The Presence

by Lunar Specter

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Spike, Tragedy, Princess Celestia, Main 6
Length: 2882

Twilight Sparkle turns evil under the control of the spirit of a long-dead pony

A spell gone wrong leaves an evil presence in control of Twilight's body...and her magic's growing stronger by the minute. Can her friends band together to stop this monster and get their Twilight back?

Published 2012-07-05 02:44:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-24 20:18:06 UTC

Rarity

Rarity wasn’t much of an early riser, but this particular morning she woke a few hours before the sun had even risen. She was stirred from her beauty sleep by a strong and sudden magical presence.

Now Rarity may not be the strongest unicorn, that honor goes to her good friend Twilight Sparkle, but she was gifted with magic and could easily sense when there was a magical disturbance in the air. And this magical disturbance was unlike any she had ever felt in terms of power.

Her plan was to investigate this disturbance…once her appearance was presentable, that is. It would be a crime against fabulosity if Rarity were to go out in public with bed-mane, and so Rarity began the (hours-long) process of washing and styling her mane.

She had just finished washing her mane when an urgent knocking began at the entrance to the boutique. Letting out a groan of frustration, she stepped out of the tub and wrapped her mane up in a towel.

“Can’t a pony have a little privacy…” She muttered to herself, “COMING!!”

She made her way to the portion of her home reserved for her business, the Carousel Boutique, and began to unlock the door. It swung open to reveal a certain panicked young dragon…who immediately pushed his way past her and began digging through some of her desks, ignoring the surprised shriek of the house’s occupant.

Confused, Rarity shut and locked the door and turned back toward the dragon.

“Now Spike, it is rude to just barge in on somepony like this.” She scolded.

“S-sorry…Rarity…but…Twilight…a-and…explosion…need…letter…” Out of breath from his sprint to Rarity’s house, this was all of Spike’s response that she was able to catch.

Rarity walked over to where Spike was currently throwing designs around the room in his desperate search through a drawer and gently pulled him away.

“Now Spike, just catch your breath for a minute, I couldn’t make out half of what you said.”

Having apparently mostly recovered from being out of breath, he began to speak immediately. “Something’s happened to Twilight and I need to write a letter to the Princess!”

He didn’t wait for a response. He turned around and continued digging through drawers.

Noticing the dragon’s panicked and scared looked, Rarity began to wonder about the fate of her friend.

“Spike, what happened to Twilight?”

Another thought crossed her mind.

“Why are you looking for something to write with here? Don’t you have plenty of quills and scrolls at the library?...Spike?”

Rarity’s questions fell on deaf ears. Spike had found a quill and a piece of parchment and was furiously scribbling down something, too absorbed in his task to notice her questions. Almost as soon as he began writing, he was done and they both watched as the parchment incinerated under his magical flame.

“Spike? What’s going…”

An explosion rocked the boutique. The front door flew across the store, violently slamming against the wall. Works-in-progress and detailed designs flew around the room.

Behind it all was a certain purple unicorn.

“Hello, Rarity.”

Rarity was disoriented by the sudden explosion, but that voice rang clear. She turned to see the silhouette of her friend in the center of a huge hole blown into the side of her home and business.

“Twilight?”

A dark chuckle filled the room.

“Correct.” Twilight began to walk across the room. “Have you seen Spike? I’ve…seen to lost track of him.”

Everything was all wrong about her friend. Her appearance…her voice…her demeanor…all so unlike her friend. “Dear, are you okay?”

“Just fine….now, you didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m sorry?” Rarity was thrown off by just how malicious her friend sounded.

There was a flash and Twilight was instantly in front of her, glaring furiously down at her. “Spike! Where is he?!” she said in a dangerous growl.

Rarity backed away from her, fear and concern evident in her eyes. “H-he…was just here.”

“Well he isn’t now, is he? Where did he go?” Twilight demanded.

“Huh?” Rarity quickly glanced around the room. Spike was nowhere to be seen, she figured he probably ran off after the explosion. “I-I don’t know! He was just here a minute ago.”

Twilight backed off and seemed to contemplate these words.

“No matter,” she dismissed the matter, a dark, twisted smile growing on her face. “I’ll get him another time. It is you, Element of Generosity, that I am really after.”

Rarity was at a loss for words, instead choosing to slowly inch backwards. Something was definitely not right; could this really be her friend?

Soon she felt something press against her back and she realized she had backed into a wall. Twilight had matched her movements and even now, continued to slowly advance on her, that same twisted smile on her face.

Rarity had never been so afraid, that twisted smile and the dark glint in her friend’s eyes caused a bone-chilling fear to tear through her. Rarity didn’t know what her friend was talking about, what intentions she had, but they were malicious, she knew that.

Twilight’s horn began to glow and the fear and anxiety overwhelmed her.

She fainted.

Morning

At first, there was nothing. No sound, no light, no scent, no taste, no touch. Not even any thought, she was just… there…lost in an everlasting void.

