Chapter 5: What Am I to You?
It had been three days since Trixie's visit, and Twilight was beginning to wear down mentally. Bad dreams every night, an evil sensation growing in her heart, and even a sort of arrogance at Trixie's statement. It was hard not to feel that way. Her, the strongest pony in Equestria. Just the thought was amazing. Maybe she could even destroy...
Wait... what? No! She didn't want to do that. She wasn't a monster. She didn't care what that book said, she wasn't going to become... that.
She continued her walk through Ponyville, noticing the number of ponies staring at her. It wasn't like before though, this time she couldn't read their expressions.
There was something else too. It was quiet in Ponyville, and still. As if everything was at a standstill.
Twilight ran over to Sugar Cube Corner, where she saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake standing at the entrance.
"Excuse me," Twilight began, "is everything okay? Everypony is acting-" the Cakes immediately shut the door in front of her, "strangely..." she looked around, now confused as everypony shut their doors when their eyes met hers.
She began to make her way to the town square, where she saw her friends standing in a small circle, looking up.
"Girls!" Twilight called out running over to them, "What's going on here? Why is everypony acting so afraid?"
She noticed that Fluttershy and Rarity looked at her for a second, but then turned away as if afraid and shamed. That's weird, she thought. Why did they look at her like that?
"Dash, Pinkie Pie," She called out, now going to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, "Fluttershy and Rarity are acting weird. Do you know what's gotten into them?"
Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight shocked, but then Rainbow Dash put her foreleg on Pinkie's shoulder and shook her head sternly. They then continued to look up.
Now Twilight was getting scared. Why were her friends treating her like this? She saw Applejack standing front and center, looking up as if ready to fight.
"Applejack, what the hell is going on?!" Twilight asked, now getting upset, "Everypony is acting like they're afraid of me, and the others keep giving me strange looks!"
Applejack looked at Twilight with a dark expression, "Twilight..." she said softly.
"Citizens of Ponyville!" a voice called out from above the Town Square monument, "Today is the last day of your precious sun," the pony speaking was shrouded in darkness, and the clouds behind her were gathering in a spiral. The only thing Twilight could make out was that she was a unicorn.
A unicorn... no way...
"The reign of Celestia is over. No longer will this be a world of light, but neither will this be a world of darkness. True darkness lies in between, where neither light nor shadow can exist. I decree that this will be such a world from this day forward, and that I, will be your queen. Now, bow to your new queen!"
At that moment the sky turned into a apocalyptic red, and Twilight finally got a glimpse of the pony talking.
It was herself...
"No..." Twilight said backing way, "That's not possible! I'm right here! That... That's not me!" she cried out. She then looked around and saw her friends gathering around her, all with scary expressions, "Girls, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"So all this time, you were plotting to conquer all of Ponyville?" Rarity asked harshly.
"What? No! I wasn't!" Twilight tried to defend.
"We helped you to stop Night Mare Moon, when all along you were even worse that she was!" Rainbow Dash spat.
"How could you say that?" Twilight asked, now hurt, "You know me, Rainbow Dash!" she turned to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, talk to them!"
"I'm sorry Twilight," Fluttershy said sadly, "I can't..."
"I can't believe this Twilight," Pinkie Pie, "I thought we were all friends."
"We ARE friends!" Twilight cried, "I don't understand!"
"SAVE IT!" Applejack cried out, scaring Twilight, "This is the only way to put an end to this. Ah'm sorry Twilight, but we got no choice."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Were her friends talking about killing her?
You see who your friends are?
They'll turn on you...
Just like this...
"No... No! NO!" Twilight turned and ran away.
"After her!" Applejack called out before the five of them gave chase.
All of a sudden, Twilight noticed that Ponyville was a maze. She was lost among the buildings when Pinkie Pie jumped out of a corner.
"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie called out. Twilight screamed and ran down another corner.
As she ran, she saw two shadows keeping pace with her. She looked up and saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash above her.
Rainbow Dash dive bombed toward Twilight trying to tackle her, but she moved out of the way and continued to run. As she ran though, Fluttershy landed in front of her.
"Fluttershy, please!" Twilight urged.
"I'm so sorry!" Fluttershy cried dashing towards Twilight. She then, as strange as it was, began fighting Twilight. She didn't want to hurt her friend, so Twilight just did her best to dodge her attacks.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Twilight cried, "I'm your friend!"
"That's what we thought!" Rarity called out from behind Twilight. She turned around and saw Rarity stomping the ground preparing to charge, "But clearly you're nothing but a monster!"
