Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek approached their victim as her friends huddled together in a dark corner of the room. Some of them braved the gory scene, while others cowered and held each other. But one thing was absolute: their own unification in the face of this tragedy. They knew they couldn’t do anything to halt the proceedings, but they still stood strong in its face. Time was not on their side, and in fact, became their greatest enemy as the villainous presences slowly tortured their friend to death.

First, they tore her horn off, eliciting a scream of pain the likes of which the huddled ponies had never heard before. Blood flowed from Twilight’s forehead, creating a red stain on the metal table to which she had been strapped. She squirmed a bit, but then seemed to calm as she realized just why she was doing this and who she was saving. Her breaths deepened as a great peace overtook her. She seemed impervious to the pain of losing her horn, and it shocked the villains.

“Okay,” Chrysalis said, “if that won’t faze you, then this will!”

Cozy Glow grabbed a rope laying nearby and began to slowly and roughly rub it across Twilight’s coat, leaving severe rope burns. Trails of deeply crimson injuries laid paths across her body, and her friends could barely watch. Cozy seemed to take great delight in hurting her former head mare, squealing and cackling every time the fibrous torture device squeezed another drop of pain out of Twilight. To her credit, and to everyone’s awe, she sat there and took it without screaming. It felt like a million flash bees were stinging her at once, but she did not wish for her friends’ final memories of her to be ones of pain and suffering.

Next, the villains unstrapped the bleeding and torn Princess and drug her over to a nearby water tank. They threw her in, and Chrysalis got on top of her and held her under. They brought her to the brink of a beautiful unconsciousness, but then allowed her to catch her breath. It was horrifyingly terrible, but she held her tongue. Her breaths, however, became rapid again. Necessity demanded it, and she felt obligated to bow to its whims. Down and up and down and up she went, with Chrysalis insulting and mocking her every step of the way. Her lungs felt like they would give out at any second, and she waited for the apparently inevitable. But it never came, and she was tossed out of the tank and restrung to the torture table.

Chrysalis growled at her as soon as she had been tied down again. “I knew you’d put up a show of bravery in front of your pathetic friends, but I didn’t think you’d actually get through our torture! I figured you’d be begging us to kill you!”

“You can do whatever you wish with me,” Twilight said as she gasped for air, “I don’t care. I’ll die for those I care about, and I’ll last until the bitter end!”

Chrysalis howled in a rage and used her magic to pick up some nearby paddles. Only, these weren’t your typical implements. They had been specially designed to cause pain and punishment to the pony being harmed. The inventor had intentionally left splinters and nails within the flat part of the board. Soon, those sharp and unforgiving instruments of suffering would be embedded in Twilight’s body. The princess controlled her emotions and managed to give the evil Changeling Queen a defiant look.

“Alright…TAKE IT!” Chrysalis screeched.

She began administering thunderous beatings with her paddle, and Tirek and Cozy soon joined in. Twilight, even through all of the absolutely barbaric pain, continued holding her tongue. She was going to show the evildoers just who was the bigger pony. Blood flowed like a deeply red waterfall over the cliffs of her very existence, and she felt her life being drained away from her. But she continued her silence. All audible noise became echoing thuds as the paddles did their work. Her friends watched and wept. Nothing could be done. She had asked for this, and they knew that she did it in order that they might live their lives.

Fluttershy was crying so hard into Starlight’s shoulder, that the light purple pony thought she might float away on her own tears. She bent her head around the Pegasus, trying desperately to bring some sense of comfort into her sadness. But the emotional tools which she had been given were threadbare, and Fluttershy continued her episode. She had excellent reasons for weeping so deeply, but that didn’t make it any easier to watch. Starlight whispered that everything would be okay, but that only earned more howls of agony.

With each thud, they saw their friendship with Twilight die along with her. Their memories were torn apart with each new drop of blood that flowed from their beloved princess. Applejack saw the times she and Twilight had bucked apples together. Rarity saw the way Twilight’s eyes lit up whenever she presented her with a new outfit to wear. Fluttershy, blurred though her conscientiousness might have been, still saw Twilight’s selflessness in regard to her animals. Pinkie saw the delightful parties she and Twilight had attended, and even some that they had planned together. Rainbow Dash saw the moment she had taught Twilight how to fly for the first time.

Then came Starlight, who took Twilight’s death harder than all of them, though she never allowed it to show. She saw every single moment that the princess had taken pity on her, guiding her through the weeds of her own life and into a beautiful meadow of friendship. She had pulled her out of the evil that she had entangled herself in, taught her to love her own cutie mark again, and then patiently and gently instructed her in the ways of platonic sisterhood. Her lip quivered as she saw every time she had failed, and every time Twilight had put her hooves back on the right path.

