Two Months Later

Spike wobbled as he carried the stack of eight books through Ponyville Library, his face cemented with a determination as he peered around the side of the literary tower, carefully placing one foot before the other as made his way up the stairs.

“Twilight!? A little help here? I know I’m a strong and a devilishly handsome dragon and all, but, I am not exactly tall enough yet to kind of see where I’m going over this stack...”

“Oh! I’m so sorry Spike, I should have kind of realized that a bit earlier, huh?” Twilight climbed down the stepladder and wandered away from her personal bookshelf located in her bedroom, summoning her lavender magic to float half of the stack from Spike’s grip, levitating them into their proper place upon the bookshelf.

As Spike finally made it up the stairs finally, he made his way towards Twilight’s bed and dumped the books there, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Phew! That’s a lot of new books you ordered,” Spike remarked as he lifted one up, “the history of the Crystal Empire is a particularly big one,” he then picked up another, reading aloud the title again, “... observations of Changeling Magic by Starswirl; wow, hoof written too! The anatomy of a pony? Eesh, this is all pretty deep stuff, Twilight.”

“I’m researching something important for the Princess that involves changes in the physical shape of objects and ponies.” Twilight turned, offering Spike a loving smile, floating the discarded books off of her bed and from his grip to neatly put them away.

“So, pretty much, you’re researching Changeling Magic? Um, why?”

“As the Princess’s scribe, I kind of have to document quite a lot of things I see and hear everyday. But in this particular instance, there has some been rumors of Changeling sightings across Equestria, so I have been tasked in developing a spell that could counteract a Changeling’s natural ability to disguise itself, just in case we need to unveil one.”

Spike crossed his arms over his chest, raising a brow. “Something tells me you volunteered for this rather than the Princess actually going out of her way to give you this task. You've quite a lot on your plate as it is, you know… besides, a scribe isn't supposed to go off and create magical spells for the defense of Equestria, you know… they’re supposed to, you know, do scribey things?”

Twilight blushed a little as she gave Spike a little bit of a shrug. “It’ll keep me entertained on my day off, at least?”

“Only you would consider taking a day off to involve intense research as a pass time,” Spike rolled his eyes as he made his way back down the stairs, “I’m going to go and buy some apple pie before they’re all gone. Want any? I know it’s not exactly the healthiest of breakfasts but I sure can go for some scrumptious apple pie right about now.”

“Sure, Spike, grab me one...” Twilight nonchalantly replied, her nose already buried deep into the pages of a general history book about the origins of Equestrian magic.

“Be back soon!” Spike announced as the door to the library was closed shut behind him, leaving Twilight Sparkle alone with her book.

With Spike’s departure, Twilight Sparkle lowered the book from her gaze and trotted towards her bed, discarding the book she was pretending to read upon the plush surface she laid to rest most nights.

Drooping low, she summoned her magic to drag out a small brown chest from under her bed, its surface riddled with drawn incantations of a language not quite of pony-origin, though rather, a strange perversion of the language that Twilight Sparkle herself had developed from her studies into Black Magic over the past two months.

The various incantations were designed to bar anypony but herself from being able to open the chest and to conceal and contain the alluring existence of what was trapped inside.

“Laxanta.” Demanded Twilight Sparkle, the magical lock deactivating, allowing her to use her hoofs to easily open the trunk and to draw out the tome she could feel reaching out and penetrating her mind with its insatiable allure.

There you are, you annoyance. Happy to see me?

The trunk had done its job in containing the tome’s rather magnetic desire upon Twilight Sparkle’s attention, but she could not prevent her own mind longing for its dark presence to be near and within her hooves.

With a blink, the illusion spell to which concealed the true colour of her eyes faded away, allowing the crimson, glowing irises to regard the tome with a lust and longing one might give a long lost loved one.

In this case, it was a look she expressly reserved for the Princess Celestia during their midnight rendezvous when ever she stayed at the palace.

Shaking her head, Twilight Sparkle resorted to rid the disembodied whispers uttering from the book that only she could apparently hear; her trembling hooves placing it back within its container and closing the lid to shut off its incessant, incoherent babble.

Though its presence was still strongly felt through the box, despite it being closed.

Every day, Twilight was compelled to look at it atleast once or twice.

She just needed to hear the mesh of voices; ironically enough to bring a clarity to her thoughts.

A fix to get her through the day without growing mad with hunger for its very appearance.

“Obfirmoia.”

With the magical lock activated and the chest sealed once more; safely securing the tome and its influence over her, Twilight pushed the trunk back under her bed, swallowing hard the lump in her throat as Celestia’s premonition echoed strongly as if it was uttered from the mare’s lips herself.

“There is nothing we can do… but accept it.”

And accept it she has done.

