The Secret Mentor

Chapters

The Beginning
15 Years Later
The Training
The Wedding
The Battle
How did it all come down to this?

The Beginning

20 years earlier.

Twilight Sparkle was walking home with her parents. Walking wouldn’t be the correct term, because Twilight was literally jumping out of joy all the way home. And why shouldn’t she? After all she had just passed her entrance exam for Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. Not only that, but she was now the personal student of the Princess as well.

“YES YES YES YES YES! I did it! I passed the test!” Twilight was overwhelmed with joy. “Oh my gosh! And I got my cutie mark! This is just the best day ever!”

“Oh, honey, we are so proud of you!” said Twilights mother.

When they reached their home, Twilights father said: “This really is a big day. How would you like to celebrate today, Twilight?”

Twilight was a bit confused at the question, and answered: “Celebrate? I don’t have time for such things. I have to go study. I want to be at my best performance for Princess Celestia.”

Both parents laughed a little and said: “Almost all you do is study Twilight. Maybe we should just go out have some fun together?”

Twilight replied: “Um... I’m not sure.”

Twilight`s mother proposed: “Maybe we could just go see a movie? Go for a walk in the park? What do you think?”

The thought of wasting time for walk in the park, or watching a movie seemed quite silly to Twilight, so she just answered: “No. I don’t want to go out. I want to just stay home and study. And besides, I really like to study. And I love reading! I’m having all of the fun I need just by doing that.” Twilight smiled hoping that her parents would let her do just that.

They did not expect that answer, but her father said: “Well if that’s what you really want to do, we can’t stop you. Go ahead and study all you want.”

Their daughter was happy to hear that and said: “Yes! Thank you! I’ll go to my room and get started.” And with that Twilight ran up the stairs, went into her room, opened up her book and just started to read.

Satisfied she let out a sigh and said: “Yes. Everything is just fine.”

While she said that, she was unaware of a dark mist watching her from her window. The mist then said to itself: “Yes, she will do. She has the potential, the thirst for power and knowledge and the will to overcome any obstacle. It’s time...” And with that, the mist disappeared.

Later that day

Twilight was finishing up her book, and was thinking of going to bed. After all tomorrow was an important day, the first day of being Princess Celestias personal student. And she wanted to be fresh and awake for every lesson.

The moment she got up from her desk, she noticed a black mist that was floating just outside her window. At first she was scared, but after a few seconds she calmed down. The mist didn’t seem threatening; instead it was almost like calling to her. She listened closely and actually heard the mist whispering her name: “Twilight... Twilight...” She wasn’t sure what to do. Twilight didn’t even notice how she was slowly walking closer to the mist, until she was a few feet away from it.

The mist then started moving. It was now inside Twilights room. The moment it went inside, it started to take shape. At first Twilight wasn’t sure what was happening, but soon she realized, that the mist was taking the shape of a pony. When the shape was complete, it actually started to turn into a pony. The mist became les and les see through. Soon there was pony standing in front of Twilight.

The pony had a coat black as the night. His mane was dark red. Almost blood red. His eyes were blue like the sky. And he was also a unicorn, just like Twilight.

The mysterious unicorn looked at Twilight, smiled and said: “Good evening, Twilight Sparkle. Do not be afraid. I will not harm you.”

Twilight was quite shocked, but not scared. The unicorn’s voice was strong and confident, but not threatening. It was actually quite calming. It was like the unicorns very presence calmed Twilight.

With a shaky voice Twilight asked: “Wh ... Who are you? How do you know me?”

The unicorn, that had the same smile as before, answered her: “You may call me Dark Star, young one. As for your other question. You see I have been watching you Twilight Sparkle. I saw your performance at your entrance exam.”

Twilight was confused: “You saw me? Are you one of the teachers from the school?”

Dark Star did not expect that question, his smile faded: “No, I’m not one of the teachers. And actually I didn’t really see you. I sensed a magnificent source power and when I did, I came to find the source. I found you.”

Twilight was starting to get a bit scared now, she slowly backed away: “Wh... What do you want from me?”

Dark Star smiled again and replied: “You don’t have to be afraid little one, I will not harm you,” after he saw that Twilight had calmed down a little and stopped backing away, he continued. “I will answer your question. But first let me ask you a few questions, Twilight Sparkle. Did they accept you into the school of gifted unicorns?”

Twilight, who had calmed down a little, answered: “Yes. They accepted me. And Princess Celestia made me her personal student.”

Dark Star had expected that: “I see. When is your first lesson with the princess?”

“Tomorrow,” replied Twilight.

“No doubt she already told you, that you have potential in magic, did she not?” asked Dark Star again.

“Y... Yes. She told me that. She also said that she would help me control my abilities and help me learn even more,”

The dark unicorn then asked again: “Tell me Twilight, do you like to study magic?”

Twilight didn`t even have to think: “I love magic and I love to study!” she said that with a genuine smile.

“As do I! Magic is one of my passions.”

“That is all I wanted to know for now. Then to answer your question as to what I want from you. I want you to become my student,” said Dark Star.

Twilight was surprised; she wasn’t sure what to say: “I... I... Um... Wha... But I’m already Princess Celestia’s student.”

“Is it forbidden to have two teachers? But you don’t have to give an answer to me tonight. I understand that you just met me, and don’t trust me. This is a lot to take in. I will come back a different night and ask you again,”

“You will come back? Why do you want me as your student? I’m not so special.”

“Oh, but are. You are very special, you just don’t know that yet,” he then turned around to leave, but before he left, he said, „I would be grateful if you didn’t tell anypony that you met me tonight. You see... A lot ponies hate me. And I don’t want them to find out that I was here. They might do... bad things to me.” The last few sentences sounded sad and made Twilight feel sorry for the mysterious unicorn.

Twilight, who was still very confused, said: “Um... OK. But why do they hate you?”

“I will answer all of your questions the next time we meet Twilight Sparkle. Until then, farewell,” and with that he transformed into the mist he once was and went out the window.

Twilight was standing in the same spot for what seemed like minutes, still trying to process what just happened. A mysterious pony said that she was very special. He wanted to make her his student. He asked nicely to not tell anypony, that she met him. Twilight was a nice filly and didn’t want anypony to get hurt, so she decided not to tell anypony about him. He also said that he would come back. But when?

She realized that she felt tired and decided to just go to bed, hoping that maybe this was all just a very weird dream.

A few weeks later

It has been a few weeks. Twilight has already moved into the castle with the princess. She very much enjoyed every minute spent with the princess studying. Everything seemed well, but she couldn`t get that night out of her head. The unicorn couldn’t also figure out whether it was a dream or not. She got her answer soon though.

Tonight, just like the night before, Twilight had finished her studies and wanted to go bed. But out of the window she could see the same dark mist from before. The mist again went into her room and transformed into the same unicorn from that one night.

Dark Star spoke: “Good evening once again, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight froze in her place. She was shocked when she realized, that that wasn’t a dream, it all really happened.

Hesitating she answered: “Good evening, Dark Star.”

“I see you have moved to in the castle with the princess. Do you like it here?”

“Yes. I really, really like it here. I love to study with the princess.”

There was an awkward silence, but Twilight spoke: “You really came back.”

Dark Star smiled and said: “I keep my word, young one.”

“I thought that was just a dream... Is this just dream?”

“No. I assure you, I am real, and this conversation is real,” said the dark pony, and then continued, “Since you thought that was a dream, I assume you didn’t think about my offer?”

Twilight didn’t expect that. She had forgotten about that proposal. What was she supposed to do? She didn’t even really know this unicorn. But she loved to study and maybe having two teachers would have its benefits. Maybe he could help her with her studies when the princess is busy? Maybe they could become friends? Twilight was so lost in her thoughts she forgot to answer.

“I thought so...” he then walked closer to the little unicorn, “Would you like me to show you, what I could teach you?”

Twilight was snapped out of her train of thoughts: “I... I...”

“Tell you what, I will show you what I could teach you. If you like it, you will consider my proposal,” said Dark.

Twilight couldn’t even give an answer. She was being surrounded by a black shield, and before she could say anything they were teleported away.

