Spike had lied himself down at the foot of Twilight's bed and tried to go back to sleep.  He knew what he saw, even though he wouldn't admit it, but desperately wanted to believe that Twilight would never do such a horrible thing.  The little dragon's stomach turned over and over inside of him, giving him a sense of vertigo and intense nausea; he would have thrown up but just so happened to have been woken up before breakfast.  Every time he closed his eyes he saw the bodies; bound and gagged, coated in blood and burnt flesh and spilling coagulated and putrid innards onto the floor.  The floor that Twilight was proudly standing on.  

Twilight's 'new form' had started to replace his earlier memories of her.  The happy, smiling face full of life and emotion faded into the wicked, non empathic thing that came home each morning from Celestia-knows-where.  The gentle smile and happy cock of the head from the old Twilight had given way to condescension and a sinister grin, not to mention the voice filled with disdain.  The scariest thing, Spike thought, was that he could easily imagine that Twilight killing somepony with a smile on her face.  He could see what was once his best friend and mentor laughing amongst the screams of the dying.  

With only a little hesitation, Spike stood up and jumped down from the loft into Twilight's workspace.  He took a quill and some paper, dipped the tip into Twilight's unused inkwell and started to scrawl out a letter.  His handwriting had gotten a little shaky, but he knew that he needed to fight through the trauma for this cause.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I need your help...

So, Twilight, what do you plan to do now?  Keep sweeping the slums for more bodies?  Iago's mocking questions had always gotten on Twilight's nerves, but the stress of her recent discovery just added to a certain snap in her voice, though she certainly knew how to hold her tongue.

I don't have a plan, Iago.  

Oh no?  But you're just so bright and well organized are you not?

Perhaps, but I've also had just about enough of you poking my ribs like that.  Get back in your book.

My book?  Don't you remember, Twilight, we burned that.

I'll write another one, just get the fuck out of my head.

You only wish it were that easy.  We have an agreement, Twilight Sparkle, don't you remember?

Oh I remember, but contracts can always be ripped up, even ones signed in blood.

You signed in far more than blood, Twilight Sparkle.  And this can't be revoked, that was part of the deal.

And just what is the deal, Iago?  You set up shop inside my mind like some kind of crappy motel in exchange for seemingly infinite power?  I'm not an idiot, there's always a catch whenever something seems too good to be true.  Those death threats you've been making lately aren't helping either.  I don't see why I should keep you around if all you do is tell me you're going to kill me every time I open my mouth against you.

Instead of getting angry like Twilight expected, Iago just gave a quiet little chuckle.  Oh, Twilight.  You don't seem to understand something very fundamental.  Allow me to explain, and do pay attention because this is the last time I'm going to put up with your insolence without punishment.  Iago cleared his throat (at least he implanted the noise of a throat being cleared into Twilight's thoughts) and Twilight's body immediately went limp.  She started to have a small panic attack within her mind, but everything about her physiology continued as normal.

Even with all of your power --all that I've given you and all that you've developed on your own-- you're not a goddess, Twilight.  The bottom line is, when I say jump, you jump.  Iago made his point by causing Twilight's body to literally jump.  She had absolutely no control; her limbs were paralyzed as far as she was concerned, even her face and eyes, but her mind was fully conscious.  You.  Don't.  Have.  A.  Choice.  As Iago spoke to Twilight in her mind her body gave another series of leaps.  Each one looking more colorful and flamboyant than the last, with the final hop resulting in a pirouette and dexterous poising of her limbs.  

Twilight could only stare on, taking in whatever line of sight Iago decided to point her eyes at.  She glanced into her floor mirror against her will, showing back her sinister body with a very long mane and, oddly enough, a gentle smile.  Twilight's body levitated (through unicorn magic) a brush over and began brushing her mane softly, humming along a tune that she had never heard before.  With horror, Twilight watched her body perform these actions on its own, eventually tossing her mane back over her shoulders and starting to dance.  Like a puppet she pranced around the room, performing complicated and precise ballet movements, none of which she had ever even seen done before, culminating in a very long spin with her hooves above her head, even bowing to the mirror when she was finished.

You son of a bitch...  Twilight said in her head, trying to speak aloud but not getting any connection to her mouth.

"Oh, Twilight.  Can't you see what I've been telling you all along?"  Twilight's own mouth spoke aloud, revealing Twilight's voice with all of Twilight's old voice inflections and mannerisms shining through as if it were really her speaking.  "I don't need your cooperation, but I'd certainly enjoy having it.  Or... maybe we should go ask Spike what he thinks?"  Twilight's body looked into the mirror as it spoke, revealing to her the devilish smile that made Iago's point perfectly known.

