A Dark Soul

by LordTurok

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Sad
Length: 10553

Dark Magic is a horrible crime in the land of Equestria. Yet Twilight still finds herself intrigued and drawn to it.

Shortish story following Twilight as she goes on an adventure. My first fanfic and really my first story in generally. So i would love to hear thoughts and opinions.

Published 2013-05-12 22:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-12 22:00:02 UTC

Chapter 1

It was dark, very dark. Twilight felt afraid, it was so dark, but that is not why she felt afraid, she could feel evil.
“Twilight Sparkle!” a dark voice rumbled
“Y-Yes?”
“Do you feel the darkness, and the fear?”
“I-I feel evil.” she said with a growing sense of dread.
“You are wrong Twilight Sparkle, you feel Power! Raw undeniable power that can, and will be yours!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dark Magic.”
“NO! I wont use dark magic!”
“Do not lie to me! You remember the dark magic of king Sombra, you want his powers.”

Twilight woke with a start. She was sweating all over her body. She was shaking from her nightmare, but a lingering thought remained in the back of her mind. Dark Magic. She couldn’t help but being intrigued by the thought.

“Twilight, you look terrible” Spike said interrupting her train of thought.
“No Spike, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You’re sweating all over.”
“I just want a little privacy is all. Go out and enjoy yourself today, I think I will do some reading today.”
“Sure thing Twilight.”

As soon a Spike left Twilight sat down on her bed. She remembered just how powerful King Sombra had been. She wondered if she had a book on him or some of his magic.

“A little reading wont hurt, its not like I’m going to become a dark magician.” Twilight told herself trying to convince herself that reading dark books was okay.
She searched her library trying to find something on king Sombra. She found a book titled “A Guide to Dark Magic” She paused before opening the cover. Ignoring her reservations she opened the book and began pouring over the pages.

***

“Howdy Twilight.” Applejack greeted her in her usual friendly fashion.
Twilight jumped, startled, and quickly hid the book. “H-Hey Applejack”
“Whatcha readin’ there Twi?”
“Oh, nothing, just another book of magic”
“Right” Applejack said a little suspicious. “Weren’t you gonna come over and meet everyone for our weekly pet play date?”
“Oh, I’m sorry Applejack, I just got really distracted by my studies.”
“I understand, you wanna come hang out with us all tomorrow, we are all going to have a picnic for lunch tomorrow?”
“Sure, I can make it. I wont forget this time.”
“Good, see ya then Twilight.”

Applejack left her house. Twilight sighed a little breath of relief. She hadn’t realized just how interesting this book was. So many spells that she wanted to try out.

“No, I can’t use dark magic! I wont read anymore.”

She looked at her clock and realized that she had spent the entire day reading the book, and spike had not come home yet, but she was to tired to give it any thought. She crawled back into her bed, and before she knew it she was sound asleep on her bed.

“Do you now recognize the power of Dark Magic?”
“Yes, but it is still wrong.”
“You are mistaken, Princess Celestia may be a fair and just ruler, but she is cunning and scheming. She understands that somepony like you could master Dark Magic and become more powerful than her. She has banned it out of fear, not because it is wrong.”
“She would never do that.”
“You will see this to be true. Dark Magic is not to be feared.”

***

The next day at noon Twilight headed to the park to meet her friends. She still felt uneasy about her dreams from the last two nights, and Spike had still not come home from the previous day, but this didn’t bother her since she was still thinking about her dreams and dark magic. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she did not realize she got to the park so soon.

“Hello Twilight, I missed you yesterday.” Said Rarity
“I’m sorry, I was caught up in my studies.”
“Its quite alright darling.” Rarity said with kindness
“Have in of you seen Spike? I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning.”
“Well there he is!” Giggled Pinkie Pie

They all turned their heads and saw Spike sprinting towards them.

“DRAGON!!!” Screamed Spike

They all saw a massive full-grown Dragon rise into the sky. The Dragon swept over Ponyville towards Spike. Without thinking Twilight jumped forward and cast a spell she had read in the dark magic book. Black light shot from all the plants around Twilight into her horn joining together to launch a very powerful beam of black light straight into the dragon’s chest. The dragon dropped from the sky lifeless. Twilight had never felt so powerful in her life! It was amazing, how had she not discovered this before?

But as Twilight looked around, instead of seeing awe on the faces of her friends she only saw horror. She was still glowing with a dark light and all the plants around her were withered and dead. Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna floated down to the ground clearly hunting for the dragon. They had looks of horror on their faces just like her friends.

“What is the matter?” Asked Twilight very annoyed at the lack of praise.
“Y-You just used dark magic.” Rarity spoke up in with obvious terror in her voice
“So what, its not a big deal.” Twilight said with rising anger.
“Luna, restrain her.” Said Celestia with a mix of sadness and anger.

Twilight felt her limbs freeze up as light came from Luna’s horn.

“WHAT!? I just saved all of you from dragon! You should be thanking me!” Twilight screamed.
“You have used dark magic, you are not yourself Twilight.” Luna said calmingly.
“NO!!!! You cant hold me down!”

Twilight focused all her energy on Luna and Luna began to lose color and shake. Finally the spell broke and with a massive burst of energy Twilight teleported miles into the Everfree forest.

***

Twilight was enraged. She was using her magic to cause destruction, draining the life from all the plants around her.

“How could they do that to me!?!? I saved them! Celestia was just jealous and afraid of me!”

A jet-black unicorn came out of the forest interrupting twilights Rant.

“That was a very impressive feat of magic.” He said calmly
“I suppose you want to arrest me for the use of dark magic?”
‘Not at all, I practice dark magic myself.”

Twilight took a second look at the strange unicorn. She saw on his flank two white skulls for his cutie-mark.

“So then what is you name?” he asked
“I’m Twilight Sparkle. What is yours?”
“I am Tamerlane the Necromancer. It is a pleasure to meat you Twilight Sparkle”
“A n-necromancer?” she asked suddenly afraid.
“That is correct. Come with me Twilight Sparkle. I can teach you much about dark magic for you have a lot to learn.”
Twilight let go of any fear she had of him because of her anger at Celestia. “I guess… I really have nothing to go back to now.”
“Wonderful, the first thing to know is that since you are new to dark magic its use will make you angry and aggressive. You will get past this with due practice. Now come with me”

Twilight followed the necromancer to a huge library that he lived in.