The lavender unicorn was scared at first, but fear was soon replaced with astonishment. She was on top of a mountain, thousands of feet above the ground. In the distance she could see the see. And in the middle of the see - a setting sun, which was just above the horizon. Twilight then noticed a cloud, which was floating right next to her. They were so high above, that the clouds were with them. The little unicorn had never seen a cloud so close, so she reached out with her hoof and tried to touch it. Her hoof just went through it. The fur on her hoof was a bit wet from the touch. This place was...

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” said Dark Star.

Twilight was immediately taken back to reality. She looked at him with both surprise and confusion.

“I often come here, when I’m feeling sad or lonely, this place just always calms me.”

“It’s very beautiful,”

“Now then, down to business. I brought you here to show you what I could teach you, should you accept me as your teacher,” Dark said and turned to Twilight.

Dark's horn then began to glow a dark aura. Suddenly a small ball of fire appeared out of nowhere between them. It started to grow and change color from yellow to orange and finally red. Soon the fire ball was the size of Twilight. She couldn`t take her eyes off of the flaming ball in front of her.

And with no effort Dark made a crystal of ice appear again seemingly out of nowhere, beside Twilight. Her gaze was immediately taken away from the fire to the ice crystal. It was so clear she could see through it, almost like it wasn`t even there.

A small storm cloud started to take shape above them. It gradually got darker. Then it started to shoot small bolts of lightning at ground. None of the bolts hit them, but even if they did, they wouldn`t have hurt them.

Twilight then could feel a small breeze, which gradually grew into a pretty strong wind. She suspected that this was also created by Dark Star.

After a few minutes Dark Star finally spoke: “As you can see, I can control fire and water. I can make storms, and make them disappear. I can make the wind blow in any direction and at slow to high speeds.”

Twilight could only observe with her mouth open. She had never seen magic like that. To her it was absolutely amazing! The thought that she could do that one day excited her to no limit. She was very much considering this mysterious pony as her new teacher. Even though she had only just met him, Twilight liked him. He was polite, he liked magic like she did, and she really just felt good and calm around him. Twilight was brought back to reality from her thoughts, when Dark stopped using his magic.

He then looked at her and said: “Imagine what you could do with this power, young one. And I’ve only shown you part of what you could do. One day you could impress the Princess with your new abilities. I bet she would love to see your true abilities.”

Once she heard, that she could impress Princess Celestia with her magic, she nearly jumped out of joy. Twilight loved to show her magic to Princess Celestia, and the thought, that maybe the princess could be proud of her one day, made Twilight very excited.

“All of this I could teach you, if you would accept my proposal.”

Without even thinking Twilight jumped into the air and screamed: “YES!” when she landed, she continued, “I want to be your student! I want to learn from you! I want to learn those spells you were just using! One day I will make Princess Celestia proud of me!”

“Excellent! We will begin our training soon. But for now...” as he said that they were surrounded in the same black shield as before. Mere seconds later, they were back in the castle.

“But there are a few rules I must tell you before we begin. First, you must not tell anypony about me or our training. That includes Princess Celestia.”

“But why? I can trust Celestia with anything.”

“Even though there is nothing wrong with having two teachers, she might get jealous of me. You don’t want that, do you?”

“No...”

“Good. Now, second, everything I’ll teach you must stay between us. You will not show anypony what I have taught you, unless I permit it,” his tone was very serious.

“OK…”

“Those are all the rules for now. Now then, about your training. I think the best time for both of us would be while we sleep, in our dreams.”

Twilight was confused now. How can you learn anything in your dreams? Dreams aren’t real.

Dark Star spoke: “You see Twilight. I have the ability to control dreams and travel in to other ponies dreams. While we dream, I will train you. Why in our dreams? This way I will not interfere with your daily business with the princess or your free time. Everything you’ll learn in your dreams, you will remember once you wake up. Does this sound good to you?”

At first she didn’t know what to say. The thought about somepony in her dreams seemed weird to her. Would Twilight no longer have any privacy in her dreams?

“Yes, it does, but will we be training every night? I’d like to be able to have regular dreams once in a while,”

“I will come to you every night, but, once we meet, I will give you the option to have a regular dream and skip our training for that night.”

“I guess that’s ok.”

Dark Star smiled: “Excellent! Though our training will not begin tonight, you must have your rest. For now, I bid you farewell, my student,” the last words were said slowly and with a genuine grin on his face.

And with that he transformed into the same dark mist and went out the window. Twilight felt good. She has a new mentor, who will teach her so much about magic! Despite the overwhelming feeling soon she felt tired and went to bed. Covering herself up in her sheets, Twilight drifted into a peaceful sleep with a smile on her face.

____________________________________

It has been a few months. Nearly every night Twilight spent training in her dreams with Dark Star. She was getting more and more used to the dark unicorn. He was very polite, very smart, wise and a very good teacher. Twilight already learned how to summon water out of nowhere, and with a bit more training she would be able to freeze it also. Not to mention some of the other spells Dark showed her, like teleportation.

Dark Star had started visiting her not only in her sleep, but also during the day. Sometimes the dark unicorn would be waiting for her in her room, just to welcome her after her day of studying with the princess. He was always in his mist form, just in case Twilight wasn’t alone and he would need to make a quick and unnoticed escape. He was getting fond of the little purple unicorn. Some days Twilight would tell him what she learned from school and what books she’s read. She could always bring a smile to his face, with her eagerness to learn and train with him. Not to mention she was already very smart for her age, and knowledge was something Dark highly valued. In a way she reminded him of himself when he was young.

One day though, something happened. Twilight ran into her room tears streaking down her cheeks. Dark was waiting for her this day also. She didn’t even notice him. She fell on her bed and started sobbing.

Dark was surprised to see the little unicorn in such a state. He walked slowly to her, while listening to the quiet sobs. He started stroking her back with his hoof, trying to calm her down.

She then immediately took notice of Dark and said: “Oh, good day, Dark Star. I was just... just...” she started sobbing again.

“Tell me what’s troubling you, Twilight. You can trust me.”

“They... They hate me. I don’t understand why.”

“Who hates you, Twilight?”

“All the ponies in the school, they call me names like “egghead”, push me around, yell at me, make fun of me. I don’t understand why! I never did anything to them!” she started crying a little again.

“How long has this been going on?”

“For a few weeks now.”

“Why didn’t you tell me or the princess?”

“I was afraid, they said if I told anypony about this, they would hurt me even worse.”

This made Dark Star angry. He didn’t like to see his student in such a state. For a second he surprised himself that he already cared for Twilight so much.

“They keep saying that I don’t deserve to be Princess Celestias student, that I’m just worthless. That I got here just by luck in the exam.”

“Twilight, don’t listen to them! You are more than worthy! You are the most talented unicorn I have ever seen. You have

learned so much in such a small amount of time.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Of course! Now, listen. Don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing you cry. Whenever you see all of them, ignore them. Ignore everything they say to you. Even though you are already strong enough to teach them a lesson, we can’t let them see you use your advanced magic just yet. But don’t worry about them. One day, you will show everypony your true power and potential.”

“I will try Dark. But it’s hard. You and Princess Celestia are my only support. I don’t have any real friends to help me out.”

“Twilight, I can be your friend. I will support you, I`ll never do anything to hurt you, I promise.”

“Would you really do that for me?”

“Twilight, you are a great student. But I also like you as a pony. It’s rare that I get to meet such a smart and polite pony, especially at your age. I enjoy our time together both while training and just talking. You always bring a smile to my face.”

Twilight then threw her front legs around Darks neck: “Thank you, thank you so much! I want to be your friend!”

Dark returned the hug. Twilight was happy at this moment. She had an actual friend that would support her and help her with anything.

While being overwhelmed, she didn’t notice the dark mist slowly creeping into her ears from Dark Stars horn.

He smiled and said to himself: “Yes. Everything is going according to plan.”

15 Years Later

15 years later

It was a sunny day in Canterlot. Twilight was sitting in the park and enjoying a good book.

“Another good one?” asked a voice unheard by all except Twilight.

