The Light of the Night

A few minutes had passed in Twilight’s household, as Twilight Sparkle herself sat on a singular leather chair in the living room. Twilight was dressed comfortably in a violet t-shirt with matching sweatpants for the evening. While Sunset Shimmer was upstairs contacting the Twilight Sparkle in Equestria and their daughter, Starbeam Glitter, was in her room sound asleep, Twilight passed the time reading a book under the lamplight. It was quiet in the household, somewhat peaceful even.

THUMP!

Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle heard a noise drawing her attention toward the ceiling. Twilight kept quiet, waiting to hear if it would happen again.

THUMP! THUMP!

Slowly closing the book and placing it on the couch, Twilight Sparkle slowly got up to investigate. The noise was coming from upstairs, that much she could tell. But it was not coming from the bedroom she shared with Sunset Shimmer. That sound seemed to come from the other side… Near Starbeam’s room. Twilight Sparkle slowly makes her way towards the staircase, keeping a close eye on the floor.

THUMP! THUMP!

She could then hear a groaning noise coming from their daughter’s room, as if there was a struggle. Twilight’s concerns grew as she slowly made her way up the stairs one step at a time.

“Starbeam!” Twilight called. “Starbeam, is everything okay up there?”

But answer there came none, barely any words. Nothing more but the grunts and groans as if there was a commotion stemming within her bedroom. On one hand, perhaps Starbeam just simply turned the television up too loudly. But no… These were not the noises stemming off those shows Twilight would forbid her daughter to watch. No… There was something going on and Twilight wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Twilight Sparkle had just reached the top of the stairs, her eyes toward Starbeam’s bedroom door… When a hand taps her shoulder, and she twists to the side with a gasp.

“Twilight!” Sunset spoke. “Twilight, take it easy!”

“Sunset!” Twilight replied, catching her breath. “It’s just you!”

“Of course it’s me. I heard some noises down the hall and I came to check it out.”

“You too? It sounded as if it came from Starbeam’s room.”

The two girls turn toward Starbeam’s bedroom door, noting how quiet it was all of a sudden. Eyeing toward each other, they slowly make their way toward Starbeam’s door. Sunset lifts her hand and proceeds to knock on the door.

“Starbeam!” Sunset called out. “Starbeam, it’s us! Is everything all right in there?”

But again, there was no answer. But as Sunset cautiously leaned against the frame of the door, she swore she heard heavy breathing. Sunset knocks on the door one more time.

“Starbeam, we know something’s wrong! Open the door or we’re coming in!”

But after a couple seconds, when they didn’t hear their daughter approach the door, Sunset turns toward Twilight Sparkle who slowly nods with determination. Gripping the door handle, Sunset slowly and cautiously turns the knob. She proceeds to push the door open; their heads peek in for a good look.

It is very dark inside Starbeam’s bedroom, the hint of light from the half-moon barely illuminated part of the room. Twilight reaches over and flicks the light switch. But no matter how many times she flips the switch, the lights won’t come on despite the fact the rest of the house works. But as they look around, their eyes were able to see the chaos within their daughter’s room. Drawers hung open, clothes thrown about, and books flung all over.

The two women eyed around the room nervously, silently wondering as to what just happened. Twilight Sparkle then points to a hulking figure lying atop the bed, covered from head-to-toe under the sheets. The figure doesn’t seem to move, not even breathing, merely lies there deathly quiet. Twilight Sparkle silently enters the room first, while Sunset Shimmer looks out from outside the room. Twilight steps carefully over the discarded clothes, her eyes never leaving the figure on the bed praying to herself that it’s not their daughter.

“Starbeam?” Twilight whispered.

At the very edge of the bed, Twilight Sparkle looks over the figure with great concern. She slowly lifts her hand along the sheet. Sunset Shimmer looks around the room, as if attempting to investigate what was going on minutes ago. Twilight’s fingers carefully grasp the sheet, pulling it ever so slowly. After taking a deep breath, Twilight hurls the sheets back only to find…

Nothing… The pillows were still in place, but where the hulking figure would be lying the spot on the bed was bare. There was not even an indication that a figure was lying there nor did the bed appear to have been used for some time. It was a shocking site, as she nervously wondered what was going on.