“Your library is amazing.!”
“I’m glad you like it, feel free to read anything anytime you want, but first let us begin your lessons”

***

Back at Ponyville everyone was in shock. Nopony ever expected something like that from Twilight. Luna had collapsed on the ground. She was weak from Twilight draining her life force.

“We… we need to go after h-her” said Luna weakly.
“Not yet, you are to weak my sister.” Celestia said as she was tending to Luna. “I will go with Twilight’s friends to try to track her down, you need to go back to Canterlot and rest.”
“Ok, sister, but be careful, the dark arts are nothing to mess with.”

Celestia’s royal guards carried Luna off to Canterlot.

“No offense Princess, but how can we help?” asked Applejack
“You are her friends, and hopefully you all will be able to put some sense into her. Dark magic is a very terrible thing, and it comes at a high cost to the soul of the user.”
“What sort of cost?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“The use of any dark magic requires the use of the life force of something else. Sometimes just using plants or animals works, but after a while a dark magician will get corrupted by his power and started leaching off of other ponies. But right now the most important thing is to set of now and find Twilight.”

***

“You are a very powerful magician Twilight Sparkle.”
“Thank you. I have been studying all my life to master magic.”
“It shows. Remember, you have to focus and control the sources you are gathering power from.”

Twilight focused again on a tree trying to drain its life force. She still felt anger from the events of the day before. She focused harder and black light bridged the span between her and the tree, it began to wither and die but she lost her concentration and the light burst and all the plants around her shriveled up and died.

“Concentrate Twilight Sparkle. You have to be able to control your life drain spell.”
“I’m sorry, this is still new for me.”
“I understand, but it is vital to master this technique, for it is the cornerstone of all dark magic.”
“Dark magic like necromancy?”
“Sort of. Necromancy is often called death magic. Many dark magicians frown on necromancy, but it is the most powerful form of magic in the world.”
“What about princess Celestia? She moves can move the sun and the moon.”
“Necromancy is the power over life and death. For powerful necromancers the line between life and death is thin and easily blurred. Even Celestia cannot compare to that power.”
“Are you going to teach me necromancy?”
“Only if you wish, but not anytime soon. First you have to master the basics of dark magic.”
“Wait, if you are a necromancer then why don’t I see any dead ponies? Don’t necromancers have lots of undead servants?”
“So many questions Twilight Sparkle. I do have undead servants, but I chose not to show you them. Many people find it disturbing. But no, back to your lesson.”

Twilight approached another tree and began to focus her energy on the tree. The now familiar black light appeared and the tree began to die. After a few short seconds the tree was a withered and lifeless trunk. Twilight felt good, but the more she drained from plants the less it made her feel powerful. She needed that feeling of power again. She thought back to the voice from her dreams. Dark magic. It felt amazing, but something didn’t make sense.

“Um… Tamerlane?”
“Yes Twilight Sparkle?”
“Did you happen to come to me in my dreams and plant the idea dark magic in my head?”
“Of course not. I do not have that power. The subconscious is a very interesting thing, and you never know what is stored down there. I would guess that you had wanted dark magic and that thought manifested itself in your dreams.”
“But princess Luna can dreamwa-“
“Silence now! We must continue with your studies.”

Despite Tamerlane’s answer Twilight still felt very uneasy. It felt as though something had been pushing her to pick up that book three days ago. And try as she might, she couldn’t push those thoughts out of her head as the day continued. But that wasn’t the only thing worrying her, She was also uneasy as she thought about Princess Celestia and all her. Surely that had to be looking for her. How long until they found her? What would happen if they found her?

***

Even as Twilight thought about Celestia and her friends they were all thinking about her. The six ponies were walking through the Everfree forest, Celestia in the lead trying to locate Twilight while the other five were trailing behind. They had just set off the morning after Twilight stopped the dragon. They headed deeper into the Everfree forest and began to see traces of dark magic. They saw withered trees and dead animals all around them. Suddenly they heard a snap. They all froze. Suddenly rotting dead ponies came out of the forest surrounding them.

“Halt.” said the closest rotting pony. “This is the land of the necromancer. Leave now.”
“No! We have important business in this region.” Celestia said with force.
“Then we will stop you.” Another grumbled out of his decaying lungs which where visible from his chest.

The disfigured ponies closed in on them surrounding them on all side. Before any of them could react all of them charged in on them screaming a terrible yell!

Chapter 2

Celestia stumbled away from the fight, bleeding. The undead had moved so fast she didn’t have time to react before they were already upon her. She had managed to cast a powerful spell obliterating all the rotting ponies, but it was too late. Celestia herself had lost enough blood so she could barely stand and Rarity was lying on the ground in a pool of blood screaming in pain.

“Rarity! Stay with us now! You’re going to be alright.” Applejack said to Rarity

Pinkie Pie was on the ground sobbing, afraid for Rarity.

“Rainbow Dash, get Rarity to a hospital fast. She may not have much time left.” Said Celestia.
“What about you? You’re bleeding a lot!” Applejack said, very concerned.
“I will be fine. Dash go! Now! She is bleeding horribly.”

Dash swept up Rarity who had just passed out from the blood loss. The undead had gone straight for the two magic users in the group, so Rarity and Celestia had been hurt the worst. Celestia knew she couldn’t keep going for very long.

“Applejack, how far away is Zecora’s house?”
“I think about two miles east, but I’m not sure princess.”
“We need to start heading that way, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep going. You can lead the way Applejack.”
“Yes ma’am.”

They began heading towards Zecora’s house. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had completely lost it and were sobbing the whole way to Zecora’s. Applejack knew she had to try to put on a strong face, but in honesty she was terrified and concerned for Rarity and the Princess.

When they arrived at Zecora’s the Princess was ready to collapse. They found Rainbow Dash already there with Rarity.

“I’m so glad you guys are ok.” Dash said as they walked in.
“I’m not so sure the Princess is ok.” Applejack responded.

Zecora came out of a back room and escorted Celestia into another back room. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were sitting down crying.

“We still need to find Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said with worry in her voice.
“I know, but I’m not sure what we can do.” Applejack said hopelessly
“If Celestia cannot come with us then we need to go after Twilight by ourselves.
“But Rainbow Dash, how can we hope to go against a dark magician?”
“We can take him! We have to do it for Twilight.”

Zecora approached them, interrupting their conversation.

