Embrace the darkness

The small group of ponies cautiously made their way across the rotting bridge that spanned across a deep gorge which led to the sister's old castle where the vortex had opened up at. Fluttershy was back under Rainbow's wing, and Twilight led the way through the darkness using a simple illumination spell. The last thing the Alicorn remembered before she had passed out from the coldness was thanking Rarity for a blanket that the white unicorn had given her, after that it was just a blur of white fog and confusing images. These lapses in memory had been happening a lot these past few days, ever since she had carved the runes onto her body. A vague memory of something Celestia said flashed through her mind, something about the side effects of the rune as it accumulated to her mind and body, she just couldn't remember it. Twilight felt something jab her painfully in the shoulder interrupting her from her thoughts. "Owww....Rainbow, what the hay. Can't you see I'm trying to think here, now get out of here and remember to close the library door on the way out." Twilight blinked a few times as she realized what she had just said. "Did I just say....library?" Her friends nodded and Rainbow placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"You haven't exactly been yourself the past ten minutes. At one point you thought Celestia was going to send you back to magic kindergarten, and you've been pacing around in circles mumbling things to yourself." Twilight was confused. All the other times she had thought she was in other times in her life she at least remembered what was said. But this time she couldn't remember anything.

"I..I don't remember any of that. The last thing I remember is Rarity giving me a blanket because I was cold, and I only have a vague recollection of something falling from the sky and landing in the sister's castle." Rainbow nodded

"Yes, and you were leading us to the castle to make sure it was safe, and use the Elements of Harmony if it wasn't." When Rainbow mentioned the Elements of Harmony memories flashed through Twilight's mind. She was laying on the ground shivering with extreme cold she had just told the others to use friendship's warmth, but instead of the intense warmth that usually accompanied the Element's power, she only felt her own icy cold power flowing through her body, before she used it to shut down the portal.

"Hello earth to Twilight, got a creepy castle to check out, or are you just going to stand there staring blankly all night." Rainbow's bought her from her thoughts, ann Twilight shook her head to clear it.

"Let's go." She muttered walking to the castle, and Rarity came up beside her.

"Twilight darling, perhaps we should take a little break before be we continue. We need to make sure you stay lucid when we face whatever's in the castle."

"Rarity's right sugar cube, if it is something dangerous then we're going to need you in you right mind to deal with it." Twilight stopped walking and they all looked at her waiting for her decision.

"Fifteen minutes, then we're moving again. Collect some wood for a fire but don't go too far, and travel in pairs. We'll make a camp here." Once everpony had returned from their tasks they had a sizable pile of wood which burst into flames with Twilight's magic. Each of them huddled around it grateful for the warmth it provided. Rainbow laid down next to Twilight placing her wing over the Alicorn's back. Twilight nuzzled her marefriend and snuggled closer to her as they watched the flickering flames devouring the wood. "Can I tell you something?" Twilight asked after several minutes of silence.

"Of course you can babe, you can tell me anything. You know that." Twilight took a deep breath.

"I'm scared Dashie!" Rainbow pulled Twilight closer to her.

"We all are Twilight."

"No, I'm not talking about being scared of whatever's out there. I'm scared of myself." Rainbow gave her a confused look but didn't say anything so Twilight continued on. "I don't remember anything specific up until Rarity gave me her cloak, it's all just vague thoughts and feelings. But one of those feelings scares me. When you used the Element's power on me, I didn't feel the usual warmth of its power, instead I only felt like a raging river of icy cold power was flowing through my veins, it was more power than I could ever imagine, and I loved that feeling. It was the feeling of invincibility like nothing could stand against me. If I had this much power when facing Discord, or Nightmare Moon, or even Sunset Shimmer when she was in her demon form, I wouldn't have needed the Elements of Harmony to stop them. I could have stopped them myself, and that scares me. I feel like I'm drowning in my own power, like it's trying to control me, make me use it the way it wants me to use it. The worst thing is, I want it to take over." Twilight looked away from her friends' gazes ashamed of what she had just said.

"What do you mean you want it to take over darling?" Twilight scrunched her eyes closed, she couldn't stand seeing their concerned looks, she didn't deserve their love.

"It's just with everything that's been going on lately, the blizzard and almost losing Dashie, having to go through Tartarus for some gem, and not to mention everything else I've gone through ever since I got to Ponyville, it just gets to be a bit much and I just want to forget about everything sometimes, even if it means letting my magic take over." Applejack smiled and walked over to give Twilight a hug.

