked gasps, unable to believe just what they were hearing.

“A-And you know what?” Pinkie continued, tears starting to come to her rage-filled eyes, as the gold of corruption slowly spread inward across the irises. “I’ll bet you were never my friends to begin with! You just kept me around to laugh at or out of convenience! None of you could ever really stand me! I was just an annoyance to you! That’s how it’s always been! No-one ever tries to understand me! No-one takes me seriously unless they have to! I’m just a pain in the ass and a big joke to all of you!!”

“Pinkie…” Rarity slowly walked toward her from the side, reaching out. “Sweetheart, that is all utter nonsense. We would never-”

“Touch me and I will snap your horn off!” Pinkie screeched at her. Rarity, eyes going wide with genuine fear, backed away quickly.

The group in attendance was now very, very worried. Not only were they scared for Pinkie, they were actually scared of her as well. To plan a big surprise party for their close friend’s 18th birthday, only to have this kind of thing happen…

“P… Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash’s tone was almost pleading as it fully sank in just how bad things were. “Please, I…”

“No!” Pinkie shouted. “You don’t get to lie! Not anymore! I trusted you all…” Pinkie’s voice was trembling with sadness and fury. “I gave you girls my love… and this is how you repay me?!”

“Pinkie, please calm down and listen to us!” Twilight begged as she walked up. “If you would just give us a chance to expl-”

Twilight was cut off as Pinkie hit her with an uppercut to the torso that knocked the breath out of her, followed by a full-power Earth-Pony-strength hoof-punch to the face that sent her flying back into the table that had been set up to hold the cake and other snacks. Paper plates and bags of chips went flying, though miraculously the cake was unharmed and remained in place. Everyone was in horrified shock at what they’d just witnessed, disbelieving their eyes, praying that this was all some horrible dream.

Pinkie walked up, letting out a low, feral snarl under her breath. She stood over the cowering unicorn, who was trembling in terror as she shielded her bleeding face with her forehooves. Pinkie raised a hoof to strike down… when the cake slowly began to slide off of the table. Twilight caught it with her magic, holding it between her and Pinkie, and the aggressor’s eyes widened in deep shock as she saw the pink-frosting caricature of her ‘normal’ self, along with the icing words “Happy 18th Birthday, Pinkie Pie.”

“W… What…?” she mouthed.

There was a sob from Twilight. “This is what we’ve been t-trying to tell you” she whimpered. “What all this is about. W-We wanted to t-throw you a surprise party for your birthday…” The cake was lowered just enough for Pinkie to see Twilight’s face – blood from her nose, a quickly-forming black eye, and tears streaming down her face. “This was all for you” she sobbed out as the cake was shakily levitated to the side and placed gingerly on the ground. “We h-had to make excuses to protect the surprise. B-But we didn’t notice how h-hard you were taking it, and… and… Oh Pinkie, I’m so sorry! I c-could never hate you! None of us could! You… You’re one of m-my best friends! I… I never meant to hurt you! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Pinkie! I never wanted to… to…”

As Twilight lost the ability to speak coherently, Pinkie took a few shaky steps back, her eyes returning to their normal blue. As she looked around, seeing the scared, remorseful, teary faces of the others, all while hearing Twilight’s crying, her breathing became faster and more shallow as it sank in just what she’d done. She could feel a terrible ache in her heart and a lump in her throat. She held her head between her forehooves as tears started falling from her eyes, which were wide as can be.

“No…” she whispered/whimpered. “W-What’ve I… How could I have… I thought you had all…”

Pinkie fell back on her butt, still in horrified shock at what she’d done. As this was happening, the other four cautiously came closer.

“H-How could you ever, ever believe we thought that way about you?” Rainbow Dash asked, choking up just a little. “We love you, Pinkie! We did this all for you! And… And we screwed up badly in doing it…”

Fluttershy had reached Twilight, carefully helping the girl up off the ground and gently tending to her face, holding her close all the while. “W-We’re your friends” the yellow pegasus said to Pinkie. “And we always will be.”

“We’re sorry, Pinkie” Applejack said, her voice thick with shame. “W-We had no idea you were takin’ it this hard. If we’d known…”

“I… I’m sorry…” Pinkie squeaked out at a barely-audible level more common to Fluttershy, but the pain and regret in her voice was as loud as a crack of thunder to the five other ponies. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Twilight did her best to wipe away her own tears as she scooted toward Pinkie, laying a hoof on her shoulder. Pinkie looked up, and the sight of Twilight’s bruised eye was enough to cause Pinkie to start sobbing as guilt all but overcame her. Twilight pulled her close, hugging her as she cried tears of regret. The other four quickly joined the hug.

It was a while before Pinkie had recovered enough to properly start the party, and even then it was several hours before her mane & tail had very gradually returned to their normal state. That night, Celestia got a doozy of a group-written Friendship Report, explaining what had happened, and how one shouldn’t automatically expect the worst of others, as well as how a nearly-broken friendship had been mended stronger than before.

> Rainbow Dash: Mare-Do-Well
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m on a roll again
And I want an end
‘Cause I feel you creepin’ in
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was no loyalty.

She’d trusted them, and they’d stabbed her in the back. All across town, her reputation was in utter ruins, all because of them. A week ago, she’d been respected, admired even. Now, she was a laughingstock, the butt of a big joke. A joke her so-called ‘friends’ had pulled. The inhabitants of Ponyville would never respect her again. She could never trust the girls again. She had nothing.

Alone in her cloud house, she fought a slowly-losing battle not to start sobbing as she cursed everything and everyone.

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Twilight was confused and upset. She and her friends had only meant to teach Rainbow Dash a little humility, get her to stop bragging, show her how heroes were supposed to act. But now, nearly all of the townsponies were insulting Dash behind her back, some even using her very name as a slur! Dash hardly ever came into town anymore – it was usually only for quick food runs or the like, and she was tormented every single time. The past four days, after the ‘Mare-Do-Well Incident’ came to its end, had shown that Twilight’s little plan had very big unforeseen consequences.

The other five were feeling the effects, too. Pinkie and Fluttershy had confessed to being opposed to the Mare-Do-Well idea from the very beginning, considering it mean and knowing Dash well enough to predict how negatively she’d react to it. Rarity had been all for getting Dash to tone it down a notch, but had quickly come to recognize how badly the MDW idea was going to play out; however, she had kept her reservations to herself, a decision she now regretted. Applejack had stuck to her belief that it was just what was needed, and that it would all end okay… until she saw the townsfolks’ reactions, how cruel they were to Dash, how they dismissed all the good things she’d done for them over the years, and not to mention how Dash herself was taking it.

The girls were having trouble deciding which problem to address first: Rainbow’s reputation, or her relationship with them. Eventually, they came to their decision: the townsponies could wait. Their friend’s feelings were hurt, and that took precedence. So it was that the five of them headed out to the grassy field that Dash’s cloud-house presently hovered over. They were trying to figure out how to get up there when they saw a rainbow-tailed blur zoom into the house from the town, carrying something. Several seconds later, it flew out, making for town again.

“Rainbow!” Twilight called out.

“Dashie, come here pretty-please!” Pinkie added.

Even though she was 250 feet in the air, the girls could see Dash’s shoulders slump, her body tensing. She changed coursed and flew in towards the girls, landing in front of them. “What do you want?” she growled. “Haven’t you put me through enough crap already?”

The girls visibly flinched from the remark. “W-We came to talk, and to apologize…” Twilight said. “We know now that we went about things completely the wrong way – well, actually, Pinkie and Fluttershy felt it was a bad idea from the beginning – a-and we’re sorry for unintentionally humiliating you, and… a-and we wanted to know what it would take to make it up to you.”

Dash simply glared at them, focusing the gaze on Twilight. “Are you really that naïve, Sparkle?” she asked, speaking in a low, quiet tone that nonetheless triggered the girls’ instinctual fear response. “You think that just… coming up to me and stammering apologies will make everything right? That it’ll instantly mend broken promises and shattered trust? That it’ll make the ponies in town stop belittling me, stop thinking I’m a worthless boastful show-off who’s no good for anything other than as an example of what not to be?! That it could ever make up for ruining me?!”

Twilight staggered back as if struck. “I…”

“You betrayed me!!” Dash shouted at the top of her lungs. “You stabbed me right between the wings! I trusted all of you, but you turned on me the minute I started acting in a way you didn’t like! Did you ever maybe think to stop me and talk to me about it? Like, ‘Hey Dash, it’s cool that you’re saving ponies and all, but ya might wanna tone down the bragging a bit’, or ‘Yo Rainbow, we think you’re starting to let the hero thing go to your head and you should take a step back and look at the big picture before you get too deep’, or something. But nooo, you decided to humiliate me, make all of Ponyville see me as a clown, show everyone – including me – that I’m not fast enough, strong enough, smart enough, or magical enough to be any good for anything other than useless trivial stuff, make it so I can’t show my face in town for five seconds without being snipped at and insulted and tormented, m-make me stop trying to tell myself I’m awesome and instead see how worthless I really am when it all comes down to it…”

By this point, she was crying a little as she released all her pain and anger, voice going raw from shouting and cracking from emotion. The other five were taking it rather hard as well; Fluttershy was starting to cry from guilt, and the others weren’t too far behind.

“Nothing you do could ever make up for what you did to me” Dash continued. “No-one in this town will ever respect me again. I can never trust anyone here again. That’s why… I’ve been getting boxes and packing my things. I’m leaving Ponyville.”

Gasps of shock and horror were the response. Pinkie’s mane and tail, already partially limp, went completely flat in an instant. Fluttershy tried to squeak out words, but couldn’t.

