Chapters 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.
"Wake up Spike! We have so much to do!" Screamed Twilight.
"No we don't, it's the weekend. Don't you know that?" Replied Spike, angry about the whole thing.
"Oh yeah, haha. Forgot." She said with an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry Spike."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Well I guess I’ll go see what Fluttershy is up to." Twilight said to herself as she walked out of her house.
As Twilight wandered the streets of Ponyville, she asked a couple ponies where Fluttershy was. To no amazement, she was over by the river helping some stranded animals.
"Hey Fluttershy."
"Oh hi Twilight," she said as she set a duck down, "what are you doing here?"
"Well I didn't have any plans for the day, so I decided to come and see what you were up to and check if you needed any help."
"Oh that's nice of you. I'm helping these ducks get across the river. You see, the current is so strong that they can't swim across, so I am flying them over to the other side." Replied the yellow Pegasus in her usual quiet tone.
"Well want me to help you with that?"
"Sure, thanks Twilight. You know, you don't always have to help me with everything all the time, right?" Fluttershy said with a smile.
"Haha, yeah I know, but I don't mind. and plus, it gives me something to d-" Twilight quickly wrapped her hooves around her head as a great pain began emanating from it.
"Twilight, is everything ok?" Asked Fluttershy.
Twilight let go of her head and looked towards Fluttershy. "No, everything is not ok."
"What's wrong then?" Fluttershy asked, now very concerned about her friend.
"You!" Shouted the purple unicorn. "You are what's wrong." Twilight was yelling now, anger flowing within each word.
"Bu- bu-...what did I do?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly.
"You're weak!" Twilight yelled back. Her horn, now glowing, shot a bolt of magic, cutting Fluttershy's left hind leg.
"Oww!" Fluttershy shrieked, "why!?"
"You're powerless!" Another bolt came from the purple unicorns horn, connecting with Fluttershy's right front leg. She fell to the ground and rolled over, tears from her eyes soaked the ground.
"And worst of all, you're worthless." She pushed her hoof onto Fluttershy's chest to pin her down. Lying in a pool of blood and tears, she moved around and flapped her wings, trying to break free. But it was to no avail.
"I'm...I'm sorry Twilight." Fluttershy cried.
"I'm am too." She said, as a final bolt of magic passed through her chest, ending it all. Twilight then used her levitation spell to throw the body into the raging river.
"I am too..."
A little while after the whole fiasco with Fluttershy, Twilight decided to go check on Rarity. She just wanted to forget that it even happened, and she thought to herself, 'hey, if I go talk to Rarity, it might get my mind off of things.'
After about 10 minutes of walking, she had arrived at Rarity's house. She looked through the window to see if she was home. She saw that Rarity was running from one side of the room to the other, grabbing fabric over here and sewing it onto a dress over there. "Wow, that mare is always working on some sort of dress."
"Hey Rarity, what are you do-" Twilight was cut off when Rarity slammed into her.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry, darling. I didn't see you there. Are you alright?"
"Yes I'm fine. The question is, are you ok? You're running around the store like a mad-mare! Why are you rushing around as if your life depends on it?"
"Because not only my life, but my entire career is on the line with this order!" Rarity screamed, rather dramatically. "PhotoFinish asked me, Rarity, to make her a dazzling ensemble for her next photo shoot in the Canterlot fashion show. Can you believe it, darling?"
"Wow Rarity, that's amazing!" Twilight replied, "I hope you get it done on time."
"As do I, Twilight. I am worried that I won't, but if it isn't finished on time, my entire career will be over."
"Would you like me to help you? I don't know much about designing dresses, but I can help get you materials so you don't have to run all around anymore."
"That would be fabulous! I couldn't thank you enough, Twilight."
"Oh, it's not a problem, really." Twilight replied.
Twilight walked over to a bookshelf-looking stand and awaited Rarity's orders.
"Could you get me the cyan fabric right there, dear?"
"Yup." Twilight replied as she used her levitation spell to send the long roll of cyan fabric over to the sewing machine.
This went on for about 2 hours until the dress was nearly complete.
"Wow, thank you for your help Twilight. I don't think I would've gotten this done if it wasn't for you."
"No problem Rarity. I can help whenever you need it."
"Well I think I can stitch the last bit up in a few minutes, but I need you to do my a quick favor for me. That is, if you don't mind."
"Sure, what is it?" Twilight asked.
"I need your opinion on my newest creation." Rarity replied as she walked to the curtain that she put the dress behind. As she pulled down on the rope, the curtains flew to the sides to reveal a beautiful gown comprised of mostly purple with gold and green accents throughout it. There were rubies and emeralds lined all over it.
"Oh my gosh, Rarity. It's beautiful."
"But of course it is, darling. I was the one who designed it!" Rarity replied with a laugh. Not only Twilight, but everypony in Ponyville knew that Rarity's work is the best when it comes to dressmaking. From a simple fix with a stitch or two, all the way to designing a beautiful gown from scratch, she could do it, and better than anypony else, too.
"You know, Rarity, this dress would have been perfect for PhotoFinish. Why did you go and make a brand new design?"
"Oh Twilight, I couldn't give her something like this. She deserves the best, and that's what I will be giving her." Rarity replied.
Rarity turned around to look at Twilight. She noticed that she was in some sort of pain.
"Twilight, are you alright?" Rarity asked.
"You know, Rarity. I think you should worry about yourself, not about me." She replied. This left a surprised look on Rarity's face.
"What are you saying, Twilight?"
"I'm saying that you are a fool to worry about me when you have more issues than I do!" Twilight laughed.
"Oh really, Twilight? Is that what you truly think?"
"Think? Hah! I know it! I know that you are an incompetent dress maker who is too blinded by her dream to realize how bad she is at it. I KNOW that you are just a "little princess" who thinks she is better than everyone. And I KNOW that you are just an ugly mule under that cloak that you call a dress."
"How DARE you come into MY house, disrespect me and MY marvelous work, and believe that you are going to get away without repercussions!"
"Oh Rarity, you MUST learn to listen when people talk to you instead of playing with your mane." Twilight said. "I never said that I thought I'd get away without repercussions. Now the question is, what are you going to do about? Oh I know, you can punish me by making me wear one of your dresses!"
"Oh it, is, on!" Replied Rarity, as angry as she could be.
And with that, Rarity lunged towards Twilight, swinging her hoof at her chest. She didn't want to inflict too much harm on her friend. Twilight, on the other hand, thought otherwise. When Rarity's hoof came within inches of her, she threw a roll of fabric at her head, tossing Rarity to the ground. Twilight wasted no time to make sure Rarity would stay down by throwing a sewing machine at her. Right before she was hit, Rarity shot a bolt of magic at her, cutting her cheek. That didn't stop Twilight though. It just pissed her off. As Rarity was laying on the ground, Twilight put a couple mannequins on top of her, making sure she wouldn't get up.
"Well Rarity, this was fun, but I'm afraid that this is where it ends. For you, at least." Twilight laughed.
"What are you going to do, kill me? I thought we were friends, you and I."
"You know, Rarity, Fluttershy was my friend, too. But when someone gets tired of their incompetent friends, things must end. You know what, though? At least you put up a fight!" Twilight said, laughing as she said it.