“No…” She suddenly muttered amidst Twilight’s endless torture.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

“I won’t let her die…”

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

“I can’t…”

THWACK! TH-!

Suddenly, Starlight screamed and galloped out of the corner. She attacked the villains with ruthless viciousness, squealing and firing lethal magic blasts at them. Sadly, in her haste to save her friend, she had not exactly thought her plan through, and the evil ones were easily able to avoid her attempts. But she did manage to buy Twilight a few moments of peace. She kept the trio of trouble away for a moment more until she felt a small hoof tug at her flank.

She turned and saw Twilight, beaten and bruised almost beyond recognition. But the kind eyes and warm smile that had always greeted her continued to do so. This would always be Twilight, no matter what happened. When the princess managed to painfully beckon Starlight closer, she bent down. Twilight nuzzled at her cheek, and whispered something in her ear.

“I’m…your…sister…”

“W…what?” Starlight asked, barely able to believe what she’d heard.

“I’m…your…sister,” Twilight repeated, her voice no longer strong enough to be raised louder than that, “I…found…out…from my parents. They…had a…nother…foal…soon after me…but gave her up for adoption. They…never told…anypony…not even Shining Armor. But...just before I left for Ponyville...they told me. I...deduced it...when we first met, and then...I...did research...in the Canterlot library. Our family...histories...are entwined. Yes, you...are...my sister, my dear Starlight.”

“But, if your mother was pregnant, how’d Shining never find out?”

“He…had gone…away…to military school.”

“You’re my sister?” Starlight whispered back in shock.

Twilight managed a weak nod, and a small smile. Starlight jumped for joy internally, but externally she bent down and nuzzled at her sibling’s face, enjoying the thoughts that came with it. However, she was not allowed to do so for long, as the villainous threesome soon slunk out of their shadow and threw Starlight off Twilight. The purple princess seemed to be at peace and completely tranquil as Chrysalis used her magic and raised a sword over her chest.

“Now, then, Princess of Friendship…let us see what your love and harmony gets you!”

“You will, Chrysalis,” Twilight weakly sputtered, “you will…”

The sword plunged into Twilight’s chest, ending her life instantly. Her friends couldn’t cry or wail in agony. They just stood there, shocked into a solitary spot. Their mouths were opened, but they knew that they and Equestria had been saved. Twilight’s selflessness would be told to foals throughout eternity, and she would always be known as a hero. Death had suddenly turned very positive, and the six remaining ponies turned to face their enemies.

“Alright,” Dash said, wiping her tears away, “she’s gone. Now, will you get THE HELL OUT OF OUR LIVES?!”

“Oh…I don’t think so,” Cozy responded, “this is too much fun! Twilight’s gone, Celestia and Luna are both locked away and completely useless, and you six don’t have any power to speak of! You’re worthless!”

Just then, a great and powerful presence filled the room. Magic shot from every single crystal, rock, and mineral that hung on the ceiling or clung to the walls. White beams bounced around the shocked creatures and then invaded Twilight’s six friends. They felt absolute regality, love, light, and magic. Their eyes went bright white with the most beautiful infection any of them had ever felt. They burned with a desire to protect the innocent among them, to defend the Elements of Harmony, and to share love and friendship with every single pony in the land. But they also felt a great pain and saw ponies being torn apart as friendships are sometimes wont to do.

Through it all, they felt Twilight’s spirit with them. Though they knew she was not actively watching them from some great Valhalla in the sky, they realized that it was up to them to carry on her mission. In that one second, that one beautiful moment of unity, they became Equestria’s newest team of hope and peace. Their oath was absolute, and their dream was the same: to defend friendship across Equestria as ordered by the Cutie Map. It didn’t have to be told through some expository dialogue. It was silently realized. Their truth would be their ultimate weapon, and nothing could stop them.

Those who did not possess wings sprouted them, and those who did not possess horns did the same. Applejack and Pinkie proceeded to grow both. All six of Twilight’s friends now held her keys in their hooves, and they had taken over her destiny. Fire burned within their souls, and they knew it was their mission to defeat these three and reclaim the ideals that Equestria had been built upon.

“Who…who are you?” Cozy asked the new Alicorns when they finished transforming. She, along with the other villains, had gone into a complete shaking fit.

“We are The League of Princesses,” Starlight, whose mane blazed like the sun, said with absolute wisdom, “and you have hurt our land for the final time.”

“To Tartarus with all of you!” Rainbow Dash screamed, “CHARGE!”