“Celestia and Rarity will have to stay quite late, lest they meet their fate.” Zecora rhymed.
“So they are going to be ok?” Applejack asked Zecora.
“They will survive this crime, but only with time.”
“Thank you so much Zecora.” Said Rainbow Dash. “Applejack we have to hunt for Twilight. We can’t waste time.”
“Alright then Dash. Lets go.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash left Zecora’s home without another word. They set down their path alone, heading straight into the Necromancer’s kingdom.

***

Tamerlane paused, feeling the destructions of his minions. He frowned. This can’t be good. Twilight noticed the look on his face.

“Um… Tamerlane am I doing something wrong?”
‘What? Oh, um no. You are doing fine. Take a break Twilight, you have earned it.”

Tamerlane headed into his home. He focused inward and looked through the short memory of his minions. He saw Celestia killing his minions. His frown deepened. This isn’t good. If Celestia is hunting him then that means trouble.

“I have to check this out.” He told himself. “Twilight Sparkle, I am going to go out and gather some plants. I will be back soon.”

Before Twilight could respond he drained the life of three nearby trees and teleported away.

When he reappeared he saw an orange pony accompanied by a blue pony with rainbow colored hair.

“This is it? That’s who is coming after me? This hardly calls for concern, but all the same… “

He stepped forward towards the two ponies.

“What are two young beautiful ponies doing in such a dangerous place?” He said soothingly.
“We are looking for our friend. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?” Rainbow Dash said accusingly.
“Calm down Rainbow, we just met this nice pony. I’m Applejack and this is Rainbow Dash.”
“I am Tamerlane. What is the name of your friend? I may have seen her.”
“Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and you better not have done anything to her!” Rainbow said aggressively.

Tamerlane frowned. So they are here for Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle is too powerful of a unicorn for him to give up, however she had only been there a day or two…

“Yes I have seen her. She is at my home. She was lost and confused so I took her in.”
“Well that’s wonderful, when can we see her?” asked Applejack
“You cannot. She is unsure and angry. It would be best if you left.”
“WHAT?!?!” Rainbow Dash screamed “What do you mean we cant see her!? She our friend and we will see her no matter what!”
“No. You cannot see her.”

Seemingly out of nowhere seven undead and rotting ponies shuffled out of the dark.

“You have one more chance to leave. I suggest you take it.”
“NO!!”

Rainbow charged into the dead ponies without any thought and attacked before they could react. It took Applejack only a fraction of a second to react. Applejack charged in as well. Before they knew it they had killed the seven undead ponies.

Panting Rainbow Dash proclaimed “Ha! Is that the best you got?”

Tamerlane sighed beginning to drain Applejack and Rainbow Dash of their life. The two brave ponies began to shake and they eventually collapsed.

“STOP!!”

Nightmare Moon descended to the ground and approached Tamerlane.

“I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!”

Tamerlane released the two ponies and turned on Nightmare Moon.

“Do you really wish to attack me? Very well.”

With a small flourish Tamerlane drained all the nearby plants and animals and shot concentrated dark energy at Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon let forth a burst of dark blue light, and the two spells met in the middle in a spectacular flash of light. Nightmare Moon was the first to start to shake. Applejack stood up shaking and charged at Tamerlane. The black unicorn turned and in a moment of fear lost his concentration as he was nocked to the ground by Applejack. The two spells exploded in a massive wave of energy that shot from the center flattening all of the nearby trees.

***
Tamerlane reappeared back in his home with a flash of black light and smoke. Twilight walked in just as he collapsed on the ground.

“Tamerlane! Are you ok?” She asked with concern
“I-I am f-fine.” He said weakly smoke still rising from his coat.”
“What happened?” Twilight asked no convinced.
“One of my servants saw some ponies in the forest. I went check it out and as soon as I mentioned you they attacked me and nearly killed me.” He lied.
“What? They wouldn’t do something like that. I need to go talk to them.”
“Twilight Sparkle be careful around them, they mean to take you back to Ponyville and put you in prison. You have practiced dark magic.”
I wont go back to them, but I will tell them to leave me alone, they abandoned me, so I will never go back to them.” She said, head towards the door.
“Be careful, they mean to hurt you.”

Twilight left his home and started heading outside. She used a dark spell she had learned to see where her friends were.

“I can’t believe them. They are supposed to be peaceful ponies.” She told herself. “I guess this proves I can never go back to them, if they hate dark magic users so much.”

Twilight drained the nearby plants of their life and teleported away in a flash of black light. The necromancer looked out of a window as she teleported away. He knew this was a dangerous gamble, but hopefully Twilight Sparkle could convince herself that her friends hated her. He tried not to think about what would happen if she joined them.

***

Luna stood up where Nightmare Moon had been. She looked around, a small amount of smoke was coming up from the ground where Tamerlane had been. Rainbow Dash was slowly standing up, while Applejack lay unconscious on the ground. All of the nearby trees were burned and flattened.

“Are you alright Rainbow Dash?” Princess Luna asked
“I-I’m ok. What about Applejack?”

Luna walked over to where Applejack lay.

“I think she should be ok. She just needs rest. Now where is my sister and the rest of you?”
“They are all at Zecoras house. We were surprised by a bunch of undead ponies. Celestia and Rarity were badly hurt. Fluttershy and Pinkie are a mess right now, so me and Applejack went on alone.”

Luna paused worried about her older sister. Rainbow Dash saw the look of concern on Luna’s face.

“She should be fine though, she just needs rest.” Dash said trying to reassure Luna.
“It was stupid to go after Twilight alone. She is with the necromancer Tamerlane. He is the most powerful dark magician in the world. If Twilight is with him he will teach her the art of necromancy. Combined with her natural talent she will be so powerful that even the combined powers of me and my sister won’t be able to stop her.”
“So then what should we do?” Rainbow Dash asked with growing concern for her friend.
“We need to befriend her and forgive her lest she fall under the influence of this dark magic.”

Applejack just began to wake up. As she got in her feet she looked around disorientated.

“W-What Happened?” She asked with confusion
“You were nocked unconscious by the shockwave from our spells. You were very braved and saved us all.” Luna said with a soft voice.
“Then what happened to Tamerla-?“

Before Applejack had time to finish her sentence Twilight appeared in a flash of black light. She looked furiously at them.

