The first thing I noticed, still in the darkness, was the pain. Not a sharp one that cuts into your flesh, but a numb, all-permeating soreness that drags you down. It marred my limp legs and pulled on my neck. It sat on my back and it buried itself in my very being. I lacked the strength to open my eyes. I felt as if my every bone had been ripped from its place and then violently stuffed back, turning me inside out and back again. For all I know, that may have been just what happened.
There was a scream of music, a shriek in my mind.
As my blurry vision cleared, I realised: Vinyl had every right to fear the Canterlot Great Hall.
Up on the stage, a rack of meat and hair slouched over a bent brass tube, its dry lips grafted onto the metal. An eye on its side stared at me. The thing expanded and drew air in through a split at the top, making a loud, wheezing sound. Then the pit closed, and the thing contracted slowly, rhythmically, blowing air through the battered tube. The false tones of the sousaphone weren't what bothered me. It was the realisation that its player used to be a person.
A pile of appendages—thickly coiled tendons, really—banged on the piano with bleeding, broken hooves at their end. The harpist was turned inside-out as well: a mass of muscles spread across the frame whose freely swaying pieces contorted to yank at the strings, skipping elegantly over the one that had apparently snapped.
All that remained of the cellist—oh, Octavia, how lucky you are—were the teeth that burst from the inside of the instrument, and a cut tail that was tied, on one end, around the nut at the top. The other end was wrapped around the bow, and the tail scraped it across the strings to produce ear-splitting screeches.
The floor rumbled with a round of applause. I found the strength to stand. Turning my back to the stage, however, I was graced with no release from Decadence's theatre of horrors.
The nobles of the ballroom, although by no means as far gone as the musicians, could also flaunt a wide range of disturbing bodily deformations. There were mouths that had sealed shut in favour of a new aperture somewhere else; I saw grotesquely swollen legs paired with sickly thin torsos; muzzles with toothy crags running down the middle; popped eyes and tongues punctured, coloured and displaced in ways I'd never imagined in my worst nightmare.
The disfigurement was as diverse as many royals there were, and they wore—even showed off—these repugnant beauty marks with pride.
With the ghastly music playing gently, hideously, in the background, the nobles had gathered in a circle to clap and whistle in delirious admiration for the couple in the centre.
For there she was, Decadence, the mare herself, dancing a wondrous waltz. Shining Armor—his form pristine and untouched by Decadence's foul magic—wore an elegant suit and the smile of true love. Apart from his amorous blinks, his eyes were never taken off his lady.
One could say that I've known my brother a long time. I was there when he married Cadence. I had never seen him as happy as I did now. His gaze bore none of the intoxicated lust and dare I say, decadence of the rest of Canterlot, but a genuine, calm and contented happiness.
Even though it were his hooves that guided Decadence's steps, I knew who really pulled the strings. Pushing a few frilly dresses and ostentatious tuxedos to the side, I stepped inside the circle. As Shining Armor spun her around, she sent me a quick smooch.
"Decadence—"
I was cut short by another wave of solid claps and excited stomps. A particularly painful screech of the cello coincided with the outburst. Decadence put her head on my brother's shoulder to wink at me.
I stomped. "What do you want?!"
Decadence's dance slowed gradually. Shining eventually let her go with a kiss. She walked over with a spring still in her step; her lovestruck swaying from side to side made me wonder whether she'd even make it without falling over. To my misfortune, she did. Decadence leaned close to me, stretching her neck and rotating her head to the side innocently.
"Why," she began, "I just didn't want you to miss out on the party. All your friends are here, and they've missed you dearly."
"What have you done to them?"
A grin crawled up her cheeks in response.
"Answer me."
Decadence's ear twitched; somepony cleared their throat. On the podium where Decadence had declared the gala officially open, now stood Rarity.
"Oh look," Decadence whispered, already on her way back to my brother. "I think she has something to say."
"She is under your control, like everypony else. I am not interested—"
As my brother embraced Decadence again, the crowd cheered and the music resounded with loathsome wails. Decadence waved a hoof, shooing me away. It seemed I had no choice but to play her game. I pushed my way outside the circle, finding that the outer shell had broken off from Decadence's audience, turning instead their filthy, salivating gazes towards my friend on the podium. I, too, made my way over.
Rarity's beautiful white visage was stained by the darkly smudged blues and blacks of blotched make-up. Her mane, crafted with exquisite care, now hung undone at the side of her head, with only a few broken-up curls to reminisce of their former elegance. Most ominous of all was her dress; that is, somepony else's dress that hung from her body, torn and dirty.
When her eyes, turned yellow, took a glance at me, they held nothing but pity. She scanned the gathering crowd before beginning her speech.
Save for the eyes, at the very least, Decadence hadn't defiled her body. Perhaps she decided that the knowledge that she could have was enough to torment me.
"I'd like to talk about the worst kind of pony," Rarity began. "The kind of pony everypony should know to avoid. A compulsive liar. A manipulative cheat with a silver tongue."
She spoke fluently, convincingly, with the unmatchable tact that only she possessed. Decadence truly knew how to move her puppets.
"Her name is Twilight Sparkle, the fiend of Canterlot. She who used me. Who used all my friends. She thinks herself righteous, but she is rotten. She thinks herself better, but all she deserves is contempt."
I couldn't bear to listen. "Stop it, Decadence!" I called out, still looking at Rarity. I tried looking away, but I only managed to step closer.
"She made me lie to everypony I knew. I was forced to even lie to myself, to keep up her façade. And for what reason? To keep her out of honesty's way, to allow her to evade responsibility for another day. To shade her words from the light of truth. Everything in the knowledge that should I fail to uphold her act, I would be punished."
I stepped onto the podium, shaking from head to hoof. She didn't look at me once. "Rarity, please...." I put a feeble hoof on her shoulder.
"She claims what she does is for the greater good. She truly believes that her lies are justified; that the world should remain ignorant where she, O great Twilight Sparkle, knows the truth. She calls us friends. And that is the greatest lie of it all. I don't think she believes it herself."
She slowly turned her head towards me. Her glassy eyes stared straight into me.
"This mare is a monster, and I wish one day she will realise that."
