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                    The Twilight Years                     
                   -by Violetta Strings-                   
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                         Prelude.                          
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Prelude.
The world is governed by rules of magic. Fate, it seems, enjoys balance. For everything good in this world there must be something bad, evil, or unsavory to counteract it. For myself, there was Discord. God of Chaos and disharmony.
For Luna, there existed Nightmare Moon, seeder of woe and horrors.
For Cadence, Queen Chrysalis. Who fed off of the very essence of Cadence herself.
Twilight met her foe early, and defeated him as the others had done. With friendship, and selfless sacrifice. King Sombra. Entity of Dark Magic.
Although each being was defeated, by either banishment or, in the case of Discord, reformation, they still exist for balance. Even true harmony can not exist without chaos.
Balance.
Such a curious word. As a concept it is even more so.
Something we all seek to obtain within our life. Balance, order, harmony.
Peace.
We strive for them. All of them. Perhaps we often mistake balance for perfection. Or they are the same. Balance and perfection. Two worlds apart yet similar in many ways.
Magic is also a curious concept. It permeates us and our world. In many ways we are linked together. The lowliest pony and the highest knight.
The pawn and the king go into the same box in the end.
For a time harmony can be achieved by use of magic, but it is always artificial. If achieved this way it has too much of one side, and not enough of the other. Too much darkness, or too much light.
Through our magic we achieved such false harmony. We banished foe after foe in various ways to keep what we... what I... saw as balance intact. My sister and I sought to make the perfect world, where happiness and light ruled over darkness and fear. When she succumbed to the nightmare, it dawned on me, only after thousands of years...
I realised that balance must be achieved through employment of both light and dark.
To achieve perfect balance you must have all aspects. We must embrace and control each of those aspects within ourselves. Perhaps that is why I released Discord.
Alicorn Magic is a subject that has been up for debate for thousands upon thousands of years. Indeed, the mere mention of it may cause debates even among Canterlot’s most prestigious philosophers. Even I do not know of its limits, or the potential within Alicorns to access it.
What I Know are snippets of wisdom and knowledge passed on by my elders. Each of us is born with both light and dark inside us, in the form of an Ember. As we mature, so does this vessel, and within us is the choice to embrace either the Darkness or the Light. If we accept the light, then we become a beacon of hope, like myself.
If we accept the darkness, then we become like a nightmare. Spreading that across the world.
A princess must learn to accept both within themselves. We refer to this time as the 'Kindling'. When darkness dominates the light half of our heart through jealousy, envy, even despair. My own sister almost fell completely to the darkness, and my "niece" refused to even acknowledge it as real for a time. We all made it through in the end, and each emerged stronger than before.
When a normal Unicorn ascends, they shake off the shackles of mortality and death. They become a fixed point in time. They must endure watching mountains crumble, rivers etching deep wrinkles in the Earth, and they must endure it almost alone. Friendship and love must be taken in equal measure with the darkness. They must never falter, nor can they afford to waver from their duty. Be that duty raising the celestial bodies, or ensuring peace by spreading love throughout their empire, or, most recently, controlling the very magical essence of our world.
Yes, I entrusted the latest addition to our ranks with the entire essence of our world. I entrusted her with everything.
With magic, if there is to be balance, one must tread the line between light and dark forces in equal measure, without being seduced by promises of wealth and power. Too many have fallen to those forces, and this time I was determined to not allow it to happen. I carefully devised plan after plan to get my students to see the good in this world before I introduced to them the darkness.
To protect our country, our very world, we needed a unicorn powerful enough to control both the good and the bad in this world.
I endeavored to show her the good first. Friendship and harmony. Even love. I tried to get her to see the light before thrusting her into the darkness.
But it seems, when Darkness comes all at once, it can be overwhelming to even the most devout mind. Like the blackest ocean against a fire's embers. Only one will emerge victorious.
It is only now that I see catharsis can be more powerful than rage. Take that whichever way you will. Pain, intermingled with pleasure, can be the most effective teaching tool. The despair would make the happiness all the sweeter, instead of being crushing and overwhelming in itself.
But this is not my story. My story ended when this one began. My story ended when I almost doomed this world to eternal darkness. Not simply from lack of the sun, but from lack of anything good. The sun, and the moon, and even the stars would have fallen thanks to my incompetence. The only thing that would have existed would have been evil.
No, this is not my story. This is the story of one of my students. One who rose higher than any other and sank so much further. One whom I trusted with the secrets known only to us three Princesses. One whom I loved as a daughter. As a friend.
