A Witch in Equestria

“Hi Twilight.. what's wrong?"

Twilight twitched. By all indications her new friend was asking an honest question. She shouldn‘t get mad and yell at her, right? Everypony should sit down and talk it out like level-headed rational beings. Unfortunately, having just narrowly avoided a cataclysmic event, Twilight wasn't feeling all that calm.

“What’s wrong..? What’s wrong?! You just tried to blow up Ponyville, that’s what’s wrong!” she yelled.

A dawning light of realization crossed Willow’s features. “I-I..” she stammered in a horror-struck tone.

Twilight continued talking, and her voice picked up steam as she went. “You said you were having problems, but I didn’t know they were this bad! A little heads up would’ve been nice!” She looked accusingly at Willow.

Willow shrunk into herself a bit more. “I’m so, so sorry..”

Fluttershy tapped Twilight on the shoulder, interrupting her mid-rant. Twilight deflated, collapsing onto the ground and sighing heavily.

“Well. There’s no point in moaning about it now, I suppose. I’ll send the Elements back to Canterlot for safe-keeping.” she concluded with finality.

“Wait, just like that?”  Rainbow asked indignantly.

Twilight turned a stern gaze toward Rainbow. “Yes, just like that, Dash.”

Rainbow shook her head disbelievingly. “That’s so stupid. The problem isn’t the Elements of Harmony, the problem is right there!” She pointed a hoof at the hunched form of Willow. “You think if you just remove the Elements she won’t be a threat anymore?” Her voice was incredulous. She looked around at her friends for back up, but found no one willing to vocalize their support.

She threw up her hooves in defeat, turning to fly off and offering one last parting shot. “Fine. When this blows up in your face, I’ll be there to pull your flank out of the fire. And to tell you I told you so.” She exited the stage in a huff, leaving a chromatic trail behind her as she left.

There was an awkward silence. Fluttershy looked like she wanted to move over to comfort Willow staring at the ground in horrified shock, but instead she remained rooted indecisively in place. Twilight coughed nervously. "Well.." she muttered. "This is a disaster."

Applejack tipped her hat to Twilight. "Call me if ya need me." she drawled, cantering off back to her farm. Rarity and Fluttershy took it as a cue to make their own exits. Fluttershy spared one final glance at Willow before departing. Only Twilight, Willow, Pinkie, and Luna remained on the outskirts.

Pinkie turned to address the audience. "I'm still in this scene, but I couldn't find a good entrance for a joke. I'm so sorry! I'll do better next time!" she said to thin air.

"Who are you talking to, Pinkie?" Twilight asked in a long-suffering tone. It is a question that has been poised many times. To delve too deeply is to invite madness, but Twilight can never restrain her curiosity.

"Ehehehe.. it's a secret, Twilie!" Pinkie replied brightly. A briefly serious look crossed her face as she observed Willow, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. "Toodles!"

Twilight trotted over to Luna overlooking a hill. She has been deep in thought since the incident was resolved. "What do you think we should do, Princess?"

Luna hmm'd thoughtfully. "I believe we should simply continue as we are. Obviously, we must keep a closer watch on Willow than we have been, just to prevent incidents like these. But, I think it is more important to contain any potential damage she can do by helping her master her dark side. I believe this is where I can be of use."

Twilight's lips quirked. "Are you forming Face Heel Turns Anonymous? 'It has been 63 days since I last tried to destroy the world'?" she asked with a mock inquisitive look on her face.

Luna gave her an I-am-not-amused expression. "Yes. That is exactly what I'm doing." she deadpanned. She shook her head and turned to gaze at Willow moping.

"I never noticed how annoying this is looking from the outside. She looks so consumed with guilt. I didn't really take Celestia's chastising seriously.." Luna said, frowning.

"We've all said it at some point. It wasn't all your fault. Maybe now you have some perspective, huh?" Twilight asked.

"Perspective.. yes." Luna repeated, her eyes looking off into the distance.

They gathered up Willow and returned to the library as quietly as they could. Twilight worried over Willow retreating into herself, but couldn't think of anything she could do herself. At the very least, Luna was here to help her- and Twilight has faith in her Princesses.

They turned in early, saving the serious discussions for tomorrow. Twilight and Willow were both drained from the ordeal, and needed rest. Luna positioned herself on the roof to observe and critique her own night sky, while thinking of plans to help her new acquaintance.

--

"What do your dreams hold, Willow?" Luna murmured from her perch on the roof. She sunk into a magical trance, and pinpointed the dreams of the one she sought.

It wasn't a dream- it was a nightmare. How strange it was seeing more of her bipedal species moving about, but it's only natural that she'd be this way in her own imagination. Luna shouldn't have to remind herself that the one she's dealing with is most definitely not a pony. It made her worry that they might be too dissimilar after all, but she didn't think so. For all that their forms were radically different, the core of self-awareness and range of emotion seemed remarkably alike.

The one with the most prominent position in the dream was a blonde-maned human. She shone the brightest, but she also cast the largest shadow. The dream became a nightmare when she was ripped from existence in the most terrifying and brutal ways possible. From then on there was nothing but suffering, death, and murder. Without an anchor to keep her in place, Willow did whatever she wanted- even destroying her own dream-space and her own self. It's painful to watch.

"Yo. What's up, horse?" a sly voice commented from behind her. Luna almost jumped in surprise, but mastered herself enough to collect herself and observe the one who sneaked up on her. It was some kind of twisted form of evil, darkness, and hate. Roughly shaped like a human, but with a cloak of void about it, it radiated malice in palpable waves and pulsated at odd intervals, warping the space around it.

"I was first thinking, what the fuck are you doing here.." The atmosphere blacked out on the profanity, everything going dark for a split second.

It was smiling.. "..but then I realized that this is an opportunity."

It started jumping up and down, clapping its shadow appendages together. "Hey, hey. Where you goin'? You should join the party." Her smile grew wider and wider, becoming grotesque as it stretched beyond physical limits. "Die, you worthless bitch."

Luna evacuated as fast as she possibly could, breathing a sigh of relief when she returned to herself back on the roof. This was far beyond anything she'd ever encountered. It would be impossible to glean insights or heal her subconscious with a presence like.. that, lurking there. Even if she had great power over dreams, she wouldn't be able to fight something like that on its home turf unless Willow could be recruited to assist.

An ominous tapping noise started ringing through the night. "Who's there?" Luna called out.

Materializing in midair in front of her, the spectre of evil made its reappearance. "Gyahahaha.. fooled ya~" it mocked. Its hands reached into Luna and pulled. Luna cried out in soul-wrenching agony, writhing helplessly as waves of pain crashed through her body over and over. Its laughter echoed unendingly through the imaginary night.

Until it ceased, and Luna again found herself on the roof with the stars overhead. She was still twitching from the phantom pain all over her body, and wary of another trap. Was she being granted respite, only to cruelly dash her hopes again?

No. She couldn't let herself be taken into the pace of that creature. It is more likely that she escaped, somehow. She only wish she knew how. At the very least, the creature couldn't do any lasting harm. She'll be prepared next time- Willow's subconscious-dwelling darkness shouldn't ever be as strong as it was tonight, and she was caught off guard by its mastery over its own domain. She won't make the same mistakes twice.

--

"..mm.. hwaa?! What kind of a midnight snack is hay.. seriously.. freakin' ponies.." a half-asleep Willow muttered as she walked through the halls.