And then, she emerged from the void. She could feel softness below and above her. A soft, rhythmic sound, comforting in a special way she couldn’t quite place, could be heard. There was a warmth around her and she could sense a light beyond her closed eyelids, they opened lethargically.

Old wood, aged but still very much strong and stable created the ceiling and much of the walls of which she could see. On the wall directly above her head there was décor with a familiar motif…she knew instantly where she was. But how did she get here?

She remembered waking and washing her hair. Then there was a knocking, and Spike, and…

She sat up in a flash, and not long afterward, a familiar orange pony was by her side. “Easy there, Sugarcube!”

She looked up and saw the concern in the pony’s eyes. “Applejack? Wha…how did I get here?”

“Spike brought ya ‘ere.” Applejack motioned to a form bundled up in blankets in a bed on the far side of the room, a scaly purple arm sticking out of the bundle the only hint as to who the form was. “Poor thing was scared outta his mind and wasn’t makin’ much sense, kept sayin’ somethin’ about Twi and a spell ‘fore he just collapsed from exhaustion. Rarity, what happened?”

“I’m…not sure what exactly happened, dear. Twilight…she destroyed part of my house and ruined my designs…she even attacked me!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Whoa, whoa! Our Twi attacked ya?! Is she the one who hurt Spike?!”

“Hurt Spike?” Rarity pulled herself out of bed and quickly made it over to where Spike was asleep. She pulled back the covers and gasped at what she saw. Beneath the covers was peacefully sleeping dragon…with a large, discolored bandage covering most of his tiny chest.

“She hurt Spike? How could she hurt Spike?” Rarity muttered under her breathe, she found what she was seeing difficult to believe. Her eyes began to tear up, for more than one reason.

An orange hoof found its way around her shoulders, gently pulling her into a comforting hug. She realized that Applejack must have been behind her the entire time. “Ah’m not sure, Sugarube. Ah find it hard ta believe that Twi would ever hurt any of us, ‘spcially on purpose. We’ll figure this out though. Fluttershy is downstairs right now and Rainbow is headed in town t’get Pinkie, with the five of us t’gether nothing can stop us.”

A smile grew on Rarity’s face and she sniffled. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

Pinkie Pie was always awake at the break of dawn, be it to get an early start on the day’s baking for Sugarcube Corner or she couldn’t sleep because she had a party to plan. This morning in particular, it was the former.

Hopping across the kitchen in her usual fashion, she laid a pan of freshly baked vanilla cupcakes on the counter. They looked great (as usual) but lacked the icing that made the whole display.

Hmmm…I could put blue icing on them, but I did that with the last batch. It would be boring to do it again. A lime green would look yummy, oooooo or maybe a yellow! Oh! Oh! I know! I could put pink icing on them! Pink is always a great choice! For everything! For cupcakes, cakes, cookies, curtains, cats…

The sound of the bell on the front door ringing brought Pinkie out of her thoughts.

“Someone’s sure is here early! Maybe they’re like me and like sweets in the morning!” She hopped out of the kitchen into the main store.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corn-Oh! Hey Twilight! What’re you doing here so early?” Pinkie greeted upon seeing the customer was a familiar lavender unicorn.

“Hello Pinkie Pie, I am here for you actually.” Twilight said, expressionless.

“Cool! What’s up? Do we have another adventure to go? Or-” Pinkie gasped. “Do you want to throw a party?!”

“No, Pinkie. Neither. I am here to ask you where the Element of Laughter is.” Twilight stated.

“Oh! Well, why are you asking me? You know where they are too, silly!”

“Just answer the question.” Twilight growled, her patience starting to grow sparse.

“What question? You didn’t actually ask me a question Twilight.” Pinkie giggled.

There was a flash of magenta light and Twilight was snarling in Pinkie’s face. “I am not playing these games with you, just answer me. Where is the Element of Laughter?”

Pinkie cocked her head, something was not right. “Twilight, are you okay?”

Twilight took a step back and pointed her horn at Pinkie. “GAH! THAT’S IT!” Her horn began to glow and she launched a bright magenta bolt at her.

When she looked up, Pinkie was no longer in front of her and there was a burn mark where she once was. A dark, satisfied grin grew on her face.

“That was a close one! You almost got me!”

The cheerful voice came from behind her.

She whirled around and to her disbelief saw Pinkie Pie, unharmed and smiling. “How did you…nevermind.”

She launched another bolt at Pinkie.

Again, Pinkie just carelessly hopped out of the way.

“Would you stay still!” Twilight growled, now furious.

“Okay.” Pinkie plopped down where she stood, giving Twilight an innocent smile.

The evil smile on Twilight’s face grew even larger and she charged up another magic bolt. This bolt grew brighter and more powerful than the previous ones, this one wasn’t going to miss and nothing could survive it. As she released the bolt, neither she nor Pinkie noticed as a new sound filled the room.

The sound of glass shattering.

