All was quiet in the peaceful village of Ponyville. After yet another day full of the usual shenanigans that incidentally transpired in this part of Equestria surprisingly often, consisting mostly of yet another party thrown by the resident pink hurricane, a rainbow-maned mare and a crystal flugelhorn had passed, the peacefulness of the night was a welcome change. Most residents of the quiet village were in their beds, soundly sleeping, preparing for the upcoming morning and most probably more craziness. Only in one window in the whole of Ponyville was there still a light still on, and as most residents were used to, it was one of the windows of the Golden Oaks Library.
Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s personal protégé and the bearer of the Element of Magic was deep at work, her brows furrowed as she concentrated her magic on a quill, writing down her thoughts and observations. She was preparing a report for her mentor, yet this one differed from the usual friendship ones, and that alone was something that made the purple unicorn anxious. Even though the solar princess asked her to look into the matter of a recently discovered magical anomaly, a field that the young mare excelled at, it did not help her quell her nervousness, the visions of failing the trust of her mentor invading her mind. Yet she managed to quench her doubts and in spite of several distractions she managed to conduct some preliminary research. Sadly, it appeared that the anomaly originated from the aforementioned flugelhorn wielded by Pinkie Pie, and after borrowing it from the party pony it was discovered, that the crystal just resonated in a strange manner with the residue magic of the land, creating erratic patterns that were first noticed by the royal wizards. And the fact, that after the Crystal Empire returned to its former place on the maps and began trading with Equestria, also with crystal flugelhorns, was all the explanation that was really needed. Still, it needed to be documented, so here she was, putting finishing touches to her report.
After a few moments of scribbling the purple mare had concluded her work, placing her signature on the bottom part of the paper and drying the ink with a quick spell. She studied her words in search of any possible errors and once more checking if she had written down everything she discovered, and after deciding that all was in order she rolled the piece of paper into a scroll and sealed it with her signature ribbon. The report was ready to go, all she needed was for Spike to send it, but that could wait until tomorrow.
Only after she finished her work had Twilight realized how tiring the day’s events were. A yawn escaped her lips, and a sense of weariness spread over her body. In a state like this she wouldn’t be able to get in even a little bit of reading she realized dejectedly. With a resigned sigh she put out the candle illuminating her desk and went for her bedroom.
Upon entering her bedchamber she noticed straight away that something was amiss. Her eyes lingered for a moment on the basket where her irreplaceable dragon assistant usually slept, only to find it being empty. That got her attention at once. Spike was a heavy sleeper like most dragons, and usually he could sleep straight through the night. It was also way past his bedtime, and he never missed it if he could help it. Now however it seemed, that the purple dragon was awake, or at least out of his bed, and that in itself was weird, if not downright disturbing for his caretaker. It was no surprise then that she decided, that she could go on without sleep for a few minutes longer and at least look for her missing assistant.
“Spike? Where are you Spike?” She called out, searching for the baby dragon around her home slash library. She quite quickly discovered, that her purple scaled friend wasn’t anywhere in their living quarters, nor was he in any obvious place downstairs. The prospect of him falling asleep in some random place in the tree-house was still her first choice, but she quietly started to think, that there might be something more foul taking place. To quench her worries she doubled her efforts to find Spike, looking more franticly around their home with each passing minute. Finally Twilight concluded, that her dragon companion wasn’t anywhere in the generally open area of the library, and that put her on edge, leaving only two equally troubling possibilities. Either Spike was somewhere outside (her troubled mind suggested a dragon-napping of some kind; he did become sort of a hero-like character after his involvement in freeing the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, and something like that could attract really unwanted attention), or he was downstairs, in the basement/lab.
Twilight weighted her options. It was possible yet improbable that her dragon assistant was actually dragon-napped. He might not look the part, but he was capable of fending for himself, as she known he was thanks to her time spent with him. The unfortunate fools that would try to abduct him would be in for a surprise. It was also possible, that her friend was in her laboratory, but that was even less probable than the dragon-napping concept. Spike knew full well, that without her explicit consent, as well as her supervision, he was not allowed down there. Her magical equipment consisted of very delicate devices, that if used in the wrong way could easily get damaged, not to mention actually harm their operator. Aside from that, she had a few long-term experiments running down there, and she didn’t want to run the risk of Spike contaminating the end results with say a stray scale or a fluctuation in the temperature due to his inner fire or outright his dragon breath. Still, it was possible that he somehow ended up there, and if by chance it would happen that he really was there all along while she was on a wild goose chase all over Ponyville Twilight would be less then amused. Deciding there and then, she trotted to the door leading to the basement.
The first thing she noticed was the fact, that the door was unlocked. She normally locked it behind her each time she went out with a spell, a procedure she designed to, incidentally, keep Spike from wandering down there. That alone was enough for the mare to come to the conclusion, that her assistant actually was down there. The question as to why however remained. Shaking those thoughts out of her head for the time being, the young unicorn entered her lab and began looking around.
It was dark down there, no light source in the vicinity on, and the darkness of the night only intensified the feeling. The laboratory looked eerie in those conditions, the large, bulky shapes of her equipment looking unusually menacing, like shadows from another world, umbral beasts waiting for her to make a move so that they may lunge at her, clawing at her flesh and sinking their fangs in her body. The soft sounds they made only intensified that feeling, the steady hum of magically powered machinery sounding like a creatures low, growling breath. A unusual chill ran down Twilight’s spine at that moment, and concentrating on her horn she cast a simple light spell. Four orbs of clear white light flew from the tip of her horn, each hovering to a different corner of her lab and illuminating its interior.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The large, shadowy shapes were just that, shadows cast by her devices. The low humming noises were also only the harmless sounds that the few running engines were making. Her initial, completely unnecessary as it turned out fear began to evaporate, leaving only the anxious feeling that something with Spike was wrong. Shaking off the paralyzing effects her dread had on her she trotted down the stairs and into her laboratory, looking intently for any sign of her dragon assistant.