"You...you killed Fluttershy? Why? What did she ever do to you?! What did she ever do to anypony!?" The white unicorn screamed out. Shocking that no one heard her.
"Why...? WHY!?! Why do you THINK I killed her!? She was worthless! She couldn't do anything! All she did was complain and never helped with anything!"
"How could you, Twilight...? How could you think that of your friends? I thought I knew you." Rarity replied, now practically gasping for air as the mannequins put pressure on her chest.
"I could say the same to you, Rarity. I thought you were smarter than you are. I never thought that I'd have to do this to you, but I guess life is truly full of surprises, isn't it? Haha! Aren't I just the funniest?" Twilight asked sarcastically. "Well, lets get this done. I have more important things to attend to. And it would be a shame if I were to just leave you like this, now wouldn't it? Oh, no no no, my friend deserves the best!"
"You do realize that someone is going to find out that you killed me, right? If you kill me, someone is going to come looking for me, and when they see my body on the ground in the middle of my store, they'll know it was murder." Rarity said confidently.
"Hah, you must think that I didn't know that. You see, Rarity, I am going to drop this sewing machine right on your head, killing you instantly." She said, picking up the machine with levitation. "It will look like you had tripped over that roll of fabric onto the ground. They will think that you hit the table as you fell, and, once on the ground, the machine fell off the table! Hahaha, you see!? Brilliant aren't I? It will look like an accident! And everypony will believe it because they all know how you've been working so hard and running around in here. It makes sense that something like this could have happened."
"You're....you're a monster! A horrible, horrible monster!" Rarity screamed.
"Oh, no need for insults, Rarity. You might hurt my feelings." She laughed. "Well, this is goodbye." She then dropped the sewing machine, fracturing Rarity's skull in as many places possible.
'Perfect' she thought to herself. 'This went perfectly. Though, I better hide this cut on my cheek. Otherwise someone will suspect something'. She threw a scarf on and leaned her head as close to it as she could as she ran home.
"Time for bed. It's been a long day." Twilight said as she entered her house. Spike was already in his bed. "That little dragon can sleep the day away if you let him." She laughed as she got into her bed.
"Twilight! Where are you!? Twiiiiliiiight!!!" Someone screamed.
"Hold on a minute." Twilight said as she got up from her bed. 'Who would be yelling for me from my door this early in the morning?' She thought to herself. As she opened the door, she noticed who it was, and it worried her. It was Pinkie Pie.
"Twilight! Thank Celestia you're ok. Fluttershy has gone missing and Rarity is..." Pinkie began crying as she thought about her friend Rarity.
"I know, Pinkie, it's ok. Sometimes accidents happen, it just turned out that she slipped. She works too hard, so it was bound to happen sometime." Twilight said, trying to calm her friend down.
"But....what do we do now?"
"We have to move on, Pinkie. They aren't going to come back, and I'm sure they wouldn't want us to stop living just because they died."
"....I'll.....I'll try to, Twilight..." Pinkie said, still crying a bit.
"Now just go home and get some rest. Calm down a little. Try to forget what happened yesterday. Don't worry, things will be fine." She said.
Pinkie walked off towards her house now. Still crying about her friends who died the day before.
"That was too close." Twilight said. But as she turned around, she saw Spike staring at her, tears in his eyes and anger on his face.
"I know wh-what y-you did Twilight..." He said. "Y-you killed them, didn't you? You killed them both..."
"What? No! Why would I ever kill them? They were my friends. I would never do anything to harm th-"
"Don't lie to me, Twilight. I know everything. I know that you killed Fluttershy by the river. And that you killed Rarity in her shop."
"How could you even think of something that horrible?" Twilight said.
"Well, Braeburn found Fluttershy's body over in Appleoosa. And Rarity was found dead in her shop. Both times when someone disappeared, you were gone until nighttime." Spike explained.
"That's not enough to call me a murderer!" Twilight replied, hoping to change his mind.
"No. It isn't. That's why the blood on your coat and mane proves it all."
"Well well well, my dear friend, it seems that you've figured it out. You made one mistake though. Since you told me just now, I can't just let you walk out and tell everypony, now can I?" Twilight laughed.
Spikes eyes widened as he stood there in shock. "You wouldn't kill me, Twilight. I've been with you since you were a filly living in Canterlot." Spike said, crying now.
"Oh Spike, you know, I didn't want it to come to this, but you've left me with no choice. I assure you that I will never forget about you."
Spike turned and started running for the door, but it was to no avail. Twilight lunged over and grabbed him. She threw him into the bookcase.
"Ow! Why are you hurting me?" Cried the little dragon.
Twilight tossed him into a wall and held him up against it. "You know why this must be done, Spike. You should have known better than to tell me about how you know I killed them all." She laughed. "Now it's time to finish you of-"
Spike tried to breathe fire, but he is only a baby, so it was practically just a spark. It singed Twilights cheek, but all that did was anger her.
"Oh, you're done now." She said as she threw him on the ground. She shot a bolt of magic at him, cutting his stomach and dropping him to the ground. Twilight then held a bookcase over him. "Goodbye, Spike."
And with a sudden crash, it was over. The blood leaked from under the bookcase. "Well, I should clean this up before someone comes in and sees this."
She set the bookcase back up and wiped the blood off of it. 'That part was easy, but what will I do with the body?' She thought. Then she came up with the idea to incinerate the body. She put rocks around the body to ensure that her spell didn't go too far. She then sprayed a wall of intense flames, just like she did the other day, directly onto the body. Within seconds the body was turned to ashes. It took an hour to clean the rest of the house.
"Well what am I going to do now? I guess I can just wander around Ponyville." She said as she walked out the door.
As she walked through Ponyville, saying hi to someone here and there, she realized something. She can't remember anything she did the last couple days. "Where is Rarity and Fluttershy? I haven't seen them in days now. Maybe Spike will know. I'll ask him when I get home."
"Lookout!" Screamed a rainbow-maned blue pegasus as she fell from the sky.
She crashed into the ground, right next to Twilight.
"Are you alright Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow slowly started to stand up, obviously in a little pain, "yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about almost tackling you, I was practicing for the Wonderbolts. They are coming to Ponyville tomorrow and I am practicing a new trick!" The pegasus screamed enthusiastically.
'When isn't she practicing?' Twilight thought, laughing as she did.
"I'm sure that this time you'll get in, Rainbow Dash. You've already saved them from crashing into the ground."
"Thanks Twilight. Well do you want to see my new trick?"
"Sure, go for it."
Rainbow Dash took off into the sky without hesitation. She flipped and spun around in the sky. Flew up, then dropped down, not extending her wings until she nearly hit the ground. And of course, finished it all with a sonic rainboom.
"Wow Rainbow. That was amazing. No doubt you'll get into the Wonderbolts with that trick." Twilight said.
"Yeah, and that's how it should be. I AM the best flyer in Equestria, after all." Rainbow laughed.
And that was no lie. You could ask anypony around and they would say the same thing. Rainbow Dash was born a flyer. Her special talent is all about speed. She isn’t named Rainbow Dash for no reason, after all.
“Why are the Wonderbolts coming to Ponyville, anyway? Don’t they have other things to do? Like, you know, get ready for the Canterlot Games that start next week.” Twilight questioned.