"We know how you feel Sugar Cube, sometimes things can get to be a bit much and we just want everything to go away even for a minute. But we can't, all we can do is rely on our friends and family to help us through the dark times just as we would help them. You're not alone Sugar Cube, you've got us to be there for you."

"Not to mention cupcakes!" Pinkie shoving one into Twilight's mouth. Rainbow gave her a kiss licking some of the icing from her mouth.

"Everything's going to be okay Sparkles, whatever's going on with you I'm going to be there for you no matter what, I promise." Twilight snuggled closer to her marefriend's warmth.

"Thanks Dashie, I don't think I can do this without you." Twilight smiled and used her magic to pull the rest of the ponies into a hug. "Or without any of my friends." Fluttershy gave the Alicorn a comforting nuzzle.

"We're all here for you Twilight. No matter where you go, or whatever scary monsters you face, we'll always be there for you."

"Uh guys....." The group of friends turned to Pinkie who was pointing to something in the forest. Twilight peered into the forest, but couldn't see anything wrong.

"What's the matter Pinkie?" The pink pony whimpered, before backing off slowly and hiding behind Rarity's tail.

"Something's out there!" Twilight still couldn't see anything so she activated her runes of sight and everything was suddenly lit with bright violet light, and she could see several pony forms walking awkwardly through the forest. Their flesh was falling off in disgusting clumps revealing the rotting muscles with maggots and pus falling off them with each step they took.

"Zombie ponies run!" Twilight yelled. The group needed no further warning before they took off running in the opposite direction.

'Where the hay did they come?" Rainbow yelled.

"I don't know! Something like this should be impossible...." Twilight was interrupted when Fluttershy screamed as as her hoof got caught in a root and one of the zombie ponies jumped on her biting her in the shoulder. Twilight cursed and flew to her friend her horn glowing as she blasted the zombie away from Fluttershy. "I've got you Fluttershy! Are you okay?" The pegasus whimpered and fell into Twilight's embrace.

"My shoulder hurts, and I can't feel my leg......" Fluttershy gasped and she clung tighter Twilight. "Please don't leave me."

"Never! But we need to get you out of here." Twilight's horn glowed and she teleported to the rest of the group, and teleported them into the castle several hundred meters away. Twilight laid Fluttershy down before reinforcing the castle doors with her magic. "Is everypony else okay?"

'We're all okay." Rainbow said panting. "What happened to Fluttershy?"

"One of the zombies bit her. I think their condition is contagious." Rarity gasped.

"You mean Fluttershy is going to turn into one of those horrible creatures?" Twilight stared numbly at her sick friend.

"If I don't find a way to stop the infection from spreading she will. We need to get to the top of one of the towers we need as much time as possible so I can try and heal her, so gather around." Once everypony was together Twilight's horn glowed and she teleported them to the north tower. Fluttershy gave a painful moan as the flesh around the bite mark on her shoulder began rotting and falling away. "Stay with me Flutters." Twilight whispered brushing a piece of her mane out of her face. "Everything's going to be okay. I'm going to make you okay."

"Uh Twilight?" Pinkie said tapping her on the shoulder.

"Not now Pinkie!" The tapping became more insistent.

"But Twilight you really need to see this!"

"I said not now!" Twilight's horn glowed and her magic enveloped the pink pony's tail pulling her away.

"I must agree with Pinkie Pie on this one darling. This is most strange and irregular." Twilight sighed and looked back at what was bothering the others and her mouth hit the fall. A human was laying spread eagled on the flagstones with blood flowing from large multiple holes stabbed through his chest.

"What in Celestia's name is this?" Twilight muttered walking over to the fallen person. She had seen humans before from her trip to Canterlo High, but not like this one. His wasn't the color of anypony she had seen in Equstria, and his clothes were completely shredded and falling apart. Rainbow caustiously walked towards him and nudged him with her hoof before backing away as fast she could. "We'll take care of this later. Right now I've got to help Fluttershy." Twilight turned her attention back to the wounded pegasus and was alarmed to see the infection had spread to the rest of her leg, and was now making steady progress across her shoulder and chest. Twilight activated her healing runes and wiped away the blood covering Fluttershy's mouth before kissing her. Blue flames flowed from the Alicorn's mouth into Fluttershy's body and the zombie rot began receding leaving behind clean living flesh and fur. Fluttershy gasped and began coughing up the blood out of her lungs and throat. "You're okay!" Twilight said hugging her friend closely to her not caring about the blood Fluttershy coughed up on her violet coat.