That statement hurt Twilight more than anything. Rarity charged, and Twilight saw Fluttershy charging as well. Twilight jumped away right at the last moment forcing the two friends to hit each other, and then ran forward.
After a few seconds though, somepony kicked her hard in the side knocking her to the ground. She looked up and saw Applejack standing over her, with killing intent in her eyes.
"This is jus' how it's gotta be," Applejack said trotting closer to her, "Queen of Darkness!"
These so called friends have betrayed you...
They seek your destruction...
Twilight looked around her and saw her friends surrounding her, each one looking ready to kill.
"Stop this! STOP IT!" Twilight screamed, now crying.
The only way to stop this is for you to accept me into your heart...
"NO! I won't! I WONT!"
You will. You have no choice...
Twilight Sparkle...
She heard a familiar growl. In her fear, she slowly looked up, and she saw it. The same grotesque black dragon that haunted her night after night, and it was looming over her, ready to claim her.
"Wake up!" Twilight cried to herself, "Wake up! Please, wake up!" she tried and tried, but she couldn't wake up. Surrounded by her friends, there was no escape either. She couldn't run, and she couldn't shock herself awake either.
"HELP ME!" Twilight screamed as the beast's mouth came down on her, ready to consume her.
"Twilight! TWILIGHT!" Spike called out, shaking her as hard as he could. Eventually he reached over and splashed her with her glass of water, instantly waking her up. For a second she just sat there in shock, until she eventually broke down and cried. Spike was worried about her, and he slowly made his way to her bed.
"I did what you asked me to," he said sweetly, "You told me to wake you up if you didn't answer, so..." she wouldn't stop sobbing, so Spike was getting scared, "What's wrong?"
"I can't keep running..." Twilight sobbed, "They're getting worse. Next time I might not be able to wake up."
"Then I'll just have to keep waking you!" Spike proclaimed, "I don't know what's got you so upset, but if I can help you by waking you up then I will! I promise Twilight!"
"Spike..." she said through her tears. Spike sat on the bed next to Twilight and held her. That was all he could do at the moment. She was beyond comfort at the moment, but maybe he could remind her that she wasn't alone.
This was getting out of hand, and she was tired of not knowing anything. She felt like she needed to talk to someone, so who better than her mentor, right? She had Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia asking her if she could ask her a few questions. She didn't want to involve Spike or any of her friends until she knew what was going on (and she didn't want to admit it, but that dream made her feel funny about her friends).
Celestia's response was almost instant. She not only said that she would speak to Twilight, but she also said she was sending a carriage to Ponyville to bring her over to Canterlot. It was touching that Celestia was taking this so seriously. She always took Twilight seriously.
A few hours later, Twilight arrived in Canterlot. She asked Spike to stay behind and run the library while she was gone, but also so she could talk to Celestia personally. As she walked, her thoughts went back to the dream she had. In it, everypony was staring at her as if she was a monster. She felt insecure, as if the ponies were staring at her.
"Twilight?" she heard from the sky. Twilight reluctantly looked up and saw Rainbow Dash flying down to her. God... why now?
"Hey Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, trying to keep her inner contempt hidden. It apparently didn't work, because Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight seriously.
"You okay? Pinkie Pie said you were acting weird last time she saw you, and you haven't been outside in a while."
Of course Pinkie Pie spoke to Rainbow Dash. Those two were inseparable. If either one of them was either a lesbian or bi, they would have to be married by now.
"I'm fine Rainbow," Twilight said darkly. She didn't want to talk to Rainbow Dash right now.
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight for a second, but then shook her head, "Nope, ain't buying it," she said. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight groaned.
"Seriously, what's wrong? You do know that you can tell us anything, right?"
"I... I know," Twilight said looking away, "I need to go Rainbow Dash."
"Go? Where are you-"
"None of your business!" Twilight shouted on impulse, instantly catching herself when she noticed Rainbow Dash's shocked expression, "I'm... sorry!" Twilight said running away. That was the second time she did that to one of her friends. She knew that Rainbow Dash would be hurt, but she had to talk to her about it later. Right now, the most important thing to her was getting to Princess Celestia.
When Twilight made it to the castle, she breathed a sigh of relief. Safety. Now nothing stood in between her and Princess Celestia. She walked through the halls of the castle, knowing exactly where the princess waited for her. The guards did say hi to her, but she ignored most of them. All she wanted was to see the mare who had been a mother to her for years.
When she made it to Celestia's study, for a second she just stood there at the door. When she opened it she saw Princess Celestia sitting on her large red pillow reading. She was there, she could make it all better. Just her presence made Twilight's problems melt away.