“Yeah it’s very interesting. It’s about the history of Equestria.”

“I see the spell I made a few weeks back works like a charm. We can now share our thoughts with each other on will. And I can see everything you see through your eyes. Quite useful, don’t you agree?” asked Dark Star.

“Very. I’m glad that now we can talk to each other more often.”

“Have any plans for today, my student?”

“Not really, I heard the other girls were having some kind get together, but it’s not really for me. I’d rather just study some more or talk to you.”

“I see. What about that little dragon of yours, Spike?”

“Him? Oh, I don’t know. He usually goes out when he wants and does the first thing that comes in his mind,” Twilight said not really paying much attention to Dark.

By this time Twilight had reached a section in the book that really interested her. It was about how Celestia had ruled over the lands of Equestria with Princess Luna.

“The elder sister used the Elements of Harmony to imprison her younger sister in the moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria ever since,” finished Twilight slightly lost in thought, “hmmm… The Elements of Harmony. I know I’ve heard of those before… But where?”

“Weren’t they mentioned in that one book you were reading a few weeks back? What was it called? The book about predictions and prophecies, was it not? ”

“Yes! I’ll go to the library and read about them right now.”

“Eager to learn, as always. One of the many reasons why you are my student.”

Twilight smiled at that, packed her book in her saddlebag and was already off the library. This was actually very typical to Twilight, whenever she wanted know something, she will do nearly anything to get the answer.

Later that day

A slightly annoyed purple unicorn was sitting in a chariot, which was pulled by two strong pegasus guards. A purple dragon was sitting next to her, but no words were exchanged between them at the time. Twilight could see the landscape pass by her, but her thoughts were too preoccupied to notice anything else around her. She was wondering why the princess would send her on such a ridiculous task.

“Still upset about this task?”

“Slightly. Just… I can get why she would need somepony to organize the Sun celebration, but why me? I’ve got more important things that I could be doing. And what about that “make some friends bit?” That is just silly. I explained to her that Nightmare Moon might return tonight and she doesn’t even care about that!”

Twilight let out a deep sigh, which was unnoticed by Spike: “She doesn’t trust me. She just thinks that I’m being silly. “Stop reading those dusty old books. Go out and make some friends,” she tried to an impersonation of Celestia at the end.

Dark Star chuckled a little at the impersonation. But soon his tone was serious again: “I for one believe you, Twilight. The signs, as you showed me, are quite clear. I think that there might be chance that she is coming back.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Have I lied to you before?”

“Thank you. It really means a lot to me. The fact that you’re by my side makes me feel a lot better. Sometimes I feel like you’re the only one who understands me, Dark.”

“Like I said many years ago, Twilight, I will always be there when you need me. Don’t forget that.”

Twilight knew Dark was speaking the truth. She had known Dark for many years now and he really was always there when she needed him. When other students made fun of her, he always calmed her down. When she was upset or angry, he could make her smile again. Over the years Twilight learned to trust Dark with anything that bothered her. To her Dark wasn’t just a mentor, he was her truest friend.

Sure she had Spike, but he never really could understand Twilights feelings the way Dark did. One of the reasons was that he was younger than her. And well the main reason was that Twilight rarely told Spike about her trouble at school or bad mood. Of course Twilight trusted Spike, but she didn’t want to bother him with her problems. He already had his claws full with the chores Twilight gave him.

After a few minutes of flying, Twilight could make out a small village in the distance. It was Ponyville.

Spike spoke: “Well, looks like we’re almost there.”

Twilight let out a sigh and said: “Yeah. Lets get this over with I guess.”

Later that day

“It’s 4 am! What is wrong with these ponies?! Do they know what sleep is?!”

Twilight was sitting in her bed trying to fall asleep, but the party down stairs wouldn`t let her. All day she wanted to do some research on Nightmare Moon and The Elements of Harmony, but the ponies from Ponyville wouldn’t leave her alone. She had tried to find something a few hours back when everypony finally left her alone, but because of the noise she couldn’t

concentrate.

“I couldn’t get any research done!” said Twilight.

“I agree, this day has been quite unproductive and wasteful.”

“All I can do now is sit here and hope that Nightmare Moon doesn’t come back. I think for maybe the first time, I hope that I was wrong. I hope she won’t come back.”

“As do I, but we still can’t be certain. The next day will start only when Celestia shall raise the Sun.”

Twilight got up and went to her window. She could see the moon and the mares’ image on it.

“If she comes back, what will we do? How could we stop her? The only thing that could stop her are the Elements, but we don’t know anything about them.”

“I don’t know Twilight. But I think we’ll soon find out if you were right. The Sun will rise soon.”

With that Spike opened the door and said: “Come on, Twilight! It’s time to watch the sunrise!”

An hour later

Twilight just finished laying Spike in bed and went downstairs. After a few seconds books were flung through the air with Twilight's magic.

“She’s back! I can’t believe it! What do we do?!” Twilight panicked.

“Well first maybe we should try to find out something about the Elements of Harmony. They are the only known weapon against Nightmare Moon.”

“Yes! Elements, elements, ohhh, how can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?”

Twilight hadn’t noticed how Rainbow Dash had gotten in the library and was already a few inches from her.

She shouted: “And just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon? Are you a spy?”

Twilight was slowly taking a few steps back as Rainbow got closer.

“What should I do Dark?”

“Don’t worry, she isn’t a threat to you. But I think she might prove useful to us, they all might,” he finished his sentence smiling to himself.

“They?”

A second later Applejack pulled Rainbow away from Twilight.

“Settle down! She ain’t no spy, but she sure knows what’s going on. Don’t you Twy? ” she was stepping closer to the unicorn as she spoke.

Twilight sighed and thought to herself: “Huh, what have I gotten myself into?”

A few hours later

Twilight was now in the castle of the royal pony sisters, separated from her friends. She had just teleported along with Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony. The unicorn was now all alone with the alicorn.

“Twilight don’t you dare fight her! You are strong, but not that strong yet!” said Dark in very serious tone.

“I won’t fight her. But I have to get to the elements. I have a plan.”

She started to run against Nightmare Moon, and the alicorn did the same. Just before Twilight would have made contact with her, she teleported to the elements.

“Just one spark.”

She immediately started channeling her energy into the elements, but before Twilight could do much more, the energy from the elements threw her back. However this did nothing to the elements as Nightmare Moon was able to destroy them easily.

Twilight was internally panicking: “What do I do now? I lost... I failed.”

“Don’t give up just yet Twilight. I think there might still be hope.” said Dark.

“What do you mean?”

Right after that, the unicorn heard the voices of the ponies she was walking with through the forest. Her eyes widened with realization.

“Dark, I know what I have to do.”

A few hours later in Ponyville

After Nightmare Moon was defeated, in Ponyville there was a huge celebration. Of course Pinkie Pie was arranging all of the party games and decorations. Everyone enjoyed themselves. It was already starting to get dark when the party was coming to an end. Twilight felt exhausted after the nights events so she said goodnight to everypony and went to the library.

“How are you feeling, my student?” asked Dark

“Exhausted. I can’t wait to get to bed.”

“Well you definitely earned the rest. You did beat Nightmare Moon after all.”

“I couldn’t have done it alone. Without my new friends the elements would have been useless.”

“True, but how much did they actually do? All they did was show up at the right time at the right place. You had to face Nightmare one on one, you had to figure out what to do with the elements, and you had to channel most of the energy from the elements through yourself,” Dark smiled to himself and continued, “and I must say. The teleportation spell back there was very well timed. I’m proud of you, my student.”

Twilight blushed slightly at the praises she was given.

“Thanks, Dark. It means a lot to hear that from you. You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better.”

By this time they were both already at the library. As Twilight entered the library there was a sudden flash of energy in front of her. Dark was now standing in front of the purple unicorn.

Twilight immediately recognized him. She was happy see Dark again.

“Good evening, my student. Good to see you in person again.”

While he was talking, Twilight walked right next to him and gave him a friendly hug. Dark was slightly surprised by the sudden gesture, but soon returned the hug. After a few seconds the hug ended.

