The Rise and Fall of Chaos

Chapter 3 – The Magic Ends

“Keep it up, my child. We are so close now. So very close.” “They never had a chance.” “You're letting your ego get the better of you again. They nearly destroyed us.”

Goatroth sighed heavily, overcome with boredom. Sure it was fun peering into the minds of his six victims, seeing what sort of horrible things his corruption was doing to them, but he needed more.

“Ah... I have just the thing. Time to go terrorize my loyal subjects some more!”

With that, he stood up from his throne and made his way out to Canterlot.

***

“Twilight... uhh, Twilight?”

“Huh? Spike?”

“Jeez Twilight, you spend so long studying sometimes that you forget the outside world even exists!”

Twilight looked around. She was sure she was just in the palace at Canterlot... could it have been a daydream?

“How could I have been so careless?” she thought. “I should have been studying, but instead I allowed my mind to wander!”

She stared at the book in front of her. The words seemed like incomprehensible gibberish. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves, but the words didn't become any clearer.

“No wonder I started to daydream, I've been at this for so long that I can't even read anymore! Spike was right, maybe I do spend far too much time studying.”

“Sorry Spike. I guess I got a little carried away with my studies. Did you need something?”

“You said you were gonna test some more of your spells today” said Spike, looking somewhat sad.

“Oh that Spike, he probably just wants me to give him another mustache or something.”

Twilight smiled and stood up, stretching her legs and yawning. “Alright Spike, let's get started.”

Spike smiled and excitedly trotted over to Twilight, clipboard in hand.

“Ok let's see... ah! The first spell is mustache conjuring!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “Really? Again? I thought you gave up on trying to impress Rarity the last time it failed.”

“Well it can't hurt to try again. Oh and this time, make it a 'dashing hero' type mustache, one that just screams 'I'm here to save the damsel in distress!'”

Twilight sighed loudly, “Fine, one dashing hero mustache coming right up...”

Twilight concentrated, a small purple light appearing on her horn. Within seconds, a small tuft of hair appeared above Spike's lip. Then it began to grow.

“Uhh, Twilight? It's a bit too long.”

The mustache kept growing, even though Twilight had stopped casting her spell.

“Twilight?”

“I... I don't know what's going on! I already stopped trying to make it grow, it shouldn't be doing this!”

The mustache continued to grow, and soon it had reached the other side of the room. Twilight started to concentrate again, desperate to stop the growth before the room filled up with hair. The mustache immediately burst into flames.

“Oh my gosh, that wasn't supposed to happen!” Twilight exclaimed as she tried once more to set things right.

The mustache finally disappeared, but the fire had remained.

“I know dragons are mostly fireproof, but he's still just a baby dragon, and this fire was made with magic, I can't take any chances!” she thought.

Twilight quickly conjured a small downpour of water directly onto Spike's face, putting the fire out, but the damage had been done.

***

“Will he be ok, doc?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Yes, he'll be fine. He's just suffered a few minor burns. He's quite lucky you managed to put the fire out when you did, it could have been much worse.”

Spike walked out of the doctor's exam room, licking at a sucker the doctor gave him.

“Spike! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for...” began Twilight, before Spike interrupted.

“Aww it's ok, Twilight. I know it was an accident. But, maybe you should lay off the magic for a while until you figure out what went wrong?”

“Yeah, maybe you're right.” Twilight said with a sigh.

***

Twilight was on her way home when she caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash pulling off another one of her daredevil stunts. She was expertly maneuvering through the clouds, not hitting a single one, while performing numerous loop-de-loops and barrel rolls. Twilight stopped to watch, impressed by her friend's agility and speed. Rainbow saw she was being watched, and tried to go faster.

“Gotta show off my moves!” she said to herself.

She sped up faster and faster, until she was just a blur. Then, she suddenly lost control and began spinning wildly towards the ground, as Twilight watched in horror. Thankfully, she was able to regain control just in time and brought herself to a complete stop.

“Rainbow, you really need to stop showing off like that, you could get hurt!” Twilight shouted as she ran up to her friend.

“Aww don't worry, I know what I'm doing!” Rainbow said boastfully. “Just watch this!”

She set off again, this time going much faster than before. She was doing fairly well, until she lost control yet again and began hurtling towards Twilight's house!