Celestia looked up from her book, and met eyes with Twilight, "Oh, Twilight," Celestia said with a worried expression, "Is something wrong?"
"Princess..." Twilight said slowly. She walked for a few seconds, but then her walk turned into a run and she met Celestia's warm wing embrace.
"My beloved student, you're troubled," Celestia said softly, "Talk to me."
After calming down, Twilight told Princess Celestia everything. About the dreams, about her out of control magic, and about what she read in the book. She told the Princess about how Trixie told her that she was the strongest pony in Equestria, and how she cast a spell on Spike giving him a nightmare he couldn't escape from. She was ready for any sort of reaction, shame, shock, disbelief, anything.
The reaction she got was none of the above, nor was it expected.
"Oh dear," Celestia said with a sigh. Twilight was confused.
"Princess?"
Celestia used her magic to bring a copy of Prophesies of the Old World to them, "Is this the book, Twilight?"
"Yeah, it is," Twilight said looking up at Celestia, "Why?"
Celestia opened the book and began reading, "It's prophesied that on the last day of the twentieth millennium, the Queen of Darkness will be born. In her youth, she will be a natural at all things magical. She will be a pony with a dark coat, and possess powers unlike any other. On the day she comes of age, she'll begin to awaken to her true nature. The darkness in her heart will consume her, and she will use her powers to not only usurp the current rule of Equestria, but plunge the world in an eternal twilight," as she read, Twilight's eyes were getting wider and wider.
"Princess, how did you know which story it was?" Twilight asked.
"You know I would never lie to you, but I had prayed that this day would never come," she got up and walked off a bit.
"Princess, I mean no disrespect, but what are you talking about?"
For a long time Princess Celestia was silent, as if trying to find the words for what she was feeling. She eventually looked at Twilight with a sad expression, and the next thing that she said changed everything.
"I'm sorry Twilight, I should have shared this with you sooner, but I was afraid of the impact it would have on you at such a young age."
"Wait... what do you mean?"
"I had planned on having this conversation with you when you turned twenty-one, but I had hoped that sending you away would kill the darkness within you."
Send her away? What did that mean?
"You're not making any sense. Princess, what does that even mean?"
"It will only make sense if I tell you the whole story," Celestia took a deep breath before she continued, "I knew all of the stories in that book. It was how I knew about my sister's return, and how I knew how to stop Discord. That book was written by a group of powerful seers who knew that I would need a guideline after becoming ruler of the sun.
"But that's getting off topic. Anyway, I was told to memorize the stories in that book, and Equestria's Darkest Hour stood out to me. I knew that I had to be on the lookout for the filly who was supposed to grow up into the Queen of Darkness. I originally thought that it was my little sister, Luna. She was a pony with a dark coat, and she did possess powerful magic at a young age. However, I soon learned that she was destined to be Night Mare Moon, which meant I still had to search for her.
"Centuries after I sealed my sister away, I began to ponder how I could find the filly in the legend. I began to wonder if the symbol in the book was a Cutie Mark. If that was the case then I went about my search all wrong. There was a completely different factor that went into it, but that factor complicated things in more ways than you could imagine. I might be looking for a filly who hadn't found her Cutie Mark yet. I began to focus my search on fillies who hadn't found their Cutie Mark. I opened Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns not just so I could help fillies learn how to harness their magic, but in the hopes that I could find the filly who was meant to become the Queen of Darkness.
"And that's when you walked into my life. I was walking past the school building when I saw your friend's Sonic Rainboom. A second later I felt a powerful surge of magic coming from the school. It was stronger than anything I ever felt. I followed it to the classroom that you were in, and I saw it. You had to have been only seven years old, if that, yet the magic you exhibited was more than even some grown unicorns. I stepped in and calmed your magic down, and immediately realized that you were the filly I was searching for. You didn't realize when your Cutie Mark came in, but seeing that made me even more sure. That was when I had an idea.
"What if I could keep this filly from becoming a threat to Equestria? Then I could make amends for what I had to do to my sister, and possibly save thousands of ponies in the process. So I made you my student, and presented the symbol to you as a normal Cutie Mark. As I taught you the pure side of magic, I also tried to keep you in the light. I sent you to Ponyville also in the hopes that you learning more about friendship would keep you off of the dark path destiny set out for you. So yes, Twilight, the mare in the story is you."
That was a lot to take in, and Twilight was speechless. But not just because the Princess had confirmed her fears. She was mainly shocked to learn that all this time she thought Princess Celestia saw something special in her, that there was something only she could do. She thought so many things... So many dreams...
And just like that, they were all shattered.