“Save your fake remorse” Dash snapped, but with poorly-concealed sadness. “It’s too late to apologize.”

And with that, she took off, flying up to her cloud-house, leaving her “ex-friends” to sit there as it sank in just how badly it had all gone wrong.

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Mayor’s Office
Two Days Later

Mayor Mare let out a sigh as she finished another ream of paperwork, putting it all in the “Done” box on her desk. Things had been rather busy lately; there were the various repairs to be done in the wake of poor construction giving out, the aftermath of the burst dam (contrary to some ponies’ thoughts, that one wasn’t Dash’s fault; an engineer who examined the dam’s wreckage had said it was a shock the thing hadn’t given out weeks earlier), and the local weather had been becoming increasingly cloudy the past several days, as Rainbow Dash apparently lost the will to keep doing her job and the rest of the weather team just wasn’t able to make up for the super-speed pegasus’ absence.

Her thoughts were interrupted as someone walked into her office. She looked up, and saw Rainbow Dash walking up to her; she had bags under her eyes, and the morose, defeated way she carried herself was startlingly different from her old self-confident air. The Mayor caught sight of one of her secretaries giving a dismissive look at Dash, and she responded by glaring at her employee/subordinate until she got the message and stopped, before then turning to her visitor.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash” she said with a calm smile and a friendly, almost motherly tone. “What brings you here today?”

“Hello, ma’am” Dash replied in a depressed tone. “I came to discuss selling my cloud-house.”

Mayor Mare’s eyes went wide. “Oh?” she asked. “Why? Are you getting ready to construct a new house? Are you running out of money?”

“I… I can’t take it here anymore. All the remarks, the insults, the put-downs, everything that Mare-Do-Well started. And there’s my so-called ‘friends’ responsible for all that, and how they’re trying to trick me into thinking they’re guilty over it so they can have me stick around and do something else to me further down the line… I can’t go through that again. So I’m… I’m leaving Ponyville.”

The Mayor’s jaw dropped. She was partially aware of the ill will towards Dash in the wake of the MDW Incident, the insults and comments and such that she honestly felt were way over the line. But she’d had no idea it was affecting Dash this badly. “Are you certain of this, dear?”

“Yes” Dash nodded sadly. “I just… can’t deal anymore. You’re one of the, like, half-dozen ponies in this entire town who didn’t turn on me. But, the others… I just… I just can’t…”

Mayor Mare knew for a fact that the number of ponies who hadn’t “turned on” Rainbow Dash was a lot higher than six, but she also knew that, in her current mindset, Dash would refuse to believe that. “Very well…” she said after a long pause. “I’ll, uh… make it known that you’re leaving and why, as per usual when someone moves out of town. Your… Your home will be put up for sale eight days after you’ve left.”

“…Thank you. I’ll be leaving tomorrow afternoon, most likely. Goodbye.”

As Dash turned around and walked out, Mayor Mare rested her forehead on her desk. She’d always played the semi-unofficial role of a mother-figure for the town; now, mama was gonna have to give her kids a loooong talk about their actions. This was not going to be fun.

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Next Day

The mid-afternoon meeting in Town Square was mandatory for everyone to attend; only a few ponies were missing – three ponies too sick to leave their houses (they hadn’t gotten their flu shots in time), a colt bedridden with a sprained leg, and Rainbow Dash who was still isolating herself as she continued her moving preparations. When she announced that Dash was moving away from Ponyville in response to being “betrayed” and to all the comments and insults and such that made up the MDW Incident’s fallout, the general reaction was shock; everyone had simply assumed that Rainbow would shrug everything off as per usual, ignoring what others said while telling herself she was awesome and getting on with her life. To learn that it had seriously affected her so badly that she’d apparently lost all self-confidence and trust, and was going to flee Ponyville to escape it, was a tremendous shock. Several ponies felt guilt eating at them. Scootaloo was unashamedly and openly crying. And there was a fair bit of anger from many townsfolk as it all sank in, at the other five Element-Bearers for starting the mess and at many of Dash’s more vocal ‘tormentors’ for making it worse. A few ponies vocally kept up their dislike and insulting of Dash, only to be angrily shouted down and shamed by those on the opposite side of the issue.

But Rainbow Dash was unaware of any of this, so busy finishing her packing-up in her soon-to-be-ex house. She worked slowly, too upset to move fast. She continued working at her slow, listless pace, until the clock struck six and her stomach grumbled. She gritted her teeth as she remembered that she had already packed her remaining food (perhaps she should’ve saved that for last, she thought to herself), so she would have to head down into town and buy something. She stepped out, took a deep breath, and then took off, making the flight down to Ponyville.

As she landed in the marketplace, she became faintly aware that the townsfolk were not giving her the usual looks of scorn, annoyance, dismissal, or the like. Instead, she was met by facial expressions of sadness, guilt, remorse, regret, and grim understanding. She headed through the crowds unmolested, as no-one had the courage to talk to her. She soon came across the fruit stand she sought, and without a word she knocked her forehooves on the front shelf, startling the distracted mare running the stand. The girl in question turned around, and when she saw Dash her expression changed from confusion to sheepishness and guilt. Dash got out some bits and gestured to a pair of pears, and the exchange was made in silence, neither mare willing to speak. As Dash turned and walked away, she could almost hear the salespony whisper “I’m sorry”.

Rainbow flew low out of the town, keeping close to the ground until she reached the field that her house hovered over. She looked up at it, and let out a long, slow sigh; she’d be out of here soon, away from the ponies who’d belittled and betrayed her… and from the only home she’d known for nine years. She was about to take off and fly up to finish packing when she heard soft hoofsteps behind her, and felt a pleasant warmth and presence that took her breath away for a brief moment.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash” said a soft, melodious voice that the young speedster quickly recognized. She turned around and looked up at the calm, motherly smile being given to her, and she almost broke down right there. With great effort, she wrenched her view away from that, casting her eyes down.

“Hello, Princess” she said morosely.

“I heard about everything” Celestia said. “I just got done with a very long talk with my student and the others about their actions. The Mayor gave a similar calling-out to the other townsfolk.”

“I see…” Dash replied in a low tone. “So now they all know why I’m leaving.”

Celestia rested a comforting wing on Dash’s shoulder. “You don’t have to leave, Dash” she said.

“Yes I do!” Rainbow shouted as she turned to face Celestia, tears in her eyes. “I can’t take the way they’re treating me here anymore! I can’t trust anyone here anymore, not after what they did to me! I… T-They never even t-tried to talk to me about it! I would’ve listened! Really, I would have! All they had to do was sit me down and talk to me, tell me what I was doing wrong! But they didn’t! They conspired against me, humiliated me in front of the entire town, showed everyone… showed me that I’m not good enough! That I’m not strong enough or fast enough or smart enough or magical enough! And the townsponies turned on me the moment they realized that! Everywhere I go, everything I do, it’s just one comment, one insult, one dismissal and degradation after another! Each one isn’t horrible by itself, really, but a thousand bug bites add up!

“I… I trusted those girls! I gave them my heart and soul! But they betrayed my trust! They betrayed me!! After everything we’ve been through together, they destroyed me the minute they didn’t like what I was doing! …H-How could they do that to me, Celestia?! What did I do to deserve all that?! You’re supposed to know everything; please, tell me! WHY IS THIS ALL HAPPENING TO ME?!?!”

It was at this point that Dash completely broke down, falling limp to the ground and sobbing her heart out. Celestia simply bent down and pulled her into a hug, holding her close. They stayed like that for a while, as the broken-hearted girl’s emotions and exhaustion took their toll and she cried herself to sleep. Once Dash was snoozing, Celestia concentrated, and a semi-solid magical duplicate of herself formed beside her; she looked at the original and nodded, knowing what to do, and then headed off into town. Meanwhile, Celestia used her magic to combine and move several overhead clouds, positioning them low to form shade. Then, she laid Dash down and curled up next to her, letting her presence and warmth comfort the sleeping mare just as she’d done with Twilight several times over the years.

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Three Hours Later

Rainbow Dash groaned lightly as she awakened. Her eyes were still closed, but she could feel a warmth right next to her and atop her. She slowly opened her eyes and raised her head, and found herself tucked up against Celestia’s side, the Princess’ wing draped over her like a blanket as the semi-immortal read a book. Dash blushed as she remembered what had happened; she’d had a full-bore emotional breakdown right in front of a member of the diarchy. Celestia felt her shift position and looked at her, smiling.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

Dash looked up at the starry sky. “What time is it?” she asked/mumbled.

“It’s about 9:20 PM” Celestia replied. “You must’ve been tired; haven’t been sleeping well, I presume?”

Dash shook her head, as she staggered to her feet. She stretched out like a cat, joints popping. “Um… T-Thanks” she said bashfully.

Celestia chucked. “It was no trouble at all, Dash. …Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“No” Dash replied. “I was gonna, but then you found me, and I… lost my cool like that.”

“I can tell that you’d been holding all of that in for a long time. I don’t mind at all that I was there for you when you let it all out. Now, why don’t we head to Sugarcube Corner and I’ll get you something?”

“What? O-Oh, I couldn’t ask that of you.”

“I insist. It’s no trouble at all. And your stomach was grumbling while you were asleep, so I know you’re hungry.”

Dash blushed at that. But she gave no further objections as Celestia got to her hooves, and the two walked off into town. As they moved through Ponyville, Dash was confused as she noticed that there seemed to be no-one out & about; normally, the town didn’t really go to sleep until around 11:00. Where was everyone? As they approached Sugarcube Corner, she noticed that the lights were still on; at least the Cakes were still up, so she could get something from them. Celestia stood back, smiling, as Dash approached and opened the door.

