Hope's Final Words

Hopes Final Words

Fanfiction by: Dddrgn

PART 1: It all Begins...

Darkness... Cold... Twilight Sparkle sprinted as quickly as she could, the pitch black air blinding. As she ran, Twilight couldn't help but wonder why she was running, but a fear she could not explain crept over her skin, compelling her to run. The faster Twilight went, the more she felt the need to run. Faster, faster she ran into the nothing, the blank, the black. Suddenly a joy filled her, she LOVED it, the fear was amazing! The fear was like a drug that she could never let go of.

"What is this place..." whispered the pony in a still voice. Twilight took a deep breath of the pitch air, then nothing...

"T..w.willliiighttttt...". Spike's voice echoed loudly in Twilight's ear. The noise began to clear as she slowly blinked open her eyes.

"Twilight!!! Are you okay?". Twilight Sparkle stiffly rose from her bed, eyes wide and unblinking. What was that? "Twilight?" A confused Spike collected himself from being thrown on the floor from the bed. Twilight entered an extremely dusty corner of her library, staring with envy at the

Crimson and black books sitting on the shelves, never removed since they had first been placed.

"What are you doing twilight?!" Exclaimed Spike. "You told me that we can NEVER touch those books, Princess Celestia wanted you to have them, but not to actually READ them!" Twilight Turned to Spike, her horn glowing an eery, black glow. Spike lifted into the air and was tossed across the room, and the dragon let out a scream. In a cold, monotonous voice, Twilight chuckled

"I'm busy Spike, do you even know what kind of power these books hold? The only reason Princess Celestia doesn't want me to read them is so I WON'T be as powerful as she is! She want's all the power for herself! She has probably read these books hundreds of times. You know why? Because she wants complete power! I'll show her!" Spike Struggled to his feet again, bruised from the powerful

throw.

"What is wrong with you Twilight! You've never doubted the Princess even once! She watches out for us!"

"let's just say I see more... clearly now, Spike..." Said Twilight with a slight grin.

Twilight turned back to the grim book, and Spike scrambled to the exit, slipping out the door. Once outside, Spike looked to the floor, worried.

"What is going on with her? I need to talk to someone, and quick!" Sprinting as quickly as he possibly could, Spike moved with purpose, ignoring passing shadows. Something needed to be done, and Spike knew just the pony to talk to.  An enormous boom erupted from the door, rapidly and hectically repeating.

"Oh who could that be at this hour?" muttered Rarity. She slowly crept out of bed, throwing on an elegant purple robe, and headed towards the door.

"Spike!?" she exclaimed in surprise as she cracked open the door.

"Rarity, Rarity, Somethings wrong with Twilight! I need you right now!" Spike Screamed, throwing himself on the ground.

"Can't it wait until morning? I need my beauty sleep if I want to look divine in the morning!" came the reply.

"But rarity, it's 9:00 in the morning! And Twilight isn't acting herself! Please come help me!"

"She probably just has a cold" groaned Rarity, "she will be fine after a day or two in bed."

"NO NO NO, She's not sick rarity! please come!"

"Alright already!" muttered Rarity, "But I assure you that nothing is wrong!" Spike grabbed Rarity by the hoof and dragged her back to the library, running up to the window.

"See, look!" whispered Spike, wiping fog off the window with his hand. Rarity glared through the window, watching Twilight focused, putting everything into a large crimson and black book.

"Twilight is always reading like that Spike" Yawned Rarity "Don't worry, she's just studying her magic like she does every day".

"But Rar-" Spike pleaded, but Rarity had already began to head home. "But... I thought that her, the most beautiful pony of them all would know what to do!" Said spike. "oh well, I'm sure that Applejack will know what to do!"

"Applejack!!!! Applejack!!!" Echoed Spike's voice through the orchard. "What does that li'l dragon want now?" muttered Applejack, just finishing collecting apples after working all night.

"APPLEJACK!!" Came Spike's voice even louder.

"Ah'm right here Spike" Applejack said calmly from behind him. Spike Shot into the air and with lighting speed ran behind a tree.

