The door to the library opened and shut soon after as a purple alicorn walked into the main room of her tree carved house. She walked in with a bag containing several items, obviously laced with traces of magic due to the bags ominous dark blue glow. The alicorn placed the bag down onto a table and walked towards a shelf covered with books. Using her own magic, a purple glow overtook most of the books on the shelf and moved them away, revealing a hidden compartment. Her magic then opened the compartment door, which had a golden alicorn symbol on it. Inside was a wooden box and a book that seemed as aged as Celestia herself. The alicorn opened the box, already containing several items and added the glowing bag.
The alicorn then put the box back into the compartment, closing the door and concealing it again with the surplus of books originally crammed into the spaces on the shelf. All the while, her face never changed expressions. Her eyes stayed blank, almost soulless, with a small smile, as if she was imagining her plan coming true. She picked the book up with her magic, and spoke with a whisper.
“Aperti.”. As she spoke the foreign word, the book began to open itself and flipped through all its pages, each one glowing different colors and revealing different spells, until it had flipped through them all. It then slammed itself shut and reopened to the first page. To the average person, this would have been a frightening spectacle, but the purple alicorn had seen it more than enough times to know nothing would happen. She looked through some spells, recalling her research as to what the language said. But even one as smart as herself could not translate from scratch what every word meant, and was only able to decipher what each spell did, with the help of some drawings of course. Drawings surely left by some ancient who discovered the book, or even created it.
Knowing what she wanted to read, the book opened to a page, a light blue glow emitting from the ink used to print the ancient words. On the top of the page, the ancient language had one largely printed word on it. The picture showed a unicorn facing an earth pony, a flying Pegasus, and another unicorn. In the next panel, the unicorn stood where it was in the previous picture, but the earth pony now lie curled up on the floor. The pegasus, no longer flying, also lie on the floor, sleeping on its side while stretching out. The unicorn slept on its stomach, stretched out and resting its head on its arms. The alicorn reread the spell on top of the page over and over again, repeating it to herself until she had it memorized perfectly. Finally, feeling confident in herself, she opened her mouth and called out.
“Spike! Could you come down here please? I need help with a new spell.” Shortly after, a small purple dragon with green spikes came down the stairs. He wiped his eyes, clearly getting ready to go to sleep before being summoned. Finally, reaching the bottom of the stairs, he spoke.
“What is it? Can’t this wait until tomorrow? I was about to go to sleep. And when did you get back from…where did you say you went again? You've been travelling so much that I can’t keep track of it anymore.” Spike asked, wiping his eyes again and letting out a loud yawn.
“I was out in the Everfree Forest, I had to collect some ingredients from the forest for this spell. I stopped by Zecora’s hut to get them, but some of them grew out in the wild, so I had to get them myself.” Twilight Sparkle responded.
“First the Canterlot Library, then the Crystal Empire, and now the Evefree Forest? Not to mention all those stops you made to all those towns looking through their libraries. What are you up to that takes so much research? I mean, why not just ask Celestia for her help?” Spike responded, walking closer to the couch and sitting down on it.
“Because, Princess Celestia can’t know about this. She probably wouldn't even know how to read the books I got these spells from. It looks like nopony but myself has been able to translate them except for me.” Twilight said, putting on a smile as though to congratulate herself. She walked towards Spike and readied herself for her spell.
“What does this spell do anyway? Will it make me not tired or something?” Spike asked.
“Actually, it should put you to sleep. That’s why I don’t mind doing it at this time, seeing as this is when you usually go to sleep for the night.” Twilight responded, focusing herself again and repeating the spell in her head.
“Really!? Well then, fire away Twilight!” Spike said, a little excited for a spell that wouldn't require him to take notes on the effects or set up targets.
“Alright, hold still.” Twilight said, focusing her magic once again. She thought about the spell again, and her horn began glowing its usual purple glow, signifying her magic conjuring itself. But then, her horn changed colors, as it turned to a lighter purple, growing lighter and lighter until it became a dark blue. Even then it became lighter and lighter until it was glowing brightly with a light blue hue. Spike, noticing the color change, became concerned.
“Twilight? Are you OK? Your horn is glowing blue instead of its usual pur-“ Spike was cut off, as Twilight yelled out.
“SOMNUS!” A light blue bolt of magic shot out, hitting spike right in the chest. His eyes growing dimmer until he finally shut his eye lids and fell onto the couch and began to snore. Twilight wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She walked over to observe Spike, sleeping on the couch. Nothing seemed different from when he usually slept. “Spike. Spike! SPIKE!” She yelled louder each time, testing if he would wake up. He would not wake at all however. Exactly how Twilight had planned it.
