The Spirit Within

The Spirit Within

"I'm so sorry," said the purple unicorn, "I never wanted this to happen. My life will never be the same." Twilight stood there in the Ponyville cemetery as the thunderstorm raged on. "When did it all go wrong?" she asked as tears fell from her eyes. That was the only question she thought about ever since that dreadful event had occurred. It had been tormenting her for so long now, and not a single answer had come. "Why did this happen? Why can't I remember!?" she yelled as she stared up into the dark clouds above. And then, as if the clouds had actually heard her, memories began flooding her mind.

"Wow Twilight, that's amazing!" Exclaimed the small dragon. "I can't believe how quickly you've mastered those spells."

"Oh Spike, you say that every time I learn a new spell." Twilight said, blushing at the compliment anyway.

"And I will keep saying it too. or at least I will until you learn all the spells that there are."

"Trust me Spike, we both know that won't happen." Replied the unicorn, giving a smile as they both hugged. the two of them are very close. Even though he was only her assistant, he is a close friend of hers as well. She would protect him just as he would protect her.

"Well, what's next then? A new spell? Maybe meeting up with one of your friends?" asked the baby dragon, eager for her answer.

"I think I’ll stay home and study for today. you go and take the day off. After all, you deserve it for all of the help you provided today." This took the smile right off the dragons face.

"But, maybe you'll need help finding a book. or you might need someone to practice a spell on. Your qui-"

"Go on Spike. I insist that you take the rest of the day off." Twilight said, cutting him off before he could keep making a list of things she might need help with.

"Fine." Spike said without any enthusiasm.

Spike walked out of the library where Twilight had been living ever since Celestia had sent her to Ponyville.

"Now, to finding that book..." Twilight whispered to herself. "Where did I put it the last ti- Oh here it is!" The purple pony pulled out a big, black-bound book and set it on a stand. The book started radiating with magical power.

"Twilight Sparkle, my dearest student," Princess Celestia declared, as formally as always, "I want to give you this book. I believe that it will be of more use to you than it is to me, and I trust you to be careful with it. But I must warn you, it is filled with magic that should never be performed. There would be dire consequences if they should be used."

"I understand, princess. I will express the utmost care with it, I promise you."

Twilight remembered that day as if it were yesterday. Celestia had called upon her to come to Canterlot after performing one of her many heroic feats, with the help of her friends, of course. She had given Twilight this book in hopes of helping her understand not only the "good" side of magic, but also its dark and evil side as well.

"Now, where was I?" she asked herself. She opened the book and flipped a few pages in. Though she is a very diligent reader and usually finishes books within a few hours, she has taken her time with this one, for it dwells among the only written evidence of the dark magic that hardly even exists today, and doesn't want to overlook anything.

"What's this?" she questioned as she stared at the page, "I wonder what this spell does. I guess that it couldn't hurt to try some spells."

She focused on the globe on the opposite side of the room. She felt that it wasn't too valuable, so it wouldn't hurt to practice on it. Her horn started to glow brightly as she used most of her strength trying to cast the spell. Soon enough, a loud crack came from her horn as a tremendous bolt of lightning flew to the globe, shattering it completely and sending sparks all over.

"Whoa! I see why Celestia didn't want me performing these spells. they are extremely powerful!" exclaimed Twilight as she looked at the pile of debris that used to be her globe. She flipped through the pages and tried a few spells here and there, learning more about the dark arts of magic and a few different tricks. An odd black fog had formed around her, but it soon dissipated. She eventually came across a very unique spell. This one described a spell that allowed a unicorn to call upon the sun itself and harness a powerful flame.

"I wonder how this works." Twilight said to herself. She knew that using this spell inside her wooden library would just end horribly, so she decided to go and travel out a ways from Ponyville to a more open area.

"Alright, lets see if I can get this right." She began focusing on a boulder, since that's the only thing around that wasn't extremely flammable. As she was conjuring all of her strength to her horn, she began feeling it get warmer. No sooner than that, the flame began emanating from her horn and blasting the boulder with extreme force and heat.

"AHH!" she exclaimed as she was thrown back from the spells power.

"That rock, its... its bright red." she claimed. The heat from the flame was so intense, it had caused the rock to heat up to extreme temperatures and even crack in some spots.

"That's enough studying for the day," Twilight said, "I should get back home and rest for the night. I'm sure Spike is wondering where I am as well."

"Where have you been!?" Spike yelled as Twilight walked inside.

"I told you Spike, I was studying." She replied without hesitation.

"Were you practicing new spells...without me?" The dragon asked, sadness heard in each word.

"Oh Spike, you know I'd never test new spells without you. I was just getting some fresh air. You can understand how horrid it gets sitting inside for hours on end."

"Really? That's all?" Spike asked, feeling a bit better.

"Yes, that's all." She replied reassuringly. She knew that she couldn't tell Spike about her practicing the dark magic from that book. He would go and tell the others, maybe even Celestia. "So how is everypony? I'm sure that you saw everypony today at some point."

"they're all doing great. Applejack was busy at the farm and Rainbow was practicing for the Wonderbolts, as usual. Fluttershy was caring for an injured bird. Nothing new there. Rarity was in her shop, as beautiful as she always is, with the light shini-"

"I get it, Romeo." Twilight said, quickly interrupting him before he could continue. "And Pinkie?"

"Pinkie was, well, she was being Pinkie Pie." They both had a laugh at that,though it died down no sooner than it started.

"Alright, well I'm heading to bed. You should too. You're only a baby dragon, after all." She said while smiling.

"I'm not a baby anymore." Murmured Spike to himself as he got settled in his bed.