There was a rainbow blur as Pinkie was tackled out of the bolt’s path just in the nick of time.

Sugarcube Corner rocked from the force as the bolt blasted a hole through the wall Pinkie once stood in front of, the force was enough to briefly disorient the caster.

Pinkie looked up to see that she was tackled by non-other than Rainbow Dash. She didn’t get a chance to say anything to her friend as Rainbow was quick to recover and jumped up and sped across the room toward Pinkie’s attacker.

Using the attacker’s disorientation to her advantage, Rainbow tackled her, pinning her to the ground. Up until now, she had failed to get a good look at the attacker.

Pinkie saw Rainbow’s surprised reaction, she didn’t blame her. Pinkie, herself, was trying to understand what was happening.

She looked at where she once stood. There was a gaping hole in the wall, revealing one of the streets of the still half-asleep Ponyville. There were burn marks along the edges of the hole and on the ground where she was. Anything that was in the path of that bolt was now gone. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Twilight had tried to kill her.

Her friend Twilight Sparkle had tried to kill her.

With a poof, Pinkie’s hair lost all of its puffiness.

Pinkie was so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed that Rainbow was now racing towards her. Without stopping, Rainbow effortlessly picked Pinkie Pie up in her forelegs and rocketed off through the hole Twilight had created and into the sky above Ponyville.

If they would have looked behind them, they would have seen a bolt of magic narrowly missing them.

And a set of dark purple eyes following them as they streaked across the sky.

Horribly Wrong

Luna’s night had long since taken over the skies above the small, rural town of Ponyville. It brought the kind of serene beauty that only the night could bring: Andromareda and Hercoltes graced the sky; Luna’s moon full and bright, casting shadows throughout the land.

Sadly, most ponies were asleep at this hour and missed out on such beauty.

Most.

A lone building in the darkness emitted light from its many windows. The building’s occupant, a purple unicorn by the name Twilight Sparkle, enthusiastically examining various texts; her topic of research: a complicated spell she had recently discovered.

She had happened upon the spell while reading through a rather ancient text on forbidden spells. Now this was no text she was unfamiliar with, she had read it multiple times and knew the spells well. But this particular spell was discovered in a particularly odd spot: hoof-carved into the back cover, originally obscured by a faux covering. An incident with Spike, her little dragon assistant, had revealed it.

As you can probably guess, the odd placement of this spell piqued Twilight’s curiosity. That, and the fact that all that was described was how to perform the spell…no name, no purpose…just directions on casting.

None of her other texts had any mention of a similar spell in them, and Twilight was sure she had gone through every one in her collection. She was starting to get agitated.

Well, if research yields nothing, then that only leaves one thing: experimentation.

Now why would Princess Celestia’s star pupil risk casting a potentially forbidden (and most likely dangerous) spell? The answer is simple.

Curiosity.

Anyone who knew Twilight knew that her curiosity knew no bounds. She had to know the answers to whatever questions were thrown her way, and the explanations to what she observed.

Reading over the transcription one last time, Twilight stepped into the center of the library’s lobby. Not sure what to aim at, she focused on one of the books that lay near her.

Closing her eyes, she focused on drawing her magic from the source within her. She felt the energy surge around her horn and reach out towards the book, she opened her eyes to observe.

Something went wrong.

The spell hit the book…and bounced right off. Arching like lightening around the room, it eventually found its way back to her.

It struck her before she even had time to react.

She felt the spell reach deep within her and attack her magic. It hurt, like no pain she had ever felt. She thought it was attacking her very soul. She couldn’t scream…she didn’t have time to.

For a second, it all stopped. The pain just…stopped.

Then her magic surged out of control.

Her eyes turned white and began to glow with power, and energy surged around her. She began to levitate off the ground under the power of the magic surging around her.

She had never felt so much magic before…the surge when she got her cutie mark, nothing compared to this.

Before she could even attempt to regain control, another surge, much larger than the last, erupted from within her. Something came with this surge, she could feel it.

Something…dark.

She tried to fight it, but it was futile, there was too much of her own magic behind the essence. She lost consciousness as the surge left her body with so much force it caused a loud explosion that rocked the tiny library.

**********

Spike the dragon was awoken from his sleep by a loud explosion. He stumbled out of bed, and seeing the dust and remnants of books flying in the air, could only guess what happened. Another failed spell.

Spike rushed down the steps, almost tripping on the way down. He searched through the dusty haze that filled the air in the library’s lobby for his guardian.

He saw a movement through the haze near the center of the room and rushed to it.

It was Twilight. She was just starting to drag herself to a stand, her eyes still shut.

“Twilight! Are you alright?!” Spike asked as he aided her in standing.

Twilight’s eyes shot open and she starred at him. Something seemed…off about her appearance. Spike finally realized what it was...her eyes were darker than their normal purple hue, they seemed almost black.

After a few moments of her staring at him, she gave him an uncharacteristically evil grin and spoke in a dark tone, “Oh yes, Spike! Never better.”