//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Twilight // by P3RROHAMBRE //------------------------------// Chapter 1 Twilight A New Life Four years later. . . Beep! Beep! Beep! Twilight Sparkle’s ears twitched but the mare didn’t stir. Beep!Beep!Beep! A pair of purple eyes began to slowly open to the view of bright red digital numbers. 7:30 A.M. Beep! Beep! Beep! She blinked her eyes slowly, trying to adjust them as she yawned and slowly rose from her bed as the obnoxious tone continued from her clock. Beep! Beep! Bee-! Her hoof clicked the button on top of the clock, ceasing it’s brain wracking noise. Damn clock. . . Twilight threw the light blue blanket off of her body without pause and hopped off the bed and onto all four hooves. She yawned again and took in her familiar surroundings. Several candles around her room were lit and her light purple curtains were closed, but the sun’s light peeked through a small slit of where the curtains met. It was the start of a new day and Celestia’s morning sun wanted to shine into her room and make it known, but the unicorn wasn’t ready to start her day. Not yet. She dragged her hooves across the carpeted floor. Her mane was messy from the tossing and turning in her bed and her tail was in a fritz. She didn’t care though. As with every morning that she woke up to, there was one thing she needed to do before she started on with her day. Twilight went over to an oak wood desk that sat idly near her white wall and her eyes scanned the surface of it. Her quills were neatly put away and her inks were organized next to them. Parchment paper was stacked in perfect unison in the middle of her desk, just the way she liked it. Organized. Clean. Systematic.Meticulous. Her horn lit up with magic, moving the stack of paper to the side. She smiled and let another small yawn escape as her magic began to outline something rectangular within the wood of her desk. Something clicked and a small lid opened, revealing a secret compartment within it. Her heart skipped a beat as she levitated the object in the compartment out and set it at the edge of her desk as she took a seat. Her eyes scanned the object lovingly; a small brown box with a golden clip lock on it. “Hello my friends,” she whispered as her hoof lifted the golden tab and she opened the small brown box. Her eyes stared at the contents, admiring their beauty. They were perfectly  organized and she could only help but smile as she ran her hoof gently across them. The small glass slides inside her sacred brown box clicked against her hoof as she felt their cold, hard texture. Of course, they were more than just simple glass slides. They were her trophies and story-tellers and the only thing left behind from her victims after she sent them from the world of the living. Blood slides.  She could pull out any slide and recall who it belonged to and exactly, with detail, remember how she killed them to have that drop of revered blood. “I know, I know,” she whispered to her small silent trophies as she brushed her hoof against them one last time, “It’s been awhile since I brought some new friends to play, but I promise that I will bring more soon.” Twilight closed the brown box with a sigh. She wished she could spend her entire days just reminiscing about her past endeavors, among other things that involved some pony strapped in plastic, but she knew that it was just the dark urges within her starting to rise again. It had been a month since her last kill and as much as she wanted to ignore that fact, her dark craving, something she had dubbed as her ‘dark passenger’ when she was much younger, would only get stronger the more she tried to bury it. It made her restless and irritable, but she had learned to control this and hide it with the help of The Code. Her years as a teenager not only honed her skills as a killer, it also honed her ability to hide her real self and inner workings. She could hide her real nature from anypony, with the exception of Celestia, and have them think she was just another mare who loved her books. And that’s the way she liked it. Twilight Sparkle set the box back into the compartment in her desk and closed it with her magic. She put the stack of parchment that she had set aside earlier back onto the center, covering the hidden compartment, not that it would be found anyways since the compartment would only open to her magical touch. The lavender unicorn got up from her chair and began walking over to her dresser, adjacent to her desk. A large mirror was attached to it and she looked at her visage. She didn’t look much different from when she was smaller. Her mane was a bit longer, and with the exception of it being unusually messy at the current moment, she still