“Sorry, I’m just happy to see you. This was one crazy night.”

Dark chuckled slightly: “I completely understand. I’m happy to see you as well.”

The purple unicorn yawned and said: “If you don’t mind Dark, I really want to go to bed. Like I said I’m exhausted.”

“Of course, but before you go, there’s one thing I wanted to mention before we depart,” Dark said in a rather serious tone.

This caught Twilights attention. She knew when Dark had that certain tone in his voice, there was no joking around. Twilight nodded.

Dark then continued: “As I mentioned, I’m very impressed how you handled yourself when confronting Nightmare Moon. You showed no fear, and you were completely concentrated on your spells. Therefore I think you are ready to begin our next level of studies in magic.”

If Twilight was feeling very sleepy a few seconds ago, now she was wide awake.

“Next level? What do you mean by next level?”

“I mean some more advanced spells. Some of them are offensive.”

To the unicorn this was something new, she had never studied or read anything about offensive spells. Back in Canterlot Princess Celestia didn’t allow any of the students to read anything about offensive or combat magic. Twilight was of course excited, but also a little worried.

“Do you really think I’m ready? I mean I want to learn about it, but it’s just that whenever I asked Princess Celestia about this subject, she kept on telling me I`m not ready,” she said a little nervously.

“Celestia doesn’t know you like I do. She hasn’t seen what you can truly do even under pressure and in seemingly hopeless situations. You are ready, I know you are,” he finished with a smile.

His words brought some confidence in Twilight.

“Well then when do we start?” she asked not hiding the excitement in her voice.

“Not tonight. I’ll allow you to dream tonight. We shall start the next night.”

Twilight nodded, but after a moment yawned again.

“You can go to bed now, Twilight.”

“Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow, Dark.”

She started to walk up the stairs while Dark was still standing in the middle of the room. When Twilight got to the top she turned around.

“Dark?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you, about everything you said tonight. I hope I won’t disappoint you. I look forward to our new lessons.”

Dark smiled: “As do I, Twilight. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

The unicorn entered her bedroom and lay down in her bed. Sleep slowly took over her. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

When Twilight was asleep Dark quietly entered her room. He observed her for a few seconds and thought to himself.

“You will do great things one day, Twilight. You’ll just need a push in the right direction. And that’s what I’m here for.”

He leaned closer to Twilight and started to channel a dark mist from his horn. The mist slowly made its way into the purple unicorn’s ears and nose. When Dark finished he left the room. Twilight didn’t feel a thing, she was enjoying a peaceful sleep.

The Training

It has been a few months since the Nightmare Moon incident. Twilight is slowly getting used to life in Ponyville. It is a lot different than her life back in Canterlot. Back there she would just read and study all day nearly every day. Here though she also had to leave some time for her friends. She enjoyed spending time with them, but her studies and training with Dark where still more important to her. So often she would be found in her library reading a book or sometimes asleep during the day.

Twilight’s training had been going very well. She learned a lot of new spells. Many of those spells where dangerous, especially the ones that included something like fire and lightning. Nevertheless the unicorn still wanted to learn every spell Dark could teach her no matter what the risk. Like they had agreed many years ago, she would not use the magic Dark had taught her in the real world without his permission.

The purple unicorn had awoken about ten minutes ago, and was heading down stairs to get some breakfast. She could smell pancakes. Apparently Spike was already up and making breakfast for both of them.

After a moment, she heard a familiar voice in her head: “Good morning, Twilight.”

“Good morning, Dark.”

“Do you have any particular plans for today, my student?”

“Not that I know of, why?”

“Well, there is one thing I forgot to mention during our training. But I will mention it after breakfast, once you are more awake than you are now.”

Twilight mentally nodded and went into the kitchen. She saw that Spike had already made breakfast, and the table was set for both of them.

“Good morning, Twi!”

“Good morning, Spike.”

“You OK, Twilight? When I woke up you were talking in your sleep. Something about fire spells.”

“I’m fine, Spike. I was just dreaming about some spells.”

“Oh, OK then. Anyway, here’s breakfast!”

“Thanks Spike.”

Twilight finished breakfast quite quickly. She thanked Spike for the pancakes and told him that she will go upstairs and study.

When she got to her room, with a little excitement in her voice, she asked: “OK, Dark, what did you want to tell me?”

“I trust you remember our agreement that you are not allowed to use the spells I’ve taught you outside your dreams?”

Twilight nodded.

“Well for today you have my permission. I want you to practice some of those spells in real life.”

Twilight eyes lit up from excitement: “Really!? YES! Thank you, Dark! When do we begin?”

“Meet me at the edge of the Everfree forest. Come as soon as you can. I’ll be waiting for you there.”

The unicorn mentally nodded: “Understood.”

She quickly dashed out of her room and ran downstairs, so quickly that she didn`t even notice Spike on her way out.

Spike saw Twilight in a hurry and asked her: “Whoa, Twilight, what’s the hurry? I thought you didn’t have any plans for today.”

Those words brought Twilight back to reality. Thinking quickly she answered: “I just remembered I promised to meet Zecora today. So I’ll be in the Everfree forest in case anypony needs me.”

Twilight tried to put up an innocent smile, but it wasn’t very believable. Spike knew something wasn’t right. Twilight never forgets any meetings with anypony, but he decided not to ask her.

“Well, OK then. See you later, Twi. I’ll look after the library while you’re gone.”

“Thanks Spike, bye!”

With that Twilight ran out of the library in the direction of the Everfree forest. While she ran, she heard a few ponies call her name, but paid no attention to them. Her goal was the Everfree and nothing was going to stop her.

After a few minutes of running, she reached the side of the forest. The unicorn couldn’t see Dark anywhere. She entered the forest walked for about a minute.

After a moment she heard a familiar voice from behind her: “Hello, Twilight.”

Twilight turned around and saw Dark. After a few seconds she answered: “Good day, Dark. So I will be using my new offensive spells here?”

Dark smiled to that question: “Eager as always I see. Yes, you will be using some of the spells I’ve taught you. But it will be under my supervision. Now follow me.”

He walked passed Twilight deeper into the forest. Twilight obediently walked right behind him. They didn’t say a word to each other while walking. After about fifteen minutes of walking, Dark stopped.

“We have arrived.”

Twilight was slightly confused: “Arrived where?”

“You will test some of your spells here.” Darks horn glowed and after a second a pony manikin appeared in front of them.

“I trust you remember the offensive fire spells. Destroy that manikin with one of the spells.”

“What?” Twilight was more confused than ever, “I never destroyed anything in my dreams. I usually just cast the spells into the sky.”

“Yes, but I wish to see how powerful your spells are against a target. Now, I repeat, try to destroy that manikin, Twilight.”

Twilight, still confused and uncertain, tried to remember one of the fire spells that Dark had taught her. The first spell that came to mind was a simple ball of fire. She had made a fire ball so many times before that casting it would be easy. Her horn glowed with her violet aura, but slightly more dark than usual, and with minimal effort there was a fire ball in front of her, the size of a ponies head. Twilight threw the ball at the manikin. Once the fire ball reached the target, it shattered the manikin in to many pieces.

Twilight’s mouth hung open. She didn’t expect that her magic could ever be that strong.

“Most impressive.”

“That was amazing! I never thought that I could do something like that! How strong are these spells?”

“Some of them are very strong. I reckon that you could easily kill an ursa minor with some of the spells I’ve taught you. And note that you just used one of the simplest and least harmful spells.” He finished with his usual smile.

Twilight was still surprised at the display of her own power. And to think that she used a spell that was considered “less harmful” than the rest. A smile crept onto Twilight's face, similar to the one that Dark usually has. Just the thought about the ability to do something like that made her feel stronger than ever. She wanted to learn more.

Her smile didn’t fade while she asked: “What else will we be doing today?”

“Well… There is no longer a point to practice on manikins. You can easily take care of them. So I propose we move on, how about a real target?”

The purple unicorns smile faded: “What do you mean?”

“A real target, as in a live one. Hmmm… How about a timber wolf? Think you could handle one or two of those?”

