A Twilighted Darkness

by Penguin Lagann

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Drama, Dark, Thriller, Comedy, Tragedy
Length: 5907

A traumatic event changes Twilight from a quiet librarian to a drama queen. But she feels as if darkness is consuming her. Will she stop it?

Everypony changes. For some, it can be giant. For Twilight, well, let's just say that a traumatic event that recently happened gets to Twilight. She decides its no more quiet egghead librarian, and hello beautiful mare. However, during all of this, Twilight is slowly loseing all her light.

All the while, Applejack is faced with a big decision revolving her friends. Will she make the right choice?
______________________________

Guys, this is my first story here. I welcome constructive criticism to help this story, however, all trolls WILL be ignored.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-23 12:28:35 UTC

Prologue- An Opening Cutscene

    "GAAAAH!!!"

    Twilight Sparkle was startled. She had another nightmare.

    "Twilight!" asked her faithful assistant Spike. "What happened?!"

    Twilight struggled to speak. Her nightmares were getting worse each night. Every night, she had a nightmare about her causing the destruction of Equestria. Every night it just got worse, with last night's detailing her brutally murdering her close friends. Yet she didn't want to tell her friends about it, afraid of worrying them or making them think of her as evil. And I was hard not to tell Spike about it, considering as he was her #1 assistant.

    "Oh... uh, I... have princess jitters!" lied Twilight. Twilight would do anything to protect Spike, even if it ment lying to him.

    Spike however saw through the lie. "Twilight, don't lie to me. Listen, I know things are tough for you, but the only way I can help you is if you tell me what's wrong."

    Twilight sighed. 'No matter what,' she thought, 'at least I'll have him.'

    So Twilight explained everything. She explained the nightmares, all the visions, everything. She also explained why she waited to tell about it. "I just can't help it Spike! I'm losing control to myself every minute! I can't stop it!"

    Spike pondered, and then asked "Could you explain the first time you felt that way?

........

    Twilight had left her house. Well, it was more like a crystal castle. The official name was Crystal Friendship Kingdom, but Twilight felt the name was wrong. 'Maybe I should take the Crystal Empire for myself.' she thought. She snapped to her senses. "What did I just think?" She concluded she was hearing voices, not noticing her eyes turned green with purple mist.

    As she walked along the path, she came across a happy filly playing with a rock. 'Disgusting. Maybe I could fix that.' She levitate a rock onto the filly, knocking her and causing her to cry. 'Good.'

    Suddenly, she realized what she did and went to help the poor filly. "Oh Celestia! I'm so sorry, are you ok?"

    The filly ran off, while Twilight thought she heard being called a monster.

    "What the hay is going on? Why am I acting weird?"

.....

     Twilight decided to worry about it later, and went to Sweet Apple Acres. Her first item of the day was to help AJ buck some apples. "Howdy there Twi! Ready to kick some trees?" said Applejack.

     'Will you keep your crap filled mouth outta this?' "Yep!" said Twilight. She would have to worry about it later. Friends come before herself.

     Bad thing was, Twilight had been so caught up with her duties as Princess of Friendship, that she ACTUALLY forgot how to buck trees. And bad for her, AJ was calling her out on it.

     "Uh Twi, maybe a bit harder?"

     "No don't do it too hard!"

     "Twi, you only got HALF the apples."

     "Do you even remember how to buck?!"

     Twilight was furious with her eyes green. "If I can't do anything freaking right, WHY EVEN ASK ME TO HELP??!!"

     Twilight realized she had called out Applejack and ran off.

     "Twilight, I'm sorry I said those things!" AJ said as Twilight ran.

.....

     Twilight tried to gallop back home. 'Screw my to do list! I don't want to hurt anyone else! If I'm lucky, I won't act up near anyone else.' She thought.

     She came up towards Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. 'Not my freaking day.'

     "Hey Twi! How's things going?" asked Dash.

     "Oh I'm... fine, just... gotta go home."

     "You didn't forget out flight session today didn't you?"

     "I'd rather not..."

      Pinkie started babbling. "And then afterwards, you can help me taste some muffins! I've got a customer who loves muffins names Derpy! She especially likes blueberry muffins! She also has a liking of cupcakes, pancakes, and came! I know it's a lot of stuff with cake! I mean, we shouldn't be able to normally say Derpy Hooves' name, but this is fan fiction darn it, so ill do it if I..."

