The Secret Mentor

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.

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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.