"No!" I snapped. "It's not like that. All I ever wanted was to protect you."
But Rarity didn't bother to respond. Looking into her vacant eyes, I had to accept that I'd fallen for Decadence's little trick. Rarity's mouth may have formed the words, but she never really said a thing.
Right?
Is this the point of it all? To show the world what it really is... and to show me that I'm no better?
Cadence had always been attuned to the feelings of other ponies. She had wanted to help them overcome their self-imposed boundaries; she wished for love to blossom where society would otherwise trample it. Decadence, now, took that idea to its extreme.
When I plunged into her mind, I felt what she did: her mind reeled with hidden desires, both her own and those of others. And here she was, now, spitting it right back in our faces.
Hypocrites, all of us.
"Only once," Shining Armor spoke up. He, too, was on the podium, right behind me. And just like Rarity, his eyes were yellow where they should've been white. "Only once I'd like to hear you admit you've made a mistake."
"What do you expect me to say?"
"After mum and dad died, you just couldn't put it behind you."
"Both our lives ended when they died. When Cadence murdered them. Don't try to pin that on me."
"So you went out there, night after night, hunting the creatures of darkness. You justified it easily. You were saving Equestria. You were protecting the innocent."
"At least I did something!" I snapped. "While you wallowed in your self-pity, in bed with the mare who did it all."
"But that wasn't the real cause, was it?" he asked, refusing to acknowledge my words. "You told yourself it was a calling, but you couldn't explain why. Truth is, you simply enjoyed it, taking out your frustration. You liked having power. Every monster you caught and killed was payback. Payback for mother and father."
"Shut up." I slapped him. "Shut up!" And I slapped him again. I just wanted him to stop.
"But what about me?" he asked, unfazed. "You were all I had left. After the wedding, after mum and dad... I've lost faith in the world. You remained pure. Untainted by the rotting world. You were the last thing that kept me sane. But that was all a lie, wasn't it? My sweet little Twily was really no better than the rest. When were you going to tell me? What if you had died? You'd have left me alone, alone with all the questions. Has that never crossed your mind?"
I wouldn't listen to them any longer. I spun around to hop off the podium, only to bump into Decadence.
"So?" she asked. "Have you caught up on everything?"
I stared into her gloating, condescending grin. I thought of what she'd done to the city. I thought of my parents, and my friend, standing behind me, hanging on her every word. I remembered what I'd seen inside her mind, and the pity I felt for Cadence. A seething anger rose inside my mind.
I jumped at her. I had no plan, no concept of what would happen. Punching, kicking and biting, I reached for the golden tiara on her head.
She pushed me off effortlessly, her magic flinging me to the other end of the podium. Shining Armor and Rarity gave me disgusted looks. Decadence sprung over to me before I stood up. She then extended a helpful hoof. I didn't take her offer, standing up on my own.
We locked eyes again. Even if I knew what to say, I wouldn't have opened my mouth. Decadence deserved nothing.
"It's hard, isn't it?" she asked.
She was toying with me. There I stood before the mare who shaped—destroyed—my life, and I was powerless, weak, and alone.
"Am I upsetting you?" she asked again.
I had faced many monsters. Nightmare Moon would have killed me if she had the chance. Discord wanted to change me to his liking. Chrysalis saw nothing in me but another victim to syphon dry.
Decadence had the gall to do nothing. She just wanted me to watch, and I had no choice but to play her game.
"Get me out of here," I said. "I want to get away from them."
Decadence's aura pinched my cheek and pulled it patronisingly. "I'm not hearing the magic word."
I looked back at my friend and my brother. They shook their heads judgingly. Decadence raised a curious, innocent brow.
I closed my eyes. "Please, Decadence...."
"I want you to look at me," she said.
I stared into her eyes. "Please, Decadence!"
The moment I said the word, the great doors opened at the far end of the ballroom, exposing the hallways that slithered in the maze that was the Canterlot Great Hall. Decadence stepped aside, brushing her tail under my chin.
"Go on, then," she said.
I walked slower than I'd have liked. With everything I'd been through that night, I could barely beat the speed of a leisurely stroll, and I didn't possess half as much poise. I had to stop, halfway through the room, to catch my breath. I noticed, then, that not only was Decadence following right behind me, but so were Rarity and Shining. The first one put on an encouraging smile; you can do this, just a little more.
After a few deep breaths, I resumed my steps.
The hall was aptly named; great was about the most descriptive term one could use. Countless doors connected halls, hallways and great chambers of stained glass and diamonds.
Decadence saw to it that I had the illusion of choice; it gave her something to take away. When I approached a door she didn't want me to take, it closed just before I could reach it. I kept looking for an opportunity to break her game, but her attention never slipped.
I was in no shape to run, and in my exhaustion, I feared that teleporting would leave me a burnt, icy husk. I had to endure the shame of being followed by Decadence and her enchanted entourage; my brother, and my friend. I didn't turn my head. I didn't want to look at them. I shut the thought out; I just couldn't bear it.
But that meant paying attention to the decoration that Decadence had prepared for the hall. Rotting roots spurted from the cracked marble floor, and withered branches filled the ceiling with flowers that died only to be born again, on and on, shedding petals that covered every surface.
Filling the hallways, standing under the odd trees, were salivating nobles enjoying themselves. They held drinks, and they danced and sung moaning, wailing songs. Split skin, missing fur, distorted faces and malformed bodies surrounded me from all sides.
A few guards, here and there, watched over Decadence's cherished guests. Some leaned against walls or onto their spears, looking on with longing awe at the party around them. Others lacked that level of self-control, and had gladly joined the merriment.
A unicorn guard came around a corner, grimacing as he scratched his horn. He froze when he saw Decadence and me; his jaw was left agape. He moved his hoof, most conspicuously, from his horn down to his forehead to slackly salute the princess. Decadence patted his head as we walked past. When she turned her head, the guard sent me a cheeky wink. I gagged. All the things I've seen, and this is what does it.
But that wasn't as bad as the children. The farther we were from the ballroom, and the closer we got to whatever destination Decadence had picked for me, the more of them I saw.