“I don’t know, but they are probably coming up for the big festival in town square. Wouldn’t shock me if Princess Celestia was going all out for it.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Well, what else are you planning on showing them? I’m sure that you are planning to do more than just one amazing trick, right?”
“Of course! Who do you think I am? Trixie?” laughed RainbowDash. “Could you watch and tell me which ones are the best to show them, Twilight?”
“Sure, I can do that.” Twilight answered.
Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash whizzed around the sky, as fast as ever. She pulled off a few loops while dropping towards the ground. Shot up towards the sun and twirled, shockingly not dizzy yet.
After about an hour or so of performing tricks, she had finished.
"So," Rainbow panted, "what do ya think."
"They were all great Rainbow Dash. You will be part of the Wonderbolts in no time." Twilight replied.
"Thanks Twilight. Do you think I should make any new tricks or were those good enough?"
"Hah! No, you don't need any new ones," Twilight said with an odd stare, "it's not like you're REALLY going to actually get into the Wonderbolts anyway."
“What are you talking about, egghead?” Rainbow asked, getting mad at her friend.
“You know exactly what i’m talking about, you failure of a pegasus.” Twilight laughed with a grin on her muzzle.
“Hey!” screamed Rainbow Dash, walking towards the the purple unicorn, still grinning. “I am anything BUT a failure!”
“Hahahaha!” cackled Twilight, in a witch-like manner, “don’t make me laugh, you ignorant little filly. Do you not see the obvious? Have you not seen what has been going on for the last couple years?”
“W-What are you getting at, Tw-Twilight…?” The pegasus replied, stopping in her tracks, a few feet away from Twilight.
“Think about it, Rainbow. You have tried to get into the Wonderbolts for what, three or four years now? Don’t you think that if you were truly good enough to be part of them, you’d already be a member? It just doesn’t make sense, does it? They rejected you before, they will reject you now, and they will surely reject you in the future. And until you realize that you are just a failure like Fluttershy and Rarity, you won’t be successful.”
“Oh my god...is that why they are all gone? Because you killed them?” Dash asked hesitantly.
“Hah, yes indeed, my dear Rainbow Dash. You se-”
“WHY! What made you kill your friends! We have all been there for eachother since the beginning! What could they have done to deserve that!” Rainbow Dash screamed in anger and sorrow, cutting Twilight off mid sentence.
“Now now, you impatient foal.You had interrupted me before I could explain. And you know what? That’s quite rude. We don’t like it when others are rude, now do we?” Twilight laughed.
“Wha-? AHH!” Rainbow screamed as a bolt of magic cut her leg ever so slightly. She fell to the ground to hold it tight.
“When you are rude, you get punished, Dashie,” chuckled Twilight, “now, shall I continue my explanation?” Rainbow nodded, not daring to speak, worried that she might scream over the pain.
“What, don’t want to seem weak? Dragon got your tongue?” Twilight laughed at that last one, “Anyhow, let us move on.””
Twilight walked around Rainbow and began talking. “Now, Rainbow, I did, in fact, get rid of Fluttershy and Rarity. Not to mention Spike, but his death is a story for a different time.”
“You killed Spike, t-AH!” Cried the pegasus, as another bolt was sent at her other leg, scraping it enough to draw a bit of blood.
“What did I tell you, Dash? It’s not polite to interrupt,” Twilight said, laughing under her breath, “As I was saying. That is, unless you have something else to say.” Twilight stared at the poor pegasus. Rainbow Dash just shook her head.
“Oh, are we going to be stubborn now?” grinned Twilight, “I like that.”
“So, back to my explanation. I know how much we all cared about Fluttershy and Rarity, but I realized something when I was with them. Have you noticed what is wrong with them?” Twilight asked. “Go ahead, I want you to think about it. Take a guess.”
Rainbow shook her head from side to side, refusing to open her mouth.
“Hmm, it seems like your mouth it frozen shut. Maybe I can help fix that. for you.” Twilight said, pointing her horn down towards Rainbow Dash as it glowed with intense power.
“NO! DON’T!” Shrieked the pegasus. “DON’T DO IT!”
“Oh good. I was worried that something was wrong. Now that we know you’re ok, let me ask again,” laughed Twilight, “What is wrong about Fluttershy and Rarity? I want to see if you know the problem with them.”
“I-I...I don’t know what you are aski-” Twilight stared her down, causing her to rethink about what she is saying, “I mean, maybe because they have flaws…?”
“Good, good. You are close. You see, they all have something about them that prevents them from being tolerable or helpful. Fluttershy, for instance, is really kind and generous. But the issue is that being so nice causes her to be weak and lacks the ability to be self-sufficient. She is scared of everything, which makes her a detriment to all of our journeys when trying to help save Equestria.” Twilight paused and nodded towards Rainbow, indicating that she could speak now.
“But, Fluttershy helped multiple times in the past. Remember the dragon that was blowing smoke over Equestria? And taming Discord?”
“Oh don’t get me wrong. She did have her helpful moments. but think about everything else. The whole dragon incident, for example. Yes, she did help get rid of it, but do you remember all of the issues we had with her when trying to get her to cooperate? She didn’t do a thing until we were all in extreme danger.”
“B-but she has done more than just that. Surely she has done more…”
“Maybe she has, but the problem still remains. The bads and problems outway the goods. And that is something that couldn’t go uncorrecte-”
“Don’t try to make it sound like what you did was ok!” Yelled the pegasus as she slowly got to her feet.
“Ow!” Rainbow cried as Twilight smashed her hoof into rainbows side.
“We've been through this,” Twilight said, “don’t interrupt me”
Once Rainbow stopped squirming on the ground, Twilight began to speak again.
“Now, you might be thinking. ‘why Rarity though. What did she do?’. Well, it’s simple, really. Just look at her!” Laughed Twilight. “She runs around looking like a mess of a mare, she makes dresses that are never up to par with the Canterlot standards that she wants to get to, and she is always worrying about herself. If that isn’t enough, she is always considering herself to be above everypony else.”
“She has done many great things for us though.” Rainbow argued.
“Oh I’m sure she has,” replied Twilight, “let’s not dwell on them anymore though. There is something more important right now, and that…” she paused to look directly into Rainbow’s eyes and grinned, “is you.”
Rainbow jumped up onto her hooves, the pain in her legs mostly gone now. she took to the sky “NO!”
“Oh, now now, Rainbow. You can at least play fair.” Twilight giggled, grabbing Rainbow Dash’s tail with her magic.
She yanked the pegasus back to the ground with immense force, sending a cloud of dirt and dust into the air on impact. “We are going to have some fun here, aren’t we?”
“If it’s a fight you’re looking for, it’s a fight that you’ll get!” yelled Rainbow Dash, charging full speed towards Twilight.
Twilight smirked, then quickly and accurately, launched another bolt directly at the center of Rainbow’s left wing, causing her to spin out of control and smashed into a boulder near by.
“Wow, that didn’t seem like Wonderbolts material, now did it?”
“You...You murderer!” she screamed, taking a swing at Twilight.
Twilight simply ducked to get out of the way of Rainbow’s rage-driven swing. this gave her the opportunity to ram her in the ribs. Doing so cause Rainbow to drop to the ground, gasping for air.