You leave him out of this!  This is about me, Iago, you know that.

"Oh dear, you still love him don't you?"  Iago tossed Twilight's head back and let out a terrifying laugh, and said, through an almost jolly demeanor, "I thought I'd broken you of all your old, bad habits."

Suffice to say I get your point.  Let me go.  Twilight tried to mask her fear in an angry tone.  She knew that she'd been beat, but was still determined to fight if she could.  The problem there was that she had no clue how.

Iago took Twilight's hoof and raised it to the top of the mirror, slowly dragging it down the center as he spoke.  Even Twilight's magical abilities were enslaved to him; a telikenetic blade sliced the glass in half as the hoof slid down toward the bottom.  "Oh no, Twilight, that's not good enough.  You've been unreasonably belligerent toward me for some time now, so you need to be punished.  Sure, I've showed my hand here, but I want you to realize something..."  The hoof reached the bottom of the mirror and the thing fell in half.  Twilight looked down and into the split piece of glass and metal, seeing two of herself staring up.  "I will never answer to you, and you'll only not answer to me when I'm in a good enough mood.  Understand?"

Yes, Iago.  I understand.  Twilight's thoughts were being suppressed, not by Iago but by herself.  She knew that he had full control of her and that nothing she could think of would escape his knowledge.  That said, she did her best to refrain from thinking about anything that might go against Iago; just what Iago wanted.  We have the same goal, you and I.  You've shown me that you're nothing to screw around with, and while I guess I didn't respect that earlier, you can rest assured that I do now.

"Then this is the last time we'll be having this conversation?"

Yes.  Let's just focus on getting Celestia's head...  Together.

We'll have much more than just her head, Twilight.  Iago returned to thought and slowly let Twilight take control of her body again.  The feeling returned to every inch of her insides slowly, radiating out from her head as if she had just gone numb for a while and was allowing blood to return.  It's good to have you working with me again, Twilight.  Don't make me do that again.

You shouldn't have to worry about it.  I guess I just wanted a little better personal treatment.

Well, you've survived my presence within you much longer than any of my other students, so for that I can commend you.  That, and considering the intense amount of stress I've been putting on you it's really a wonder that you're still sane...  So I can admit you deserve a little more respect.  Very well, Twilight Sparkle, you'll have it.

Twilight sat down and looked at her hooves; they were hers again.  She knew that she needed a way to ensure that she could keep control of her own body, but didn't have a clue how to do it.  For the time being, she decided to simply agree with Iago on everything that she could.  I appreciate it.

Now then, how are you feeling?

I'm feeling good, Iago.  Very good.

You're sure?  Even after all of that?  Because we've got to start acting very soon and you'll need to be in excellent condition.

Positive.  Though I do have a question.

Ask away, I'll see if I have an answer for you.

Why is it that you hate Celestia so much?  We've kinda...  Touched on this subject, but you've never actually told me.

To be perfectly frank, she's the reason my people and many others have been sentenced to a life of primitive obscurity.  We were slaughtered in her name, many wounded, villages burned and hundreds left to die of infected wounds out in the wilderness.  Genocide, Twilight Sparkle, that's why I hate her.  Not to mention her stance on history.

Her stance on history?

She would sooner burn a book that told of her atrocities than allow knowledge to be gained and learned from.  She's slain many to get to where she is, and she ensures her place in the future by promoting ignorance.

Celestia promoting ignorance...  Seems unlikely, just gonna say.

Oh?  I suppose as her 'personal student' you feel like she's only a teacher then, hm?

Well...  Yes.

You're very intelligent, Twilight, sometimes too intelligent for your own good and far too intelligent for Celestia's own good.  She took you under her wing because she understood that; she needed to know what you were learning.  If you ever became a threat to her, she'd send one of her guards to slit your throat in your sleep.

Twilight didn't really know how to respond.  Her dislike for the princess had been growing for some time, but had certainly plateaued.  The idea that she had always felt threatened by Twilight was something to be entertained, however, and Twilight started to remember things that seemed almost like red flags for that sort of explanation.  Celestia constantly giving her busy-work assignments, having to pre-approve any research she had ever done, even times when Twilight would ask for certain books and only receive a fraction of the ones she wished for.  She'd been monitored and limited all her life; Iago had, ironically, set her free.

Iago, my friend, I'd say we have a princess to kill.

Good that we finally see eye to eye, Twilight.  Shall we march on Canterlot by nightfall?

No, there's one thing that we should do first.

Pray tell what that is?

Gather the elements of harmony, of course.