"So all this time," Twilight said slowly, "You were just keeping me caged?"
"Twilight, I know that's what it looks like, but I assure you-"
"You never had a plan for me!" Twilight's voice was cracking as she spoke, "You were just trying to keep me from becoming a monster!"
"No Twilight, that's not it at all. I did try and keep you on the path of light, and yes I did keep things from you, but it was only because-"
"I trusted you!" Twilight was backing away from Celestia, "You were the one pony I knew would never deceive me! But you were LYING to me from the beginning!"
The tears came, and they wouldn't stop. Even the Princess saw her as a monster. The one pony who would never call her a monster, just did.
"Twilight, please calm down! Your aura is-"
"I LOVED YOU!" Twilight shouted. There was a blinding light, and Twilight heard Princess Celestia cry out in pain. The light died down, and when Twilight looked forward, all she could do was scream.
Seconds later, the guards came. What they saw would change things forever. The first thing they saw was Twilight backing away in fear.
"Twilight Sparkle, what happened in here," one guard asked.
"I, I, I, I!" was all Twilight could get out. The guards looked over at where Twilight was looking, and saw a sight that left them utterly speechless.
Cause the second thing they saw, was a statue of Princess Celestia... where the real Princess Celestia once stood...
Oh wow.
I guess now Celestia knows what it's like to be a statue.
woah, things just got bad
Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm, shit just hit the fan.
crap twi quick heal celestia.
Celestia got stoned? Hmm, never saw that coming. What about Trixie?
SHIT JUST GOT REAL !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUH3JQjcweM
Dramatic music!
i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb461/LegionScavenger/g0ESP.gif
I guess Twilight made Celestia
(⌐■_■)...( •_•)/⌐■-■
A little stiff.
YEAAAAAAHHHH!
.................Well tits.....
oh snap.
Take it away, Bender.
The horror the horror! *faints*
i.imgur.com/WhL2P.jpg
So, I had this whole rant read to post, about how strange it is that in stories like this, Twilight never talks to her friends about her issues when she finds out about some horrible thing that may be taking her over, or learns about something bad that is about to happen.
But then I realized, it makes perfect sense! She has done that before, but she's learned that it never works, and can even make things worse! She's gone to her friends before, and they either blow off her concerns as minor, or even drive her away by refusing to believe her. Lesson Zero, the Changelings, even Nightmare Moon, each time she brings the subject up with those she's close to, nothing good happens.
So of course when something as horrible as her own mind turning against her happens, she's reluctant to talk about it. So, bravo Elements and Celestia, good job breaking her heroes, the problem isn't Twilight not talking about her issues, it's you never listening to her.
BTW, even with my original rant about the concept, and my dislike thereof, I still like this story. The fact that I did like it even with my dislike of the idea impressed me, and is what caused me to think about it more. So thank you SapphireLibra3, thanks to your story, this concept doesn't bother me as much.
OH SNAP!
images.wikia.com/theamazingworldofgumball/images/8/85/Dis_gonna_b_gud.gif
pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/133148446382.jpg
This is the beginning of shit about to rain down. Everypony take cover!
I only have one problem, though, and even in fanfiction.net, I never said anything. The way you write stammering. "I, I, I, I!" It's a mere nitpick, only something that bothers me slightly, but stammering is something along the lines of, "I--I--I--I!" If you don't change it, that's fine, I just wanted to bring that up.
Is it bad I want to see Twilight wage an epic battle on Equestria and totally rape everything?
twilight.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/134301949997.gif
This is gonna be good!
Good Good let the evil flow thought you
2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Ksn2gPz0Ek/UAjgAJl8ueI/AAAAAAAAAng/I3fPLtxK5pk/s1600/emperor+palpatine+1.jpeg
Twilight why you be so dumb, Celestia explained her reasons for not telling you she didn't keep you caged even a 5 year old could see that...
I'm sorry it just that was a major over reaction and use of the idiot ball
Damn... I guess showing her the magic spells on how to turn living being into stones backfired on ya pretty badly huh? You know maybe you were right in calling Discord evil but at least he never used his magic to do, well, THAT.
Also... Not gonna lie... I personally think, that while yes, Twilight may have crossed some lines with her tantrum, she has ever right to be angry. And considering that you thought up of the plan to make the future Queen of Darkness you student so as to keep her away from evil... That kinda leaves plenty of room to think that you had... Less orthodox plans. So yeah....
Sees tags *Romance *Dark *Adventure
Adds to read it later list, even without reading the summary
RILL already contains 201 items...
Gonna take a while...
Oh damn, Shit just got real.