“Leave now!!” she yelled at them. “I don’t want you here! You abandoned me, so I’m not going back!”
“Twilight Sparkle, we do not mean to hurt you. We want you back with us, and we want you away from Tamerlane.” Luna said soothingly to Twilight.
“No! You are just afraid of him, so you attacked him!”
“What? We didn’t attack him. He attacked us.” Rainbow Dash said confused.
“That’s the honest truth Twi, he is manipulating you to turn him against us. He attacked us and seriously injured Rarity and the Princess. They almost died.” Said Applejack.
“No! That’s a lie!” she said starting to tear up
“Would I ever lie to you Twi?” Applejack said approaching Twilight.
“N-No! S-Stay b-back!” she said, tears running down her face. “A-All of y-you, just g-get back!”

Twilight ran into the woods and teleported away.

“Twilight! Come back!” Dash screamed, but it was too late.
“We cannot hope to stand to the combined powers of Twilight Sparkle and Tamerlane.” Luna said.

***
Tamerlane sighed and closed the magical window he had used to spy on Twilight. He needed to find her. She had run off into the forest and wasn’t heading back to him. He decided to take action. He ordered two of his servants to track down Twilight Sparkle, and sent fifty of his best guards to Zecora’s house. He planned to once and for all end Celestia.

“Once I have killed Celestia and the wielders of the elements of harmony, I can remove Luna and take over all of Equestria! I will take this opportunity to end this era and bring about a new one of darkness and death!”

Chapter 3

Luna led the train of injured ponies away from the Everfree forest. Zecora looked back at the cloud of smoke that was rising up from the forest. Her home was gone. Rainbow Dash thought back to Celestia’s nine dead royal guards. They had been so brave. Applejack thought back as tears rolled down her cheeks. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The undead minions of Tamerlane had captured them, and Twilight was still nowhere to be found.

As they left the boundary of the Everfree forest they saw Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence along with a host of eighty royal guards.

“Guards, fly all the wounded to the hospital in Canterlot.” Shining Armor ordered his men. “Luna, any word of my sister?”
“She ran off into the forest. We may not be able to save her. However we have bigger issues. Tamerlane has declared war on us by trying to kill my sister. Guards, summon Discord, let him know that Fluttershy has been injured. Shining Armor, assemble all your men. Rainbow Dash, see if any of the pegasi nearby would be willing to help fight, we need the air support. Cadence, does the Crystal Empire have an army? Or at least a royal guard?”
“Yes we do Princess Luna.”
“Then go quickly and summon them. Once the royal guard has been assembled we will attack.”

All the guards carried out their orders. Sixty-five of them remained. Luna and her small army headed into town.

“Applejack, Zecora. Head into Ponyville and prepare them to evacuate the town. I think a battle might take place here.” Luna ordered them.

Luna and her small host of guards headed into Ponyville. She was ready to take down Tamerlane, and end the necromancer’s life. She hoped that Twilight would come around and see the evil of Tamerlane. If not, then it was the end.

***

Tamerlane ordered all his undead minions to assemble by the charred remains of Zecora’s house. He grinned. With Celestia defeated it was only a matter of time before Luna and all of Equestria fell under his power. He also sent out a summons to all the dark magicians he knew of, only one loose end.

“Twilight Sparkle, where are you?” He asked himself.

He knew that she was the only one with the power to stop him. He turned and saw the three ponies he had captured being led towards him.

“What do you want from us?” Rarity said weakly, still recovering from her wounds.
“Well when I saw you three lovely ponies I knew that I could find many… purposes for you.” He grinned. “Take care of them, I do not want my trophies spoiled.”

He turned away from the three female ponies. Once he took Ponyville, nothing would stand in between him and the throne. Finally he would get the power he had always wanted. A lesser dark wizard got his attention.

“My lord Tamerlane, he have assembled 500 soldiers so far and thirty wizards.”
“Wonderful. We will start with an assault on Ponyville with this force, and then once my main army joins us, we will besiege Canterlot.”

The lesser wizard walked away.

“Finally, my victory is at hand.” He said, laughing evilly.

***

Twilight ran through the forest with no thought to where she was heading. She could not think about her friends.

“They had betrayed her! They forced her to leave! This was all their fault!” She said angrily
“But they are my friends, they want me back.” Said a little voice in the back of her mind.
“NO! They are the ones to blame! I did nothing wrong, so they drove me out! Then they hunted me down and tried to kill the only one who befriended me!” she screamed into the forest, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Didn’t you hear what Applejack said? Tamerlane attacked them. They are your friends.” Her little voice of kindness spoke softly.
“Thy are lying to me! They want to throw me in prison and let me rot!” She said, more in defeat than anger.
“Applejack would never lie. Rainbow Dash would never abandon you.”
“Well they did lie and abandon me!” she told herself.

Realizing this thought Twilight collapsed and started sobbing. Had her friends really abandoned her? Was she that terrible in their eyes? She continued to cry until tears would not come out. Then she sat in solitude for hours after that. Thinking. Brooding, her resentment began to grow again.

“Friendship is magic? Of all the lies I heard that has to be the biggest one!” she told herself. “If they where real friends they would forgive her, but they haven’t, and they never will! I don’t need them! With my magic I am better than them! They are below me!! For all their faults I forgave them, time and time again! Then they go and do this? Ha! It’s a bad joke. I can prove that I am better than them! I will show them! They should be the ones begging for my forgiveness. The Princess herself should get on her knees and beg my forgiveness!”

An undead minion of Tamerlane approached her from the forest. She turned on it furiously. Not even Tamerlane was above her. He had been manipulating her into his servitude just like Celestia.

“Twilight Sparkle I bri-“

Before he could finish he sentence Twilight focused one the servant and obliterated him with very powerful magic.

At this display of power the little voice in the back of her head spoke up again.

“Don’t do this. Now is the time for kindness and forgiveness, if ever these things are important it is now.”

Twilight just shut this voice out of her head and started heading towards Ponyville.

***

Spike looked out the window of Twilights old home. So much chaos, ponies fleeing from their homes, an army gathering in the street, what was happening to this town? He then thought to Twilight. What had happened to her? Why was this all happening? He knew he had to find her as quickly as possible. He gathered up something and left his house.

“Hey Spike! Where are you going?” Rainbow Dash asked when she spotted him.
“I’m going to find Twilight.”
“Spike, its dangerous, and she…” Rainbow Dash paused. “She might be to far gone.”
“I don’t care. I have to find her. She needs my help. Now more than ever, if she doesn’t get help that will prove to her that we gave up on her. And you might have, but I never will give up on Twilight.”
“I’m not going to let you go alone Spike. It’s just to dangerous for a baby dragon.”
“If you wont let me go alone, then come with me. But don’t try and stop me.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and they two of them headed out into the Everfree forest.

