Twilight Sparkle: Lich Queen

by burdenedsoul

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Dark
Length: 2235

After a month of study and testing, Twilight Sparkle has discovered the secret to immortality... but at a cost

A short story of black magic, betrayal, and power… also undead ponies.

Cover art by SpyroConspirator on Deviantart

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-28 10:04:19 UTC

Twilight Sparkle: Lich Queen

"What could she possibly be doing for so long?" Rarity wondered aloud as she strolled past the library of Ponyville, she had not heard sight nor sound of her dear friend Twilight Sparkle for nearly a month.

Twilight's long disappearances were a thing to be expected from the hard studying unicorn, but she would only be gone for a week at the longest.

"Something must really be keeping her busy" Rarity thought, "I ought to go and check if she needs anything. Ugh, hopefully she's remembered to bathe."

As Rarity approached the front door the the library, she felt a chill run down her spine, thinking nothing of it, she opened the door, and peeked her head inside. the room was completely dark, save for a ray of light, shining in the center of the room.

"Uhh, hello? Twilight, are you in here?" Rarity called out, a tinge of fear hiding underneath her tone "I just came to check on you, to see if you were alright. You know, we haven't seen you in ages, right?"

Just then, purple beams of magic shot up from under the floorboards, slowly swirling around the room, and finally converging atop the coffee table. The magic floating in the air began to materialize into four legs covered in lavender fur, slowly combining into a magical duplicate of Twilight Sparkle.

"Welcome to the Ponyville Library, if you are seeing this, then i am not in, books are to your right, restrooms to the left, and the upstairs is off limits, please return any books you take, and have a nice day" the hologram greeter says in a monotone voice.

Sensing she's being watched, Rarity slowly backs out of the door and into the fresh air of Ponyville "Well, maybe I'll come back later, ta!"

Shortly after Rarity's exit, the magic double dissolved into raw magic, and floated down through the floor. And the small creature that had been watching Rarity ran to the center of the room and lifted a hidden floor hatch, descending down to Twilight Sparkle's underground lab.

"Spike, who was that? At the door?" Twilight asked her loyal assistant.

"It was Rarity, she came to check on us, good thinking using the doppelganger spell to keep her out" the little purple and green dragon said as he approached Twilight, "but, I don't think we should be hiding down here for too much longer. I mean, eventually the others are gunna come looking, and I don't think your spell will work on all of them."

"It'll be fine Spike, we're almost done here anyway. Now, hand me the parasprite wings." Twilight ordered, "soon it'll be all over, and never again will Equestria be in danger, oh the Princess will be so proud of me" Twilight muttered to herself as she carefully stirred a beaker, held aloft by her magic, and gently dropped a single parasprite wing into the mix.

"There, now for experimentation. Spike, do you have the test subject?" she asked as she spun around

"Right here!" spike shouted as he held up a small cage, and inside, hiding in the corner, was a raccoon.

Twilight focused her horn on the cage, and ensnared it in a faint purple aura, soon the cage opened and the raccoon slowly moved outwards, not of his own accord however, as he was trying his damnedest to grab and hold onto the cage. His strength fading, the raccoon was forced to let go, and be a test subject to Celestia knows what Twilight had planned for it.

"Spike, restrain the subject" Twilight ordered her dragon friend, following Twilight's orders, spike gently grabbed the raccoon's head, and opening it's mouth wide, "down the hatch" Twilight said as she poured the contents of the beaker into the raccoon's mouth, and down it's throat.

Instantly the raccoon began to show the side affects of the drug he had just been force fed, his fur began falling out in clumps, flesh falling from his bones, like ice cream from a cone. The raccoon began to convulse, heaving, and shaking about in Spikes arms, unable to control itself. Spike, unable to keep a firm grasp on the creature, dropped the raccoon, which only led to more flesh falling from his bones, eventually turning what once was a fluffy raccoon into a full skeleton of one, save for the eyes, which still rolled about in it's skull.

"Oh shit! what is that thing!" Spike screamed

"Spike! Language!" Twilight chastised him, "this is exactly what I intended to create. This, my faithful assistant, is a lich... only, a raccoon lich" Twilight laughed as she placed the new raccoon lich back into it's cage.

"Now, to make some more. Spike, go collect three manticore poison glands, a griffin feather, and 4 timber wolf cores, Zecora should have what we need. Just make sure none of the girls see you, I don't want anyone getting curious" Twilight commanded Spike

Spike walked around the edges of town, ducking behind carts and barrels, moving through the shadows, trying to remain unseen as he made his way to the Everfree Forest, and Zecora's house, which hides inside.

"Ah, young Spike, how are you today, little tike?" Zecora greeted Spike in her usual rhyming fashion, "no doubt, you want more ingredients, for Twilight's little experiments?" She assumed as she loaded up a satchel with the requested alchemical components.

Once Zecora finished loading the satchel for Spike, she exchanged the bag for a claw-full of bits. And Spike rushed out the door, taking the same route he used to get there, making sure he didn't walk through the poison joke, lest he become deformed in some way.

After reaching the library and descending to Twilight's lab, he opens the satchel and empties it's contents on the table next to Twilight. "I got the stuff, and no one saw me" Spike said as he emptied the last poison gland from the bag

"Good, now give them here" Twilight said as she stirred more of the magic concoction, crushing the timberwolf cores into a fine powder, squeezing the manticore poison glands, and finally stirring it with the griffin feather. "Finally! It's done! After weeks of research and testing, I've finally got enough to finally keep Equestria protected!" she shouted as she held the finished product

"Uhh... Twilight? Are you sure you should be drinking that? You saw what it did to that raccoon." Spike said nervously as Twilight slowly lifted the beaker to her lips

"Of course I saw it, Spike, that's why I'm drinking it. A lich is a magical creature unable to die by normal means, therefore immortal. And with me being a unicorn, my magic will be increased exponentially, allowing me to keep Equestria safe for all eternity. Bottoms up!" Twilight assured spike as she tipped the beaker back, taking gulp after gulp of black magic, infusing it with her body.