kept that neat and organized style that she loved so much. The only thing that didn’t change over the years was the mare’s beautiful purple eyes. They seemed innocent, almost pure when one looked into them. Anypony would say that she was probably the friendliest and most innocent creature in all of Canterlot, but she could see what she was as she stared into her reflection. A monster. And she smiled. “Well,” she quipped in a sudden cheery tone, “Time to get the morning started.” Twilight’s horn brightly lit up with magic once again and she twirled around to the center of the room and released it, sending purple sparks flying everywhere and making  the room come to life. The curtains that kept the morning sun out of her room shot open and were pulled to the side from the mare’s outburst of magic. The sun’s bright rays poured in through her windows, lighting up the entire room and revealing her bookshelves that lined another wall. More sparks flew and put out every candle, ceasing their tiny flames. Her bed sheet came to life as her magic assaulted it and began making itself, spreading over her mattress and straightening itself out. Twilight looked over to her dresser with a smirk and let another spark of magic from her horn fly over to it. Brushes and combs began to levitate out of the drawers and surrounded her. The grooming utensils began their work with haste and precision as she focused her magic into them. Brushes went against her fur as combs went into her mane and tail. Within seconds her messy mane was neat and tidy and her tail was no longer fritzed. Her coat was brushed and clean, and with their purpose served, Twilight quickly levitated the items back to their respective place. “That’s better,” Twilight chimed as she looked back at the mirror from earlier and looked at her reflection. Her room was tidy and her appearance was flawless, but she wasn’t finished. If one was to start the morning right, they needed the right sustenance to get through it. Twilight happily trotted over to her own personal kitchen in another room within hers, as it was standard within the castle for every room to have their own culinary area, fitted with everything that a typical kitchen had and then some. She didn’t need any royal chef to make her food and what not. She was self-sufficient and  the chef never made anything that was to her pallet’s liking anyways.   As she passed her fridge, she opened the door and levitated a blood orange out of it and set it on her cutting board next to a juicer, both sitting ready on the marble counters. She placed the fat fruit in the center of the board and turned around to another counter behind her where her knife block was. She grasped her cutting knife in hoof and pulled it out of the wooden block and turned back to her soon to be breakfast. She positioned the blade over the semi firm skin of the blood orange. She pressed down and specks of citrus spurted out along with dark red juice until she cut cleanly through it. The two halves fell to the side, revealing it’s fleshy innards to the mare. Their dark red color was brilliant as Twilight began to take off the skin. She was careful and the skin peeled with ease as the smell of citrus filled her nostrils. She couldn’t wait to indulge in her favorite breakfast. There was routine to it; a ritual of a sort, but it was soon interrupted. Knock! Knock! Knock! “What the-”, Twilight said to herself as her ears twitched to the sound of three large knocks. She set her knife down along with the peelings and headed out of her kitchen and over to her bedroom door to see what pony was trying to get her attention this early in the morning. Twilight opened the door to a pony that instantly made her grimace inside. “Sparkle,” the voice said demeaningly. As much as the unicorn wanted to close the door and act like this pony wasn’t here, she knew it would be useless in doing so. This was not a pony that you could just brush away. She wouldn’t let you. “Hey Trixie,” Twilight said with a fake smile,” How are you this morning?” Trixie Lulamoon stood at the doorway with a scowl on her face, making it more than obvious of how her morning was. “Cut it Sparkle. I’m not here to play friend with you.” This wasn’t surprising to Twilight. Ever since Trixie was taken under Luna’s tutelage a couple years ago, the former down on her luck magician seemed to have a certain disgust for Twilight.  