     "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!" screamed Twilight. Her eyes were extreme green with purple mist. "I've had enough of your INSANE BABBLING! SO SHUT IT FOR ONE MINUTE AND LEAVE ME BE!"

     Twilight went back to normal, and realized what happen. She teared up and galloped off.

     Rainbow called out for Twilight, wondering what had happened. Pinkies make had just deflated. "Do I really babble a lot?"

     Rainbow Dash held her mouth.

.....

     Twilight was crying hard. Not the amount of crying when stubbing a hoof. The amount of crying when losing someone near and dear to them. Her eyes were green and full of purple mist. Spike knew he had to help Twilight out.

     "Shhh. Its ok," said Spike, as he rubbed her mane. " Just get some rest and everything will be better. And tomorrow, I promise you, me and the girls will give you the best day of your life! We will get you to forget anything you've done wrong, and you can start off on a clean slate. We all can."

     Twilight smiled. She was touched by what Spike said. And with that, Twilight went back to sleep.

.....

     #"You really think you can stop me?"# said a dark voice in Twilight. The voice looked like a twisted version of her

     "Honestly, I don't even know anymore," said Twilight. All she hoped was that Spike would come through. The dark voice just grinned, for what was in plan tomorrow was to put in place the corruption of Twilight Sparkle, or as she would be now known as, Midnight Dusk.

Chapter 1

  Twilight's previous night of sleep got to her a lot. So the next morning when she woke up, she actually woke up late. Then again, it was kinda stupid of her to think she wouldn't get less sleep than normal, only to wake up early... early... Twilight gasped. She suddenly realized she was late waking up. She hated waking up late, especially on mornings when she had a lot of things to do that day. She rushed downstairs to start her list.

  "Oh crap! Spike, we're late!" yelled Twilight.

  "What'd ya mean?" said Spike, in a maid looking outfit.

  "What do I mean?! Spike, we woke up late and now we're behind on everything!!"

  "No Twi, I got everything taken care of. I got the castle cleaned, I cooked breakfast, I even convinced Moondancer to help with the chores!"

  Twilight was confused, but then a small realization came to her. "Oh right, you said last night that today was special for me! So what, am I gonna be a lazy plot today while you do my stuff?"

  Spike laughed. "No silly! I got all your chores taken care of, so you can get gifts from your friends! Speaking of which..."

  Rarity opened the door. "Hello darling! Are you ready for your life changing best day ever?"

  "I guess, what's in store for me?" replied a confused Twilight.

  "AJ got you a country looking hat, RD and Pinkie are planning you a special party. As for me, well, let's just say I'm gonna give you a glimpse of your new life!"

  "Huh?" Twilight was teleported to the spa.

  "Lotus, Aloe, give the princess a good mane styling, and other things while your at it."

  The two sisters nodded, while Twilight was just confused.

.....

  "All done princess! Take ze look!"

  Twilight was stunned to see the mare in the mirror.

  She... looked beautiful. Her mane was made slightly longer, with curls at the end, and it sparkled like Luna's. Her eyes were underlined with dark blue eyeliner. Her legs looked leaner, and she felt more confident. "I.. I... I look gorgeous!"

  "And that's not all dear!" said Rarity as she rushed Twilight to Carousal Boutique.

  Twilight got another chance to look at herself, and she had been outfitted with jewel shoes and a plain dress with sparkles on it. "I remember this! This was when I had my first birthday with you guys! But this..."

  Rarity explained, "I made it more special by adding sparkles to it. Like it?"

  Twilight was stunned. "Like it?! I love it!!" She gave Rarity a big hug, as they walked down to where Pinkie was holding the party.

.....

  "What the..." Twilight was confused to where they had walked down to. It wasn't Sugarcube Corner. Instead, it looked more like a night club for adults.

  "It was Dash's idea," said Rarity. She obviously wasn't pleased with Rainbow Dash's present. Nether less, they entered to find the rest of her friends and Spike sitting there.

  "Hey Twi... WHOA!" said Spike. He swore he saw a Rarity clone for a second.

  "Hey Twilight!" started Pinkie. "Thanks for coming to our 'Happy Special Day Party!' I was gonna hold it at Sugarcube Corner, but Dashie had a better idea of taking you down here to try beer and a cigarette for the first time!"

  Everyone else except for RD exclaimed "What?!"

  Rainbow started. "Duh! You did have your 21st birthday months ago! Now that your 21, your finally legal for all this!"