Young kids ran about—their bodies mercifully unwarped—playing catch and hide and seek amidst joyful giggles. Broken windows, destroyed antique decorations and shredded paintings were their footprints. Their beaming smiles showed that they were enjoying themselves; they were liberated from the boundaries once imposed by their draconian parents, free to run loose and play as much as they liked, exactly how they liked.
But their yellow-tinted eyes told a different tale. Is this Decadence's idea of what children do?
After a few closed doors and forced turns later, finding myself several floors above the ballroom, I realised where Decadence was herding me.
Atop the hall's tallest spire, looking down at Canterlot from a height that rivalled Celestia's tower, was Solstice: the only room in the hall, so far, to have received its own name. Solstice was held in high regard both because of its elegant design and its political significance. Its walls were made of more glass than stone, and these magnificent windows bathed the room in sunlight by day, while magical lights would illuminate it during the night.
Many an important decision had been made in Solstice; it was where the city's nobles had gathered to see Celestia for untold generations. The common ponies of Equestria never cared much for that, of course, provided they even knew of the room's existence. What brought Solstice into common knowledge was its most recent event, heralded across the country as a shining example of Canterlotian benevolence. From the richest nobles to the last little farmer somewhere in the countryside, we had all waited with bated breath.
It was where a princess married one of us.
I had to wonder what Decadence had in store for me.
When my legs grew stiff and my breaths were weary, I ascended one final flight of stairs. The doors of Solstice towered before me. A pegasus and a unicorn guard—their bodies intact, minds less so—stood at each side, and it took the combined strength of the former and the magic of the latter to slowly pry the doors open.
Solstice was beautiful.
A pleasant smell filled the room. A red carpet ran from the door to the other end. Whereas Decadence's trees seemed sick before, the ones in here teemed with life. And unlike the unchecked gardens below, they were organised in a deliberate fashion, standing on each side of the carpet to line one's way through the room. Their trunks—smooth and healthy—arched away from the carpet, then back again high up to form a vague heart shape.
There at the end, where Cadence and Shining Armor once gave each other their I do, sat Princess Celestia, and before her, Luna as well. They didn't look at us when we entered.
My gaze was drawn to the left. A massive structure of twisted roots, vines and leaves covered the corner, creeping onto the wall above me and arching above the entrance to descend at the right. The tangles held all the youngest children Decadence had abducted; a gigantic cradle for her most precious.
Pinkie Pie hopped from one branch to another, inspecting her newest tiny friends, stroking their little manes and making sure that they didn't kick off their leaf-blankets. Fluttershy flew between the cradles like a hummingbird does around flowers.
Taking a jump downwards, Pinkie turned towards us.
"Hi Rarity," she said. "Hi mummy." She smiled at Decadence before giving me a look of distaste. "You brought this meanie?"
"Pinkie," Fluttershy said, "you shouldn't say such things. Twilight's just confused."
Pinkie stuck her tongue out at me before hopping up a few branches.
I turned to Decadence. "This is the exact opposite of what I asked."
"Is it?" she asked. "We could go back down and dance the night away, if you'd like."
"Let me just grab her!" Rainbow Dash's voice echoed. She was floating above me, front legs crossed and lips pursed. "I'll take that ring off."
From behind a tree, Applejack stepped up. "No, Rainbow. The point is that she has to take it off herself. Ain't that right, ma'?"
Decadence pulled Applejack closer, and nuzzled her mane. "Listen to your sister, RD. You could learn a lot from her."
That Decadence could exert such a level of control on my friends was as troubling as it was curious. What set them—and my brother—apart from all the rest? If she had the capability to so finely control her victims, she would have done so while she was hunting for me.
With my brother, I thought, it had to be the unique bond they shared. One that could not be undone.
But my friends? It was clear she was using them to hurt me, but she barely knew them.
Of course. My friends and I, we were all inexorably bound to the Elements of Harmony. Decadence, I collected, must have been using them to overpower their minds. Which meant that the only thing keeping me from the same fate was the little metal ring around my horn.
And she wanted me to take it off. So that's what this is about.
Hopeless would have been an apt description of my present predicament. Even so, figuring out Decadence's plan—or at least thinking I did—gave me some confidence. It was a pleasant feeling; the kind of thrill I used to feel when setting out on a new task at Luna's behest.
I would stop her yet.
Her goal was to psychologically bully me into giving in to her. I hardened my heart to the plight of my friends. I realised, too, that should she think it necessary—or perhaps merely funny—she would turn her wrath on them. I had to free them before it came to that.
Celestia, sitting with her sister at the far end of Solstice, was a glimmer of hope. Even Nightmare Moon had felt chilling terror at the sight of the furious Princess of the Sun. I was eager to see what she could do to Decadence.
I walked down the red carpet, eyes fixed on the princesses. Decadence soon caught up.
"You found her asleep," I said, walking on.
Decadence nodded proudly. "Oh yes! Would've been a pain, subduing her. Tonight's my lucky night, it seems."
You bet. "What about Luna?"
As I asked my question, I came close enough to the princesses to inspect them further. Celestia seemed physically unharmed, although her legs and neck were stiff, and her wings were clenched to her back spastically. Her gaze was fixed on her sister, but seemed to shake, breaking away for a split second—in my direction, perhaps—before being compelled back.
Even after catching her prey at her weakest, Decadence could not take away Celestia's mind completely. Instead she anchored her down, forcing her to watch Luna's personalised torture.
Luna's night-blue coat was stained by patches of black. Her gaze was unfocused. One of her eyes had Nightmare Moon's slit pupil, while the other was still her own. And crying.
"Don't mind her," Decadence said. "I convinced an old friend to pay her a visit. Looks like they had a lot to talk about."
I turned back to Celestia. She was the key, I knew that much. But how can I free her? I thought about the ring on my horn. It had proven its effectiveness in resisting Decadence's magic. If I could take it off, and place it on Celestia's horn in time, this nightmare might be over. If I failed, Decadence would be free to do with me as she pleased. I wondered whether Celestia was even strong enough to break out of her magical shackles, even if I gave her the ring in time.
"Don't even think about it," Decadence said, noticing how I eyed Celestia's horn.