But for what reason? Twilight wasn’t exactly sure as she couldn’t recall ever doing any wrong against her. There was a point in time that the lavender unicorn thought that somehow Trixie knew her little secret, but after a bit of investigating and some verbal conflict with the silver maned pony, it seemed Trixie was simply weirded out by her. Twilight couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason of why the mare felt that way, but she couldn’t deny that she probably creeped some ponies out. It wasn’t as if she was just another normal equine after all. “Alright then Trixie, “Twilight answered, still holding her false smile, “What brings you here so early then?” “I came here to ask if you seen my files that I had on Fleur Di Lis. They’re missing and I had them just last night on my desk.” “Fleur?” Twilight answered, “You mean the mare that killed her husband but was acquitted just recently?” “Yes Sparkle, you know who I’m talking about. Don’t rub it in my fucking muzzle and just tell me if you seen my damn files.” Twilight couldn’t help but laugh inside. You see, Trixie wasn’t just Princess Luna’s student. She was also the head of Equestrian Criminal Investigations, an organization put in place by Princess Luna long before Twilight was taken in by  Celestia. They were the legal force around the kingdom that investigated homicides, rapes, kidnappings, etc. Of course this had caused Twilight to be very careful around Luna and Trixie. There had been too many times to count within the past couple years that Trixie and her mentor had gotten close to catching her, but she was not a mare to be careless in her work. She always had a backup and always took care of every little detail when it came to her ‘hobby’.  If a pony had to be framed, she would do it.  If she needed to send the duo and their compatriots on a wild goose chase, she would do it.  If she needed to remove evidence that implicated her somehow or let her targets get away from her, she would do it. Nothing was off limits to her, as long as she didn’t get caught and kill innocents. Everything else was  free game. “Sorry Trixie, but I haven’t seen any files around. Maybe you simply misplaced them.” “I don’t misplace my things Sparkle and you know that, but I guess it was useless to come see you about it. I just find it funny that you never know what happens when things go missing around here.” Twilight knew more than anypony else what happened around the castle, more than Trixie would ever know. Of course she had the files on Fleur, as she was going to be her next target, but she knew Trixie was not the type to accuse somepony of doing something without proof. This isn't to say that the former magician didn’t have her personal opinions though. Twilight knew that Trixie thought she had taken them or she wouldn’t be at her door now. “Sorry Trixie,” Twilight answered in her cool demeanor, “But if I see them anywhere I’ll be sure to let you know okay? Now, if there isn’t anything else, I got to get back to making my break-” “That’s not all Sparkle,” Trixie interrupted, “I’ve also been sent by Princess Celestia to tell you that she needs to speak with you as soon as possible.” “Celestia?” Twilight said with genuine surprise, “For what reason?” “If I knew I would’ve told you already. I was just looking for my files this morning when I bumped into her and she asked if I could go get you for her,” Trixie replied. “Alright. I’ll head over to her chambers as soon as I can. Thanks for letting me know,” Twilight said politely, ignoring Trixie’s smartass attitude Trixie simply rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m going back to look for my files,” Trixie said and before Twilight could even say another word, the mare turned and left to go about her task. Twilight closed the door as the mare left and looked over to her digital clock that had rudely awakened her earlier. 8:00 A.M. “Hm. That’s unusual,” Twilight said to herself ,”Celestia never sends another pony for me. She would usually come see me herself.” Hearing that Princess Celestia had sent Trixie wasn’t a big deal, but it wasn’t routine of the alicorn to do so either, especially since Princess Celestia knew exactly what she really was. Something wasn’t right. Breakfast was going to have to wait. *** 8:15 A.M. Her hooves clapped against the marble floors as she passed stained windows and portraits of ponies that made their mark throughout history. She walked down the grand halls, taking a turn here and there, as she made her way over to Celestia’s chambers, but Twilight’s mind was plagued of why Celestia didn’t come herself if she needed to speak with her. She understood that her mother and mentor was ruler of Equestria and had duties to perform, but Celestia always came to her directly. Much like Twilight herself, Celestia was careful, especially since she was the very one that had made her into what she was today. It was thanks to Celestia that Twilight was able to kill and satisfy her urges and still maintain a ‘normal’ life, at least to the perception of others. She had taught