  "Do I really have to?" said Twilight, worried.

  "Bartender! A glass of your finest Duff beer and a pack of cigars! Do I look like I'm kidding?"

  Fluttershy spoke up. "Um, Rainbow Dash, don't you think that's a bit strong for starters?"

  "I, think I might could handle it." Twilight took a sip of the beer...

  ...and loved it! "Whoa! This is tasty!" said Twilight as she gulped it down. Afterwards, she took a cigarette, lit it, and put it in her mouth, all the while her friends clapped.

  "If Twi can handle it, I reckon so can we!" Exclaimed Applejack. So while everyone chugged their alcohol, Twilight opened her presents.

  Applejack got her a country hat with jewels bedazzled along, Fluttershy gave her a necklace, Pinkie gave her her own party cannon, and Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance visited with Shining Armor, while Shining wasn't happy with RD for the beer thing. In the end, everyone got drunk, so while the princesses recouperated at Sweet Apple Acres, Shining offered to take Twi and Spike home and sleep with them for the night.

  "Twily, we really gotta lay off on that stuff," said a bubbly Shining Armor.

  "I know, I just got too excited today," said an equally bubbly Twilight. "Well, goodnight BBBFF."

  "Goodnight LSBFF."

.....

  "AAAAH!" screamed Twilight, which startled Shining and Spike.

  "What happened?!" Said Shining.

  "Why am I still having these dreams? And all their doing is getting worse!"

  "Dreams?" asked Spike. "But I thought they would be gone."

  "It might be just dumb luck, but I'll have to wait and see."

Chapter 2

  Applejack wasn't an ordinary farm pony. Heck if she wasn't even an ordinary pony at that either. She has always been the farm pony among her friends, speaking in country, doing chores, and being the most honest pony in all of Equestria.

  However, one thing that stood her out was she was the element of honesty. She also knew most of the royalty, and had her own wing in the Crystal Rainbow Kingdom.

  Yet, despite all that, she never let it get to her head, and she always preferred being a simple farm pony. She was at the happiest of her life, as they had reformed Starlight, she found out Cadence and Shining Armour were having a baby, and her sister Apple Bloom had finally earned her cutie mark. No potions or spells, she earned it naturally. Twilight had even took it to renew her life, and there was hardly anything to ruin it...

  "Um, sis. The Flim Flam brothers are back," said Apple Bloom. 'Hardly' being the key word.

  As Applejack made her way up to the front of the farm, she noticed that the brothers were singing again. She heard something about how all the apple family does is put poison in their apples. 'That's bullcrap!' AJ thought, 'First they try to run us outta business, then they screw around with Granny, and now they pull all this jackcrap on us about poison? Ahm gonna teach these lowlives a lesson!'

  "Hey Flim, Flam! What are you trying to pull on us this time?" said Applejack.

  "My apologies Ms Applejack, but we were just getting your attention," said Flim.

  'Or was it Flam?' AJ thought.

  "We didn't mean to cause any ruckus this time, we've just came with some very big news for you and your siblings."

  "Let me guess, you admit your cider tastes like dirt?" Applejack was chuckling on that one.

  "First of all," started Flam (which is which?!?!). "It does not taste like dirt. It tastes like crap." Everyone was chuckling, even Flim, who did it a little bit until Flam whacked him. "Second, we've recently found some people you'd like to meet."

  Applejack was confused. "Who could it be?"

  "Your parents."

  While the brothers were hoping for a collective gasp from Applejack, all they got was tears and a mad face.

  "You can't be serious. YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE??!!" screamed AJ, as she was in dead tears. Everyone was shocked. "I saw them die with my OWN FREAKING EYES!"

...

Sweet Apple Acres: 10 Years Ago

  It was a beautiful night in the acres. While almost everyone was asleep, a mother and her filly were having a conversation.

  "I wonder what her first words will be ma!" said a young filly. The filly was orange with freckles, and had a blonde mane. She was also wearing a red ribbon.

  "With all respect Applejack, there's a chance her first words might be your very name," said the mother. The mother was orange with red hair, and wore a light brown cowboy hat.

  The young filly squealed in excitement. "Oh mama! I can't believe I'm a big sister now! I can finally have someone look up to me instead of being looked down upon!"

  "Ahh, there's my Honey-nut Crisp! Sweet as ever!" said a yellow stallion.