“I… I… Don’t know. I’ve never faced one before.”

“I will summon two timber wolfs for you to fight. I want to see how you will handle yourself in a real fight. Ready?”

Twilight didn’t even get the chance to give an answer because as soon as Dark finished, his horn glowed his usual dark aura and he disappeared. For a few seconds there was just silence all around Twilight. She couldn’t hear anything, but suddenly growls from behind made her turn around. There through the trees she could see a large timber wolf approaching.

While she was still trying to fully understand what had happened, the wolf had gotten very close to her. The unicorn immediately came back to reality and just out of pure instinct teleported a few feet to the side before the wolf could jump on her. While the wolf was in midair another growl came from behind her. Without turning around she knew what was already right behind her.

This time Twilight put up a shield all around herself. The wolf coming from behind her smashed into the barrier and landed on the ground. It didn`t take long for him to recover though. Twilight was still in the shield and now two timber wolfs were circling around her.

She had to think fast. Twilight put down the shield and the wolves immediately both jumped at her. But Twilight put down the shield precisely at the moment when one wolf was in front of her and the other behind her. So when she teleported a few feet further away, the wolves hit each other in midair. This gave the unicorn the perfect chance to cast the same spell she used on the manikin. In a second there was a fire ball the same size as before above her horn. She threw it and hit one of the wolves in the back. The blast was so strong that the wolf was smashed into pieces and the other wolf flew a few feet back.

When she destroyed the wolf an unnatural smile appeared on her face. She didn’t even notice her own smile. The other wolf finally got up but was badly injured from the blast. Its leg was clearly broken and there was some kind of blood like fluid dripping from its chest. But it didn’t want to retreat, the wolf tried to run and attack the unicorn but he was very slow. While the wolf was trying to attack, Twilight had already lifted a nearby bolder with her magic. Just like the fire ball she threw it at the wolf and once it hit the target, the wolf was no more. Its pieces were scattered all around the area.

When the battle was over Twilight let out a sigh. She didn’t think that she could actually kill an animal. Now looking at the debris from the wolves, she felt bad for killing them, but she also felt good. The adrenaline from the fighting, the thrill, it was exciting.

She heard somepony teleport behind her. When she turned around she saw Dark with his usual smile.

“Very, very well done! I honestly expected that I would have to interfere at some point. But once again you have exceeded my expectations.”

Suddenly she felt angry at Dark and yelled: “What was that?! You just left me alone with two timber wolfs and disappeared! I’ve never faced anything in direct combat! I could have died!”

“I seem to remember you handling a certain ursa minor a few weeks back quite easily.”

“But… I… That…”

Dark chuckled slightly: “Calm down my student. Did I not tell you that I would be supervising? If anything bad had happened I would have immediately interfered. I can’t allow my student and friend to be harmed can I?”

Twilight was still slightly annoyed, but after Dark mentioned she was not only his student but also a friend, she couldn’t stay angry at him for long.

“Alright Dark. But please give me a little warning next time.”

A few moments of silence passed when Twilight finally asked: “So what now? More timber wolfs?”

“No, that is enough for today. You did very good, amazing even at some points!”

A faint blush appeared on Twilights cheeks at the praise: “Thank you, Dark. But it’s all thanks to your training. I wouldn’t be able to do half of what I can do if it wasn’t for you.”

After another awkward moment of silence she asked: “So can I go? I am not very fond of these woods.”

“Of course! You are free to go. Oh, and there will be no training tonight either, you earned your rest tonight. Enjoy it. Our next lessons will get progressively more and more challenging.”

She nodded: “Understood. I will see you tomorrow then, farewell Dark!”

“Farewell Twilight.”

A few seconds later his horn glowed its usual color and Dark disappeared. Twilight turned around and started walking to the exit of the forest. The whole way home she was preoccupied with her own thoughts. What did Dark mean by more challenging lessons? Would she learning new spells? Would she be facing stronger animals or creatures? But somehow the fact about the lessons becoming even harder only excited her. Twilight wanted to learn every spell Dark could teach her after all.

While lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice that she had already left the forest. The sun was still shining so she was only in the forest for a couple of hours. The walk to the library was uneventful, some ponies said hi to her, but she paid them no attention, still lost in her own thoughts.

When she arrived at the library Spike was reading a book. He immediately noticed her.

“Oh, hey Twilight! I see you’re back from Zecoras. How did it go?”

“It was… fine. We talked about some herbs and plants that she found in the forest. You probably wouldn’t find that interesting. I won’t bore you with the details.”

To Spike Twilight seemed a little nervous, but he decided not to ask her why. If something was wrong she would probably tell him.

“Well, OK then. Got anything else planned?”

She shook her head: “No, for real this time. If you need me I’ll be in my room.”

Twilight went up the stairs that led to her room. When she entered the first thing she noticed was her bed. Suddenly she felt a little tired from the adventure in the forest so a nap seemed like a good idea at the moment. Without second thought Twilight climbed on to her bed and in about a minute she was already asleep. The last thoughts before falling asleep were her lessons with Dark and what would await her in the near future. Honestly she couldn’t wait to see what would the future bring.

The Wedding

It had been a few months since Twilight first used her spells outside her dream world. Every few days she would be headed to the Everfree forest to practice them. And every time she was there, Twilight would face some kind of animal or creature. She had faced timber wolfs, manticores, small ursas, but none of them seemed to pose a challenge for her. Spike and her friends started to wonder why was Twilight going to the forest so often, but she just told them it was for research. None of her friends were even vaguely interested in the forest or researching of any kind. They didn’t want to get involved so all of them stopped questioning it.

Twilight was now walking down her usual path in the Everfree. Dark was accompanying her as always. He still supervised every training session with Twilight. When they reached their destination, no words were exchanged between the two. Instead two timber wolfs appeared in front of them.

The purple unicorn did not move. She stood there waiting for them to get close. When they got close they attempted to leap onto her, but failed. Once their feet left the ground, they were caught in Twilights magical grip. For a moment they were hovering in midair. The next moment one of them was instantly set on fire. Twilight watched as the wolf slowly burned away, its screams of pain could be heard from far away. The other wolf watched in horror at the sight of his friend slowly burning.

When there was nothing but ash left of him, she turned her attention to the other wolf. The unicorn stared it down, she could see the fear in his eyes, the silent pleading call for mercy, but that did not stop her. Twilight concentrated her magic on the wolfs head and neck. She started to slowly pull up. The wolf knew its life would end either way, but he still tried to struggle. But to no avail, Twilights grip was too strong. After a few seconds of torture, the wolf’s head finally snapped off of his body. A lot of blood shot out of the neck. Finally the blood stream stopped and Twilight threw the body, the head and the ashes into a nearby bush.

Even Dark was surprised to see this kind of brutality coming from his student.

“I did not expect to that. You are not usually like that.”

“I’m just a little upset today,” She replied very coldly.

“Is this about that invitation to the wedding?”

Twilight was silent for a moment, but then answered: “Yes. I just don’t understand why Shining would not tell me in person. I mean he couldn`t be that busy, could he? He doesn’t care about me, ever since he got into the royal guard; he’s never been the same.”

Dark tried to find some comforting words, but could not think of any at the moment.

So he said: “Well you will soon be able to find out why he didn’t tell you. Isn’t your train supposed to leave in a few hours?”

Twilight nodded and said: “I already packed and I’m ready to go.”

After a short moment of silence Twilight continued: “All of my friends are excited about the wedding. Shame I can’t share their joy.”

“Maybe it won’t be so bad. I’m sure he has a good reason why he didn’t tell you,” Dark finally replied.

She didn’t look at Dark, but asked him: “Are we done for today? I would like to be alone for a bit if you don’t mind Dark.”

“If you wish, you can go.”

Twilight turned around and started walking away. She didn’t even say goodbye to Dark.

After a moment Dark turned around and called out: “Twilight.”

She immediately turned around and asked: “Yes?”

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right? If you ever feel the need, just ask.”

The first genuine smile appeared on her face that day.

“I know, Dark, thank you, it really means a lot. But for now I really just want to be alone for a while. I’ll see you later then, goodbye.”