"Uh Twilight....you might want to see this!"

"What is it Dashie?" Twilight turned around to see the other ponies backing away as the blood from the human began flowing back into his body. Twilight could only stare in amazement as the human's began repairing its bones, muscles, and closing the huge holes in his chest. "How is this possible? This is impossible." The human gasped as the last of the holes in his chest closed up and began breathing heavily.

"What in tarnation is this thing?" Applejack asked looking worried, suspicious, and scared all at the same time.

"I'm not exactly sure. He resembles the humans back in the other Equestria, but unlike the other humans this one doesn't have a pony he resembles." Twilight's horn glowed as she used her magic to remove the remains of his shirt and coat revealing a empty sword scabbard strapped to his back, and a line of black runes tattooed down the entire length of his arms. Twilight ran a hoof down the runes which were almost similar to her own and icy coldness shot through her body. Twilight jerked her hoof back and stepped away.

"What are we going to do now?" Rainbow asked. "We still got a whole bunch of zombie ponies to get past in order to get back to Ponyville, or Canterlot." The human's eyes shot open and the Mane Six each took a step back.

"I can help with that." The human said sitting up. "But It'll use up the rest of my strength, so afterwards I'll need you to take me to Ponyville library. It'll take me some time to recover during which I'll need you to create a transformation rune, I can't walk around Equestria like this. I'll also need that cloak." The human gestured to Rarity's cloak discarded on the ground. Twilight levitated the cloak to the human who tied it around his waist before he stood up. "Follow me down in two minutes, use the stairs. I'll more than likely be unconscious or very close to it, so one of you will need to carry me. Where's my sword?" Twilight used her magic to light the darker corners of the tower and found a long black glasslike sword hidden in the shadow. But before she could get it for him, the human grabbed grabbed the sword and vaulted over the tower's edge. Twilight gasped and looked over the edge expecting to see him dead on the ground, but the human was alive and cutting through the zombie ponies.

"What the hay was that?" Rainbow said pulling Twilight around to face her.

"I'm not sure, but I think Celestia knows who he is. When she saw the portal she said "Darklight" I think that's his name."

"Why do ya think he's here in Equestria?" Twilight frowned.

"I don't know, but I doubt it's for anything good. These past Two weeks have been one disaster after another. First the blizzard, Rainbow dying, Celestia asking me to participate in the Equestrian games, now these zombie ponies and Darklight....."

"What did you just say?' Rainbow demanded. "You just said I died!" Twilight waved a hoof dismissively.

"I'm tired and not thinking right Dashie, I meant to say "almost dying." We should probably get going now." Twilight walked over to Fluttershy and helped the pegasus to stand up. "You feeling okay?"Fluttershy nodded and looked towards the ground.

"I just feel a little strange is all." Twilight gave Fluttershy a quick hug.

"We'll take care of everything when we get back to Ponyville. But right now we need to leave." Twilight led the way down the stairs and Rainbow walked up next to her.

"This is so weird. This.....uh...."

"Guy?" Twilight offered.

"This guy, he just appears in Equestria and starts talking as though it's completely normal?" Twilight chewed her lip thoughtful.

"I don't think this is the first time he's been here. When Celestia saw the portal she said "Darklight" and then she began giving instructions to reinforce Canterlot's defenses as though she had met him before. Not to mention the instructions he gave us before leaping off the tower. "Make a transformation rune, I can't walk around Equestria looking like this" so clearly he's been here before."

"We need to find out what the buck is going on." Twilight whipped her tail across Rainbow's flank.

"Dashie, language!" The pegasus' cheeks flamed to life at her marefriend's reprimand, and Twilight gave her a quick nuzzle before cautiously opening the castle's doors. There was a moment of shocked silence as they took in the scene before them before Rarity went some distance away and threw up. Fluttershy gasped before fainting, and Rainbow and Applejack both paled. Twilight oddly didn't feel anything beyond mild shock as she viewed the carnage before. The whole ground was covered hoof deep in rotting zombie flesh and body pieces, some of it still twitched, and Twilight could feel the bodiless heads gazing up at her. "Let's go!" Twilight said her horn glowing as she cleared a path through the mess of dead zombie bodies. The others followed her out reluctantly, and Rarity threw up once more when they were out of the mess.

"That was without doubt the most disgusting and horrid thing I've ever seen!"