  "You know me good Appleseed!" said Honey-nut, or as she preferred to be called, Crisp, as they started to kiss. Applejack tended to look away when they did that. She felt as she was too disgusted to see it, even though she was a few months away from being a teenager. She felt she wasn't ready for all that yet.

  After the kissing was finished, Crisp went up to Applejack. "Applejack, I want you to know that if something bad ever happens to us, you'll watch over Apple Bloom no matter what."

  Applejack nodded. Just as she did, a group of dark cars came up to the barn. Appleseed noticed them, and gave a shocked face. "I didn't think they would come this quickly. Honey, they're here!"

  When Honey-nut looked, she also gave off a shocked face. "Oh dear," she said. "Applejack, Apple Bloom, ma and pa will be back in a few minutes, we just have some.... negotiating to do." While Applejack was curious and worried, she trusted her parents to be safe. However as soon as they were gone, AJ opened the curtains to see what was going on.

...

  A very dark stallion got out of the vehicle, while lighting his cigarette. A light blue mare with her hair in a bun came out as well, sporting dark eyeliner while chugging down a can of beer. Soon after, everyone else followed out the cars, then Appleseed and Crisp.

  "You already know what we want, don't you Honey-nut? How bout you Applseed?" said the stallion. He spoke in a dark and grisly voice that would give shudders to even Tirek. The couple nodded, and handed over a basket of apples.

  "There," said Appleseed. "You got what you wanted, now get the **** away from us!"

  The stallion however grinned. "You misunderstand filthy Apples. What I want now, is something completely different than what you thought."

  Honey-nut gasped. "What could you ***holes want anything else from us?!"

  "I do not kindly take insults. What I want is for our drugs to become an ingredient in your apples."

  The couple gasped in shock. "We would never endanger our friends because of some **** your making us do!" screamed Crisp. "We would rather us lose our **** lives than watch you kill others!"

  "Oh really?" said the mare as she pointed a gun at the farm. "How would you like to see your own family murdered in your very eyes?!"

  Applejack had enough. She would not stand to see her parents and family die because of some stupid as crap thing. She rushed out of the barn, with her chest filled with pride. "You leave mah family alone you psychotic jackwads!"

  The stallion stared grimly at the teenage mare. All that pride went out in one stare. "So, you think this business is suitable for kids?" he said, as he slashed Applejack with a knife. The slash wasn't fatal, but it did leave a pool of blood from the mare. "Pathetic." Just as he was about to deliver the finishing blow, her parents spoke up.

  "No! Don't kill her!" they said in unison. The parents looked down with sadness, then Crisp spoke up. "Kill us instead."

  The stallion queried on that, but eventually gave in.

  "But before we go, let us have our last moments with our daughter."

  "Fine. Make it quick."

  Crisp went up to Applejack. Applejack had a scared face, knowing that this would be her last conversation with her mom. Honey-nut Crisp had a calm, yet slightly scared face. "AJ, remember when I told you about how we would not always be here? Well, that time is upon us. I need you, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith to be the best family to Apple Bloom. And if she asks, we went out fighting for our family." she said, as she put her hat on Applejack.

  Applejack was on the verge of tears. The couple closed their eyes. 'We will always be with you Applejack,' they thought, as the blue mare put bullets through their necks.

  As blood started coming out from everywhere, the stallion looked down at the bloodied mare. "If word gets out about this, your next."

  As soon as he said that, a police van appeared, and tasered the whole gang, knocking them out cold. As police and family appeared to help up Applejack, all she could do was cry.

Sweet Apple Acres, Present Day

  After Applejack finished her story, she broke down in tears. "That day, I lost mah parents. That day I lost hope. That whole day nearly drove me to suicide!!" The crowd gasped at that. "But I didn't. I held my ma's last words to my heart and took care of Apple Bloom like she was mah own!" Applejack took on a grim face. "So, if you two jack***** think you can get away with something like that, then your ****** up in the ***. So GET OUT OF MAH SIGHT!!"

  While taken back by what she had said, the brothers were no less pleased. However, two voices changed that. "Applejack? Is that you?"

  AJ realized that voice from any where, and grew wide eyes. "Mama?"

  She then heard another voice similar to her. "My god. I didn't realize our own child!"

  AJ's eyes grew even wider at that sentence. "It... it can't be."

  "Oh honey! We missed you so very much!" said Honey-nut and Appleseed, as they came up to give Applejack a hug.

...

