Prologue
On a dark night in the eerily dreary country of Trottsylvania, a kingdom a few weeks travel from Equestria, evil forces were at work. Merlina, one of the most powerful sorceresses in Trottsylvania was up to no good, again. In her lair she was experimenting with a dark spell that had recently come into her possession.
Merlina’s lair was a place you didn’t want to stumble into. It was very dark inside because there were no windows. Still a faint glow gave enough light to see the many objects with in. It was full of stuffed birds and jars filled with weird creatures. There were books shoved in every spare corner and weird art pieces were hung on the wall. Various insects were hung in frames almost as strange as the ones containing the artwork. In one of the corners sat a grand pipe organ collecting dust from its lack of use. Still, the enchanted keys moved and played an eery selection. Dust floated through the air and hanging from the ceiling was a dragons skeleton. A crystal ball sat on one shelf and what appeared to be black stars in a blue sky swirled inside it. A cabinet on one side was ajar and labeled jars filled with strangely colored powders sat within.
A cauldron sat in the middle of the room. It sat next to a small table. On the table were an assortment of jars, scrolls, and as many potion ingredients as one would imagine. Merlina stood in front of it and was rummaging through the mess looking for something. With a triumphant whinny she pulled out a dusty scroll.
The scroll may have been dusty and worn and one might believe it was not loved. But looks can be deceiving. The scroll was one of Merlina’s most prized possessions. The spell written on the ancient parchment was no ordinary spell. This was a shape changing spell that had been created by the changeling queen herself. It allowed any magically gifted pony to combine the spirits of 2 ponies into one. She had traded something very important for it: Her youth. The changelings were happy to take it from her. It was now in a bottle somewhere deep within the changeling’s home.
Merlina had stumbled across it by accident, but once she saw what kind of spell it was, she wanted it. She snatched it and made her way to the throne room of Chrysallis, the changeling queen. She and the queen had bartered over the price of the scroll. The queen wanted Merlina’s soul and her first born foal’s soul too. But Merlina knew that was a bad idea. Instead they had decided on Merlina’s youth.
Being old wasn’t all that bad. True Merlina’s back hurt all the time and she couldn’t see as well. Her ebony black hair was now streaked with gray and her bones were becoming brittle. But it had all been worth it.
Merlina had wanted to use this scroll for a long time and now she finally had her chance. She had found the perfect pair of unicorn twins. They were polar opposites . For the spell to work right, that was necessary. Merlina was not without reason for wanting to use the spell. Her mother, may she rest in peace, died giving birth to Merlina’s twin brother. From then on she believed all twins were bad and wanted to rid the world of them. Now she wasn’t totally evil and still had a little compassion in her. Instead of totally destroying just one twin she would combine them both. The spell she now had in her possession was meant to fix things not destroy things, so it could only combine the souls of two opposite twin ponies. That was fine with Merlina though. She would somehow rid the world of all twins. Merlina had had her chance once before.
Her eldest sons were twins. She tried to combine the souls of her sons, and she lost them both. Now instead of one perfect colt, she had no colts. Merlina vowed that she would find another set of twins and that when she performed the spell this time, she would not fail.
Merlina snapped out of her sad daydream and began chanting,” Ah mi ah come sa ah Forces from above, Forces of Dark, Forces of Light, Forces of Magic, Forces of Flight, ah mi ah come sa ah, Two ponies become one, The stronger overcomes the weaker, the weaker no longer the speaker, Combining their lives, combining their hearts, COMBINING THEIR SOULS, ah mi ah come sa ah, This curse has been chanted, I have joined the forces of the moon and the sun, This curse shalt not be undone, ah mi ah come sa ah!”
The chanting became faster as Merlina spoke the ancient words. Her purple horn began to glow.
“Ah mi ah come sa ah! Ah mi ah come sa ah! AH MI AH COME SA AH!”
Merlina became louder as she chanted over and over. Her horn glowed brighter and brighter. In a cage in front of her a filly let out a whimper. Her sister clung to her trying to calm her down. Never had two twin fillies been so opposite, yet so alike.
Both were black and white with nothing on their flanks. One was black with a curly white mane, she was the comforter. The other more timid pony was white with a black mane. Her features were sleek and graceful and her long bangs covered one eye. Both had horns but had not discovered any controlled magic for they couldn’t be more than 6 or 7 years old. There was nothing the pair could do but sit and await their fate.
The white pony whispered in her sister’s ear,” Don’t forget me.”
“What do you mean?” The black filly was confused
“Weren’t you listening? “The stronger overcomes the weaker...” You’re stronger than me!” The smaller filly began to cry.
“No, no Cherie, You are stronger. I am just as scared as you right now if not more.”
“I can’t be. I can’t!”
“Yes you can! You have to survive!”
“Maybe the spell won’t work”
“It already has. Look.” Emerging from the white pony was the soul of a much older, much wiser looking pony. The light colored filly fell to the floor. The ebony filly was the stronger of the two after all. Her soul wafted into the dark filly. She too fell to the floor.
Merlina’s chanting ended abruptly with a last, “SA AH!” The spell was almost over.
“Yes, Yes! It’s working! All my hard work has finally paid off!” Merlina’s voice was full of power and greed. Her eyes sparkled and she grinned. All that faded, however, when the door to her lair opened. In stepped another filly. She was gray with a black mane. Her hair had purple highlights throughout it. She was gifted in a way only seen in Royalty. She was a unicorn and a pegasus. An alicorn. She had small gray wings and her horn was purple like her mother’s.
“Daughter?” Merlina was stunned for she had locked the door to her cavern to avoid this very occurrence. “ Leave! Now! Get out Eclipse! You can’t --” She was cut off as a bright purple explosion of magic filled the room and engulfed the ponies in the lair. When Merlina opened her eyes the fillies were gone. Merlina realized that their lives would be intermingled. She knew that this wasn’t the end. It was only the beginning.