So the answer is yes. I turned to Decadence. "So that's the idea, then? You're just going to wait until I take my ring off?" I glanced at Rainbow Dash for a moment, who amused herself by making various faces at me behind Decadence's back. "Rainbow raised a valid point," I continued. "You could just take the ring."
"No," Decadence replied. "You need to do it willingly. It's not the same otherwise."
"Your obsessions are sickening, Decadence. Worse, they are inconsistent. It clearly didn't trouble you to subdue my friends or my brother. Or the entire city. You made mothers watch as you took their children from them. After all this, you expect me to do as you ask, willingly, happily. I'd call you insane, but you'd probably take that as a compliment."
"Oh, look who's got her tongue back." She shook her head. "Don't you see, Twilight? You are special. You're my little ray of sunshine. We can put all this behind ourselves. These children will grow up in a world without lies, and we can teach them to be themselves. We could be together again, as one great family."
"And I am to become your child, like the rest? Forgive me, but I have no interest in becoming my brother's daughter."
Decadence smiled. "Don't worry. Such inhibitions will be the first thing to go."
"You haven't been very convincing so far."
She shrugged. "Well, I suppose you could walk out and go back to slumming in some dark corner, shielding yourself from the new world. The world that I will rule forever." She sighed. "Don't you get it? I'm offering a bliss you can't even imagine."
"A tantalising offer which, I'm afraid, I have to politely decline."
She scoffed. "You'll come around."
"I'd rather die."
Decadence's eye twitched. In the root-grown corner, an upset baby cried out. Her hoof came up swift, and it came up hard, kicking me up high, knocking the wind out of me. Her magic enveloped me mid-air, casting me onto the floor.
Her aura wrapped around my hind leg, and it scorched my skin like red-hot iron. She began pulling me across the room. I resisted, kicking, screaming, but the ethereal strings only cut deeper. I scraped my front hooves along the cold marble tiles.
Then I was yanked violently into the air again, and flew into one of Solstice's great windows. I felt the great pane of glass crack, but it did not shatter. I fell down again.
Decadence's slow steps echoed in the room. I started crawling away—I lacked the strength and time to get up—only to be pinned down once again by her searing spell, this time tightening around my neck.
And she twisted. My head began turning. My neck started to hurt.
"Is that what you want?!" Decadence screamed. Solstice shook with the wails of children. "I'll do it. You just need to ask. Do you think I won't? Do you believe I'd lie to you, after everything we've been through? No. I can kill you any time you wish."
Her whole body trembled. A distorted snarl spread under her twitching eyes. She took a deep breath through her teeth. The aura that held me dissipated. Decadence sat down, hanging her head.
"Make your choice," she whispered. "Or don't. I can wait."
I curled up in pain, noting—being ever the optimist—that at least I could still move. Silver linings, my friends.
Friends. The ponies I used to call my friends were looking at me, albeit from a safe distance. None of them lifted a hoof to help me. If anything, they appeared concerned about their new mother. Shining Armor had rushed up to Decadence to put his hoof on her shoulder and his lips to hers. Although all that did not surprise me, given what I'd seen, it made me feel no better.
"Love," my brother said, "are you well?"
That doesn't even remotely resemble how Shining talks. Good job, Decadence.
"Yes, yes," she replied, still breathing heavily. "I just got a little upset. You know I do that. Just need some time."
Shining took his hoof off her. "As you wish, love." He was quick to step away and give her space.
Decadence looked up, flapping her ear, as though she had heard something.
"What is it?" Shining asked.
Decadence listened for a while before saying anything. "Oh..." As she turned to me, her grin returned. "Do I have a surprise for you. Oh, come on, don't be such a baby."
Her magic pulled me up and put me on my hooves. I paid attention not to shift weight onto my injured leg.
"What might that surprise be?" I asked.
"She'll be right here in a moment."
Indeed, not a minute passed, and the doors of Solstice swung open again, letting inside three Royal Guards, and the blue pony they brought with themselves. They dragged Trixie on the floor while she made bubbles with her mouth.
I recognised one of the guards; the unicorn in the middle—between two pegasi—was the one that had so invitingly winked at me earlier. If this is your idea of wooing me, I honestly feel sorry for you.
Decadence waved the group over, and they slid Trixie between us. She sent Decadence a smile that rivalled a baby's in sheer innocence.
But she still has her ring! Why is she acting... she's acting. Of course.
Not one of her most dignified moments, that wasn't.
"Look at that," Decadence said, turning to the guards. "I didn't think you'd catch her this quickly. She seemed a really fickle one."
The guards grinned.
"She was just waiting there for you, wasn't she?"
The guards nodded. They seemed so proud of themselves.
Decadence rolled her eyes. With the flick of a hoof, she picked Trixie's ring from her horn and let it roll away. Then she patted the heads of the guards, one by one.
"Good job. Now shoo, shoo."
Trixie had a second to give me a terrified look. Then her body tensed, her pupils diluted, and the white of her eyes turned yellow. An amorous smile appeared on her face, to Decadence's satisfaction. Trixie reached up for Decadence's flowing mane to play with the strands she could grasp.
What her plan had been, I had no idea. I knew Trixie for acting thoughtlessly on occasion, but she wasn't an idiot.
The guards, in the meantime, were just leaving the room. The two pegasi, that is; the unicorn had apparently stopped halfway to the exit, and now he was standing there, staring at me.
Decadence herself either didn't notice, or didn't care. "Who's a cute little murderer?" she asked, rubbing Trixie's tummy. "You're a cute little murderer. Yes you are. Yes you are."
The unicorn ran for Decadence. Before she could turn, he pounced at her, hooves forward, teeth out, aiming straight for her neck. As Decadence fell back, her horn lit up, her magic surrounded the attacker. The guard's hind legs rose from the floor, his body stretching, as if pulled by chains. Back at the entrance, every child cried at the top of their lungs.
I didn't wait to see how the thrilling scene ended, though. I turned my head frantically, looking for Trixie's lost ring. Its metallic glimmer was easy enough to spot; I found the ring on the red carpet. Although my magic was weak, I could still pick the tiny thing up as I started for Celestia.
There was a high-pitched groan behind me. The guard's body tore in two, hind legs flying away from Decadence. The upper half, however, still clung stubbornly to her, sinking his teeth ever deeper into her neck.
