Chapter 1

"You're a princess now, Twilight. Embrace it!"

"You are not getting this crown!"

"That crown really does suit you, Princess Twilight."

"I am starting to feel a little more comfortable wearing it."

"My crown. My crown…"

"Twilight? Hellooo? Twilight!"

Princess Twilight Sparkle jumped, startled out of her daze by a finger prodding her face. "What, Pinkie?" she snapped.

Pinkie Pie didn't seem bothered by her friend's harsh reaction. "Oh, good. You've been staring out the window for so long that I thought you had turned into a statue." With her curiosity satisfied, Pinkie resumed her skipping around their car on the train.

Applejack, who was sitting across from Twilight, seemed more concerned than Pinkie was. "You alright, sugarcube?"

Twilight brushed her bangs away from her face. "I'm fine, AJ. I was just thinking."

Rarity stretched out on the seat she had claimed for herself with a blissful sigh. "Stop thinking and start relaxing, darling. We're in a private car on a luxury train, about to spend three wonderful days in Canterlot, all because Princess Celestia wants to go over your royal duties." Rarity paused, then added "Have I mentioned how wonderful it is that you're a princess?"

Twilight couldn't help but smile. "Just once or twice."

"And not only that, but I managed to get an audience with Curl de Prance. Curl de Prance!" Rarity squealed. "If she approves of my Summer Splash collection, then I could be a star!"

Twilight stifled a giggle. "I'm sure everything will go perfectly."

"Oh, I know it will. I'm not worried at all," Rarity said airily. "Except… what if she doesn't like my designs? What if she thinks they're amateurish? Oh no!" Rarity cried, all previous calmness gone as she sat up in horror. "If this goes wrong, she could set my career back to the Stone Age! I'll be ruined!"

Twilight bit her lip to keep from laughing as Applejack rolled her eyes at Rarity. "Calm down, Rarity. It's not like it's the end of the world."

"Oh, but it is!" Rarity wailed dramatically. "My life is over! Fluttershy!" she suddenly shrieked. "Get your animals away from my ensemble!" Rarity chased a small white rabbit away from a rack of garment bags. "Why did you even bring them with you in the first place?"

The rabbit Rarity had startled leapt into Fluttershy's lap, and she immediately drew it closer to her. "I'm sorry, Rarity," she said timidly. "It's just that Angel gets upset when I leave him alone for too long."

Applejack frowned at Angel, who was making faces at Rarity from under Fluttershy's arm. "Everything makes that critter of yours upset. Ah've seen ragin' bulls with better attitudes."

Fluttershy sniffed, not noticing that Angel was now throwing rude paw gestures in Applejack's direction. "You just don't know him the way I do."

"Excuse me, but could we forget about Fluttershy's bad-tempered bunny and focus on something just a bit more important? My career as a fashion designer is practically over!" Rarity cried.

"Will you all shut up?!" Everyone jumped at Rainbow Dash's angry outburst. Rainbow glared at her friends from over the back of her seat, her multi-colored hair in disarray. "I have been trying to sleep for the past hour, but between Pinkie's random singing and Rarity's meltdown, I haven't slept a wink!"

"Where is Pinkie?" Twilight wondered. Everyone glanced around the car, but their curly haired friend was nowhere in sight.

"She's probably off terrorizing the townspeople," Rainbow snapped. "Now, if you don't mind, goodnight!" She yanked a pillow over her head and laid back down with an angry huff.

Rarity glanced between Rainbow's inert form and Rarity's twitching face and quickly got up. "I'll go look for Pinkie," she said. "Come on, Angel."

"Check the food car first," Applejack called out to Fluttershy's retreating back, ignoring the raspberry Angel gave her.

Rarity threw her hands up in the air with a dramatic sigh and turned back to her garment bags, muttering under her breath.

Twilight went back to gazing out the window, not noticing that Applejack was still watching her. "Are ya sure you're okay, Twilight?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just," Applejack hesitated. "You've been actin' different ever since ya came back from that adventure with the mirror."

"Oh."

"What happened to ya over there?"

