An Alicorn's Purpose

“Yes, I suppose we do, Gespenst.” Celestia says coolly, looking over everyone. “You’ve brought a rather large group with you.”

Repose bounces forward. “We’re just here to piece together your keep, heh!” She says ecstatically.

The diamond dog just rolls his eyes as the masked unicorn looks over at her. “That’s keep the peace.” The unicorn says.

“Ooh, that too, heh!”

“Word ordering aside,” Gespenst steps forward, “I would like to know why my worker had such a problem last night. Do you know why, Celestia?”

Celestia lets out a breath. “A unicorn that wasn’t informed about spirits acted in fear. I’ve already talked with her so there’s no—”

“A unicorn!” Gespenst interrupts her. “That wasn’t informed! Now, Celestia, is there something wrong with that statement?”

“Yes. As per our agreement, everypony who could see spirits would be found and told not to interfere with your work. Their names would be put on a list for you.”

“Ah, yes, yes.” Gespenst paces in front of Celestia with his group watching his move, with the exception of the diamond dog, as he’s looking about the room with his ears twitching every so often. “So, since you’ve failed to keep your end of the agreement, my underling had to spend half the night searching for that spirit again after searching for any others. And, due to his tardiness, I was informed of a problem. Thus, we are at our current positions. Do you follow this?” He asks, looking up at Celestia from his pacing.

“Of course.” She says, not breaking eye contact.

“Yes, of course you do.” He turns walks back over to his group.

All the while, Twilight is watching from her position behind the throne. The way he’s addressing Princess Celestia, regardless of him being another alicorn, Twilight’s doing everything in her power to not come out and give him a piece of her mind. The thought of what he threatened to do to Princess Luna reminded her why she shouldn’t. Her gaze straying from Gespenst to the rest of the group, she realizes something she should have seen before: the unicorn with the mask has been staring at her almost the entire time.

“Now, Celestia,” He turns back around to face the solar princess, “Where do we go from here, hmmm?”

“As I mentioned before,” She says, “I’ve already talked with the unicorn about not interfering with your work. She’ll be put on the list and a new copy will be given to you at the biannual date, as per our agreement.”

“Of course, of course!” He says, smiling, as he begins pacing again. “Now, on any other day, I’d accept just that, but…” He looks back up at Celestia, a full scowl on his face. “Today isn’t any other day, is it, Princess?” He practically spits out the end. “It isn’t bad enough that I have so much work to do every day while you and your…sister get to play Civic Leader all day long.”

Shifting his gaze from Twilight, the masked unicorn looks over at Shade. Getting the hint, Shade slides back a foot or two and splits his form. He sends one of his forms into the ground and it zips up and around the wall and ceiling, avoiding the bright spots as best as it can, before disappearing behind the great doors of the throne room.

“It’s more complicated than that and you know it.” Celestia states, not taking her eyes off of Gespenst.

“Oh, sure.” Gespenst rolls his red eyes. “With all the war and calamity going on, I just don’t know how you find the time to do anything!”

Twilight starts grinding her teeth from not only the words he’s saying to Celestia, but also the slightly crazed tone in his voice.

The diamond dog’s ear twitches again.

“Now you’re just being condescending.”

“Oh am I?!” He glares up at Celestia.

“Sire,” The masked pony says as he takes a step forward, “Perhaps this situation has become too heated. There is still plenty of time in the day for—”

“Shut it!” He roars at the masked pony, making him take a step back. Gespenst turns back to Celestia with a grin on his face. “Although, that gives me an idea.”

He lights his horn in a violent red aura and lashes his magic out and at Celestia. It strikes her breastplate and launches it to the nearby wall, leaving Celestia uninjured.

“I thought so.” Gespenst says, looking over Celestia. “You still have that scar from Tempest. Does it still hurt?” He asks, mockingly.

Twilight can feel Celestia shift against her throne. “It stopped hurting over a century ago.” She says.

“What a pity.” Gespenst says, lighting his horn again. “Maybe I’ll give you a scar of my own, to make sure you remember this day!” He lowers his horn at Celestia and prepares to fire. Twilight looks on in horror at what he’s about to do.

The diamond dog behind him coughs into his paw loudly, grabbing his attention.

“WHAT!?” Gespenst yells at him.