Twilight went to the cellar door and opened it with her magic. She then picked up the sleeping baby dragon and gently placed him down in the cellar, locking the door behind her. She then retrieved the book and read over some pages again, each one reflecting different colors such as blue, red, green, purple, pink, orange; a full spectrum before her eyes. She looked at one page in particular for several moments, smiling evilly as she recalled again and again to herself what it did. Her eyes reflected the colors of the page as they glowed from black, to gray, to white, to gray, and back to black. They repeated this pattern several times until she realized she had been staring at it for several minutes. She had no time to waste, her plan required precise timing if she were to succeed.
“Propinquus.” She whispered to the book, which closed itself immediately. She then moved the books on the shelf and opened the secret compartment once again, revealing the compartment, which she opened once again. She gingerly placed the book and box inside, closing it and replacing the books when she was finished. She walked towards the door, preparing to depart. Before she left however, she looked at a picture on her mantle in an elegant frame. The picture was taken at last year’s Summer Sun Celebration.
The picture was of Twilight Sparkle and her best friends. All of them crowded in front of town hall after the festivities had ended and everypony else had gone home. She missed those days, when she was simply a unicorn. As happy as she was to be a princess and further her studies, being an alicorn had its downsides. But there was no time now to grieve about all the negative things she would have to face. She simply looked at the photo, imagining she was talking to all her friends at once, knowing full well she would not be able to say this to them once all was said and done.
“I’m sorry. Just promise me you’ll forgive me, because I know I’ll never get to hear you say it with my own ears after this is all done. But I promise you, it’s all for a good cause. I love you all, and I’m glad we met and had the adventures we had. I wish we could have had more, but this has to happen now. Just consider this our final adventure, one that we’ll take together and succeed, like we always do.” A single tear falling down her cheek as she turned and walked out, wiping away the tear. She walked out the door, closing it on her way out and heading towards the center of town.
Author's Note
I was inspired by my friend xRezzurected to write my first dark story and continue with my first story some other time. Hopefully this turns out better, writing this is already pretty fun. I'll try to add a new chapter every weekend.
The First One is Always the Hardest
Twilight walked through the town, looking for a specific path outside of town. Finally, after a few minutes of walking, she found the path she was looking for. A thin yellow path winding its way out of Ponyville and to a cottage, Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight continued walked, realizing with every step that she was getting closer to the point of no return. Once this had been done, nothing could stop the chain of events, and every single step, no matter how hard, could not be where she stopped. Not until it was all over.
Finally seeing the cottage, she took a deep breath and walked forward. Reaching the door, she raised her hoof and gently knocked on the wood. After a few moments, the top half of the dutch doors opened, and a yellow pegasi with pink hair and three pink butterflies for her cutie mark stuck her head out to see who had knocked.
"Oh. Hello Twilight. Come inside." She said as she backed away, opening the bottom half of the door so her alicorn friend could enter the house. Twilight walked inside, taking notice of the lack of noise usually accompanied by Discord, who had decided to live with Fluttershy, his one and only true friend.
"Where's Discord? He's not going to pop out or scare me by turning into a snake again, is he?" Twilight asked, cautiously searching around for him. She expected him to pop out and scare her, something he believed to be a friendly way of greeting anyone who came by. How Fluttershy, the most timid pegasus in Equestria, dealt with this was confusing, but it seemed to work for everyone, so nopony complained.
"Oh no, Discord isn't here. He decided he should look for a new place to live. He said something about Ponyville not being chaotic enough, but he doesn't want to disturb anypony. So, he decided to look for a cave somewhere in the outskirts of Manehatten. He told me he would get a message to me once he finds a new cave, and he promised he would come to visit. But it has been awfully quiet since he left." Fluttershy said, surprisingly missing the usual trouble he creates.
"Well, I'm sure he'll write to you soon. In the meantime, I was wondering if I could borrow an animal of yours. I want to test a few new spells but I need a living test subject." Twilight said, looking around at the several animals in their usual places in her cottage. Each one of them glaring at her, as if they could read her intentions,unlike Fluttershy, who is usually paranoid about this sort of thing.
"Oh, I see. Well, normally I'd be a bit more cautious, but after that time when Princess Celestia brought the delegates from Saddle Arabia, I completely trust you with them. What kind of animal are you looking for? A fuzzy little one like a bunny or a squirrel or a ferret? Or a bigger one like a kitten or a beaver? Or a flying one?" Fluttershy asked, pointing out where all the animals were. Twilight looked around the living room, noticing the ferrets first. They would make good subjects, they're easy to kill, even without magic. She looked over at the birds next. If anything went wrong, they would fly away instead of warning Fluttershy. Then, finally, she spotted a little white rabbit sitting by himself on the couch in an ignorant position, Angel.