One who nearly brought the entire world to its knees.
Twilight Sparkle.

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           Magic is not all Cloaks and Rabbits.            
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Magic is not all Cloaks and Rabbits.
On the Subject of Dark Magic.
Dark Magic has been in use for thousands of years, but very rarely has it been documented and studied, since no one under its influence, be it direct or indirect, has lived to tell the tale. Dark Magic can be traced through history to the early days of Equestria, in which several Windigo’s were unintentionally summoned by the three race’s rulers of the time, due to the immense hatred they felt for one another. This form of Magic, it has been theorized, can therefore be used to summon Familiars. Servants of evil that bend—momentarily—to the will of the caster. Until such a time that the contract between them has been “fulfilled”, and the pony responsible for summoning them must either defeat them with conventional magic or be dragged into a demented plain of suffering and pain known as Tartarus, from which all Dark Magic allegedly stems.
Recent studies, supported by the Windigo summoning and various other accounts,  have shown that Dark Magic may only be used and controlled should the caster be of sufficient strength to wield such power, and have sufficient reserves of hatred (or other variations of the colloquially named 'Adverse Emotions') to fuel it. If a Dark Magic spell is not fully intended upon its target, then the spell will fail, and the caster will be rejected from the powers, usually with life-threatening harm coming to them, signifying a spell backfire.
Any attempt to study dark magic spells have either ended this way, or the scientist responsible for studying the magic has almost fallen to the dark powers, and been forced to alter their pursuits via a Royal Recovery Team.
The full repertoire of Dark Magic spells is not yet known, however, pages recovered from an archaeological dig site made reference to “Dark Fire” and “Ember Spear”. These pages also make heavy reference to The Grimoire—a legendary opus of Dark Magic.
Unfortunately, these pages mysteriously went missing almost as soon as they were found, preventing any sort of study, scientific or otherwise..
Further references to this Grimoire can be found in incomplete historical records, recovered from the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters, dating from 1000 years ago. During the war against King Sombra, a book was allegedly found in the initial forays into the castle, before, with his last act of defiance, he buried the Empire beneath the ice with him for 1000 years. The book was taken to the ancient castle, but, since then, has passed out of all historical records, and into legends and myths.
Many adventurers who have attempted to search for it have been met with either gruesome fates, or have simply given up looking.
Dark magic remains the most elusive form of magic in this world, and that is unlikely to change. Without the Grimoire, or even detailed notes on how to control and harness, or even combat against, this form of magic, the world may be forever missing this crucial jigsaw piece of magical theory.
Twilight poured over the pages of the book mercilessly. Seeing if there were any other sections on Dark Magic. Unfortunately, it seems, like all the other books she had read, Dark Magic was a subject only briefly touched on, or skirted around like a taboo subject.
Being a widely shunned, feared, and stigmatized school of Magic she wasn't surprised. Anypony who attempted to learn more about it was swiftly told to abandon their quest. Those who didn't either, well, she didn't like to think about them. History books told enough of their stories anyway.
But, like a disease, curiosity ever gnawed at Twilight's eager mind. Whenever the books teased her about its forbidden nature, or was reduced to a few paragraphs in the Encyclopedia Magica, she felt she needed to know more as to what exactly it entailed.
Not knowing something ate away at her mind like an itch that couldn't be scratched. Having a thirst for knowledge that could't be quenched was akin to her standing in a desert in the summer. No matter how many scientific endeavors she undertook to take her mind off it, no matter how many books on magic she poured through time after time, she would always catch herself wondering about why it wasn't researched more thoroughly.
Twilight always liked to be thorough.
She was tempted to break into Canterlot again, although last time she was met with no resistance from those who discovered her. However, she felt that tomes on Dark Magic, if there indeed were any, would not just be kept in a normal library. She wagered they'd be kept under strict guard, and only those with special permissions or privileges could access them.
Perhaps even only the Royal Sisters.
She sighed and looked over to her parchment and quills. This was the one thing she had hoped not to do. If anything this would only worry her mentor and cause her to ask questions. Questions which Twilight was unsure she could adequately answer.
"Spike!" she called out to her ever-faithful assistant, and soon enough he soon came running.
"Yeah, Twilight?" He stood beside her desk waiting, wearing an apron and wiping his hands with a towel. She couldn't help but smile at the way he always seemed busy.
"I need you to send a letter," she said simply, levitating the scrolls and quills behind hr as she walked over to her writing desk. Spike watched her curiously.
Dear Princess Celestia.