Only after a short time Rainbow Dash spotted the army of the undead approaching.

“Spike run!” She yelled to him. The undead noticed the two.
‘Rainbow, run back and let Luna know about them. I still have to find Twilight.”
“But-“
“Go! Now!”

Spike sprinted of into the forest. After only a moments pause she raced pack to Ponyville to warn Luna.

Spike ran as fast as he could, but he was still slower than the three rotting corpses that chased him. Spike looked back and saw them closing in. he turned his head and ran faster. He suddenly felt a terrible pain in his back and he screamed in pain. He lay on the ground bleeding, and a pool of blood began to collect as he lay there. The three undead left him to die.

***

Rainbow Dash got back to Ponyvlle panting and out of breath. She quickly began to look around for Princess Luna and finally found her in the town hall.

“Princess Luna! Several hundred undead are marching upon Ponyville. They should be here any minute!” She informed Luna
“What? We are not prepared! We have only gotten a few reinforcements.”

As she spoke those words she heard screams outside.

“Quickly! Charge out with me!” Luna yelled.

Her, Rainbow Dash and twenty royal guards charged out of the building. They had barely left the building and they were hit by a wave of undead ponies swarming them from all sides.

“RALLY AT THE TOWN HALL!!!” Luna’s voice boomed across the sky.

Luna’s guard started to push back the hoard of skeletal ponies. They heard Tamerlane’s voice boom across the sky giving orders to his soldiers

“PUSH THEM BACK!! OVERWELL THEM!!”

The undead minions of Tamerlane charged forward with unmatched zeal. Luna’s forces began to crumble around her as dark wizards spread death and mayhem across the scene of the battle. The coherency of her forces began to thin. Finally it disappeared. Out numbered and defeated the royal guards of Canterlot and the pegasi of Ponyville gave up and fled.

The battle was over. The slaughter began.

Luna and all of the pegasi flew away, many falling dead before the feet of the wizards in Tamerlane’s army. Luna looked back on the scene of defeat. She saw her guards being chased down and slaughter. Everypony in the now burning town was being slaughtered as they cowered in fear.

Rainbow Dashes attention was caught by the screams that came from the direction of the apple farm.

“No… “ She whispered in horror

A large column of smoke was coming from the farm.

“Luna, all the townspeople are at the farm. We have to go back.” Rainbow Dash said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I’m afraid it is too late for them.” Luna said quietly. “We can only mourn for the dead now.”
“No! We have to help them!” Dash screamed in desperation
“There is nothing I can do…”
“NO!!” Dash screamed flying towards the farm before anyone could stop her.

***

Tamerlane walked over the ruins of this town feeling some remorse. This had been a beautiful place. He had to glance away every time he saw the innocent dead. This had been a perfect victory, but a tragic one. He looked around at the scene of his victory once again. He sighed and walked towards the apple farm where he would overview the raising of the dead.

On his was he found a small tree house, it was labeled The Cutie Mark Crusaders. He smiled he had always loved small forts. When he stepped in his smile vanished. He saw a pool of blood collecting around the bodies of three young ponies, still without their cutie marks, huddled in fear. His smile vanished and a single tear rolled down his cheek. He remembered the time we walked in his home as a child to see his parents and sister dead at his feet. Brutally murdered by some drunken soldiers. He left the fort with a sigh and headed towards the farm with a heavy heart.

***
Twilight Sparkle marched towards Ponyville, ready to prove to the world her power, and to make everypony beg for mercy. He stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Spike’s lifeless body. In horror she stared at it, all hints of anger vanished. She just sat down in shock, staring at the lifeless remains of her baby dragon.

***

Luna and the survivors of the Ponyville slaughtering gathered around several miles outside of the town. She turned and saw a messenger pony running towards her.

“Princess Luna, Canterlot is under siege. A massive army of the undead is assaulting the city”

Luna froze. This was the end.

Chapter 4

“How could this happen?” Twilight whispered weakly to herself.

Spike lay at her feet dead. Twilight did nothing but stare in disbelief, tears rolling down her cheeks. She felt as if a massive part of her life just shriveled up and died, leaving a big empty hole in her.

“Spike…”

She could do nothing but whisper his name.

“You were so young…”

So much pain. Just pain. She had always had Spike. And now… he was just gone. No warning, nothing.

“Please forgive me…”

Twilight continued sitting slowly coming to her senses. She knew she had to bury him. That thought hurt so much. Burying Spike. She weakly stood up and started to dig. She didn’t use magic. She needed to do this with her own hands. It just felt so final. This was it for Spike. It was hard to understand. Final. That word carried so much more weight than ever before.

When it was time Twilight lowered Spike into the ground. She stared at his body.

“I guess this is… goodbye.”

So many times in her life she had said goodbye, but never like this before.

“I… just…” she stared to cry again. “I’ve failed you Spike. I have failed everyone! My friends, my family, Princess Celestia.”

Twilight continued to sob. He didn’t deserve this, she was the one who deserved this. He was good and kind. He never failed her.

“Goodbye Spike.”

Twilight began to fill in the dirt. Finally she made a crude gravestone for him. Silently she walked away from the grave towards Ponyville ready to give up and let them do with her what they want.

Goodbye Spike.

Those are the last words Twilight ever said to Spike

When Twilight finally arrived at Ponyville she was shocked. The town had been wrecked. Buildings were destroyed and smoke was coming up from the distance. Twilight slowly walked through the town she had grown to love so much. It looked like a battle had taken place here.

“Why aren’t there any bodies?”

Twilight froze. Tamerlane. Tears once again began to come to her eyes.

“First Spike, now Ponyville…”

Twilight solemnly walked to her house. It was mostly in good condition. When she entered the library she saw a note sitting on a table. It was Spike’s handwriting.

Dear Twilight

I wrote this letter to you incase you get back to Ponyville before I do. You need to know, we still love you. We are still your friends. Just because you had some darkness in your heart doesn’t mean we gave up on you. We all have dark thoughts and dark feelings. We have to learn not to act on these feelings. Please Twilight understand that we all forgive you for what you have done. That is what friends do. We just want you back Twilight. Never forget your friends and family.

Spike

“How could I have forgotten my friends? They are always there for me, why did I think they had abandoned me? Now it may be too late. With everything that has happened, they may not be safe, or they might even be… dead.”

Twilight knew she had to try and make things right, before anything else happened, before anypony else died.

