The Secret Mentor

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.”