“Ohh, don’t die on me yet. We aren’t finished.” Twilight said, now standing over the broken pegasus.
“Pl-Please...Twil-l-light….just st-stop…..I beg y-you…” Rainbow said, barely able to talk as it is.
“Would you look at this. You are just laying here, broken, said, and defenseless. Just like the failure you are. And now, after all of your bragging and your arrogance has left you, you are able to see that. You can see that no matter what, you are not the best around.. Hahaha, it’s such a shame that it took all of this to get you to realize that.” Twilight said, staring at the body of a pony in misery. “Well, it would be terrible for me to leave while you are going through this pain and sorrow, now would it?”
“n-no…..” Rainbow murmured, “no..!”
“Oh you poor little pegasus. Don’t worry though, i’ll make sure to inform Soarin and Spitfire about this tragic accident.” Laughed the unicorn.
“Accid-dent…?”
“Well of course! Don’t you remember? you were practicing your tricks and your wing gave out. That’s how your wing got beat up like that, you know. When your wing gave out, you had plummeted to the ground with so much speed that once you hit the ground, there was no chance of your survival.” Twilight chuckled as she explained her impeccable ruse.
“You’re a m-monst-ter….” The pegasus said.
“Goodbye, my dear Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said as she prepared a strong electric shock spell, “you will be missed.” And just like that, she let the shock go, flowing right into Rainbow Dash’s body, stopping her heart instantly.
“Well, not much else to do but go home and sleep.” She said as she walked home.
“Why….” sobbed a familiar voice, as Twilight began to wake up.
“Wha- Ah!” Twilight yelled. startled to see the pink mare crying in the corner of the room.
“S-sorry Twil-light. I d-didn’t mean to wake you up…” Pinkie said, tears falling as she spoke.
“What’s wrong Pinkie? And why are you in my house crying?”
“H-have you not noticed that everypony is disappearing, one day at a time?” Pinkie cried, “first it was Fluttershy and Rarity. Then it was Spike. And this morning when I went to say hi to Rainbow Dash before her performance, but when I got closer to her house, I saw some nurse ponies putting a mangled mess onto a board and putting it into the carriage. I ran over to see what was going on and...and…” She stuttered.
“Please Pinkie, don’t tell me it was…” Twilight began to say, tears forming in her eyes.
“Yeah, Twilie, it w-was Dashie!” Pinkie erupted into a distraught mess on the ground, tears going everywhere.
“No….no, no, no, no….h-how could that happen….it can’t be true….it can’t possibly be true!” Twilight yelled, now crying at the thought of her dead friend.
“WH-what are we going to do? We have lost four of our closest friends, and I am scared that somepony else is going to be gone by the end of today.” Pinkie said, trying to stand up as she talked.
“I-I don’t know….I didn’t know they had all….d-died. I don’t have any memory of even seeing them the last few days…and I can’t think of the last thing I even said to them.” Twilight sobbed.
“But I told you about it all yesterday. Y-you acted as if it was all ok.” Pinkie questioned.
“What? I haven’t even seen you in a couple days. When did you tell me”
“I came over and told you that they were d-dead, and y-you told me th-that we j-just need to m-move on.”
“No...NO! I would never have said that! Oh Celestia, what will we do now? I can’t think about how things will be without them…”
“We should go find Applejack before something else happens.” Pinkie said, jumping over to Twilight. Twilight twitched, then turned to face her friends eyes.
“Hah, why would we do that?” Twilight said, staring the pink earth pony down.
“Please Twilight, we have to hurry!” Pinkie yelled, grabbing onto Twilight's arm.
Twilight quickly smashed Pinkie’s arm with her hoof, forcing her to let go. “Pinkie, do you really think that they cared about you?”
“What do you m-mean? Of c-course they cared about me. we always had fun and laughed toget-”
“Hahaha!” laughed Twilight. “They were only laughing because they wanted you to feel better. You are practically just some immature, stupid, wannabe comedy pony that is constantly irritating everyone. You think they all cared for you? News flash, little foal, they lied. They put on an act around you because they didn’t want to come right out and say that they were tired of your nonsense. They were fed up with your random actions and your impulse to sing. When you think about it, they are probably glad that they died.”
“N-no. That’s not true. They would never be like that. They would have told me.”
“You only think that because you see that it is possible. You always try to see the good parts about things, but hey, life isn’t always all cupcakes and happiness. There are times where things are bad. Your problem is that you just can’t seem to realize that.” Twilight explained.
“Th-that’s not true. I d-don’t always think that…”
“Haha, yeah, sure. Actually, since we’re talking about it, you don’t see what the bad things are, even when they are right in your face.” Twilight said, stepping closer to her friend. Pinkie began walking backwards.
“St-stop Twilight. Y-you’re scaring me.” Pinkie said.
“Oh, would you look at that! You actually CAN see when something bad is actually in front of you. Too bad it’s a little bit late for you to have a change in attitude. Maybe things would have been different if you didn’t always...giggle at the ghosties, Hahahaha!” Twilight laughed uncontrollably, still walking forward, pinning Pinkie Pie into the corner now.
“Hah, funny j-joke Twilight. You really got me goin’ there. You can stop no-”
“Here we go again. You really don’t get it, do you? You can’t just laugh things away, Pinkie. Looks like I will need to teach you that, personally.”
Twilight used her magic to conjure up a small flame at the tip of her horn. She then prodded the pink pony as she closed her eyes and pushed as far back as she could in the corner that she was trapped in.
“OW! Stop!” The earth pony shrieked.
“What’s wrong? I thought I was supposed to just disappear once you closed your eyes.” Twilight chuckled. “Did your plan fail?”
Twilight poked Pinkie a few more times, each one bringing a louder cry than the last. The coat of the Pink pony has turned as black as night in the areas where the flame had been.
“Now do you see how things work, Pinkie?” Twilight asked as she grabbed Pinkie by the muzzle. “Do you see that you can’t just wish things away?” Pinkie simply whimpered.
“Well, let’s continue with your lesson.” She said, throwing Pinkie down to the ground.
“Tw-Twilight...stop…” Pinkie Pie begged.
“Oh I’m afraid that I can’t just stop in the middle of this. I am trying to teach you something. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t actually teach my student?” She said as she picked up a few bookcases that were in the room. “Here, you will need some books for this lesson.”
Twilight dropped the bookcase on top of Pinkie’s hooves, preventing her from not only getting up, but from ever being able to walk again. Pinkie couldn’t even speak, for the pain was too intense. She made horrid noises, and inaudible attempts at words.
“Well, now that I have made sure that you aren’t going to be running away, we can finish up.”
As Pinkie was laying in a pool of her own blood, still crying and shrieking, Twilight decided to step back a bit. “This spell is going to need some room.”
Twilight’s horn began glowing with immense power. Pinkie turned her head to look at a pony that was once her friend. Just as Pinkie was about to open her mouth, Twilight launched a giant bolt of electricity, blowing the entire area up, including a little section of the upper floor.
“Oh Pinkie, why do I always have to clean up your messes for you. It’s really starting to get old.” Twilight laughed, beginning to put the bookcases where they belong. “How am I going to fix the floor though?”