I beg your pardon?

My friends, Iago.  We're the most trusted ponies in the world as far as she's concerned.  Think about the look on her face when she finds out that every single one has betrayed her.

You presume that they'll all listen to you?  This is a radical and violent change you're suggesting; your "friends" don't live up to any of that.

Twilight sat on her haunches and materialized a blade across her hoof, leaving it just visible in the light and running it along her opposite foreleg.  "I think they can be persuaded."  It felt wonderful to be able to speak again.

So how are you going to proceed with this plan?  I'm honestly curious.

"I take it you're only curious because you've stopped reading my mind?"  Twilight, relishing in the resumed control of her body, walked over to the two bodies.  She sat down and started to delicately pull every drop of water out of them, leaving the blood and other proteins, but drying everything out so that it was easier to clean up and dispose of.

What can I say?  It tends to be dull literature...  Very predictable.

"Jackass..."  Twilight gathered the water into a ball and guided it over to her false-backed bookcase, sliding it through a crack and into Trixie's chambers.  She blindly sent it to where she could remember the little divot in the dirt was and let it splash down, giving Trixie just that little bit more water that she wanted and certainly not letting her know the source.  "Either way, if you're so curious I'll just tell you that we're going to start with Big Macintosh."

While I'm thoroughly convinced that your "Elements of Harmony" are all complete bunk anyway, isn't he just a regular pony?  Don't you have to be "special" to be in that little clique?

"He's not an Element, Iago, he's bait.  Think about this a little bit: he's related to one of the Elements and is, as far as I know, already in bed with another.  It's the perfect time bomb since Rarity and Applejack tend to have... issues seeing eye to eye."

What about the rest?

"Rainbow Dash has an ego so inflated that she can be appealed to through simple fallacies, Fluttershy's a doormat to the point of self destruction and Pinkie Pie doesn't tend to think things through until they're already too late.  Oh, and 'yours truly' is the ringleader.  They may not realize it but my word tends to be law as far as the 'Elements of Harmony' go, so this'll be cake."

And if anything should go wrong?  What's your 'Plan B', as it were.

"Plan B is I kill everyone in this town and raise them as mindless zombies, go rip Canterlot to pieces with a brand new undead army and then slice off Celestia's head so that I can skewer it on Luna's horn."

Not as elegant as your first idea, but I like it.  Poor Luna won't be able to close her eyes for weeks if you do that.

"That raises another question, you don't have anything against Luna do you?"

Nothing personal, no, but she certainly isn't worth letting live.  She's close to Celestia, agrees with her and her methods, and is an otherwise loyal sister.  Nothing good can come of keeping her around after you and I take power, so she needs to be killed as well.

"Can't just keep her in the dungeon, can we?"  Twilight asked sarcastically.  She picked up her mummified bodies and crushed them together inside of a telekinetic sphere.  She compressed the dead flesh until it was just a little tiny ball, which she promptly lit on fire and burned with enough intensity to consume the entire thing in just seconds.

As fun as that would be, no.  Cliches are overly common for a reason, Twilight: they happen.  We keep her in the dungeon, she escapes, builds an army, comes back to bite us later.  Cutting off her head might be heartless, but it's a hell of a lot more efficient and would avoid drama in the future.  If she escapes in the siege, hunt her down and kill her.  If she stands and fights, make an example, and if you should see Princess Cadence ever again...  Well, I expect you to do the exact same.  Kill your enemies, Twilight, if they're allowed to live then they'll pounce on any little opening they can get to have you thrown down.  You'll never get a positive return from sympathizing with them, so just slaughter anyone who doesn't kneel at the sight of you.

"Understood, Iago.  It'll be a very bloody weekend, that's for sure."

Bloody is the best kind.

"Before we get started, though, I've gotta go take care of our little friend."  Twilight smirked and tilted her gaze over to Trixie's bookcase, deciding once and for all to finish what she had started.  She pried the bookcase open and glanced inside, watching Trixie have a minor heart attack at the sight of Twilight.  She had heard everything and, while she was thoroughly convinced that Twilight was insane, she knew what the purple unicorn wanted.  

"Hello Trixie."  Twilight said menacingly, slowly walking into the enclosure and leaving the bookcase open.  Her head was low and her countenance had a genuine grin of smooth malice across it.

"G-g-get away!"  Trixie wasn't quite as cooperative this time around as she had been; survival instincts were starting to kick in since the fear of death was looming so close.

"What happened to jumping when I said 'jump'?"

