Tear Jerker / The Assassination of Twilight Sparkle

When reading The Assassination of Twilight Sparkle, it will be helpful to have a box of tissues handy.

• Seven months into Twilight's princesshood, and she has lost most of her enthusiasm and has begun to seriously doubt herself. The vitriol of Equestria is clearly taking its toll.
• Celestia finding out about Twilight's death. When she finds the body she uses the most powerful healing spell in a last-ditch effort to prove that Twilight isn't dead. Unfortunately, the spell doesn't work if the receiver isn't alive. When the spell fails, Celestia is forced to acknowledge the truth.
• Twilight Velvet becomes a sobbing wreck at Twilight's funeral. When Celestia tries to console her, Velvet smacks her across the face and sends her to the ground! She then accuses Celestia of allowing the assassination to happen through her neglect, and tells her that Celestia should be dead instead of Twilight. However, when the two meet up again four months later, Velvet apologizes for her actions.
• When Celestia meets Gladius Stride, a solar guard who's related to one of Twilight's killers, she orders him to leave the hall, practically screaming at him when he doesn’t leave immediately. When she meets him again, she apologizes for her actions, only to find out that she isn't the only one who's been treating him unfairly...
  Gladius Stride: … a few of the guards, including the higher command, have made it clear they don’t like me. They call me the ‘Traitor’s brother’ when they think I’m not looking and always blame me for the smallest of problems. From a paper being lost or even a broken pipe in the waterworks, then yell at me and tell me to correct the mistake. I’m always getting fewer servings at mess and tripped in the halls. And anytime I try to accuse somepony of harassing me, I’m told to just shut up and get back to work. [on the verge of tears] It’s not fair. I know my brother did something horrible, but I don’t want to be punished for it!
• Trixie attends Twilight's funeral to find proof that Twilight is still alive. It's not until she sees Spike mourning her death that she realizes the truth. It even gets her to stop talking in third person!
• Discord having to tell Fluttershy that his magic can't bring ponies back from the dead. Up until she asked, she had been completely inconsolable since Twilight's death, getting up, doing chores, crying herself to sleep, repeat. The thought of Discord resurrecting Twilight had been the first time she smiled in a month and hearing that even Discord didn't have that kind of power was devastating to her.
• Poor Regal... Ever since his uncle conspired in the plot to kill Twilight, he and his family have been subject to Sins of Our Fathers something fierce. Between the constant bullying from his classmates and Cheerilee's efforts to help Regal either fail or make the situation worse, it comes as no surprise that he eventually commits suicide in front of the class.
• The first part of Rainbow Dash's chapter reveals that she has become an alcoholic in the wake of Twilight's death. So much so that she eventually gets alcohol poisoning. While getting her stomach pumped, she has a Dying Dream where she sees everypony in Ponyville mourning her death. Watching Scootaloo break down during the funeral is particularly heart-wrenching
  • The day before Twilight's death, she and Rainbow Dash got into an argument over her recommending that Rainbow not be immediately put on the Wonderbolts due to her Hair-Trigger Temper. The last words Rainbow ever said to Twilight was that she hated her. This is the main reason she turned to alcohol.
    Rainbow Dash: The last thing I told my best friend, before she died, was that I hate her. I would never get the chance to tell her how sorry I was. I would never be able to take it all back. I was so stupid. I was so... so... stupid. Everyday, since I heard she had died, I had to live with that memory. And no matter how much I tried, no matter how much I drank, it never bucking left me.
• It's exceedingly difficult not to feel sorry for Cadence during her chapter. Consider the following:
  • Her parents were killed in a car(t) crash with her inside, and only she survived because her alicorn powers kicked in at that moment.
  • Her first friend was Prince Blueblood. No, really. It turns out that Blueblood was a sweet colt when he first met Cadence. They even had pet names for each other (Bluey and Candy). His father's “nobility lessons” turned him into the snooty, ignorant, racist, hateful pony he is today.
  • After the trial, Cadence was the only one to visit Blueblood one last time, hoping to get answers as to why Blueblood became the pony he is now. He doesn't answer, only crying softly. His last words to Cadence stuck with her for the rest of her life:
    Blueblood/Bluey: I'm sorry... Candy...
  • After the execution, Cadence gives Blueblood a proper burial in honor of their past friendship. On the tombstone is the name “Bluey” because to Cadence, Blueblood and Bluey are two different ponies.
• Flash Sentry and Twilight had a Secret Relationship between the two of them. Despite this, Flash had plans to propose to her, and even bought an engagement ring. Unfortunately, the day he planned to propose was the day Twilight was killed. After her funeral, he resigns from the royal guard and kills himself to be with Twilight again.
  • The inscription on the engagement ring? “TS x FS Till Death Do Us Part.”
• Maud's chapter reveals that Granny Pie killed herself due to Hearing Voices that drove her insane. Making it worse is that Pinkie Pie and her family walked in on her swinging on the rope. Making it much worse is that Pinkie suffers from that same condition and is constantly at risk of doing the same thing. Making it even worse than that is the revelation that the metal that became the swords used to kill Twilight came from the Pie Family Rock Farm.