"Well as soon as we find the human we can leave." Twilight said looking around for the human. The others helped her with the search and they found him sitting against a tree breathing shallowly. "Applejack, you think you can carry him back to Ponyville, I would use my magic but there could be other things waiting out there."

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem." Twilight's horn glowed and she levitated the human to Applejack and laid him across her back. She huffed at the weight on her back and once she was confident that she could walk without falling over, she gave Twilight a nod and they began walking back to Ponyville. As they walked Twilight couldn't help but study the human a scientific eye. The same lines of small and delicate runes that ran down his arms, also ran the center of his spine, she also noticed the back of his legs had were the same.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rainbow asked, glancing nervously at the human.

"No I don't. But we can't just leave him here. That wouldn't be right." The human stirred and murmured something before falling unconscious again. "Besides we need him to give us some answers."

"Don't you think bringing a human into Ponyville is going to freak some ponies out a bit." Twilight consider this point thoughtfully.

"True. I'll just cast a illusion spell to make it so nopony but us can see him." Twilight's horn glowed and a violet light spread over the human's body before sinking into his skin.

"Did it work?" They came to the edge of the forest and they could see ponies already up and about at the dawn of a new day.

"We're about to find out!" Thankfully the spell had worked and the ponies didn't give them a second glance as they walked towards the library. By the time they got there it was already snowing again and Twilight levitated several logs of wood into the fireplace where they burst into flames. And Applejack gave a sigh of relief as Twilight pulled the human for her back and placed him near the fireplace.

“What do we do now, Twi?” Applejack asked stretching her sore muscles. Twilight’s horn glowed and books began flowing in neat rows off the shelves.

“I need to start working on a transformation rune, it’s going to take some time but I can do it. Meanwhile I don’t suppose you can help Rainbow set up the spare bed in the basement, and bring up some extra blankets up as well. Rarity I need you and Fluttershy to make up some soup for when he wakes up.” The four ponies went off to do their assignments and Pinkie pie tapped Twilight on the shoulder.

“Anything you want me to do?” Twilight hesitated before picking a book at random and giving it to her.

“You can look through that book and see if you can find any transformation......”

“Found one!” Twilight’s mouth hit the floor as Pinkie opened the book at random and shoved the book in her face.

“How did you do that?” Pinkie shrugged and hummed to herself as she bounced out of the library. Shaking her head at the pink mystery that could never be solved, Twilight pulled the book off her face and began reading the details of the transformation rune. The spell work was seriously more complicated than the one she had used to turn them into Breezies, so Twilight prepared herself for a long day of work ahead of her.

                                                 ------------------------------

“Do ya think Twilight’s okay?” Applejack asked as she helped Rainbow clear a space in the basement for the spare bed.

“What do you mean?” Applejack shrugged.

“She’s just been acting differently lately.” Rainbow stopped what she was doing to look her friend in the eye.

“Different how?” Applejack made a vague gesture with her hoof.

“I don’t know, it’s like she’s trying to figure out a particularly hard problem in her mind, but she can’t, and it’s bothering her a lot.” Rainbow frowned and went back to cleaning.

“I’ve noticed she’s been a bit preoccupied, but who wouldn’t be with everything that’s going on?”

“What in tarnation.....?” Rainbow looked over at Applejack as she began opening a large.

“Don’t touch that!” Rainbow yelled diving across the room and tackling the earth pony to the ground. Unfortunately the box tipped over and its contents spilled across the floor. “Rainbow what’s gotten into y...” Applejack’s mouth hung open when she saw what was in the box. “Well well well. Ah guess that explains everything.” Applejack picked up a ball gag and riding crop. “So who’s idea was this?” Rainbow’s cheeks flamed to life and she couldn’t meet her friends gaze. Applejack picked up the box and began rummaging through it. “What else ya got in here?”

“None of your business!” Rainbow said attempting to pull the box away. Applejack held it out of her reach and pulled a full black latex body suit with short chains connecting the legs, followed by several more outfits and toys ranging between Dom and Sub styles. Rainbow snarled and flew at the earth pony grabbing the box and shoving everything back inside. Applejack watched her with an amused smile.

“I didn’t know you two had such exotic taste. Which one of you is the Sub?” Rainbow glared at her.

“Once again none of your business. Besides this was a long time ago when Twi and me were having problems.”

“What kinda problems?” The door to the basement opened and Twilight walked down the stairs.