  Twilight was pondering around her castle. She knew not do that. The last time she did, she got a visit from her future self, giving her a week of paranoia. But this time was different. It was serious. Even after the best day of her life, she still had those awful thoughts.

  "Maybe you shouldn't call them awful," whispered a dark voice in her head.

  'Shouldn't?!' she thought. ''I've been thinking about killing others! That's awful.'

  "That's what Shiny used to say about being in love, and remember that one night you..."

  Twilight got furious. 'Do NOT mention that night.'

  "All I'm saying is maybe your dark side isn't so bad."

  'Yeah, maybe it isn't.'

  "Besides, you've been nice your whole life. Why not be naughty for a chance?"

  'Heh, it does feel good to be bad. Maybe your... Wait, what am I saying?!"

  Twilight snapped backed to her senses. 'This is going very badly!'

Chapter 3

  Morning in Ponyville for most usually was a very long wait. For Twilight, it was even longer than normal. Considering how Twilight just had some nasty thoughts, she knew she had to do something.

  'I need to figure out how to find where all this started,' she thought. She realized that she could use the potion that Zecora used when the Everfree Forest invaded. She used her magic to make it appear. She noticed the potion had reverted to its original color. 'Crap. An excuse for my dark side to get to me.'

  "Darkness isn't so bad..." said the dark voice.

  'You already tried that. It won't work again," she thought.

  "Ow, my feelings."

  Twilight smirked at how she was able to overpower the voice. She then turned focus to the potion. Her horn glowed a menacing purple, as her eyes turned green, and purple mist started flowing from them. After the potion turned to white, she noticed her eyes didn't revert. 'Can't be that bad,' she thought. She drank the potion, and it took her back to all her memories that could of jump started this darkness.

Canterlot: 8 months ago

  Twilight was all alone. She had tried to warn everyone about Princess Cadence, and how she was an imposter. The real Cadence was not mean to others. She always did the little chant. And she most certainly didn't use green magic! But it was her fault. If she hadn't burst in all crazy like that, they would of listen. Instead, she should have came in all calm, and explaining about all she saw. Maybe she was wrong...

  'Or maybe I know she's a she demon, and everyone cares more for her than me.'

  Twilight tried to take those thoughts out of her head. But instead, it just came back.

  'Just face it. Nobody likes you. All they care about is what you give! Even Celestia walked out on you!!'

  Twilight was wanting to push it aside. But instead she agreed, as she grew a mad face, as her eyes turned green. "You know what. It's all freaking true! They never gave a crap about me for one second! All I do is give and give, and they never give back! They don't care about me, they only care about what I offer!" She waited for tears. But there were none. Just a fire inside of her. And it burned with every ounce of sadness gone. Just then, Cadence (the imposter) walked in. Expecting an apology from the mare, she instead got backlash.

  "YOU. YOU SHEDEVIL! You made me lose everything I care! For that, you'll pay!"

  Just as Twilight said that, "Cadence" trapped her underground.

...

  "I remember that," said Twilight as she watched on. "I can't believe all that happened."

...

  "Come on girls! We need to get to the elements!" shouted Applejack.

  "Is all that we ever were? Girls?!" said a furious Twilight. "Because that's what it feels like to me!"

  "Twilight, what ever made you think that?" asked Rarity.

  "Blah blah blah, all your 'I'm so generous' crap!" The others gasped. "None of you care about me! Admit it you psychopaths!"

  Rainbow Dash went up to her. "Look Twi. We're sorry we didn't listen to you about the changling. We thought you were just being weird again."

  Instead of sympathy from her, all Dashie got was a kick to the stomach. "You don't get it. I could care less if I was wrong! You all walked out on me when I needed you the most! Do you know how it makes me feel about being left for dead?!"

  Afterwards, Twilight started crying. In fact, everyone shed a tear, Pinkie's mane went flat, and RD was struggling to hold back one herself. Instead, Fluttershy went up to Twilight. "Look Twilight, I know we walked out on you, but we did it because we thought you were strong."

  "You, think I'm strong?" said Twilight.

  "Of course silly," said Pinkie Pie, who was feeling a bit bubbly, but still with a flat mane. "When we looked at Cadence, we saw a mare under pressure from a lot of things. When we look at you, we see a mare who's strong and can handle things on her own!"

  Twilight started to dry up.

  "Of course, we all made the wrong decision," replied Rarity. "And we will never forgive ourselves for it. But just remember Twilight, you may give us chances to impress princesses, but you all give us the best friendships we ever had."