After a good 5 hours, she managed to rebuild the little bits of floor that the explosion sheared off. And 3 hours of cleaning got rid of all the debris. “There, now you can’t even tell anything happened here.” Twilight said as she looked around. “I guess I should just lay around here for a bit.”
2 hours had passed before Twilight decided to wake up. “Hmm, where’s Pinkie? She was over here this morning, wasn’t she?” She asked herself. She started thinking about what her pink-coated friend said earlier, and she then froze up.
“O-oh y-yeah…..r-r-right…” Twilight stuttered, tears coming to her eyes. “I w-wond-der if Applejack knows what happened…”
She decided to go see Applejack, though she worried about how Applejack was feeling about the deaths of their four great friends. Continuing to walk until she reached the open gate of Sweet Apple Acres. She stopped and looked over at an apple tree to see her friend bucking a tree and collecting the apples, as if nothing was wrong. ‘Does she really think that working on the farm is that important right now?’ she thought to herself.
“Hey Applejack!” Twilight yelled.
“Well howdy there, sugarcube! What brings you ‘round here?” Applejack replied, smiling as she trotted over to her friend. She began slowing down when she was close enough to see Twilights sad expression. “Are you alright?”
“Of course I’m not alright. How could I be. More importantly, how are you alright!” Twilight shot back.
“Whoa there, Twi. Settle down and tell me what’s goin’ on here”
“Wait, y-you don’t know what happened?”
“No. Is something wrong with Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked. Twilight burst into tears
“Yes...something horrible has happened to them. Even Spike, Rarity, and probably Pinkie Pie have…” She broke down at that point, unable to force the two dreaded words that will haunt her forever. “They’re dead!”
Applejack froze, losing her worried expression and exchanged it for an expression of disbelief. “No, that can’t be true,Twi. It just can’t be.”
“It’s true, Applejack. I don’t want to believe it either, but it’s true.”
“B-But how? What did they do?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that someone had killed them.”
“We have to do something Twilight. What if the killer comes for us next?’
“I’m not sure. How would we figure out who it was? No pony is just going around saying ‘hey everypony! I just killed a few people!’, you know.”
“Well, I guess I should finish up the work here on the farm. Could’ya help me a bit with everything?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, I can do that.” Twilight replied.
They began taking the apples from trees, slowly but surely. After the news about the deaths of her friends, Applejack could barely buck the trees. Twilight was using her levitation spell to strip the apples from multiple trees at once, obviously the more efficient process.
It had taken them 3 hours to finish, but they did it. “So what do we do now?” Applejack asked. Twilight twitched a bit as she turned her head to look at Applejack.
“I have no idea. Maybe we should go and check their houses for something that might help us find out who killed them.”
“Sure Twi, sounds good t’me” Applejack replied.
“Haha, are you serious right now? Do you really think that going to their houses would help?” Laughed Twilight. “You must be kidding me!”
“What d’ya mean, Twilight? What else would we be able to do?”
“Oh, don’t worry about trying to find the killer, Applejack. You should be more worried about yourself at this point.”
“You can’t tell me not to look for the killer. Whoever it was is really going to get what’s coming to ‘em. When i figure out who it was, I’m going to find ‘em and make ‘em pay.”
“Oh really? Is that what you think?” Twilight said, grinning as she stared at her friend.
“Of course, Twilight. You can’t say that the killer had a good reason to kill them. They were the greatest ponies in Equestria!” Applejack shot back.
“Well what if I told you that they were killed for a good reason?”
“Don’t you even DARE side with a killer!” Applejack screamed.
“Oh, while we’re on the topic, it would only be fair for me to tell you that I’m actually the one who disposed of those pitiful mares.”
“No. That ain’t possible. And what do you mean by ‘fair?’”
“Come on, Applejack, you should know what I mean. Since you know what happened and who did it, I can’t let you live. You will end up telling everyone, and I can’t let that happen. You’re all about honesty, isn’t that right?” Twilight chuckled.
“Sure is, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight.” Applejack replied, now bracing herself for any sort of magic attack.
“I know that, don’t worry. You see, honesty was always your strongest quality. But what you don’t realize is that honesty is also your strongest weakness.”
“What exactly do ya mean by that, Twilight?”
“You put your trust into everyone and you make sure you always tell the truth to them. Though it may be a great quality to have, it is also a horrible detriment to you. You will believe anyone and you put your trust into them. And since you always tell the truth, people can just use you to find things out about other people, including things that are meant to be kept secret. This is what has lead to your impending downfall.”
“Well I’m not goin’ down without a fight, Twilight” Applejack said.
“Oh I know that. Neither did Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said with a grin. Once Twilight said that, Applejack was enraged. She darted forward towards the unicorn in front of her.
“All of you do the same thing at the beginning of a fight. It’s starting to get old.”
Applejack jumped up when she got close enough to thrust her hoof at Twilight’s face, though it wasn’t effective. Twilight simply side-stepped and pushed Applejacks hoof to the opposite side. Applejack was prepared for that, as she spun a bit and bucked Twilight in the chest, throwing her a few feet before she fell flat on the ground.
“Hah, I forgot about that. Well done. Now it’s my turn.”
Twilight jumped up to her feet and shot a few bolts of magic at Applejack, who dodged each one and let them hit the tree behind her. Getting mad now, Twilight used her levitation spell to throw an apple basket at Applejack, including the apples inside it. While Applejack was trying to dodge all of the apples getting thrown at her, Twilight took the opportunity to shoot a bolt of magic at her. Applejack saw it and was able to roll out of the way. She picked up a rope from the ground and tried to lasso Twilight up. The rope was stopped in the air by Twilight’s magic and instead of wrapping her up, she tied it around Applejack’s hooves, preventing her from running around.
“Well would you look at that, I caught you with your own rope. How sad.” Twilight laughed.
“Get this rope off’a me, now!” Applejack yelled.
“And why would I do that? I can’t just let you go.”
“If ya’ don’t let me go, I’ll get out myself, and take you down with the same rope.” Applejack said, threatening the unicorn that she once called a friend.
“Go ahead, try. I’ll wait. It’s not like I’m in a rush to get going. I mean, there isn’t anypony left that I need to kill, is there?”
“W-When I get outta this, I’m gonna kill you.”
“Oh? DO you really think so? Please, do try.”
“Oh, you’re dead now…” Applejack said.
“Oh no! A tied up mare is threatening to kill me! What ever shall I d-Ahh!”
Twilight was cut off by a quick smash of a hoof to the back of her head while she was turned around. Applejack quickly pinned Twilight down on her back and started raining down strikes on Twilight’s face, tears flowing as she did it.
“What’s wrong?,” Twilight said between hits, “Can’t stand hitting one of your best friends?”
“Y-You’re not my friend,” Applejack replied, “not anymore.”
“Oh, that just breaks my heart. What do you think Applebloom is thinking as she sees this?”
Applejack froze for a second and looked around, checking for Applebloom. When she was done, she looked back down at Twilight and was met with a short burst of fire.
“Ahh!” Applejack screamed, covering her face with her hooves.
“Hah, you are way too easy to distract. Like I said, your trust in what others say is your downfall.”
Applejack tried to speak, but words were inaudible over her horrid screams of agony. she took her hooves off of her head for a quick second to look at Twilight, but that was one of her worst mistakes yet. As she lifted her hooves, Twilight made a bright flash with her horn, temporarily blinding the poor mare.