It took her a few moments to realize, that she already saw the small, curled up in deep slumber frame of her scaly friend. He apparently fell asleep at one of the desks that littered the lab. Relieved that Spike was okay, Twilight trotted up to him, having half the mind to wake him up and scold him for both making her worry and coming down here without permission. The other half however told her to let it slip this time and to just get him out of here and put him back to bed. She finally opted for the second option, still for some reason feeling uneasy, and with a slight flare to her horn she enveloped the baby dragon in her lavender telekinesis field.
*CRUNCH*
A sickening sound resonated in the otherwise silent laboratory. The mare’s eyes widened in surprise and fright. She was sure that only she and Spike were inside, there could be nopony else here, otherwise she would have seen him, whoever it might been. However that sound… that sickening crunch that she heard… If it wasn’t her, and there definitely was nopony else awake here, that must have meant…
She began shaking, her knees growing weak under her own weight. Fear once again overtook her body, yet this time with good reason. With wide, fearful eyes and trembling uncontrollably she slowly turned around, her eyes searching for the familiar lavender shine of her own magic. Once she found it however, she wished she never did.
Her aura was enveloping Spike’s small, purple frame, hovering his still body over the wooden floor. Yet she noticed right away, that something was clearly not okay with her lifelong companion. The way he was curled up, not in a peaceful manner in which he usually slumbered and more like in a gross caricature of a fatal position was unsettling to witness. Even more unsettling was what Twilight noticed only after taking a few steps towards her assistant. Being curled concealed it at first glance, but now she was able to see, that he was bent in almost a one-forty degree angle in the hips, a feat that was impossible for the young dragon or anyone else for that matter. Once Twilight realized what she was seeing she let out a startled shriek and lost hold of her magic, letting Spike fall to the floor with a thud.
Hyperventilating, her eyes widening with fear, the unicorn mare looked in silent horror at her companion, at what she had done to him. There was no doubt in her mind, that what happened to her dear friend, the odd angle at which he was bent and the pained position he was hovering just a few moments ago in was her fault. She did not know how she did that, nor did she know why this happened, but of one she was certain: she needed to somehow help her Spike, to… to bring him to a doctor or something… anything to help him. She took a few tentative steps in his direction, once again trying to concentrate her magic around the baby dragon, trying to carefully lift him from the ground and then possibly teleport with him to the Ponyville hospital and try to somehow save him.
*CRUNCH*
“Oh… oh no!” Twilight managed to squeak out trough her clenched throat at the sight of what she had done. She immediately let go of her magic, running to her friend with tears in her eyes. She could have seen it from afar, yet she refused to believe it. This could not be happening, this was not happening! She wouldn’t… she couldn’t…
Spike lied motionless, his back turned to Twilight yet his head facing her, his eyes wide in shock and pain, staring at her lifelessly. A trickle of blood was slowly seeping from the corner of his opened mouth, a reminder for the lavender mare of what had happened, of what she had done to her beloved companion, the one that was there for her when nopony else could. It was like an accusation, like an outstretched hoof, pointing at her and whispering constantly one word.
Murderess.
Twilight dashed towards her fallen friend, tears freely flowing from her eyes and down her cheeks as she desperately tried to stop her sobbing. She sat before him, nudging him gently, like if she believed that it was all just a bad dream and that Spike was alright. Yet her brain screamed at her that it was useless, that the baby dragon at her hooves was dead, dead by her magic, and that there was nothing she could do about it.
“Spike, please, wake up…” She sobbed softly, still nudging her assistant’s lifeless body, refusing to acknowledge the truth. “Wake up, please… Don’t… don’t leave me… don’t leave me alone… Please, wake up Spike…”
Her sobbing grew louder whit each passing sentence, tears clouding her eyesight, distorting the world before her, though she didn’t care. All that mattered right now was Spike lying before her, lifelessly staring at her, and her own growing guilt. She did that. She killed him. She knew that it was her fault, her fault alone.
“Please… no…” She whispered as she stopped nudging Spike and instead clutched his body tightly with her front hooves, pressing it against her aching chest and burying her face in his cooling body. “Please… come back… please… no… no… no… No… No… NO… NO… NO… NO… NOOOOOOOOOO!”
She let out a pained cry, shaking the whole library if not the whole of Equestria itself with its might and sheer emotion put behind it. It downed at her finally what had happened, what she had done, and she was devastated by it. Not only did she kill, she killed her own friend… no, more than just friend, Spike meant definitely more to her than that. He’s dead, and she was to blame for that. He’s dead and he won’t be coming back. And so she cried; she cried like she never did before, giving an outlet to all her anguish and pain, her pent up emotions seeping down her face and onto the cold scales of her draconic companion in the form of tears. She screamed her lungs out, burying her face in his body, anger, confusion and self-disgust resonating within each chord of her voice. She didn’t care for anything else but her companion, for her heart just broke and would never be the same again. All because of her.
Twilight didn’t know how long she stayed like that, crying her eyes out over the tragic death of Spike, all she did know was that it would not bring him back. Still, she sobbed, clutching his body until she didn’t have any more tears to shed. Distraught and clearly reluctant to let go of him however she stayed with her face buried in his chest. That is until she heard a noise.
It sounded like… stomping. A slow, monotonous stomping, like those of the noble ponies from Canterlot she had seen at events, when they “applauded” someone’s performance. She didn’t understand what was happening. Why would somepony applaud her killing her own friend? Who would do such a thing? Come to think of it, what would anypony be doing in her home at such a late hour? She wasn’t capable to come up with any sort of answer to any of those questions in her state, but she did know, that whoever it was, he or she was standing not five hoofs from her.
“Bravo! Simply marvelous!” It appeared that the applauding somepony decided to break the silence. Twilight couldn’t be sure, for she still was too distraught to pay attention to details, but the voice seemed to belong to a mare, and it had an edge to it, even if it was taunting. “The way you executed that spell was just brilliant! The high concentration factor, the subtle flick while you were moving your head… It was poetry I tell you!”
Twilight stayed silent, still sobbing and trying not to pay attention to the words the stranger was saying. It proved to be harder than it initially seemed however. The voice of the mysterious mare was resonating in her silent lab, echoing and rising to an unbearable volume that nopony could ignore.