“Oh no! I know I said I shouldn't use my magic, but it doesn't look like she can stop herself this time!” Twilight said out loud.

Twilight began to cast a spell to slow Rainbow Dash down so she could recover, but instead she started to speed up! Twilight panicked as she watched her friend falling at increasingly faster speeds towards her house, feeling helpless and confused.

“My spell should be slowing Rainbow down, not speeding her up!” she thought.

She finally gained enough control over herself to be able to cast the proper spell, and Rainbow slowed to a crawl, giving her enough time to stop herself safely. She immediately rushed toward Twilight, a look of sheer anger on her face.

“What in the world was THAT about, Twilight? You could've killed me!” she screamed angrily.

“I'm sorry! My magic hasn't been working right today, I don't know why. Just before I nearly burnt Spike's face while working on my conjuring spells, and now this... I just don't know what's going on!” said Twilight, her voice rife with frustration.

Rainbow began to calm down slightly. “Look, I know you were just trying to help, and you did manage to slow me down, and without your help I probably would've been toast... but you REALLY need to get that magic of yours under control! Who knows what could happen next?”

“I know,” Twilight said with a sigh, “but maybe I'm just having an off day. I mean, I was able to get control eventually, right? I'm sure that's all it is.”

“If you say so, but I don't wanna have to say 'I told you so' when you finally do end up hurting someone.” said a still somewhat angry Rainbow.

***

Back in her house, Twilight was going out of her mind trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Then, a thought occurred to her. Before she conjured that mustache for Spike, she had just the quickest flash of...

“No, that's silly!” she thought, “Isn't it? I didn't mean for him to get hurt, but...”

And then, she remembered she had a thought of Rainbow hitting her house so fast that the entire place came crashing down, just before she cast the spell to slow her down. The thoughts didn't feel like her own, they felt alien, like someone had placed them in her mind. Yet, they had a real effect on her all the same.

“What's happening to me?” she said to herself quietly.

“What if... what if these thoughts are coming from my subconscious mind? What if they're my deepest repressed thoughts?”

The thought chilled Twilight to the very bone. She could accept a lot of things about herself, but a repressed murderous desire? That was stretching it. Still, there was that small bit of doubt eating at her, and it was enough to keep her worried. Before she could think on it further, there was a knock at the door. She really didn't want any guests, but nevertheless she got up and walked to the door to see who it was.

She opened the door to find Rarity standing there, a smile on her face. “Oh, come in Rarity.” Twilight said glumly.

“What's the matter dear? You seem a bit down today.” said a concerned Rarity.

“I'd rather not talk about it.” answered Twilight. “So, what brings you here?”

“Oh, well, nothing much. I was just hoping you could do a teensy little favor for me.”

“What kind of favor?” Twilight asked, her brow raised slightly.

“Well... do you remember those fabulous wings you made for me? I'm going to have a certain special guest over at my place tonight and I want to impress them...”

“With wings? Why wings?” asked a confused Twilight.

“Best if you don't ask.”

“Right... well I'm afraid it's out of the question.”

Rarity started to pout a little. “Why?”

“Today's not a good day for me to be using magic.”

“What happened?” Rarity asked, looking concerned.

Twilight sighed. “I nearly set Spike on fire, and I almost made Rainbow Dash crash into my house at terminal velocity. I just don't know what my magic will do if I use it again, especially on such a complicated spell.”

“Oh you worry too much, darling. Just give it a try, I'm sure nothing will go wrong!” Rarity said reassuringly.

“No! I don't want to hurt anyone else today, and that's that!”

Rarity began to pout again. “Please? I promise, I'll make it up to you!”

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine! But don't say I didn't warn you.”

Twilight began to focus her magic, trying desperately to stave off whatever negative thoughts might seep in. Just before she was ready to cast the spell, she had slightest flash of... something. She wasn't quite sure, but...

“Oh no, no, no! I have to stop!” she was in a panic over what she thought she saw. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop.

Rarity began to rise, surrounded by Twilight's magic. Twilight was still struggling desperately to stop the spell but she couldn't. It was as if some foreign, yet strangely familiar source was controlling her. She was sure of it now, it was her own subconscious mind. She'd felt this before, when she was a young filly, and Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom made her explode with magical power. Her eyes began to glow.

The entire house was shaking violently, and Rarity was beginning to get a little nervous.