While the blinded mare stumbled around in an attempt to get away, Twilight prepared a special spell for her.
“You know, I’ve used many spells lately, from raw magic bolts all the way to lightning, but this is the first time that I’ve ever tried conjuring up a pool of acid.” Twilight chuckled as she concentrated on the ground behind the defenseless mare.
Twilight wasted no time to cast her spell. As she began casting it, the ground was slowly being cut into to make room for the acid that would soon fill its place. The hole was no more than 5 feet deep before the bubbling neon green liquid began filling it.
“Your bath is ready for you, Applejack. Just take a few more steps backwards.”
As Applejack heard her say that, she stopped. She didn’t know which way was backwards and didn’t want to take the risk of walking the wrong way. “No! I’m gonna stay right here! If I don’t move, you can’t do nothin’.” Applejack said, trying to sound confident.
“Oh, so you’re going to play THAT game, are you?” Twilight joked. “We’ll see who gets the last laugh.”
Twilight walked over to a basket of apples and picked some of them up.
“Ahh!” Applejack screamed once she was hit by one, knocking her back a step.
“You know, Applejack, I love playing games. I hope you’re not a sore loser.” Twilight said, laughing as she toyed with the poor mare.
Twilight threw two more apples at Applejack, who was now a single step away from falling into the pool of acid. But something was happening now, and Twilight could tell. The blindness was starting to wear off. She took a step forward now, which worried Twilight, who threw another apple at her.
“Oh no, you’re not getting away. Not after all of this.” Twilight said, angry at what is happening. She lifted the tree that she had hit with magic earlier, since it was nearly cut in half already, and tossed it at Applejack. This startled her and she had no choice but to walk backwards.
“AHH! Get me out!!! Please!!! stop this!!”
Applejack tried to hold the side of the pool, but it was to no avail. Twilight stood near the pool, just out of the reach of the mare inside it, laughing at what she watched.
“Please!! help me!! Somepony!! HELP!!!!”
The mare’s screams went on for no more than 2 minutes, for the acid had reached her stomach and could no longer utter anymore words. You could hear her shrieks of pain as her flesh was shredded from her bones, leaving nothing behind. Twilight watched in awe, refusing to blink so she didn’t miss anything. She watched as the acid slowly worked its way to Applejacks chest. At that point, she let go of the side, too weak to continue holding on. Twilight came over to the very edge of the pool now, determined to be the last thing the poor mare sees before she dies. The acid took no time at all to eat through the skin on her hooves, but in one last act of desperation and with the last bit of strength she had, she smacked the acid, throwing drops of it onto Twilight’s side.
“Well, we can’t just leave this mess lying around, now can we?” Twilight said to herself, as she began casting some sort of spell. A ball of magic flew into the pool of acid and it began to drain. Once it had finished, she used a spell to drop dirt into the pit that was left, and a different one to cause grass to regrow in that area instantly.
“Good, now I guess I head home. All of the pitiful excuses for ponies have been disposed of. Now all that’s left is to sleep it off, hahahaha!” Twilight cackled, throwing her head back in joy as she began walking back into Ponyville. And, as she passed under the gateway of Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom and Granny Smith poke their heads out of the barn doors, watching in fear as the purple unicorn trotted away from the fields that were filled with smiles and happiness no more than two hours ago.
“Ah, it feels good to be home.” Twilight sighed, “without being tackled by a crazy mare.”
She decided to read about old tales of Equestria and a bit about magic, of course, for a few hours before making some dinner. “Nothing wrong with a daisy sandwich before going to bed.”
Twilight sat down on her chair and ate her sandwich in peace, something that hasn’t been existent in a few days. It was relieving to be able to sit down in silence and not worry about random outbursts of Pinkie, or the quiet noises of Fluttershy. The constant bragging of Rainbow Dash or the dramatic and self-conscious stories from Rarity. Not even the constant talk and agreement of Applejack could bother her tonight. It was utter silence, and Twilight loved it.
“Hmm,” Twilight said curiously as she put her hoof to her cheek and looked it, “A tear? Hah, tears of joy over silence? How nice.”
“What am I going to do now?” She questioned. And with that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Twilight was awoken by the sun shining on her face in the afternoon.
“Ughh, I must have forgotten to close the curtains before I fell asleep last night.” She said as she got up from her bed and walked over to her mirror to brush her mane.
“What the…” the mare started to say as she looked at her left side, “What is that from?”
As she looked closer at what was there, she noticed that her skin was scarred and visible in about 5 little spots. “Where did I go yesterday that could cause marks like that?”
She continued to get ready for the day, and as she did so, she felt sore all over. “Something happened yesterday, but why can’t I remember what it was? I should ask Applejack.
“Hold on a second, I’ll be right there!” She called out.
“A-Alright Twi.” Said the pony that stood behind the door. When she heard the voice, Twilight’s eyes flew wide open and she shuddered.
“T-That sounded like,” Twilight whispered, “Applebloom.”
Twilight’s thoughts were flying now, thinking of the worst situations that she could imagine. ‘Did something happen to Applejack? What about the farm? Is there something that happened to Big Mac or Granny Smith? Did something happen that prevents them from running the farm? Did they lose the farm?!?!’ Twilight was freaking out, but forced herself to calm down. she put her head down and covered it with her hooves until she settled down a bit.
“What happened? Did something happen to Applejack?”
“Whadda you mean!? You know exactly what happened! you were the one that….that…” Applebloom couldn’t speak anymore. Her words word drowned out by her sobs and tears.
“How could you!?” Granny Smith yelled, speaking the words that Applebloom couldn’t.
“I-I” Twilight stuttered.
“No! Don’t even try to make what you did seem ok. Don’t even think about talking to me or Applebloom after what you did!”
“B-but I-”
“Shut up, you foul mare! How dare yo-”
“STOP!” Twilight screamed in misery, “I don’t know what happened! I don’t know why you’re mad and crying! I don’t even have a memory of what happened yesterday!”
“Hah, you can’t be seri-”
“I can’t remember where I got these scars on my side! I don’t remember seeing you two or even Applejack yesterday. In fact, I was just getting ready to come to see her and ask about what happened!” Twilight shouted back, stopping Granny Smith mid sentence.
Twilight stood in silence and watched the two ponies walk away. Once they were out of sight, Twilight began crying and fell to the ground. “What did I do?” She said that over and over again in her head for a few hours, nopony caring as they walked by.
Twilight managed to drag herself into her house and slam the door shut. She dropped onto her bed, soaking it in the tears that have been falling for what seemed to be forever now.
“First it was Fluttershy and Rainbow. Then it was Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie. I mean, I haven’t seen them or anything for too long now to be a coincidence. And now something happened to Applejack. Why else would Applebloom and Granny Smith come to me crying in like that?”
Twilight just laid in her bed for hours on end, falling asleep and waking up randomly, not being able to get her mind off of what has happened. She didn’t move at all. She cried all day and fell asleep for a little bit. Then woke up and started crying again.
She went through that cycle all day, into the night, until she heard another knock on the door. She shot up and was unable to think of anything except one thing. “Is it Granny Smith again? She said she didn’t want to see me in Ponyville anymore. Is that why she is here?”