Not to much of a stretch this is. Equestria's greatest force for good could easily become it's greatest force for evil.
Well that was an overreaction of a lifetime. As learned in Past Sins, you are what you want to be. If you dont want to be a monster, DONT! Also, all of this could have probably been avoided if that stupid prophecy didnt even exist. That is why I always had a problem with that plot device. Also, having Celestia keep some sort of secret about twilight and twilight then overreacts to said secret has become kinda cliche. Seriously done way to often. One more thing! I think Celestia deserves to be encased in stone if she is dumb enough to arm the bringer of eternal twilight with the knowledge of dark magic. Not to mention giving her the prophecy which leads to the problem of the afore mentioned point.
1099374 Obviously Twilight has not read Past Sins.... lol
1099432 I guess not lol. Maybe if she did, this could have possibly been avoided, but I digress
SHIT JUST GOT REAL!!!! Also, when's the next chapter gonna be?
I get a familiar vibe from this one. Damn can't remember the title at the moment but im quite sure I read a story using very similar plot and character set...
Oh for the love of Celestia just stab her already! If Twi's going to plunge the world into twilight, and you knew from the get-go, just finish her off! Or banish her; gah! CELESTIA! Y U SO DURP
TWILIGHT MAD!
encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSWFyyWt0JEjLUfjuPu61Vc10juyHqXcKx9IvlXSi4jRyLSNDKQYw
Aaaaaaand overdid it......
1096996 Sounds good.
"you have beaten me, do it. Kill me and your journey to the dark side will be complete" *turns her to stone* Twilight looks behind there and there's Palpatine "good my apprentice, good. Now, finish what you started and join me at my side, destroy the statue"
google.com/imgres?start=101&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=987&bih=475&addh=36&tbm=isch&tbnid=kooUhaaBnMm9RM:&imgrefurl=http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/File:Princess_Luna_nay_children_wait_S2E4-W4.png&docid=bqPz4HStNGfciM&imgurl=http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120111014210/mlp/images/3/37/Princess_Luna_nay_children_wait_S2E4-W4.png&w=1251&h=698&ei=NKstUJCJIOmz6gH394G4Dg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=263&vpy=176&dur=1873&hovh=168&hovw=301&tx=180&ty=115&sig=110340823904211566682&page=9&tbnh=136&tbnw=213&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:101,i:84
now Luna must save the day!
Was listening to the beginning of Eminem - Stay Wide Awake when i reached the end, heard the guys say "come with me, to the dark side of the force", read that Celestia was a statue.... creepy, REALLY creepy coincidence....
Also, GREAT story :)
Celestia fot Stoned?
gifsforum.com/images/image/my%20body%20is%20ready/grand/my-body-is-ready-eccbc87e4b5ce2fe28308fd9f2a7baf3-1485.png
Here's my suggestion for appropriate music.
oh shit
1098230
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/discord.png <(She Sures Doess now, my Dear, She Sure Does...
It's now time to get back to my job and enjoy the good old time...
Some Chocolate Milk???It's Free! Full Of Calcium And Proteins ... Celestia sure will need some milk after being a statue, unable to move, having bones of a Grandma!)
Okay, yeah. Pacing, you need some, badly. This had almost no buildup at all. If we did not know these characters, we wouldn't give two fucks that this just happened. On top of that, there is little to no reason for twilight to be having dark urges other than 'the book says so,' which is lame as all hell. If the story premise was a person, you just murdered him with a butcher knife.
Who thinks Twilight just got waaaaaay to drunk at her birthday, and now she's having a nightmare?
Expect a few more comments as I catch up..
And excuse my stereotypical language..
BUT DAMN TWILI! U DUN FUQD UP!
HO-LY &!@?#/%!!! THIS IS BAD, THIS IS REALLY BAD!!!
I read this with 4000 different songs playing on random, and Master of Puppets came up...cdn.broni.es/images/emotes/mlp-tcrazy.png
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...dge.
Snowstreak say this instead fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..ck
1098235 YOU THINK!!!!!!!!! I have read this before but this time its making scence it just gets worse and worse, this is for anypony who hasn't read this yet trixie becomes twilights evil version of twilight and Twilight becomes an evil version of celestia. your welcome
Gah! Everything makes sense now!
I like the story but there are a few errors. 1. Nightmare Moon not Night Mare Moon.
Sugarcube Corner not Sugar Cube Corner.
Also, I have a problem with the ponies saying 'god' all of the time. The occasional profanity rides the line, but them saying 'god' just doesn't fit. Say 'Faust' or 'Celestia', something that would actually make sense in the context of their world.