Or I should say, her teeth. Trixie, you devious mare! The spell that disguised Vinyl Scratch may have faded when Decadence broke her body, but her undead ferocity had not. Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash made it to her, and were helping to pry the vampire from Decadence. I only had a few seconds.
Limping along on three legs, I hurried towards the princesses. Limited as my magical power was, I could still put the ring on from a distance. I only needed a few more steps; the ring was already on its way to Celestia.
Then a hind hoof was planted in my face.
"That's for Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack said.
As I fell, so did the ring. Vinyl Scratch was torn from her prey. She—or what remained of her—began crawling away, but Shining Armor pinned her down. Rarity and Pinkie Pie tended to Decadence. Whilst Applejack and Rainbow Dash pulled me over to their mother, Fluttershy flew back to the cradles to calm the wailing children.
Decadence pressed her hoof onto the mark of Vinyl's bite, hissing in pain. "You. I offer you everything I have, and this is how you repay me."
There I was again, lying helplessly on the floor before Decadence. She raised a hoof. I wondered if she might actually kill me this time.
She put her hoof down.
"Don't you see?" she asked. "Don't you understand that I love you? Why won't you let me?"
Rarity put her hooves around her and hugged her close. Pinkie Pie looked at me disapprovingly.
The room fell silent. The children had gone quiet.
The sound of steps.
Decadence looked up. An expression of horror set on her face. I turned over to see what she saw.
Celestia walked slowly, wings spread wide, horn glowing with blinding light. Her every step felt to shake the room. Behind her, Octavia stood. She had put the ring on Celestia. Decadence fell back.
Everything that followed happened in a matter of moments.
Decadence howled. "Run!"
My friends started for the door. Before it, a pillar of mist turned into a tall, dark stallion. Omen stood in their way.
Decadence got up, and ran for the vine-cradles. "Guards! Guards!"
Omen tensed and readied himself to stop the charging mare.
He didn't have to. Celestia's magic surrounded Decadence and flung her into the corner; she stopped just short of crashing into the cradles. An arc of magic appeared between Celestia's horn and Decadence's, pulsating, vibrating. Behind me, Trixie moaned and put a hoof to her forehead.
In the back, Luna's horn lit up as well. In a flash, the black in her coat disappeared, and both her eyes were her own again. Springing up, she, too, cast a spell that enveloped Decadence.
Trixie stood up beside me and extended a hoof, helping me up.
"Help me!" Decadence screamed, her horn lighting up too. "Help!"
The Elements of Harmony began unlatching themselves from her legs. The Element of Magic was lifted from her head, but her own aura pulled it back.
Shining Armor jumped into the midst of the magic, grabbing onto Decadence. He cast a spell, and they both fell down, the princesses' magic disappearing.
Shining's aura hardened, creating an all too familiar purple shell around him and his beloved. The shield quickly grew. My friends all rushed inside it as it covered the overgrown corner.
When the roar of surging magicks subsided, I could finally gather my thoughts.
Celestia and Luna stood before the shell of magic that separated them from Decadence. Inside that shell was the mare herself, my brother, my friends, and the crying children. As the rest of us gathered around the shield, my friends helped Decadence with the elements, fastening their latches and adjusting the tiara.
Outside were the two princesses, the vampires, Trixie, and of course, myself. At the back, Vinyl had crawled to reach her lower body, and she slipped it onto her torso like one does a pair of trousers. Omen and Octavia were watching the unfolding scene eagerly. Trixie was rubbing her head and horn, still reeling from the haze.
"Guards!" Decadence yelled.
"There is no help coming," Celestia said. "It's over."
"No," Decadence said. "No. You won't take my children. Not again."
"This shield will not last forever. Just let go."
"No! This is my night. Mine alone. You're supposed to suffer, not me."
"Nopony is supposed to suffer."
"Oh, but I'm going to, if it's up to you. The moment you get your hooves on me. You'll punish me, like you did your own sister. All out of love, I bet. Let me tell you about love. She loved her imaginary friend more than she loved you. She is not your sister, she's your victim. And so am I."
Celestia appeared unmoved by her words. "You cannot imagine how it hurts me to see you like this, Cadence."
Decadence sent a gob of dried blood and spit at Celestia's face; it was allowed past the shield unaffected. "Don't say that name in front of me. And I bet you want to help. Like you helped Luna when she was a child. Like you helped me when you made it your quest to shape a proper princess out of me. The ever kind, benevolent Celestia. Tyrannical control freak, more like!"
"What I am, or what I am not, is not up to discussion. Your heart is sick, and it must be healed."
You know just what to say, don't you? But I see what's beneath the words. At least don't lie about what's down there. You masquerade as the wisest princess, but you know you're just a jaded old hag. Incompetent and crippled by constant indecision. You sit on your throne out of nothing but tradition. You control the lives of those around you, and when you can't, you get rid of them. A butcher of innocence, that's all you are. Remember this as you spend another millennium lonely and unloved."
Decadence's horn lit up, and the rest of us took a step back.
"You had the courage to decide my future for me," she continued. "To ruin my life!"
Shining's horn lit up brightly. Decadence spread her wings, and her eyes burned with yellow light.
"Go ahead," she said. "Take my children." She embraced Shining Armor. "You won't take him. He's mine." She looked at me. "And you. You'll be sorry. You'll wish you had come with me. Now you'll be all alone."
A burst of light blinded me. Solstice's every window shattered at the same moment. When I looked again, Decadence was gone, and so were my friends and my brother. As the final shards of broken glass finished their chimes, an uneasy stillness befell the room. We could only stare at the place where Decadence had been a moment ago.
Celestia sighed, and the silence was broken. She turned towards Luna. "Why aren't your Night Guards here yet?"
Luna didn't say a word. She ran for a missing window and leapt into the air, vanishing into the night. Celestia lowered her head, and sat wordlessly.
Somepony whistled just next to me. I turned to see a wide-eyed Vinyl Scratch. "You could write books about this stuff," she said. "And by the way?" She poked my side. "We're even now. For real. No more favours. Not in the next few hundred years." She cracked her back. "Oh, I think I'm missing a kidney. Eh. It'll grow back."