"How about Angel? I'm sure he wouldn't mind it, seeing as he had fun flying last time I needed him." Twilight said, recalling Angel being enthusiastic about being propelled through the air by Twilight and her magic. Angel looked up, hearing his name called, wondering what they were talking about.
"What do you think Angel? Would you like to help Twilight with her magic?" Fluttershy asked, giving a reassuring look to Angel, who did not need it. Angel jumped up excitedly, and ran up to Twilight, despite the warning looks he was receiving from the other animals.
"Excellent. Follow me Angel, we're going to have to be outside for this one." Twilight said, walking towards to back door of the cottage, all the animals in her way scurrying away to avoid her. Angel followed behind her, blindly walking towards his own death with the expectations of joy bouncing around in his head. Reaching farther in the backyard than anypony had ever gone besides Fluttershy to take care of the plants, Twilight pointed out a spot for Angel to stand. Following her orders, he stood in the spot, preparing himself to fly again and closing his eyes. Twilight rooted herself down and aimed her horn at the small bunny, knowing full well he would not be flying when she cast her spell, or ever again for that matter.
"Alright Angel, hold still, this will only take a second to charge up." Twilight said, beginning the chant in her mind for the next spell from the ancient spell book. Her horn began glowing its usual color of purple, which quickly began travelling across the spectrum until it became green. Angel seemed to be taking no notice of this at all as he awaited the spell. Finally, Twilight let out a hushed shout, loud enough to travel a few feet, but still full of power in her voice.
"MORTEM!" A green blast made its way over to Angel's body, the green reflecting over his fur for a brief moment before finally enveloping him in its bright light. His body fell limp to the floor, no signs of life showing from the bunny that was so full of life and joyful expectations just a few seconds ago. Twilight walked over to his body to investigate it, poking it with her hoof. She used her magic to turn him over, his eyes closed and his mouth frozen in a smile, as though he were still expecting her magic to lift him into the air and swirl him around again.
"Angel?" Twilight said, testing if he was just stunned or sleeping. Feeling his chest, she noticed there was no heart beat, no pulse, and no signs of movement. Angel was dead, just as the spell was meant to do to him. Now she could begin the next part of her experiment.
"Alright, let's try this one now." She said, readying her magic again, pointing her horn at the deceased bunny. Her horn glowing its purple color once more, this time changing into a sickly black color with a gray aura around it fading until it became white around the edges of the glow. She let out another shout, this one coming out almost as a whisper.
"Internum Animant!" A black flash of lightning blasted towards the corpse, creating a bridge between Twilight's horn and Angel's body. A gray stream headed along the bridge towards his body, becoming whiter than his fur as it drew closer to him. Finally, reaching him, the black stream disappeared back into Twilight's horn and the gray stream retreated into Angel's body, causing a glow to emit around him. His body levitated up slightly, before finally falling back to the ground. The glow gone, and still no signs of life. Twilight stared at the body, confused as to why the spell didn't work. She waited another moment before approaching his body and checking for any signs of life again. Nothing seemed to have changed, aside from his fur becoming dirty from falling onto the ground.
Why didn't the spell work? She had done it the right way, hadn't she? The spell book showed a picture with the exact same events occurring. Everything had been exactly like in the book. The same chant, the same magical glow, the same colors, everything was the same. Except for-
"ANGEL!" Fluttershy yelled, standing across the field, staring from Angel to Twilight, then back to Angel. She flew towards him, faster than she had ever flown in her life, frantic to help him, denying the truth she didn't want to face. She picked up his body and began to cry.
"Twilight! What did you do?!? I thought you were just going to make him fly again! Or make him taller! But not this! How could you?!?" Fluttershy asked, becoming hysterical and weeping on the ground, her tears falling on Angel's smile. Twilight stood over her, regret in her eyes, but she knew she could not stop now. The first kill was the hardest, the first of anything was hard. But she knew the more she did it, the easier it would become.
"I'm sorry Fluttershy, but I couldn't stand you being the first one I did this too. I didn't want to rick anything going wrong and you not being able to join us for what's going to happen." Twilight said, her eyes becoming cold and emotionless as she walked closer towards the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy, taking notice of her walking closer, got up, dropping Angel's body on the ground as she backed away.
"What are you talking about, Twilight? I thought we were friends, why would you do this? And what do you mean you didn't want me to be the first?" Fluttershy asked, her voice quivering along with her body. She began to back away faster, before bumping into a tree and lowering her body in an attempt to hide from Twilight, who was now only a few feet away from her.