“SURPRISE!!!”

Dash nearly fell over in shock, eyes bugging out and jaw dropping, as she took in what she saw. It looked like nearly the entire town was there. Decorations – balloons and streamers – were all over the place, in sky-blue and rainbow colors. On the walls were a few masterfully-done drawings or paintings: Dash pulling off a Sonic Rainboom to save four plummeting ponies, Dash saving a little filly from a well, young Dash standing protectively over young Fluttershy, and a photograph of Dash and the other five Element-Bearers being knighted by Celestia in the wake of the Discord Incident. And hanging from the rafters on the ceiling was a big banner reading, in huge rainbow-hued letters, “WE’RE SORRY, RAINBOW DASH”.

“Wh…” she stammered. “What is all this?”

“We…” Roseluck started, struggling to get the words out. “W-We realized how horrible we’ve been to you lately.”

“We got so caught up that we forgot all the amazing things you’ve done for others” an earth-pony stallion said.

“We didn’t realize we were hurting you” Sparkler said.

Apologies continued to spill forth from the crowd for a good minute or so, with Dash too shocked to say anything in return.

“Rainbow…”

Fluttershy’s quiet voice drew Dash’s attention to the other five Element-Bearers, all of whom looked miserable. Celestia(’s duplicate) telepathically showing them Dash’s earlier breakdown, being made to realize just how badly they’d hurt her, had broken their hearts. Now, they all looked at her with the most pitiful expressions on their faces. Twilight took a step forward.

“I…” she squeaked, trying to choke the words out. “I’m sorry… I didn’t want to… I n-never meant to… I… I screwed up… I’m so sorry…”

“We shoulda just sat ya down and talked to ya” Applejack said, head hanging low enough that her hat obscured her eyes. “We made a huge mistake. I wouldn’t blame ya if ya never forgive us.”

“We should’ve paid more attention to your reactions” Rarity lamented. “We should’ve noticed you were hurting. But we didn’t. And I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

“I knew it was a bad idea almost from the start” Fluttershy confessed. “But I was too afraid of how the others would react if I said so. I w-was too afraid that they’d turn on me if I tried to talk them out of it. But now… I wish I’d been more assertive, that I’d told them why I thought we shouldn’t do it. But I wasn’t brave enough, and I… I ended up going along with breaking your heart…”

“Dashie…” Pinkie’s tone of voice was so sad, so wavering, so very… un-Pinkie that Rainbow felt sadder from hearing it. “I… I’m a horrible pony. I knew you’d be upset, but I went along with it anyway out of peer pressure. And… I h-had no idea that the townsfolk would turn on you. I never wanted to hurt you! I’d sooner cut off one of my own legs before I’d deliberately hurt you, Dashie! You’re one of the most important ponies in the world to me! I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

“We know that nothing we do can ever make up for what we did” Twilight said. “And if you never want to talk to us again, we understand. Just… know that we’re sorry… that I’m sorry; sorrier than I’ve been for anything else in my life, Rainbow. No matter what you think of us… we’ll always consider you one of our best friends.”

Rainbow Dash sat there, head down so her bangs would hide her face from view, as she processed all this. “Why…” she croaked out. “I tried so hard to, so why can’t I…” Her chest felt tight, and a sharp gasp – a sob she failed to hold back – shook her frame. “Why can’t I hate you girls? It would be s-so much easier for me.” She looked up, showing that she was now crying. “Why do I… still care about you?”

“Please, Rainbow…” Fluttershy said as she came close to crying as well. “Just… give us one more chance. Just one more… Please…”

Dash sat there for several seconds, and then she closed her eyes, sniffled, and nodded her head. Almost instantly, Pinkie was hugging her, and the others moved in within seconds.

“It…” Dash choked out, her voice scratchy. “It’ll be a long time before things are really all better between us.”

“We’ll do whatever it takes” Rarity replied. “We’ll burn the Mare-Do-Well costumes, help you unpack your things, and work from there.”

Dash sniffled. “‘Kay…” she whispered.

The apology party ran on until after midnight. Dash was accompanied by the other members of the Core Six for the entire thing, as the townsfolk gave apologies, gifts, and promises to make it up to her. Unnoticed, Celestia had slipped away after the reconciliation, retiring to the castle to sleep, content in the knowledge that her prized student had fixed her mistake.

It would take weeks, perhaps months, to fully heal Dash’s heart, to completely repair the bonds of friendship. But the girls didn’t care how long it took; they would make everything right, no matter the cost.

No matter what, they would prove their loyalty.
> Twilight Sparkle: Canterlot Wedding Part 1 (Warning! Blood/Gore!)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

WARNING: This chapter contains blood & gore in the form of graphic torture of Changeling Queen Chrysalis.

What I found
In this town
I’m headed for a BREAKDOWN!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was no friendship.

Disbelieved. Rejected. Cast aside. Hated. Her so-called friends, her mentor, even her own brother, all had disowned her, all but openly stated their hatred of her, cast her out like a leper. And all for the sake of her.

Twilight couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened to Cadence. The cheerful, friendly, patient, caring, kind babysitter she’d grown up with… Had all of that been a great big lie? Just something she was obligated to do, or something to get closer to her real objective… But Shining had said it was just the stress of the upcoming wedding… No. No amount of stress could justify the harshness and borderline cruelty that the young alicorn had treated the girls with. The girls had…

Her thoughts took a different turn. The girls had turned on her. Nearly 18 months of laughter and tears together with her, and then they’d dropped her like a hot rock, abandoning her for the chance to wear frilly dresses and be in a wedding. And the more she thought about it, the more she thought about all the times they’d done her wrong, the stronger her anger grew.

“They… n-never really cared about me, did they?” she whispered to herself, alone in her pitch-dark room, the doors & windows magically sealed to prevent anyone from getting in. She’d chickened out of confronting Cadence after being disowned by everyone, and had run/teleported back to the suite she was staying in for the duration of the wedding. Now, she lay on the overly cushy bed, brooding in the darkness.

Twilight’s thoughts continued to delve deeper into the darkness, as her overworked brain and broken heart teamed up to crush her spirit. The other girls, Cadence, her brother, her parents, even Celestia… Abandoning her, scorning her, hating her, conspiring against her… Alone in the dark, the little unicorn allowed long-repressed thoughts and emotions to boil to the surface. Sorrow and loneliness twisted and roiled within her, slowly transforming into much more potent and dangerous emotions: rage, resentment, hatred…

In the near future, many ponies would dearly regret that there was no-one around to pull Twilight Sparkle out of her frighteningly rapid downward spiral. As it was, nobody was present to witness as Twilight’s coat gradually darkened, her Cutie Mark changing, her magic transforming into something foul, her mind splintering and remaking itself as the corruption took hold of her soul…

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Next Morning – 9:30 AM

The day was perfect. The ceremony hall was packed with ponies, well-dressed spectators present to see the wedding of the century. Princess Cadence looked positively radiant in her elaborate wedding dress, while Captain Shining Armor stood proud in his dress uniform. The five bridesmaids – Bearers of the Elements of Loyalty, Joy, Kindness, Honesty, and Generosity – stood upon the steps, waiting for the event to truly begin. Off to the side, Shining’s proud parents watched with misty eyes as their son prepared to be wed, sad that their daughter couldn’t make it due to some stomach bug.

Finally, a hush fell over the crowd as Celestia walked up to the center of the stage, smiling proudly at her younger relative and her groom-to-be. She cleared her throat.

“Dearly beloved,” she began, “we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of-”

*WHAM!!!*

Everyone jumped as the massive doors to the ceremony hall were slammed open, cracks appearing on them from the force. They looked as a single pony calmly walked through the threshold and into the hall: Twilight Sparkle. But something was wrong. Her coat was duller in color than normal. The stars that made up her Cutie Mark were darker, their points sharper-looking. But most concerning was the wispy black miasma that emanated from and clung to her form, a jet-black aura of Darkness that flickered like a low flame. She opened her eyes, and those close enough to make out the details gasped as they saw that the sclera were black.

“T-Twilight Sparkle…” Celestia spoke with shock in her voice. “What is the meaning of this? That darkness… What have you done?”

“…Something I should have done a long time ago” Twilight replied with an eerily cold tone that sent shivers down the spines of those who heard it. “For so many years, I repressed and rejected the darkness inside me – all the pain and anger and suspicions and so many other things. But now, spurred on by yesterday’s events, I have embraced it. This is the Darkness that was locked away inside my Heart.”

Twilight looked around at the spectators, her gaze drifting over the looks of confusion and muted horror on the faces of her family and ex-friends.

“You are all wondering what this is about, I presume” she said loudly. “Well, I will tell you. Miss ‘Pretty Pink Princess’ up there is a cold-hearted bitch who has been manipulating my brother Shining Armor. Yesterday, I came across a discussion between the two of them. And I witnessed her perform a form of thought-control magic upon him. Oh sure, he claims it was a headache spell, but that would not explain the look of anger on her face as she realized he was fighting her influence, the confused and dazed look in his eyes after she performed it, or how immediately afterwards he had completely forgotten what they were arguing about and instantly bent to her will.