Her casual attitude at once amazed and somehow worried me. "Vinyl," I asked, "how ever did you even get here?"
"I wasn't going to help you, y'know. Well, not at first. I just started feeling kinda bad about letting Octavia out like that, since everything's, you know. I mean, she's just a kid."
"Isn't she older than you?"
"What? She only died like, two weeks ago, or something. Anyway, when I saw that big commotion at the Star Swirl's, I checked it out. Guess who I met on the way."
"Yeah," Trixie said, a hoof still on her head. "I'm just glad it worked out."
"Indeed," Omen chimed in. "See, Miss Sparkle, Decadence simply left Miss Melody there, obviously not realising how easy it is to bring a vampire back to life."
"I didn't think it was possible to fit that many spears into one pony," Vinyl said.
I looked at Octavia; she had been awfully silent all this time.
"What?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "You get used to it after a while."
Clearly not in the mood for chit-chat. I suppose I'd be a little grumpy, too.
"We merely needed to find Celestia," Omen continued. "I was expecting that the search would take a while, until Miss Scratch came across Decadence. And you, of course."
"Didn't you see me?" Vinyl asked. "I winked and everything."
I shrugged. "Must've been distracted."
"In hindsight," Trixie said, "we really should've checked Solstice first. It makes too much sense. Anyway, once you were in there, we couldn't just barge in. So I pretended—"
Celestia turned her head towards us. That much was enough to silence our reunion.
"Leave," she said plainly. "Look for any guards you can find. They will be waking up now. Help them gather the children and find the parents. Go."
None would dispute the princess. We merely exchanged a few quick looks, then got up.
"Not you, Twilight Sparkle."
I froze. For a moment, the others did as well; their steps were even quicker afterwards. The doors of Solstice swung shut behind them soon. I was thus alone with the princess. And Decadence's children.
For a short time, Celestia wouldn't look at me. When she finally did, in her gaze I saw nothing but disappointment.
"How long have you known?" Celestia asked.
"Known what, princess?"
She said nothing.
"About... Cadence?" I asked.
She nodded lightly.
"I never... I never knew."
"Didn't you?"
"I mean, I've had my suspicions, but I never thought—"
"How long?"
"A week, perhaps? Or two...."
She looked away. "And you didn't tell me."
I didn't, did I? Am I to admit I was afraid of her, that she might be involved? For all my years I'd spent in Night Shift, and loud as I became with Luna, Princess Celestia's presence still turned me into a bumbling little filly. I wondered when I stopped being her student.
She turned back to me. "So, does it please you?"
"Does what please me, princess?"
She looked up, up at the tangle of vines and leaves that held foals like a spider's web does trapped flies.
"The result," Celestia said.
"No, princess," I replied. "It does not."
She sighed, then and shook her head slowly. "Mistakes," she said. "Mistakes define us. They change us, and they change those around us. We all make mistakes, Twilight. We've all made mistakes. This..." She looked, again, at the children. "This is proof of that."
I couldn't bear her gaze. I had to turn away. Celestia stood tall and waited patiently, silently. In the end, I had to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry."
"No," Celestia said. "I am. I let this happen."
"Because I didn't warn you. Princess, you can't blame yourself for what Decadence has done."
"But I can. I am foolish like that. I am a fool, making the same mistake twice."
"I don't understand."
"When Luna returned—when you brought her back—I was overjoyed. I let my emotions cloud my judgement, exactly as I did a thousand years ago. She told me she would make it right; that she would undo the crimes she committed so long ago. I did not ask questions. I did not watch over her. I trusted her once before, and she betrayed me. Now I trusted her again, and she has failed me."
"Luna is... she was convinced that there was a way to save Cadence from herself. She never meant for any of this to happen."
"There is no reasoning with monsters, Twilight. I have tried, and I have failed."
"I understand."
"Do you?" Celestia asked. "For this time I will not have to make that choice, but you. This Decadence must be stopped. Who she once was does not matter. When the time comes—and I promise you, it will come—you will have to look her in the eye and pass judgement."
"The Elements of Harmony will do that for me."
"Do you doubt you have it in you?"
The utter finality with which Celestia spoke made me feel uneasy. "But Luna is here today. If you hadn't shown her understanding so long ago... if you had used the Elements of Harmony right away, that might not be the case. Could it have been your hesitance, in the end, that made her redemption possible?"
"Perhaps."
The doors swung open again. A dozen guards rushed inside, saluting to Celestia briefly before rushing for the children to break them from their cradles.
Celestia stood up, and walked slowly, silently, to the far end of Solstice. I followed after her.
There, beyond a stone frame that used to hold a window, was a great terrace that overlooked Canterlot. Once, Cadence and Shining Armor looked out at the city from there in celebration of their marriage, and thousands upon thousands of ponies cheered for them in return.
Now the streets were filled with stumbling, confused mares and stallions that walked aimlessly between the ruins of their homes. Celestia sat down out there, taking in the sights and the cool night air.
I gulped. "Do you still believe," I asked, "that it would have been wiser to end Nightmare Moon before you did? That giving your sister that one chance was a mistake?"
Celestia's eyes scanned the city. She looked at the putrescence of the city below, and the sick ponies that were hiding in its corpse. When she could look no longer, she lowered her head and closed her eyes. A lonely tear drop rolled down her cheek.
"Yes."
Celestia assured me that she would scour all of Equestria to find Decadence. As it turned out, there would be no need for such an expedition. What caught the attention of the guards was the park. Unlike the rest of the city, there were no monster trees or strangling vines here, and the grass was soft as ever. Indeed, the Canterlot Park seemed entirely unaffected by Decadence's unique curse.
When I asked about the haze, the princess explained that Decadence had been using her, as well as her sister, to project the spell. Although Decadence could no longer use the minds of Celestia and Luna to amplify her own magical powers to a city-wide scale, Celestia urged me to keep my horn ring on.
I asked about my friends, and about my brother. My suspicions, it seemed, were correct; Celestia told me she could sense the Elements of Harmony protecting my friends, their powers fusing with those of the pony who wore them: Decadence. And although Shining Armor did not enjoy the elements' protection, Decadence's obsession with him was enough to hold his mind shackled.