The diamond dog slowly walks up to Gespenst and leans closer to him. He whispers something into his ear before walking back into place. Gespenst loses his scowl and replaces it with a smirk.

“So…” He says, raising his horn but keeping the magic charged in it. “It appears there is something else in this room, Celestia.” He begins pacing again, remaining in Twilight’s sight. “Something with four hooves, perhaps.” His smile gets wider as he continues his pace. “Something likely invisible.”

Twilight shifts behind the throne. When she does, she makes the tiniest of sounds as her hoof rubs against the carpet. Immediately, she’s wrapped in a red aura and flung up and over the throne.

“Something that’s been hiding behind you all this time!” He says, bringing Twilight right in between himself and Celestia. With a quick working of his magic, the invisibility spell on Twilight is removed and she hangs in the air in Gespenst’s aura, completely visible.

Gespenst quickly drops Twilight on the ground and looks her over, all joviality gone from his face. Celestia stands and rushes down to Twilight, standing between her and Gespenst.

“Now,” Gespenst murmurs as he begins circling the pair, “This is interesting.”

Twilight watches him as he walks behind Celestia. She notices the scar he mentioned on Celestia’s chest: a jagged, slightly glowing red line. She stares at for a moment before Gespenst brings her out of her trance.

“Celestia, dear, why does young Twilight here have wings?” He asks the princess, making his way back to his group.

“You know who I am?” Twilight asks before Celestia has the chance to respond.

Gespenst smirks. “Twilight Sparkle, born to Twilight Velvet and Night Light, lived in Canterlot until the return of Nightmare Moon, wielder of the Element of Magic. You have one older brother, Shining Armor, who was wedded to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the alicorn of love. Some of your exploits, aside from those greatly involving the other element bearers, are: enlarging a baby dragon nearly thirty times its normal size, luring an ursa minor away from Ponyville, and casting Star Swirl’s Lesser Time Manipulation spell. Is that enough, or would you like me to tell you your favorite food?”

Twilight stares at Gespenst, unblinking.

“Very little happens in Equestria without my knowing of it, even before hoof; except, of course, you becoming an alicorn. From Nightmare Moon’s return to the draconequus being released, even the changeling invasion.”

“Wait!” Twilight gets up from the ground, staring right at Gespenst. “You knew about the changelings before they attacked?”

“Knew about them? Chrysalis asked for permission to invade Canterlot.” He looks right at Celestia. “Because she knows when to inform others of her actions.”

“You let them invade?!” Twilight yells at the top of her lungs. “How could you!?”

Gespenst brushes his hoof against his chest, inspecting it. “Call it a test, if you will. I needed to see if Cadence could handle being the alicorn of love. Though, to be honest, that one did get a little out of hoof. I suppose I have you to thank for fixing it.”

“What if somepony died!?” Twilight took a step towards him, stamping her hoof into the floor.

“Twilight, please don’t¬—” Celestia tries to get out.

“Oh, no.” Gespenst talks on. “That wouldn’t have happened. I told Chrysalis quite clearly that I’d personally kill 100 changelings for each pony killed. And, before you ask, the worst that could have happened would have been being encased in a cocoon and having the loved sucked out of you. It’s fairly none-fatal. I’d have stepped in long before any serious harm could occur.”

“You...you monster!”

“Does this make you angry?” Gespenst asks, taking a few sideways steps towards the nearby wall while still facing Twilight.

“Darn right it does!” Twilight looks Gespenst dead in the eye, magic beginning to swirl around her horn.

“Then strike me.” Gespenst says calmly.

“W-What?” Twilight loses her resolve for a moment.

“Strike me.” He holds his hoof right across his chest. “Right here. Don’t hold back. Let your anger fuel your magic.” He lowers his hoof back to the ground before whispering, “Do it.”

“I-I…” Twilight stammers out, taking a step back.

“Come now.” Gespenst takes a few steps forward. “Consider this your test. Would you rather I involve the whole city? Or maybe…” He eyes Celestia again. “Maybe I just need to motivate you with the right—”

Twilight lets out a loud growl as her eyes flash green with a purple mist surrounding them. Her horn shines with a black light as a dark beam shoots out at Gespenst. In the blink of an eye, he sidesteps out of the way as the beam collides with the wall, disintegrating a pony sized hole. The hole in the wall continues growing after as the remnants of the black energy continue eating away at the wall. The beam itself continued on towards the mountains, striking them and partially spreading over the surface before disappearing, along with a fair portion of the mountain itself.