"I need to do something Fluttershy, but I can't do it without my friends. And I know nopony would volunteer for what I have in mind. Let's just say I need us all to make a visit to the Princess." Twilight said, preparing herself for a spell again. This time, her aim fell on Fluttershy, who was now cowering fully and hiding her face while quietly weeping.
"Please, Twilight. Don't do this." Fluttershy said, knowing it would not stop her. Twilight began chanting again, recalling the same spell she had used to murder Angel only minutes ago. Her horn began to glow again, turning green faster than before. This time her shout was a shout, louder than the one before, echoing around the cottage, too far away from Ponyville for anypony to hear it and investigate.
"MORTEM!" The green light flew out once more, reflected in Fluttershy's eyes as she looked up before it struck her and enveloped her in its glow. Like Angel, she fell over, lifeless. Her eyes however, remained open, reflecting the image of one of her closest friends who had murdered as part of some elaborate and twisted plot. Twilight looked at her for a moment before she began to cry. She had known it would be hard, but she never imagined it could be this difficult to do. She quickly put herself back together, not sure if this spell had a time limit. She charged her magic again, and once again whispered her next spell.
"Iterum Animant!" The black lightning once again flew out of her horn, and attached itself to Fluttershy's body, then the gray and white stream came out and the lightning retreated. It had all gone like the attempt with Angel, but this time the glow around the corpse didn't stop. It seemed to dim, before finally it faded away. Fluttershy stood up and opened her eyes, which had gone from their normal turquoise and were now milky white with no visible pupils. She opened her mouth, but only a groan came out, yet it was still soft as her voice was always gentle.
Twilight finally realized why the spell didn't work with Angel. The pictures in the book were all sentient beings that could talk. That meant that wild animals could not be affected. These spells must only work on talking creatures who can communicate and follow orders. Although, it seemed the death spell worked just fine, which meant she would need more experimenting. Luckily for her, she had all the animals she could need in the cottage only a few hundred feet away. But she couldn't risk anypony seeing Fluttershy looking like this, her feathers now becoming a paler yellow and her hair fading colors.
"Fluttershy, I order you to go hide in the basement of your cottage. Don't come out unless I order you to, understand?" Twilight said, speaking slowly to make sure she understood her. Fluttershy nodded, and flew away quietly to her cottage and went through the cellar door, leaving Angel's body on the ground where it originally was. Twilight walked slowly back towards the cottage, knowing she had the rest of the day to experiment and find out just which spells worked on wild animals and which didn't. Not to mention practicing so her new spells would not take longer. Perhaps soon, she would be able to fire them of instantaneously without chanting, she smiled to herself. This was going better than expected.
It wasn't until the next day that everypony else noticed Fluttershy was missing. The rest of the mane 6 had noticed her absence, but wasn't too concerned. None of them felt worried until they noticed she hadn't come to their picnic the next day. That's when they went to her cottage. Pinkie Pie was busy working at the bakery and Rarity had to finish a new dress. But Applejack and Rainbow Dash volunteered to search, and Twilight followed to make sure nothing went wrong. Twilight knew they wouldn't find anything, and she knew they nopony would barge in. Except for Rainbow Dash, but they would stop her before she broke down a door.
"Fluttershy! Are you there? Hello?" Twilight yelled to the door, knowing there wouldn't be an answer. At least, she hoped there wouldn't be one. She wasn't sure if the spell caused them to obey her voice or her thoughts. She continued banging on the door before giving up and trying to lead them elsewhere, hoping to get them to go home so she could continue with her plan. She was about to suggest it, when a blue blur with a rainbow trail flew past her and starting banging on the door rapidly.
"FLUTTERSHY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE FOR SO LONG?!?" Rainbow Dash yelled, continuing to bang her hoof on the door with no response. "Fine then, I'll just fly in through a window and pull her out!" She said, flying away from the door and searching for an open window. Twilight began to get worried, and prepared to use her magic to grab her tail in mid air to stop her. Before she could, however, a lasso lunged out and grabbed Rainbow Dash, wrapping itself around her wings and bringing her back down.
"Now hold on there, Sugarcube." Applejack said, stepping forward and loosening the lasso to let Rainbow Dash out of the rope. "Y'all can't just be breaking down windows or doors. Look, if Fluttershy doesn't come out by tomorrow, we'll break down a door to makes sure she's fine. But for now, I think we should all just split up and search around for her, or her animals." None of them had noticed until now, but it was oddly quiet for a cottage full of animals. Twilight knew why it was quiet, but she hadn't expected them to ignore their missing friend long enough to notice the deathly silence.