“You really have a talent, you know that?” The mare said to Twilight, as if she was completely oblivious to her suffering, or rather felt pleasure of some kind from witnessing her plight. “For somepony like you to be able to utilize a spell like that, it’s like if you were some kind of prodigy. Really, it was beautiful, the way you disposed of the trash.”
“T-trash?” Twilight managed to utter, her voice hoarse from the hours she spent weeping. Something told her, that the newcomer was referring to Spike, and that made a pang of anger appear in her heart.
“Why yes, trash! What else would I call that useless waste of space that roamed around your house? Really, you should have done that to the sorry excuse of a lizard a long, long time ago if you want to know my opinion.”
The hurting mare suddenly felt a great rage build up in her heart. This newcomer had the audacity to insult dear Spike in front of her? Worse even, the mare thought that it was a great thing that Twilight killed him? This… This was unheard of! This was so cruel, so heartless… She didn’t even have the right words to describe it! All she knew then and there was that she hated the mare, and that she would do anything to shut her up.
“Leave.” Twilight managed to growl out, not lifting her face from where it was buried in Spike’s still chest. In response she got a barely stifled giggle.
“I’m to leave? I don’t think so.” The mysterious mare that tormented her taunted. “I think I’ll stay right here and watch as you cling so desperately to the lifeless corpse of your pet lizard. It is after all so amusing…”
“Get out.” The unicorn replied, gritting her teeth yet still refusing to look at her interlocutor. “NOW!”
“No.” Came the short reply from the mare. “I’ll stay right here until either you fall dead from hunger or that carcass rots away, whichever comes first.”
That was the final straw. Twilight could not conceal her anger any more, and looked for the first time from the moment she killed Spike somewhere else, in this case straight in front of her, glaring daggers and searching for the offending mare.
She couldn’t see a thing. Her spell, the four orbs of floating light had disappeared long ago, leaving the laboratory in total darkness. Twilight couldn’t even see the tip of her horn, and the only things she could see were distorted shadows looming around her menacingly. That didn’t stop her however, as her furious state refused to see reason and was hell bent on making the mare that insulted dear Spike’s memory pay.
“Show yourself!” She challenged, snorting angrily and digging her hooves in the wooden floor. She was rewarded by an amused laugh, although its origin was unclear. It sounded like if the voice was coming from everywhere at once.
“Oh, so angry, so furious.” The voice taunted, coming from every direction at once, echoing eerily. “Did I thread on touchy grounds, hmm? Do you not like when I call your pet by its name? You don’t like to hear that he’s dead? Well, too bad, he is pushing up daisies. All thanks to you…”
“What do you know?” Twilight responded even more furiously, her heart pounding with pure hate. The voice only laughed.
“Oh, I know everything there is to know about what happened here.” Finally came the response. “I was here the whole time, I witnessed it all with my very own eyes. The way you first snapped the wyrmling’s back, only to correct your error with snapping his neck. How in blind abandon you tried to screw his head off, like if it was a light bulb in one of your machines. How you looked into his eyes once you finished the deed, so proud, so full of yourself…”
“That’s not true!” The purple mare protested. She was getting sick to the stomach just be hearing the voice talking about what she supposedly done. “You don’t know the first thing about me! I would never do something like that! NEVER!”
“Is that so? Then why is the purple lizard lying on the ground, dead? Was it not you who searched for him? Was it not you who decided to encase him in a magical field instead of waking him up? Was it not you who murdered him?”
“I… I… Show yourself! Who do you think you are, huh?!”
“Who am I?” The voice asked. Suddenly the shadows in front of Twilight began reforming, swirling like if to create a new figure, until they settled on a equine silhouette. The shape seemed featureless at first glance, bald and disgusting, however the more time the purple unicorn was looking at it the more features appeared. First the coat, than the mane and tail, until the whole figure looked like… like…
“I’m you.” Her eyes shot open, yet instead of a sea of deep lavender Twilight was greeted with burning read irises, surrounded by pools of neon-green “whites”, they in turn encased in a deep, dark purple mist emanating from them, darker than the surrounding shadows and more menacing than anything she had ever encountered before. Her lookalike met her confused and scared gaze with her own, taunting and menacing at the same time, and smiled a wide, toothy, maniacal grin, showing off rows of sharpened teeth, more at place in a carnivores mouth than in that of an equine.
Twilight’s hate evaporated like water on a hot, summer day, and she took a tentative step back, her eyes never leaving her lookalike. She didn’t understand what she was seeing, it made no sense. Was this some kind of messed up changeling, that instead of off love fed off the fear ponies felt? Or was it something else entirely? Maybe it was only a figment of her imagination, her mind trying to cope with the concept of her killing her own friend by creating a demonized version of herself? What she did know however was the fact, that the evil-looking mare seemed to be more and more amused by the second, watching her with those eerie green and red eyes the whole time, unblinking, clear mirth seen behind them.
“Why the sudden scared look?” She asked, her voice sickeningly sweet as Twilight backed away even more. “Surprised to see me? Or was it my appearance that threw you off?”
“What… what are you?” The lavender mare managed to ask, her hoarse throat barely able to produce those words in her horrified state. Her lookalike’s smile only widened at the sound of the question, grinning in a way that would send chills down even a fully grown dragon’s spine.
“I already told you; I’m you, the real you.” She said gleefully, as giddy as Pinkie Pie before a party. “I represent your urges and dreams. I am your deepest and darkest desires, the apex you strive to achieve trough your constant studies. I am the little voice that tells you what to do in doubt. I am the shadow that lurks at the corner of your eyes, always watching, always waiting. I am your anxiety when you reach your deadlines. I am your fear when it comes to tests. I am every sin you ever committed, be it voluntary or not.”