“I brought my suspicions to Celestia, Shining, and those five girls up there upon the stage, but they disbelieved me. More than that, they cast me out. My own brother disowned me, stating he wanted nothing more to do with me, that I was banned from this ceremony. The five girls who I’d long thought were my friends joined him in turning their backs on me, betraying me, hating me. And Celestia, whom I have devoted most of my life to, joined them in shunning me, casting me out, severing our relationship as student and teacher.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. She had never said that! She was disappointed in Twilight, but she would never have…

“I did a great deal of thinking last night. I’ve realized a great many things. Like, for instance, that Cadence is a manipulative bitch who planned this entire wedding ordeal just to move herself up in the world; the kind-hearted, caring foalsitter I grew up with was a giant lie, a façade to further her goals. Or that my brother is just as bad, having used me to get closer to the woman who’d tricked him into falling in love with her, and then tossed me aside like garbage the second he no longer had use of me. Or that the five girls I thought were my friends, who I’d shared over a year of laughter and tears with, who I’d saved the damn world with twice, are selfish ponies who never truly cared for me, who were using me to get what they wanted and were only nice to me because they were obligated to, and who care less about me than about the chance to wear a frilly dress!”

The other five Element-Bearers were speechless. Tears were coming to Fluttershy’s eyes.

“I could go on, but I won’t. Suffice to say, though, that now that I have embraced the part of myself that I have long repressed, I am here to seek out those who have so grievously wronged me… and take my revenge.”

“That is enough, Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight turned her attention to the two armed Royal Guards flanking her. “We need you to come with us now, ma’am” one of them said, the scowl on his face making his intent clear.

Twilight looked to the guards, then to the shocked and angry-looking ponies up on stage, and then back to the guards. She let out a tiny, humorless laugh. Then, two thick tendrils of dark magic surged out from her horn, grabbing hold of the Royal Guards and holding them up a few feet in the air, struggling feebly in an attempt to break free. A small, wicked grin formed on Twilight’s face, her black eyes flashing, and two more, smaller tendrils reached out and wrapped around the guards’ heads. Then, there were two loud, sickening tearing/cracking sounds as their heads were abruptly spun 180 degrees.

Screams of shock and horror rang out at the sudden brutal double-murder. The sight of two of his subordinates – his comrades – being killed by his own baby sister shocked Shining to the core, the horror breaking through the brainwashing spell on him, leaving his mind clear enough to wholly understand just how bad things were. Celestia’s knees felt weak at the sight of her cute little beloved student becoming a callous killer. Fluttershy and Pinkie were both crying, the latter’s mane & tail limp and straight, holding onto each other for dear life. Rarity almost passed out, while AJ and Dash went pale with horror. Spike was hiding behind Celestia, refusing to believe what he had just seen his mother-figure do. And ‘Cadence’ realized that she may actually be in serious trouble.

The response was quick. Two more Royal Guards rushed Twilight, weapons drawn. She simply stood in place, conjuring a transparent Dark-Magic shield that blocked their blades. A black tendril-arm of dark magic reached out and grabbed one of the guards, forming a huge claw, and then slammed him into the ground with incredible speed and force, shaking the ground and breaking half the bones in his body. She picked him up and then did it again, this time head-first, and his skull cracked like an egg. The fourth guard tried to turn and run, only for several spears of Darkness to shoot up from the floor, impaling him. He twitched for a few moments and then went still, and she dispelled the spikes, allowing his limp body to flop to the floor and his blood to stain the carpet.

“How rude of those boys to interrupt a lady when she is talking…” Twilight said.

Horror and fear filled the hall. Several ponies attempted to leave, only to find the exit blocked by an invisible barrier of magic, so the crowd had to settle for pressing themselves toward the walls, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and the clearly unhinged Darkness-wielding mare. There was no sound, except for a single whimpered whisper from Fluttershy:

“W-What’ve we done?”

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…” Twilight said as she began to slowly walk down the aisle. “I am here on very important business: namely, making pay those who have manipulated and lied to me over the years. I believe I’ll start with the one who caused my most recent sufferings, shall I?”

As she walked, the flame-like aura of Darkness surrounding her slowly grew in intensity, while sharp-tipped tendrils of Dark magic flickered out from her horn. When she was halfway across, everyone took notice as two bulges formed on her back, growing steadily. She stopped, arching her back, and then there was a horrible ripping sound as the flesh on her upper back split in two places, blood and Dark miasma pouring out. It very quickly became clear that something was forcing its way out, as two blood-soaked feathery appendages, wreathed in Darkness, emerged from Twilight’s back, stretching high; they were a faded purple with black tips, stained red by blood. The onlookers’ horror intensified as Twilight apparently became an alicorn in the messiest way possible; Velvet, her & Shining’s mother, tried to scream, but no sounds came out, while her husband Night-Light was as pale as the moon. Twilight flapped her new wings a few times, shaking a good deal of the blood off of them. Celestia felt sick to her stomach. Twilight started walking again, like nothing had happened.

“I can’t fathom why I rejected this power for so long…” Twilight said. “Why did I deny hatred all this time, when it gives me such strength and life? It has given me the power to right the grievous wrongs made against me…”

“T-Twily, that’s enough!” Shining Armor shouted, his voice tinged with fear; it was terrifyingly clear that his little sister wasn’t just throwing a tantrum anymore. “Let’s all just calm down. We can talk this out.”

Twilight glared at her former-BBBFF, her eyes flashing black. “Oh, you’ll get yours soon enough, Shining. But not yet. There’s someone else who’s ahead of you in line.”

She took a few more steps forward… and then vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing directly behind ‘Cadence’, who barely had time to turn halfway around to face her before a Darkness-charged hoof to the face sent her flying, landing several meters away down in the aisle. Twilight flew down at her, firing a barrage of dark-magic bolts. Everyone gasped in horror as Cadence was struck directly by them, being blasted back. After several seconds, she staggered to her feet… and a whole new brand of shock rang out at what was revealed.

Cadence had a feral, fangs-bared look on her face. Her eyes were glowing green. But more importantly, there were several parts of her body where the dark-magic bolts had hit that had lost their normal pink coloring, being revealed as chitinous greenish-black, the holes rimmed by glowing green. It looked as if it was a second layer of flesh beneath her normal pink coat. As Twilight stared, she felt deep shock as she put two and two together. The odd behavior, the not recognizing their little secret greeting, the green glow even though she remembered Cadence’s magic being blue…

“You…” Twilight spoke with sudden realization. “You’re not Cadence… You’re a shapeshifter posing as her!” 

In response, a pillar of green fire enveloped Not-Cadence, swirling around her as she shed her disguise. When it was over, the insectoid-looking pony, as tall as Celestia, smirked.

“Shapeshifter is such a broad term” she said in a flanging voice. “We prefer to be called ‘Changelings’. And I am Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changeling Swarm.”

At seeing and hearing all this, Celestia’s heart nearly stopped from shock. Everything suddenly made horrifying sense. This imposter had strung everyone along, even her. Only Twilight had suspected something was amiss, and they’d responded by casting her out. Shining Armor nearly threw up; that… thing had been using him, altering his mind, and… he remembered the briefing on Changelings back in OCS, how they literally fed upon the positive emotions and life energy of their prey. All those headaches weren’t from sustaining the city-wide Shield spell; they were from his life-force being sucked out by an equinoid abomination disguised as his fiancée.

And he’d sided against his baby sister in favor of that bug.

After several seconds, Twilight spoke, eyes flashing black and fangs bared. “This changes little” she said. “All this does is exonerate the real Cadence; I was wrong to think she was evil. But it does not change the sins committed against me by the others – my family, Celestia, my former friends. I will make them pay. But first, I will deal with you.”

Chrysalis laughed. “I have been feeding off of your brother’s love for the true Cadence for over a week now. Consequently, I have gained a massive boost in power. Even before that, I was only slightly weaker than Cadence or Luna; now, I could go one-on-one with Celestia herself and I’d stand a chance of winning! What makes you think that you, a single dark mage unicorn, could defeat me?”

Twilight let out her own little chuckle, head hanging low. “Love is a powerful emotion; that is true. But so too is its opposite. Love can give you drive, the strength to keep going against all odds, but hatred can do that too. The love you have stolen has doubtless made you strong… but you are not the only one who can draw strength from emotions. The love I once felt for those who have betrayed me has been inverted, and the resulting hate has been magnified as I embraced parts of myself that I for so long refused to acknowledge. All those who hurt me will pay, starting with you. Now… allow me to show you… the full strength of my hatred…”

With that, Twilight made the first move, firing a massive continuous barrage of Dark magic bolts. Chrysalis was seen to smirk just before they hit. Twilight did not let up, continuing to fire explosive Darkness bolts like a machinegun. Her target was obscured by the resulting smoke, but still she fired, a constant wave of energy bolts aimed to obliterate the Queen. After nearly 20 seconds, she stopped, panting for breath, and looked at the now-dissipating smoke cloud. Everything looked still.

“Is that all?”

A flash of green was the only warning Twilight got. Before she could react, she was hit by a blast of green magic that sent her flying back. Tendrils of glowing green energy surged out and grabbed hold of her. The smoke cleared to reveal Chrysalis, looking unharmed, the energy tendrils emerging from her horn.

“That was certainly impressive” she said. “My Shield-spell almost couldn’t take it. You’re too much of a potential threat to allow. …It seems your darkness wasn’t strong enough to beat me after all, little Sparkle.”

The tendrils slammed Twilight hard into the ground. Then, Chrysalis charged and fired a huge blast of raw destructive magic. For Twilight, time seemed to slow to a crawl as her thoughts surged within her mind… and the Darkness tightened its hold on her heart…

Several ponies screamed as Twilight was seemingly consumed by the resulting explosion. The loudest by far was Velvet, calling out her daughter’s name in horror. However, after several seconds, the smoke from the blast was blown away by a surge of Darkness energy from within. Twilight stood, unharmed, her pitch-black aura of Darkness now a roaring flame. Her eyes glowed red, and her teeth were bared as an un-equine feral snarl came from her throat. Her magical energy signature became even more twisted and corrupted, as her power level began to soar upwards. The feel of her power struck fear into the hearts of the captive audience.