  Twilight smiled. She had truly felt at peace. "Thank you all!"

  "No, thank you Twilight."

  "Alright, we have some changlings to stop! Let's go!"

...

  Even Twilight who was just watching it was crying. "I really liked that day."

  "Too bad they betrayed you again even as a princess."

  Twilight begged the voice to shut up as they went to their next memory.

Crystal Empire, 6 Months ago

  Twilight and Spike was searching for the crystal heart. Well, Twilight was, Spike just tagged along to "not" help. The heart was the only way to stop King Sombra from taking back the crystal empire.

  "I don't get it! How am I supposed to find the heart?" asked Twilight. "I've tried using all sorts of magic to get it to work!"

  "Well that stinks," said a very annoyed Spike.

  "Hold on a second," said Twilight as she had a flashback to when Celestia used a weird purple magic and her eyes turned green. She remembered how Celestia was able to make crystals appear. As she thought about how she was doing it, her eyes turned green with purple mist, as the crystal on top of turned black, and a spiral staircase appeared. "Bingo! Spike, I need you to stay here while I go look."

  "Ok Twilight."

...

  "The first time I used dark magic. I felt bad, I... felt good."

  Twilight shook her head. "Well, that helps a little, but why do I have these dark thoughts?"

  "How about a plot twist?"

  Suddenly, Twilight was taken somewhere else.

Ponyville, ???

  Twilight was back in Ponyvile. She was surprised to see that it wasn't a previous memory she had. Instead, it look all new to her. She tried to talk to others asking what was going on, but everyone just closed their door on her. It confused her. She then made her way to Sugarcube Corner to see her friends were there.

  "Girls! Thank Celestia, what happened to everyone? I tried to ask them, but they just ignored me." No one answered. Instead, they just gave off worried faces. "Girls, is something wrong?" No one answered still. "Applejack, what the heck is going on here?" Still no one said anything. Twilight was getting annoyed. "As princess of Equestria, I demand you tell me what's wrong NOW!" Before anyone could answer, a loud laughter erupted throughout Ponyville.

  "Citizens of Equis. Bow down to your new queen!" said someone. Twilight took a closer look at her. It WAS her!

  "What? How can that be? Girls, is this a prank?"

  Rarity spoke up. "All this time you were the very evil we swore to protect."

  "No girls, I swear! I have no idea how that happened!"

  Twilight got a bullet through her hoof. "ENOUGH!" yelled Applejack. Everyone started chanting a chant.

"This spirit has been doing evil since inception. Banish this spirit to the depths of Tartarus for eternity!"

  "Girls! I'm not that! GIRLS!!!"

  'Do you see? Your friends are nothing more than a sham waiting for the next chance to get rid of you! Consume your dark side and become Midnight Sparkle! You'll never be treated like this again!'

Ponyvile, Present Day

  "AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

  The yell was loud enough to wake everyone.

  "Twily are you okay?!" asked Shining Armor.

  "Don't touch me, I just want to be alone!"

  "Twilight? What's happened to you?" asked a very confused Spike.

Chapter 4

  "Ah... Ah don't believe mah eyes." Applejack had the weirdest day yet. She had just told how her parents died to everyone, and then poof, they just appear behind Flim and Flam. A weird day was an understatement for AJ, yet she was happy anyway. She now had her parents back alive after 10 years of sadness. "Mah parents aren't dead!" She went up and gave them a hug, as everyone clapped for the reunited family.

  Big Mac and Granny Smith came out to see what was happening, and they couldn't believe their eyes. "Big Mac, I think I've gone crazy!"

  Big Mac pinched himself to see if it was a dream. "Nooope. That hurt."

  By far Apple Bloom was the most surprised. "Is that... That can't be them!"

  Honeynut then took a look at her. "Is that lil Apple Bloom?"

  Apple Bloom was just as happy as AJ. She hadn't seen her parents when... "Wait a sec, how can I know you are mah parents?"

  "I can see you wore the same ribbon AJ wore when she was your age!" said Appleseed, while Applejack blushed a little bit.

  "It is you!"

  While everyone was hugging, a message appeared for AJ. "What is it for sis?" asked Apple Bloom.

Dear Friends of Twilight Sparkle

We request your presence at Canterlot Castle immediately. An occurrence has come up with Princess Twilight, and we need everyone now with the elements of harmony.