Leaving her house she made her way through Ponyville and eventually towards Applejack’s farm.

***

Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could towards the farm. When she arrived she looked around desperately but she didn’t see anypony. Not even bodies.

“Applejack where are you?” she whispered

She turned about to give up and saw a lone pony on top of a hill. She flew as fast as she could towards this new pony hoping desperately for Applejack. She stopped dead a few feet away from Twilight Sparkle.

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight said quietly
“Twilight.”
“Oh Rainbow Dash, can you ever forgive me?” Twilight said, breaking into tears.
“Twilight… of course I can. I don’t blame you for what has happened.”
“How? This all my fault.”
“No, it’s not your fault, this is Tamerlane’s fault.” She said giving Twilight a hug.
“Where is everypony?” Twilight asked.
“Tamerlane has captured Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. I don’t know where Applejack is. She was at her farm with all the ponies from Ponyville, but Tamerlane’s army came through here.

At that moment they saw several ponies approaching them from the base of the hill they were on. Applejack was in the lead.

“APPLEJACK!!” Screamed Dash

She tackled the orange pony giving her a huge hug.

“I thought you died.” Dash said tears rolling down her cheeks.
“No, I’m quite alright. Have ya seen my little sis by any chance? I’m worried to death about her.”
“No I haven’t, but I found Twilight…”

Applejack turned to see Twilight. She paused for a moment.

“Oh Twilight! I’m so glad you’re ok!” She said giving her a big hug.
“You aren’t mad at me?” Twilight asked
“Of course I’m not mad at you. I was worried so much about you.”

Twilight began to tear up again. How could she have thought her friends would be mad at her?

“I’m so sorry I caused this mess. So many terrible things have happened.” Twilight said to Applejack
“The important thing is we stick together and sort out this mess. We need to stop Tamerlane.” Applejack said.
“Princess Luna is on her way to Canterlot to gather up an army to fight Tamerlane’s army” Dash spoke up.
“Then I suppose we need to go and help her.” Said Twilight.

Applejack turned and talked to the crowd of ponies who had escaped Ponyville.

“You all go back to Ponyville and start rebuilding. It should be safe there. Twilight, Dash, lets go save Equestria.

***

Princess Celestia awoke to find Discord and Shining Armor standing over her.

“What… Where am I?” she asked.
“You are in the hospital of Canterlot.” Shining Armor said.
“It is a good thing you finally decided to wake up Celestia. I thought you would sleep through this whole ordeal.” Discord spoke in his usual taunting way.

Princess Celestia took a second look at the Discord and Shining Armor. Shining Armor looked exhausted with several cuts, while Discord had many bandages as if he had been directly in battle.

“What is going on?” The Princess asked
“While you where getting your beauty sleep, my dear Celestia, Canterlot has been under siege, and the whole country side is being terrorized by an army of the dead.” Discord said in a lighthearted manner
“What!?!? What about Luna, and Cadence?”
“Cadence is gathering the Crystal Empire’s army, Luna is trapped in the country side with only a small band of warriors. The guard of Canterlot is only barely holding them off.” Shining Armor informed Princess Celestia.

The Princess stood up and collapsed, her head spinning.

Shining Armor caught her “Easy, you lost a lot of blood before you got here.”

The Princess got on her feet, slowly this time.

“Don’t over extend yourself. As much as I hate it, we need you in good condition. We are losing this battle, and we need your help.”
”I will be fine Discord.”

At that moment a pony came running in.

“Princess, they have breached the outer walls!”
“Shining Armor, attend to your men, Discord, spread chaos, as much as you can. Do everything to stop them.”
“And you my dear?” Discord asked the Princess.
“I will confront Tamerlane when the time comes.”

Discord and Shining Armor left to join the battle at the walls. Celestia took a position so she could see the whole battle and beyond the city.

“I am waiting for you Tamerlane.”

***

The Battle was going perfectly. Tamerlane watched as his soldiers broke through the walls of the city. Nothing could stop him from taking the city. He strolled into the city to watch the battle first hand.

“My lord” A lesser wizard approached him.
“What is it?”
“Discord has unleashed a wave of chaos, our forces are being pushed back.”
“I will see to Discord. Do let my army stop the advance.”

Tamerlane transformed into a cloud of smoke and mad his way through the city until he was directly behind Discord.

“Discord!” His voice boomed across the city, his magic amplified by dark magic.

Discord spun around, but it was to late. Tamerlane was already upon him. Discord collapsed in pain as Tamerlane assaulted him. Several of Tamerlane’s minions arrived and tied down discord. Three wizards then put him a state of magical stasis.

With Discord captured, the front line of Celestia’s army began to fall back. Tamerlane looked up to where Celestia was observing the battle. He grinned.

“Time for you to fall.”

He focused his energy and teleported himself behind the Princess.

“Tamerlane. Stop this, before I stop you.”
“Oh Princess, it is far to late for that. You and all of Equestria will fall to my power.”
“No, I will stop you before you ever take Equestria.”
“We will see.”

Tamerlane’s horn lit up with black light as he surrounded the two of them with black smoke, cutting the off from the world. With a flash of light he disappeared into the cloud of smoke.

“I am far more powerful that you Celestia”
“You arrogance will be the end of you Tamerlane”

At that moment he appeared behind Celestia, and cast a powerful spell. The Princess spun around and barely blocked it. She trembled.

“You are still weak Princess. I will destroy you.”

With a surge of power Celestia stood up and nocked Tamerlane back into the smoke. He was swept up and caught in the current of black smoke.

“I control the sun and the moon everyday and you think you can stop me?”

The wall of smoke closed in on Celestia and suddenly she was surrounded unable to see or move. The princess began to suffocate.

“I control the very forces of life and death. I am far greater than you!”

Off in the distance they heard a loud horn playing. Tamerlane saw a large army of crystal ponies led by Cadence.

“No!!” Tamerlane screamed. He left the princess lying on the ground.
“Attack the crystal ponies!! The castle is no longer a threat. Attack the crystal ponies! Eradicate them all!!”

Chapter 5

Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack approached Luna and her small group of soldiers. They all looked wore down and defeated.

