Twilight Sparkle stares at Celestia's crown. She glares at Luna's crown when she in the room too. So many sparkling things in the castle, on the Princesses.....She has had enough. Twilight runs outside for some fresh air. She inhales deeply and exhales. What is she thinking? Does she really expect herself to take the riches? No. She has her own crown, her Element. And she has her friends too right? They're like riches.
"Maybe I'll take a walk in Canterlot," she tells herself. "Maybe that'll clear my mind." She slowly walks down the white stairs leading to the entrance of the castle. Was she being selfish? Was she being absurd? Possibly. She had finally got to see all the gold and silver in Canterlot once she became a princess, but was this truly what she desired most? To rule with many riches, loving every piece of gold and silver she has, only to die alone from the mournful passing of days? Maybe if her corruption from the Crystal Empire, from that door, changed her mind. Maybe she wanted nothing but to rule in place of Celestia. Or maybe she just wanted to be wealthier, wealthier than all of the ponies in Equestria combined...Maybe she wanted something money can't buy, something is created.
"My head hurts...." Twilight whined to herself quietly. It was past midnight, and many ponies were asleep in Canterlot. Her head pounded in pain and throbbed with frustration. Was she truly ready to be a princess? What she wanted, what she yearned for....she felt as if she wasn't ready. Maybe Celestia made a mistake. Maybe Twilight hadn't fulfilled her destiny. What if she still had a lesson on friendship to learn? What if it was about self-control and inner peace? Her head was beating. She felt as if she was hit with a hammer. So many questions of denial rattled in her fragile pony mind.
"I've seen plenty a inner war with yourself. What is it that a pony princess could be seeking in the cold night?" A female disembodied voice asks her from the darkness. Twilight Sparkle looks all around her. Nothing is around but darkness and dark homes. Twilight looks at her hooves. It wouldn't be hard to talk to the voice, since it doesn't have a body so Twilight doesn't have to look at it, right? It seemed to her like the only thing that noticed, or even cared about the "inner war" she was having. Twilight closes her eyes and begins to speak.
"I am trouble, dearest voice," she says, trying to sound like a princess, and not a pedestrian. "I have been having visions, dreams, mainly of something I wish not to see...."
"What is it that your heart desires most?" the voice asks. Twilight looks back and forth, with a confused expression her face.
"Dreams are a heart's darkest desires. They are what your heart wants most. It is what you secretly seek, that is your dark desire. I ask again. What is it that your heart desires most?" it says.
"I want riches," Twilight confesses. "I want to rule with the riches. And nothing more...." A long silence is shared, until the voice shatters it.
"The weak can't control this feeling. Yet the strong can. Destiny and time can only steer you to the correct decision. But it is your choice." the voice replies. "You're a princess. But that doesn't mean you're strong. Whether you can rise above yourself or allow it to gnaw you alive is your decision....." Twilight slightly smiles at the sound of someone finally comforting her, but frowns at the rude remark of the voice afterward.
"But we all know that you'll choose incorrectly. You see, we will meet face to face soon. As of now, though, I will only be a memory. When you fall asleep tonight and wake up in the morning, you will think I was just a dream. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a dream, like to everyone else in the world...." the voice added, trailing off. But Twilight suddenly had no sympathy for her. It was rude and scary, not something that belonged in Equestria.
"You are just a dream. Another nightmare. No pony will ever care about you. A disembodied voice like yourself, you should just disappear without a trace," Twilight remarks. She was angered by the last remark of the voice, it wasn't kind, nothing prepared her for it. What Twilight didn't know was that it was a dragon, and it was not Spike. It was a huge, red dragon, that could not be seen by many. It was a villain in the past too, but that comes later. But to Twilight, it was just another voice.
The remark, broke the voice's heart. Did you think that it didn't have a heart? Of course it did! Every being has one, and every being can have it broken. Perhaps, if the voice hadn't spoken to Twilight, it could've ignored her. But dearest viewer, it still listened. A long silence settled between the two, and they went their separate ways, except for the dragon. It stayed their in the darkness of the night. Her heart was broken, her ears hurt. What she heard, had an irreparable strike to her heart and soul.
It was true of course. Her remark was rude and mean, but what do you expect from a villain? She was a baddie from the past. She was older than Celestia. Dragons lived nearly as long as any alicorn. But at what price? Females lived especially long, due to the fact that they didn't fight as much as the males. This dragon though, was darker than the others. What she was searching for was vengeance. Vengeance upon the royals, vengeance upon the pony citizens. What she wanted she would soon get, especially upon Twilight.
In the past, she was a leader of migrating dragons, but her place was swept from her by another. Seeking a different life, she headed to Canterlot, that was said to have the kindest ponies in Equestria. But she was lied to. They treated her like dirt and laughed at her. She was stronger than the ponies, yes, but back then, she didn't believe in using force. Until one day she snapped. What did she do you ask? She seek nothing more but to kill off the pony race. She did not like the small mortals, and vowed to eliminate them. She soon believed that only dragons and dragons alone could rule, speaking that they were the more superior beings. Of course, it was a failure. She was defeated by Celestia and Luna, the princesses of Equestria. Ever since then, failure singed inside her soul. She couldn't stand mortals. They weren't blunt like dragons, their hearts were full of pity. But that failure from then on, held her back. The spell the princesses cast, it made her only visible to those of actual royal blood or those chosen by fate to face her. It just wasn't fair to the dragon. She wanted to be seen, not just heard. What Twilight wanted.....she could make a deal with the newest princess. Twilight Sparkle would be her puppet, and she would be the puppeteer.