• Stag's chapter is, for the most part, more awesome with a little nightmare fuel thrown in for good measure than tear jerking. But, at the end of his second chapter, it's revealed that when Queen Chrysalis was still alive, she ordered thousands of changelings killed. Two of those killed were Stag's niece and sister. This event severely jaded his outlook on life, molding him into the Psycho for Hire we see him as.
• After the events of the Fall Formal, Sunset Shimmer was constantly bullied for her previous actions. On a good day, everyone would just ignore her, on a bad day, she'd end up in the nurses office. Unable to deal with the guilt of what she had done, she eventually went to a bridge to throw herself off. Thankfully, this ended up being a Happily Failed Suicide as Human!Twilight saw her and convinced her not to jump. They even became lovers after the event. Aww.
• When Sunset returns to Equestria, not yet knowing that Twilight died, she is reunited with Celestia, who forgives her for what she did. When Sunset asks where Twilight is so she can tell her about what happened since she changed, Celestia burst into tears, much to Sunset's shock and informs her of Twilight's death. Sunset asks to be taken to her so she can see for herself. When she has her proof, she is devestated and cries on the casket for hours.
  • Celestia's reaction to Sunset revealing that she had intended to kill herself when she was bullied after the fall formal, and would have if not for Human Twilight's intervention. While this is mostly a sad fanfic, it is heartwarming to know that Celestia cares for Sunset as a daughter as well as Twilight.
  Celestia: How... how could you think such a thing...? Did you ever stop to think that maybe I would miss you?!” Celestia hugs her while she continues: “Did you never once think that I missed you all those years you were gone? That I didn’t sit by that mirror day and night when it was open, hoping you would come back to me? Twilight wasn’t the only daughter figure I had in my life, you were one as well! I love you, Sunset Shimmer, no matter what! I lost one daughter, I don’t want to lose another!
• Donut Joe's chapter has been cited by many as the most depressing chapter so far. It could be because that it confirms what we saw only of glimpse of in Fancy Pants' chapter: Twilight's death has had absolutely no effect on the ponies who hate her. Between cracking sick jokes about her relationship with Flash, (...Right in front of Shining Armor) and continuing to say awful things about her, it's clear that it will be a very long time before Twilight's good name is restored. If indeed it ever will.
  • The whole chapter overall gives quite good insight on Twilight's development as a character over time and her subsequent, gradual descent into depression after her coronation, which turned once cheerful and kind-hearted heroine into broken shadow of her former self. This makes her ordeal all the more heartbreaking, especially when Joe remembers the last time he saw her before her death. She was verbally assaulted by her foul-mouthed detractors at his donut shop and literally spat on when she calmly invited them to sit down and hear out her own part of the story. After they stormed out, Joe immediately locked up his place and tried to comfort Twilight, who broke out crying in despair. Before she left, he told her to never lose faith that there is good in everypony — faith that she apparently still held, despite all hatred directed at her. A few days later, she was dead.
  • And then everything is summed up by the fact that even years after Twilight's death, Joe never managed to get over it, because what reminds him of her fate is right in front of him every day — namely, a corner booth where Twilight used to sit regularly. Joe still keeps looking there, expecting her to come and take her usual place, with a pile of books, a plate of donuts and a pot of coffee or hot chocolate, just like she always did. Of course, she is never there. This is something many people in real life can relate to — a pretty mundane habit that you grew accustomed to, which reminds you now that a person you used to know and who used to do that is now forever gone.
• The first part of Pinkie's chapter confirms her worst fears. A member of her family (Marble Pie) was the one who gave the metal that became the swords used to kill Twilight.
  • The second part of Pinkie's chapter reveals that Marble was seduced by Prince Blueblood into giving away the location of the Pie Family orichalcum deposit. Poor Marble... ignoring the unwitting betrayal, she genuinely believed that somepony loved her romantically, only to find out that she was being used to commit regicide. The kicker? She's now pregnant with Blueblood's child.
• Peewee becoming Spike's familiar means that he senses all the emotions Spike experiences. This has the added effect of him feeling the pain Spike feels after Twilight dies. Even worse is that unlike the other ponies who get better over time, (except, obviously, Flash Sentry) Spike is completely unable to come to terms with Twilight's death and eventually runs away from home.
• Big Mac's chapter reveals that Applejack was in love with Twilight. There's something forlorn about someone being in love with someone else and never telling them, let alone a one-sided love due to Incompatible Orientation.
• The fate of Diamond Tiara's nanny, Strawberry Star, as well as anypony else who tries to take a job that doesn’t involve one's special talent. Arrested on charges of Fraud. Let that sink in for a moment. Until Twilight posthumously made it legal, wanting to expand one's horizon was a felony!
  • Finding this out was the end of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
• Shining Armor's chapter where he learns that Gallant Heart was actually trying to SAVE Twilight by infiltrating Blueblood's cabal on orders from Luna...only for Amadeus Blueblood to discover his status as a mole and blackmail him into going through with the assassination or else he'd kill Gallant's brother.