“No more games…” she snarled. “Time for you all to suffer…”

Twilight body began to change. Her limbs lengthened as her body shifted form, bringing her up to the size of Luna or Cadence. Her coat darkened and dulled, becoming a violet-tinted black. Her Cutie Mark changed, the smaller stars disappearing while the large one shifted and sharpened, the points transforming into wicked-looking blades. Her mane and tail transformed into fire, shifting flames of purple, dark blue, and magenta with a single “highlight” of jet-black fire. Teeth sharpened, becoming fangs. The feathers of her new wings became dark grey with blood-red streaks. Years of repressed negative emotions, Darkness kept locked away in her Heart, was now truly free.

Twilight’s friends and family cowered in fear as they watched her transform, and felt her magical energy signature grow and darken until it was higher than Chrysalis’ and fouler than Discord’s. But their reactions paled in comparison to Celestia’s.

“No…” the Princess whispered, tears in her horrified eyes. “Please, no… Not again… Not Twilight…”

For she had seen and felt this exact type of transformation before, 1,000 years ago…

“My precious student… H-How did it come to this? How did it all go so horribly wrong?”

Chrysalis stepped back, eyes widening, as she sensed the great and terrible power that now stood before her. “W-What are you?” she asked.

“…Your end” the Nightmare replied.

Twilight’s Nightmare then fired about a dozen huge bursts of Fire- and Darkness-type magic, racing through the air toward Chrysalis. The Changeling Queen conjured a Shield again, only for it to shatter after three hits, leaving her to take the rest head-on. She quickly loosed a pulse of magic from her body to knock out the dark flames before they could spread and consume her, and then she fired several explosive magic bolts at the corrupted Twilight. The new Nightmare, however, simply stood there, a simple Shield spell repelling all of the attacks without even wavering.

Twilight then rushed forward, a flash of flame accompanying her movements, Chrysalis’ desperate spells bouncing off of her, and then landed a rising blow that sent her hurtling up through the air. The Nightmare pursued her, streaking through the air like a fiery comet, and overtook her, timing it just right and landing an overhead axe-blow with her forehooves wreathed in dark flames, sending Chrysalis hurtling down into the ground in a ball of fire, landing hard enough to shatter the intricately carved stone tile. The corrupted Twilight then formed a huge sphere of explosive Fire and Darkness magic, and then threw/fired it downward. Chrysalis barely had time to scream before the attack hit, incinerating her in a massive explosion which was contained by the dark-magic barrier encompassing the impromptu battlefield.

Twilight landed at the edge of the crater, looking down at the pile of ashes at the bottom. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she concentrated, tendrils of dark magic reaching down and enveloping the remains at the bottom. A sphere of dark magic rose up, linked to her horn, and after several seconds it parted to reveal a confused and scared Queen Chrysalis, alive but gripped by tendrils of dark energy.

“Your suffering isn’t over yet” Nightmare-Twilight said. “I will not yet allow you the escape of death. …You can take the form of anyone? Good. This will give me a chance to… vent… a little.”

The hall was then filled with two equally terrible sounds: Chrysalis’ screams of agony and the sickening snaps and cracks as Nightmare-Twilight telekinetically twisted her limbs, wings, and torso far more than they were meant to be moved. Cartilage and chitin fractured and warped as the Changeling Queen was twisted about like taffy. Finally, her head was turned the same way, another crack abruptly silencing her screams. There was then a flash of black magical energy, and she was again alive, whole, and unharmed, and now looking at Twilight with an expression of pure, utter terror.

“I’d say that about does it for the warm-up…”

Twilight’s new dark magic enveloped and invaded Chrysalis’ body, violating her, and forcing her innate transformation magic to activate the way Twilight wanted it to. Thus, Chrysalis was forced to assume the form of Shining Armor. Twilight snarled, sharp fangs bared beneath glowing red eyes.

“Shining Armor… My older brother… One of the ponies who I looked up to the most growing up… But I know now that such admiration was misplaced. When we were little, he’d take every opportunity to skip out on our playdates, cut them short so he could go do what he wanted. And when I moved to Ponyville, he never visited; hell, he never even wrote! He forgot me! And when he decides to get married, one of the biggest changes of his life, he doesn’t even tell me in person, relying on a letter – a letter from someone else, at that – to tell me only a couple days before the ceremony! And then, when I try to save him from being enslaved by a monster, he screams at me, kicks me out, disowns me! He never truly cared for me! I was just a means to an end, an obligation! I… I hate him…”

Outside the barrier, the real Shining Armor felt as it Twilight’s words were hot knives stabbing him in the chest over and over. Guilt rushed over him in waves as he looked back on his life, looking at all the times he took Twiley for granted. And now look where it’d gotten him…

Nightmare-Twilight conjured two large shields around four feet tall, shaped just like the one that made up Shining’s Mark. They floated in midair on either side of her captive, ‘facing’ each other. And then, they moved with sudden, incredible speed and force, crushing Shining/Chrysalis’ right rear leg between them such that the limb practically exploded. Chrysalis screamed in pain, and to the others’ horror Shining’s voice came out of her mouth alongside her own. Blood dripped out from between the pressed-together shields; apparently, Changelings’ blood was red just like ponies’. After several seconds, the large shields parted, revealing that Shining/Chrysalis’ leg had been crushed flat, torn flesh and pulverized bone plainly visible (the Changelings, despite their insect-like appearance, were actually warm-blooded endoskeletal vertebrates, with chitinous natural armor similar to a dragon’s scales, and some insectoid qualities & behaviors).

Before Shining/Chrysalis could say anything, the shields came in again, crushing her other leg. Again she screamed out in her and Shining Armor’s voices, as another limb was pulverized. The crushing, bloodstained shields pulled away again, and then shifted position & angle and did the same to one of her forelimbs, and then the other. Then the lower half of her torso was crushed, causing a dramatic increase in blood; it was at this point that several ponies who would normally faint at such gore were unable to, Nightmare-Twilight’s magic forcing each & every captive viewer to remain conscious, to see and hear everything. Finally, Shining/Chrysalis’ upper half was squashed, silencing her and finally dispelling the transformation. And then, a flash of dark magic enveloped her body, retracting to reveal her alive and whole once more.

Twilight’s dark magic invaded Chrysalis’ body again. This time, the Changeling Queen was forced to assume the form of a certain prismatic pegasus. The Nightmare looked up at her with loathing.

“Rainbow Dash… The braggart, the bully, the insensitive bitch of the group… She bears the Element of Loyalty, for reasons that I cannot fathom. She claims to be a good friend, but I’ve seen plenty that proves otherwise: constant insults and heckling against her friends, pestering me to do things for her, insulting my love of reading and study by calling me egghead or nerd or countless other things, endlessly boasting about her own achievements whilst hardly ever giving credit to others where it is due, abandoning me when I needed her the most! I can’t understand why Scootaloo practically worships the ground she walks on; the poor dear must be blinded to how horrid her object of awe truly is. …After everything the girls and I have been through together, they threw me out for the chance to wear fancy dresses and be in a wedding… In the end, Rainbow Dash is only loyal to herself and her own gratification, and she never displayed any loyalty to me. I hate her.”

Just outside the barrier, the real Rainbow Dash was quivering and trying to hold back tears of guilt and sorrow as she listened to her fallen friend’s words… and of fear as she dreaded whatever was about to be done to her doppelganger. Dash/Chrysalis’ eyes were wide with terror as Nightmare-Twilight formed shifting constructs of magic behind her, slowly approaching the appendages that the real Dash treasured most: her wings. A Changeling’s transformation was more than a simple illusion; it was an actual, physical change, a magically-crafted and -maintained ‘layer of reality’ over their normal bodies. Thus, right now Chrysalis’ wings really were the feathery appendages of a normal pegasus, rather than the insectoid wings of her true form. They were complete in form and function… and in nerve endings.

Chrysalis screamed, in her and Dash’s voices, as her feathers – all of them – were ripped out over the span of a few seconds. Blood streamed from the plucked wings, which were now bare and twitching. And right when the waves of pain had begun to ebb, it was renewed with interest as the bare wings were then chopped off by a magic-forged blade. Dash/Chrysalis wasn’t given time to recover from this before several more of them appeared and began quickly & brutally cutting her apart. A few ponies in the captive audience threw up at the spectacle. When it was over, Chrysalis’ sliced-apart body floated in the air.

Twilight’s dark magic again resurrected her, and then again invaded her body to force another transformation. This time, she was forced to assume the form of a tall, regal alicorn.

“Celestia… I devoted everything I was to her, and how has she repaid me?! Constantly belittling, downplaying, and discarding my concerns and worries, expecting me to deal with all the dangers that threaten her kingdom while she sits on her ass and talks fancy with politicians, never giving me the recognition that I have long since earned! Even after everything I’ve done, all the times I’ve been right, she had no faith in me whatsoever! I’ll bet she never even cared for me at all! I was just a means to an end, a weapon to free her ‘beloved’ sister and smite her enemies, given rare moments of false praise to secure my misplaced loyalty to her! And, she’s always been blind to the true threats to Equestria whenever it mattered! She failed to see Luna’s jealousy and pain and anger until it was too late, and that cost her a thousand years! She failed to notice that the seal on Discord was weakening until he was already out and causing havoc! She failed to notice that Cadence had been replaced by a shapeshifting bug that behaved in a manner totally anathema to the real thing! And she failed to notice the darkness and repressed negativity growing inside of me, and look where that has led! …She manipulated my emotions for her own ends, making me think I meant something to her, when in reality I was just a tool. …I hate her.”