"Fine, but she better not be hiding somewhere." Rainbow Dash said, flying a little higher and slamming her hooves in a punching motion. "When should we start looking? Right now? Or should we get Rarity and Pinkie Pie first?" She asked.
"I reckon Twilight would be good at deciding that. She is the organized one and what not. How about it Twi? You think you could plan a search with 5 ponies?" Applejack asked, looking over towards Twilight, who had been relieved by the idea of searching different areas beside the cottage. But now she had to make a tough choice, besides whether or not to keep killing her friends, which she knew she had to keep doing. Should she get everypony else? If she did, they would most likely go in groups of two or three, which would make it hard to kill them. If she didn't, Applejack and Dash could be killed wherever they look. But how could she leave with one and explain their disappearance to the other? She could lead them to a cave and kill one, and then kill the other one by saying they were attacked by a-
"Hey, Egghead, wake up! What do you think we should do?" Rainbow Dash asked, seeming angry. Twilight knew this was just her way of trying to act tough by hiding her concern for Fluttershy, one of her oldest friends from her childhood. Twilight snapped out of her daze, knowing she needed to make the choice now. Finally, she made up her mind.
"We're going to get Pinkie Pie and Rarity. We can wait until they're done or we can tell them it's an emergency. Either way, we're going to split up into groups. We'll split up like this; Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and I'll go alone since I can use both my wings and magic. But we need each group to have magic or wings." Twilight said, beginning to walk back towards the town, Applejack and Rainbow Dash following her. When they finally arrived in town, they were able to pull Pinkie Pie and Rarity out of work, since it was getting late and everypony was getting more concerned the longer Fluttershy was missing.
"Remind me again, darling. Where are Pinkie Pie and myself going?" Rarity asked, preparing her saddle, trying to look fashionable no matter what she was doing. Pinkie Pie was staring around, turning in different directions, as if looking for something. Everypony assumed she was looking for Fluttershy, but even Pinkie couldn't be foolish enough to look for her like that, especially since she was looking at everypony that passed by.
"Pinkie Pie, pay attention. I'm going to tell you and Rarity the plan I thought of one more time. You two are going to check the town for any clues, ask anypony if they've seen Fluttershy recently. If you have to split up, don't worry about it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are going to check the outskirts of the town and try to find anything." Twilight told them, knowing they wouldn't find anything. Still, she felt she couldn't trust Rainbow Dash to calmly search around. But this is why she had to go alone, in case Applejack wasn't able to stop her reckless actions.
"Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie Pie said, seeming to snap to attention. She stared at Twilight in a weird way for a few seconds, then went back to her usual hopping motion, although she didn't smile until she had gotten to Rarity and they began walking into town to look for clues. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were getting ready to leave too, discussing where to check.
"And I say we go check the cottage!" Rainbow Dash yelled, stomping her hoofs on the ground as she landed, shooting an angry look at Applejack and shoving her face into Applejack's.
"And I say we go check near the Everfree Forest!" Applejack said, pushing Rainbow Dash's face back further. The two of them stared at each other angrily before Rainbow Dash took off into the sky.
"Fine then! How about we split up?" Rainbow Dash said, getting ready to leave as soon as Applejack replied. No matter what she said.
"Fine by me! But if I find Fluttershy hurt in that forest, I'm blaming you! We can look a lot faster with someone who can fly!" Applejack yelled back. The words hit Rainbow Dash like a knife, stopping her mid flight and causing her to bolt down at an incredible speed and push her face into Applejack's again.
"Don't you dare say something like that! I knew Fluttershy before any of you! We bonded, and I can tell you right now, my gut is telling me she's at the cottage!" Rainbow Dash said, tears began filling her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and took off towards the cottage. Applejack tried calling out to her to wait, but she was already too far away.
"Darn it! I didn't meant anything like that. I'm just worried is all." Applejack said, not realizing how close Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy must have been since they grew up together. Twilight realized she could use this to her advantage. Stepping forward she tried to comfort Applejack.
"Don't worry, I'll follow here and try to calm her down. I'll tell her how you're just worried is all." She said, putting a wing around Applejack to pull her in for a small hug.
"Thanks Twi. I guess I'll go check near the Everfree. I really hope Fluttershy is fine. Who knows how Rainbow would act if something had happened to her. She'd probably go insane." Applejack said, returning the hug and giving a small smile. She began walking towards the direction of the forest, wiping away a few tears from her own eyes. Twilight began flying instead of walking. She was considering using magic, since she had to get there quickly. Part of her wanted to let Rainbow Dash find out first, to let her know before she died that Fluttershy was no longer in pain. She also realized that it would mean Dash would be harder to kill, and may try to kill Twilight herself. Her loyalty to Twilight as a friend may die along with any hopes of Fluttershy being alive, and that would mean she would show the bravery she showed against Nightmare Moon and countless other villains they've encountered.