“Princess Luna.” Twilight bowed to her. “I realize I have cause a lot of trouble, but I am here to help fight Tamerlane.”
“It took you long enough, much damaged has been done during your time of indecision.”
“I am truly sorry Princess, but now that I am here is there anything we can do to help?”
“Yes. We are planning an attack on a camp nearby. They are keeping many ponies prisoners there, and we are planning an attack to free them. You can help.”
“How many of them are going to be guarding this camp?” Dash asked
“We will be outnumbered two to one.”
“Um… don’t that seem a bit much for us to take?” Applejack asked the Princess
“Yes. That is why we have to be very careful. We will systematically make our way through the camp assassinating all the guards. Once they notice we will group together and fight our way through the rest of them.”

After final preparations the group made their way to the camp. They spread out encircling the camp. They would all get to the center killing any guards on the way and meet in the middle of the camp. In silence they waited until the signal was given. As the group went through the camp they cut down a small handful of guards but not nearly as many as they expected. When they arrived in the middle of the camp Luna spoke.

“Were any of you noticed?”

No one was. In fact only five guards had been killed. Suddenly a flash of light blinded them. When they could see again undead soldiers surrounded them. With a terrible yell the guards charged in. Twilight focused on the energy that kept the undead animated, using what she learned from Tamerlane, Twilight severed the flow of energy and ten undead collapsed lifeless. Encouraged by this, Luna and her soldiers charged in. With the help of Twilight the battle only lasted a minute and none of Luna’s soldiers died. After the undead had been defeated Luna turned to Twilight.

“When did you learn to kill the undead like that?”
“It is something Tamerlane taught me. Every undead has a life energy put into it by its creator, if you can learn to sense that and stop it, then you can kill them with ease.”
“You have to teach me how. That will help our cause very much.”

As Twilight began teaching Luna the spell, all the other ponies with them began gathering up the prisoners. After a few minutes Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie interrupted Twilight and Luna by running and giving Twilight a big group hug.

“Oh Twilight, we have missed you so much.” Said Fluttershy
“Oh my gosh we were soooooo worried about you!” Pinkie Pie said laughing
“Indeed, we were all very worried for you dear.” Rarity said kindly
“I missed you guess too, I left you all because I was scared to face you guess and I thought you wouldn’t take me back.”
“Oh Twilight, we are your friends, we will always forgive you and want you back.” Said Rarity
“I hate to cut the lesson on friendship short, but we have more important things to attend to. We have to go to Canterlot and help fight Tamerlane’s army.” Luna said with impatience.
“Now that the six of us are together we shouldn’t we just be able to use the elements of harmony to stop Tamerlane?” Asked Applejack
“No. Tamerlane planned for that and took the Elements. We have to defeat him to get them back.” Said Luna

The group of them headed towards Canterlot with anypony who was willing to fight. The rest went back to their towns to rebuild.

***

“Lord Tamerlane! The crystal ponies are overwhelming us, they are behind us and we are out of position. The city has become a death trap for us!”
“I don’t care!! Get them into position now!”

Tamerlane looked out onto the battle, taking place at the wall of the ruined city. The crystal army had completely caught him unprepared and had destroyed his reserves. Taking the opportunity, Celestia had rallied her soldiers into the inner city and were fortifying and regrouping.

“Damn it!!” Cursed Tamerlane.

He took back into smoke form and changed his face to that of King Sombra. He flew over the battle and in a loud voice boomed

“Crystal ponies! Bow before your rightful king!”

The ponies stopped fighting terrified. Some bowed to him in fear, while others ran.

“Give up your fight and surrender to your fate! I have come back to enslave you all!”

The morale of the crystal ponies shattered and they began to run. Tamerlane grinned a wicked grin. He began laughing, but was distracted by a bright pink light. He turned and saw Princess Cadence fire a powerful spell directly into him. He screamed in agonizing pain. The cloud disappeared and he fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The fleeing ponies stopped and reformed into an army, but the distraction lasted long enough for the hoard of undead to reform into a fighting force. The two armies charged and met head on.

Tamerlane stood up, weak and shaking. What magic was that? Never before had he felt so much pain. Still shaking he climbed onto the walls of Canterlot to look over the battle. His distraction had bought his army time and given them a chance, but it was still unclear who was winning. Another minion approached him.

“Lord Tamerlane, a band of warriors under Princess Luna has freed the main prison camp. Small groups of ponies are going all over the countryside stopping you forces.”

“WHAT!?” In his rage he turned and slaughtered the bringer of bad news. “This means Luna is on her way. I may not be able to handle the power of Luna and her sister.”

He thought to himself and realized he still did not know the whereabouts of Twilight Sparkle. If she were with them then his doom would be sealed.

***

Princess Celestia looked out upon the battle seeing more and more soldiers leave the city to fight on the plains. She looked back to her men who were resting and gathering their strength. She knew she needed to attack Tamerlane while his army was distracted.

“Brave ponies!” Celestia addressed her soldiers “I know you are all tired, but the time for one last attack.”

Celestia paused and glanced out onto the battle before giving the order.

“Attack! For Equestria!”

The remainder of her soldiers charged out into the battle, attacking the undead from behind. Her soldiers began pushing the undead towards the outer streets of the city. She made her way out onto a balcony to see the battle.

“Luna, where ever you are, I need you.”

A low growl caught her attention and she spun around to see Tamerlane.

“Have you come to finish me off?” The Princess asked, anger rising in her voice.
“Yes, you have caused far to much trouble. Your time is finally up, and this time I will not let unexpected interruptions to stop me.

He lunged forward casting a spell at Celestia. The Princess dodged and charged in with her horn angled low at Tamerlane. The necromancer was not expecting for such a brutish and simple attack and barely had time to jump away. Celestia’s horn drove straight into his leg, piercing through bone and flesh. The necromancer screamed in pain and blinked away in a small flash of light. Blood dripping from her horn Celestia turned to Tamerlane.

“It is unwise to attack the ruler of Equestria alone”
The dark wizard snarled, “I can still defeat you”

He morphed back into smoke, though he still felt pain from his encounter with Cadence. He surrounded the Princess and began to suffocate her. Celestia collapsed, unable to breath. A voice boomed all around her

“I am truly deserving of the crown. Think about it Princess, all the people you have let down. You failed, and you deserve to die! You cannot even protect yourself, let alone your own people.”

Tears came to the Princess’ eyes and she stopped struggling. Maybe he was right maybe she should die.

“Hahaha, your time has finally come Celestia.”

With a brilliant flash of light all the cloud dissipated and Tamerlane was cast onto the ground.

“What!?” he gasped in pain

Luna stood over him, with Twilight Sparkle at her side.

“No, Twilight. Why are you listening to these peoples lies?”

