Author's Note

A simple story for 20 minutes. Nothing special.

Ambiguous

...

A year and 1 month have passed. During this time, I was completely confident in her. I trusted her. I believed her. I was her mentor.

The last few months have been difficult. It was getting worse and worse every day.

In the early days, everything seemed normal. The main word is "it seemed." She behaved as always, she helped me with work, as always, she did everything as she did on other days. But something has changed. Her magic.

I think you know that the aura of magic in a unicorn can show its condition. For example, if the aura is very bright, it means that the unicorn is putting a lot of effort into using magic. If it starts blinking, then the unicorn is powerless. There are also many varieties, but they are too little different to speak about anything precise.

As you can see, your lessons were not in vain.

Now, her aura was darker than usual. I only noticed it a few days later, when it became too noticeable. I immediately rejected the fact that it was related to the disease: she would have warned me about it. It's not related to emotions either: whether you're happy or sad, it's the same shade. I would like to talk about emotions separately.

She's colder to everyone, without exception. Although I'm lying, not to everyone- she behaves to me the same way she did. Whether it was sincere is another question. She talks to her friends, but the conversations are short.

These are just the early days. A month later, things got worse.

Her appearance began to change. I remember now when she came in with her hair straight. To my comment about the mane, she replied with a grin: "It takes more time to take care of the mane than learning magic...". When she saw my puzzled face, she added: "and friendship, of course. Don't take jokes seriously. I just decided to change my style."

The mane was a noticeable change, but still, frankly, not interesting. But what aroused my interest was the changed manner of his voice. It became deeper, and the pronunciation of words became clearer.It was unusual, but it became much more pleasant to listen to her. Wherever she learned like that, it wasn't in vain. The same applies to gait. She began to step her hooves on the ground harder. Facial expressions became less energetic. She almost always walks with a calm face. Even in situations where it is impossible to remain calm.

All of the above was strange but harmless, and I chalked it up to new interests. She didn't want to talk about them, but it didn't matter. The main thing is internal changes.

It was hard not to notice how she tolerated the ponies who talked to her. He always finds all sorts of excuses to end the conversation. She's distanced herself from everyone she knows. Even from me

A few more weeks have passed, and during that time the most important change has appeared. The appearance of aggression and cruelty.

It's not that she was a saint before. But she never resorted to cruelty. Now it's, well, literally cruelty. Really not to the ponies. I mean cruelty to animals.
I learned this from Fluttershy, who urgently summoned me to her place. As soon as I was on her doorstep, she greeted me with eyes full of fear. She immediately showed me the reason for my urgent visit.
It was a squirrel. And it was the most terrifying squirrel I've ever seen.

She had disproportionate paws: the front paws were long and bony, like the fingers, with one paw larger than the other; the hind paws were about the same. The torso has become more muscular, but still out of proportion: some muscles are pumped up, some are not. The head turned out to be the most disfigured: almost all the fur disappeared from it, the ears began to be closer to the neck, and the nose began to look more like a monkey's. The only thing he had left of the squirrel were two protruding front teeth and a tail. It was the size of a foal itself

When I saw him, I immediately thought of Discord. And as if reading my mind, Discord appeared behind my back, startling me. He immediately scolded me for being late."You're, you know, a unicorn. Why not just teleport?". He said he wouldn't mind doing it, but seeing Fluttershy's angry look, he added that he had nothing to do with it.

Meanwhile, it creature tried to speak. Just like primates say. It completely baffled me, but Fluttershy's clarification of the situation put everything in its place.

As Fluttershy learned from this mutant, she (?) used to be an ordinary squirrel who met her while walking through the forest. By her, she meant my student. She, without a second thought, cast a spell on her that immobilized and silenced the voices, and said that everything would pass as quickly as possible. And then the torment began, which resulted in this.The Onp was apparently not satisfied with the result and left, leaving her to sit all alone.

After this story, I was very devastated. After that, frustration flared up in that void, mixed with anger. I asked Discord to go and meet her face to face. But he flatly refused, saying, "Isn't it the teacher's job to solve problems with the student?"

I replied:"I think there's nothing left of my student."

"Well, I have things to do here anyway," pointing to the tortured animal, "so I won't be able to join in your retribution."

Retribution is not what I want, but it is what I am close to.Finally, I sighed, supported Fluttershy, and left the cottage.

I decided to listen to Discord's advice and teleport to the castle.

As soon as I got there, I started looking for her in all the rooms (she didn't have any plans to go anywhere). I found her in the library, writing something on paper.

When she saw me, she looked scared. I immediately grabbed her by the throat with magic and asked her to explain everything. But in response, a book flew into me, which caused me to temporarily lose control of the situation and stop telekinesis.