"FLUTTERSHY! FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow Dash yelled, flying around looking for an open window. Deciding to try a back door or a back window, she flew around the side of the house. Flying to the back, she noticed there were no animals, and all the vegetables growing in the garden seemed a little dry, as though they hadn't been watered for the past two days. She knew Fluttershy would never leave the garden or the animals unattended if she was leaving somewhere. She was going to check out the carrot patch, when she noticed a white ball of fur lying on the floor. Only, this fur ball had four legs, two ears, and a smiling face. It was Angel.
"Angel! Angel! Wake up! Where's Fluttershy?!?" Rainbow Dash yelled, picking him up. That's when she realized he was stone cold and hard. He also had an odor emitting from him, he was dead. She dropped his body and backed away quickly, letting out a small yell. She stepped backwards until she felt something light on her hooves. She looked down and saw pink hairs and yellow feathers, a trail of them leading to the door to the cellar of Fluttershy's cottage.
"But these are..." Rainbow Dash walked slowly towards the door, afraid to find her worst fears inside. She was in front of the door, about to open it, when a noise coming from inside the house caused her to stop. She knew that sound anywhere, especially since she flew more than anypony in Equestria; the sounds of flies. And if they flies were ignoring Angel outside, that meant that there was something bigger in the cottage, something pony sized. She quickly found a back door and this time, without Applejack or Twilight there to stop here, she kicked through it, flying inside to find a horrifying sight she never could have imagined.
"What in the name of Celestia is this?!?" Inside were several bodies from all of the animals that reside in Fluttershy's cottage. There were animals lying dead, animals cut in half, animals lying in pools of their own blood with large gashes on their bodies, animals that seemed to have bones sticking out of their bodies, animals with necks twisted backwards. She had seen it all, every method of torture and murder possible had been used in this massacre. She felt the urge to vomit, but fought it back, tears forming in her eyes again. Her last hope was that Fluttershy had snapped and done this, because whoever did this would have to kill her before killing her animals.
"Fluttershy! Where are you?!? Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY!" She began frantically yelling. Finally, she began flying over the dead bodies and made her way towards the stairs to go upstairs. When she got up there, she found nothing but more dead animals. Still no sign of Fluttershy. She searched everywhere, then she remembered the cellar. She knew she had to go down there, no matter how bad things seemed. She went outside, and walked towards the cellar door again. This time, she was sure of what was inside. She was just about to open the door, when a faint purple glow engulfed it and caused it to fly open, hitting Rainbow Dash in the face and knocking her backwards. Before she could get back up, it had closed and the glow had gone away.
"That looked like...No....it couldn't be." She said to herself, getting up and looking around the cottage. Seeing no sign of what she thought she'd find, she went back to the door and tried to open it. Again, the same thing happened. Finally, become frustrated, she flew high up and dived at the door, ready to shatter it with her own body. Before she could however, a voice called out and stopped her.
"Rainbow Dash! Stop!" Rainbow Dash stopped mid dive to find the source of the voice. Twilight teleported out of nowhere, a cold look in her eyes. Dash knew she saw a purple glow that matched Twilight's color perfectly. She angrily approached Twilight, fearing things had gotten worse. But that was nonsense. Twilight would never do something like this. Would she?
"Twilight! Did you slam my face with that cellar door a few seconds ago?" Rainbow Dash asked, seeming angrier by that cold look she still had in her eye.
"Yes, I did." Twilight calmly responded. "But it's because I have to tell you what happened. I think you have a right to know before this continues."
"Before what continues? What happened to the animals in there? What happened to Fluttershy?!?" Dash began to yell, realizing Twilight had something to do with all this.
"I'll tell you. Remember a few months ago when I became a princess? I realized a few things. The first was that we would never be able to do things the same way again. I'm no longer a student here to learn about the magic of friendship. That ended when we defeated Nightmare Moon. After that it was a quest to test my magic to make me a princess, like I was "destined" to be all along. I was enjoying it until I realized we wouldn't have as many adventures anymore. And I won't be a regular unicorn anymore, I'll be a princess with important duties to perform. And one day, soon, I'll have to leave you all and never see you again. And years from now, when you all die," Twilight stopped for a minute, fighting back tears herself, "When you all die, I'll be immortal. I'll never see you again, for the rest of eternity!" Twilight began to cry, showing her emotions, something she had hoped to avoid during this whole process. "How could Princess Celestia put such a horrible curse on me! I never asked for this! And I've done my research. There's no magic to reverse this kind of spell! I can't change it, and not anypony can become a princess! I can't even change you all to make us all immortal!" Twilight began crying harder. Rainbow Dash stared at her, realizing where this was going.