"Keep your head on Sugarcube, It's just me, now what is it that you want?" Applejack questioned.

"Twilight has gone crazy and is reading this HUGE red book that Princess Celestia told her to never read ever, and She's acting all creepy, and she's not being herself, please come and help her!" Spike gasped.

"whoa whoa, hold your horses Spike, I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation for this". "No, you wan't listen to me applejack!" came Spike's response.

"No Spike, you listen to me! I wan't you to go home and talk to Twilight, see what's going on. There has to be a good reason for whatever it is that she's doing, alright?"

"But-"

"no buts, go home" Applejack said, entering her barn sleepily. "Good night" The door slammed shut loudly, inches from spike's face.

"Seriously?!" Spike exclaimed "Why won't anypony listen to me?" he wondered aloud to himself. Lowering his head, Spike began walking slowly away from AppleJacks' barn,

trying to find out what to do. After a few minutes of walking, it hit him.

"Pinkie Pie will believe me, just like when she thought we all hated her!" Quickening his pace, he made a path straight to SugarCube Corner, hoping Pinkie would be awake. Spike slammed the door open, and Pinkie turned to him with wide eyes, a tray of cupcakes in her hooves.

"HEY SPIKE HOW'S IT GOING?!?" she yelled loudly "Want to try one of my cupcakes?? I made them with a secret ingredient!"

"Not now Pinkie, something's wrong with Twilight!" Spike explained. "She is reading this book that Celestia told her not too, and she won't listen to me and is tlaking funny and..." Spike continued. "Oooh really?" Pinkie asked "Something sounds fishy!? Maybe she has been possessed by a ghost, I hear ghosts are mean little things, taking over people and making them do weird stuff... OOOOOR maybe she tried eating those cupcakes that AppleJack made, those were baked bads! Sounds suspicous, let's go check it out!" Pinkie Sprinted out the door as fast as her hooves would take her, and Spike quickly jumped on her back.

"Off to the treebrary!" Spike exclaimed. Upon arriving at the treebrary, the duo creeped up to the window, wiping frost off the glass. Inside, lay the black book, but Twilight was nowhere to be found. It was as if the entire treebrary had been redecorated, all over the room were strange, magical looking items that Spike had never seen before. Suddenly, twilight came into view, her her eyes blood red instead of Purple. She was darker looking than before, purple, yet somehow black at the same time, and her pupils had been reduced to black snake-like slits.

"hmmm... just as I though!" Pinkie said. "She probably ate those cupcakes, and they TURNED HER EVIL!"

"I don't know what happened" Spike replied "But she is definitely not acting normal" They crept around the treebrary, hoping to find a way to sneak in without being noticed.

"oooh yeah, good thing I brought this!" Pinkie whispered as she pulled out a small trampoline. "Why did you bring that?" spike asked.

"Oh, well I thought after we were done being detectives, we could play trampoline! I just love trampolines!” Came the reply as pinkie hopped onto the trampoline and started hopping, eventually silently landing on the balcony.

"now you try!" she yelled to Spike, her voice echoing loudly. Pinkie watched as Spike pulled himself onto the small trampoline and began bouncing up and down, gaining height with each jump. After a few seconds of jumping, Spike managed to land next to Pinkie in a pile, crashing into the floor. "Silly Spike, your supposed to land ON your feet, not under them!" Pinkie giggled as Spike scrambled to stand up again.

"now let's see what Twilight is up too..." Spike whispered, crouching near the window. Pinkie tiptoed on her hind legs towards the window, eyes open wide. This was Pinkie's idea of a good detective game! Spying on people and sneaking around all night! As they leered through the window, twilight walked into the main room of the treebrary, right into their view. Hidden in the shadows, Pinkie and Spike were completely hidden to the normal eye, but they weren't sure if Twilight's eyes were normal anymore, the Red slits that they had become suggested otherwise. Twilight Slowly set the Red book down on a pedestal, as if the book was a baby that she was gently setting to sleep. She was careful with every move, making sure absolutely nothing could happen to the book. It sat in it's place, eerily different than the rest of it's surroundings. Twilight took a step back from the book, and her horn started to glow a Blood red, her eyes squinting downwards, focused but wild, and her mouth started moving as if she was chanting a lullaby. Suddenly, with a flash, Twilight had disappeared, leaving Spike and Pinkie glaring, mouths open wide.