"It's… hard to explain." Twilight had never been able to fully describe to her friends her experience in the alternate universe. It wasn't that she thought they wouldn't be able to understand the differences between the two worlds; she didn't think they would understand how different she was after visiting there. Before Sunset Shimmer stole her crown, Twilight had no desire to be a princess, but since that while incident, she realized that her view on being royalty had changed. Every time she closed her eyes she could picture all those faces gazing up at her in adoration, and it filled her with a joy she couldn't describe. Twilight wanted people to love her so much that it hurt, and she knew that her crown was a key part in obtaining that love. She had within her the potential to be an even greater princess than Celestia, and she determined to be just that: the greatest princess in all of Equestria.

But one look at Applejack's freckled face and Twilight knew that she could never admit her secret ambitions to her friends. They just wouldn't understand. Instead she said "Going through that mirror just helped me realize my true potential."

Applejack wrinkled her brow. "What'd ya mean?"

"This." Twilight gestured at the countryside speeding past their window. "I look out there and I can see every problem in Equestria, and it's up to me to solve them."

"Hon," Applejack said gently. "Ya don't have t'carry the entire kingdom on your shoulders. You're just startin' out; let Princess Celestia an' Princess Luna handle all the big stuff 'til you're ready."

"But I am ready!" Twilight protested. "I want to make Equestria better and I know I can do it!"

"Why is so important to ya all of a sudden?"

"I guess it always was; it just took a crazy, jealous, ex-student of Princess Celestia's stealing my crown to make me realize it." Both Applejack and Twilight laughed at that. "I just want people to appreciate me."

"People do appreciate ya, hon. You're lookin' at one of 'em." Applejack reached over and squeezed Twilight's hand. "No matter what happens, your friends will always think the best of ya."

Twilight smiled back. "Thanks, AJ. That really means a lot." If only it was enough.

"Welcome to Canterlot, girls!" Princess Celestia said warmly. Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash immediately knelt before the princess of the sun, and Twilight, after realizing that her friends were no longer standing, started to kneel as well. "There's no need for that, Princess Twilight," Celestia said with a benign smile. "The rest of you, please, rise."

Celestia led the group of friends down the bright halls of her palace. Twilight sped up so she could walk beside her. "Princess, I'd like to discuss the-"

Celestia held up a hand to silence her. "There will plenty of time for such matters later. I notice that Spike isn't with you. Is he alright?"

Twilight bit her lip to hide her irritation at being brushed off. "He's fine. He offered to stay behind and manage my affairs in Ponyville while I'm away. Now, I'd really like to talk about-"

"Forgive me, Princess," Rarity interrupted. "But have you heard anything from Curl de Prance?"

Celestia gave an airy laugh. "Yes, my dear. You're free to use the ballroom for your showcase tomorrow."

Rarity beamed. "Oh, thank you, your majesty!"

"Princess Celestia-"

"Twilight, I promise we will talk tomorrow, so please, take the rest of the day to relax and enjoy yourself. You may not have such an opportunity again." With a smile and a nod to the group of friends, Celestia glided down a side corridor and disappeared.

Twilight stood frozen in disbelief. Did Celestia just tell her to go relax while Equestria's future was at risk?

At least her friends didn't seem worried. Pinkie grabbed Twilight and Applejack and pulled them in for a hug, banging their heads together in the process. "This is gonna be great! What should we do first? Oh, I know! We should take a carriage tour around the city. Or should we go swimming in the pool on the roof? I got it! We should-"

Twilight twisted her way free of Pinkie's grip. "You guys have fun. I'm going to take a walk." She headed toward the gardens, ignoring the looks of confusion and concern her friends gave each other.

The private gardens of Celestia's castle lived up to their reputation as a site of peace and tranquility, but it wasn't doing to ease Twilight's frustration. She came to Canterlot so she could work with Princess Celestia to make Equestria better, but she was being pushed aside like her ideas didn't matter, like she wasn't important. It was so frustrating!

Twilight nearly leapt a foot in the air when a voice suddenly said "Something troubling you, Princess Twilight?"

Princess Luna had been seated on a stone bench when Twilight stormed past her, hidden by the shadows of the surrounding trees. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Princess Luna. I didn't see you."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "I am the princess of the night: I'm quite skilled when it comes to disappearing. Now, is something wrong?"

"It's not important."

"Clearly it's important enough for you to go raging through the gardens." Luna closed the book she was reading. "Care to share?"

"Thanks, but it's a little complicated."

"Really? Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing that you're irritated that my sister isn't giving you enough responsibility." Luna smirked at Twilight's stunned expression. "I felt the same way when I returned from being Nightmare Moon."

