"After all these many years, Lyra finally convinces Twilight Sparkle to teach her the most powerful summoning spell in all of Equestria. With this knowledge, she plans to summon the mythical creatures known as 'humans' to her world. Little does she know that her world is about to irrevocably change."

He looked at the other man. "How was that?"

The other man nodded. "It will suffice."

***

Edited by King of Beggars, Midnight Blaze, MrNumbers, and PegasusMesa.

Image is Large Hand with Splayed Fingers by Florentina Pakosta.

Ponyville has come adrift. It no longer sings its songs and sleeps its nights, it drifts through shifting shadows and the hiss of entropy. Princess Luna's influence has vanished and the diarch herself is nowhere to be found.

Pipsqueak still believes the pony she met as a foal is out there. And she'll find her.

If her mind doesn't slip away first.

Edited by the unparalleled themaskedferret and pre-read by the loveable ScarletWeather.

Lyra Heartstrings, who is not exactly the most responsible adult out there, is driving a train. A train with no brakes, on fire, full of orphans, which is approaching a broken bridge at terminal velocity.

Hmm. Well, at least things can't get worse.

Fair warning: Dark humor ahoy, guys. Horrible things played for laughs.

Proofread by:

• Selbi
• Octavia Harmony

In a world where she sees from a distorted perspective, all Twilight Sparkle can do is cling to the one pony she knows will never let her down: her teacher, the princess... no matter which princess her addled brain tells her that is. Twilight's used to rewriting letters, but when she's the one being rewritten, she finds the sensation to be altogether different.

Many thanks must go to my awesome editors, Varanus, Ebon Mane, shortskirtsandexplosions, Seattle_Lite, and Nick Nack.

Featured on Equestria Daily and The Pony Fiction Vault.
Check out/contribute to this story's TVTropes page!

The words flowed across my tongue and out of my lips smoothly. They felt right, they felt... correct.

I felt the familiar thrum of magic throughout my body, a wondrous feeling, a beautiful feeling. It started as a warmth, then a tingle, then a flood of sensation... different feelings based upon the essences of the magic.

The pulsating purple shimmer surrounded my horn, and began to illuminate the different glyphs and geometric patterns I had painstakingly drawn out for the last few hours.

In my past I endeavored to force my magic, to bend it to my will for my own needs, but now it came effortlessly. Softly, gently, the magic lifted me up from the floor. I had closed my eyes previously in order to lessen the sensory input that could distract me, but now I opened my eyes to watch my ascent.

A faint haze encompassed my vision, but rather than clouding the objects around me everything was sharpened, brightened. I could see the aura of each object glowing faintly, and see the ordinarily imperceptible ley lines that connected everything.

I continued to chant, taking in the aromatic scents of fragrant herbs and incense, feeling the light tickle of the supernatural currents that danced through the air around me, tossing my mane this way and that.

I raised my forelegs forward, leaned my head backwards for the final words of power. I filled my lungs with air to expel that last essential command...

...and something went horribly, terribly wrong.

What if Twilight was never meant to become an alicorn through friendship?
What if she wasn't meant to help reform Discord?
What if King Sombra was to return to power?

A dark destiny awaits you now, Twilight. You weren't prepared for this.

Something about Lightning Dust just seemed a little 'off'. Sometimes she didn't react the right way to the world around her, and sometimes the way she reacted was positively frightening... but it wasn't until she laughed off nearly killing a couple of ponies that anypony actually realized just how messed up she was.

Cover art is by the amazing and godlike Conicer.

*Not a gluefic.

Everypony knows the stories of Twilight Sparkle's adventures with the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Their heroism in cleansing Princess Luna of the Nightmare, their courage in facing Discord and his anarchy, their resolve to help Ponyville face its many disasters. What everypony doesn't know is that none of those stories ever happened.

This is Big Macintosh's story. And it is true.

She raised me.

She taught me.

She loved me.

She helped me exist.

...Time to repay the favor.

A challenge I put on myself at The Writer's Group to write a story out of a single passage.

Thanks to Pearple Prose for the passage!

Princess Celestia has been keeping a dark secret from her subjects for a very long time.

It's not an easy truth to tell, but if anyone can accept her after learning it, it will surely be her most faithful student.

Third Place Finisher in Equestria Daily's 2013 Nightmare Night Contest!