Before the cold, squirming sensation within her soul had frightened Twilight Sparkle, but as she learned to control it, Twilight had come to appreciate its existence; often finding herself drawing upon it and utilizing its energies in everyday menial tasks, expressively hidden of course from prying eyes.

Especially Spike.

Twilight could not imagine a worse kind of hell if Spike were to discover that her big sister was in fact a murderer and a wielder of forbidden magical powers.

Although the guilt of Nurse Redheart’s ‘suicide’ still weighed heavily upon her shoulders, Princess Celestia was right in saying that the guilt would only lessen as time went on.

These days, she almost considered Nurse Redheart’s death as a necessary evil to protect what was most dear to her; however, there were some nights as she laid awake in her bed that her guilt chewed away at inside of her brain, reminding her the cold, hard truth that a pony had to die to save her own hide.

Twilight’s attention perked upon noticing the sound of the front door opening, her ears erect and her tail swishing as she regarded the bedside cabinet and the alarm clock to which was perched upon it

It’s that time again, already?

Turning, Twilight made her way down the stairs and into the library to discover Rarity standing in the center of the room, staring vacantly into thin air as if gazing upon something so unfathomable, that it had left the mare devoid or incapable of any type of reaction.

“Good morning, Rarity,” Twilight smiled as she approached her friend, “how are you feeling today?”

“Good morning, Mistress. I am quite fine, thank you for asking.” Rarity replied monotonously.

“This is the forty-second morning in a row you've reported to me in some shape or form. I didn't expect the effects of the spell to last this long,” Twilight Sparkle drew upon the seemingly never ending well of dark energy inside of her, causing her horn to become smothered in a hue of an intensified black and green as she scanned Rarity’s body with a ray of black light, “and it seems the the Black Magic has not yet affected you adversely, either. That’s very goods news. Have you been eating well? Have you felt any strange symptoms I need to know about? Loss of sleep, increased hunger... that type of thing?”

Rarity shook her head. “Everything is perfectly fine, Mistress.”

Twilight winced. “Rarity, we’re friends… I am not your Mistress. Please, just call me Twilight.”

“I apologize, Twilight.”

Sighing, Twilight dispelled her infernal magic and took a step backwards, regarding the mare’s body with her cold and clinical crimson eyes for any physical changes.

Upon finding none, Twilight nodded to herself.

“Thank you for your help, Rarity. I have learned so much in the past few weeks because of your help. I know you won’t remember this, but, please know I am forever in your debt… if there is any way I can make it up to you by using you like this, I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy.”

“Thank you, Twilight.”

With a sad smile, Twilight lowered her head.

This isn’t what friends do… they don’t use each other like this.

No matter how many times she had seen it, she still could not bring herself to enjoy Rarity in this state of total subservience, even if a small part of her was ecstatic that her abilities of mind control was coming along quite nicely.

If only she had this measure of control with Nurse Redheart… then maybe the mare could had been saved from her fate.

“Aperi oculos.”

As the words uttered past Twilight’s lips, Rarity blinked once and then twice before beaming towards the lavender mare, almost ignoring the fact that Twilight’s eyes were an entirely different colour.

“Oh! Twilight, I am so terribly sorry for intruding within your abode so unannounced, but I was just coming over to pick up a book you may or may not have in your possession. Do you happen to have ‘A Stitch's Elegance?’ It’s a pattern book with plenty of design concepts I would very much like to acquire for some inspiration.”

As if rehearsed to perfection, Twilight turned about and moved to the exactly the same shelf she approached every day, picking up the exact same book and delivering it into the hooves of one of her best friends, smiling as she did so.

“Sure thing, Rarity. Take as much time as you need.”

“I will have it returned tonight. Thank you very much, Twilight! I will see you later. Do send my Spikey Wikey over for me won't you? I have a gem to which he would simply adore to have for his lunch today.” Rarity announced with a flick of her mane, departing the library to return to her shop.

Alone once again, Twilight glanced to the clock hanging on the wall, frowning a touch as her stomach protested to its near empty state. “I’m so hungry I could probably eat three apple pies… I should had told Spike to get more than one. What was I thinking?”

You weren’t. You were thinking about the book.

Groaning at her hunger, Twilight Sparkle trotted back up to her room to begin her task set out for her by Princess Celestia, curious to discover herself in which spectrum Changeling magic truly resided.

“From what I understand, a Changeling is fueled by their consumption of love… but the magic they inherently use is to deceive their prey, right?” Twilight whispered to herself, pausing midway into her room as her eyes uncontrollably drew towards her bed. “So surely, that must mean their magical attribute is a form Dark Magic? A selfish desire to acquire more love can only be associated with a being inherently evil… I wonder...”

Twilight found herself drawn to her bed, her curious nature causing her to drag out the trunk once more.