Celestia/Chrysalis screamed as her eyes suddenly burst into flame, rapidly burning away into ash while leaving the rest of her head unharmed. Then her entire body was engulfed in white-hot flames; the ear-splitting, soul-clenching screams lasted until vocal chords were burned away. When the flames faded, a charred corpse was all that remained. Again, Nightmare-Twilight’s magic enveloped and resurrected Chrysalis, and then forced her to take another form: that of a certain yellow pegasus.

“No more!” Chrysalis screamed in her and Fluttershy’s voices, tears of fear streaming down her cheeks. “Twilight, please! I’m sorry! Please! No more!!”

But the Nightmare paid her no heed, listing off Fluttershy’s transgressions and then killing the transformed Chrysalis by seemingly conjuring large invisible claws of solid magic that proceeded to slash huge gashes out of her, all over her body, tearing her apart chunk by chunk. When she’d finally succumbed to that, reverting to her base form upon death, she was resurrected yet again.

This continued for some time, each restoration leading to a new form being forced upon the Changeling Queen, a new calling-out from Nightmare Twilight, and a new horrific death before the next resurrection. Applejack – apple tree roots growing through her body, eventually punching their way out in all directions; Rarity – turned to gemstone and then shattered, one section of her body at a time; Pinkie Pie – stomach rapidly filled until her torso burst open; her mother, her father, the adult forms of a few of her fillyhood bullies; only Chrysalis’ inability to assume forms too much smaller than her true form spared Spike and the Crusaders from witnessing their own horrid demises, and even then they were plenty traumatized just from being forced to witness all of this, clinging to each other in terror. Ponies in the captive audience were nauseous, terrified, in tears, screaming and begging Twilight to just end it already.

Finally, Nightmare-Twilight brought Chrysalis back without forcing a transformation upon her. The Changeling Queen hovered in Twilight’s telekinetic grip, nerve endings screaming in phantom pain, her mind nearly broken by it all. Outside, the Changelings had long since collapsed, unconscious or dead, due to the feedback from the psychic link to their Queen.

“P-Please…” Chrysalis begged. “Just let me die and stay dead… Please…”

“…No. I have something else in mind…”

Space-time distorted around Chrysalis, and she looked around in growing terror.

“I’m going to seal you in a pocket dimension, isolated from base reality. In it, you will be subjected to constant, endless, agonizing pain and suffering. You will be unable to die, no matter what is done to you. You will be unable to escape into the refuge of madness, as some torture victims do; the magic of that realm will force you to remain totally sane, always fully aware and understanding of everything, and forced to remember everything that led up to this. Age will not bring death; you will live forever, in your own private realm of eternal torture. The seal holding you in there will be so great in strength and complexity, that no power short of the Four Elder Gods themselves will be able to free you. Goodbye, Chrysalis! Welcome to Hell!!”

Chrysalis’ final scream of terror was abruptly cut off as the rift in reality swallowed her up. Seconds later, the dark barrier finally came down, though the other barrier blocking the exits remained standing. Nightmare-Twilight then turned her attention to Celestia, who had a look of heartbreak and terror on her face. She slowly began walking towards her, and a sphere of Dark magic formed at the tip of her horn, small at first but steadily increasing in size and power. Unable to bring herself to harm her beloved student, no matter her current state, Celestia could only stand there, frozen in shock, as the blast of Darkness- and Fire-type magic was launched…

…And was intercepted by a rift in reality, a portal that led into the far reaches of space, sucking the attack in and then closing. The blast was warped far out into the Equus System’s asteroid belt, impacting a 50-meter hunk of rock & iron and blowing it in half. Back in the ceremony hall, there was a burst of dark-blue light about halfway between Celestia and Nightmare-Twilight. It faded to reveal two figures: Luna, standing tall and proud, and Cadence, looking exhausted and dirty but unharmed. Upon laying eyes on what had become of the little girl she loved like a sister, now in the grip of darkness and hatred, Cadence nearly started crying.

“C… Cadence?” Twilight’s glowing red eyes widened in surprise and dimmed in glow as she spoke softly.

“…Twilight…” Cadence replied. “It’s me, sweetie. It’s me.”

“…N-No. This… h-has to be a trick; some trump card Chrysalis left behind!”

“…Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake…”

Nightmare-Twilight gasped, as Cadence walked right up to her, giving her the warmest smile she could muster.

“C-Clap your hooves…”

“…And do a little s-shake… It’s you… You remember me. It’s really you…”

Twilight did not resist as Cadence touched her horn with her own, channeling her signature spell into Twilight. Instantly there was a burst of Darkness that was ejected from Twilight, her transformation reversing, leaving regular Twilight, though her black-tipped wings were still there. She looked up at Cadence with her normal eyes, which filled with tears.

“I’m here, Twily” Cadence whispered. “I’m here.”

Twilight nodded, and then collapsed, deep asleep from the exhaustion of everything that had happened to her. Cadence gently cradled her, like a small child, holding her close as she slept. Luna walked up, touching her horn to Twilight’s forehead. She then turned to the others still on the nearby stage.

“The corrupting Darkness has been purged from her,” she said, “but she still holds a great deal of anger, resentment, and a little hatred for you all in her Heart. Know that the accusations and grievances she called out while within the Nightmare’s grip came from her, not from the corruption. When she awakens, there will be much she will wish to say. And you must all think long and hard on what she said, and on what she will say.”

“I’ll t-take her to her room in the castle” Cadence said. “And I’m going to stay with her. We can sort out everything else later.”

She carefully placed Twilight on her back and then walked out, the crowd parting before her, a few Royal Guards following to serve as escort, just in case any Changelings had survived their Queen’s end. Back on the altar, the tension, fear, and adrenaline had finally left the group there, and many of them collapsed into tears.

“This day was supposed to be perfect…” Shining Armor whispered.

TO BE CONTINUED
> Twilight Sparkle: Canterlot Wedding Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

What’s that sound?
It’s so loud!
I’m headed for a BREAKDOWN!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Day – 7:00 AM

Twilight awoke to a feeling of comfort she hadn’t felt in a very long time. However, the memories of everything came back to her very quickly, darkening her mood. As she lay there, she realized that she was up against something warm, and that something soft was draped over her. She heard and felt something shifting position nearby, and she in response opened her eyes. Cadence’s smile filled her vision, and Twilight felt her emotions well.

“Good morning, sleepyhead” Cadence said.

Twilight’s response was to latch onto Cadence with a hug and start crying, pent-up emotions coming out all at once. She stayed like that for around five minutes, safe in the embrace of one of her oldest and closest friends.

“I’m so sorry I thought you were evil until I blasted off Chrysalis’ disguise” she whimpered. “I was so deep in darkness that I was ready to kill you without a second’s hesitation.”

“It’s alright, Twilight” Cadence soothed her. “The Changeling Queen fooled everyone. I’m just glad she didn’t get the chance to seriously hurt you.”

Twilight allowed herself to relax in Cadence’s arms (forelegs; whatever). She sighed, stretching out her wings and… She stopped, looking back and discovering that yes, the wings she grew during the initial stages of her Nightmare transformation were still there, the feathers being the same shade of purple as her coat, with black tips. She moved them around a little, folding and extending them, twitching the feathers, and giving them a light flap.

“I thought they were part of the dark transformation…” she muttered.

“That may have been what brought them out,” Cadence replied, “but you already had the potential to become an alicorn before you… gave your heart to Darkness. Celestia was going to wait until you mastered your fifth S-rank spell before she told you how to ascend ‘properly’.”

“Is that how you, Celestia, and Luna became alicorns?”

“No; we were born like this. You are the first pony in history to ascend to alicorn-hood instead of being born as one. I… just wish it had happened under more positive and joyful circumstances…”

Twilight cast her eyes down at that, dark thoughts swirling within her head.

“You need to talk to them, Twilight” Cadence said. “All of them. Otherwise, those dark thoughts will stay there inside you, worsening over time like an infected wound. You could end up holding onto poisonous hatred for the rest of your life, which could be a very long time, considering…”

“…”

“Please, Twilight. Promise me that you’ll at least talk to them.”

“…Okay” Twilight murmured.

“C’mon; I’ll fix you something for breakfast first. …Fair warning: you’re gonna need to eat more food from now on, now that you’ve got those wings; alicorns have the highest daily caloric requirements of the four races, and the bigger & more powerful they are the more they need to eat. If you could see how many sweets Celestia can eat without gaining a pound…”

-----SCENE BREAK-----

8:35 AM

Twilight shuffled her forehooves awkwardly as her mother and father walked into the room. Velvet looked at her daughter, thankful to not currently see any anger in her expression. She was still haunted by the memories of everything that had happened yesterday – seeing her baby girl using dark magic, becoming a sadistic killer, gaining wings by having them rip their way out of her back, transforming into a new Nightmare, torturing the Changeling Queen. And the things she’d said… When Twilight had forced Chrysalis to assume the forms of her mother and father, they’d gotten off relatively easy – accusations of favoritism toward Shining Armor, pointing out how they never tried to get in contact with her after her move to Ponyville, followed by quick and not-that-messy deaths. Cadence had confirmed to Velvet and Nightlight that Twilight was only a little angry with them, and could not bring herself to hate them. Still, that little bit of anger was enough to warrant this meeting.

Nightlight spoke first. “Twilight, sweetie… I think the first thing I should tell you regards you saying how you felt that we were favoring Shining Armor over you. To be honest, Shining has, on more than one occasion, confessed that he felt that we were favoring you over him.”

Twilight’s eyes widened just a bit.