She cleared her throat and almost yelled, "Is that how you're asking me to explain everything?! Anyway, why are you here so early?"

The last question left me confused.

She continued, "It doesn't matter. Did you come to talk to me about what I'm thinking? If so, here's the answer to one of your questions. It didn't hurt them when I did it."

In response, I yelled, "What's the difference! They have feelings too, like ponies! Fluttershy can confirm!"

She calmly replied, "Animals are animals. There are more of them than ponies. Missing a few won't affect their population in any way. And the fact that Fluttershy communicates with them does not make them equal to US."

She said the last word louder than the others. I was on the verge of a breakdown. Sighing and somehow calming down, I replied, "This is not how I remember my student. My student learned from mistakes. Now I see how she allows them again."

She just frowned and said firmly, "So I'm not your student anymore?"

I honestly tried not to cry from all this. "It's my mistake that I didn't stop it sooner. But your mistake is the path you chose."

She didn't raise her eyebrows much, then sighed. "Your mistake is not trying to understand me."

After that, the room was illuminated with light and a huge crash sounded. I was knocked off my hooves. After that, when I could see again, there was no one in the room except for me and a pile of books lying on the floor.

A minute later, Spike came running to the sound, and so we are writing you this letter of warning. It is unlikely that she will have time to do anything in a short time, so I was fully prepared to describe the situation for you.

You should know how hard it is for me to realize that the pony I was able to reform has once again embarked on the path of evil. I thought she had learned everything she could learn from a teacher like me. Was she pretending to follow my lead? I doubt it, because no matter how strong she is, she's a bad liar.Rather, someone pushed her to who she is now.

I think it's better that we talk face-to-face. The way we're communicating right now, it won't do us any good. That's why I'm going to Canterlot right now.

Be vigilant:You can expect anything from her in this state.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

"And that's why you're here. And as you can see, you underestimated me."

I've never been so wrong. And now, because of a mistake, I'm stuck in the throne room and in addition, I'm in a magic dome and I can't open my mouth. I've never let anyone down like this before.

"I know you're really worried about Princess Celestia and Luna, but you can relax a little, because they're both in a place where they won't hurt me, themselves, or anyone else. Although, perhaps after my story you won't worry about them so much."

Is she really going to humiliate me by standing up there, which she's not worthy of? Magic doesn't work. I really got involved.

"I understand your confusion, but trust me."

It's easy in words...

"We have enough time for me to tell you everything. And before that, I want to tell you about the letter. It was really interesting to get acquainted with him. I was glad to read your perspective on the situation. But now it's my turn to tell you. And it's going to be a lot more interesting than what you wrote."

Why didn't I pay attention to the emptiness of the palace? Still, you need to learn how to stay calm in emergency situations. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sat and listened to her.

"You think it started a few months ago. But in fact, this story originates six months before the start of today's events."

She probably wants me to believe that she's a good liar, since I haven't noticed for so long. But I'm sure she didn't know she was lying at the time.

"On that big day, you were sorting books alphabetically, then I helped you with it. During this, a book caught your attention.After reading the first page, you laughed and put it down."

Because I've never seen such nonsense in my life. I can't believe that such books used to be in the Canterlot library.

"I was curious about what was so funny, so I took it to read. I still remember the name: "The Potential of Magic. The history of learning from ancient times to the present.". The book, of course, was not modern, judging by its integrity. But there was a lot of information in it. In order to understand my point of view, here is an excerpt:"How unicorns learned to use magic is not known for certain. But apparently it happened in aggressive conditions. So we can conclude that unicorns have learned to contrast magic during the battles for life. The consequences can be traced by the remains found, which were literally pieced together. This time can be called the "Dominance of magic." But over time, aggression between the races began to fade. And as a result, we have reached the world we live in now.".Of course, I missed the scientific terms and lost them, but still the meaning is clear. These lines made me wonder: is magic really limited in its possibilities?"

Good question. It is a pity that the methods of proof are not the same.

"After reading more than one page, I thought that the author must be crazy, because an adequate pony would not have written such a thing."

At least I agree with her on something.

"The passage I conducted was the most adequate of the others. After that, I noticed the barely noticeable symbols. As it turned out later, it was a cipher."

I'm not someone who judges books by the first page. But even for me, this content in the first sentences is too much. Perhaps it was done specifically for people like me not to notice something secret among this nonsense. Or I'm looking for meaning where there isn't any.

"It took a month of work to decrypt, and in the end it turned out to be a secret message. It talked about a place where there was something that, quote, "is worthy of the noble goals of a noble pony.". I found the place, but I won't tell you where it is... very dangerous. There I really found a treasure trove: a book called "The True Potential of Magic ." Its content was very different from the previous book, but still, in terms of the use of certain phrases and phrases, the author of these two books is the same."