Throughout the lookalike’s rant her voice grew both in volume and madness. It was like if the words she uttered were fuel for her insanity, like if she lived only for those thing, like if they were her only passion, her oxygen, her heartbeat. During her passionate speech she began nearing Twilight, the clopping sound her hooves were making echoing throughout the dark laboratory, and the shadows lingering in this accursed place seemed to grow thicker, darker…
“Do you really think, that all your encounters with beings as powerful and ancient as Nightmare Moon or Discord didn’t leave as much as a scar on you? Are you so stupid as to assume, that the evil that lurked in their souls didn’t have any repercussions on you?” She continued with unshakable devotion. “You, the leader of the Elements of Harmony are also the filter that prevents the other Elements from corruption, taking it all into yourself to save their worthless flanks. Nightmare Moon’s jealousy, Discord’s manipulative tendencies, that’s all inside you, and that’s all I am. Even those that you bested without the aid of those trinket’s Celestia gave you: Chrysalis and the mistrust she planted in your heart, Sombra and his dark magic… I am the sum of those parts, and more! And do you know what’s the best part of all this?”
Twilight didn’t dare answer that question, her heart pounding like a drum, threatening to burst out of her chest. The words the lookalike said… that her dark side said… she felt as if they were the honest to goodness truth, as insane as they sounded. The twisted mare before her had not lied to her, not once, even if she told herself that it wasn’t the truth, and that was what frightened the distraught unicorn –that somewhere deep inside her heart such evil and depravity existed, that she was capable of all that and even more. Spike’s lifeless body was proof enough… She killed him. She, and nopony else.
The wicked Twilight neared the regular one once more, forcing the poor mare to back up even further, until her back was pressed against a wall she didn’t even know was there. She was forced to watch as her green and red eyed counterpart trotted calmly, with a spring to each of her steps, the gleeful smile of a madmare plastered on her wicked features. Yet she didn’t approach her cornered and weakened equivalent, stopping so suddenly, that it took the real Twilight completely off guard. What she did however made the mare regret that she didn’t continue on her way.
Her horn, which Twilight only now noticed was a twisted caricature of her own –sharp as a alicorn’s yet curved upwards like that of a rhino, had flared, coming to life with a sheen of magical power. It was not however a lavender sheen like her own aura, no. It was a flare of darkness, only visible thanks to the fact, that they were darker than anything else Twilight had ever seen, like the blackness of the void of space itself. The dark magic that was emanating from her wicked version seeped out like a tendril, forming some sort of tentacle-like growth that writhed in the air like a wisp of smoke, gradually falling to the ground, lower and lower, agonizingly slowly, making Twilight sweat with anticipation and fear. What was she doing? What did she want to do with that tendril? It all became quite clear after a few short moments.
The tentacle of black magical force slithered to the ground, writhing like a snake on the wooden floor, coming in her direction. Her inner fear of the legless reptiles made Twilight whimper, knowing that she couldn’t escape, and forced her to watch as the tendril was making its way in her direction. It didn’t go for her however, and that’s when she realized something. She abandoned Spike’s body, left it on the floor at the mercy of the evil version of herself, for the twisted mare that clearly thought of the young dragon as nothing more than an annoyance to do what she pleased. The terror she felt in her heart however prevented her from doing anything, and she could only watch helplessly as the tentacle reached the still form of the purple drake and wrapped around him tightly, squeezing hard enough to break bones with audible cracks.
Evil Twilight’s tendril, once safely wrapped around Spike lifted his body in the air, so akin to the way a normal levitation spell would do yet so grossly different. The dragon’s limp body secured in the grip of the black magic looked so frail and fragile, the sight alone being enough to break the cornered mare’s heart anew with the reminder that it was she that killed him. The wicked mare only smiled as she too felt what her counterpart felt, taking joy in her misery. With a mental command she brought the tentacle closer to herself, the dead body wrapped around it dangling like an apple ready to be bucked, and she looked at it with one eye, the second still staring with glee at the broken mare before her.
“I asked: do you know what is the best part of all this?” The evil mare asked again, her voice still as happy as ever, yet with a bit more edge to it, like if she was growing impatient with Twilight. The unicorn found herself unable to react in any other manner as by shaking her head no. It only made the twisted version of herself grin even further, almost splitting her head in two with her creepy smile. “The best part of all this, is that without the purple, bipedal annoyance constantly getting in my way, I can finally go out and play.” At this her black magic jerked violently, another set of sickening cracks resonating in the lab. “Now I’ll be able to say ‘hi’ to our friends.” She did that again, earning another plethora of cracks and snaps. “I’ll be able to play with so many ponies.” She jerked again, this time following up by walking in Twilight’s direction in a slow, exaggeratedly stiff fashion, so similar to the way Canterlot nobleponies walked. “And all that, thanks to you.” She finished off, flicking the tentacle of black magic once more, this time however no cracks were heard.
She threw the broken and battered body of Spike to the side where he landed with a thud. Twilight watched the whole time as her friend’s remains were brutally mistreated by her evil side, powerless to help him, and now she stared at his mangled corpse, her eyes glued to his form, his eyes in turn, lifeless and empty, staring at her as if mocking her, repeating again and again one simple word:
Why?
The lavender mare felt powerless, her mind broken, her will taken from her. She didn’t have the strength to fight, she didn’t have the strength to attempt flight. But most of all she lacked the will to go on. Without Spike by her side and with the sudden realization of what she housed in herself for so many years she finally lost the will to go on. She resigned to whatever was to come, for who was she to oppose her own inner self.
She looked at her evil, twisted side with resignation in her eyes. She noticed, that her lookalike stopped looking so similar to her as in the first place. She was now taller, much taller, and grew with each passing step, easily reaching Princess Luna’s height and still going, aiming probably at Celestia’s posture. She also grew more sleek, more slender with each clop her hooves made on the floor. It didn’t take long for her to become what one would call a skeletally thin pony, a withered and twisted husk that still clutched on to life by means of foul sorcery. It seemed that if she was to take even a step further, her body would collapse. She didn’t have to take the step however, for she already was in front of Twilight, her face with her sharpened fangs only inches from the broken mare’s face.
“And now, my little pony, it is time that you finally let me out.” She whispered into Twilight’s ear, the glee still present in her voice.