Given enough time, Celestia said, she could scrape away the many layers of magic that bound them. Except that time was something Decadence would most certainly not give us.
So it was that we came to face her beneath the cherry tree.
She sat, twitching and mad, in her husband's embrace. She stared at the ground and I saw her mumble to herself. Her swirling mane came apart to form thinner strands before recombining again. Her stained, torn dress lay on the grass nearby.
My friends were there with them, sitting in a circle around the tree. I wondered if Decadence intended to show off her trophies—perhaps to convince herself that she was still in control—or simply didn't know where else to put them.
A significant number of the guard force had been assigned to take care of the city's inhabitants. Even so, Night Pegasi now swirled in the sky around the park while Royal Guards surrounded it on the ground step by step.
Celestia, Luna and I were in the front line; we stopped just in shouting distance. Decadence turned her head left and right, spending a split second looking at one guard here, then there. Even at a distance I saw how frantic her breathing became, and how much her legs shook. She could barely stay up. The mumbling never stopped. Shining, it appeared, was attempting to calm her, with no success.
I couldn't help but think about how unceremonious this whole affair was. Decadence wouldn't give the elements up, that much was certain. Celestia would thus take them by force. At her word, the guards would descend on Decadence like a swarm. A thought gathered at the back of my mind, one that wouldn't let me rest.
I turned towards Celestia. "What if you can't take the elements back without... without hurting her?"
Celestia did not look at me; her gaze was fixed on Decadence. "I will do what is necessary," she replied.
I looked at my friends, and my brother, still guarding Decadence. "What if she uses them? T-to protect herself? Would you—"
"I will do what is necessary."
And she still didn't look at me. She didn't even let me finish. She was serious. If it came to that, she would....
The delicious irony of Decadence's joke washed over me. I said the same thing myself mere hours ago: that I would rather see my friends dead than her puppets. I told her I'd rather die, too, yet when given the offer, I was afraid to take it. And now here it is, my own words, slapping me in the face.
"No," I said. "No!" I could not contain myself. "You can't! You wouldn't. You're not going to—"
"You are not here to second guess me, Twilight!" Celestia snapped at me. "If need be, I will give the order. I've stood idly by for too long. I've watched too many atrocities happen. Not this time. Decadence will be stopped tonight, one way, or another."
There was a fire in her gaze. The same flame that burned on That Fateful Day, the flame that sent shivering terror into the heart of fear incarnate.
I looked away first.
Luna bent down to whisper in my ear. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault."
No. It's yours.
"Decadence," Celestia spoke up. "We've come for the Elements of Harmony."
Decadence fixed her twitching stare on Celestia. "Yeah?" she asked. "That's all? What are you going to do to me?"
"This ends here and now," Celestia replied. "If you will not give up the elements, you will force my hoof. Do not make me do this."
"Oh, but you'll do it!" she screamed. "You'll do it and we all know it! Because you're always right! You know just what's best for Equestria, don'cha?"
"I am giving you one final warning."
"You ruined my life," Decadence yelled. "You might as well take it!"
Celestia and Luna exchanged a look. The former tilted her head a little. The latter nodded. The guards prepared to strike.
Celestia turned back towards Decadence. "Restrain her."
The guards descended on Decadence. My brother and my friends all stood up to defend her.
In the next minute, there was chaos. The guards did their best to get close to Decadence, but they had to do so without causing harm to her meat-shields, which only served to slow their approach.
Shining Armor created ad hoc magical shields with which to defend himself or push away the oncoming tide. Although he started the battle unarmed, it wasn't long before he disarmed a guard and took his spear, and then broke it through unrestrained use.
My friends, of course, could not put up much of a fight. The five untrained, inexperienced mares against an army of Royal Guards never stood a chance. Still, they kicked and bit as fast and as hard as they could, doing their part to keep the guards from their precious mother. The guards, in turn, shoved and threw them about, harder each time, hoping that they would stay down.
Decadence sprung into the air, and was met with the combined swarm of Royal and Night Guards. Celestia and Luna flew up as well to join the fight. The night sky burst with light as the spells of the three princesses thundered. It wasn't long before guards began falling, crushing the bones in their already wingless or legless bodies. I dreaded to imagine whose spells caused more harm.
And all along, I, crippled and weak, was forced to sit and watch.
Twirling, turning, amidst a shower of red feathers, Decadence fell from the sky. She crashed into the leaves of the cherry tree before reaching the ground limp. My five friends had already been taken and restrained; a group of guards dragged them from the tree.
At the moment of Decadence's landing, my brother's body stiffened and froze up. Within a split second, he, too, was overwhelmed and pinned to the floor. He offered no resistance.
Celestia and Luna alighted under the tree as well.
Decadence coughed. I saw her say something, but the distance and the rattling of the guards' armour made it impossible for me to hear. Without even lifting her head from the ground, she dragged a hoof forward, extending it towards Shining. As the guards dragged him away, he returned the gesture, staring at his wife and extending his hoof.
Then Decadence looked at me. Her eyes lit up. So did those of my friends, pinned down not far from her. Before Celestia and Luna reached her, the Elements of Harmony, still on her, began glowing. Their auras cried.
The ring around my horn grew warmer.
I need you.
I felt as if somepony kicked the back of my head with full force. The ring around my horn was melting hot. I could make no sound.
Let me in.
She whipped my spine. She pulled out my teeth. She stabbed my heart. She drilled into my very soul, drilling into my very being.
I felt safe, warm in my mother's embrace. She kissed my forehead.
Open up.
She broke my horn in two. She was in my mind, in the deepest recesses of my soul.
There was a spark; the spark that had ignited the Elements of Harmony so long ago. She took it from me. She would use it herself. And through me, through my friends, the Elements of Harmony obeyed.
Decadence passed judgement.
Then there was silence.
Guilt.
Celestia was wrecked by guilt.
I could tell. I could sense it as though it were my own.
She writhed in pain before me. She blamed herself for all of this, and it consumed her. Everything she had kept inside now surged to the surface. It hurt her.
To see the world through the eyes of Decadence.