“Twilight…?” Sunset began.

SLAM!!!

Before Sunset Shimmer finished her question, the bedroom door slammed in Sunset’s face, seemingly by itself. As Twilight Sparkle quickly turned around, the locks on the doorknob twist before clicking into the locking position. Before Twilight Sparkle could react, suddenly the thin sheets of the bed thrust off the mattress and start to wrap around Twilight, causing her to scream and shout. From outside, Sunset Shimmer banged against the door, twisting the doorknob, but it wouldn’t open.

“Twilight! What’s going on?!” Sunset shouted, banging on the door. “Twilight, Starbeam! Open the door! GIRLS!!!”

“Sunset!!!” Twilight shouted.

Suddenly, one of the sheets twists around Twilight’s mouth, covering her cries for help. Twilight muffled trying to remove the gag off her mouth when Twilight was suddenly thrust backward onto the bed. The sheets and the covers, as if by magic, start to wrap around Twilight’s arm’s and legs stretching and bonding them. No matter how hard Twilight Sparkle tried to turn, she couldn’t lift herself free as she wriggled like a worm on the bed. She was able to lift her head up just enough to see a hand reach out in the darkness, a dark violet aura around it.

“Surprise…” A familiar voice whispered, sinisterly. “Did you miss me? Because I missed you…”

Twilight’s eyes widen as that awful noise echoed in her ears, she muffled and turned trying to twist away. The light starts to fade as she eyes to the side, as yet another aura wraps around the blinders drawing them down over the window. Darkness now completely covers the room; the only light is the violet aura around the clawed hand motioning the blinders down. The hand proceeds toward the bound Twilight Sparkle, who shakes at the soundless motion the figure in the dark made. As if the she-demon herself was floating off the floor, rather than walking.

But as the demoness got closer, Twilight Sparkle expected to see Midnight Sparkle… But instead, her eyes went wide with shock. Before her eyes, sitting atop her chest, it was her five-year-old daughter Starbeam Glitter, except blue flames surrounded her glowing eyes, a horn protrudes from her forehead, her clothes were darker and torn, and her fingernails were elongated.

“Do you believe in me now? Little Star… Is mine!”

Twilight Sparkle screamed through her gag, shaking her head, and trying to break of her bonds, refusing to believe it was Midnight Sparkle talking through her daughter. Midnight Sparkle, through Starbeam Glitter, merely stared at the helpless woman…

SLAP!!!

One swift right hand against the mother’s face made Twilight stop, while her glasses flew toward the side, one of the lenses cracking on impact. Tearfully, Twilight turned back to her possessed daughter, the little girl grinning sinisterly.

“I have your child, Twilight… ‘My’ child,” ‘Midnight Sparkle’ gloated. “Allow me to take you back, where you can die in her place. Your disbelief in my power, your attempt to remove me through the sacrifice of your magic, it destroyed the faith in my spirit. Without me… I am nothing, so I was obliged to come to ‘your’ daughter.”

Twilight Sparkle watched as ‘Midnight Sparkle’ raised one finger, the right pointer finger, slowly drawing the nail toward her. She proceeds to slice not only through the fabric of Twilight’s night shirt, but the nail was so sharp it cut through the bra holding her bust together and even slightly sliced her chest down to her stomach. Twilight moaned and cried through her gag as she felt the nail cut her like a knife, but not deep enough to cut organs. ‘Midnight Sparkle’ lifts the blood-tipped nail, sucking it down her throat before taking the fabric with the other hand and rips it off swiftly, leaving Twilight’s exposed, bloody stomach before the spirit.