her the tools of the trade and about the ones that would become part of her craft with the design of The Code. It was a code that Twilight held dear, as if they were the very laws of life itself, and for that Twilight ‘loved’ Celestia. Now the unicorn knew nothing about love or really genuine feelings of caring. She really didn’t know how to have such feelings, only how to fake them, but if she was able to care and love, Celestia would be the receiver of such feelings. The alicorn took care of her and essentially had given her a life that she would’ve never had with her dark passenger. The unicorn continued trotting, taking more turns and passing royal guards that stood with poise until she was before two doors with a golden sun emblazoned on them. She raised her hoof, ready to knock, but the doors opened before her hoof could make contact. “Come in Twilight,” the regals majestic voice said. Twilight obeyed without question and entered the ruler’s chambers as the doors magically closed behind her. Princess Celestia stood near her fireplace, staring into it as if she was in deep thought, as it crackled and popped and lit up the monarch’s chambers. A grand bed was covered in white silk sheets with a small oak wood nightstand beside it; parchments aplenty sitting upon it. The walls were a dark purple with intricate and elegant golden patterns covering them. “I was told that you wanted to see me?” Twilight said, making the alicorn turn from her entrancement of fire and wood. Celestia’s eyes scanned over her student and accompanied it with her signature friendly smile that all was so used to. “It seems Trixie actually decided to get you for me. I’m surprised she actually even listened,” Celestia said with a chuckle. Twilight couldn’t help but laugh a little also at her ruler’s jest. “You already know she’s not very fond of us mother,” Twilight replied. Everypony knew about the disgust Trixie had for Twilight, but it was something completely different concerning Celestia. When Luna had chosen Trixie to become her prospective student, it was Celestia that protested against her sister’s choice. Now it wasn’t anything personal towards Trixie, but more so to protect her student/daughter. It was already bad enough that they had to contend with Luna and dodge her watchful eyes, the very ones that oversaw all investigations of crimes big and small. Adding Trixie to the mix just made things a bit more difficult for Twilight’s hobby, but it wasn’t anything that wasn’t manageable. Twilight was a very neat monster. “She has made that all too clear to me my dear Twilight, “Celestia replied, “But before we discuss anything...” Celestia’s horn lit up with a bright yellow and shot a bolt of magic at her chamber doors. The bolt splashed onto them and spread out like a disease over the walls until the entire room was glowing from the yellow aura of her magic. A Silencing spell. That only meant one thing. She’s going to teach me something new! Whenever Celestia casted such a spell, it was to make sure that nopony could overhear anything they discussed, especially concerning Twilight’s dark practice, but it was also the signaling of a new lesson for the unicorn. It could be anything on how to properly use a new blade or new techniques to subdue her targets. Regardless, it always excited Twilight. It was an excitement that rivaled her passion for academics and books. “You have a new lesson for me?!” Twilight blurted with almost a foalish smile, making her forget of the critical fact that Celestia had sent Trixie to fetch instead of coming to see Twilight herself. Celestia looked down on the unicorn, her warm smile still present. “Not this time Twilight. I requested you here because you and I have something very important to discuss; something that I had been thinking about for a few weeks now.” A small wave of dissapoint swept over the unicorn. “Oh, I thought-since you-” “I know Twilight,” Celestia said, already knowing what her unicorn was expecting, “Usually I would teach you something new concerning your. . .talent. . .but today is different. Before we get into that though, how have you been lately?” Twilight knew exactly what Celestia meant by that. “I been. . .better. . .to say the least.” Celestia’s smile disappeared and lowered her voice a bit. “Your dark passenger?” Twilight simply nodded. “Yes.” Celestia understood Twilight’s dark passenger and knew how hard it was for Twilight when her dark urge wasn’t satiated. It was like withdrawals that a drug addict suffered when they didn’t get their fix. “How long has it been since you last killed Twilight?” “A month,” Twilight answered shamelessly, “I’ve been tracking Fleur though for the past couple weeks since she’s been acquitted of her murder