Dark nodded: “Goodbye Twilight.”

She then turned around and started walking towards the exit of the forest. Twilight let out an internal sigh. She didnt even want to go to this wedding, she would rather train and study with Dark. But there wasnt really any way she could stay. When Twilight reached the edge of the forest, she was still slightly lost in her thoughts and annoyed by this wedding. Then again she was going to see princess Celestia and Luna again. Maybe these few days won’t be so bad after all.

Later that evening

“I knew it! I knew she was evil!” Twilight was pacing around in her room. She just witnessed how Cadence had “helped” her brother with his head ache.

“We have to stop her! That is not Cadence! Dark, are you listening?!”

“Of course I am,” He said with nearly no emotion in his voice.

Twilight started to walk towards the door.

“Where are you going Twilight?”

“To stop Cadence. I will fight her and make her leave. She won’t harm my brother ever again!”

Just as Twilight was getting near the door, there was a flash of light and Dark was standing in front of her.

“Wait, you can’t! Whoever that creature is, that is not the Cadence you know. I don’t know what it is, but I felt a very strong magical energy from her. You could not take her on alone.”

Frustrated she stomped on the ground: “Then what do we do? We can’t just stand here!” suddenly she had an idea “I know! Well tell princess Celestia. Shell know what to do!”

Twilight was again ready to charge out of the door, but Dark stopped her.

“Would that really be wise? It`s the middle of the night. She is probably sleeping. And then you suddenly break in her room, screaming that Cadence is not Cadence and that we need to stop her. At the best case scenario she will think you are crazy and ignore you.”

“Well what do we do?”

“I would recommend you tell Celestia and the others in the morning. If you do it correctly, they might listen to you.”

“I will tell Celestia, but not my so called friends. I already tried that, all they cared was how good they would look for the wedding. They don’t care what I think.”

Dark let out a slight sigh and said: “Do as you see best I suppose. But promise me one thing Twilight.”

She looked Dark in the eyes: “What is that?”

“Do not face this creature. Whoever she is, she is strong, far stronger than you are right now. You will not survive if you fight her. And I would not like to lose my best student. Do you promise Twilight?” his voice was as serious as it could be.

For a moment she stood there, still trying to understand the situation, but soon she slowly nodded.

“Alright, Dark. I promise. But this creature you say. I could never face someone like her?”

A small smile crept on to Darks face, he spoke slowly: “I never said that. I said that she is stronger than you right now.”

Soon Twilight was too smiling.

After a moment Dark spoke: “Now then, I believe we should both retire for the evening. You’ve had quite the stressful day.”

“Indeed, well then, good night to you Dark. I will see you tomorrow.”

“Good night Twilight.” With that he disappeared in a flash of light.

Twilight made her way to the bed. She was feeling slightly better after the talk with Dark. She got under the sheets and was asleep in a few minutes.

A moment later Dark appeared in the room. Silently he went to Twilights bed. He once again started to channel the same dark mist through his horn which soon made its way into Twilights ears and nose. He had been doing this several times before. The dark energy never hurt Twilight, instead it slowly changed her. It made her more aggressive in some situations, more brutal. But probably the most effective way it changed her was that it made her a lot more irrational. She would make a choice often without thinking it through. That is exactly what Dark needed.

************************************************

A few days later on the train to Ponyville

Twilight and her friends were on the train to Ponyville. They were in Canterlot for a few days in total. They had successfully defeated the changeling queen and her army. The wedding was a terrific success. All of her friends were happy and for once in a few days so was Twilight.

Her friends were talking to each other, leaving Twilight to her own thoughts. But Dark soon interrupted her.

“Quite the party you had. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to you.”

“Sorry about that. I guess I got carried away a bit. And after the party I was exhausted, so I didn’t really feel like talking.”

Dark chuckled slightly: “I understand. Anyway there are a few things I wanted to discuss with you.”

Twilight nodded but she didn’t say a word.

“Alright. First thing, I am glad that you didn’t directly face the changeling like you promised. And despite the fights and madness you still didn’t use any of the spells I taught you. Although the way you informed everypony about the fake Cadence was a bit… unusual, still it got the job done in the end so I can’t really be mad about that.”

Twilights smile faded slightly: “Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“No matter, sometimes we act before we think. But that’s not the most important thing I wanted to discuss. I wish to inform you that I will be going away for a few weeks, possibly a month.”

Twilight`s eyes widened in shock: “What? What do you mean by going away?”

“I mean you won’t see or hear me for a while. I have some business I need to take care of, I will be very busy. In my absence I expect you to train in the forest once every few days. You have my permission to use our secret magic, but only when you have made sure that nopony is looking.”

She was slightly confused but there wasn’t any way she could protest.

“Umm… Alright. When will you be back, Dark? Do I just practice the spells I already know?”

“I am not sure when I will be back. Tonight I will show you some more spells to practice while I am gone.”

“Ok, understood Dark.”

“Is there anything else you wish to ask me?”

“Would you even answer if I asked where you are going and what are you doing there?”

He laughed and answered: “Not really.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you later tonight.”

Twilight didn’t notice how her friends were watching her in slight concern.

“Twilight… Twilight… Hey, Egghead!” Shouted Rainbow Dash.

Brought back to reality she nearly jumped out of her seat.

“What?!” She answered back slightly louder and more annoyed than she meant to.

“You were just staring into the wall; we were calling you for like ten seconds. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine girls; I was lost in my thoughts.” She was still annoyed that they interrupted her talk with Dark.

“You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Are you sure you are alright darling?” asked Rarity.

Twilight had calmed down a bit: “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern but it is unnecessary.”

She sat down in her seat and her friends left her alone. She didn’t talk to her friends the whole way home. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

The Battle

After Sombras return, life was pretty much the same as before. Every few days Twilight would once again be found in the Everfree forest training her spells. And as usual Sombra would be right next to her. Over these last few months she had learned a lot of new very difficult spells. One spell she particularly liked was a fire spell combined with a wind spell. Basically she could envelop herself in a ball of fire and then affect the air around herself causing a mini fire tornado. Sombra was very proud to call Twilight his daughter. Not once had he seen a unicorn learn to combine such spells so quickly.

Time seemed to move rather quickly for Twilight. Apart from her training, she had a few days that were very eventful. A very exciting day was probably when Trixie came back to challenge Twilight to a dual. At that day Twilight was very tempted to use the magic her new father had taught her, but Sombra convinced her otherwise. But without a doubt the most exciting day was when Twilight turned into an alicorn. No ever saw that coming, not even Sombra.

The first few days Twilight was very nervous, she still could not believe this was really happening. Not to mention she was having some trouble adjusting to her new wings. But after a few hours of practice she managed to learn the basics of flight.

Right now Twilight was flying to see her brother. She was crowned a princess about an hour ago. She would not forget her friends smiling faces. Sadly it might be the last time she saw them smiling. While flying, she remembered her talk with Sombra.

A few days earlier

Twilight was still in Ponyville. She would be headed to Canterlot soon to discuss the process of her coronation. She was in her room with Sombra.

Twilight asked nervously: “What do you mean “it’s time”?”

“I mean it’s time to finally put my plan into motion. You will be coroneted as a princess in a few days, it’s the perfect time to strike. They will not suspect a thing and all three of the princesses will there at that moment. Meaning we will be able to take them all out in one day. My shadow army is ready. I have restored my former power. The question now is, what will you do Twilight? Will you be as loyal as you promised me, or will you join them and betray me?”

“Of course I will be by your side, father! There is no other way I would have it.”

Sombra smiled: “Well then meet me at the edge of Canterlot after you’ve done your part of the plan. After that I will set the rest of my plan in motion. First you will take out your brother, so the royal guard is a lot weaker without its captain, then I shall start the attack on the city. And finally you will meet me outside the city where we will both face the princesses.”

Twilight nodded: “Alright, father. I will see you in few days then.”

Sombra nodded and with a flash he was gone.

Twilight remained sitting still on her bead. Even though this meant very much for her father, she still had a few doubts about this. Could she really betray her friends and family? Could she really kill all of them?