Just like the raccoon, soon after finishing the beaker, Twilight starts to shake and convulse, losing clumps of hair and flesh as it flew from her shaking form. An errant magical glow could be seen hanging in the room, emanating from Twilight's increasingly skeletal body. After twilight is completely bone, the visible raw magical energy in the room collapsed, imploding on Twilight.

"SPIKE!! RUUUUN!!!!" Twilight screamed as the extreme levels of magic now trapped in her body found it's release: her horn, now channeling one hundred times it's natural capacity, released a massive wave of destructive energy, vaporizing everything in the room, including Spike. Following the path of least resistance, the explosion grew, and rose, until finally shredding the tree canopy of the library, creating a huge pillar of magic that can be seen from all corners of the planet.

Following the aftermath of the magical explosion at the library, the townsfolk begin to gather at the epicenter. Hushed whispers can be heard amongst the growing crowd of scared ponies. Some move close to investigate, others back off in fear. Those investigating carefully peek over the edge of the crater left in the wake of Twilight's loss of control. The rubble at the bottom of the crater begins to shift, revealing the lone survivor.

"Why?!" Twilight screamed through her tears as she holds the ashes of her friend Spike, "I thought I could control it! Damn it Spike, why didn't you run?!"

"Are you okay down there?" one of the investigators shouts, unable to see clearly through the dust and magic mist, "what happened?" a second pony says, slowly stepping into the crater

"STAY AWAY! I don't want to hurt anyone else" Twilight says as the tears continue to pool inside her empty eye sockets

"We're here to help" the first pony says, following the second into the massive hole in the ground

"I said.... STAY AWAY!!" Twilight roared, turning to face the incoming helpers, lighting up her horn. She sends a blast of physical magic at the first, connecting with his chest, launching him out of the crater and into the sky. Pointing her horn at the second, she concentrates on her target, and the helpless mare bursts into flames, reduced to a charred heap of flesh in mere seconds.

Conjuring robes from the wreckage, Twilight wraps her skeletal form in black cloth. "These ponies won't listen, they're all a danger to Equestria. If they won't listen to me, then they won't listen to Celestia, and if the don't listen to Celestia, then they'll turn on her. They must be punished"

Summoning magic at her hooves, Twilight created a platform. Stepping on the platform she rises up to the rim of the crater. "Listen up everypony! no doubt Princess Celestia saw the explosion, and should be here soon, and when she get here, you better listen to every word she says! Or else!" she shouts as she focuses on a random pony in the crowd, lifting him high into the sky, and slamming him down to the dirt with a sickening crunch.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" booms an unseen speaker. turning towards the sky, Twilight spots Princess Celestia flying down from the sun towards Ponyville. "SHOW YOUR FACE, SUBJECT!" Celestia shouts at the hooded pony.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouts happily, removing her hood, revealing her bare skull to Celestia, and the residents of Ponyville. Shrieks of terror can be heard among the crowd below, and even celestia is shocked at her student's horrific transformation.

"What have you done to yourself?!" Celestia reels back, wide eyed and terrified.

"I've secured the safety of Equestria... I thought you'd be proud of me" Twilight says, saddened by her mentors reaction.

"The safety of the land? Of MY land? The land that I've defended and ruled over peacefully for centuries?" Celestia says through the anger and betrayal that weighs heavily on her heart. "I'm sorry Twilight, but I must bring you down, like the evil creature you've become" Celestia says, holding back tears

"It... it's you" Twilight realizes, "it's your fault, YOU are the reason why Equestria is always in danger. It's because of YOUR weakness that the changelings invaded Canterlot, it's because of YOUR weakness that Discord broke out of his stone prison, it's because of YOUR weakness that Nightmare Moon returned from the moon... it's because of YOU that Equestria is in danger."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how YOU are the biggest danger to Equestria... and how you must be removed from power..." Twilight says as she lowers her head, aiming her horn at Celestia.

"I've heard enough of this!" Celestia rears up, shining a beam of sunlight at Twilight, who, acting fast, puts a magic barrier up, effectively blocking the Princess' attack. Twilight returns with a blast of fire from her horn, which engulfs the Princess. Thinking she's won, Twilight lowers her guard, when a blast of sunlight hits her in the back of the head.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME THAT EASILY?!" Celestia booms as the smoke clears, "THINK AGAIN!"

"You underestimate me, Princess, I'm not the little filly you once took under your wing, that unicorn is dead. So, say hello to the new alicorn ruler of Equestria!" Twilight says as she doubles over, arching her back as it starts to glow. Soon wings begin to grow outward, skeletal in nature, with bones as the feathers.

Her transformation complete, Twilight wings into the sky, meeting Celestia face to face. "I've become more powerful than even you" Twilight says smugly as she emanates raw magic, "your rule is over, Celestia" Twilight whispers into the princess' ear as the magic around her reaches cataclysmic levels, "IT'S MY TURN!" she roars as the magic collapses in on her, exploding outward with deadly force. Princess Celstia tries her best to guard against the onslaught of power, but can only hold for a few seconds, the magic barrier she put in place between her and the explosion shatters into millions of pieces. Overwhelmed by Twilight's explosion, Celestia is ripped limb from limb, her horn cracking off at it's base and disintegrating, the royal tiara launched off her brow, landing on the ground with a light thump.

"Now that that's taken care of, now it's time to be rid of Luna, and the rest of Canterlot's royalty" Twilight says as she speeds off into the sky towards the royal city of Canterlot, and her assured victory.