“Like Dashie said, none of your business. And if you tell anypony of what you’ve seen or talked about down here, I’ll curse your apple orchard to grow only oranges for the next decade.” Applejack gulped, and her face turned ghost white.

“My lips are sealed.”

“Good. Now then, Dashie have you seen my potion kit?” Rainbow gestured to the corner of the room.

“It’s over there. How’s it going with out guest upstairs?” Twilight walked over to her potion kit and began collecting its different pieces in her magical grasp.

“He’s still unconscious, I’ve tried several reviving spells, but for some reason I can’t affect his body with my magic. It’s like there’s some kind of barrier protecting him. It’s really fascinating.” Twilight left the room leaving the two friends to their task. Rainbow placed the box as far away as possible and began cleaning the basement once more.

“Ah don’t think this is a good idea. Maybe we should just find away to send this guy back to his own world.”

“Twilight will probably ask Celestia what we should do. But in any case we should keeping wearing our Elements of Harmony.” The two ponies continued working in silence until Applejack broke it.

“Is it any good?” Rainbow paused in her work.

“Is what any good?” She asked cautiously. Applejack gestured to the box, and Rainbow’s cheeks reddened. “Oh...actually it’s pretty fun once you get used to it. Twilight can actually do some awesomely kinky stuff. ”

“Ah’m gonna stop you right there partner. Ah have no interest in your love life.” Just then a loud explosion came from upstairs followed by a string of very creative and crude curses.

“I better go and make sure everything’s okay with my girlfriend. You good down here?” Applejack shrugged.

“Almost done here sugar cube, you go check on Twi.” Rainbow made her way up the stairs and into the lounge room which was full of black foul smelling smoke.

“Twilight you okay?!” A violet light shone dully through the smoke and a strong breeze developed out of nowhere blowing the smoke out of the windows.

“I’m fine.” Twilight muttered. “Just added a little too much black root powder.” Rainbow looked around at the mess in the library and began picking up the fallen books.

“On the bright side at least it wasn’t one of my failed ariel tricks that made this mess.” A loud gasping sound came from the human in front of the fireplace and his eyes shot open.

“Water.....” He said softly. “Need.......water.....” Twilight teleported into the kitchen grabbing a glass in her magical grasp filling it up with water before teleporting back into the lounge room. The human grabbed the glass downing its contents in one gulp and relaxed once more.

“What’s your name?” Twilight asked.

“Darklight....” The human muttered before falling back asleep. Twilight watched him for a few moments before helping Rainbow clean the library. Applejack came up from the basement covered in dust and carrying extra blankets which Twilight used to cover Darklight. After nearly two hours of cleaning, the library was more or less back to its normal self.

“Thankyou for your help girls. But now I need to work on the transformation rune.”

“No prob, sugar cube.” Applejack grabbed Rainbow Dash and pulled her into the kitchen. “See what ah mean? Half those books were in the wrong order, something Twilight would never let slide.” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“We just witnessed a creature we’ve never seen before fall out of a portal before we were chased through the Everfree forest by a bunch of zombie ponies, which were then killed by the creature we’ve never seen before. I don’t think a few misplaced books are on the top of her list of priorities right now.”

“What are you two arguing about this time?” Rarity asked levitating several pots of liquid to the stove.

“Nothing important, Rares. Applejack thinks Twilight is different from her normal self, but can you really blame her with everything that’s been going on?”

“Indeed darling. In any case we’re going to help her through whatever’s going on with her.”

“I hate to leave you like this.” Fluttershy said. “But I really must get back to my cottage, my animal friends need me.”

“Ah’ll walk you home, Fluttershy.” The two friends left the library and Rainbow began helping rarity with the food. By the time everything was cooked It was mid afternoon and Twilight was just adding the final touches to the large complicated rune she had drawn on the library floor.

“All good in here?” Rainbow asked placing a bowl of cream soup on the floor in front of Twilight.

“All good.” Twilight said placing dow her quill and picking up the bowl of soup, and taking a sip. “Wow Rarity this is delicious. If I wasn’t already with Rainbow, I’d hook up with you just for the meals.” Rarity blushed at Twilight’s praise and a delicate sip of her soup.

“Well no need for that darling. I can just teach Rainbow how to cook.” Twilight choked back a laugh causing soup to come out of her nose.

“Somehow I doubt everpony in Ponyville would be willing to hold up flash cards for recipes as Rainbow flew over them.”

“Oh come on....surely it’s not that hard following instructions from a recipe book. And besides if me learning how to cook will make you more happy, than I’m willing to give it a shot.” Twilight nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek, and licked a bit of soup from her lips.