Twilight shook her head and got up. Of course she could! Why was she even thinking about this? No matter, she had to prepare for her coronation in a few days, and go through her father’s plan in her head again.

Present day

Shining Armor was in his room in the royal palace. His room was located at the very top of one of the towers. The room was quite large and had a balcony. Shining Armor was preparing to leave soon. He would have loved to stay and celebrate, but his duty in the Crystal Empire could not wait.

Suddenly he heard a somepony land on his balcony. He turned around to see his sister Twilight Sparkle.

An immediate smile appeared on his face: “Twily! Hey, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your friends celebrating?”

She slowly walked into the room and, with a smile of her own, said: “Can’t I visit my BBBFF for no apparent reason?”

Shining approached his sister and they shared a brief hug. They had seen each other maybe an hour ago, but Shining was still thrilled to see his sister.

After they ended the hug Shining answered: “Of course you can Twily! But really why did you come here? It’s not like you to just drop in without having it planned out already.”

“Guess I just wanted to see you before you left. We rarely get to see each other.”

Twilight started walking towards the balcony, but stopped midway.

She turned around and asked her brother: “Hey, Shining, does the Sun look different to you? It seems kind of odd today. ”

Shining Armor asked: “What do you mean?”

“Come and take a look, Shining.”

The white unicorn walked past Twilight and was now standing outside on the balcony. He looked directly at the Sun. Nothing of the Sun seemed odd to him in any way.

“I don’t see the problem, Twily. What did you see?”

While Shining was standing out on the balcony, Twilight started to concentrate on her magic. In a few seconds there was a fireball in front of her. This was it; there was no turning back if she did it. She would never be forgiven; everypony would hate her for what she had done. She threw the fire ball at Shining.

He heard something from behind him and turned around: “Wha…”

But it was too late. The fire ball was already too close for him to react properly. The ball hit him in the chest with such a strong blow that he flew a few feet back. Shining hit the railing of the balcony, but he did not fall off. He could not stand up because of the pain in his chest. The white unicorn looked at his sister, who had walked a lot closer to him.

He could barely speak: “Twi… why?”

Twilights face held no emotion, she did not care for Shining anymore. He would stop her father’s plan or even worse kill him. She looked in his eyes, for a second she felt sorry him, she wanted to ask for forgiveness, but that feeling went away as soon as it came. There was no turning back now, she started this and she had to finish this.

Shining could feel himself getting wrapped in a magical field. Twilight started levitate her brother a feet above the ground. Then she slowly started to move him over the edge of the balcony. Shining was now levitating a few hundred feet above the ground. If Twilight let go of her magic, there was no way he could survive that fall.

Twilight her looked her brother in the eyes and said: “I’m sorry Shining. But there is no other way; I have to take you out.”

Before he could respond, Twilight let go of her magical grip. She didn’t close her eyes, instead she watched as her brother very quickly got closer to the ground. It turns out she let go of her grip at the precisely right moment. Spike was seemingly at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He heard something from above and looked up. The only thing he got to say was: “Wha-…”

Before Shining reached the ground, Twilight closed her eyes and turned around. All she could hear was a slight bump noise, as if a small rock had hit the ground. She didn’t need to look to know that they were dead.

Silently she said to herself: “Two birds with one stone.”

With her eyes still closed she heard a quiet voice say: “Twi…light… What have you done?”

Twilights eyes snapped open immediately. There was a pony standing in the room. Not just any pony, it was Cadence. She had walked in right when Twilight released her magical grip and allowed Shining to fall to his death. Tears were streaming down her face, her mouth was open as if trying to say something, but no words came out. Cadence was so shocked she couldn’t find the words to express herself.

Twilight had to think fast, she needed an escape route quickly. She quickly jumped over the railing and, while falling, teleported further away. The unicorn flew as fast as she could.

While flying, she heard her father’s voice: “Well done, Twilight. You managed to get your brother and that little dragon as well.”

“Where are you, father? Are you ready?”

“I am at the edge of the city, the invade has already begun. My army is storming the city. We will most likely get the princesses attention soon so you better get over here quickly.”

“I will be there shortly, but there might be a problem. Cadence saw me killing Shining Armor and she can get really dangerous when she’s emotional.”

“Don’t worry about that, we will take care of her either way.”

A few minutes later

Sombra's shadow army was invading the city. The royal guard could not hold them back. Princess Celestia knew who was behind this attack just by looking at the shadow warriors. She did not know when or how did he return, but that was not important right now. She needed to make sure that her citizens were safe.

She already found Shining Armor dead, and Cadence, who was crying and kept telling her that it was Twilight who had killed her husband. Celestia could not believe it, there has to be a different explanation, Twilight could never do such a thing. But Celestia could not think about that now, she needed to protect the city. She looked up and saw her sister Luna approaching.

Luna landed next to Celestia and said: “It is Sombra without a doubt, but I could not locate him. The royal guard is barely

holding up against this attack. We must act now sister!”

“Where are Twilights friends? We will need them.”

“We’re right here, princess!” called out Rainbow Dash. They were all running towards the princesses.

“What is going on here?” asked Applejack.

Celestia answered: “Sombra and his army are invading the city. I don’t know how he came back, but we must stop him!”

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s go and show Sombra whose boss!”

Celestia nodded: “Let’s go, we shall banish Sombra for good this time!”

With that they both flew into the air and went straight to the fight, the rest of the ponies followed them. They saw the royal guard slowly losing the fight to the shadow warriors. But once they got closer to them, the shadow warriors stopped attacking. They formed together into a dark mist and left to the edge of the city.

They were surprised to see this. Celestia and Luna looked at each other.

Luna asked: “Do you think we should follow them?”

Celestia answered: “If we don’t, they will come back eventually. It might be a trap, but we don’t really have a choice at his point.”

“Where is Twilight? And where is Cadence?”

“I am here,” Cadence landed right behind them. There were still tears in her eyes, but she looked very angry and determined.

“I will make Sombra pay for what he has done!” She launched herself into the air and flew after the dark mist. Celestia and

Luna didn’t say anything, they just followed and so did Twilights friends.

After a few minutes they were at the edge of town. The mist or Sombra were still nowhere to be seen. But soon a similar mist appeared behind a tree. The mist slowly formed itself into King Sombra in front of them.

He had a huge grin on his face: “Ahhh, it’s nice to see all of you again.”

Celestia asked very angrily: “What do want Sombra?! Why are you doing this?!”

“I merely want to be the king. Is that so much to ask? And you three are the only ones still standing in my way to achieve that.”

“Hey, what about us?!” asked Rainbow Dash slightly annoyed.

“There are four of us now, Sombra!” said Luna.

Sombra chuckled and said: “Oh really now?”

They all heard someone approaching through the air. The princesses saw that it was Twilight. She landed in the middle of Sombra and the princesses. For a few moments she just stood there.

The princesses and Twilights friends were very confused by this.

Celestia finally broke the silence: “Twilight? What is going on?”

Twilight said nothing, instead Sombra spoke: “I am afraid Twilight is on my side, Celestia.”

Cadence then spoke with a shaky voice: “Twilight… was it rea.. really you… that…”

Again she did not answer; she merely nodded not even looking at Cadence. This made Cadence cry again.

By this time the royal guards had already gathered behind the princesses and element bearers. At that moment Sombra called his shadow army, they came out as a dark mist from the shadows. Soon there were the same shadow warriors standing behind Sombra.

Sombra spoke in a calm voice: “Ah, but it seems that my student doesn’t know which side to take in the end.”

After a brief pause he continued: “Make your choice, Twilight. We are all waiting.”

Princess Celestia interfered: “Twilight, please! This isn’t who you are! Please don’t do this!”

Twilight closed her eyes for a brief moment to think.

But then Rainbow Dash quickly interfered her thoughts: “Twilight, what the hell? What are you doing, egghead!?”

Again that nickname. Twilight hated that nickname; she hated everyone who called her like that.

She turned to Rainbow Dash and practically screamed: “Don’t call me egghead!”