The guards littered the ground, their bodies lying scattered on the grass, limp and lifeless. Their spirits lingered above them like misty shadows, and they eyed in admiration the colours of the park.
For the night did nothing to hide the park's beauty. To my gaze, it was clear as day. I wanted to sit there and enjoy the sight with the others.
I couldn't. Luna ruined it. Like spilt, smudged ink in the middle of a painting, she festered not far from the tree. The black loathing, the hatred, they poisoned the air. Luna despised herself, for she was a monster, and she dragged all around her into her despair. It was disgusting.
My friends were there, too. Their minds burst with questions, none of which I could catch. The cacophony of swirling emotions was drowned out by the storm that was a single thought: begging. They begged for me, for Decadence, for anything, to make it stop.
Just make the pain stop.
My leg still hurt. I didn't mind. It was nothing. I limped forward.
Shining Armor... he was empty. Nothing inside. Drained dry by the mare he pledged his life to.
Decadence sat under the cherry tree, and she gazed up at the sky with a smile on her face. She wore her dress again; it was once again clean and glowing white. Her mane swirled peacefully in the wind.
She noticed me approaching. She smiled.
"I won," she said.
A wave of pain pulsed through me; that of all of Canterlot. Soon, it would be all of Equestria.
"You did," I said, sitting down before her.
"I can remake the world. No more lies. No more secrets. Only love and pain. Harmony."
I looked up. Above the vibrant Canterlot, the Moon and the stars danced gracefully in the sky.
"It truly is beautiful," I said.
"So?" she asked. "What do you choose?"
I turned to my friends again. They begged me to make it stop.
"Will you make it end?" I asked.
"I'll do anything you ask."
I thought I was better than this.
But no. I was weak. I've always been. It just took me too long to realise. I had never seen a pony as happy as the mare before me now. She leaned to embrace me. I pushed her off.
"Anything?" I asked.
"Anything," she replied.
"Then take me. Only me. Let them go. Do this for me."
"Why should I let them go?"
"Because you don't need them. You've never wanted them. All you want is me. So here I am. You can take me, and then we'll leave, somewhere far away. We'll be lost forever, together." I looked aside, to the shell of Shining Armor, and felt again the emptiness that was inside. "And you will not hurt anypony ever again."
"But you're going to die, Twilight. Personally, I don't plan on it. What do you suppose I do then?"
"Maybe we should die together, when the time comes. But if I go with you, you are not coming back. Never."
"What if I lie? What if I don't follow you to the grave, but instead return here to continue what I started?"
"Then I will be powerless to stop you. But you wouldn't lie to your daughter, would you?"
Her mouth opened right away, but her voice choked. I saw her tongue move for a "no" but she wouldn't say it. Instead, she opted for something different. "Why?" she asked. "Why do this? You'd throw your life away, for... these ponies? These rotten, disgusting wretches? Don't kid yourself, Twilight. They're not your friends. They haven't been in a very long time."
"And it's not about them. It's never been. It's not even about me. You've said it yourself: it's about you. Not the children, not love, not about anypony else, but you, Cadence. It always been about you."
"I've told you before, do not call me—"
"Shut up!" I interrupted. "I know exactly who I'm talking to. Celestia tried to raise you to be a princess. Luna told you that you were not useless. Well, here I am now, telling you this: you are not a princess, Cadence. And you are completely useless. You act offended that Celestia took your children away; you act outraged because I grew up. But in the end, you're the one with blood on her hooves. You're the monster, not us. Yet you, Cadence, you refuse to admit that. You blame the world because the world is blaming you."
I took a step back, spreading my hooves out.
"So here I am! I'll be your daughter. I'll be your scapegoat. Take me. Use me. Abuse me."
She snarled. "I hate you."
"And you love me. Because I am your sunshine. And I am your burden. I'm perfect. I'll look in the mirror so you won't have to. I will suffer so you can live. Whatever you want to do with me, I won't question it. Whatever sick fantasies your diseased mind conjures up, I'll be there to play them out for you. And I'll love you until the day I die. But you, you useless piece of filth, you will never harm another soul."
I took the ring off my horn and cast it behind myself. I didn't care where it landed. Then I threw myself at her, wrapping my forelegs around her, embracing her stronger than I've ever done as a child.
"I love you," I whispered. "Mother."
Our minds touched. It was impossible to make sense of her thoughts. Under a façade of satisfaction, I felt spite and hatred. There was love, and there was hate. There was anger, and there was contentment.
There was confusion.
I held her while the storm settled. Her hooves slowly crept up on my back, and she pulled me even closer. A tear drop fell on my shoulder. She sobbed.
There was acceptance.
"Thank you," she whispered.
She let go of me. Something cold touched my forehead. I looked at her. The Element of Magic was no longer on her head. It was on mine. I took my hooves off her.
My friends were asleep. Shining Armor lay at Decadence's side, enjoying peaceful dreams.
The rest of the elements, still on her body, glowed gently. Their auras weren't weeping any more.
"I cannot right the wrongs I've done," she said. "I can stop running from them." She looked at Shining for a moment. "If he cannot forgive me, I do not blame him. But I have always loved him. That never changed, not for one moment. Please, make sure he knows that."
"He will."
She nodded. She lifted her chin and looked at me with a solemn, bitter pride. "I'm ready."
"You don't know what's going to happen."
"Hurry, before I lose myself again."
I closed my eyes. A familiar power spread across my entire body. There was no pain this time.
The ground slipped from beneath my hooves. Through my closed lids, I saw Canterlot. The creeping vines that choked the buildings wrapped around my body. I sensed the weight of the greatest trees and the gentle touch of every fallen petal. With a single thought, I could incinerate it all. With a flicker of my imagination, the city could be built anew.
I sensed the drunken nobles and their wild children, taken over once again by the animalistic haze. I felt connected to the disfigured ponies of the hall, and I understood the pain and pleasure of such a perfect melding of the flesh. I could restore them to their true selves again.
Yet, amidst all this, the greatest thing on my mind was a question. Do I look as frightening to her now as Celestia did to Nightmare Moon? Do I really wield that kind of power?
"Look at me, Twilight," Cadence said.
And I opened my eyes.