She ran over to her mirror and fixed her mane so she didn’t look like a mess and went to open the door.
“Hey there Gr…” Twilight started to say, but she stopped when she saw who it was that knocked on the door. Her heart dropped.
“Twilight Sparkle, my beloved student,” Princess Celestia said with a disappointed look on her face, “I have been informed of a certain event recently that happened at Sweet Apple Acres. Would you care to explain?”
“Actually, I don’t know what happened. Granny Smith and Applebloom came over today in tears yelling at me about whatever happened though. I tried to tell them that I have no memory of yesterday.” Twilight replied.
“Well from what I had been told, you had dropped your friend Applejack in a pool of acid that you created.” Celestia said.
“W-What?” She tried to say in between her sobs, “I would never harm my friends, no matter how mad I might have been.”
“Granny Smith and Applebloom said that Applejack attempted to splash acid onto you while she was in it, and was able to get a few drops on your side. Turn please, Twilight.”
“Now, Twilight.” The princess said, getting irritated now.
“Oh my…” Celestia said, shocked at what she saw.
“Princess...something is wrong here, and I need you to believe me,” Twilight began. “All of my friends have died in the last couple days. I have no memory of the days when they died, and when the next day came around, I’d be told that somepony died. I can’t remember anything from yesterday and only knew that Applejack was killed because you just told me. I don’t recall anything from the day that Fluttershy and Rarity died, and I was told about their deaths by Pinkie Pie in the morning. After she told me about their deaths, I blacked out. And when i regained consciousness, I was laying in my bed and I never saw Spike nor Pinkie again. Not to mention that I haven’t seen Rainbow Dash ever since we talked about her tricks that she wanted to show off to the Wonderbolts.”
“This sounds very odd, but one thing is true,” Celestia replied, still trying to think everything over. “All of your friends are dead, and there is proof that fits with the description of the death of Applejack.”
Twilight began to cry, and she knew that she was about to be taken away to the dungeon of Canterlot. Before she was thrown in there until her trial, she had to ask for one thing.
“You are going to take me away to Canterlot aren’t you?” Twilight asked for reassurance.
“I’m afraid so, Twilight.” Princess Celestia said sadly.
“Well, I only ask for one thing. May I please attend the burials of my poor friends?” Twilight asked, holding back her tears as much as she could. Not very successfully though, as the tears were flowing down her cheeks like rivers.
“Of course. I will make sure that you are granted permission for that. The burial is tomorrow, but some of the bodies aren’t there. We gathered some of their belongings and photos and placed them in their coffins. I will leave you here tonight and will bring you back to Canterlot tomorrow when you are prepared to leave the burial.”
“Accused of murdering my closest friends? How could I ever do that?” She looked at her side again. “But, the story matches with my scars. That explains why Granny Smith and Applebloom were mad at me and why they were crying. But what about the others?”
“Hello everypony. We are standing here today to bring peace to 5 beloved ponies and an unforgettable dragon who all died recently. They will never be forgotten, and they will live on in our hearts. We are all indebted to them for their extraordinary feats that saved Equestria from danger time and time again. I think that I speak for us all when I say that Equestria will never be the same without them.” Celestia spoke as the coffins were walked over to the corresponding graves and gently placed into them.
“I’m sorry to all of Equestria for what has happened to my dear friends. I don’t know what happened to them, and the worst thing for me is that I am being told it was because of me. I know all of you hate me now, and I can’t blame you. I would be too, and I am very sorry for any caused by me. I honestly don’t have memory of anything from the last few days, but I promise that if I did any of those things, you won’t need to worry about them happening anymore. I will be leaving Ponyville and won’t be seen again here after today has passed.” Tears fell from Twilight’s face as she finished up. “Thank you all, and I’m so very sorry. Goodbye.”
“S-So that’s what happened the last few days?” Twilight said as she continued to stared into the clouds above. “But that still doesn’t answer my question! You just made me remember the things I knew already!”
“Hahahahaha!” Laughed a suspicious voice. “You don’t understand why I showed you all of that?”
“N-No, I d-don’t. Who are you?” Twilight hesitated.
“you’ll find out soon enough. But first, I’ll explain why I replayed those memories in your head. Don’t you think it was odd how you spontaneously blacked out when you were with your friends and found out they were dead when you woke up?” The voice persisted.
“Yeah, I do.” Twilight replied.
“I want you to think of things that can cause someone to black out for no reason.”
“I...I don’t know. Just tell me who you are!” Twilight yelled.
“Now now, silly mare, I told you that you’ll find out soon. Now think harder, Twilight. I know you’re a very smart mare.” The voice said.
Twilight stood there trying to think about what can cause blackouts. ‘I’m not deathly ill, so that’s out of the question. I haven’t suffered a severe blow to the head before the blackouts began, so that’s out too. The only other thing that I can think of is...’ And then it hit her. There is only one thing that it could be possible when looking at what has happened.
“T-The only things that it could be are a spell casted on me each time I blacked out.” She said.
“Hah, well done, Twilight. Now, all that’s left is for you to tell me one thing. Who am I?” The voice chuckled.
She thought about what kinds of beings were mentioned in that black bound book, and then she remembered something she read near the last page. “Are you,Shadowcast?” She asked, scared for the reply.
“Hahaha, wow, you are more impressive than I thought. Yes, I am Shadowcast, the bringer of despair. I had been locked away for the longest time, but someone was foolish enough to open up my book and cast the spell that unbound me from that prison of a book and brought me into Equestria. I wonder who that was?” He laughed.
“So, you’re like Discord. A draconequus that can easily be sent back into your tomb with a bit of magic.” Twilight said confidently.
“Oh, not at all. You see, I am a pony, just like you. The difference between you and I is that I know spells beyond your capability. Now, before we move on, let me free myself from you.” Shadow replied.
“What do you m-” Twilight began saying, but was cut off from a bright violet light radiating from her.
She stood in place wondering what was going on. After a moment, she saw a black fog begin to come out of her chest. She jumped backwards and fell to the ground. Once all of the fog had finished coming out of her chest, she looked up in front of her. She could see the dark fog-like substance begin to come together and form something that resembled the silhouette of an alicorn. After about a minute, she heard the voice again.
“Ahhh, it feels great to be free again.” Shadowcast said, his body beginning to come into view now.
As Twilight watched him come closer, she was able to see him better, even with the torrential rain caused by the storm. Shadow, obviously a very powerful alicorn, had a navy blue coat with strips of red on his legs and face, almost as if they were to resemble scars. His eyes resembled those of a cats. they had a bright neon green color which were practically glowing in the darkness. He had a mane that was black with red near the edge of it. His tail was black in the center, bordered with a deep red as well. The horns on his head told Twilight that he was not a pony in nature. No, he was more like a monster. An evil spirit that was forced into a pony-like form. He wore a black overcoat as well. Twilight knew right away that she wasn’t being lied to anymore. This wasn’t made up. Everything that has happened actually did happen. Her friends were killed by her. Everything was true, except it wasn’t actually her that did the killing. It was Shadowcast who was the real culprit in Ponyville.
“I suppose that you’re wondering why you blacked out and why you lost your memory, correct?”