While screaming she stomped the ground in anger with her front hoofs. What this did was send a blast wave of energy in the direction of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow wasn’t expecting this; the wave blew her off of her hooves and made her fall on her back a few feet away. Twilight just stood there staring very angrily at the princesses and the element bearers.

Celestia then glared at Sombra and shouted: “You monster! Look at what you turned her into! I will make you pay!”

She concentrated her magic and her horn was surrounded in her usual gold aura. Celestia blasted a solar beam at Sombra. But Sombra did not even move. At the right time Twilight appeared in front of Sombra and put a barrier to protect both of them. The solar beam hit the barrier, but did not penetrate it; it wasn’t powerful enough to do so.

Celestia stopped firing and asked in a surprised voice: “Twilight, are you really siding with him? Will you truly betray us?”

Instead of answering Twilight very quickly made a fire ball in front herself and threw it at Celestia. Celestia was quick enough to jump to the side, but she had forgotten about the ponies behind her. The fire ball flew directly at the elements. Rainbow Dash was getting up, she still hadn’t recovered from that blow. When she looked up, she saw the fire ball headed towards her, but because of the blow earlier she couldn’t react properly. The spell hit her right in the face, she flew back again and landed on her back. She was unconscious, and no one believed that she could have survived such an attack.

Fluttershy saw this and collapsed onto the ground, and started sobbing loudly. Everypony of Twilights former friends were crying now. They gathered around Fluttershy to try and calm her down a bit.

All of the princesses then looked at Sombra. It was clear they were ready to attack him.

Sombra knew this and commanded his army: “Attack!”

Right after that, the royal guard and the shadow warriors started their fight, similar like the one in the city. In the middle of this there were five ponies simply staring down one another.

Celestia commanded: “Do not hurt Twilight. Aim everything you have on Sombra.”

Both of the princesses nodded. This just made Twilight smile; this would be easier than she thought.

All of the princesses started to channel energy in their horns. All of them then blasted a beam of energy at Sombra. He was able to teleport right behind them, the beam hit nothing. The princesses quickly turned around, but they forgot that Twilight was now behind them. This gave Twilight the perfect opportunity to attack. She formed an icy spike the size of a filly, and threw it Cadence. Cadence heard something approaching from behind so she tried to jump to the side. But she was a bit too late. The spike managed to impale her back leg. She landed on the ground and screamed in pain.

Celestia and Luna both took notice of this and wanted to rush to Cadence. But they were interrupted by a fire ball headed towards them. This time it was casted by Sombra. Luna put up a shield to protect them, but the shield was destroyed once the ball hit it.

Cadence was incapacitated and they were both now surrounded by Sombra and Twilight. Still they would not attack Twilight; their main target was still Sombra. So they both again started to attack Sombra. This time Celestia threw a fire ball while Luna managed to form an ice spike similar to the one Twilight had casted earlier. Sombra was ready for this attack, he surrounded himself in a barrier and blocked the attacks.

The attack was again made by Twilight. This time she fired a beam of black energy from her horn. Luna was ready for an attack and put up a shield. However once the beam reached the shield it didn’t collide with it, instead the beam went straight through it. Neither of the princesses expected this, Luna was hit in the chest with this powerful beam. Once the beam hit her she screamed in pain and the shield was dropped. Luna fell to ground and was very heavily injured. Celestia could see that she was bleeding from her chest.

Celestia now glared at Twilight. This was not the same Twilight she had known for many years. This was a monster Sombra had created and if she doesn’t take her out, Equestria will be doomed. She had to stop Twilight and Sombra.

This time Celestia concentrated her magic towards Twilight. Her eyes turned white and her horn glowed with a very bright gold aura. She blasted a solar beam at Twilight. This beam was so powerful that it could kill Twilight if it hit her. But Twilight wasn’t moving, she stood perfectly still. Once the beam reached her, Twilight was knocked back and laying on the ground.

Celestia closed her eyes and whispered: “Forgive, my student.”

Because of this she did not notice that Twilights body was slowly disappearing. Twilight had created a clone of herself similar to the one when she was fighting the hydra in the Everfree. When the body was gone, Twilight appeared behind Celestia and was levitating a heavy bolder over Celestia. She dropped the bolder. Celestia heard something, but it was too late, the bolder landed on her back breaking her spine and pinning her down unable to fight anymore.

Twilight walked closer to the princesses who were lying on the ground. Cadence tried to move or use her magic, but because of the severe pain in her leg she wasn’t able to concentrate on any spells. Luna was barely alive because of the blast to her chest. She was coughing blood every few seconds. And to Twilights surprise, Celestia was still alive.

Twilight lifted the boulder off of Celestia. Then she lifted all of the princesses so that they were right in front of her. Cadence was the most alive out of them.

She asked them: “Are you ready to give up?”

Cadence was the only one who answered: “Never! We will never surrender!”

Twilight smiled and said: “Too bad.”

She then concentrated her magic on all of their necks. All of them could feel that. With a loud crack their necks broke and they were hanging in midair lifeless. Twilight let them go and they fell to the ground. The once great rulers of the country were now dead.

Twilight looked at her father. He looked very pleased; he had that same smile he always had when things went the way as planned.

Sombra walked closer to Twilight and said: “You did great, Twilight. We won… you won. You showed me that I can trust you no matter what. I am proud to call you my daughter.”

Twilight smiled and hugged her father: “Thank you, father.”

When they released each other Sombra could see that his army had killed almost every royal guard. There were a few that were still alive. They had surrendered the moment they saw their princesses die before their very eyes.

The purple unicorn heard a familiar voice. A familiar sobbing to be exact. She looked behind her and saw her friends all together sitting around Fluttershy, trying to comfort her as best as they could. Every one of them was crying. They looked at Twilight with fear in their eyes.

Sombra then spoke: “And what do you plan to do with them?”

“I’m not sure, father.”

She then went closer to them. Pinkie Pie covered her eyes. She was too afraid to even look at Twilight. Rarity was still trying to comfort Fluttershy by repeating words like “everything will be fine”. Applejack looked Twilight straight in the eye. She tried to look tough, but failed; Twilight could the fear in her eyes.

Twilight spoke quietly: “You are either with me or against me. Which will it be?”

Applejack was the only one who spoke: “You think we will just forgive you and forget what you did today? No. We will never be with you,” her voice held no anger, no sadness, it was completely emotionless.

Twilight sighed and said: “Fine, have it your way.”

She turned around and walked to one of the shadow warriors and whispered something to him.

The purple unicorn then turned to her friends and said: “Because of our earlier friendship, I will not kill you, but you will be locked up the dungeons for the rest of your lives. I am your new princess and you better remember that.”

Twilight walked next to her father. He was still smiling. They both saw the shadow army in front of them. They had done it, she and her father could rule now together. Looking back at everything, she was happy of the choices she made, for they all led her to this moment.

She said to herself: “Yes, everything’s going to be just fine.”

How did it all come down to this?

The sky was full with dark clouds. Not a ray of sunlight came through them. Not a single bird or animal could be heard. It was if the world stood silent for the final battle that would commence in that spot in mere minutes.

Twilight Sparkle was standing there between her once greatest friends and allies, and possibly her greatest enemy. To her left stood her Ponyville friends, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence and hundreds of Royal guards. To her right – the one she called her friend for the longest of times.

Twilight looked at her friends. Their faces showed no signs of mercy or sympathy. Instead they were filled with anger and determination pointed at the other pony. All of the princesses looked no different; they were ready to charge and finish this once and for all.

She then looked to her right, and saw her friend and mentor. He also looked very determined to finish this. But when he looked at her, she saw something in his eyes. There was no anger pointed at her, instead it was acceptance. She knew he would never judge her, he would accept her and she would be safe with him. But was it the right choice?

Finally the pony spoke: “Make your choice Twilight. We are all waiting.” He finished the sentence with a grin on his face.

“I... I...,” Twilight hesitated.

But then Celestia interfered: “Twilight, please! This isn’t who you are! Please, don’t do this!”

At that moment there was battle going on inside Twilight. What should she do? She closed her eyes and couldn’t help but ask herself: “How did it all come down to this?”