28 Days To Armageddon

Nightfall around Ponyville was always a glorious time for Twilight. She could sit in her library and do nothing but read. The candlelight dancing upon the oaken walls in front of her offered some sense of comfort, especially after the experience she had recently been through. She didn’t think that hell was an actual place, but after seeing the hurt and angry look in Celestia’s eyes, she figured that she had been there. She had committed the ultimate magical taboo: using her power to turn ponies against each other. Her neurotic need to fulfill something deep within had driven her to that point. It had been over a letter and the fact that she didn’t schedule herself properly. She didn’t realize that it could turn into something so much worse.

The thought of Celestia’s punishment scared her. She’d never seen the beautiful Princess that angry before, and her biting words still left scars on Twilight’s ears. They had not been said in overly exaggerated fury, but rather in silent disappointment. That hurt the purple mare more than anything. Just the knowledge that she had failed to live up to Celestia’s expectations tore a hole in her soul. She’d always loved the Princess, and seen her as a secondary matron. But now, all she saw was a distant silhouette, shrouded in clouds of her own invention. Thus, the candles burned, and thus Twilight tortured herself as she continued looking over her tome.

It was called “Nightmare Night Tales.” True, some stories were meant to frighten foals, but she read the back of the book. The part where it expressly forbid wandering young eyes to venture any further. It told tales of blood, sex, and death that were much too strong in their descriptive passages for small ponies. Twilight read stories of a ghostly stallion who returned from the dead seeking vengeance on the mare who killed him. In her mind, the stallion was Celestia, and she was the mare. She was so distraught within her being that she felt Celestia deserved to have a shot at her. Her mind suddenly began begging to be tortured, slaughtered, and mangled at Celestia’s hooves. She saw Celestia’s sharp teeth, bending down to break into her and end her existence.

“AHHHHHHH!” She screamed as she suddenly dropped the book. “What the HELL am I doing?! Celestia would never do that to me! I…I…”

She couldn’t say anymore, so the poor pony bent over and wept. The encroaching darkness seemed to snuff out her candles, but she went into its night with joy. There was something so gentle and warm about it, something so deserved. Especially for a disappointment like herself. Her sadness grew until the cushion beneath her was soaked through with her orbital ejaculations. She felt a need…a need to be hurt, a need to be destroyed. Her neuroticism flooded her mind again, and she used her magic to pick up a nearby knife.

“I deserve this…” she said aloud, “…I’m nothing but a disappointment! Celestia…Luna…Applejack…Pinkie…Rarity…all my friends deserve so much more than me! I’m fucking worthless!”

“Worthless?!” Came a small male voice, “whoever said you were worthless?!”

“Spike?” Twilight asked, “I…I thought you’d gone to sleep.”

The young dragon slowly ventured out of the shadows. “Well, it’s kinda hard to sleep when one of your best friends begins screaming in the other room.”

“I’m sorry, Spike,” Twilight said, “it’s just…Celestia was so upset with me. I’ve never made her that upset before.”

“Hey, but she forgave you,” Spike pointed out, “and she’s sent you and your friends on a new mission!”

“I don’t care,” Twilight said, getting up and trotting towards a window, “I was a bad student. For the first time in my entire life, I did not live up to an academic standard. Celestia might have forgiven me…but I could never forgive myself.”

Spike looked at the ground, then back at her. He was struck as the moon coated her purple body with its envelope. As much as he had a crush on Rarity, he could not deny Twilight’s beauty and fantastic charm. He moved closer to her, gently reaching up with a claw and placing it gingerly on her shoulder. While he didn’t know the events that led up to her scream, nor did he know of her attempted suicide, he did realize that she needed him. So, he nuzzled close, bending his small body around her foreleg and nestling into her chest fur.

“I remember you telling me that I used to do this when I was just a hatchling,” he said.

She smiled down at him. “Yes, you did. It reminds me of those happy times, when I was just a filly and you were just a baby dragon.”

“But now we’re growing up,” Spike said, “we won’t be able to do this very often anymore.”

“Sh…” Twilight said, “…just enjoy the moment.”

The two best friends huddled together before Twilight ushered Spike into her bed. He gave her an odd look, but she explained her need for company that night. So, he smiled and tucked himself under the covers. She trotted to the other side before slowly pulling him in, feeling his scales shiver as they found their place in her fur. She bent her head around him, letting him know that she was there. In response, he maneuvered one of his arms around her midsection. Something about the position just felt right to the both of them, and they soon found sleep’s joyous ethereality.

But, little did they know that they were being watched. It was somepony who definitely did not have their best interests in mind. A pony with a grudge, hatred, and a genius intelligence quotient. Unlike Twilight, she was full of darkness and evil, and she committed herself to these things on a daily basis. Soon, Twilight would be hers to command and control. Her hooves worked the ground beneath her as she stared through some high powered binoculars, stalking her prey.

Patience, she told herself, Twilight Sparkle will soon meet her destiny…