Princess Luna

  After reading, Applejack grabbed her element and started to head off, but was stopped by Honeynut. "Is something wrong sweetie? We just reunited."

  Applejack explained. "Ah know, but mah friends need me. I'll be back soon folks. It shouldn't be too long."

...

  Starlight Glimmer had just moved into Ponyvile. She once led a town where everyone had no special talent and everyone was equal. It took losing it, and another run in with Twilight until she realized it wasn't what true friendship was. She made amends with everyone, and even styled her mane differently to show how much she changed. So while Twilight had her party, she was out making amends with those she once ruled over. She had just came back from her trip, and had arrived at the castle. "Twilight, are you home?" she called out.

  She heard nothing back. Instead, she heard hoof steps. She followed the sound and found Twilight prancing around like a mad pony. "Hi there Twilight, just got back from my trip. Hey, like what you did with your mane!"

  "Hi Starlight," replied Twilight. The voice was soft and weak, like she had been through a lot.

  "Is something wrong?"'

  Twilight's eyes shot back up. Instead of being purple, they were green with purple mist flowing. "Like you of all people NEED to know!"

  Starlight was confused. "What?"

  Twilight's eyes went back to normal as she held her head. "Sorry, just been having issues lately." Twilight started walking around the room. "What do you know about dark magic?"

  "I don't know much. I do know it is a type of magic not to be regularly used," Starlight replied.

  "Correct. But did you also know that it has helped me out many times before." Twilight's eyes turned green again, this time with a wicked grin. "Dark magic is so wonderful to use. It just feels so good to use! Every time I use it, I feel like a giddy mare that just had 3 beer cans!"

  Starlight was even more confused. "I don't get it. If it's not to be used regularly, then why are you talking about how good it feels to use it? I'm just getting more confused by the second! And what's this talk about alcohol?"

  The wicked grin on Twi turned to a smug frown. "You don't get it do you?" She then blasted Starlight with a spell that has her relive her worst nightmares. As she was grinning at seeing Starlight like that, she snapped back to her senses and removed the spell.

  "Aaah, oh, Twilight, I had an awful dream!" yelled Starlight. As soon as she said it, Twilight broke down in tears.

  "Starlight," she started. "I need you to lock me in my room."

  Starlight gasped.

  "I feel as there's a darkness consuming me. I need to be away from everypony. Tell Spike he has to live with you while its going down."

  Starlight hesitated. 'There's no way I'm locking up the pony who gave me the chance of true friends!' she thought. But she realized it was what Twilight wanted. "Alright Twilight. Just promise me you'll be safe."

  Twilight smiled. "Oh, I also would like for you to study dark magic and go over your friendship lessons while I'm in here."

  "Dark magic?"

  "It shouldn't corrupt if you use it in portions."

  "Got it." Starlight then closed the door, and locked it. 'Don't worry Twilight,' she thought, 'we'll fix it somehow.'

...

  The elements of harmony arrived at the castle, only to find a note.

  "What the heck? We went all this way here for a note?!" asked Rainbow Dash.

  "I wonder if the note has any balloons in it!" replied Pinkie Pie.

  "I doubt that Pinkie. It seems rather a bad idea to do that," said Rarity.

  "I don't really mind coming here. It is a very nice place," said a soft Fluttershy

  "Now wait here just a second guys!" said Applejack as she picked up the note. She noticed that it didn't feel like a piece of paper. It felt like a key. She folded it up and inserted it into a hole found in a statue. The statue then lifted down to reveal a secret passageway.

  Everyone gasped in unison. They never knew for it to have that. "Alright y'all, if ahm correct, this is where the princesses wanted us."

  The girls then galloped to the end of the hall.

...

  "Crap," said RD. They had just got news that Twilight was struggling even more now.

  "Y'all head on home, I got something I need to check on," said AJ.

...

  Twilight was all alone in her room. No one in there to comfort her. Sadly, the darkness had came back for her. Twilight tried to run, but realized the door was locked. 'Why did I ask her to do that?' She wondered. She screamed as the darkness proceeded to consume her until she was a different mare.

  When she looked again, she laughed. Not a regular laugh, a maniacal laugh. As her eyes went green with purple mist, and she grew a star on her forehead, she said "I don't know why I waited so long for the darkness. It feels SO good!"

  She then kicked down the door. "I'm going to have my revenge, but first," she said, as she grabbed a pair of scissors, "a queen has to look her best doesn't she?"