“You don’t have to do that Dashie, I’m happy with the way you are right now.”

“Awww.....Have I ever told you how adorable you two are together?” Before Twilight could tell Rarity she had in fact told them how adorable they were together many times before, Darklight groaned as he began waking up.

“Smells delicious.” Darklight said before he clutched his stomach and doubled over in pain. His thick well toned muscles were tensed tightly in pain, and he began throwing up waves of blood. Twilight grabbed the mop buckets from the kitchen and held it under his mouth.

“Are you okay?” Darklight shook his head.

“Not really, my guts feel like they’ve been pulverized, and I can’t feel my legs.” Twilight looked uncertain.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Darklight wiped his mouth smearing blood across the back of his hand.

“I’ll be fine once I’ve got some food in me. I haven’t eaten in ages.” Twilight levitated a bowl of soup to him and he sipped from it gratefully.

“What exactly are you?” Rainbow asked walking up to him cautiously.

“A human. Well a Familiar if you want to be technical about it. Twilight here should be able to explain everything.” Twilight backed off a few paces.

“How do you know my name?” Darklight smirked.

“I can still hear things even if I am passed out.”

“And what the hay is a Familiar.” Darklight yawned and placed his empty bowl on the ground.

“You’ll find everything out soon enough. In the meantime I need to make myself less conspicuous, did you get the transformation rune do...” A gold aura surrounded his body and he was suddenly wrenched out of the library, bursting through the front door in a shower of splinters and wood. Darklight stood up brushing bits of wood from his body. “Celestia, you’re looking well, banishing innocent ponies to the moon agrees with you.” Celestia glared at him.

“Go back to your own world Darklight, we don’t you need you here.”

“You do need me here actually, you just don’t want me here. What’s the matter Tia, afraid I might spill some of your secrets?” A blast of golden energy slammed into his chest and he was thrown halfway across Ponyville. “As calm and collected as I remember.” Darklight muttered to himself pulling a black ring from his pocket. Pounding hooves sounded on the dirt road and Darklight looked up just as Celestia sent a wall of flame towards him. Dark shadows formed a wall in front of him swallowing the flames, before descending on the princess in a thousand shards of darkness. Blue lightning disintegrated the shadows and Twilight dropped from the sky landing between them with glowing runes covering her body.

“Enough! No more fighting.” Darklight shrugged pulling the ring off his finger causing the shadows to flow back to their original positions. Twilight looked expectantly at Celestia, who glared at Darklight before sending another stream of energy towards him. Twilight snarled diving in front of the magic, deflecting it away from her, before conjuring a shield between the human and Celestia. “I thought I said no more fighting.” Twilight muttered glaring at her mentor.

“Twilight this human is dangerous, given the chance he’ll destroy Equestria.” Darklight chuckled humorlessly.

“You seem pretty content on doing that yourself, princess. Tell me, how long before the walls of Tartarus start to crumble?” Celestia glared at him through the shield.

“Tartarus is as strong as ev.....”

“Is that why you had your student carve the Lost Rune into her body, you couldn’t have know I was coming.....but you do know Tartarus is about to fall.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked looking confused. Darklight gave Celestia a grim smile before turning to Twilight.

“I’ll explain everything if you come with me back to the library.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Celestia warned.

“Unlike your so called mentor here, I don’t believe in holding back critical and personal information from ponies who need it in order to survive. Surely you’re curious as to why Celestia gave you the information you needed in order to create Star Swirl’s Lost Rune, yet she refuses to give you the Lost Rune’s complete and unaltered history. I can give you the answers you need to know, you all have to do is follow me back to the library.”

“He’s lying Twilight! Come back to Canterlot with me.” Darklight turned away and began walking back to the library. “You can’t go with him Twilight. He’ll say anything to get you to trust him.” Twilight glared at the princess.

“At least he’s willing to give me answers. You’ve done nothing but stonewall me every time I’ve asked questions. At least now I’ll finally get some proper answers.” Tears fell down Celestia’s cheek and she looked away from Twilight.

“Just remember Twilight, we all do things we’re not proud of at some point in our lives. I was just trying to keep Equestria safe.” Twilight watched with mixed emotions as Celestia flew off in the direction of Canterlot. She wanted to go after her mentor and tell her everything was going to be alright, but she needed answers more. Twilight turned her back on the retreating princess, and followed after Darklight.