“Ah, Twilight... you can stop now. I don't think it's going to work. T..Twilight?”

Rarity was suddenly thrown with extreme force directly into the wall behind her. There was a sickening audible crack as her head hit the wall. Her body fell into a crumpled heap on the floor.

Twilight finally regained control of herself, but it was already far too late. She ran over to Rarity, fearing the worst.

“Rarity? Are you alright?” she asked, tears beginning to fill her eyes. “Rarity please, say something!”

She nudged at her friend's body with her nose. There was no response. Twilight waited for any sign of life, any at all. Then she noticed that Rarity had stopped breathing, and blood was beginning to pour out of her head.

Twilight Sparkle's mind reeled as she thought about what just happened. She had just killed one of her best friends. She didn't mean to, or did she? She wasn't even sure anymore. All she knew was that one of her best friends was now lying on her floor, dead, all because of her magic going out of control.

Her rational mind started to take over, and she knew she had to do something. If anyone found out what had just happened, she would be labeled a murderer. She couldn't let that happen! She picked up Rarity's lifeless body and carried it down to the basement, sobbing uncontrollably the entire way.

She brought Rarity's body over to a secluded corner, and began digging a grave with her horn.

“This could go so much faster with my magic... no. No. I will NEVER use magic again!”

With the hole finally dug, she threw Rarity's body into it, and buried her.

“Yes... no one will ever know. No one will ever find her here...”

Even with the unbridled chaos swirling through her mind, she knew she had to say something, anything, to her departed friend. Whether or not Rarity would even be able to hear it didn't matter much to Twilight.

“Rarity... I'm so sorry. I never should have agreed to try using my magic on you. But you pushed me to do it. Why...” she began to cry again, “why did you push me? Why didn't I have the willpower to say no? Why did this have to happen?!” She took a minute to wipe the tears from her eyes with her hoof. “I swear to you, I will never use magic again, as long as I live! Oh, Rarity...”

If anyone had been in the library at that time, they would have heard the sorrowful wailing of a distraught pony quite easily, and wondered where it was coming from.

***

Goatroth chuckled softly, pleased with what he just witnessed.

“Well, maybe it isn't all that boring after all” he said to no one in particular. “Still, the payoff is hardly worth having to sit through all the other nonsense...”

He continued walking out through the palace gates, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

“Hmm, with Twilight's magic out of the way, this might just be too easy. Oh well. Let's see what sort of trouble I can stir up out here.”

Goatroth cleared his throat and began to tap into the minds of all the ponies in Canterlot.

“Good morning, citizens of Canterlot! This is your Lord Goatroth speaking. I wish to hold a contest. A race, of sorts. You must all do your best to make it to the front of the palace gates within 5 minutes. Those who are not here in that time, will die a most horrible death. Don't even try to think about cheating. Those who run away or simply hide somewhere will eventually be found, and they will be punished most severely. Just remember, there are worse fates than death! The race begins... now! Good luck!”

Goatroth couldn't help but laugh as he witnessed a huge crowd of panicked ponies running toward him. Every building in Canterlot was being emptied one by one, as no one wished to be left behind.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Do mind the obstacles, won't you?”

Without warning, much of the ground fell and gave way to traps filled with a wild assortment of deadly items, ranging from pools of acid to beds of spikes. The parts of the ground that hadn't fallen were filled with slippery grease, making it incredibly difficult for anypony to avoid slipping and falling into any of the traps.

Surprisingly, everypony made it to the front of the palace, completely unharmed.

“Oh, well, that was unexpected. Still, good show! I do so enjoy watching you all running in fear for your lives!” Goatroth said, a wicked smile appearing on his face.

“You monster!” shouted one of the ponies. “How dare you do this to us!”

“Oh, you wish to challenge me?” With that, Goatroth zapped a nearby building, reducing it to rubble in a second, then he zapped it again and it miraculously rebuilt itself in nearly the same amount of time. “Please, if any of you think you could even compare to my abilities, do step forward. I welcome a good fight.”

No one dared move an inch after witnessing such a thing. The entire crowd was silent.

“That's what I thought. You've entertained me enough for the moment, you may all return home. Ah but of course, the traps will remain. Do be careful to avoid them on your way back.”

Goatroth turned and walked back inside the palace, incredibly pleased with himself.

“Very well... let's see who's next, shall we?”