The lavender mare looked at her dark side with a blank expression, not caring about what was going to happen. She noticed however a thin, tall figure behind her verbal assailant, standing silently and watching, unmoving and staring. She managed to only catch a glimpse of its figure, yet she could tell right away, that this was definitely not a pony, and that whoever it was, he or she was smiling a tormentor’s smile at her.
She didn’t have the time to contemplate what she saw as her chest exploded with pain. She looked down with misty eyes and found out, that there was the black tendril that not so long ago crushed Spike’s body, piercing her skin and reaching inside of her, brushing against her ribs and twisting around her internal organs. The sickening sensation made her almost vomit, the pain proving almost unbearable, paralyzing her body in mid spasm, all of her muscles tensing up all at once. Trough the pain and the sound of her own pounding heart she was able to hear the distant sound of laughter, a mirthless one, filled with hate and contempt, like a laugh of one deprived of all but the most sinister of emotions. It also wasn’t the laugh of her evil self –it was definitely masculine, to deep to be mistaken for a mare’s voice.
Trough her once again teary eyes Twilight managed to spot another black tendril, closing in on her. This one was aimed at her head, specifically at her opened in a silent scream mouth. The poor mare did not dare to think about what it was going to do, yet she couldn’t fight it, even if she wanted to. She was paralyzed by pain, by dread, and nothing she could do now would be able to save her.
The tendril neared its destination, closing in so agonizingly slowly that Twilight thought it was somehow moving in slow motion. The substance of black magic approached her, the pure power of darkness and hate coming closer and closer. She wanted to scream, she wanted to turn her head around, she wanted to close her eyes, yet her body didn’t respond. So she watched, helplessly staring, awaiting the end.
Suddenly something bright shone behind the wicked, slender version of Twilight, illuminating the laboratory and showing how truly withered the mare was. She seemed surprised, her large, green/red eyes widening in shock, and she whirled her head around, looking at the source of the glow. Moments later it was she who screamed in agony, as a jet of emerald green flames hit her, engulfing her mane in fire and eating away at her dried flesh. A stream of curses and screams of bloody murder filed the air along with the stench of burned hair and flesh, filling the mare’s nostrils with a truly terrifying smell, making her gag; yet she was grateful for even that, for it meant that she could feel something other than pain again. And that meant that she could move again!
Her evil self was trying to put out the flames that were engulfing her, using her magic to help her and losing interest in Twilight. The unicorn felt that this was her chance, that she could try and escape now. She didn’t even know where those thoughts came from, just moments ago she was willing to die, yet now there was a voice in her head telling her to get out of there and run, to hide from the madmare that assumed her shape, to live. She was going to live, even if she couldn’t forgive herself what she done to her Spike. That’s what he would want her to do.
She was going to begin her great escape, dashing for the stair leading to the door to the upper floor. She couldn’t even take two steps however. In spite of the emerald flames eating at her, the mad Twilight noticed her normal counterpart trying to escape, and concentrating her magic she was able to send one of her tendrils towards her. It wrapped around her legs tighter than Applejack could ever hope to with her rope, effectively immobilizing her and making her tumble to the floor with a loud thud, landing face first on the wood.
“No!” Screamed the twisted Twilight, her voice losing any semblance of glee and opting for a more demonic sounding tone, sounding like if she was saying those words in tandem with a stallion. “I shall not be denied! Not now, not that I am so close to fulfilling my plan! You hear me?! I won’t let you keep me locked anymore!”
“Twilight!” Came another voice, this one eerily familiar. It sounded like it was coming from the netherworld, yet it rang clear as day, filling the downed mare with confidence. “Twilight! You got to…!”
“NO!!!” Evil Twilight protested, another tendril of black magic forming at her horn, despite that half of her face was burned off. “I WON’T LET YOU!!! YOU’RE MINE!!!”
“Twilight…! You got… up!” The voice was beginning to die down, drowned out by the mad mare’s shouting. Twilight desperately clutched at the sound, feeling that if she let it be drowned out completely it would be the end.
“NOW! YOU! DIE!!!” Twilight’s evil side cried out in defiance, the last black tendril shooting out of her horn like a bullet, closing in on the mare with the speed of sound, heading straight for her heart.
“Twi… wake up!”
And all went black.
* * *
Her eyes snapped open, pupils dilated, frantically looking around yet seeing nothing. She didn’t know what was happening nor where she was, all she knew was that she had felt unimaginable fear, her heart pounding like mad. She sat up as quickly as she could, blinking rapidly, trying to force her lavender orbs to work properly. It worked, even if only slightly, as the world began to appear before her eyes, blurry and distorted.
She noticed a soft, warm glow to her right, dispersing the darkness that surrounded her. Her many years spent on researching and endless studying told her, that it was the light of a lit candle. Still, she couldn’t for the love of Celestia understand where she was or what had happened. All she knew was that something bad had happened and it somehow was her fault.
Her blurry eyesight prevented her from seeing anything in detail, however she still was able to pick up movement. And something indisputably was moving around her. The thing was small, definitely smaller than a pony, and was moving about quite frantically, like if it was startled just moments ago. She also felt something touching her gently on the back, as if trying to calm her down.
It appeared that not only her eyesight was taking its sweet time to get back to work. Apparently, the same was true for her hearing. Her ears, which just moments ago seemed completely deaf began ringing loudly, the high-pitched sound almost making her throw up. After a moment however the noise began to die out, and she was able to make out a new one. It sounded like a… voice. Yes, it definitely was a voice. She couldn’t make out what it was saying, or even pinpoint to whom it belonged to, but she knew it was a speech that she should understand and know. Shaking her head slightly she strained her ears, trying to make heads or tails of the voice.
“…you feeling OK? Why are you crying…” She managed to make out. The voice, which as she understood belonged to the small creature she noticed before seemed masculine, though young. She still couldn’t pinpoint to whom it belonged to, aside from the obvious of course, yet something told her, that she should know the answer. And come to think of it, the crying bit could be the reason why her eyesight was so blurry. Reaching a forehoof to her eyes she wiped the tears that were streaming freely down her cheeks and looked at the small creature, only to stare wide-eyed.