Luna stood up and walked over to Twilight. "Everything my sister does is for a reason. She didn't give my all of my former duties right away because she wanted to give me time to adjust. You may think that she doesn't respect you, but she has your best interests at heart. After all, you only became a princess a month ago."

"I don't need time to adjust," Twilight argued. "I'm ready to be a princess of Equestria."

Luna stared at Twilight with her unfathomable blue eyes. "Then it's up to you to prove it."

That evening, after Celestia had lowered the sun and Luna had risen the moon, Twilight stood before the ornate doors of Princess Celestia's private quarters. Her conversation with Luna had given her the motivation she needed; Twilight wasn't going to let Celestia ignore her anymore. Luna may have been content to let Celestia handle all the royal duties, but that wasn't who Twilight was. She was ready to be a princess, and she was going to make Celestia realize it. Taking a deep breath, Twilight knocked.

"Come in," a musical voice called out, and Twilight entered the room. Celestia was lounging in an armchair, her multicolored hair shimmering in the light of the fireplace. "Oh, good evening, Twilight."

Twilight's confidence faltered when she noticed that Celestia was only wearing a nightgown and a silken bathrobe. "Oh. I'm sorry, I can just…"

"It's alright," Celestia assured her. "My door is always open to you. How can I help you?"

"Actually, I'm the one who wants to help you."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Really? Please explain."

Twilight took a deep breath. "I know that you're taking things easy on me since I just became a princess, but you don't have to do that. I am ready for all the responsibilities that comes with being a princess. I have ideas; brilliant ones that can make Equestria a better place! So please, give me all the responsibilities you can think of! I want them, I'm ready for them!"

Celestia listened patiently as Twilight was talking. When she was finished, she said in a very gentle voice "Twilight, you will always have my complete confidence, and I believe that you will be a wonderful princess one day, but that day is not here yet. Being a princess can be a burden at times, and I don't want to force that on you until I have to. You need time and training before you can take on all the duties of a princess, and you will be all the better for it."

"But… but that's not fair!" Twilight protested.

Celestia walked over to Twilight and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I understand that you're frustrated, but trust me-"

"Trust you?" Twilight knocked Celestia's hand off her shoulder. "You're treating me like a child! I'm the one who completed Stars Swirl the Bearded's spell; I clearly know more about magic than you ever will!"

The look on Celestia's face made it clear that Twilight had crossed a line. When she finally spoke, her voice was full of a cold, deadly calm. "You are upset, and not thinking clearly. We will talk once you have calmed down and realized how childish you are acting." She turned and walked away.

There was a sudden, blinding flash of green light. When Twilight's vision returned, she was lying on the floor and Celestia's broken furniture was strewn all over the room.

Twilight stared at her hands, which were glowing a faint green. Surely that hadn't been her magic that caused the furniture to break? Her magic was pink, not green. Then Twilight remembered King Sombra's castle; she had used dark magic in order to reveal the entrance so she could find the Crystal Heart. When Twilight performed dark magic, it was green. Twilight was amazed. Before, performing dark magic had been extremely difficult and taxing, but she had just done it without even realizing it. Maybe her magic was growing. Maybe she was getting even more powerful! Twilight was so excited that she actually giggled.

Then she saw Celestia.

The princess was lying flat on her back, her limbs splayed out. Twilight crawled over to her. "Princess? Are you okay?"

Celestia didn't answer. Twilight noticed with a numbing jolt to her gut that she wasn't even breathing.

No, thought a terrified Twilight. No, no, no. This can't be happening. I didn't mean to. It was an accident! Twilight took Celestia's hand, and was surprised that her skin was already cold.

There was a sound behind her, and Twilight spun around. Standing in the open doorway were her friends, and judging by the horrified looks on their faces, they had seen the entire thing. For a few moments, they just stared silently at each other. Then Rarity said "Is… is she..?"

"She's dead." Twilight was surprised by the flatness of her voice. "I killed Princess Celestia."

So this story is a little different from my usual work, mainly because it's a collaborative effort. One of my friends from college came up with the idea and draws art for it while I write it. I also don't usually kill off characters from beloved "children's" shows, but whatevs.

If you want to see character art as well as behind the scene action, go check out our tumblr at thedarknessofpower