"Twilight...please...tell me what happened to Fluttershy. What are you talking about? Where is she?" Dash began to get nervous. Twilight looked up, seeming to ignore her words and continuing with her story.
"I want revenge on Princess Celestia, but I know I can't do it without my friends, This will be our one last adventure together. And I know none of you would want to help me, so I won't make you decide. If it fails, we're going to all die, and if it never happens, I'll still be alone once you all die. I figure I might as well take you all out on my own terms." Twilight said, getting the cold look in her eyes again. Rainbow Dash knew she was right, Twilight had something to do with all this, and now she knew exactly what. She had to warn the others.
"Twilight...why would you ever think of that? How could you kill Fluttershy? How could you kill any of us? I...I thought we were all friends forever. Even if we don't hang out forever." Rainbow Dash began backing up, preparing herself to fly away.
"Believe me, it was hard. The first kill was the hardest. But, it gets easier as you go along. I needed to experiment with these new spells too, so I tested them on Fluttershy's animals." Twilight now saw the horrified looks on Dash's face. "Don't worry, Fluttershy was killed by a spell that gives an instant painless death. I wouldn't want any of my friends to suffer pain before dying." She looked at Rainbow Dash, who was now staring at the ground, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she looked up, tears streaking her cheeks and falling to the dirt below her.
"Twilight, you've gone crazy!" She yelled. Twilight seemed shocked by this reaction, but she felt as though it was appropriate and expected. "I'm going to warn the others about this! I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'll tell the Princess about this if I have to!" Rainbow Dash began flying up, getting ready to leave. Suddenly, Twilight yelled out, stopping Rainbow Dash in her tracks.
"I can't let you do that." Twilight said, preparing her magic again. She thought about how she had almost no chance of hitting Rainbow Dash at her fast speed. She knew Fluttershy would be able to catch her by surprise or tricking her, but by the time she got to her Dash would be too far away to-Twilight's thoughts were cut off by the cellar door cracking open and a yellow blur speeding towards Rainbow Dash before knocking her out of the sky, both of them tumbling down on the ground. Rainbow Dash and Twilight both looked in shock, as what appeared to be Fluttershy got up from the ground and stood above Rainbow Dash. Except, she seemed paler and her hair was fading in color. Her eyes were a misty white hue of their former color, and she didn't seem to make any noises but groans.
"Fluttershy? But...how?" Twilight wondered, before realizing she had wanted Fluttershy to do that. That meant these reanimated ponies could act on command of her thoughts. She immediately made a thought for Fluttershy to step on Dash's wing to stop her from flying, which she did.
"Ouch! Fluttershy, what are you doing?!? Twilight said she killed you! Why are you even helping her!" Dash yelled out. But Fluttershy ignored her, only following Twilight's orders. Twilight stepped forward to explain.
"She's been reanimated, and she only follows my orders, even if I only think about them. Now then, are you going to try to run away again? Because I'll make sure you can't fly away this time." Twilight said, preparing her magic again, this time aiming it and Rainbow Dash's pinned wing. Her horn charged up to a vibrant red color, much faster than the other spells. All that practice with the animals really did enhance her speed. "OSSA FRANGERE!" She yelled out, the red moving towards Dash's wing and spreading a red glow around it, causing her bone to show like an x-ray. Suddenly, the bones began to shake, before finally shattering into pieces and bending in different directions, causing Rainbow Dash to yell out in agony.
"Twilight! Stop! Pleas! AHHHH!" Rainbow Dash yelled, her jagged ponies sticking out of her wings, her blood staining the dirt. The spell stopped after it spread to her whole wing, leaving her immobile. Twilight walked forward, putting her hoof under Dash's chin, and lifter her head up to look her in the eyes. This time, she had no tears of grief streaming down her face. They were tears of anger and pain, but not just pain for her wing, the pain that her friend would do this. Her friend, who she trusted and stayed loyal to no matter what.
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but this has to be done. I'll try to make it quick and painless like with Fluttershy." She began to charge her magic when Rainbow Dash spoke up. Her voice low, and the faint sound of muffled cries from the back of her throat.
"You can go rot...I don't know who you are, but the real Twilight wouldn't kill her friends over revenge. She'd somehow use the magic of friendship to try and get us to join her. I also know that the real Twilight wouldn't use evil magic...ever! So whoever or whatever you are, you can go buck yourself. And I'm glad you're going to have to spend eternity without us, grieving over the loss of your only true friends in life!" Twilight dropped her head. She turned around and looked away, taking in everything just said. She began crying again, realizing that the she was right, she wasn't acting like herself. But it was too late to go back now.