  • Goes doubly so if Amadeus had no intention of doing so in the first place despite barking it out. That's right, Gallant didn't know if he was simply bluffing or he would have done it for real. If Gallant did, it might have saved his life and Twilight would not have been killed.
• Rarity's chapter where we see, from her point of view, the reactions of the rest of the Mane Six on the day Luna informed them all that Twilight was murdered. Such reactions include Fluttershy wailing uncontrollably, Pinkie actually passing out, and Rainbow Dash begging for Twilight to come back, and this is all before SPIKE ENTERS THE ROOM demanding to know what happened to his mom. After being told and his subsequent emotional breakdown, all Rarity and her friends can do is hug him while he cries out for his mother.
  Spike: "...mommy...mommy...mommy..."
• After meeting Twilight Velvet (four months after Twilight's funeral, mind you) Celestia goes to the Memorial Gardens to say her final goodbyes to Twilight. She does so in a completely heart-wrenching manner, even saying that if she had the chance to be in the coffin, she would take it. Seeing a pony who rarely ever loses her composure break down in such a manner (sobbing and crying twice throughout the entire process) must have been very heartbreaking.
• The fact that Amadeus Blueblood, Prince Blueblood's father, was willing to use his own son to further his own goals. He doesn't care about anything but his plans to mold Equestria (and the world) into his image.
  • It gets worse: in his own chapter, he poisons his wife's drink so it appears that she died in grief. This is all so he can shake suspicions when he goes to Unicornia.
• This picture (It's actually in the third chapter of the first fanfiction) of Celestia laying her hoof over Twilight's coffin, complete with a sorrowful look.
• Mystic Sparkle, Twilight and Shining's younger sister, has her own chapter in the form of a letter explaining why she ran away from home. Apparently, she never grew up normal because of Twilight and hated the fact that they were even related. Most fillies grew up with friends, play dates, joining scouts, or going to school. Mystic, on the other hand, was forbidden to go outside nearly most of her life. Her parents didn't even consider moving to the Crystal Empire with Shining Armor, Cadence, and Flurry Heart because they didn’t want to leave the place where Twilight was rested. Oh, and they never stopped talking about Twilight either; it was always “Twilight did this” or “Twilight used to say” and even “I remember when Twilight blah blah blah”. Her only true friend was Maplewood, the one who helped Mystic get her cutie mark.
  • The letter gets even more heartbreaking when Mystic reveals what happened whenever she tried her best to accomplish anything at all: her parents' response was always "Twilight did it better." After that, Mystic called it quits on trying to impress her parents.
  • It only gets worse: When Maplewood got accepted to the School for Gifted Unicorns, she was the main reason Mystic wanted to go to because she simply wanted to be with her friend, learn magic, and use it to become a great mage. She begged, pleaded, cried, and even argued for days with her parents to no avail. Even Princess Celestia herself didn't want her to go and refused to take her in as an apprentice because of the promise she made to Twilight Velvet.
  • Two weeks after that do we find out the main reason why Mystic ran away: The school was bombed by a terrorist attack from Equestrian's First and Maplewood was one of the victims, but Mystic's parents didn't even allow her to go to the funeral. THAT was the final straw.
• Spike's behavior in the wake of his mother's death. Best shown when having a pony at his mercy after the latter tried to rob and kill him, he nonchalantly asked Marc to make it quick. No forgiveness or arrest, just death.
• Aquilina's backstory. Her mother was a Sex Slave and she herself is going to be groomed to be one when she is old enough, watching sexual intercourse between her master and her mother since she was three. One fateful day, her mother did not perform up to standard. As punishment, her master used spells on her to force her body to have sex with all his soldiers, his other slaves, and even his own sister. After it was over, she jumped to her death without even saying goodbye to her daughter. Aquilina lost it and she cut the master's throat when he wasn't looking and ran away to her uncle Rupert thanks to her mother telling her about him. The kicker? The master is her own father!!
  • The build-up to this is no better. The reason Aquilina is spilling out her life story to Spike? She is calling him out for running away from his problems because when he had to deal with his murdered mother, he at least still had a perfectly good group of friends and family to turn to, a luxury she herself didn't have aside from her own uncle. Spike is too stunned and was left to stew in his own thoughts:
  I tried to say something, but for a long time I couldn’t. Was this really what Erebus was? Was this really such a hellhole to live in? I kept thinking this as doubt began to creep into my heart and I began to wonder if this was such a good idea. Did I want to get stronger, yes. But looking at Aquilina and hearing her story, I wondered just how broken she and everyone on this island was.
  “Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
  Aquilina snorted and turned away from me. “Because you’re not the only rucking sad story on this island. Everyone has lost someone, been through hell, or has had their entire lives ruined. My story? Not even the saddest one out there so I don’t even mind telling you it. The truth is we’re all messed up here in Erebus and unless you want to end up that way too, I suggest you head home. Because there is nothing for you here.”
  And with that said she walked away. Leaving me alone to my thoughts in silence. I felt Peewee land on my shoulder and start to sing to make me feel better, but it didn’t work. I just stared at a retreating Aquilina and felt sorrow not just for her, but for some reason every island inhabitant in Erebus.

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