Twilight merely approached Tamerlane and spit in his face. The black pony knew he had to escape. With a flash the unicorn disappeared.

“What! Were is he?” Luna screamed in frustration.
“He understands he has lost this battle. He is probably retreating back to his home. Twilight said “Once this is all over I can lead you to his home in the woods.

“T-Twilight…” Celestia’s weak voice interrupted Luna and Twilight.
“Yes Princess?”
“You came back to us, I am so glad.”
“I realized I was wrong to leave and that true friends wouldn’t abandon me like I thought they would.”

A smile came to Celestia’s face.

“It is good you understand that, but we have for important things to do” Celestia spoke, regaining some of her color.

Twilight turned to the other ponies that came with her.

“Take care of the Princess. Luna, would you like to go finish up this battle?”
The dark blue alicorn grinned. “Let us slaughter them all.”

With the disappearance of their leader many of the invading armies wizards began to flee. Twilight and Luna systematically worked their way through the streets of Canterlot killing all the undead. Out on the main battlefield Cadence and her army overwhelmed the undead army as its leadership fell apart.

The battle was won, Tamerlane’s advance had been stopped, and his army destroyed, but the wizard himself had still escaped.

***

Tamerlane limped into his home, his head spinning from blood loss. He quickly called over two servants to tend to his wounds. His army was gone. His wizards had abandoned him. Twilight Sparkle was on Celestia’s side. It had all fallen apart. He ordered his servants to start packing all his necessities.

“How had my magic failed me?” he asked himself “I am the greatest dark wizard in the whole world.”

A tear rolled down his cheek.

“I had a vision to build the land to untold heights. Was I wrong?”

He limped over to a mirror and stared at his tired and dirty face. He thought back to the three young ponies he had found dead in a tree house.

“No, I was right. For all great change sacrifices must be made. The world would be better with me in charge. Ponies would live better lives; the land would have been richer. I am not wrong.”

No matter what he did he kept thinking back to those three dead ponies, so much life ahead of them. So many good ponies had died. So much death.

“I am a necromancer, death is what I do. They are wrong to hate me so. I had so much good planned for them. A greater world for them…” He sighed

He thought back to all the innocent people who died. They did not want to be involved. They didn’t deserve death. So why had he given it to them? He did not understand why death bothered him so much now, when it had never bothered him before. He looked back into the mirror and understood

“I did not kill people before, I simply brought them back.”

In a fit of self-hate he disintegrated all his undead servants.

“No more death will be around me. Well, only one more.”

He turned and grabbed a sword he had always kept on his mantle and positioned it on the ground point up.

“The final words of Lord Tamerlane, the Necromancer: I wronged those least deserving of it, and for that I will pay the price.”

He remembered his parents, then the three dead ponies. He closed his eyes and threw himself on his sword.

***

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Discord, and Twilight Sparkle walked through the Everfree forest. When they arrived at Tamerlane’s house they paused. A shiver went down Twilights back.

“Shouldn’t he have guards?” Asked Cadence.
“I would think so.” Luna said worriedly

The party continued on into the necromancer’s home. Upon entering they found twenty lifeless corpses. They continued onwards until reaching the final chamber. Tamerlane lay lifeless on the ground.

“It looks as if he killed himself.” Shining Armor commented confusedly
“Strange, I would not have thought he would do that.” Said Luna
“Everyone leave.” Celestia spoke solemnly.
“What? Sister-“
“Leave now.”

The group departed, leaving Celestia in the house alone with the body of Tamerlane. They waited for several minutes before hearing the sound of burning books. Twilght spun around.

“Wha-“
“It is alright.” Celestia interrupted. “I burned his books. Dark magic should never again become part of Equestria.”

The group headed away from the town, but Twilight was still unsure.

Chapter 6

Four weeks had passed. Ponyville was being rebuilt and all the funerals had already passed. Life was beginning to return to normal again. Twilight even thought once that she saw Applejack, who had been devastated by the death of Applebloom, smile at a joke. Twilight tried to forget her use of dark magic, and her friend never mentioned it.

As Twilight sat reading a book when she heard a knock on the door. She went and answered the door and found Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, hi there Twilight. I was just stopping over to see if you wanted have a get together with everyone at the park since before the incident.”

Twilight felt a moment of déjà vu. All those weeks ago it started just like this. Rainbow Dash didn’t see her discomfort and waited for an answer.

“Sure Dash, I will hang out.”
“Sweet, I need to see if everyone else will go. See ya tomorrow.”

Dash hurried of to Rarity’s shop. Twilight sighed and closed the door. She spent the remainder of the night reading, but was uneasy. She remembered how she felt before all this happened. She knew life would go on, but it would never be the same. Finally she decided she needed to sleep.

***

It was dark, very dark. Twilight could feel a presence hovering over her.

“No, not again.”

“It has been a while Twilight Sparkle.” The voice boomed, the same one from before.
“What do you want with me?”
“I wanted you to embrace the darkness.”
“No, when I did things got out of control and plenty of good ponies died. I have learned my lesson.”
“You make me sad. I was hoping you would be the one.”
“The one to do what? Who are you anyway?”
“I am the darkness. All through history I have been hunting for the one who would spread darkness through the land and finally overthrow the elements of harmony.”
“So you took over Tamerlane’s mind?”
“No, I bestowed upon him power. As I did with Sombra and Nightmare Moon and many others.”
“Wait, how would you overthrow the elements of harmony? They aren’t in charge of anything.”
“There are many forces acting on this world. For every push, a pull. For every up, a down. For every good, an evil. This is the way of the world Twilight Sparkle.”
“So you are the opposite of the elements of harmony?”
“In a way, but you have showed me that you hold nothing for me. Goodbye Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight jerked awake. She looked out her window and saw that it was about midnight. She collapsed on her bed, her mind racing. But she was tired. So, so tired. She immediately fell back asleep.

***

When she woke up the next morning she remembered nothing of her dream. She quickly got started with her daily chores. When it was time she went to meet her friends. When she arrived Applejack noticed an expression on her face.

“Um… is something bothering you sugar cube?
“I feel… I feel like I have forgotten something.” She said slowly
“Was it something important?” Fluttershy asked.
“I…I cant remember. Oh well” she said cheering up. “Lets all try to have a good time and put our worries behind us.”

The six of them spent the reminder of the afternoon playing in the park, not a care in the world. The played and laughed together, healing the wounds created by the invasion of the undead. To Twilight Sparkle and her friends, things were finally returning back to normal.