“Yes, yes I am.” Twilight responded.
“Well, here’s how things work. You see, when you were nonchalantly casting spells as you read that book, you had casted one that unbound me from that book. The book used to be in a locked and guarded section in Celestia’s quarters in the Canterlot Castle. She gave it to you but, if I recall it correctly, she specifically told you not to cast spells that you found in that book. Anyhow, once you casted that spell and I was released, I phased into your body without your knowledge. Now to why you kept blacking out when you were with your friends. While I am in your body, I can control you by using my power to get to your brain and merge my own with it, shutting yours down and temporarily replacing it with mine. You were still alive and your body still worked, but your brain wasn’t there. This allowed me to control your body as if it were mine. Then, when I was finished with those pitiful mares each time, I simply separated from it, which reconnected your brain with the rest of your body, and you regained consciousness. You don’t have memory of what happened during the blackouts because you practically weren’t even there.”
Tears fell from Twilight’s eyes. “But, why? Why them? What did they do to you?”
“Hah, isn’t that a bit obvious?” He laughed as he paced back and forth.
“Did they do something to you?”
“Oh no, my dear. It’s what they would have done.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Don’t you get it, Twilight? You and your friends control the elements of harmony. Those elements are capable of banishing practically all evil from of Equestria. Now my good friend Discord was stupid enough to give you a chance to acquire the elements of harmony when he stole them from you. I, on the other hand, completely destroyed the elements by getting rid of their “owners”, if you will. So, with your precious little friends out of the picture, you can’t banish me back to that book. Hah, you can’t prevent me from doing anything. I'll be heading for Canterlot soon and you won't be able to do anything to stop me.” He said with a smile. Twilight stood in shock as he explained everything to her.
“Well, I think that I’ll get this show on the road then. I’m off to Canterlot now. You won’t be a big issue in your current state of despair.”
And with that, Shadow began walking away. But before he got too far, Twilight yelled to him.
“You won’t be getting off that easily. You may have controlled me and my mind for a while, but I still remember the spells that I had read about.”
“Surely you don’t actually think that you can beat me.”
“Maybe I can’t, but I have to try. Not for me, but for my friends.”
“Hah, you ponies and all of this talk about friends. Who cares about other people. That is your horrible flaw that leaves you vulnerable to the smallest of things. Your loyalty to each other that can easily be faked by the person that claims to be your friends. I could sit here and say that I am your friend if I wanted to. All of you put too much trust in other people, which helps me greatly Hell, if it wasn’t for your close association with those 5 friends of yours, you wouldn’t have been so affected by their deaths. Now since you were friends, it’s a totally different st-”
“Enough talk you horrible excuse for an alicorn. I’m tired of your voice, and it’s time you learned what true power is, because you obviously have no idea what a powerful unicorn can actually do. You have little spells that control other people, but that won’t help you if you don’t have the time to cast it.”
“So, what are you trying to say? Are you challenging me?” He said with a smirk.
“Let’s get this over with. And don’t worry, I’ll ensure that your death as painful as possible.” Twilight replied.
They stood across from each other, unmoved. Anger was flowing through Twilight as she stared at Shadow’s smirk. He made no effort to charge at him, so Twilight decided to shoot a simple bolt of magic at him. He casted a quick spell that turned his body into a fog, allowing the bolt to just pass through without harming him. After, he reverted back to his solidified self.
“It’s not going to be that easy.” Shadow laughed.
Shadowcast felt it was his turn to cast, and he didn't hold back. His horn had become engulfed in dark magic as he started to cast it. It was a spell unlike any other that Twilight had ever seen. A shadow-looking cloud started coming from his horn, but it was forming something. After a minute, she realized what it was. It was a thick cloud of poison. Zecora had told Twilight about this kind of magic long ago, but she never believed it to be true.
After Twilight was done staring at the poisonous cloud of gas, she casted a spell of her own. She conjured up a strong magic shield, just in time for the gas to hit it and disappear.
"Not many people are able to defend against that attack. Well done. It's a shame that I have to kill such a capable unicorn."
"You aren't going to be able to kill me. You may have killed my friends, but my power only grew stronger because of that." Twilight replied.
"Well, enough of this petty talk. You can say that you will beat me all you want, but you don't have a chance against me. I am a powerful spirit. I am literally the embodiment of misery and death. How do you expe-"
Twilight fired a quick bolt of lightning at him. "Shut up and die, would you? You killed my friends. You destroyed my world. You've destroyed all that I have. Now, it's my turn to ruin yours."
And with that, Twilight decided to launch one of the shovels laying on the ground at him. He retaliated by firing a dark blast of magic, destroying the shovel on its way towards Twilight. She dove to the side to evade the blast, though it cut the end of her tail. Once she got to her feet, she began to speak.
"I can't win using the magic I knew before. But, I can use the spells I learned from that book."
"Hah, yeah, fight a dark spirit with dark magic. That'll work"
Twilight started casting the fire spell she learned before while Shadow stood laughing. As he put his head down after his maniacal laughter had come to a halt, he was greeted by a wall of fire.
"Ahh!" Shadow yelled
"So, what were you saying about dark magic?"
Once the fire on his mane had been put out, he stopped his horrid shouts of pain.
"You see, Shadow, your theory has one major issue. You believed that dark magic doesn't affect you because no one has casted against you. When the dark magic hits your body, it prevents your body from displacing it. Regular magic is easily overpowered by dark magic, so since your body is covered in it, the magic is pushed out of the way. Your body is solid and you forgot about that. And now that I have gotten rid of the problem of hitting you, we can truly fight."
Shadowcast stood in shock. He has always believed that he was untouchable.
"Well, just because you can hit me doesn't mean you are more powerful than I will just have to kill quicker instead of having fun with it."
He began charging towards Twilight as fast as he could, but she was able to get a blast of dark magic out in time, dropping him to the ground.
"Well, I'm tired of you now," Shadow said, using levitation to lift Twilight off the ground, "let's put you down for good."
"No!" She screamed. She casted a lazer-like beam of magic at him, forcing him to put her back on the ground.
With that, she fired magic like a machine gun, listening to each one hit his body and the horrid screams. Shadow dropped, weakened and incapable of fighting back now. She walked over to him.
"Well," shadow began, "you going to kill me or what?"
"No." Twilight replied. "You're going to live. But not here. You're going to be living in the dungeon in Canterlot, guarded by some guards trained by Celestia after I talk with her."
"Hah, and when I escape?" He laughed.
"If you escape," Twilight said as she stared into down at him, "I'll deal with you myself."
A few guards came rushing over to the body and carried him to the carriage that they arrived in moments ago, for they were originally planning on taking Twilight away.
Twilight watched as Shadow was flown to Canterlot to be thrown into the dungeons for eternity. But even with it all over, her going home and Shadow being taken away, she was depressed. Her friends are all dead now, and their blood is on her hooves. One thing she will never forget though, is the final words from that dieing stallion. 'And when I escape?'. She shivered in her bed when the thought came to mind.
“The dungeon is impenetrable, let alone Celestia is there.” Twilight laughed.
And with that, she fell asleep in her silent, empty house, in the silent, empty town of Ponyville. The town that lost its guardians, happiness, and of course, the 5 mares and the 1 dragon that made the town worth living in.