There has been something troubling me for quite some time, and no matter where I search I can not find any information about it. I was hoping you could at least enlighten me. The subject in question is Dark Magic. Ever since Spike defeated Sombra I have become more and more curious as to what it actually is. and how it can affect a pony's mind in such a way. I was also wondering in part about Changeling magic, the way they can change forms at will and do it so convincingly is far more than I have deemed possible with conventional transformation spells.
Hope to hear from you soon, your student,
~Twilight Sparkle.
She re-read the letter four or five times before she had the courage to send it. It wasn't because she feared a reprimand, she feared refusal. She feared restrictions on her pursuit of knowledge. She sought knowledge like a moth seeks light in the darkness, and to have that light rudely extinguished by lack of knowledge was frustrating to say the least.
She picked up the scroll, closing it with a wax seal, before giving it to Spike. The young drake promptly sent it with a bout of green flame, dispersing the parchment into the air. He gave Twilight a smile as he saw her face was one of worry.
“Don’t worry Twilight,” he said gently. “I’m sure the princess will be happy to tell you whatever you want to know.”
As he spoke, Twilight smiled gently and turned to him, flicking out the candlelight with a wisp of magic from her horn, shrouding the room in partial darkness. She walked past her faithful assistant and out of the room, shutting the door behind her. They both walked down the stairs as Twilight spoke.
“I’m just worried that she’ll think I’m turning into some villain or something.” She giggled gently, and spike chuckled back, taking one last look at the room, thinking ow much time he had wasted waiting for Twilight to write the actual letter.
“I don’t think she’ll think that. You’re her best student! The Princess of Magic itself, remember?” he playfully jabbed her in the side. Twilight blushed and shook him off with a hoof.
“You know I don’t like to think of myself as-” She was cut off.
“As anything other than Twilight Sparkle, I know.” he spoke with a sigh. They both walked into the main room of the library, Twilight taking a seat on a simple chair.
“Well I’m still the same pony, right?” she asked, a little too much apprehensiveness working into her voice, memories of the young fillies and colts surrounding her screaming 'Twilight Time' filling her mind.
“Well,” Spike said offhandedly. “Apart from the wing-job.”
“Spike!" she admonished. "Wrong thing to say.”
She would have said more, and he would have had to endure a lecture. Luckily for both of them, their new topic came in the form of dragonfire, and a scroll landing on the floor in front of Twilight.
At first she was hesitant to read it, but after a solid minute of staring at it she picked it up with her magic and broke the seal. It unfurled with agonizing slowness and the words on the page came into focus.
Twilight it began. Never a good sign. No “dearest student” , nor even “princess.”
As you are the Element of Magic, and indeed, a new Princess, it seems prudent to educate you on this matter. I had planned to wait a while before introducing this concept to you, but it appears that your diligence and dedication to your studies has surpassed my expectations as ever.
Come see me right away. As promptly as you are able to  Tonight if possible.
Treat this as a lesson.
And be prepared.
~Princess Celestia.
Twilight wondered at the fragmented way it was written. She knew from experience that Princess Celestia liked to be succinct and even enigmatic when touching on subjects she saw as difficult to broach. But this was a new level even for her. She flipped the parchment over to see if there was anything she missed, but all that was there was the words on the page.
“Well?” Spike asked, bringing her back to the room. “What is it?”
Twilight turned to him and gulped. She didn't know what would have been worse; refusal or acceptance. She managed a weak smile.
“Celestia agreed.”
The train rumbled through a tunnel and she stared out the window, and into the reflected train car. It was a calm night. No clouds were in the sky to obscure the visage of the stars, and the moon offered as much illumination as was needed in the late hours.
The train was mostly unfilled at this hour, as was usual. Not many ponies in Ponyville saw the need to travel to Canterlot at this hour, bar the few that had to be there early for the next morning for reasons that were their own. Few of them began a gossip at what the Princess was doing on the train at this hour, or even at all.
Twilight had seen fit to leave Spike behind to explain to her friends where and why she had left. Besides that reason she had told him, she had a more private reason to leave him behind.
If this was to be a lesson, and the subject matter as sensitive as it was implied to be, the she didn't want anyone else there to witness it.
The train rumbled along inexorably, and time marched on as ever it did. Twilight found herself becoming increasingly nervous as she came closer and closer to the castle-city of Canterlot.
This wasn't her first lesson, but something about the way Celestia had said "be prepared" left her on edge. She shivered, an action that ad little, if anything, to do with the cold atmosphere in the train. It wasn't even the first time she ad been summoned to the castle in such a manner. The last time that happened, though, there hadn't been the implication of her coming alone in the summons. She had had her friends with her that time.