“Maybe in the same way I am able to suppress the corruptible energies of the tome using this trunk through seals and incantations, maybe the Changelings are able to suppress their auras naturally? That way it makes perfect sense as to why we are unable to detect them, even if their magic is predominantly of an origin seeded in Black Magic…”

Her hooves caressed the trunk, her crimson eyes glowing as shook her head, chuckling to herself.

“But that’s just speculation… I can’t really prove that theory unless we can capture one alive at the very least. I wonder if the tome has something about them? Whoever wrote it was very adept in the realms of Dark Magic, so surely there must be something about transmogrification or high end illusionary magical practices similar to a Changeling’s capability...”

Twilight stared at the chest, finding herself peculiarly breathless the longer she gazed at it.

“I have to decipher the rest of it… I only wished Princess Celestia would tell me just who it used to be long to so I could at the very least research them enough to try and understand what language this is and what each spell actually does.”

Frowning, Twilight Sparkle lowered herself so that she draped her body over the chest, calmer now that the object of her desire was in close proximity. “Tomorrow… I’ll start tomorrow. I think today I am just going to take it easy and save my strength… maybe I’ll invite the girls over to the Spa? I could use something to take my mind off of things and relax.”

Twilight blinked. “You know what? That’s a great idea.”

______________________

“—is that fine with you, Auntie?”

“Hm?” Princess Celestia blinked from her daze as she regarded Prince Blueblood, who looked all the more irritated at the lack of attention the Princess was giving his update on the preparations for the coming Grand Galloping Gala.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia shook her head in an attempt to rid the cobwebs blocking up her thought processes, “did you say something, nephew?”

“The list of ponies to which I had just relayed that is going to attend the event is to your satisfaction?” Prince Blueblood lowered the very long list away from his face, tilting a brow towards the Princess that sat rather slumped and inelegantly in her throne.

“Is something the matter, Auntie? You are not carrying yourself with your usual grace this morning. Are you unwell?”

“Oh… I am sorry, Blueblood, unfortunately my mind is elsewhere at the moment.” She offered an apologetic smile to her nephew.

“Clearly,” Blueblood frowned, “should I start again?”

“Whomever you have invited to the Gala, Blueblood, I am sure will meet to my satisfaction. But, I would like to add an extra six to the list, if that won’t be any trouble?”

“Whatever you wish, Auntie. And just who exactly will you be inviting?” He summoned a quill from his blazer pocket, skipping down the list until he found enough space to scribble the extra six ponies’ names on.

“Twilight Sparkle, plus five… actually, I suppose you better make that a plus six. I am sure Spike would be very disappointed to miss out on a free buffet.” Celestia mused with a warm smile, her light chuckle as dazzling as it ever was.

“Those country bumpkins? While I understand why you would wish to invite Twilight Sparkle to the Gala; being your student and scribe, but I fail to see why her friends ought to be—”

“Nephew… you are being outrageously improper. Twilight Sparkle’s friends are by default my friends too, so please, do not insult them in my presence ever again.” Celestia glared at Blueblood. “Sometimes I cannot believe we are of the same family at times, your prejudice to the lower class does you no justice, nephew.”

Blueblood tilted up his nose, a little insulted, but he hardly showed it in his voice. He knew better than to argue or talk back with the Princess.

After all, her word was law.

“I just believe their lower class presence will ruin the festivities—but so be it, Auntie, I have added them to the list and will make sure the necessary arrangements is in place to receive them. Would you like them to stay within the palace?”

“Of course. I would hate to separate Twilight Sparkle from her friends. She suffers enough of that having to travel between Canterlot and her home in Ponyville just to do her duty as my scribe.”

“As you wish, Auntie.” Bowing low, Blueblood turned about, departing the throne room, allowing Celestia to follow him with her eyes until he was nowhere insight.

“That insufferable stallion,” Celestia hissed, “some days I wish I could just…”

Dropping that twisted thought altogether, Celestia stood up before her throne, regarding the empty throne room with a frown as she stretched out her legs.

The day’s court was surprisingly quiet. She had probably met with a handful of ponies today at best.

“Everything seems so quiet without you near, Twilight Sparkle.” Placing a hoof against her chest to still her aching chest, Celestia released a heartfelt sigh, content that their lives had intertwined the way it had.

But she wanted more.

She wanted all of Twilight’s attention.

Suddenly assaulted with a jealous notion that seemed almost impossible to fathom, Celestia shrugged off such a feeling with a giggle.

“Don’t be absurd, Celestia. Twilight loves you more than anypony in Equestria… how could you doubt her like that?”

Grinning to herself, she headed down the dais and towards the throne room doors.

“I think I will have some tea in the garden today. Might as well enjoy the serenity of things while it lasts.”

Author's Note

Filler? Yeah filler. Sorry.