“My mother called it a normal sibling thing” Velvet continued. “She had the same issue with her little brother growing up; each one thought that the other was the favorite and they were being ignored in comparison. It led to them not speaking to each other for 12 years after she’d moved out on her own; it took my grandmother a lot of time and effort to clear up everything and get my mom and uncle to reconcile. …We never favored either you or Shining, Twilight. We love you both equally, and I’m so, so sorry that we accidentally gave both of you any impressions otherwise.”

“We… don’t have such an excuse, however, for not keeping in contact with you” Nightlight said sadly, as he and his wife hung their heads. “There was just so much going on – our second honeymoon, the drama with my brother, and a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’… Plus, we knew you needed to learn to stand on your own, to make new friends…”

“But we still should’ve at least written you letters, checked up on you…” Velvet added.

“…I’m kinda guilty in that department, too” Twilight replied. “I didn’t even remember to write to you about my new friends until a week after we’d saved the day, and even then I only wrote to you once about it. I’ve been down in Ponyville for so long and I only tried to contact you three times. And when we were here in Canterlot for my 20th birthday, I forgot to invite you! I… I forgot you, too. I’m so sorry.”

They (cautiously) approached her, and she hugged them. Relief swept over them knowing that their daughter still loved them and had forgiven them. After a few seconds, they got a slight surprise as she used her new wings to hug them along with her forelimbs. Velvet repressed a shudder at the memory of her little girl’s wings bloodily bursting their way out of her back; now was not the time for such dark thoughts. Their baby was an alicorn now (albeit a small one); they would get used to that sooner or later. For now, though, she was their Twily – nothing more, and nothing less.

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Throne Room
10:15 AM

Celestia looked up from the stack of paperwork that yesterday’s incident had necessitated, and as she saw Twilight walking in, wings folded to her sides and a stone-neutral expression on her face, she knew that the conversation she’d been dreading had arrived. She stepped down and walked toward Twilight, meeting her halfway. They looked at each other, Celestia with nervousness, guilt, and sadness, and Twilight with a failed attempt to hide her anger behind an expressionless mask, the look in her eyes making it abundantly clear that she was very upset.

“T-Twilight, I…”

“Don’t” Twilight interrupted, holding a hoof up. “No amount of fake apologies could ever make up for what you’ve done to me.”

“They’re not fake! I am sorry, truly! I never meant to hurt you, Twilight!”

“Liar!!” Twilight screamed. “I was just a tool to you! You used me as a weapon to help your precious sister, and then to deal with whatever other threats popped up to threaten your reign!”

“I never gave you any tasks that I didn’t think you could handle. And I never thought of you as ‘just a tool’! I’ve always loved having you as my student, and I have never stopped caring for your well-being and safety! In my 3,200 years of life, you are only the second student I have ever taken! I failed to stop the first’s fall to darkness 500 years ago, and now I came horrifyingly close to losing you in the same manner!”

“You have lost me! I refuse to call you my teacher any longer!”

Celestia stepped back from hearing that, as if the words had physically struck her.

“I trusted you!” Twilight continued. “I idolized you! But you didn’t have faith in me! You never took any of my warnings seriously! I… All I ever wanted was to impress you! To ensure that I truly earned the right to be your student! But it became more; you were there for me when no-one else was, you m-made sure I ate right and got sleep instead of letting my studies keep me up all night, you p-praised me when I did well, you taught me things even more important than magic, you were there for me where my parents couldn’t be! And then you just turned around and abandoned me!! You… Y-You…”

And then Twilight said four words. Just four simple words. But the way she said them, screaming them out as tears streamed down her face, along with the words themselves, were enough for Celestia to fully realize just how badly she’d messed up, enough to break her heart as she realized Twilight’s motivations, her own feelings for her, and what she had done to the girl who was so much more than just her student:

“YOU WERE MY MOTHER!!!”

Celestia could barely breathe, and soon tears came to her eyes as her already-crushing guilt magnified tenfold. In an instant, memories rushed through her mind: playing with little Twilight in-between study sessions, sleeping next to a curled-up ball of purple fluff to keep the little one’s nightmares away, seeing the look of joy on the little filly’s face as she mastered a new spell… Her rear legs fell out from under her as she finally realized that she did love Twilight as a daughter… and now, her mistakes had ruined that irreparably.

‘Twilight…’ she thought. ‘I… By Father, what have I done?’

Before Celestia could say anything, Twilight turned and ran, ignoring Celestia’s desperate pleas for her to stay. Twilight teleported out, reappearing on the far end of the hall outside the throne room, near the exit doors… and directly in front of five shocked young mares. Twilight and the group very quickly recognized each other; she wiped the tears from her eyes and scowled at them, while their expressions quickly became ones of guilt, regret, and sorrow; Pinkie’s mane & tail were still flat and straight, as they had been since the incident at the interrupted wedding.

“Twi…” Applejack started, removing her hat. “We’ve been lousy friends…”

“Damn right you have” Twilight snapped in reply. The others bowed their heads in shame.

“We abandoned you when you needed us” Rainbow Dash said. “Betrayed you…”

“Yes, you did.”

“We s-should’ve listened to you,” Fluttershy continued, “considering your t-track record with these kinds of things.”

“Yes, you should have.”

“W-We let the chance to participate in a royal wedding blind us to a friend in need” Rarity lamented.

“Yes, you did.”

“We were horrible to you” Pinkie whimpered. “And… we’re so, so sorry.”

“…Apology not accepted.”

The five gasped in shock, their hopes dashed.

“T-Twilight…” Pinkie whimpered. “You’re our friend! We love you!”

“Oh, really?” Twilight retorted. “I find that pretty damn hard to believe after all you’ve done to me! Over a year of time together, all the adventures and mishaps, all the times we helped each other, and you throw me out just like that!”

“We were just doin’ what yer brother told us to!” Applejack replied. “An’ besides, you came in actin’ like a madwoman, hootin’ & hollerin’, sayin’ stuff that sounded totally crazy without any proof to back it up!”

“I know I should have brought proof” Twilight replied. “And I know I flew off the handle. Those were my mistakes, and I acknowledge them. But that doesn’t excuse you walking out on me, abandoning me, going ahead with the wedding without me! And all the other things you’ve done to me before the wedding over the past year, taking advantage of me, refusing to take me seriously unless the world depends on it! Actually, not even then! And… w-what if I had brought proof? I bet you’d have all still sided against me!”

“No, we wouldn’t have!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “If you had brought proof, we would’ve sided with you even if Celestia herself didn’t!”

“Lies!! You never believe anything important I say until things are already going to hell all around us! You were supposed to be my friends! You were supposed to have my back against anything and everything, no matter what! Why didn’t you?! Why did you leave me all alone?!?!”

“Because we were short-sighted, insensitive fools who don’t deserve to have a friend as wonderful as you!!” Fluttershy wailed, finally speaking up.

There were no words for the next several seconds, only Fluttershy’s sobs and Twilight’s gasps for breath. The others were in full agreement with Fluttershy’s summation, too ashamed to even look Twilight in the eyes anymore.

“We don’t deserve you, Twilight…” Rarity said softly in an utterly defeated tone. “We are horrible friends, who have given you far more pain and unhappiness than pleasure and joy. But we swear, on our very souls, to change our ways however necessary. We will do anything you want. …We will always love you, Twilight, but… if you wish to never associate with or even speak to us again, we understand…”

“…It… It is going to take a long, long time before everything is right between us” Twilight finally said. “Before you all can earn back my trust and friendship. Years, even.”

“We’ll do whatever is necessary, even if it takes until we’re all old and gray and half-dead” Rainbow Dash replied. “You’re worth it… even if we’re not.”

-----SCENE BREAK-----

12:06 PM

Twilight and the girls had departed on mostly-neutral terms, they giving her the space she needed. Now, she lay in her room in the castle, pouring over a book on proper wing care that she was going to need to memorize thanks to her new appendages. She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Sighing, she got to her feet and walked over, opening the door…

“H-Hey, Twily. Um…”

…and then slamming it in her brother’s face the instant she recognized him.

“Okay” she heard him mutter. “Plan B, then.”

Before she could process what he said, Shining Armor appeared in the middle of her room in a bright flash of light, stumbling a bit.

“Gah…” he muttered. “Teleporting always gives me a headache, even for only a couple meters.”

“What do you want, Shining?” Twilight said coldly.

He flinched at the harsh tone, but managed to collect himself. “I came to try and make things right between us, Twily.”

“Don’t call me that” she snapped. “You don’t have the right to call me that anymore! I refuse to allow it! …You actually think that anything you say or do can patch things up between us, after what you did to me?! If so, than you are sorely mistaken!”

“Twilight, please! I screwed up! I should’ve been more alert, should’ve noticed that Cadence wasn’t acting right!”

“That’s not the issue here! I know that you couldn’t have done that, because a Changeling’s mind-altering spell physically prevents its target from doing that! But it only affects how the victim sees and thinks of the caster! It does not affect how they treat others! So you can’t blame Chrysalis for all of the things you said and did to me!”

“I wasn’t going to! I treated you horribly. I’m your big brother, and I’m supposed to look out for and support you. But I didn’t. I chose that… insect over you. And I’ve been disgusted with myself ever since.”

“Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Pity yourself for your stupidity all you want; it won’t change a gods-damned thing between us. I idolized you, I did everything for your sake, and you threw me out like garbage! Just as you’ve always done! Every time we did things together as kids, you couldn’t wait to just get it over with and go do what you wanted, without me in tow! They were some of the best times of my life, but to you they were just an annoyance! And when I moved to Ponyville, you didn’t come to see me off! And during all my time there, not once did you even try and contact me! The girls didn’t even know you existed until we got the invitations! And then you exiled me, your baby sister, from the most important event of your life! When I burst in there, you were all just going right the hell ahead without me! You didn’t care! You never cared!! You never really cared about me, so why the hell should I give a shit about you?! I no longer consider you as my brother!!”