This time she was exposed to worry and doubts that ever gnawed at her.
What if Celestia expected too much of her? What if she was refused if Celestia learnt of her desire to actually learn the spells?
What if she was then turned away and Celestia refused to even broach this subject ever again?
She didn't think she could handle being turned away having come so close to the knowledge she sought.
She leaned back in the seat and attempted to calm herself down. Celestia wouldn't have summoned her to suddenly refuse to teach her. She did say it was a lesson, and that she should be prepared. As such, true to her reputation, she had studied all she could on the subject before boarding the train. She had even packed some referential texts in case there was a test.
She doubted there would be, it was only the first lesson.
The train finally pulled into the station at Canterlot. What surprised her more than the fact that the station was empty, was the presence of a pair of imposing figures half shrouded in darkness. Their size, wings and horn told Twilight that she had been met at the station by the Princesses themselves.
"Twilight Sparkle, so good to see you again," The voice, no doubt, came from Princess Luna, As she stepped into the light she was absent her usual look of stoic coldness, and, instead, wore a comforting smile.
"Good evening, Princess, er, Princesses," Twilight corrected herself quickly as she nodded at the lighter Alicorn standing besides her sister, wearing much the same smile as her sister.
Celestia nodded back, bowing her head a bit lower than was necessary.
Twilight bowed as well, before Celestia rose her hoof to halt her descent.
"Twilight, there's no need for formalities here," she admonished, gently.
Twilight flushed sheepishly and went to make a counter-argument, before Luna joined in.
"We-I concur," she quickly caught herself slipping back into her archaic way of speaking, before, she too, flushed, and continued almost unabated. "You may dispense with the pleasantries," she stated simply.
Twilight nodded in respect, before he stance relaxed a little. It was so rare that one could call their teachers, their Princesses, friends.
"So, why did you meet me here, instead of at the castle?" she asked, heading for the doorway past them.
They didn't move. Twilight, when she noticed the lack of accompanying hooffalls, turned back to face the pair, noticing they were staring at her curiously.
"Is it not enough that we wished you to arrive here safely?" Luna asked, a hoof to her heart in mock-hurt, and a teasing smile only half-hidden behind her blue mane.
"And took measures to find out that you did?" Celestia added with an almost-teasing smile of her own.
They each knew Twilight could see through their charade. Twilight even knew that they knew. She just fixed them with a look normally reserved for Spike, and, sometimes, her friends when they were being illogical.
"Well," Twilight began, sweeping a stray strand of her mane out of her face. "Considering what I asked in my letter, I can't help but feel there's something else going on," she motioned around to the dark and empty platform.
The two elder princesses exchanged a knowing glance.
Celestia looked back to Twilight and winked at her.
"Astute as ever," Luna commented, before a silence fell over the three.
Luna sighed.
Celestia was suddenly absent her smile.
"Very well, Twilight," Celestia began, stepping closer to wrap a wing comfortingly round Twilight ."We have met you here because we wanted to explain exactly what you were asking for," she said. They were walking now. Through the streets of Canterlot.
Try as she might to listen, she could only wonder in awe at the sheer scale and beauty of Canterlot's streets.
"Should you find it not to your liking you may depart back to Ponyville post-haste," Luna spoke next, flapping her wings to catch up with the pair and post herself next to Twilight on her other side.
"Why would I want to do that?" Twilight asked, genuinely, wondering whether or not her fears were suddenly about to come true. Visions of the Princesses turning her away ran rampant in her mind.
"Because you have asked for access to the darkest depths magic has ever plunged to. To accept these spells into yourself is also to accept the emotions behind them," Celestia quickly said, before going silent. Giving Twilight the time to understand what she had just said.
"I know that," Twilight assured her. "The books I've read made reference to that—" however, she was cut off by Luna.
"Twilight Sparkle, you must understand, as Princess of Magic you are entitled—and encouraged—to learn these spells. However, as the Princess of Friendship, the raw emotions in these spells may forever damage your psyche." She stopped in her tracks and turned to face the young, lavender Alicorn.
Celestia also stopped and sighed, drawing her student's attention.
"Worse," the elder sister added somberly. "They may even kill you if you learn them before you are ready," she finished.
Silence fell on the platform. The type that falls on hospitals when bad news is given, or the type hat permeates funerals with its melancholy and surprise.
Twilight blinked, and gulped through a dry throat.
"Um, pardon me?"