Trixie started to hyperventilate, sinking herself into the muddy floor and pressing her back against the stone-hard wall.  Twilight was getting closer and closer and Trixie didn't want to die.  The instant Twilight got within too threatening of a distance, Trixie flared up her under-powered telekinetic unicorn magic to try and fight Twilight off; swinging at her head with a rock that had come loose some time during her captivity.  She landed a solid and rather firm hit on her captor, knocking several teeth out and temporarily blinding her by collapsing her eye socket again, but Twilight naturally didn't feel a thing and healed every single bit of it up immediately.  

Trixie took off running as soon as the rock impacted Twilight's face, but the purple unicorn was ready for that kind of daring; she reached her foreleg out and clotheslined Trixie's nearly skeletal body as she tried to dash past, knocking her onto her back and then immediately dropping her hoof down to her neck.  "So that's how it's going to be, hm?  And here I was considering letting you have your free will..."

The light blue unicorn's terrified eyes reflected everything that Twilight did, letting her watch the sadistic movements that followed.  Trixie never stopped struggling, though her body had grown horribly weak from malnourishment and from lack of sleep, so Twilight didn't even have have to use her power to keep her restrained.  She did, however, use her new telekinesis to teach Trixie a lesson about magic by taking a hold of her horn.  Trixie's chin was forced down, clasping her jaws shut against Twilight's hoof as her horn was stressed and pulled.  With a surge of energy and a sickening snap, the unicorn's precious horn broke off at the base and sent a spurt of blood surging out along with it; even the root was removed in the violent gesture.  Trixie let out the most agonized, blood curdling scream that she ever had in her life; the pain was enough to make her see spots for the next few minutes.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, Trixie, but I can't have you disobeying me."  Twilight twirled the freshly plucked horn in her field of telekinesis, using a fine edge to carve each of her mystical runes into its surface as she spoke.  She was applying just enough pressure to Trixie's throat to cut off her air, but she wasn't being suffocated quite enough to go unconscious.  "Iago always said that blood control was less stable, but at this point I don't think you're worth the effort for a recitation."  Twilight took the newly carved horn and pressed the pointed tip against Trixie's carotid artery, slowly adding pressure until the unicorn's last breaths were accented with a muffled squeal.  Her blood sprayed out onto the horn that was once her own, activating the runes and prompting several futile attempts at a final escape.  She thrashed about, mixing her blood and tears in with the dirt until her whole face and body were soaked with crimson mud.  Twilight got to enjoy about two minutes of Trixie's remaining life in helpless thrashing,  going so far as to cut off blood flow to the wound with a kind of telekinetic tourniquet.  She would always let go just in time for her to take a breath and sob a few more times; once her two minutes was up, however, Trixie lied dead in her own blood and filth with Twilight straddling over her, holding her neck and relishing in the excitement of finally ending her long standing rival's wretched little existence.

Twilight waited a few minutes for her to get up but it seemed to be that her magic had somehow failed.  Twilight checked the horn; everything was exactly as it should have been, but Trixie's body sat perfectly still, dead as a dessicated skull in the desert.  

"What gives, Iago?"  Twilight asked aloud, picking Trixie up by the hind leg and lifting her body, leaving only her head in an awkward position in the mud.

She's dead.

"No shit.  Got any useful information for me?"

Mmmn, I don't think she'll be coming back.  Her mind was far too turbulent after the way you treated her.

"I thought weak wills were a good thing."

Moderation, Twilight.  She was beyond stressed every single day, so the final idea of being brutally killed and slapped around must have just broken her completely.  There wasn't enough of her consciousness left to bind to the horn so even if you used the more stable method I doubt it would have worked.  By the way, I really liked that idea of you using the horn to bind her; clever.

"Thank you, but I'm a little disappointed that she won't be back.  I could have used her."

It's just as well, Twilight.  Trixie wasn't particularly worth much as far as I could tell, you'll be better off without something additional to worry about.

"Yeah, true...  Though I do have an idea."

What might that be?

"Just a little technique I learned some time ago, should be easier now that I have so much magical control and it'll give me something to remember Trixie by."  Twilight gleefully trotted toward the entrance to Trixie's enclosure, dragging the body along by the ankle and then leaving it in the middle of the dirt cavern, keeping the body away from the walls and then posing it in Twilight's favorite position: begging for mercy.  Twilight then left to go gather a few things, letting Trixie's body drop unceremoniously into the mud.  What Twilight didn't know was that Trixie's consciousness had in fact been bound to her old body, but control had not.  Trixie was fully aware of her surroundings, and could indeed feel everything, but just couldn't move or project that in any way.  Perhaps the most unfortunate part about her current state, however, was the fact that she could indeed still feel pain and panic.