Apparently the first one.

"There was also that demagoguery in the preface that made me smile, but then I wondered: what if someone more naive would have found the book?"

It's unlikely that anything would have changed.

"But still, I survived and got to the main point. Before lessons. 256 lessons. There are two pages for each lesson. There was nothing familiar to me there, so I already thought it would be a long learning experience. But the first lesson turned out to be the most difficult. A lesson on using emotions and feelings."

Using emotions to enhance magic is something that all unicorns are warned about in childhood. Doesn't she know about this?

"Having passed this, all the other lessons were spilled on the easy. And when I read the whole book, I thought about what to do with the new knowledge."

It's certainly not a noble cause.

"The situation was complicated by the fact that such magic noticeably took a lot of energy. As it says in the book, this is temporary. Then the body will get used to it. That's why I learned to control my emotions and started moving less."

How can the body get used to losing energy?

"In the end, I decided to do what I think is right. All these two months I have been actively preparing: I even came up with several spells for this. Of course, I didn't have time to write the last one, because someone came earlier than I thought. But still, when I was done with the spell, I moved on to the last task."

Let me guess... Is it related to me?

"I think you know who this is about."

...

"Just listen carefully. You're Princess Celestia's student. The best student. Even better than her. Besides, you're also a princess now. And you did it all by yourself."

It would be nice if I could hear it from Celestia.

"But did you think that all these enemies are former enemies of Celestia? They all lived in her time and now she puts all the responsibilities on you for their re-education. She didn't even save her sister by herself. Isn't that what a ruler should do?"

Yes, there is truth in this... But she's a pony too. As a ruler, she doesn't have time for reeducation. That's why she entrusted it to me. I'll have a freer schedule.

"If it's easy to reform ponies, then it's better not to give real monsters a second chance. Therefore, there is only one way out - to destroy."

Destroy. It will definitely be easier to destroy. But... Doesn't this mean that the friendship princess herself couldn't save the monster? I don't believe it.

"Yes, for our species to destroy is the same as committing suicide. Some would even prefer the latter to becoming a murderer. "

This is what sets us apart from other species.

"There are, of course, other species that would like to be like us, but they can only try. I won't even talk about monsters. They're born that way."

Even monsters can understand friendship. Not all of them, but there are some. Not all... of them born that way.

"Unfortunately, our distinctive feature makes us weak. And these creatures take advantage of it."

Even the creature... Yes, even if she has such a character by nature, you can save her. You just need to know how.

"But if we could eradicate evil with its own means..."

Oh no... I know what she's getting at.

"From the look on your face, you get it. And I think now you understand why I was experimenting on animals. If I can destroy a harmless animal, then what can I do with monsters?"

On the way to my goal, she didn't think about the consequences... I didn't think about my friends...

"You can treat it any way you want, but this is MY way and MY way. You can go the other way. You probably don't even need to do that."

This... not the way I was thinking about at all. There will always be evil. Nowhere without him.

"Just admit it: you don't want to be a princess. I know this. This is not what you need to end up with."

Maybe I don't want that... But this is my destiny. I've been going for this almost my whole life. There can be no other way.

"With that kind of power, you can do what is considered impossible-stop evil forever, and give Equestria a well-deserved peace."

Eradicate all evil... maybe with that kind of power really...

"You will stop the evil forever, but unfortunately, you will die yourself, because you will become the enemy yourself. The same as the others. "

To die... but to eradicate evil forever...

"I can't do this without you. Only by working in an alliance can we use magic the way we need to, not the way the author would like. I turned to you because you're the only one who can understand me. As a student's teacher."

But... What about my friends?

"To make it easier, you have to give up friendship, and I'm not talking about the title. Believe me, it will be easier this way."

...

"I'm not forcing you, I'm offering. But still, trust me, just as I trusted you back then when we were jumping through timelines. I know how to destroy evil once and for all. It's difficult. But there is no other solution to the problem."

...

"Now choose. Either you come with me. Or this is our last face-to-face meeting. In case of refusal, I will monitor your progress from afar. I will still be for you. Choose what you think is right."

Is this really possible?

"But definitely not with the magic you have right now."

Oh, I can talk again. And the dome is no longer holding me back. She held out a hoof to me.

She really caught me off guard. Of course, I have less respect for Celestia, but I still worry about her. And even now, I'd prefer the path I'm on right now. But her path will ensure the safety of all Equestria residents... to all my friends... and at the same time, it will kill me.

I do not know what to choose. Stay on the throne, but expose Equestria to the risk of invincible evil, or ensure everypony's safety, but at the same time abandon their parents, brother, Spike, friends... to follow a plan that I don't even know anything about.

"So what?"

Just relax.

Just think a little bit.

There is always an answer.