“Now… I must assimilate you, to make me whole,” Midnight Sparkle warned. “Your demise will be a tale to frighten children… Lovers clung close in their beds… Join me; be immortal. Make… Me… Whole…”

Suddenly, the door bursts open as Sunset Shimmer pushes the door aside, a screwdriver in her hand. Sunset gasps at the sight: A bound and gagged Twilight Sparkle, her clothes ripped and her chest bleeding, all while the figure of their daughter sits on top of her. But then, when her neck literally twists toward Sunset, the sound of bones cracking, Sunset could see the blue flames around their daughter’s eyes and the same sadistic smile. Sunset was horrified knowing of the presence that is attacking her family, performing the most atrocious acts.

“Get away from my family, you monster!” Sunset screamed.

Sunset Shimmer quickly rushed toward the demon-possessed child, who’s smile quickly shift to a frown. All of a sudden, Sunset stopped… Finding herself unable to run, not even walk. As if that wasn’t enough, Sunset felt herself choking, as an aura had a tight grip along her neck much like it was strung by an invisible rope. Soon, the fiery haired woman felt herself hovering in midair as the girl approached her, while all Twilight can do is watch helplessly at the predicament.

“You’ve been interfering with me for the last time!” Midnight growled, through Starbeam’s voice. “Time to do what I should’ve done… Five years ago…”

Starbeam violently hurls her mother straight toward one of the side drawers. Sunset screamed when she hit the corner, which stabbed into her chest spilling blood along the furniture. As Sunset fell to the floor, clutching her bleeding chest and screaming, Twilight muffled against her gag begging for this torture to stop. The girl floated towards her dying mother, her fingernails growing immensely preparing to deliver the final blow. But then, something seems to stir in her mind, as her expression started to change.

“Mom…” Starbeam whispered, tearing up.

But then a mental war took place as Starbeam’s face and voice changed, like two souls fighting for control.

“No, child… 'That' is the enemy…” Midnight spoke. “I told you… Innocent blood would be shed and hers is long overdue…”

“No! I can’t kill her…”

“WE will kill her… You and I are bound; no one can have Twilight but us!”

“I am NOT you… I will never be you! I am not a murderer; get out of my head!”

“You have no one to blame but yourself! Look yourself in the mirror… Fulfill your destiny…”

The deranged spirit forced Starbeam toward the closet mirror, the glass cracked from an earlier struggle. But there was no denying it: The flames were all around her eyes, and a violet aura glowed along her clawed hands. Starbeam tried to shake it off, but the reflection did not change. Not even the smile that was permanently on her face.

“No… No… This isn’t me… It’s not me…”

“Pretending is over, little Star. Your magic… OUR magic is more powerful than this miserable world can withstand. Together, we can have anything and everything we want at the snap of a finger… And all who stand between us will be destroyed… No… They will DIE in our hands… YOUR hands…”

“No… NO!” Starbeam cried, covering her face. “That’s not what I want; I don’t want this! I want my mom back… They are my family; not you!”

The spirit tried to seize control of the little girl, as she desperately wanted to deny the scene around her. Sunset’s dying gasps, as she clutched her side to stop the bleeding. Her other mother, Twilight Sparkle, bound and gagged while bleeding. Through some ill fortunate circumstance, the demoness somehow took hold of Starbeam. Manipulating her to use her magic for this, to lead to more people getting hurt. Starbeam never wanted this, she wanted desperately to take back what she did.

“I wish… I wish… I WISH!!!” Starbeam shouted.

<>

GASP!!!

Starbeam awoke in a deep sweat, sitting straight up with the sheets cast aside. There she lay in her night dress, gasping for air as she looked at her hands. None of her nails were long and as she felt her forehead there was no horn… But she did feel her cordless headphones on her ears and violently hurled them off to the side. She then turned toward the alarm clock on her counter.

9:50 pm

Ten minutes… Ten minutes before she seemingly went berserk and attacked her own parents…

“No… I would never do that,” Starbeam thought. “I’m not a murderer… I would never…”

Starbeam quickly got up from the bed and ran toward her closet mirror, the mirror hung along one of the doors. She looked perfectly normal, if not perpetually frightened and scared. But to her relief, there were no flames over her eyes, which weren’t as dilated as they were. It felt like a nightmare; the things she saw herself doing. Her magic beyond her control, she saw what she was doing and couldn’t stop. She couldn’t… Stop her…

“How very interesting…” Midnight spoke, suddenly appearing behind her.