“S-Spike?” She stuttered out, unsure of what she was seeing. Her expression must have been either scary or so confused, that it made the purple dragon look at her with a uncertain expression of his own. Nonetheless he answered:
“Yeah, it’s me Twi.” His voice was full of concern for the lavender mare. “Are you OK? You were trashing in your sleep, screaming and crying, and I couldn’t wake you up…”
The young drake was interrupted by his unicorn friend’s forehoofs, wrapping around him so suddenly, that he let out a yelp of surprise, and was squeezed by Twilight in a tight embrace. His initial reaction was to try and get himself out, not exactly sure why he was being so suddenly hugged, but in the end he didn’t. He noticed pretty quickly, that the young mare began sobbing loudly, her tears flowing freely from her eyes and landing on his shoulder and back. He wasn’t exactly sure what he should do right now, having close to no experience in situations like that, but he figured that he had to do something. Listening to his instincts he returned her embrace, trying to wrap his short hands around her, and began whispering comforting words, trying to calm her down.
The two stayed like that for the better part of an hour, just hugging one another, Spike trying to comfort Twilight to the best of his abilities, the lavender unicorn in turn letting go of all her pent up emotions. Twilight wasn’t even sure why she was crying to begin with, did it have something to do with her dream? She couldn’t remember it clearly, only that something apparently happened to her purple scaled friend, and that for whatever reason she blamed herself for it, that and the feeling of despair. Seeing him however unharmed, looking at her with worry made her let it all out: her fear, her anguish, her pain, everything. So she cried, choking on her tears, sobbing out all that and clutching at her assistant tightly, as if afraid that he was going to disappear if she let go.
After a few more minutes the lavender mare began quieting down, her weeping reaching an end along with the shakes rocking her body. She sniffed once or twice, blinking out the last of her tears, and she finally gave Spike more freedom, loosening her tight hold on him yet still keeping him in a light embrace, and looked at him, her eyes read and puffy. Spike looked back at her, his green eyes locking in on her own, and smiled softly at her.
“Better?” He asked. Twilight didn’t trust her voice, so she nodded slightly in response. “I take it you had a bad dream?” Again the unicorn mare nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I… I don’t know.” She admitted hoarsely, her throat sore from all that sobbing. “I don’t know if I should… it felt so real…”
“The more reason you should tell me about it.” Spike interrupted her. “Sharing your troubles will help you cope with it or something. I don’t exactly remember, I read that somewhere some time ago.” He admitted a bit sheepishly. “The point is –you should feel better after that. And I promise, I won’t tell anypony a word, and I promise not to laugh if it’s something silly.”
Twilight looked at Spike, at his caring, green eyes and smiled a bit, reassured.
“Pinkie Promise?” She asked, although even if he didn’t go with it she would still tell him everything. Spike however went through the motions of the promise, that is as much as Twilight’s hooves let him do that, making the mare’s smile a bit wider. “Okay, here it goes. It’s all I can remember anyways.”
And so she told him what she knew, what she remembered. She told him about her writing a report for Princess Celestia in the dead of night and about her decision to go to bed after that (incidentally, Spike mentioned at that moment, that it actually happened, at least the writing of the report bit, and that she fell asleep during this task, making him have to carry her somehow to bed). She told him that once there she noticed him missing, and that she began looking for him frantically. She also told him that she eventually found him in the laboratory out of all places, and that she went to carry him back to his basket. From there on out, the dream became a haze to her. She told him that she didn’t know exactly what had happened, but that it had something to do with him. That he probably was injured or something like that, and that she couldn’t do anything to help him, that it was out of her power to help him, that her attempts actually made everything worse. The rest was only a jumbled pile of emotion: fear, helplessness, despair, overwhelming sadness, and one vision that plagued her mind: green eyes with red irises, glaring at her constantly.
Spike listened to her words patiently, letting her speak on her own pace and not forcing anything out of her. He didn’t have to really. Once Twilight started to speak, she had problems stopping, the words coming out on their own, leaving nothing behind. The purple dragon looked at his lifelong companion the whole time, trying to judge if he should stop her anytime soon if what she began speaking was becoming too personal for her, as well as to figure out what she felt and if it was beginning to revert back to the sad, crying Twilight that he decided he did not want to see anytime soon. Fortunately, it seemed that he was right suggesting her to share her worries with him –she seemed a bit saddened, yes, but also more at peace with each passing sentence.
Finally Twilight reached the conclusion of her dream, as much of a conclusion as a bunch of haphazardly mixed emotions could be. She looked really tired, but at least a little part of her felt better. Spike on the other hand seemed to be deep in thought, stroking his chin in contemplation. It looked so peculiar, that the mare looked at him with mild interest, waiting for him to speak. After a few moments more of silent contemplation however, Spike looked up, and his face once again was full of sympathy.
“Well, as much as the dream was… how should I put it?” He stumbled a bit, and finally opted for the blunt approach, much to the chagrin of his friend. “Well, it was disturbing for lack of better words. That’s beside the point however. What really matters is that I think I know what this whole dream was about.”
Twilight kind of doubted that. She didn’t remember the whole dream herself, how could Spike even attempt to interpret it knowing even less? Come to think of it, from when did Spike even know how to read dreams in the first place? Eh… That just proves that she should pay more attention to him. He began maturing and she didn’t even notice until just now.
“I think it has something to do with the incident.” Spike finally proclaimed, a dead serious expression on his face. The explanation itself took Twilight by surprise. She didn’t think to connect her nightmare with something like that, and it definitely did not occur to her, that it could have such a delayed effect on her. The incident Spike was talking about took place over two and a half years ago, why would it surface now of all times? It didn’t make much sense, and that much she decided to tell him. Spike however seemed to expect that sort of reaction from her and just smiled reassuringly. “Trust me on this Twi, I know what I’m talking about. Truth be told…” he looked around as if checking if the coast was clear before continuing “…I kinda had similar dreams a while back.”