After unleashing the torrent of magic, Twilight falls on her haunches, completely drained. She felt as though she spent the whole day practicing magic without a moment’s rest.

Gespenst looks out the newly formed hole to examine Twilight’s handiwork. When he turns back to face her, he’s wearing a small smirk on his face.

“Not bad.” He says, walking around Twilight. “Quite powerful, but inefficient. I’d wager you spent more than three-fourths of your magical reserves.”

Twilight mumbles something inaudible. Gespenst moves closer to hear what she has to say.

“I…I didn’t…mean to…” She whispers between deep breaths.

“To lash out at me?” Gespenst questions. “Don’t worry, I believe you. Dark magic essentially has a will of its own. You’ll learn to control it better after your apprenticeship with me.”

“Hold it!” Celestia yells, getting between Twilight and Gespenst again. “I won’t let you take her!”

“My dear Celestia, what makes you think you have a say in the matter?” Gespenst mocks.

“I won’t let you make another Tempest!”

“Oh?” Gespenst glowers at her. “Perhaps you’d have her become another Sombra?”

Celestia goes to respond, but she can’t manage to say anything. Gespenst gets right in her face, pushing into her.

“Don’t you ever give me that crap again.” He says, his voice dripping with venom.

“Sire?” The masked pony calls again. “I do not mean to question your judgment, but perhaps leaving Twilight—”

In an instant, Gespenst stands before the unicorn and brings down his hoof into the unicorn’s back, hard. A loud snap sounds throughout throne room as the unicorn collapses on the ground. He barely voices a whimper as his hooves sprawl out around him. Gespenst raises his hoof and sets it on the ground.

“No one else is crazy enough to lie to me on such an important matter besides you, Bones. Consider your debt to me increased by 100 years!” He snarls at the unicorn.

“…yes sir…” The unicorn whispers from the floor.

Gespenst looks over at Shade, who shrinks back from his glare.

“Oh, Shade.” He says. “Now, I considered increasing your time, but I decided against it. You didn’t know how important this was to me, did you?” He asks, his voice much calmer.

“N-No sir.” Shade stutters.

“See? So there’s no need for an increased sentence. You’ll just get a warning this time.”

“Oh! Well, thank you—” He says as he’s wrapped in a red aura and flung into the light. He starts howling in pain as the rays of the sun pierce his flesh.

“A warning which will be administered via sunlight.” Gespenst says neutrally, taking a few steps forward as his group parts to make way for him. “I’m not blind, Shade. I can tell you aren’t all there. You’ll just have to do your work at half power for a few weeks. I’m sure your other half will get the message.”

Shade continues twisting in his magical grasp in vain, trying to avoid the bright morning sun. He continues lashing about right until his form completely shrivels and disappears. Gespenst turns back to the group and marches right up to Celestia and Twilight.

“We’ll be going now.” He says sternly.

Celestia remains between the two. “Are you not even going to ask Twilight?” She demands.

“You know full well what will happen if we postpone this for too long.” Gespenst cocks his head to the side. “Or are you so afraid you’ll lose Twilight as a loyal subject?”

“That’s not—”

“Excuses!” He snarls. “If you won’t fix the problems you cause, or even acknowledge, then don’t try and stop somepony else from fixing it!”

Twilight watched as Gespenst berated Celestia. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. ‘Another Sombra? He couldn’t mean…’ She refused to think Celestia was the cause of King Sombra and his enslaving of the Crystal Empire. She wanted to agree to go, if only to stop their arguing before anything happened to Celestia. ‘But Celestia…Sombra…’ These thoughts rattled her mind and left her questioning herself, and her relationship to the princess.

“If you want to take her,” Celestia flares her wings and lowers her horn “You’ll have to get through me!”

Gespenst follows her example, lighting his horn with his magic. “My pleasure.” He says through barred teeth.

‘Stop it!’ Twilight wanted to yell, but she couldn’t find the strength. Her magic left her body too quickly and too painfully. She couldn’t do anything but watch and hope her mentor would be okay.

END CHAPTER