charges and last night I got the files on her court case from Trixie’s desk.” Celestia chuckled softly. “I figured as much when Trixie asked me if I had seen those earlier. My sister will not be pleased with her when she finds out her student lost such important documents.” Twilight smirked at such a thought, knowing that Princess Luna was not the kind that took mistakes like that lightly. “She’ll be fine,” Twilight answered, “It’ll keep her busy for a few and give me enough time to gather my proof against Fleur and prepare her for my table.” Twilight looked at her the alicorn, expecting her mother to be pleased that she was following the Code, but something was different as she heard Celestia give a sigh and walked over to her a small light purple rug and sat on it.. “Is something wrong?” Celestia stared at the mare for a moment and sighed once more. “Twilight, I requested you here because for the past few weeks I have been thinking about your killings and lessons concerning them, and I think it’s time to bring your skillset to a different place that needs it more than Canterlot.” “Wait, a different place?” Twilight said, catching that small detail, “Are you talking about sending me away from Canterlot?” Celestia nodded without hesitation, not surprised how quickly the unicorn caught what she was saying. “Yes.” Twilight’s mouth dropped, not believing what she was hearing. Celestia wanted to send her away from Canterlot? What for? “Why?!” Twilight blurted, “I’m doing just fine here and you want to send me away?? What for?” Celestia stood up and went over to the shocked mare. “For your own protection. You and I both know how close my sister and her student have gotten to finding out what you truly are in the past and the hurdles and lies we had to go through to get them off your trail. I came to realize that it’s too dangerous for you to stay in the same place of those that could catch you. By sending you somewhere different under the guise of pursuing knowledge, you would be safer and still be able to kill.” But Twilight didn’t want to hear reason as she raised her voice at the regal. “My protection?! I know how to protect myself and if I didn’t, I would’ve been caught and beheaded long ago if that was the case!” Twilight didn’t understand why Celestia would use a reason such as protection. She had killed plenty of ponies that deserved to die and every time had dodged the law. But there was something else. Twilight didn’t want to leave Canterlot, the only home she ever knew. “Calm yourself Twilight,” Celestia said firmly, “I have taught you better than to let yourself go like that.” “Yes Celestia, “Twilight muttered as she brought her voice down. “Good. Now understand what I’m saying. Do you see how a change of scenery can help you with your urges? It’s been a month since you last killed and I know you're craving to kill is eating at you. If you leave Canterlot and go to a place that nopony knows you, you won’t have to wait so long to kill again. You won’t have my sister and Trixie watching everything you do.” Twilight pondered this point for a moment. If she left Canterlot, it would be easier to kill and she couldn’t deny that this month long wait didn’t torture her inside. Also, she wouldn’t have to worry about Luna and Trixie, two ponies that were relentless when they gain the scent of a criminal. “Then where would you have me go then?” Twilight asked. “Ponyville,” Celestia answered, “It’s a nice town with plenty of crime going around according to my sister’s records. You could make a difference there and at the same time, keep your urges in check. All you have to do is agree and I will take care of the rest.” Twilight weighed her options. If she left Canterlot, she would be away from Trixie and Luna and she wouldn’t have to worry about the two mares catching her. Also, since she would be new, nopony would suspect anything from her and just see her as a new resident moving from Canterlot. On the downside, she would have to leave her home and mentor and really be on her own. She wouldn’t be able to vent to Celestia about her dark passenger and would have to make sure that this new life she had the chance to begin was more than believable. It would have to be reality. “What about Fleur?” Twilight said, now wondering of her potential target, “If I leave, I won’t be able to get to her.” “This will have to be one that you will have to let go this time Twilight. I’m afraid she will have to belong to Trixie and Luna this time,” Celestia answered. Twilight sighed, but what could she do? The more she looked into this prospect of a new life, the more appealing it looked. The unicorn conformed to her mentor. “When do I leave?” A smile spread across Celestia’s face. “Immediately.”