Twilight stared at him in shock, a dumbfounded expression on her face. She expected many things, but a confession like this was definitely not one of them. Seeing her face however, Spike wasn’t able to contain a small, mirthless chuckle, which brought the lavender mare back to reality.
“You… had nightmares like that too?” Twilight asked as if she wanted to reassure herself that she heard that correctly.
“Yeah, kind of. They weren’t as… what was the word… vibrant as your dream, but they still creeped me out.”
“How come I didn’t know about any of this until just now?” The unicorn mare asked, genuinely surprised. Spike shrugged in response.
“You’re forgetting that I’m a dragon. I’m used to dreams, and some of them are… well… weird, if you know what I mean. I instinctively know when I’m seeing things in reality or if it’s only a dream. Not that I can control them that good, that comes with practice or so I heard. Still, I knew they were just dreams and not to worry about them. Well… that and the fact that I’m basically an omnivore probably was the reason why I was able to cope with them so easily.”
“And what does your diet have to do with reacting to dreams?” Twilight asked, once again surprised by Spike’s insight to the working of dreams. She definitely needed to read up about dragon’s psychology and dream mechanics once she had the chance.
“Oh, that’s easy. You’re a pony, a herbivore. You’re not used to things like death and the like…” Spike began explaining, only to be interrupted by his companion.
“Wait, wait, wait… I didn’t say anything about anypony dying.” She protested, however she felt that something wasn’t right with that statement. Did she…
“Well, you kinda did. At some point in your dream you screamed something along the lines of “don’t leave me” out loud, so I assumed that I… em… didn’t make it.” The young drake explained patiently, trying so sound as casual about it as he could as to not cause Twilight any more grief. Fortunately, she only swallowed harder at the mention of that, acting normal enough afterwards. Feeling relief, Spike continued. “Besides, I was talking more about the incident than about your dream right now. Nonetheless, gruesome dreams and ponies don’t mix that well. Violence is just not in your nature. Dragons however are used to things like that, and we are better suited to coming to terms with some of our more messed up nightmares, especially the violent ones. But just that you know –I was scared out of my mind the first few times that I dreamed those dreams, I just didn’t want to bother you.”
“You wouldn’t have bothered me at all.” She assured the young drake, feeling a bit bad that she wasn’t there when he was having his nightmares and that he actually kept things like that to himself. Spike however waved it off.
“I know, it just wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle myself. Besides, we’re talking about your nightmare, not mine.”
“Well then, dr. Spike, what do you suggest I do to get rid of those bad dreams?” She teased Spike in retaliation a bit, making the baby dragon smile. She was definitely feeling better now.
“To be honest with you… I don’t have the slightest clue.” At that Twilight looked at him like if he was being stupid. “No, really, I still sometimes have those dreams. It’s not like I can get rid of the memories that fuel those dreams, the incident was too big of a deal to just forget. All that I can say is that it would be best if you find some kind of outlet for those memories, a hobby or something you know, to keep your mind busy. It should help a bunch, I know it did for me.”
Twilight blinked at that. She didn’t notice Spike taking up any hobby recently, that’s for sure, so what was he talking about? She looked at her friend intently, trying to guess what was he talking about, which in turn made the purple dragon look sheepish and avoid her gaze, a smile blush creeping onto his cheeks. Finally, without even having to ask the young drake broke, spilling the beans.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell ya. Just… promise me not to laugh, OK?” He looked Twilight in the eye, his dead-serious green orbs looking deep into her own lavender ones. The young mare realized he really meant it, so without a word she nodded, letting him know she wasn’t going to laugh. Relieved a bit, Spike cleared his throat and stuttered out: “I… well… I kind of… began… writing about the incident… you know… like a novel…” He trailed off, looking slightly ashamed, like if what he said was something extremely embarrassing.
Twilight once again found herself surprised by her dragon assistant. First Spike mentioned, that he probably knew what was troubling the young mare to make her have her nightmare. Then she found out, that for some time now her friend had similar dreams and didn’t tell her just because he didn’t want to bother her. And now this? She thought that she knew him by now, but apparently she was mistaken, and the little fellow was able to keep things from her better than she could have suspected from him. Apparently gone was the baby dragon that wore his thoughts and emotions on the surface, replaced by this scaly little fellow that had more depth to him than she initially thought. Nonetheless, this was still Spike at his base, and she wasn’t going to replace him for any other.
“Wow, that’s… that’s great Spike! I didn’t know you would find writing to your liking, not with me always making you write for me.” She said after a moment of silently mulling over the little revelation, a small smile on her face.
“Hey, it’s not like I’ll ever publish anything or something, it’s just… wait, what?” The drake started, only to back up once the sense of Twilight words registered in his brain. He looked at her, surprise clearly visible on his purple face. “You mean you’re okay with me writing?”
“Of course I am silly! I actually think that’s a great idea. You’re doing what you want, what you find fun, it obviously helps you sleep and maybe you’ll even broaden your vocabulary while you’re at it.” At that little declaration it was Spike’s turn to blink in bewilderment. He looked closely at Twilight, as if gauging her reaction, and asked:
“You’re serious?”
“Of course, why would I not be? It’s your free time after all. And I’m actually curious now about what you wrote so far. That is if you’re okay with me reading it.” She added, pulling off a Fluttershy in hopes to get him to agree. Try as she might, the concept of reading something new, especially if it meant having some sort of insight into Spike’s thoughts proved to be too tempting to resist. As for the little dragon himself, he looked deeply embarrassed by her request, his eyes shifting from side to side, trying to avoid making eye contact.
“I don’t know, I’m not exactly that great at writing, I’m just doing what I think is good.” He replied, still not looking Twilight in the eye.
“Aw come on Spike, it’s not like I’m going to scold you for bad grammar.” The lavender unicorn fake pouted. Spike shot her an unconvinced look. “Okay, maybe I would do that. Just… please?”
“Okay, fine.” The purple dragon finally gave in, making Twilight inwardly cheer. “I’ll show you. Tomorrow.” At that the smile on the mare’s face significantly lessened. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. It’s…” here he shot a glance at the alarm clock on Twilight’s nightstand “…almost 4 am. We both need some sleep.”