What had they gotten into.

Part 2: Nightmare Moon's Awakening

Twilight reappeared just outside of Canterlot, the night breeze flowing through her mane and down her spine. She took a deep breath of the dew flavored air, the excitement stinging her from the inside out. This was it, what her entire plan depended on. Twilight took a small moment to make sure her mane was perfect and that she was ready. If this didn't work, her entire plan failed.

Each step that she took echoed silently through the empty streets of Canterlot. Twilight had picked the perfect night for this mission, nobody would come out tonight, they were all too busy recovering from the Grand Galloping Gala the previous night. The city was so quiet that you could hear the slightest breath, the smallest gasp. Twilight slowly made her way towards the large glimmering castle that stood before her... Somewhere in there was her target, and she would not let it slip away from her. It was too crucial to her mission.

Using a basic illusion spell that wouldn't fool a filly during the day, she managed to slip her way inside the enormous castle, her new senses driving her mad. Ever since what she thought of as "the opening", Twilight had learned that she possessed extreme senses of smell, sight, and hearing. Even a butterfly's wings sounded like the roar of a dragon when she wanted it to.

She made her way up the stairs, down a memorized path. She didn't have any doubt to where she needed to go. After what seemed like hours even though it was less than minutes, she reached her destination. A large wooden door, with a moon seemingly embedded into the grain stood before her. Before the opening, she would have stopped to behold the door, but that was a waste of her time now. The door squeaked open, revealing the large room before her. Moonlight dimly lit the room with a faint, eery glow.

Everything seemed like a dream, a bit unreal even within its own reality. Against the far wall lay a small bed, supporting a tiny figure under it's pastel blue covers. Twilight's eyes narrowed sweetly as she slid gracefully towards Luna, this would be perfect.

As Twilight neared, Luna began to stir, rising up from her bed. She turned and saw Twilight immediately, and she began to back away.

"What are you doing here... Twilight Sparkle?" she muttered. Twilight closed in on luna gently, "Just enjoying the view... the moon is very beautiful tonight you know..." Twilight walked a small circle around Luna, examining her from head to toe. She was a beautiful pony, it was such a shame she had to do this. Luna shivered as she stood, helpless, being homed in on by the larger pony, her lip quivering with fear and her eyes downcast.

"No need to be afraid, Luna," Twilight said soothingly, her voice like a harp. "Things are going to be alright as long as you don't fear." She nuzzled Luna softly as she circled, always getting closer and closer.

"Bu-b...buu...but..." The small pony managed to whisper, suddenly beginning to sob.

"Now, now," Twilight said softly, "See, this is why I am here Luna, to give you back everything you had". Twilight calmly kissed Luna on the cheek, wrapping her hooves around the smaller pony. " You see, you've lost everything. Your sister controls both the sun and your beautiful moon! What kind of world is this where you can't even control your own moon?"

Luna's eyes gave some recognition to what Twilight was saying, now following her intently. Twilight slowly lay Luna back down on the small turquoise bed, and lay next to her, stroking her soft, sleek mane.

"Now, we wouldn't want you to let your sister keep that, would we? She just wants all the power; she doesn't care about either one of us." Luna began to respond, but Twilight cut her off . "No... don't worry about anything. I will take care of it all."

Luna's eyes glimmered, staring deeply into Twilight's. Luna leaned in and kissed Twilight passionately, her head spinning from the thought of what was going on. Ideas planted silently by Twilight swirled in Luna's head, spinning into a web.

Twilight broke the kiss first, looking into Luna's Dreamy eyes. Luna was ready.

