I needed more.
The great libraries of Canterlot no longer satisfied me. For all the knowledge they contained, my craving was still not sated.
I needed to dig deeper.
So with that, I set out to visit our neighbors to the north, the Griffons. They had their own libraries, ones filled to bursting with ancient scrolls and tomes, which were in turn brimming with spells and magicks. Considering the attitude of the creatures which kept them, they were sure to be a bit more warlike than those in Canterlot. I nearly trembled at the thought.
Needless to say, they were not too excited by my arrival. That was alright. Before my hooves even touched down on their soil their palace had been laid to waste. The streets were awash with ichor within seconds of my arrival. I crushed them the same way I had crushed anthills as a filly.
It all seemed so easy.
The remaining few who resisted me did not last. Those who were smart turned and fled. The rest died in the streets, their flesh burned and blackened. Their resistance amounted to nothing more than corpses for me to walk over.
It was like the bursting of a bomb. All at once fiery and loud followed by a deafening silence.
The only sound now was the sound of my hooves clip clopping across the overturned cobblestones that had once been a street. Once inside the empty shell of a palace the same silence remained. It was practically palpable as I strode through the desolate halls.
Despite their reputation as a bloodthirsty and savage race, the griffon's architecture was decidedly more opulent than I had anticipated. Long winding staircases lead to halls beneath the earth, trimmed with marble and gilded with gold leaf that twinkled in the torchlight. In my past, I would have stood slackjawed with awe at the splendor of the glistening corridors.
Now however, I realized the ultimate futility of such works of mortal glory.
They rose; some for eons, others for decades. Some were hewn from stone, some forged in iron. Some were crafted by hoof, others by machine. One thing however united them all.
All of them were destined to crumble and fade.
The same was true of the mortal races. Despite how significant they felt they were, most of them passed on from this life, destined only to be mourned and forgotten.
The only ones with any real value were the immortal races. Alicorns, Dragons, Draconequi, and the like. They were the ones who shaped history. They were the ones who molded nations. They were the ones who shifted the very earth to their every whim.
Yet, despite their power, so many of them lived unfulfilled. Celestia had the power to hurl the sun through the heavens, and yet preferred to muddle about with letter writing. Discord once threw all of Equestria into a chaotic anarchy, and yet was tamed by a pony afraid of her own shadow. The dragons could burn entire cities to ash and cinder, yet instead they holed themselves up in the mountains with their hoard.
Then there was me.
I was a goddess who refused to conform to the shameful legacy of lethargy that preceded me. I had chosen my path in this world, and I would forge that path as one would forge a sword; through fire, hammering, and crushing. Either the world would submit to me, or I would force it to bow.
There were those who would seek to stop me of course. Namely Discord, and any who still followed him. The last time he and I had exchanged blows, he had fought me to the verge of defeat.
I felt weak.
Passive.
Broken.
I had resolved to never feel that way again.
If he still wielded more power than I did, then I needed to become stronger.
I needed to study true war magic.
The musty smell of well worn books soon swirled in my nostrils as I descended ever deeper into the cavernous depths. This was a scent I knew well. I was near a library, and a well stocked one at that.
In an instant, my horn had ignited, casting a brilliant pale purple glow over all the room.
Out of the darkness I saw them. Rows upon rows of dusty tomes and tattered scrolls, surely filled to the brim with new magic. I extended my magic throughout the halls, as every last scrap of paper was overtaken by my mind, levitating them off of the shelves and into the air around me.
I read them, and what I discovered within was best described as gruesome at best.
There were spells of frost, fire, steel, and stone. Spells that could reduce mountains to pebbles, or a once vibrant valley into a desolate haze. There were spells to smite empires, crumble nations, and set the sky itself ablaze with fire and ash. With these spells I could blight the nations, poison the earth, and desecrate Equinity. These were not spells of war. They were spells of annihilation.
Suddenly it dawned on me.
I knew now why Celestia had locked these tomes so far from herself.
These were powers beyond even the gods.
This was beyond Equestria.
Beyond Equinity.
Beyond the gates of Tartarus.
Beyond...everything.