The mention of sleep made the smile on Twilight’s face disappear completely and in the same time made her once again tighten her hold on Spike, which earned a surprised yelp from the baby dragon. Her eyes once again went wide and her features shifted into those of utmost fear. She might have looked and acted like if nothing had happened just a few minutes ago, but the concept of going back to sleep, possibly to relive the nightmare once again filled the lavender unicorn with dread. It was obvious that without some serious coaxing she would most probably stay up all night, and the next night, and probably the night after that too.
Spike, right about now having his face squashed against his friend’s chest was desperately trying to say something to stop her worrying, or at least lessen her hold on him less he suffocates. All that managed to escape his lips however was a string of muffled yelps, completely unintelligible to the average pony. It was enough however to snap Twilight out of her panic attack, and she promptly let go of her scaled assistant who gulped down mouthfuls of air. Once Spike managed to calm his breath he looked at a slightly sheepish but still definitely terrified Twilight and sighed.
“What am I going to do with you.” He muttered, shaking his head. “Listen Twi, you can’t let this type of thing get the better of you. You’re like the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, it would seem silly if a mere bad dream got to you so much.” It didn’t seem to make any type of impression; Twilight was still shaking like an autumn leaf. “Listen, if it’s going to help you sleep tonight you can take the dreamcatcher I got from the buffalos in Appleloosa. It supposedly wards off bad dreams, maybe it’ll help.” Still no reaction. Spike sighed seeing this. “I’ll…”
“I don’t want to be alone.” Spike stopped midsentence hearing Twilight whisper that in a small, fearful voice. He was going to just jump of the bed and pull out the dreamcatcher from its place in one of the drawers when she said that. Now he looked at the mare before him, trying to figure out what she meant.
“I don’t want to be alone.” She repeated a bit more loudly. Twilight looked right about now more like Fluttershy than ever before, and that spoke volumes on how fearful the unicorn mare was right now. She looked with her eyes pleading at Spike, as if to beg him not to go anywhere, to stay beside her. Finally, Spike himself decided to quell her fear.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay right here, with you.” He said, although he was extremely embarrassed at the prospect of sharing one bed with his lifelong companion. The last time they did that they both were just kids… well, technically he still was a kid in dragon standards, but that’s beside the point. What mattered right now was calming Twilight down and trying to get her to sleep, and if his reptile eyes didn’t deceive him, it was beginning to work.
Once Spike’s words left his lips the lavender mare’s eyes softened significantly, losing their panicked gleam and looking more peaceful. She didn’t say it outright, nor did she plan to say it at all, but after that dream she felt that just by being near her dragon friend she was safer. She knew it was rather strange, but right now she didn’t care. She wanted him near her, and if he was going to stay the night with her all the better. Finally, her lips curved into a small, grateful smile and she whispered softly:
“Thank you, Spike.”
“No problem.” He replied, still feeling a bit awkward about this. “Say, could you levitate my pillow here? I kind of don’t wanna wake you up by climbing on your head in my sleep or something like that.”
What he got in response was the soft glow of the mare’s horn and only moments later the pillow that normally rested in his basket floated beside him, landing a bit to Twilights left so that the baby dragon could use her blanket to cover himself. It… wasn’t exactly what Spike was expecting. He was hoping that she would bring both his pillow and his blanket. Twilight it seemed had a completely different idea however. The young drake was about to protest when he looked in his companions eyes, seeing the same, pleading expression on her face. He couldn’t say no to that face.
A bit hesitantly Spike moved to his pillow, curling on top of it much like a cat would. He looked at Twilight, giving her the idea that he was waiting for her to finally lay down and at least try to sleep. The lavender unicorn complied, even if a bit hesitant herself, and soon enough they both were under the covers. Even so, Spike still was able to see, that Twilight looked way to tense to even attempt to fall asleep. He needed to think of something that would relax her, even if just a bit.
Spike racked his brain in search of any memory that would help him figure out what to do. He faintly remembered, that when he was younger, Twilight used to read him bedtime stories to lull him to sleep. This was kind of out of the question right now –the mare wouldn’t let him out of the bed in her condition, not to mention that she probably knew most of those stories by heart. Come to think of it, she probably knew most books in the library by heart by now. However he still could pull something off, and seeing as she already expressed her interest in a certain book she didn’t have any chance to read beforehand, it would do excellent.
“Hey, Twi.” He said softly, gaining the mare’s attention. “If you want, I could tell you a bit about my book. Nothing that would spoil it for you, just enough so you’ll know what to expect from it.”
“That… would be nice.” She admitted in an equally soft tone, looking at her assistant. “But first off, could you at least say what you titled your book?”
“Well, books actually, I divided the story into six parts. And I still didn’t decide on a title, all I have is some concepts.”
“Let’s hear them then.” She answered, genuinely curious yet slightly softer, the exhaustion finally settling in. Hearing this Spike smiled, glad that his plan began working so quickly.
“The series as a whole would be named Rise of the Runelords, and the first book I thought could be called Burnt Offerings. I know, not the most inventive of titles, but that’s the best I could come up with.”
“I think they’re great.” Twilight replied, smiling tiredly. “They’re to the point and easy to remember, as titles should be. What style you decided on?”
“First person narrative, partially like journal entries, but extended, more detailed.” He explained, lowering his voice a little, just like Twilight did when she was reading him his bedtime stores.
It took him awhile, but Spike managed to finally put Twilight to sleep. It was ironic to him, to turn the table completely around like that and to at least once be the one to put his companion to sleep. He felt proud of himself, seeing the mare beside him slowly breath, her eyes closed and a content smile on her face. It lacked only the old Smarty Pants doll in his opinion, then the image of a filly Twilight would be complete. He briefly amused himself with the fond memories he had of that period of time, that is until he himself let out a yawn. It was definitely too late at night for the baby dragon’s comfort.
“Good night Twi.” He whispered drowsily before closing his eyes and letting himself be taken into dreamland.
He did not notice the pair of green and red eyes glaring at them from behind the window.