"Luna, Celestia wants to take away everything you have, she thinks she is better than you. I am going to put an end to this, I am going to restore you to your previous self, and I will give you all the power in the world. Everything will be yours for the taking." Luna curled close to Twilight, oblivious to what was really going on. Wrapping her hooves around Luna, Twilight nibbled Luna's ear, holding her as closely as she could, this prize could not be let go. Twilight kissed Luna one last time, a seemingly endless kiss to Luna.

Releasing Luna, Twilight slid out of the bed and stood up.

"Now, I can give you back everything you once had, all your power will be yours again. What do you say?" Twilight's eyes glinted red faintly, she was running out of time. Standing up, everything still in a haze to her, Luna nodded.

"Do it." Twilight's eyes suddenly flashed, red, glowing brightly, her horn shining a dark light.

Luna began to rise into the air with relative ease, startled by the sudden motion. Three radiant bursts emitted from Twilight's horn, flying in a perfect triangle towards Luna. They began to spin and circle the small pony, becoming increasingly bright until Luna could no longer be seen. Suddenly, the bursts exploded like fireworks, revealing a tall, dark figure where Luna once was. Nightmare moon silently landed on the floor, as if she had been there the entire time.

Nightmare Moon bowed before Twilight elegantly, the only pony who truly deserved her respect.

"Now, how is it that I may serve you, my master?" she said in a voice like silk. Twilight only smirked. It was time.

~ ~

Spike and Pinkie watched through the small window in awe; Twilight had just disappeared with a crimson flash, right before their eyes. Both of them stepped back, unable to speak. Spike shook his head wildly, trying to clear his mind, trying to wrap himself around what had just happened, trying to make some sense of this. Pinkie was still Staring when she shot into the air laughing.

"Well that was one amazing magic trick! Twilight really HAS been practicing! We should head inside and see if we can find her and tell her how amazing that trick was and..." Pinkie rambled on. "PINKIE" Spike interrupted, " that was no magic trick. Something is wrong with Twilight. Didn't you see that, she disappeared in a flash of red! We need to head inside, maybe there will be some hints towards what is going on".

"Okey Dokey Lokey!" Pinkie said excitedly, bouncing through the window as Spike held it open. Entering the upper floor of the treebrary, Spike immediately noticed a dramatic change in the room. What used to be a large room decorated with books covering every wall was now an empty, hollow cave. The walls had been stripped bare, the bookcases missing. Everything Twilight had known and loved, gone, enveloped in her madness. In the middle of the room, the book stood alone on it's pedestal, It's black and Crimson cover somehow shining with an eery glow. Walking slowly towards the large book, Spike and Pinkie couldn't help but cringe at the sight of the thing. It's cover looked as if it was made of dyed skin, and it somehow seemed alive.

As Spike began to pull the book open, he could feel it throbbing, breathing beneath his scales. Flipping open the cover of the book, Spike closed his eyes, looking away quickly, expecting something horrible to pop out of the book. After a few seconds of flinching in silence, Spike squinted open his eyes, half expecting to be greeted with horrors panted all over the dreaded book. Looking down, Spike shrieked with surprise. The book was Blank! rapidly turning each page, he looked for something, anything that could tell him what was going on, but was always given the same answer - nothing. Giggling loudly, pinkie started staring at the book closely.

"Well this is silly!" she exclaimed " Why would anyone want to read a Blank book?! ooooooooh! maybe there's invisible ink! I know just what to do!" the pink pony reached into her book, pulling out a glass of milk, then calmly dumped it onto the book, soaking the pages to a pulp. "hmm... OOOH yeah, the milk was supposed to be used as the INK." the pony muttered, frowning for a quick second. "Oh well! Now can we go play trampoline? huh huh huh?" Spike looked at the happy pony with a flabbergasted expression on his face, his mouth gaping open.

"Why in Celestia's name would you pour Milk on the book?! What would make you ever think that was a good idea?!" he exclaimed loudly, waving his arms rapidly at his sides. "Now we will never know what the book says!" Spike froze as a door opened behind him, making a loud creaking noise as the rusted hinges ground against each other.