These were things that nopony was ever meant to know. Things that should shatter the minds of those who read them, written in strange eldritch tongues of days long past. Words seemed to leap off the page and burrow deep into the very fibers of the mind, nestling themselves deep within and just waiting to be awakened with a thought. They were vile things. Things which should have reduced me to a mess, gibbering and blathering on the stone floor as my mind was torn asunder. These were things that would drive anypony to the brink of madness.
But I was not anypony.
Not anymore.
I am she who is beyond divinity.
I am Twilight Sparkle.
The whole time, I am screaming "No! Stop! You can't be doing this! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHYYYYYYYYYY????????!!!!!!!!!! Also, write more please!
Twilight needs to be stopped. But how?
5526630 she's gonna meddle with something she shouldn't have, and destroy herself. that's my theory.
She is getting as cocky as Jack of Blades.
Hope someone steals her internal organs and quickly cops on small pices, lets out her magic and hides her parts in indestructable chests all around the world.
bad twily
She has a bit of Kefka in her after all.
It's alive! Yay! Also, great chapter. I might recommend replacing
with could be described, to preserve word count. But amazing, as always!
You know what would be hilarious?
If the price for some of that knowledge is her magic.
Good lord, the foreshadowing. I don't say that in a bad way. Your world feels like a world with actual characters, and even though I can sorta tell what's coming, it's satisfying. It's like playing Mouse Trap. All the pieces are in place, and you know that it's only a matter of time before they fire.
The main thing that bugs me is, of course, Twilight. You almost make it work. Her heel face turn is almost believable, particularly when you consider the last story. But there's just nothing of her old personality. It doesn't feel like Twilight is the one who turned evil.
For the love of Faust, can´t somebody just kill her already? I really love this kind of characters, but for some reason I just hate her. This isn´t the worst version of her I have seen, don´t get me wrong. There are far more wicked Twilights out there. But this one just drives me nuts.
By the way; I fin quite funny the fact that both Twilight and Discord think the other was going to win their last encounter. Not so different, I suppose. And one last thing... by the time this happened Tirek was already on the loose. Wouldn´t it be possible to have him join the resistance against Twilight? He was pretty capable on his own to fight a Twilight with the power of four alicorns and here she simply possesses her original might. It´s just a suggestion which will be surely lost in a sea of words
Twilight . . . You're already psycho as it is. Believe me, you don't need more power.
5529059 no you have a point with Tirek but now think of this that was sweet and innocent twilight sparkle not some one in touch with there element aka magic THIS twilight on the other hand is indeed one with her element and learning very quickly what it means to not only take over the world but how to END it and being the goddess of magic she can easily cripple any race as the griffins learned
5529059
Might as well kill the rumor before it starts.
Tirek will not be featured in this fic.
I began this fic long before the events of Season 4, and so had no idea how new ideas from that season would develop. It may make my canon a bit outdated, but I can't afford to start adding in characters willy-nilly.
Hoard.
5531054
Thank you for pointing that out. I'll have it fixed momentarily.
Bwahahaha!
Sorry, couldn't help myself. So that what's all of this is about? Lil' Twi's throwing a hissy fit because she doesn't know how to deal with the meaninglessness of life? Senseless destruction to distract from how senseless her own life is?
Oh dear. Twilight, what was that which you found? The Kitab Al-Azif? The Book of Eibon? The Octavo?
Yeah, you'll probably end up with a hole in your head, goddess or not. If we all are lucky.
5530338 You´re the boss
Is it just me, or does Twilight feel like a villain sue in this fic
Twilight doing this has been a potential outcome to me since her ascension. She is a hero who can defeat the champions of Order and Chaos. And a mage who protects the innocent. But within her beats a mortal heart that will one day be tempted to corruption. On that day, will she have the strength to resist? Or will she be their doom?
I don't think dragons are immortal. They probably have longer lifespans than ponies, but they are too common to be immortal.
Oh, IDK. They may not have been exited when you arrived, but I bet that when you blew up their palace, they GOT exited
I AM TWILIGHT.
I AM SUPREME RULER.
I AM LEGEND!!!
9207440
EXACTLY, I SWEAR that is all that is going through her brain right now