Screaming, Starbeam lunged around and shot an aura directly toward Midnight Sparkle. The force barely edged her backwards, but otherwise she was unscathed by the attack. She merely stood herself up, or in this case floated up, brushing off her dress nonchalant. And Midnight was still the same as before, only half a face and a body. The rest of her shrouded by fog..

“Rude…”

“YOU!!!” Starbeam pointed, accusingly. “What did you do to me?!”

“I merely opened your eyes… All of your magic was done from your hands…”

“You tried to kill my parents through me!!”

“Wrong… ‘We’ tried to kill… Just one… So the fiery one won’t get in the way of ‘our’ family…”

“I am NOT your daughter!!! And YOU are not my mother!”

“Oh, little star… Poor naïve, little girl… You still have no idea of the meaning of your existence, don’t you? I must admit; I underestimated you… Your powers grow stronger, day by day… All the more reason to secure a hold on you…”

“I will never let you control me, Midnight!”

“Oh, but I already have… Deny it all you wish… Your fate was sealed from the day you were born… I will enjoy watching you sleep… Biding my time before I come for you again… And those who try to deny me… If they don’t let us ‘play’, they all… Go… Away…”

“SHUT UP!!!”

Enraged, Starbeam Glitter hurled magic beams toward Midnight Sparkle but instead they explode around her room, briefly illuminating it with each blast. Not strong enough to cause severe damage, but just enough to leave either a scorch mark or knock furniture and objects onto the floor. Starbeam looked around,, unable to see Midnight anymore, but still hearing her voice.

“If they don’t let us ‘play’, they all… Go… Away…”

Starbeam held her hands over her ears, trying to block out that sinister voice but it kept echoing in her head. Tears streamed down her eyes; the little girl broke down over what just happened. The girl was lost in her own despair, she didn’t hear the set of knocks on her door until someone opened it.

“Starbeam!” Sunset called, opening the door. “Starbeam, what happened?”

When Sunset peered inside, she was surprised at the mess that was left in the bedroom. The little girl turned toward her mother, with tear-filled red eyes. Her white hair with the pink stripes in a mess.

“Starbeam, what did you do?”

But Starbeam didn’t answer. She just shook her head and quickly grabbed a coat, before pushing past her mother down the stairs.

“Starbeam, wait!!”

But Starbeam did not wait, unable to bear being in the same room with her mother. A mother she nearly killed with her magic. She was just down the stairs when another voice called out.

“Starbeam?”

Starbeam stopped and turned, her face feeling more guilt-ridden. There, sitting on the couch, in her night clothes, and a book in hand, was her other mother, Twilight Sparkle. Completely unscathed just like Sunset, completely oblivious to what’s going on… So utterly confused when she saw her daughter come down.

“Starbeam, are you okay? What happened?”

How could her mother know? Sunset Shimmer may have suspected what sort of magic Starbeam had been using, but Twilight had no magic… Not anymore. How would she have known what happened? How Starbeam somehow, without her knowledge, was able to turn back time and prevent the pain that she inadvertently brought upon her family? All because of her magic… The magic in her…

“Mom…” Starbeam spoke, crying. “Mom!!!”

That was all said Starbeam could say before she made her way out the door, directly out of the house.

“STARBEAM!!!” Twilight called out.

Twilight Sparkle stood up from the couch, dropping her book, aiming to reach out toward her daughter. But by that time, Sunset Shimmer had just come down the stairs and stopped her wife in her tracks.

“Wait here!” Sunset instructed. “I’ll get her.”

Before Twilight could object, Sunset Shimmer had already made her way out the door. Starbeam was already far from the house, running away toward who knows where. But that didn’t stop Sunset from quickly hopping into her car, igniting the engine, and sped her way down the block to retrieve their daughter, who was out and about in the cold streets.

Little did either one know, a familiar demoness watched from the rooftops of their house. Her smile gleamed under the moonlight before fading away into the night sky in a cloud of mist.