The Violet pony stepped into the library, analyzing her surroundings with Her Crimson eyes. She immediately noticed Spike and Pinkie, but gave them no attention, going about her business as if they did not exist. Spike stood completely still, his heart pounding inside his throat, while pinkie hopped circles around him, rambling on about the big adventure they were on and how much fun

she had been having. Spike added together everything that had happened in his mind. None of this made sense, after all that had happened, why would Twilight just ignore them? Why would she be so obsessed with this blank book, and why in Equestria did Twilight look so much darker than normal...

As Spike stood frozen, contemplating what was happening, a strange smell began to spread through the room. It was sweet, yet bitter at the same time. It wrapped around Spike like a blanket, his eyes beginning to droop. It was so inviting, so wonderful, but horrible at the same time. Spike fell to the ground from pure exhaustion, twilight appearing in front of him as his eyes closed.

"Good night Spike" Echoed her voice through Spike's subconscious.

--

"TWILIGHT!" Spike screamed, jumping up from the floor, scales soaked in sweat. Taking a quick look around, Spike found himself in a small cage hanging from the ceiling of Twilight's library, Pinkie in another larger cage to his immediate left, passed out. Spike glared out of the cage downwards, his vision still fuzzy from the involuntary nap he had just taken. Two figures stood directly below him, speaking in hushed tones. One of them he recognized to be twilight, but the other he could not quite make out. It was a tall, very dark pony, all shades of blue and black. He was too far away to hear clearly what they were saying, but he could barely make out their voices, menacing and grim. His mind worked slowly, groggy and not able to process at it's normal speed. After a few minutes of sitting on the cold metal floor of the cage, it hit Spike like a slap on the face.

"Nightmare moon?!" he exclaimed, eyes popping out of his skull. "But she can't be back... Twilight beat her with the elements of harmony. How could she be ba..." Spike didn't finish his sentence, realizing that Twilight had brought her back. The only question was how. Spike watched as the two ponies beneath him were surrounded in a cloud-like, purple fog. It spread throughout the entire room, barely stopping before the bottom of the cage. The fog compressed together in an instant, molding into the shape of a pony, fleshing out quickly. The gas solidified beneath spike, Creating a solid, deep black Unicorn, no features were distinguishable on the figure that Spike could make out, and it stood in the room, emanating an empty coldness from it. Turning to Pinkie's cage, Spike tried to reach over to wake up the pink ponies cage, stretching his small arm as far as it could go, trying to do anything to wake her up.

Despite his efforts, Pinkie lay asleep in her cage, giggling and mumbling to herself. Spike could barely hold himself up, the shock of everything he had just seen making his knees feel like jelly, buckling underneath his weight. Around him, the world began to spin, growing more and more fuzzy until everything was black.

--

Everything was going smoothly. Twilight had temporarily disposed of that pathetic dragon and annoying pink pony, and nothing else would step in her way.

" you see Nightmare, we can summon as many of these as we need" Twilight said, calmly motioning to the featureless black unicorn that stood before them. "With an army of these shadows under our control, we cannot be stopped! You shall have everything you have ever desired, and you shall be rewarded greatly for your work." Nightmare moon stood next to twilight, gazing upon the creature Twilight had just created, and nodded silently.

“ They are near impossible to destroy, as they are made out of pure shadow. Arrows and other conventional weapons will disintegrate on contact” Twilight explained, marveling at her own work. She truly was ingenious... “ Just one of these lovely creatures can easily take down an entire battalion of Royal Guards.” she said, smoothing her mane.

“Of course, my queen” Replied Nightmare Moon, bowing her head slightly. “ But, what about that wretched sister of mine, Celestia?”

“ah...” Twilight said, turning and gently nuzzling Nightmare Moon. “ We will dispose of her in due time, my dear. It will not be a problem, your revenge is guaranteed.” Walking slowly over to a map of Equestria, Twilight paused carefully before speaking. “ First, we have to pay our favorite old town a visit...”

To be continued...