"You're right. But I can't stop now. But...the worst part is that you're not the only think dying today. I always thought that Loyalty was the strongest of all the elements besides Magic. But...it looks to me like Loyalty will die before the holder of the element itself. I only hope in the next life you can understand and forgive me." Twilight said, getting ready to end it quickly and painlessly. Her magic was interrupted again by Rainbow Dash flying forward, using only one wing and her hind legs, and tackling Twilight. They both tumbled down the hill, landing at the bottom with a thud. Rainbow Dash was the first to get up, fueled by anger and adrenaline.
"I'm not dying here! And if I do, I'm not going out without a fight! Even if you get all of us, the elements won't work! Celestia will destroy you with her magic! Not to mention with Luna by her side!" Dash yelled, flying forward again, only to be tackled by Fluttershy again. This time, she pinned her down with her whole body, effectively immobilizing her. Twilight walked forward, anger in her eyes.
"You think I need the elements? Where do you think I got these new spells? I found a book, and it has more power than the elements, Celestia, or Luna. And I have a plan to take care of them. Have a look for yourself." Twilight said, using a beam of magic to send her thoughts to Rainbow Dash, who saw everything she had planned out. Her face froze in horror as she looked up at Twilight.
"No...that's not possible! That can't happen! Even if you did manage it, what makes you think it won't backfire?" Dash said, realizing that she had all the pieces she needed to pull this off. Twilight walked forward, charging her magic again.
"It's all part of the spell that let's me control Fluttershy. And soon, I'll control you too. I was gonna make this quick, but after what you said, I realize you're right. I'm not the Twilight I used to be. I'm Princess Twilight now. And I guess I'll be the first princess to rule with power instead of love. And I can start with you, seeing as you no longer have Loyalty for me inside of you." She aimed her horn at Dash's body, a bright yellow aura formed around her horn this time. Twilight called out, "ABSCISSUS!". Then the yellow light shot out and hit Dash's body, cutting deep into her and leaving a huge gash. Rainbow Dash yelled out in pain. Louder than when her wing broke.
"This spell was made to cause pain and suffering. And that wasn't even the full power. How do you think I managed to slice the animals in there in half? And I have plenty of time to practice with you, seeing as you're trapped and hopeless now. Say hello to Fluttershy for me, and greet the others once they get there too." Twilight charged her magic again, preparing the same spell. Rainbow Dash looked at her, a pleading yet angry look in her eyes. She was ready to face death with honor, and she hoped that Celestia succeeded and stopped Twilight, because if Celestia fell, nopony would be able to stop her. A bright yellow light glowed, and Dash prepared herself for the intense pain that was coming.
"ABSCISSUS!"
"There we go. Now for the reanimation spell." Twilight said, standing up and walking closer to the blue corpse on the ground. A pool of blood lie around it, running from the deep gashes in the flesh of her former friend, Rainbow Dash. She looked down at the body. This one pony had changed everything. They way she thought, the way she planned to kill the others. She looked at the eyes, how they were open with no tears in the eyes. She found it odd, but she figured she would find out later, and if not, it didn't matter since she was dead.
"Iterum animant." She said, the same spell that reanimated Flutershy now working its way on Rainbow Dash's body. Her body stood up quickly, much faster than Fluttershy's body. This also puzzled her, but she knew she had to rip these thoughts and feelings away from herself. She saw it was getting late, and the others would be back soon.
"Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy." They both came before her, Fluttershy just standing there, but Dash stood at full attention before her, awaiting her orders. Twilight had a feeling she knew what was going on now, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions, especially this one. "I order you both to hide in the cottage basement. You are you wait there until I need you again." They both obeyed her, going back into the cottage and into the basement. Twilight walked back towards the town, stopping to look at herself in the small stream's reflection first. She noticed she was covered in blotches of blood, Rainbow Dash's blood. It brought back her feelings and grief, but this hurt more than when she killed Fluttershy. She fell to her knees, and began crying again, harder than before.
After a few minutes, she stood up again and wiped away her tears. She took a few breathes, looked at the cottage's cellar door, and up to the skies. "I hope you can forgive me. I'm sorry about what I said. And I'm sorry we never got to practice flying together." She began flying, even though she wasn't as good at it because she never got to practice flying at a casual pace. She did remember how to fly quickly, but she wanted some time to fly, alone. Making her way back to town, she did not think of an excuse as to why Rainbow Dash was missing. She didn't think of plans to kill the others. All she thought about was how, in a way, Loyalty never dies, even if the wielder is killed by her own friend.