Shining staggered back, tears coming to his eyes, as he looked into the eyes of his little sister, his Twily, and saw nothing but pain and hatred directed at him. “I… I…”

“Get out” she interrupted.

“T-Twily-”

“GET OUT!!!”

Shining’s military training was the only thing that gave him the reaction time necessary to cast a small Shield spell to block the ensuing blast of magenta-colored attack magic. She fired a few more blasts at him as he telekinetically opened the door behind him, stepped out, and ran like hell, the door swinging closed in his wake. Twilight stood there, panting, tears in her eyes and a look of fury still on her face. Then she collapsed atop a nearby cushion, buried her face in it, and cried.

Why had that hurt so much? She hated him now… didn’t she?

-----SCENE BREAK-----

3:15 PM

Twilight lay on her suite’s bed, wings and mane splayed out, helping herself to a box of chocolates; Cadence hadn’t been kidding when she’d said alicorns needed to eat more, and more often, than the other three subspecies. The day’s events weighed heavily on the new alicorn’s mind, leaving her to sulk as she ate.

“Twilight?”

She lifted her head and looked behind her, to see Cadence walking in. The older alicorn hopped up on the bed and curled herself up next to Twilight, draping a wing over her; Twilight let out a sigh as the comforting gesture from her honorary big sister eased some of her tension. She made no objection as Cadence helped herself to one of the chocolates. For the next few minutes, they just stayed like that.

“Shining and I have decided to postpone the wedding for a while” Cadence finally said. “After everything that’s happened, regarding the Changelings and… you… we felt it best to give everything time to settle down.”

“…I see” Twilight said in a neutral tone. “That’s understandable.”

“I’d… like you to be my Maid of Honor when the time comes.”

“…I can’t do that, Cadence.”

“What?” Cadence’s head rose. “Why not?”

“I can’t stand to be involved in anything related to Shining Armor, especially if it’s something meant to make him happy. …He came by to try and apologize to me a few hours ago. I rejected his apologies. And I shot at him – tried to kill him. It didn’t work, thanks to his talent with Shield spells, but… It hurts too much to be around him. I’m still too angry at him. I still hate him. I won’t stand in the way if you want to pursue a relationship with him… but leave me out of it. Otherwise I’ll probably end up murdering him right in front of you, and that would ruin your wedding day all over again, now wouldn’t it?”

Cadence let out a sad sigh as she hugged Twilight, feeling the urge to weep at a once-strong bond ending up so utterly broken. “I’m sorry” she whispered.

“Don’t apologize. You’re one of the few who did nothing wrong, who aren’t at fault. You were trapped underground, Spike was too afraid of Shining, Celestia, and my so-called ‘friends’ to go against them, and Luna was napping. …If I don’t see Spike soon, could you maybe find him and let him know what I just said, and thus that I’m not angry at him?”

“S-Sure… I, ah… heard about your meeting with Celestia, and then with the girls…”

“…Is that so…?”

“I checked on Celly. She’s… absolutely devastated. All the guilt and regret over everything that’s happened was magnified by what you said to her. And she’s also been dwelling on all the times her ‘failures’ have endangered her subjects and the kingdom – Nightmare Moon, her fallen student half a millennium ago, Discord’s release, the Changelings, your Nightmare… She’s coming to think that she can’t adequately protect and rule her subjects, so she’s… she’s considering abdicating the throne – stepping down as Princess.”

At this, Twilight went from lying on her side, eyes half-closed, to sitting up with eyes wide from shock. “What?!” she whispered out, too shocked to yell.

“Her confidence in her judgment and in her ability to rule and protect Equestria has been pretty much shattered. She thinks that the kingdom would be safer under the command of Luna and the Royal Court. And… her heart is broken from realizing the full weight of what you meant – what you mean – to her, and what she did to you. She-”

But before Cadence could say anything more, Twilight stood up, her magic enveloping the both of them. There was a flash of light, and they both disappeared.

Just Outside Celestia’s Private Chamber
Four Seconds Later

Cadence and Twilight reappeared on the luxurious carpet just outside a door with a picture of the Sun etched into it. The door was open a few inches, allowing Luna’s incredulous voice to ring out.

“You cannot be serious, sister!” the moon goddess shouted. “You have been a Princess presiding over Equestria ever since you and I defeated Discord 1,300 years ago! You cannot just throw that away because of one mistake!”

“I have made far more than just ‘one mistake’, Luna” Celestia replied. Her mane and tail were limp and still, and the colors were slightly dulled. “I ignored the resentment and darkness growing within you until it took mind of its own and transformed you into a daemon, costing us 1,000 years. I failed to prevent – nay, caused – the fall of my first student” the mental images of a pink-furred unicorn stallion with a crazed look in his eyes, dark magic swirling around his body, and a book bound in dragon hide and written with gryphons’ blood flashed through her mind. “I did not notice the seal on Discord weakening until he was already loose. I failed to notice that Cadence – my own flesh-&-blood, one of the purest-hearted ponies in the world – was replaced by a cold-hearted shapeshifter until Twilight forcefully revealed her. And I let down Twilight – my student, my ward, my daughter – such that she surrendered to Darkness just as you did 1,001 years ago.”

“You are only highlighting the bad that has happened under your reign while ignoring or dismissing the good” Luna said. “Technological advances, reducing the once-ubiquitous racism between the three subspecies to only 1,000 or so stubborn old holdouts with no real power, gender equality, vastly improved education, increased life expectancy, peaceful contact and trade relations with the zebra tribes…”

“And yet, three times my failures have nearly led to the loss of all of that.”

“Celestia!”

The two sisters looked up in shock as Twilight walked in.

“What are you thinking?!” she said. “You can’t just abandon the throne because of me! The entire Equestrian government is built around you; if you quit, it could collapse! And so what if you made mistakes? Every leader does!”

“But most leaders’ mistakes don’t endanger the lives of millions!” Celestia replied. “Every time a major threat to Equestria comes along, I do things catastrophically wrong! I’m not cut out to defend Equestria from those that threaten it.”

“Then change things up a little regarding your and Luna’s duties” Twilight suggested. “Right now, and since she came back, you’ve had her handling night-time duties while you handle things in the day, regardless of whatever happens during those times of day. But Luna has a better mind for tactics, strategy, and all things war-related than you; let her handle defense and military, while you focus on the other things.”

“I am in agreement with Twilight Sparkle, sister” Luna said. “Your skills in handling threats to our kingdom are commendable when the threat is overt, but spotting and dealing with subtle threats are more my forte. I’ve actually been meaning to train and implement a special-forces and investigations branch that would be in charge of ferreting out hidden enemies and conspiracies, and they would also be used to closely monitor any other seals keeping dark entities at bay, so we wouldn’t have a repeat of Discord.”

“And maybe we could add a few royal psychologists,” Cadence added, “so what happened to Luna and Twilight won’t happen again.”

“The people are scared right now” Twilight said. “If you step down from the throne now, they might see it as abandonment. It could make things much worse, maybe even incite revolt. Give it a few years with some changes to the system, see if things stabilize and turn out okay, before you go making such a humongous decision.”

Celestia was silent for about a minute. “…All right” she said. “We’ll try your suggestions. …It seems you three are already wiser than I.”

“More like we have the benefit of a somewhat-objective viewpoint” Cadence replied.

Celestia then looked at her former student, who looked back with a mixture of various emotions.

“Twilight… I can never apologize enough for what I’ve done… You are the closest thing to a child I’ve had in my entire life, and I took you for granted. …I’ve had far more faith in you than you think, but I should’ve made that clearer to you. …And I should’ve had more.”

“…I should’ve given you reason to” Twilight admitted. “I do have the tendency to fly off the handle when things go even the slightest bit wrong. I guess this was a ‘Colt Who Cried Wolf’ scenario, huh? It… It still hurts, a lot. It’ll take a long time for things to be fully right between us, Celestia… but it’s possible. Don’t give up on me.”

Celestia nodded. “I won’t. I swear it.”

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Wrap-Up

Things gradually settled back to normal in Canterlot over time. Five months after the foiled Changeling attack, Cadence and Shining Armor were properly wed; Twilight chose not to attend the wedding.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie worked tirelessly to earn back Twilight’s trust and friendship. Little by little, the shattered bonds were repaired. It took over two years of work, but eventually their friendship was as strong as it had been before, if not stronger.

Five years after the Changeling Incident, Celestia received a present from Twilight… on Mother’s Day. That same day, Twilight finally forgave her old mentor, though she declined the offer to resume her position as Celestia’s student, having learned quite a bit on her own without a teacher’s help.

18 years after the Changeling Incident, Night-Light suffered a heart attack. It was touch-and-go, but he survived and made a full recovery. During the brief period where they thought he wouldn’t, Twilight and Shining had a long, long talk. Emotions ran high, words were exchanged, and tears were shed… but in the end, they buried the hatchet, and Twilight finally forgave her brother after nearly two decades of anger and grudge.

A mere four years after her imprisonment, Chrysalis was ‘freed’ by Ouranos, the Father of All Alicorns and one of the ‘four elder gods’ with the power capable of breaking her seal. Her body was too ravaged to remain in the material realm; he escorted her to the afterlife, to Purgatory to work off her sins for however many decades or centuries it would take to purify her soul sufficiently to ascend properly.

END.