Equestria's Darkest Shadow

Starlight and Twilight stared in complete disbelief. Shooting Star, Starlight's brother and hero, was the Pony of Shadows. The one who released Discord and Tirek unto the world. The one who killed Twilight's friends and possibly thousands of others.

"It's been quite a long time, hasn't it, Starbright?" noted Shooting Star. "But you're still as naive and stupid as you were at fillyhood."

"How can this be?" asked Starlight. "What did you mean that I took everything away from you?"

"Before mom and dad conceived you, I had gotten everything I ever wanted or needed." answered Shooting Star. "I got the best spell books, all the best grades in magic school, great friends. I was on top of the world! Then, you came along." His voice toned down in disgust. "All my parents and friends would ever talk of 'how cute Starlight is!' and 'Starlight's got great potential!' All I ever heard was 'Starlight' this and 'Starlight' that and Starlight, Starlight, Starlight. You were always just so SUPER SPECIAL!!!”

Starlight felt hurt and guilty. "I...I never meant to rob you of all you loved, Star. I'm really sorry." she said, tearing up.

"Too many years too late, sis." replied Shooting Star. "And so, I figured I could take all that you had loved in return. You know all those spells I taught you? Well, most of those spells weren't even from public libraries."

"Then where'd you get them?" asked Twilight.

"You'd be amazed at how many places have back allies that have ponies willing to sell books with forbidden spells for the right price."

Starlight's stomach dropped. "For...forbidden spells?" she stammered.

"Mhmm. Killing spells, spells that can erase memories, and even spells that can remove somepony's cutie mark."

Starlight began to feel small.

"Of course, I never had the money to buy the books, so I just killed the sellers and took all the books for myself!" Shooting Star chuckled in delight.

"Just so you could model me into a monster like you?"

"And here's the best part!" went on Shooting Star. "When your best friend, Sunburst went on his way to the top classes in Canterlot, I went to see him off. He asked me how happy and proud of him you were of her and I told him that you were exceedingly proud. But I also told him not to write back for advice in spells as it would imply he wasn't as great as you thought him to be. He took it to heart and promised to pass his classes by himself and move to Canterlot to ensure that promise."

"But...but you told me that he said his cutie mark and great talent were an excuse to get away from our village and away from me because I was boring to him!" remembered Starlight.

"Starting to sense a pattern here?" teased Shooting Star.

"You...you lied to him! You lied to me!" accused Starlight.

"So what?" said Shooting Star. Everything else I taught you is true." The irony in those words hurt Starlight the worst.

"My theory was that everypony has evil in them, that they need the right motivation, and friendship is a meaningless concept that wears indefinitely over time." reminded Shooting Star. "And you were no different than the other ponies I persuaded after you left."

And Shooting Star told them how he managed to tell an overworking pony who got nothing in return to become a talent agent as they get rewarded with the best stuff for their work in stage building "so long as they don't get ticked off to the point of canceling the performer's schedule" and the pony who got bullied for her weird taste in bland food to become a food critic "since everypony agrees with what the best critics say." But his biggest accomplishment was with a unicorn named Moondancer."

"YOU DIDN'T!" gasped Twilight.

"I certainly did!" chuckled Shooting Star. "To be honest, though, it just happened by chance. I was walking along wondering who to test my theory on next when I overheard your Canterlot friends inviting you to her party. At first, I thought nothing of it, but I later stumbled across the party and saw how sad she was when you didn't come."

"Don't rub it in." snarked Twilight.

"Too late." laughed Shooting Star. "But it was then I knew she was the next perfect test subject. After she mentioned your name, I asked everypony in town where you were headed, claiming to be a next door neighbor wanting to wish you off. When I teleported to Ponyville and found you saying you don't care much for friends, I used a spell to record every moment you disregarded friendship and preferred solitude and studies over everything else."

Twilight blushed in great shame.

"And after your big ordeal with Nightmare Moon, I returned to Canterlot to find Moondancer." continues Star. "And when I did, I told her everything. She didn't like hearing you talking about how you preferred studies over friends, she didn't like it at all. After telling her you left her to live in Ponyville, I told her how books are the only friends she needs. After all, they tell you the truth, they're important for your life, and they never betray you or hurt you."

"So she became a reclusive shadow of my former self because of your philosophy..." Twilight's voice trailed away in disbelief and anger.

"And speaking of Nightmare Moon," added Star. "After you turned her back into Luna, I examined the pieces of her broken armor when they circled around me and accepted the evil inside me, thus providing me her powers and my new nickname, the Pony of Shadows. So that makes two things I should thank her for."

"Two things?" queried Starlight and Twilight.

"Giving me her powers and her being proof that even the most pure-hearted princesses could fall to their dark side. And from that day onward," Shooting Star continued. "I decided to have fun from time to time. One day I spread those vicious rumors about the zebra that moved to town. Another day, I decided to hide a parasite behind a rock as a surprise for Fluttershy. Then, there was the day I gave all those birthday presents to your pet dragon to see his greed grow stronger. Then there was the day I posed as a fan of Wind Rider to try and get rid of Rainbow Dash, the day I told Trixie about the alicorn amulet, the day i told Appleloosa the Troubleshoes was an outlaw, those were good times."

Twilight was aghast. "So those powerful enemies, disasters, and friendship problems...they were all because of YOU?"

"Most of them, except for Sombra." said Shooting Star. "But at least I turned his horn into more magic for me. And for all those moments I didn't get involved in, I watched your journeys to see your strengths and weakness."

"The brother I knew as the one who looked out for me, supported me, gave me good advice. He was nothing but a lying monster." said Starlight in anguish. "And I was just his pawn to mold to become like him."

"Life stinks, doesn't it?" snarked Shooting Star. "And how did I avoid getting caught, you might ask?" He paused impressively. "Whenever I got spotted, I just wiped their memories of our encounter and disappeared without a trace!"

That did it. Starlight heard enough. She at last found her motivation. "I made the mistake of listening to your bad advice and become a dictator. Now, I'm going to fix my mistake!" She roared and kept at her brother, ready to pummel him.